The Cowboy's Lady

The Cowboy's Lady
Carolyne Aarsen

Cody Jameson knows that hiring gourmet chef Vivienne Clayton for the Circle C Ranch has to be a mistake.He once secretly loved her, but she’s back in tiny Clayton, Colorado, for just a year. Vivienne wonders how she’ll survive in the town she couldn’t leave fast enough. Yet she soon finds herself cooking beans and biscuits for cowboys and helping Cody with his sassy teenage sister.To the entire ranch’s surprise, it seems like this big-city chef might actually stand a chance of becoming a cowboy’s lady forever. Rocky Mountain Heirs: When the greatest fortune of all is love.

“So you found us another cook?” Cody asked.

His uncle Ted nodded, gnawing at his toothpick. “Working on lunch in the cookhouse as we speak.”

Relief surged through him. “That’s great. I know the hands have been whining about the food. So who did you find?”

“A surprise,” Ted said with a grin Cody didn’t trust.

“You know I don’t like surprises. Just tell me. Clayton’s not that big. Please don’t tell me you listened to Jonathan and got Vivienne Clayton to come and cook.” The city chef would never last on the ranch.

Ted said nothing. Instead he opened the door of the cook shack with a flourish. Cody stepped inside.

And stared in disbelief as the very person he had warned his uncle against now stood in his kitchen.

* * *

Rocky Mountain Heirs:

When the greatest fortune of all is love.

The Nanny’s Homecoming—Linda Goodnight

July 2011

The Sheriff’s Runaway Bride—Arlene James

August 2011

The Doctor’s Family—Lenora Worth

September 2011

The Cowboy’s Lady—Carolyne Aarsen

October 2011

The Loner’s Thanksgiving Wish—Roxanne Rustand

November 2011

The Prodigal’s Christmas Reunion—Kathryn Springer

December 2011

About the Author

CAROLYNE AARSEN and her husband, Richard, live on a small ranch in northern Alberta, where they have raised four children and numerous foster children and are still raising cattle. Carolyne crafts her stories in an office with a large west-facing window through which she can watch the changing seasons while struggling to make her words obey.

The Cowboy’s Lady

Carolyne Aarsen

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

I’d like to dedicate this book to my amazing

fellow authors in this series: Linda Goodnight,

Deb Rather a.k.a. Arlene James, Lenora Worth,

Roxanne Rustand and Kathryn Springer.

It has been a lot of fun working with you all.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on

your own understanding. In all your ways submit

to him and he will make your paths straight.

—Proverbs 3:5–6

Chapter One

She was back where she started.

How many years had she itched to get out of Clayton, Colorado, aka Hicksville? As soon as she graduated from high school, Vivienne Clayton headed for New York to make her name as a gourmet chef.

But here she was. Back in her hometown. And looking for a job at the Cowboy Café.

Oh, the irony!

Vivienne adjusted the black cardigan she put over the white ruffled T-shirt she’d agonized over choosing. She glanced down at the skinny jeans and black flats she’d chosen for her mission. Too dressy? Not dressy enough?

It would be perfect if she were applying for a chef’s job at any restaurant in New York.

But for the Cowboy Café?

C’mon, Vivienne, she told herself, finger combing her long hair away from her face. You’re a Cordon Bleu–trained chef. You can rise to any culinary occasion. Rise to this one.

And before she left the house this morning, her sister Brooke had said she’d be praying for her—for what that was worth. Vivienne wasn’t sure God heard prayers anymore.

Back in New York, living in her tiny apartment, she felt like a minuscule mote in the endless humanity filling the city. She doubted God even knew where she was then.

Doubted he even cared that she was back in her hometown now.