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  Wednesday, October 24th.

  LANDON’S LOVE

  Chapter One

  Silver Falls, Colorado, Present Day

  Landon Kane fought the fire in his belly. It wasn’t the kind he got when he ate his granddad’s award-winning cowboy chili, but more like an itch to something different with his life.

  “That fence isn’t going to build itself,” Ian Redbourne called from the edge of the outbuilding. His grandfather quickly returned to his task of re-hanging the newly refinished barn doors that represented the complete transformation the building had undertaken on its journey to becoming a wedding venue for his brother and soon-to-be bride.

  Landon shook his head at the drill and screws in his hand. The old fence had needed some attention for a long time, but he’d not expected the need to replace it entirely. He would be out there all day if he didn’t stop thinking about the upcoming art display competition at the local fair and focus on his task. He reached down to pick up the freshly painted board that would serve as the top cross plank.

  “Here, let me help.” Olivia, his soon-to-be sister-in-law, grabbed the end of the plank and held it in the level position against the post where he’d marked it and smiled.

  He quickly added a few screws to his side and moved to secure hers in place.

  “Thanks.”

  “No, thank you! I can’t tell you enough how thrilled I am that you have agreed to take our wedding pictures, Landon. You have a real talent, you know.”

  “Happy to do it,” he said, reaching down for the next board.

  He liked Olivia. She was smart and fun and knew how to keep his older brother in check. However, ever since they’d gotten engaged, he’d been distracted somehow, itching for a change.

  “Is everything all right,” Olivia asked. She didn’t miss a thing. He guessed it was a trick of the writer’s trade.

  “Yep.” He wasn’t normally so short on words, but he didn’t feel much like talking about what ailed him.

  Olivia eyed him, obviously unconvinced, but didn’t press. “My sister and three other bridesmaids should be arriving tonight,” she said in her usual chipper voice.

  Landon groaned loudly, and she smacked him playfully on the arm. He laughed.

  There was still quite a bit to get done around the ranch before the wedding and the last thing they needed was to have to cater to four city gals.

  “They want to help,” she said with a slight shrug to her shoulders.

  “Umhmmm,” he teased, earning him another smack to his arm.

  “Despite what you may think, Landon Kane, my friends will be very useful.”

  “Umhmmm,” he said again.

  “Hey, Lan,” his older brother, Holden, called from the back porch, “there’s someone here to see

  Landon bent down, kissed Olivia on the cheek, and set his tools on the top of the supply box near his feet before running toward the stairs.

  “I can’t wait to see how much help they’ll be,” he called back over his shoulder. He threw open the back door and headed through the house to the front where a man, dressed in a black turtleneck shirt and dark rimmed glasses Landon was pretty sure were just for show waited.

  “Simon,” he said as he reached out to take the man’s hand, “what brings you all the way out here?”

  “I wanted to deliver the news in person.” The man pushed his faux glasses up farther on the bridge of his nose. “A buyer from New York fell in love with your ranch-life photos and decided to buy the entire collection.” He folded his arms across his chest and nodded his head firmly in emphasis.

  “There are over a hundred photos in that collection.”

  “I know. Isn’t it wonderful?”

  Gravel crunching beneath tires put Holden Kane on edge. He looked up from his desk out the window and watched as a silver SUV made its way up the drive. He closed the book he’d been studying, put his pencil down on top of the blueprints he’d been pouring over, and pushed his glasses up on his face as he leaned back in the leather chair, putting his arms behind his head.

  It was going to be a long day. A long week.

  Time to face the day.

  He resigned himself to the inevitable.

  “She’s here,” Holden grumbled loudly as he stormed toward the kitchen.

  It irked him that, for the next week, the Silver Springs Ranch would play host to some city slicking romance novelist from Denver. He shook his head. How could his grandfather have ever believed this would be a good idea?

  Granddad had been very specific in his instructions—Holden was not to leave everything up to his brothers, but was supposed to take an active role in teaching the woman about ranch life and helping her have a positive experience.

  Holden walked past the enormous frost covered window and shivered at the cold emanating from the glass. He hated leaving the comforts of his study.

  “I thought we weren’t expecting her until supper,” Grayson, the youngest of the three Kane brothers, said through a mouthful of cold cereal.

  “She’s early,” Holden replied with a growl.

  “Well, let’s go meet her,” Landon, the brother just younger than him, said as he pushed himself away from the breakfast table, rubbing his hands together as if excited to see what new chaos Granddad had brought to the ranch.

  One thing was for sure—life at Silver Springs was never boring. He’d missed it.

  “Come on, big brother,” Landon said as he clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll put that fancy new education of yours to work before you know it.” He laughed. “Besides, how bad can it be?”

  A big group of romance reading fangirls taking over the ranch? It could be bad.

  Really bad.

  Holden sighed. He loved his granddad, but there had to be a way to make the man see reason.

  Silver Springs was a ranch—a well-respected, forward-thinking, cattle-raising ranch. At least it would be after he set his new plans in motion. Silver Springs was most definitely not suited for a dude ranch.

