A Hero’s Haven Read online

  A HERO’S HAVEN

  A RESOLUTION RANCH NOVEL

  (Book 3)

  TESSA LAYNE

  Shady Layne Media

  www.tessalayne.com

  Copyright © 2018 by Tessa Layne

  EPUB Edition ISBN-13: 978-0-9991980-7-0

  Cover Art by Razzle Dazzle Design

  Published by Shady Layne Media

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, stored, or transmitted in any form or in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations included in critical articles and reviews. For information, please contact the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of copious amounts of wine, long walks, and the author’s overactive imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Meet the Heroes of Resolution Ranch

  Welcome to Prairie!

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  About Prarie Devil

  About the Cowboys of the Flint Hills Series

  Acknowledgements

  Meet the Heroes of RESOLUTION RANCH

  Inspired by the real work of Heroes & Horses… Chances are, someone you know, someone you love has served in the military. And chances are, they’ve struggled with re-entry into civilian life. The folks of Prairie are no different. With the biggest Army base in the country, Fort Riley, located in the heart of the Flint Hills, the war has come home to Prairie.

  Join me as we finally discover Travis Kincaid’s story and learn how he copes in the aftermath of a mission gone wrong. Meet Sterling, who never expected to return to Prairie after he left for West Point. Fall in love with Cash as he learns to trust himself again. Laugh with Jason and Braden as they meet and fall in love with the sassy ladies of Prairie. Same Flint Hills setting, same cast of friendly, funny, and heartwarming characters, same twists and surprises that will keep you up all night turning the pages.

  A HERO’S HONOR – Travis Kincaid & Elaine Ryder (On Sale Now)

  A HERO’S HEART – Sterling Walker & Emma Sinclaire (On Sale Now)

  A HERO’S HAVEN – Cash Aiken & Kaycee Starr (On Sale Now)

  A HERO’S HOME – Jason Case & Millie Prescott (Coming June 2018)

  A HERO’S HOPE – Braden McCall & Luci Cruz (Coming 2018)

  WELCOME TO PRAIRIE!

  Where the cowboys are sexy as sin, the women are smart and sassy, and everyone gets their Happily Ever After!

  Prairie is a fictional small town in the heart of the Flint Hills, Kansas – the original Wild West. Here, you’ll meet the Sinclaire family, descended from French fur-trappers and residents of the area since the 1850s. You’ll also meet the Hansens and the Graces, who’ve been ranching in the Flint Hills since right before the Civil War.

  You’ll also meet the heroes of Resolution Ranch, the men and women who’ve put their bodies on the line serving our country at home and abroad.

  Prairie embodies the best of western small town life. It’s a community where family, kindness, and respect are treasured. Where people pull together in times of trial, and yes… where the Cowboy Code of Honor is alive and well.

  Every novel is a stand-alone book where the characters get their HEA, but you’ll get to know a cast of secondary characters along the way.

  Get on the waiting list for Prairie Devil and the rest of the Cowboys of the Flint Hills

  Additional books in the series:

  PRAIRIE HEAT – Blake Sinclaire & Maddie Hansen (on sale now!)

  PRAIRIE PASSION – Brodie Sinclaire & Jamey O’Neill (on sale now!)

  PRAIRIE DESIRE – Ben Sinclaire & Hope Hansen (on sale now!)

  PRAIRIE STORM – Axel Hansen & Haley Cooper (on sale now!)

  PRAIRIE FIRE – Parker Hansen & Cassidy Grace (on sale now!)

  PRAIRIE DEVIL – Colton Kincaid & Lydia Grace (coming April 24 2018)

  PRAIRIE FEVER – Gunnar Hansen & Suzannah Winslow (coming in 2018)

  PRAIRIE BLISS – Jarrod O’Neill & Lexi Grace

  PRAIRIE REDEMPTION – Cody Hansen & Carolina Grace

  COMING APRIL 24, 2018 – PRAIRIE DEVIL

  Will this Bad-Boy Cowboy reform his wild ways for the woman who keeps him awake at night?

