Stella Bagwell - The Heiress and the Sheriff

THE TEXAS TATTLER

All the news that’s barely fit to print!

Police Scour Sperm Bank Records

For Mother of Mystery Fortune Heir

A Red Rock “scandal avalanche” hit Texas last month when the results of a DNA test declared millionaire family man Dr. Matthew Fortune the father of a child abandoned and left in the care of his own famous ranching clan. Insider sources confirm that he and wife Claudia have separated.

Amidst the rubble of his marriage, Matthew holds firm to his assertion of marital fidelity and offers only his donation to a California sperm bank while in medical school as possible explanation. Records of sperm bank pregnancies have so far failed to provide a possible mother for the child, Taylor Fortune.

Also on the Fortune front…Ryan Fortune’s money-hungry, estranged wife, Sophia, was spotted in a heated lovers’ quarrel in the very public lobby of the Palace Lights Hotel…but not with her hubby. Looks like Ryan just stumbled upon some fuel for that inferno they’re calling a divorce.

Speaking of fire…the red-hot combustion between fearless man-in-blue Sheriff Wyatt Grayhawk and new-beauty-in-town Gabrielle Carter is sending smoke signals swirling around Red Rock. Too bad the only thing Gabrielle can remember is her name—but everyone’s calling her Grayhawk’s Lady!

About the Author

STELLA BAGWELL

sold her first book to Silhouette in November 1985. More than fifty novels later, she still loves her job and says she isn’t completely content unless she’s writing. Recently, she and her husband of thirty years moved from the hills of Oklahoma to Seadrift, Texas, a sleepy little fishing town located on the coastal bend. Stella says the water, the tropical climate and the seabirds make it a lovely place to let her imagination soar and to put the stories in her head down on paper.

She and her husband have one son, Jason, who lives and teaches high school math in nearby Port Lavaca.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Meet the Fortunes of Texas

Wyatt Grayhawk: The rugged sheriff didn’t trust strangers, especially the young lady who claimed to have no memory and found a haven on the Fortune ranch. But would Wyatt’s mission to uncover Gabrielle’s past be sidetracked by the allure of the mysterious beauty?

Gabrielle Carter: She didn’t know who she was or why she had come to Texas. Although she knew she shouldn’t fall for a man who doubted her intentions, she couldn’t deny the longings of her heart.

Clint Lockhart: He had a lifelong obsession for revenge on the Fortunes and he’d do whatever it took to get a piece of their family empire.

Hannah Cassidy: When Ryan Fortune proposed to Hannah’s mother, Lily, this daughter-of-the-bride decided to plan the perfect Texas wedding. Little did Hannah know that she would soon be meeting the groom of her dreams….

To my family, and all our unforgettable trips to Texas.

There have been many, and hopefully there will be many more.

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

Gabrielle Carter gripped the steering wheel, certain the next bend in the road would bring her in view of the Double Crown Ranch. But the curve only opened up to more gentle rolling pastures shaded with huge oaks and dotted with fat, sleek cattle.

She’d never been to Texas. The massive size of the state had surprised her—along with the heat. When she’d stopped earlier in San Antonio for gas, the humidity had been oppressive. Her blouse was still glued to her back, and she didn’t have to look in a mirror to know her hair was hanging in limp strands on her shoulders.

She probably should have stayed in San Antonio long enough to rent a room and freshen up before she presented herself at the Fortune family ranch. But she’d already been traveling for nearly four days. Now that her destination was so close she was determined to drive on.

Sweat slicked her palms and her mouth was so dry she could hardly swallow, but Gabrielle knew neither condition was caused by the heat outside the closed windows of her car. She was nervous. Desperately nervous. And as the rental car traveled deeper into the countryside, her mother’s words of warning continued to roll through her mind.

I forbid you to go there, Gabrielle! Those people—that family—they’re not what you think. They’re nothing to you! You’re only going to get yourself into a lot of trouble. And when you do, don’t expect me to come after you!

Gabrielle’s sigh was drowned out by the twangs of country music on the radio. Maybe the Fortunes were nothing to her, she mused. After all, she was a total stranger who lived more than a thousand miles away. Showing up on their doorstep unannounced was probably going to look strange.

Peculiar-looking or not, though, she had to take that chance. Gabrielle tried to swallow the growing lump in her throat.

The road made another slight bend around a group of ancient oaks, and her heart suddenly raced with anticipation. In the far distance she could see a group of buildings. It had to be the Double Crown Ranch. At last! Eagerly she leaned forward and pressed harder on the accelerator. Who was she finally going to meet? What would she say—?

The questions in her head roared to an abrupt halt. A black horse suddenly galloped out of the trees. It wore a saddle, but there was no rider to guide its crazy trek.

