Home on the Ranch: Wyoming Cowboy Ranger Read online

  You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down

  After Wyoming ranger Porter Ewing is injured and left for dead, his only priority is fast-tracking his recovery and getting back in the saddle. He still has a suspect to apprehend! However, his attitude changes when he meets physical therapist Lily Owens. The former champion athlete and her own inspiring story of recovery have completely stolen Porter’s heart.

  Suddenly sessions with Lily are the best part of Porter’s day—and he’s ready to make things official. Until a break in the case uncovers that Porter’s injury wasn’t a coincidence. A threat from his past has reemerged—that poses a threat to Lily—and Porter will stop at nothing to protect her...even expose his darkest secret.

  “Hi, Porter!”

  “Lily—”

  She blinked. “Your voice sounds odd. Are you all right?”

  “I am now that I know you are.”

  Lily gripped her phone tighter. “What do you mean?”

  “Sheriff Granger is on speakerphone with me. Are your parents there?”

  “Yes?” She couldn’t imagine what was going on.

  “He wants to have a five-way conversation.”

  A chill ran down her body. “All right. They’re in the kitchen. I’ll go in and put my phone on speaker.” She hurried back to the kitchen and looked at her parents. “Porter is with the sheriff. He wants to talk to all of us.”

  Perplexed, her parents gathered around the phone. “We’re listening, Sheriff.”

  “Mr. and Mrs. Owens? Ms. Owens? This is Sheriff Granger. Ranger Ewing is here in my office with me. We’ve arrested the culprit that Ranger Ewing tangled with in the mountains recently. Tonight a lot more information has come forth.”

  Lily started to tremble.

  Dear Reader,

  Tragedy or destiny?

  I’ve often thought about the triumph of the human spirit. How often do we hear or read about a person who has met with a horrible tragedy? We think how unfair it is. How terrible. We ask ourselves how he or she survived.

  Then we find out they not only survived, they thrived!

  I wrote this book, Home on the Ranch: Wyoming Cowboy Ranger, to celebrate the story of a woman whose life started out on one path, but because of a tragedy, she had to call on her courage to turn her whole life around in a brand-new way. In the process she not only helped herself, she made the world a better place for everyone around her and found love.

  I adore stories of people who not only survived, they conquered! I hope you do, too.

  Enjoy!

  Rebecca Winters

  HOME ON THE RANCH:

  WYOMING COWBOY RANGER

  Rebecca Winters

  Rebecca Winters, whose family of four children has now swelled to include five beautiful grandchildren, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the land of the Rocky Mountains. Living near canyons and high alpine meadows full of wildflowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favorite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her romance novels, because writing is her passion, along with her family and church.

  Rebecca loves to hear from readers. If you wish to email her, please visit her website, rebeccawinters.net.

  Books by Rebecca Winters

  Harlequin Western Romance

  Wind River Cowboys

  The Right Cowboy

  Stranded with the Rancher

  Home on the Ranch: Wyoming Sheriff

  Sapphire Mountain Cowboys

  A Valentine for the Cowboy

  Made for the Rancher

  Cowboy Doctor

  Roping Her Christmas Cowboy

  Lone Star Lawmen

  The Texas Ranger’s Bride

  The Texas Ranger’s Nanny

  The Texas Ranger’s Family

  Her Texas Ranger Hero

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

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  To every survivor, whoever you are, who faced tragedy and turned it into triumph. You’ve helped all of us find hope and a reason to believe in the power of the human spirit.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Home on the Ranch: Colorado Cowboy by Patricia Potter

  Chapter 1

  Whitebark, Wyoming

  Lily Owens hurried into the physiotherapy clinic at Whitebark Hospital, where she’d been working for the last three months. She hated to be late for work, but one of the mares on her parents’ ranch had gone into labor and she’d stayed to help until the vet arrived.

  “Hi, Lily! Mr. Harrington is in the examining room.”

  “Thanks, Cindy. Any messages?”

  “Not yet,” the receptionist responded.

  Lily went down the hall to the closet for her white lab coat. She slipped it on over her short-sleeved yellow top and cropped white jeans. On the way to her office, she passed the recently divorced head of the physiotherapy clinic, Dr. Matt Jensen, who was already busy at work. He stopped to talk to her before going into another examining room.

  “I’m glad I caught you before the day got away from us. How would you like to join me for dinner and a movie next Friday?”

  Caught was right. Matt was nice-looking and friendly, but she wasn’t attracted to him and needed to think fast. “Matt? I’m flattered that you would ask me out, but I don’t think it’s a good idea since we both work in the same clinic.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “No, but please don’t take it personally. I once made the big mistake of getting involved with someone in the workplace. It was a disaster and I vowed never again.”

  “That’s too bad. I think we could have a good time.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” she replied with a smile. “But I learned my lesson.”