  “I’ll go get Granddad.” Grayson stood up, shoveled down the last bite of his cereal before dropping the bowl in the sink, then wiped the excess from his mouth as he sauntered out the back door toward the stables.

  Granddad Redbourne would be over at the SilverHawk this morning in his weekly meeting with Uncle Tad—if they weren’t finished already and out mending the fence in the south pasture.

  Holden would swear the old man had more energy than all of his eleven grandsons combined. He would be happy to hear that the woman had arrived.

  Fun, he’d said. An adventure, he’d said.

  Holden rolled his eyes. He and his granddad had different definitions of fun. With a resigned sigh, he grabbed his coat from the rack and threw it over his shoulders to stave off the cool March morning air.

  “Fun? Ha.” He snorted. “We’ll see about that.”

  Chapter Two

  Olivia Blake’s nerves dangled at the edge of sanity.

  Jason had gotten married this morning, and she hadn’t been the one standing next to him at the altar.

  She sat up taller in the cushy leather seats of her SUV, cleared her throat, and whipped one side of her long, blond curls from her shoulder—determined that she would not shed one more tear for what was not meant to be.

  Business.

  She nodded curtly, acknowledging her need for some distance from the single
life and handsome bachelors of Denver. She would focus on business. The only relationship she needed to worry about right now was the one developing between the two fictional characters in her upcoming novel and the one with her new potential business partner—Ian Redbourne.

  The distraction of being on a real honest-to-goodness working ranch and potentially partnering up with an endearing seventy-year-old rancher on a unique adventure had been just what she’d needed. No pitying glances from little old gossiping cronies. No single, attractive men being thrown in her face like meat to a lonely dog by well-meaning friends. No surprise blind dates concluding poorly with an awkward handshake or hug at the end of the night. And no creepy black roses being left at her doorstep. Just wide open spaces and fresh air. Plenty of time to think, to write, and to explore investment opportunities to market her future.

  She turned down the long, dirt road she hoped led to the Silver Springs Ranch. After she’d mistakenly gone to the Silver Oak, then the Silver Creek, and then stopped just short of the Silver Canyon Ranch, she was elated to see the large wooden archway over the drive that read, Silver Springs Ranch.

  She’d made it.

  Finally.

  Why did all of the ranches around here have to have silver in the name?

  She pulled through the archway and drove down the gravel drive, slowing to admire the enormous ranch house that had appeared just over the hill. Her eyes flew open wide and she sucked in a short breath as several well-built young men flooded the lawn in front of the house.

  Her heart dropped and she sunk her foot a little harder into her brakes than she’d intended, inducing a squeal muffled in gravel with more than a dozen yards still to go before pulling into the drive. Sure, she’d expected ranch hands, but the older, tough-looking, leathery ones she’d seen in a recent documentary, not the kind she always made them out to be in her books.

  Boy, was she wrong. There was nothing old or leathery about these men. They definitely belonged in novels. Or movies.

  Two more tall, strapping males filtered out of the large, beautiful homestead and waited at the edge of the drive. The last thing she needed right now was to be surrounded by so many good-looking cowboys.

  “What is wrong with you?” she asked aloud into the empty vehicle. “You are Olivia Blake and you’ve got this.” There was a time in the not-so-distant past that sexy cowboys would have been just the distraction she’d needed to take her mind off her own failing love life.

  But now, with a deadline closing in hard and fast, Olivia needed to focus. It would have been simple if writing were the only thing on her agenda this week, but there was more to a career as a successful novelist than getting words on a page. She unwittingly glanced up into the mirror as she resumed her approach on the gravel-mixed dirt.

  When she returned her focus to the road, several of the men were running toward her, waving their hands wildly. With a reluctant smile, she waved back.

  THUNK!

  Olivia’s heart dropped as her SUV halted without warning, jutting forward at an awkward angle, tilting down to the left front corner and throwing her hard into the driver’s door. Pain shot into her shoulder with the impact. She closed her eyes and bit back the word that tempted the tip of her tongue. With a deep breath, she opened her eyes, thankful she was still somewhat upright.

  She shifted into reverse and stepped on the gas, but the wheels just spun and she couldn’t move. With a quick click of the seatbelt, she slipped it off of her aching shoulder, shoved the gearshift into park, and scrambled up the passenger side of the vehicle—raised into the air.

  Tap. Tap. Tap.

  She looked up at two very handsome faces staring down at her, worry etched across their brows. They had to have been very tall to be able to see in through the window at this angle.

  “Are you all right?” one of them asked through the glass. His genuine smile and easy demeanor quickly put her at ease.

  Olivia nodded and quickly twisted around, reaching back to roll down the window.

  “Just hang tight,” the young cowboy told her, patting at the air as if to calm a frightened animal. “You drove into a pothole that has been on our list to fill for a while now. Sorry about that.”

  “We’re going to lift the car and pull you out, so just hang on,” another one called from the front of her SUV, pointing down at the tire. His sculpted arms were scarcely concealed by his light blue button-down shirt. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and dropped down onto his haunches.