Oh, Lord, it was headed straight at her car!

A scream ripped from her throat. She stomped the brake pedal and jerked the steering wheel. Instantly the car spun into a wild skid, and broken images whirled in her vision. The black horse, the green grass and trees, the blue sky all blurred together like an abstract painting.

Frantically she twisted the wheel, any second expecting to hear the sickening thud of metal against animal flesh. Miraculously, the car managed to miss the startled horse. But Gabrielle could see the massive tree coming straight at her, and too late she remembered she’d not buckled her seat belt. The impact came before she had time to brace herself. She felt her whole body being pitched forward, and then something hard slammed against her forehead.

Seconds, or minutes, could have passed before Gabrielle returned to consciousness. Hot dusty carpet was pressed against her face. Her legs were twisted awkwardly beneath the steering wheel. Pain hammered behind her eyes and burned like a torch at the back of her skull.

With great effort she pushed herself upright until she was half sitting, half kneeling in the seat. Lifting a hand to her forehead, she tried to focus on her surroundings, but her vision was so blurry she could hardly make out her own fingers.

She’d hit her head. But how? she wondered. Where was she? The pain in her head was so great she could hardly think.

All at once her fuzzy brain managed to register the sickening smell of gasoline. It was all around her, robbing her breath in the tightly closed car.

It took Gabrielle three attempts to get the door open. Once it finally swung wide, she practically fell into the hot, humid air. Outside, she leaned for long moments against the crumpled fender while everything swam around her like an out-of-control carnival ride.

Even outside the vehicle the smell of gasoline was heavy. She had to get away from the foul stench. She had to find someone—anyone—to help her.

Grass, thick and deep, tangled around her ankles as she stumbled away from the car. With each step, her shaky legs threatened to give way, but she forced herself to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

By the time she reached a narrow dirt road, her vision had cleared somewhat, but the pain in her head was still just as fierce. She touched the pads of her fingers against her forehead and felt something wet and gooey. Blood? Had she been in a car wreck? Oh, God, someone help me, she prayed.

“Are you all right?”

The faint sound of a female voice penetrated Gabrielle’s terror, and she turned toward the sound. A petite, dark-haired woman was running toward her. She was panting heavily, and her dark eyes were glazed with fear.

“Who—are you? What happened to me?”

The woman stepped forward and took Gabrielle by the arm. “I’m Maggie Perez Fortune. Here, let me help you get to some shade. My horse bolted away from me and ran right in front of your car. You swerved to miss him and then your car went out of control.”

“My car?” she repeated vaguely.

Maggie Fortune motioned behind them. Gabrielle glanced over her shoulder just in time to see a car burst into giant flames.

“Oh, no!” she gasped.

“Oh, God!” Maggie cried. “I’ve got to call for help!”

The woman helped Gabrielle to the closest tree, where she sank to the ground and leaned weakly against the trunk. She watched the dark-haired woman punch numbers on a cell phone. Where was this place? Gabrielle wondered. She felt so lost, so totally blank.

Though her vision had cleared somewhat, everything was still blurred at the edges. She was obviously out in the countryside somewhere. The grass was green and long—a meadow. And the air was heavy and hot. Very hot.

She glanced back at the burning car. It was totally engulfed in fire now, the flames licking high enough to scorch the overhanging branches of the tree she’d crashed into.

Where had she been going? Where had she come from?

The questions made her head ache even worse, and she dropped her face in her hands and tried to calm the fear that was threatening to consume her.

Her name was Gabrielle Carter. She knew that much. Surely the rest would come to her when the pounding in her head stopped.

She didn’t know if she dozed or fainted, but some time later, the sound of Maggie’s voice roused her.

“Help should be here very soon.” Kneeling down beside her, the woman pulled a white handkerchief from her jeans pocket and dabbed away the blood on Gabrielle’s forehead.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“I don’t think so. My head hurts so badly I can’t think. Where am I?”

The woman’s lovely features, which looked to be part Mexican, crumpled into a frown. “You mean, you don’t know?”

Gabrielle shook her head. “I’m sorry. I—don’t. I have no idea where I am or where I’ve come from.”

“You’re on the Double Crown Ranch, in Texas. You don’t remember driving out here?”

She didn’t remember anything! The state of Texas meant nothing to her. Her mind was black, and she was terrified.

“No! Oh, God, what am I going to do?”

The woman gently took her hand and squeezed it.

“Please don’t worry. It will all come back to you, I’m sure.”

She had barely spoken the words when the sound of a siren wailed in the distance. Gabrielle watched with hopeless despair as a fire engine pulled to a stop near the burning car. Two firemen quickly spilled out of the cab, and in a matter of seconds they were dousing the flames with a high-pressure hose hooked up to a water tank.