  He nodded. “Fair enough. Have a nice day.”

  “You, too.”

  Breathing a sigh of relief, she headed for her next appointment. “Good morning, Ben,” she said to the older gentleman as she entered the examining room. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better now that you’re here.”

  “I’m sorry you had to wait. One of our mares decided to have her foal this morning. I stayed until the vet arrived.”

  “You know how to deliver, too?”

  Lily laughed. “All I could do was gentle her so she wouldn’t panic.”

  “You’re good at that, young lady, and beautiful, too. How come you’re not married yet?”

  There was an answer for that. But it was one she hadn’t cared to think or talk about in years. “All the good ones like you are taken.”

  A chuckle escaped his lips. “One day some cowboy’s going to stagger in here for help. He’ll gaze into those periwinkle-colored eyes and fall head over heels. That’s a promise.”

  She smiled indulgently. “Sounds good, Ben.”

  The sixty-two-year-old feed-store owner had been brought in two months ago almost crippled from mechani
cal back pain. After examining him, Lily had to train him how to lift and lower grain bags and other inventory that had caused his trouble over years of doing it wrong.

  Lily patted the table. “Come on up and let’s see how your exercises are progressing.”

  “You’re going to be proud of me.”

  “I’m impressed how well you’re moving.” She put him through the procedures they’d been working on to strengthen his lower back. “Any pain?”

  “Not anymore.”

  “All right, you can get down.” He sat up the way she’d taught him and got off the table. “If all goes well and you remember what you have to do, I won’t have to see you again.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that. I’m going to miss you.”

  “You’ve been a terrific patient. I wish they were all like you. Good luck, Ben, and take care from now on.”

  “I intend to,” he answered.

  After he donned his Stetson and left the room, she disinfected the padded table and washed her hands to get ready for Janie Waters, her next appointment.

  The thirty-five-year-old laundry worker suffered from mechanical back pain similar to Ben’s. Because she’d always favored her left leg, which had once been broken, she’d created stress and needed to relearn movements to get rid of the pain while she was on her feet four hours a day. Once you broke or fractured a bone, you had to retrain the body how to move.

  At eighteen, Lily had learned that lesson the hard way during the Vancouver Olympics, where she held a world downhill seventh ranking. Tragically, she’d crashed on the course and had to be airlifted to a local hospital. Not only did she have a compound fracture of the tibia, but she’d also jarred her back. The injury was called an acute facet spinal joint dysfunction.

  After undergoing surgery, she’d been transferred to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City for expert treatment. Over the months that followed she started to recover, but not without a lot of therapy and a warning that another injury to her spine joint could cause paralysis.

  The thought of never being able to walk again warred with her desire to start ski training again. As for getting pregnant one day, her doctor told her that pregnancy might bring on paralysis. That had been the other bad news. She’d discussed it with an obstetrician brought in for consultation, but it wasn’t an issue in the foreseeable future.

  At her lowest ebb, her parents had arranged for a psychiatrist while she was undergoing the rest of her therapy. The doctor wanted her to consider the possibility of finding a new career if she decided not to train again for the Olympics.

  Though a cowgirl to the core, skiing had become a huge part of her life. She couldn’t comprehend giving up her skis to attend college. After talking it over with her parents, she settled on getting her degree at the university in physiotherapy to help other injured athletes.

  Interestingly enough she’d been introduced to hippotherapy on the back of a Missouri Fox Trotter kept on a ranch outside Salt Lake City. Known for its smooth gait for those suffering back pain, she and another patient had been elated with their results and had developed a passion for them during long comfortable rides.

  After receiving her postgraduate degree, she returned home to Whitebark at twenty-six and went to work at the hospital. To her amazement, her parents purchased some Trotters they kept and bred on the ranch. She worked out an agreement with the hospital to assist some patients with hippotherapy at the ranch. A day didn’t go by in this job that she didn’t thank heaven for her parents. She could never repay them for all their love and devotion.

  They’d arranged to give her an area at the back of the ranch house, where she could see patients young and old who needed this specialized therapy away from Whitebark Hospital. Lily derived a lot of satisfaction from helping injured teens performing in the junior rodeo who’d needed help with their pain before getting back to the sport they loved.

  “Dr. Owens?” Her next patient’s greeting from the doorway jarred her from her thoughts.

  “Janie—how many times have I told you to call me Lily? I’m not a doctor. I’m a physiotherapist trained to help people overcome movement disorders.”

  “You’re a damn good doctor to me!”

  Lily chuckled. Janie Waters never minced words. “That’s very nice to hear.”

  “It’s the truth. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to work at my job again until you helped me.”

  “So you’re honestly doing better?”

  “You’d know about it if I weren’t.” She got up on the table with ease and they went through some exercises together.