  He’s the Devil she shouldn’t want

  Colton Kincaid has a chip on his shoulder. Thrown out of the house when he was seventeen by his brother, Travis, he scrapped his way to the top of the rodeo circuit riding broncs, and never looked back. Until a chance encounter with hometown good girl Lydia Grace leaves him questioning everything and wanting a shot at redemption.

  She’s the Angel he can never have

  All Lydia Grace needs is one break. After having her concepts stolen by a famous shoe designer, she returns home to Prairie to start a boot company on her own. But when her break comes in the form of Colton Kincaid, Prairie’s homegrown bad boy and rodeo star, she wonders if she’s gotten more than she’s bargained for.

  They say be careful what you wish for

  To get her boot company off the ground, Lydia makes Colton an offer too good to refuse, but he ups the ante. Will the bargain she strikes bring her everything she’s dreamed of and more, or did she just make a deal with the devil?

  Help a Hero – Read a Cowboy

  KISS ME COWBOY – A Box Set for Veterans

  Six Western Romance authors have joined up to support their favorite charity – Heroes & Horses – and offer you this sexy box set with Six Full Length Cowboy Novels, filled with steamy kisses and HEA’s. Grab your copy and help an American Hero today! All proceeds go to Heroes & Horses

  Visit www.tessalayne.com for more titles & release info

  Sign up for my Newsletter here

  Hang out with me! Join my Facebook Reader Group – Prairie Posse

  CHAPTER 1

  For the third time that morning, Cash Aiken’s hands began to shake, and not from the bitter cold. He scanned the hills, barren but for a scattering of trees, looking for any signs of movement, then shook off the feeling of dread constricting his breathing. This wasn’t Afghanistan. He was in the Flint Hills, where the buffalo roamed and the deer and the antelope played and all that jazz. Freezing his ass off on a six-hundred-fifty-mile trek along the Santa Fe trail. In January. On a newly gentled mustang he’d only met and learned to ride a month ago. Happy Fucking New Year.

  Travis Kincaid, the reason he was on this crazy trek, trotted up beside him. “We’re gonna stop on the other side of this rise for lunch. You okay with that?”

  Keeping his eyes glued on the horizon, Cash nodded once.

  Travis spurred his horse ahead and called out over his shoulder. “Only another twenty minutes. We can do it.”

  Cash shuddered and inhaled deeply, searc
hing for calm. It was only a sense of loyalty to Travis and the slain members of his unit that kept his ass in the saddle. He’d made promises and to date, he’d done a piss poor job of keeping them. But Travis was the kind of leader you followed into the brink. The kind of man who kept everyone focused on the mission and getting everyone out safely, even when that mission went FUBAR.

  An icy blast of wind pummeled him and he flinched as a tree branch snapped in the distance, clattering to the ground. Cash lifted his gaze to Sterling Walker, who rode maybe a dozen yards ahead. The guy seemed perfectly at ease on a horse. At peace with his surroundings. Why the fuck couldn’t he be like that? What kind of a man had he turned into, that he jumped at the slightest noise? He spurred his mount, Samson, into a trot and moved to catch up with Sterling. The irony that the weakest link had been assigned the strongest horse, wasn’t lost on him. How the mighty fall.

  Sterling gazed at him steadily as he pulled alongside. “You okay, man? You look a little green around the gills.”

  “It’ll pass,” Cash answered gruffly. “Always does.” With the help of medication. But he didn’t know Sterling well enough to admit that. And it didn’t matter anyway since Travis had trashed his stash of pills before bringing him to Resolution Ranch. Company helped. Gave him something to focus on besides the rising panic.

  “You should take a walk when we break for lunch,” Sterling suggested. “Work your muscles differently so you’re not as sore in the morning.”

