High Country Cowgirl Read online

  A cowboy. A woman. A horse.

  The road trip is just the beginning.

  Ever since Gabe Brand transported a show horse and its lovely owner to their new ranch home, the Montana trainer has had it bad for Bonita Delafuente. The DC heiress came to Montana to make her terminally ill mother’s Western dream a reality. But with her dreams already on hold, can Bonita make room in her life for a cowboy with love in his heart?

  “You kissed me last night.”

  “I know that. I was there!”

  Gabe paused for a split second and then he said, “I think we should go out.”

  Bonita had been prepared to fire back at the cowboy, but he’d completely changed direction on her, catching her off guard.

  “You’re asking me out. On a date?” Perplexed, Bonita turned her body toward the cowboy. “You think I’m a tree-hugging elitist!”

  “And you think I’m a deer-murdering hillbilly.”

  That made her start laughing and when she laughed it made her headache worse. “Ow.” She held her head in her hands.

  The cowboy was laughing now, too.

  “For some strange reason, I do seem to enjoy your company.” She leaned her head back on the headrest and smiled at him.

  “And I enjoy yours.” He glanced over at her with those clear blue eyes that always struck a chord somewhere deep within her. “So go out with me.”

  * * *

  THE BRANDS OF MONTANA:

  Wrangling their own happily-ever-afters!

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for choosing High Country Cowgirl, the eleventh Harlequin Special Edition book featuring the Brand family.

  High Country Cowgirl tells the story of long-distance horse transporter and horse whisperer Gabe Brand and socialite Bonita Delafuente. Gabe Brand is a bachelor who, when he’s not training million-dollar horses for high-end clients, leads a private, quiet life on a small section of Sugar Creek Ranch he’s named Little Sugar Creek. When he meets Bonita, a beautiful heiress who needs her expensive show horse brought to Montana, Gabe begins to seriously rethink his bachelorhood.

  Falling in love with a cowboy is not on Bonita Delafuente’s mind. Instead of going on to medical school, she leaves her life in Washington, DC, to be with her mom. Her mother, who has been diagnosed with ALS, had always dreamed of retiring to a horse ranch in Montana. Finding herself in what feels like a foreign country, Bonita doesn’t think much of cowboy culture—until she gets to know Gabe Brand. Gabe is kind and intelligent, and he has a gift with horses the likes of which Bonita has never seen. Just as she is losing her mom—her best friend—Bonita is finding a new home in the cowboy’s arms.

  I invite you to visit my website, joannasimsromance.com, and while you’re there, be sure to sign up for Rendezvous Magazine for Brand Family Extras, news and swag. Part of the joy of writing is hearing from readers. If you write me, I will write you back! That’s a promise.

  Happy reading!

  Joanna

  High Country Cowgirl

  Joanna Sims

  Joanna Sims is proud to pen contemporary romance for Harlequin Special Edition. Joanna’s series, The Brands of Montana, features hardworking characters with hometown values. You are cordially invited to join the Brands of Montana as they wrangle their own happily-ever-afters. And, as always, Joanna welcomes you to visit her at her website, joannasimsromance.com.

  Books by Joanna Sims

  Harlequin Special Edition

  The Brands of Montana

  A Bride for Liam Brand

  A Wedding to Remember

  Thankful for You

  Meet Me at the Chapel

  High Country Baby

  High Country Christmas

  A Match Made in Montana

  Marry Me, Mackenzie!

  The One He’s Been Looking For

  A Baby for Christmas

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

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  Dedicada a mi amiga querida...

  Maria

  Y a toda la ente valiente de Puerto Rico!

  Dedicated to my dear friend...

  Maria

  And to all of the brave people of Puerto Rico!

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Excerpt from The Maverick’s Baby-in-Waiting by Melissa Senate

  Chapter One

  Rancher Gabe Brand would never forget the day he first saw Bonita Delafuente.

  It was a typical cloudless summer day in Montana: warm enough to make a man sweat but not so hot that he couldn’t get some work done at high noon. He’d finally gotten around to cleaning his two-horse trailer, something he’d been putting off for weeks. Gabe had already sweated through his shirt, so he’d taken it off and hung it on a nearby fence post. With Johnny Cash playing on the phone in his back pocket, Gabe was pouring more gas into his pressure washer when he heard the faint sound of Tater, his dog, barking from inside the house. Tater, who was geriatric at this point, preferred sleep above all activities and only made the effort to bark when someone came up the drive.

  Gabe put down the gas can and walked toward the front of the house. He wasn’t expecting anyone, but that didn’t mean much. People often landed in his driveway hunting for the main entrance to his family’s ranch, Sugar Creek.

  “Hello, young man. We’re looking for Gabe Brand.”

  An older gentleman with a full head of salt-and-pepper hair and a bit of a beer gut rounded the corner of Gabe’s cabin. Walking beside the older man was a younger woman wearing English riding clothes. It was unusual to see someone wearing that kind of riding gear—most folks he knew rode Western.

