Lasso a Star

By Mary L. Briggs

Luke Bradley isn’t a cowboy...but he plays one on the big screen. So when he gets stuck in a flooded canyon, it’s not easy being heroic without a script. Enter Delaney, who ropes Luke from the river. With her uncle missing and cattle thieves on the loose, Delaney needs some rescuing herself. Can a cowgirl and a movie star outwit two dangerous rustlers–or will this real-life adventure end tragically?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary L. Briggs
• Release date: Jan 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465859341

Mary L. Briggs

Mary L. Briggs is a wife, mother, and registered nurse. She enjoys writing inspirational fiction and is also a free-lance writer. She has had two romance stories and one mini-mystery published in Woman's World Magazine. She enjoys reading, writing, studying American history, cooking, quilting, herb gardening, and crafting. Mary lives in a cordwood home in the Ouachita Mountains with her husband and two daughters. She also enjoys the company of five cats, a German Shepherd/Border Collie dog, and a flock of chickens.

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Lasso a Star

By Mary L. Briggs

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Mary L. Briggs

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This was Luke Bradley’s fifth time to die.

He dug his fingers into the trunk of the fallen oak tree, the only thing keeping him afloat in the flooded canyon. He’d slammed into it moments before on his hasty voyage down the creek waters. And right now, it was the only thing standing between him and instant death in the raging waves.

An old Styrofoam ice chest approached, something small and dark snagged on its handle. His hat! He wanted that hat. Risking everything, he reached out, grabbed it, and shoved it on his head. No matter what else happened, that hat was going down with him.

After all, he’d worn it the first time – the day Bat Masterson himself put a bullet through his heart during a Dodge City bank robbery. And it graced his head again two years later, when Wyatt Earp beat him to the draw on the hot, dusty streets of Tombstone.

The third time he died, he’d donned a fireman’s uniform, rushing into a blazing inferno to rescue a little girl from certain death. And then came his personal favorite: Texas Ranger Cole Patterson, saving a beautiful blond from the clutches of a serial killer. At the end of the film, he died in her arms, her lips touching his as he breathed his last.

That blue-eyed beauty had been on his arm at the opening of the film and he spent several glorious months believing himself to be in love with her. His mistake.

A shudder shook him as a wave of icy water filled his nose. A small tree sped by. He clenched his teeth as one of the branches ripped his cheek open. No doubt leaving the same kind of jagged scar heroes of the West so often sported.

Not that it mattered, since this time the danger was real. Sooner or later, he was going to drown in this raging muddy river. No director was going to yell cut and send in a double to take his place.

The searing pain in his shoulder told him it was going to be sooner than later. He couldn’t hold on forever. He clutched tighter to the tree and willed his mind to remember his last conversation with his mother.

You need this time alone with God. You’ve been living out there in a fairy tale, son. I raised you to be more than just some ‘pretty boy’, Luke Bradley. You talk to Him, just like I taught you. Do that and God will take care of everything else. Just give Him a chance.

And he had given her some smart-aleck answer.

But mom was always right. Please don’t finally be wrong, Mom.

He took a deep breath and screamed his last words. Well, here I am, God. Ready to talk? Can you hear me? I said, CAN YOU HEAR ME?

*****

Delaney Stewart stared at the sky as a crooked streak of lightning touched its fiery finger to a tall pine down along Black Panther Creek. A Roman candle of sparks showered into the air. She took a step back as another bellow of thunder rocked the narrow porch of the log cabin.

Sunny whined and pushed himself closer to her. Instinctively, she reached down and touched the clammy, yellow fur. Wet dog permeated the air and mixed with the smell of dampness. If Uncle Jack was there, he’d tell her to get yourself inside, girl.

But he wasn’t there. The canvas bags of clothes, the slept in cots, and the pot of cold coffee, along with the bacon grease in the iron skillet attested to the fact that he and Frank Wilson, the ranch hand, had spent at least one night in the two-room cabin.

We’ll be back in two days.

Today made five.

Riding up late yesterday, she’d been

Reviews for Lasso a Star

[benn9314 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A sweet love story that makes the ending all right