  “Thanks.” Cash scrubbed a hand over his beard, nodding. He hadn’t shaved since… his little problem with loud noises had nearly cost a pretty lady her life. He shuddered, pushing the memory back down into the dark recesses of his mind. That part of his life was over. He’d washed out. No security or black-ops team would ever look at him again. Not after what happened last summer. The best he could hope for was to piece himself back together with a wing and a prayer. And the occasional shot of whiskey until such time as he found his mojo. God help him, he had to find it. He couldn’t go on living like this. A shell of a man. Barely even existing.

  Relief flooded through him as they pulled to a stop. By the time he’d watered and tended to Samson, his hands started to shake again. Grabbing Samson’s favorite nubby groomer out of his pack, he slipped his hand through the loop and began to work his way down the horse’s body. Lately, it had been the only thing that eased the shaking – placing his focus entirely on Samson. But today, his mind scattered in a thousand directions. None of them good. Forcing his lungs to take in a deep pull of the icy air, Cash tried again for calm. “How’m I gonna do this, buddy?” He murmured to the horse. “It’s only day one.”

  “Makes BUD/S look easy, doesn’t it?”

  Of course Travis would materialize out of nowhere. The man gave new meaning to the word stealth. Cash nodded, throat suddenly hot and tight. “I’m not sure I can do this,” he mumbled, threading his fingers through Samson’s mane.

  Travis clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Eyes up, Cash.”

  Heat flaming his chest, he met Travis’s sure, steady gaze. The man was unflappable. He’d always been the coolest head on the team.

  “You can, and you will. I’m not leaving anyone behind. And we’ll go as slow as you need, if that’s what you need.”

  “But–”

  Travis raised a hand, shaking his head. “No one’s quitting. We’re in this together. Minute by minute, until the minutes make an hour.”

  “And the hours make a day,” Cash finished, recalling one of the mantras they’d come up with during BUD/S to keep one another from ringing the bell.

  “Exactly. No quitting.”

  Cash squeezed Samson’s dark main. As hard as he squeezed, his chest squeezed harder, cutting off his air. “What if… what if I–” the words stuck in his throat.

  “What if you what? Fuck up? You already did that and you’re still here. Fall apart? Near as I can tell, you were doing that when I found you, a breath away from alcohol poisoning. And you’re still here. So what is it? What’s the big terrifying thing that has you forgetting your training and letting fear have the upper hand?”

  Anger ripped through him, white hot. “Fuck you, asshole.” What did he know about crippling panic attacks or not being able to breathe in a crowd? Travis had retired and jumped right into law enforcement.

  Travis laughed harshly. “For telling you what you already know? Have it your way. I will tie your sorry ass to Samson and drag you all the way to Santa Fe if I have to. No. One. Gets. Left. Behind.”

  “I should,” Cash whispered, hiding his face in Samson’s mane.

  Travis yanked on his shoulder and spun him around, eyes blazing. “I oughtta punch your lights out for a bullshit comment like that. You think you’re the only one? You think you’re some kind of special unicorn that deserves treatment with kid gloves? Fuck that, asshole. Sterling might be more comfortable with his ass in the saddle than you are, but he’s one of us. Did you take a close look at him? He buried a buddy just a few weeks ago. You’re afraid of falling apart? Of not coming out the other side? You’re the one who decides if you make it. You wanna live? You want another shot at making something of yourself? Then you decide. You get back on that horse, and you ride. And when you get off that horse, you put one foot in front of the other and you keep on walking. The ambush? Doesn’t determine who you are. Your fuck-up with that country star? Doesn’t determine who you are. Only you determine who you are, Cash. Only you.” Travis jammed his hands deep in his Carhartt. “Lunch is ready at the fire. Join us. Or not.” His eyes grew flinty, piercing Cash right to his soul. “You decide. And for the sake of Hamm and Jonas and Simms, I hope you choose right.” Giving him a final look that conveyed so much more than anger, Travis turned and headed for the fire.

  Cash tossed the groomer to the ground, watching it bounce away from the sack, and stared up at the gray sky, searching for answers to impossible questions among the snowflakes slowly spinning down. It was only lunch on the first day of their journey. How in the hell was he going to make it to Santa Fe?