  “For better or worse, you found him.” Gabe reached for his shirt and shrugged it on.

  “I’m hoping for the better,” the man said.

  The minute Gabe got a good look at the woman’s face, he was smitten.

  “George Delafuente.” The older man offered his hand. “And, this is my daughter, Bonita.”

  George had a firm handshake and carried himself like a man who had made his own way in the world. Gabe made note of the gold-and-diamond-encrusted Rolex his visitor was wearing. Yes, George had all of the trappings of a Montana native—jeans, cowboy boots and button-down striped shirt tucked in tight. Yet all the clothing was too clean, too new, too expensive-looking to be owned by a working rancher.

  Gabe shook the man’s hand and then turned his attention to the daughter.

  “Beautiful,” he said rather dumbly as he shook her hand.

  Behind her mirrored designer sunglasses, Bonita looked at him in surprise. “I’m sorry?”

  “Your name. It means beautiful in Spanish, doesn’t it? That’s about the only word, other than hola and adios, that I can seem to remember from high school Spanish.”

  Bonita pulled her hand back, her full lips unsmiling. “Yes. My parents took a gamble on that one.”

  No gam
ble at all, as far as Gabe could see. He had ranched all of his life and had made a good living training and transporting high-priced horses across the country. He’d met a lot of women along the way. None had been as lovely, to his eyes, as Bonita. Her sable-colored hair, wavy and worn loose down to her narrow waist, framed her oval face in the most lovely way; the light, occasional breeze sent tendrils of hair dusting across her tawny cheeks.

  Gabe liked how slender her fingers looked as she tucked those wayward strands behind her ear. And he noted that she wasn’t wearing a wedding or engagement ring on her left hand. Her handshake had been firm and strong, belying how delicate her hand seemed to be. This was a woman confident in her own skin, who seemed unafraid to assert herself in a man’s world.

  “Do you have a minute to talk some business?” George asked him.

  Gabe caught Bonita glancing at his bare chest and stomach and fastened a couple of buttons to appear more suitable for mixed company. Everything about Bonita read class act—from her polished black riding boots to the well-tailored fawn-colored breeches that hugged her hips and shapely legs to the brilliant diamond stud earrings and matching diamond tennis bracelet.

  He was sweaty and dirty and had no doubt that he’d made a less-than-sterling first impression with this woman.

  “I’ve got a minute.” Gabe gave a nod. “Can I get you folks something to drink?”

  “No. Thank you.” George checked his phone briefly before he continued. “We don’t want to impose on you.”

  “No imposition.” They walked together to stand in the shade of one of the large ponderosa pine trees near his cabin. “What can I do for you?”

  “I’m not sure you can do anything for us, actually,” Bonita said, her head turned away from him, her arms crossed in front of her body. Her body language wasn’t difficult to read—she wanted to leave.

  George glanced at her before he said, “We’ve got a horse back East that we need brought to Montana. He’s a graduation present...” George smiled proudly at his daughter “...and your brother told me that you’re the best transporter in the business.”

  “I don’t know about the best, but I know what it takes to get a horse home safe.” Gabe spoke to both of them, even though it seemed to him that Bonita had already made up her mind about him. “Which of my brothers has been bragging about me? My pop had a litter.”

  George had an easy smile; his daughter, from Gabe’s brief experience, did not.

  “Dr. Brand,” George said. “He was out at our place for my wife’s horse. Your brother is one of the most competent vets I’ve ever seen—and I’ve seen my share.” The man pointed at him. “That’s why I’m inclined to believe him about you.”

  “I’ve been hauling horses for the better part of my life.”

  Bonita had been looking everywhere but at him. “This isn’t just any horse.” That’s when she looked at him. “Vested Interest is an Oldenburg. He’s seventeen hands tall.” She nodded her head toward his two-horse trailer. “That trailer is way too small.”

  As pretty as this woman was, Gabe bristled at the condescension in her tone. It was coming across to him that she thought he was a dumb cowboy who didn’t know one horse from the next. He didn’t bother to tell her that he’d trained Oldenburgs along the way—what would be the point? Yes, he could always use the business, but he wasn’t going to grovel at the feet of the princess to get it.

  Flatly, he said, “I don’t transport long-distance in that trailer.”

  “You have your rig here?” George seemed to want to get the discussion back on track.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’d like to see it,” George said with a bit of resolve in his tone. “If that’s not too much trouble.”

  “I’ve got a minute.”

  Gabe loved his long-distance rig and loved to show it off. And his bruised ego made him want to prove to the princess that he wasn’t some ignorant yokel. It had taken him years to build his reputation; he didn’t need Bonita bad-mouthing him in the high-end horse community.

  “Where’s the horse?”

  “Northern Virginia,” George told him. “Every day we board him in Virginia is another dollar we burn.”

  Bonita trailed behind them as they walked the short distance to an oversize garage.

  “I hear that,” Gabe said with a nod. “Virginia’s pretty country.”

  “Yes, it is,” George agreed. “But nothing like this land right here. This is God’s country.”