  Olivia appreciated the man’s cut physique, but lift the car? It wasn’t like she was driving a little passenger compact. In fact, Jason used to call it The Behemoth. The thought of her ex-fiancé curdled in her gut, but she nodded her acknowledgment. A few of the cowhands gathered at the upended section of the car and pushed down while two others lifted in the front and dragged it sideways. In moments, the SUV had been returned to level ground.

  She exhaled the breath that had caught somewhere in her throat and threw open the door, mortified when it hit the one she’d admired earlier. His dark rimmed glasses did little to mask his brilliant blue eyes.

  Calm. Cool. Collected. One of her daily mantras rolled through her mind as she stepped from the car with a smile that she didn’t quite feel.

  “I’m so sorry. Are you all right?” she asked with sheepish trepidation.

  He took a couple of steps backward, patted at his chest and legs, then shrugged. “No broken bones to speak of.”

  “I’d imagine with a build like yours, you probably didn’t even feel it.” Heat flooded her face. “I’m sorry. Could I make that sound any less like I’m coming onto you? Because I wasn’t. Not that I wouldn’t. I mean, you’re certainly come-on worthy, but…Oh, fiddlesticks. My name is Olivia Blake,” she said as she extended her hand.

  The dimple that grooved one side of his face when the corners of his mouth turned up into something akin to a smile almost made her forget that she wanted nothing to do with men—no matter how good they looked.

  “Holden. Kane.” He reached out to accept her extended hand, but instead of the shock she’d expected at his touch, there was only warmth. He quickly let go, but his eyes remained fixed on hers. “Welcome.”

  Olivia breathed an uneasy giggle and brushed at the crumpled lines of her maxi skirt.

  “Hello,” she said. “Thank you. I’m not sure what I would have done had you all not been here.”

  The first man who’d spoken to her through the window joined them and she reached out to shake his hand as well. “Olivia,” she said with a nod.

  “Landon Kane, ma’am. I’m sorry if it scared you. We’re happy to cover any damages.”

  Olivia walked up to the front of the car, bending over to inspect it. Aside from a faint two-inch scratch on her bumper she would have never even noticed, it looked unscathed.

  “That won’t be necessary,” she said, turning back to look up at Holden. “No harm done.”

  Wow! This one had to be the most attractive of them all. If anything, his glasses made him that much more appealing.

  She cleared her throat.

  “I’m looking for Ian Redbourne. Is he around?” She glanced over the property, placing a hand up to her forehead to block the bright rays from the morning sun. The ranch was picture perfect with the classic style barn, stables, and a few other small outbuildings that laid backdrop to the enormous, yet traditional homestead. She hadn’t expected a well-kept lawn with tulips already blooming in the flower beds, but it fit. Everything looked…well, perfect.

  When neither of the men responded, she returned her focus to them. By their likeness, Livvy guessed the two now standing side-by-side to be brothers.

  Wait. Kane? Oh, no.

  “I’m sorry, do I have the wrong ranch? Again?” she asked, brushing down the front of her peasant-style shirt. “I thought this was Mr. Redbourne’s ranch. This is Silver Springs, yes?” She should have just worn the suit. At least that way, she would seem less like a bumbling idiot and more like
a professional business woman.

  A flicker of light glinted in Holden’s eyes and some semblance of a smile cracked the edges of his mouth, treating her to another showing of that dimple in his cheek.

  Wow! she thought again. This man with the well-worn Stetson and faded blue jeans fit seamlessly into the rugged landscape surrounding her. Her fans would love him.

  They would love all of these men, she thought as she glanced around at the cow hands who had started to disperse, she guessed to return to their duties about the ranch.

  “Yep,” Landon said as he grabbed a large, flat piece of wood leaning up against the side of the garage and placed it over the hole she’d driven into. “This is Silver Springs.”

  She sighed her relief—embarrassed by the highly audible sound.

  Holden chuckled.

  Olivia liked how his smile transformed his face.

  Stop it!

  “Ian is our granddad,” Holden clarified. “You’re in the right place.” He moved to the back of her vehicle. “We weren’t expecting you for a few more hours, so I’m afraid he’s not here right now. Our little brother has ridden out to get him over at the SilverHawk.” He tapped on the roof of the car. “Can we help you with your luggage?”

  She’d been in such a hurry to get out of Denver that she’d hardly packed enough for the day, let alone for the entire week—one oversized carryall and a small suitcase she’d thrown her toiletries and cute fringed boots into.

  “Thank you, but I can get it.” She clicked the button on her key ring and the back door floated open.

  Landon whistled. “Is this everything you brought with you? For a whole week?”

  Heat flooded her cheeks again and she shrugged. “I travel light.” It was more of a question than a statement.

  “Impressive,” Landon said with a grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman pack this light even for one night.”

  Without another word, Holden, despite her previous objections, slung the carryall over his shoulders and lifted the small travelling bag into his arms. “Let’s get you settled.”