Missing Family: A Chandler County Novel

by Cherime MacFarlane

Genres: Small Town & Rural; Second Chance Romance; Second Chance Romance

Synopsis

With no family now, the girl he chased away is Johnny's last hope.
Last of Cherime MacFarlane's Dane and Mullin family series
Johnny Dane, the heir, got knocked off the throne. Augie isn't his daddy. He hasn't a clue what to do now. With no relationship with the other Dane children, Johnny is hanging out in a cave in the woods.
Royce doesn't want the old place, Gentry lives in Alaska and Crystal married the sheriff. She doesn't need the land. Winter is on the way. The only family he has left is his momma, but he can't live with her. Momma is at the old Reynolds home place with Royce, who wants his hide nailed to a barn door.
Muriel ran from him years ago. All his fault. Never once has she tried to make contact. Will she help him now? Johnny is about to roll the dice on his last chance.

Release date: March 12, 2020

Publisher: Paper Gold Publishing

Print pages: 94

Content advisory: Steamy

Sample

 

The pungent smell of the bedding in the stall didn’t bother Muriel. She’d mucked out enough stalls over the years. The last of the old straw went in the wheelbarrow and she straightened. Warm in the barn, she had worked up a sweat.

Good weather for October, the temperature outside had risen to sixty-five. Before taking the load of manure out to the compost pile, she went to the tack room for a clean rag to wipe with. She didn’t need a fall cold.

Standing behind the big sliding doors, she glanced out into the sunny yard. She stilled and after a moment, took a step closer. The fingers of Muriel’s free hand went to the window. Out on the road, parked next to the fence… she knew the truck. “Johnny.”

The work could all wait for a while. Before someone went out there and demanded to know why he loitered around the gate, she had to get the man to move along. How in the hell had he found her? Then she recalled what her mother had said about a break-in. They figured either Johnny or Augie did it. At the time, they thought the thief didn’t get anything. Her mother had been wrong. Johnny got her address.

The brood mare had an even disposition and would be fine in the paddock. This couldn’t wait. With the ragged towel draped over her shoulder, Muriel slid the door open and started down the drive.

She watched him open the passenger door and put something on the seat. Binoculars. This would not do. Her employer didn’t need to be bothered with the drama and neither did she.

John Dane hadn’t changed much. Still tall and lean, his dark hair was a little longer now and his perpetually tanned skin had grown even darker. His shoulders might have filled out a little. As she got closer, Muriel noted one big change. His usual smirk seemed to have vanished. She understood why.

At the end of the truck’s bed, she stopped. “Johnny, what are you doing here?”