  CHAPTER 2

  Kate Montgomery bit back a sigh as her mother swept into the living room, looking every bit the opera diva, followed closely by Franco DiAngelo, her booking agent. And, Kate strongly suspected, her mother’s lover. “Happy New Year, darling.”

  Kate raised her cheek to accept her mother’s air kiss, nose wrinkling at the scent of her powdery perfume.

  Helene Montgomery narrowed her gaze. “How late did you stay up? You have bags this morning.” She clucked her tongue. “You know how sleep deprivation affects the vocal folds.”

  Kate grimaced. It was New Year’s Eve, mom. But like a good patient, she held her tongue and instead, gave her mother a smile that felt more like a grimace. She refused to acknowledge Franco. Why was he even here? There were no concerts in her future.

  Across the room, her fiddle player and best friend, Cheyenne, cleared her throat. “We weren’t up that late, Mrs. Montgomery. Scout’s honor. Kate and I both turned in right after midnight.”

  Helene swung around. “Nothing is more important than Kaycee’s recovery. And as a trusted band member, I think you’d keep in mind that her recovery impacts your livelihood too.”

  Cheyenne arched a brow and lifted a shoulder. “Sorry to disappoint you, Mrs. Montgomery, but I was in demand before I met Kate, and I’ll keep playing gigs with or without her. I think you have more to lose from Kate’s prolonged recovery than me.”

  Kate gave a silent cheer, heart swelling at the way Cheyenne never backed down from a fight with Helene. And Helene Montgomery was a force of nature. Iron-willed and unstoppable once she decided she wanted something. It had been that iron will which had propelled the name Kaycee Starr to the top of the country charts years ago, and where it still sat, months after she’d gone to ground to recover from vocal surgery away from the prying eyes of the press.

  Helene stiffened. “I have nothing but Kaycee’s best interest at heart.”

 
; Cheyenne crossed her arms, eyes flashing. “Is that so?” She cocked her chin at Franco who lingered at the edge of the room, clearly uncomfortable. “How much money did you and Frankie here lose from the last round of canceled concerts? Five, ten million?”

  The accusation spurred Franco to action. “I think it’s time you left, Cheyenne. We have a spring tour to plan.”

  She ignored him, prodding Helene. “All I’ve heard for months is talk about Kaycee’s return to the stage. No concern about your daughter? What about Kate’s best interests, Mrs. Montgomery? How do you think it feels having to hide from the press permanently camped at the edge of the drive? Having to sneak out of the house in disguise to get to the doctor? Hardly speaking, for months? Not to mention the gossip? Everyone in the biz knows something’s up.”

  They had for months. And they circled like sharks at the first hint of blood. First it had been the increased security presence when an obsessed fan had crossed the line. Then it had been her sudden disappearance, followed by a string of canceled tours. But her mother had insisted bad press was better than no press, and that her name in the tabloids was responsible for her continued success while she convalesced.

  Helene started toward Cheyenne. “Now look here, young lady–”

  Enough. Kate slapped her hands on the coffee table, banging until both women turned with a start. “Stop,” she called hoarsely.

  Helene’s eyes widened in shock. “Don’t talk. You’ll ruin your voice.”

  Kate would have laughed if it didn’t hurt so much. Each visit to the doctor further dimmed the hope she’d clung to all these months that she’d be back to normal soon. She gesticulated wildly, letting her frustration come out in her hands.

  Helene pressed her lips together, shaking her head vehemently. “You just need a few more months of vocal rest.”

  And then what? Months of speech therapy? Walking on eggshells, living in terror that a laugh, a cough, would put her back in the doctor’s chair? How in the hell could she get through a set, let alone a concert like that? She couldn’t. Grabbing her hair and shaking her head in a silent scream, she rose, running through the expansive room, not seeing the floor to ceiling windows that looked through the trees to the meadow and the pond below. Down the hall to the kitchen, the friendliest room in the lonely house, to where she’d left her notebook.