  “I’m thrilled you’re moving so much better.”

  “Yup. I’m up to three hours a day at work now.”

  When their session was over, her patient got off the table by herself.

  “At this rate you’ll be putting in your four hours in another month. Keep up the great work, Janie.”

  “I’m thankful for you, girl. See you in a week.”

  “You bet ya.”

  As Janie left, Lily went through the process of disinfecting the table and washing her hands again.

  “Lily?” She swung around to discover Sharon Carter, a nurse from the orthopedic wing of the hospital, had just walked in. “I’ve brought you a new patient. Here’s his file and X-rays. He came in on an emergency. Nothing’s broken, but he’ll need therapy. A word to the wise. He’s upset to have to be in here,” she whispered. “Have fun, anyway.” Her eyes danced.

  “What do you mean?” she whispered back, but Sharon had already gone out to wheel her patient into the room.

  “This is Ranger Ewing with the US Forest Service at Bridger-Teton,” she announced. “Day before yesterday he was thrown from his horse in the middle of the night and had to wait hours for help. He was flown in by helicopter last evening and will tell you exactly what happened.”

  Sharon turned back to the patient and spoke in a soft, placating tone.

  “Mr. Ewing? This is Lily, the physiotherapist who’s going to help you get better. After you’ve had your consultation, one of the staff will wheel you back to your room.” She pushed him over to Lily’s desk.

  “How soon can I be released?” The man’s deep voice reached right through to Lily’s insides.

  “That depends on your therapist’s diagnosis. I will now leave you in her care.” Nodding briefly at them both, she walked out of the room and quietly shut the door behind her.

  Lily found herself impaled by a pair of blazing dark brown eyes set in a face bronzed by the sun. He needed a shave and had a bruise on his right cheekbone. However, even in the robe-style blue hospital gown, or perhaps because of it, the blond-haired ranger had the kind of rugged good looks that could blow away every Hollywood heartthrob.

  She couldn’t help herself from dropping her gaze to his muscular legs, which were bare below the hem of the gown, at his knees. She saw more bruises running along the side of his right leg. Judging by their length, and the size of his hands grasping the arms of the wheelchair, he had to be at least six foot two of pure rock-solid masculinity. The fact that his huge feet were adorned in hospital slippers only made his male charisma more potent.

  She could sense his frustration and impatience. He was hurting, too. Besides the smile lines around his penetrating eyes, the creases around his compelling mouth were undoubtedly there because of pain.

  Sucking in her breath, she asked, “Are you taking a painkiller at the moment?”

  He lifted his head. In an instant, she felt him take her measure. “Yes.”

  “But it’s not working.”

  “No.”

  “Is that because you’re relying on ibuprofen instead of the drug your doctor prescribed?”

  “Are you a mind reader, too?” he growled.

  “No. I’ve been where you’ve been and hated to take any kind of medication. I�
��m afraid I’m the stubborn type, like you. I thought I could handle it.”

  “Touché.” One corner of his mouth lifted, changing his demeanor. It was a sin for a man to be this handsome. Sharon’s comment about having fun suddenly made sense.

  Well, at least he wasn’t so upset that he couldn’t respond to a little humor.

  Lily sat down in her chair. “Tell me what happened.”

  “I’d been up at the Crow’s Nest trail doing a fire lookout watch with my partner.”

  “You lucky man. I used to go up there on my horse all the time, way above Fremont Lake. In summer there’s no place like it—full of aspen groves, wildflowers and just plain jaw-dropping views.”

  “You’re right.” He sounded surprised she knew of it. “The tower sits just above Glimpse Lake. I was on my horse checking out an illegal campfire around two in the morning. After issuing the hunter some fines because, for one thing, he didn’t have a permit to hunt deer, I confiscated his rifle and then ordered him to put out his illegal fire.

  “Once he’d packed up his gear, I escorted him back to the tower, where we’d hold him until some more rangers came for him. But halfway there, my horse, Ace, stumbled over a hidden woodchuck burrow. It was so deep, I was thrown to the ground. My horse broke his leg and fell on top of me and the rifle, and was screaming in pain. The hunter took off and disappeared.”

  “You mean he just left you?” Lily gasped.

  “He couldn’t get away fast enough.”

  “I’m so sorry for your injuries.” She shook her head. “And there’s nothing worse than hearing a horse that’s in unbearable agony.”

  “It was more excruciating than my own pain.”

  “I presume Ace was your close friend.”

  He eyed her intently. “Very close. He was amazing. I called headquarters for help because I was in too much pain to walk to the tower. They sent a helicopter with another ranger to take my place. The medics had to walk part way in.

  “After a horrendous decision, we put the horse down and I was flown here. My truck and horse trailer are still up there. Among other things, I’ve got to be released so I can go after that hunter and arrest him.”