Cowboy Fallin' In Love Again (EBOOK)

Montgomery Miller, known to his kids and the townsfolk as Papa, rarely leaves his million-dollar ranch. When he does, it’s only to volunteer at one of the schools or attend a special event. He loves his children and his ranch life. If you ask him, he’d say his life is wonderful. If you ask his kids, they’d tell you he’s hiding away after losing his beloved wife 10 years ago to cancer.

And it really is time he get back to living again. But how do you help a man stuck in the past?

Then Papa meets the town librarian. And feelings surface that he hasn’t felt in years.

Jeanette has intentionally made herself a hermit. Her husband passed away suddenly, before they could even start a family, and now she’s afraid to have her heart broken again.

Then she meets the town’s silver-haired, most-eligible bachelor, who is her age and happens to possess a dry wit she finds endearing. Too bad he’s letting the past stand in their way of love…

Can Montgomery and Jeanette heal enough to move forward, before their second chance at love is lost?

TROPES
✅ Later in Life Romance
✅ Rich but Humble Cowboy
✅ Widowed
✅ Second Chance at Love
✅ A Love Story for the Miller Cowgirls' Dad!
✅ Happily-Ever-After

Author’s Note:
Brides of Miller Ranch N.M. is a spin-off series of my two best-selling series Brothers of Miller Ranch and Miller Brothers of Texas. Fans have liked the Miller brothers so much, I decided to write a final set about their cousins in New Mexico! This new series is all about the next Miller family who own a smaller ranch (compared to the Montana and Texas Millers) and this time, it’s about cowgirls finding their dream men. Each book can be read as a standalone, but are better read in order. Download a Brides of Miller Ranch, N.M. eBook today and come on this sweet cowgirl journey with me!

After purchasing, this EBOOK bundle will be delivered instantly via Bookfunnel email.

Chapter One

Papa

Cast a line, reel it in, maybe feel a bite, rinse and repeat.


Montgomery Miller, better known as Papa Miller to pretty much everyone in their entire state, let himself relax bit by bit.


Not that his life was stressful. He recognized that he led a blessed existence, but that didn’t mean his family didn’t have their own troubles. And the biggest trouble for the past four years or so had been Eric.
Charity’s ex was a weasel of a man. It was one thing for their marriage to not work out. It was another entirely for him to cheat on her, break her heart, and then blame it all on her.
He was a terrible excuse for a human—that was for certain.
Thankfully, his brother still had a great team of lawyers on retainer despite retiring, and they’d more than handled Eric in the courts. Too bad he still constantly tried to get in touch with Charity. He was determined, that one.


Letting out another long breath, he cast again. He didn’t get away from the manor often, mostly because he loved being home, but every now and then he needed to get out and fish, hunt, or gather.


He knew that his family was wealthy enough to never need to make their own food, but he felt it was a part of his heritage that was incredibly important to him. All the fortunes of his family came from the land and the animals they raised, and while Montgomery had no desire to pursue the large businesses of his two siblings, he still wanted to honor his heritage.


Besides, he found peace in the garden. Peace and memories that he never wanted to get rid of.


But then his phone rang, interrupting the quiet. Papa considered ignoring it. After all, everyone knew that he preferred to disconnect from the world on his mini getaways. But then again, since everyone knew that, it usually meant people only tried to contact him if it was important.


With that in mind, he answered it on the last ring.


“Hey there, Char—”


“Papa, Papa! You have to come back! You have to get here!”


He hadn’t heard his eldest sound so panicked in years, her voice skipping and full of sobs.

“Charity? What’s wrong!?”


“It’s Cass, Papa. There’s b-been an accident. You have to come home, Papa. They can’t get her out of her car.”


Montgomery Miller liked to think he was a capable fellow. That he’d gone through a lot and was good at dealing with many of the troubles life threw his way. But at his daughter’s words, the entire world fell out from under him.


“They what, Charity?”


“She’s upside down, and there’s water. There’s so much water! I-I-I-”


“I’m leaving now, Charity. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”


“O-okay. I’ll text you what hospital they take her to.”


“You do that, sweetheart.”


“I will, Papa, but please hurry.”


“As fast as I can.”


Without even taking the time to change, Papa left everything behind and rushed into his car. Words wouldn’t come to him, but neither did much else. All he knew was that his family needed him.


And his whole world was his family.

***

Charity flung herself into his arms the moment he stepped into the hospital room. He held her, held her so very tightly, and forced himself to keep his voice level.


“How’s…”


He trailed off when his eyes landed on the hospital bed, his heart stalling out in his chest when he realized that it was empty. For a moment, the worst fear in the world made his stomach clench and his blood turn to ice.


“She’s still in surgery,” Clara said quickly, seeming to know exactly where his mind went. She was always so perceptive, that one. He didn’t know if it was a quirk of hers or just a perk of being a middle child, but she was remarkable at reading her family. “She’s alive, she’s just…” Clara’s voice hitched too, and it was Charlie who comforted her, grabbing his sister’s hand in his and squeezing it. “She’s alive,” she repeated finally.


“Papa, I can’t lose her,” Charity cried into his chest, bringing his attention back to her. “She has to live! She’s too young. She’s too… too…” The small, upset sobs against his chest made Papa’s heart ache and his eyes water. Charity was always so strong, so untouchable; it was something heady to see her falling apart.