  They reached the large garage Gabe had custom-built to house his trailer. “I can’t argue with you there.” He pushed the heavy door open and flipped on a light switch.

  George whistled, long and appreciative. “Now, that’s a fine setup!”

  “Thank you,” Gabe said. “She’s my pride and joy.”

  It had taken him several years to save up enough money to put a down payment on this customized, midnight blue, luxury Equine Motorcoach. It had been his dream to own one, and it still felt a little surreal every time he took it out on the road.

  George was sold—Gabe could see that. He’d earned the man’s business. But he couldn’t be sure of the daughter. While George set off toward the back of the long rig, Gabe was left with Bonita, who had been standing just inside of the garage in silence. He turned to face her, and that’s when he saw that the lovely woman had had a slight shift in opinion of him.

  Bonita slipped her sunglasses to the top of her head. The expression on her face said it all: she was impressed. Their eyes met; Gabe was immediately drawn in to rich, mahogany brown.

  “This is unexpected,” she told him in a blunt manner, her eyes back on the rig.

  He decided not to be offended. After all, Little Sugar Creek was purposefully humble. The main house at Sugar Creek was a statement of the wealth his father had amassed, but Gabe didn’t need anything fancy. He just needed comfort, function and easy-to-care-for, because he spent a good deal of his time on the road.

  “All right.” Bonita’s body language, her tone, as well as the expression on her face, had all softened, signaling to him that she had decided to give him a chance to earn her business. “I’d like a tour.”

  * * *

  “Hi, Mom.” Bonita smiled fondly at her mother on video chat. “How are you feeling today?”

  “I miss you, mija,” her mother said, affectionately calling her “my daughter” in Spanish.

  “I miss you, too, Mom. I’ll be home soon.”

  Today was the day that Bonita had been waiting for—Vested Interest was going to begin the journey from Virginia to Montana. In advance of the trip, she had taken her father’s personal private jet to Washington, DC, her old stomping grounds, and had a chance to visit with friends and go out on the town. Oh, how she missed living close to the nation’s capital.

  “I’ve got to go, Mom. Jill is driving me and we’re almost there.”

  “Hi, Mom!” her friend Jill called out from the driver’s side.

  One last “I love you” to her mom and Bonita ended the video chat. With a wistful sigh, she admired the Virginia landscape. “I miss it here so much,” she told her friend. Montana was picturesque, but as far as Bonita was concerned, that’s all that was in the plus column. Other than that, it was desolate, backward-thinking and boring.

  “We miss you!” Jill exclaimed. “Last night was long overdue.”

  “Agreed.”

  Bonita had attended graduate school at George Washington University, located in the heart of Washington, DC, and had made so many good friends along the way. Many of her friends, like Jill, went on to take jobs in Congress or went on to attend law school.

  Bonita’s plan had been to go to law school and then pursue a career in politics. But that was before her mother was diagnosed with an incurable, degenerative illness, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. That devastating diagnosis changed the trajectory of Bo
nita’s life.

  Her mother, Evelyn, had dreamed of retiring to Montana. With time not on their side, her father retired early, putting the day-to-day operations of his lucrative consulting business in the hands of a chief operating officer, and bought his wife the ranch of her dreams just outside Bozeman, Montana.

  Bonita, who had decided to change majors and prepared herself to attend medical school, decided to take an extended break after graduate school to help care for her mother. It hadn’t been a difficult decision to make, but living in Montana had been a hard change for Bonita. She missed her cosmopolitan life—she missed her friends.

  “Darn it,” Jill complained. “It looks like we’re here already. This visit was too short!”

  “I know,” Bonita agreed. She had thought she would get back to DC much more frequently than had actually happened in reality. It was difficult not to feel a pinch of envy for all of her friends who on social media seemed to be having the time of their lives. While her life seemed to have ground to a halt.

  Jill pulled through the gates of Prestige Farm, a state-of-the-art equestrian facility that had been Bonita’s home away from home for much of her teens and twenties. She didn’t have any reason to feel nervous, and yet her stomach felt a bit unsettled. She had never had to have one of her horses transported on a trip that would take over thirty hours. Maybe that was it. Or maybe, it was the thought of encountering Gabe Brand again.

  “Promise me.” Jill parked her Mercedes just outside the main office of Prestige Farm. “Promise me. You’ll come back for another, longer visit soon.”

  Bonita got out, lifted her suitcase out of the trunk and shut it. “I promise.”

  They hugged each other tightly, sad to be parting.

  “Besides, don’t you want to see Mark sooner than later?”

  Mark was a very handsome attorney who had been in their circle of friends for years; but this year, he was single. He had asked Bonita out for dinner her last night in DC and she had accepted, with the caveat that they were just two old friends sharing a meal. Mark had wanted to kiss her “good-night” and she had let him. It was the first kiss she had experienced since she broke things off with her college boyfriend; even a sweet kiss couldn’t change how she felt about starting a new relationship. For now, her focus needed to be her mother.