“It’s okay, sweetheart. She’s not going anywhere. She’s in surgery, and they already got her a room. They don’t get rooms for people who aren’t likely to make it out alive.”


He had no idea if that was actually true, but it had enough truth in it to pull his daughter back away from the edge.


“Y-you think so?”


“Yeah, I do. And I called Cici on the way here. She’s on a flight first thing tomorrow morning. We’re all gonna be here when Cass wakes up, and we’ll be here for her recovery.”


“Because there will be a recovery,” Clara said with determination, back ramrod straight. “There will.”


“Exactly.”


Although Papa kept his tone low, comforting, inside he wasn’t nearly so calm. That cold, biting grip of fear was quickly moving through him, sinking its fingers into his body until there was hardly a flicker of warmth in him.


He had been through this before, confronted with something terrible that was threatening to take away someone he loved dearly, someone wonderful and loving. He’d been there when she was taken away before her time, leaving a family of mourning and broken people.


And now he was going to have to do it again.


But Cass wasn’t sick. No, she was healthy as a horse and perhaps one of the most active of all his children. And yet she was in danger anyway. Held upside down in a car accident and partially submerged in water. Papa didn’t have the details, but he wasn’t sure he ever wanted them.


“Have any of you eaten?” he asked finally. Naturally, his children shook their heads. “I realize you’re not in the mood now, but I’m going to see if I can put in a special delivery order at one of the restaurants in town. Once Cass is here, I don’t imagine any of y’all will want to leave her, and I’m not having ya pass out on her.”


“Thank you, Papa,” Charity said miserably against his chest.


“Of course, it’s what I’m here for.”

***

Cass was in surgery for eight long hours. When she finally returned to the room, she was unconscious, and more metal and bandage than she was human.


The doctors said that she wasn’t going to be waking up anytime soon, that they were keeping her under until her next set of operations. Because she was going to need many.

Finally, Papa got the full story of what happened, and it… well, it wasn’t good.


But he listened, he took notes on his phone for everything he needed to know or look up, and he stayed with his children as they talked to Cass, picked at the food he had delivered, and eventually passed out one by one.


He waited until they were all well and truly out, including Charity, then snuck out of the room.


It was a testament to how little some things changed that he knew exactly where the chapel was. Even in all the years that had passed since Mama’s death, his body followed the same path like it was second nature.


It was silent when he entered, the small chapel entirely empty, and he slid into a pew.

Wordless, he sat there for a long while, until finally the tears welled up.


Then Papa cried. He cried and cried and cried, finally allowing all the fear and loss in his chest to spill out. It was a curse, really, to only be able to really let go when he was alone but then feeling ever so lonely once he was. But the truth was that he didn’t know if he could survive losing another beloved family member.


Because even after so many years, Mama was still largely a gaping wound in his chest. He loved her; there wasn’t a single day that he didn’t miss her. And even with her, they’d had time to come to terms with her death, time to prepare. Not a lot, but at least a little. If Cass died…


His cries turned into outright sobs, broken and guttural. He couldn’t outlive his child. That wasn’t right! What had his family done to deserve the never-ending loss? His little Sundance had to live. She had to!


“God, I ain’t never tried to bargain with you, ’cause I know that ain’t how it goes. But I’m begging you now. Please, please don’t take her. If you need a life, take mine. I’ve lived too long as it is, but my girls… my girls are just babies.”


Sure, Charity had been married and divorced. And Cici was about to complete her BA and was going right on to her master’s. But they were still his babies. All of them. So young and full of potential, their entire lives stretching out before them.


“I ain’t got nothing left to do, but Cass, you made her special. She has an entire world to conquer. Don’t cut that short, Lord, please. Please. If I’ve earned any of your grace, please, give me that. Give my family that.”


He dissolved into choking tears by the end, his throat thick. His faith was usually such a comfort to him, a glowing lifeline that he could grab whenever he was reeling too far from center. But at the moment, with his daughter fighting for her life, it sat like a burning poker in his chest.


He knew the proverb of Job. He knew that being good or kind didn’t guarantee an easy life. But Papa couldn’t help but wonder if he or an ancestor had done some sort of evil to have earned such strife.


Losing Mama, his darling, his beloved, had been the most damaging, trying experience of his family’s lives. She’d always believed that heaven was all around them, but watching her slowly wither, had made it seem like it was hell instead, burning and merciless around them.


He’d survived it, though. He’d trudged through for his children because they needed him, and even then, Charity had unintentionally picked up so much slack. And eventually, it had gotten to a point where he could do more than go through the motions. Where he could enjoy watching his children thrive and grow and become the wonderful people that they were.


But he didn’t know if he could make it through another loss like that. His brothers had always said he was the most sensitive of all of them. After all, he was the only one that hadn’t turned his inheritance into some thriving business that increased the family wealth. And maybe they were right. Montgomery Miller was a big ol’ softy, and unfortunately, the fine print of that was that it made his heart that much easier to tear apart.


“I can’t do this, God. I can’t. Please, don’t test my family like this.”


Normally, Papa could feel peace after a prayer, a sort of settled wholeness. But all he could feel right now was the silence and emptiness pressing in all around him.