And Then There Was You

By Jill Gregory

*From NYT Bestselling Author Jill Gregory*

An original novella first published in the anthology Masters of Seduction.
Beautiful Georgianna Daughtry returns to Lost Gulch, Wyoming to attend a retirement banquet in honor of her old friend Judge Morgan -- only to find that her childhood friend, the Judge's estranged son, Gabe, is back in Lost Gulch as well. Now a gunfighter, Gabe believes his father's old enemy might show up at the celebration to cause trouble, and he is determined to protect the Judge -- and Georgianna. What he doesn't expect to find is that the wild, scrappy tomboy he'd befriended -- and kissed -- years ago is now a stunning redheaded beauty who might make him rethink his gunfighting ways and draw him back to the roots of the small town and family he thought he'd left behind for good.

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"Jill Gregory crafts stories against the backdrop of the Wild West and creates characters so real they are easy to understand and empathize with. She bases her romances on how her characters learn to trust in the power of love to heal and ease away the pain of the past. Her faith in love renews our own. Thank you for this invaluable lesson Ms. Gregory". -- Romantic Times
"For tales of romance and adventure that keep you reading into the night, look no further than Jill Gregory." -- Nora Roberts

"Jill Gregory is an amazing talent with an ability to draw you in and create a world that not only seems absolutely real but makes you hate to see the story end." -- Catherine Anderson, New York Times bestselling author

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jill Gregory
• Release date: Mar 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301711000

Book preview

And Then There Was You

A Novella

by Jill Gregory

Copyright 2013 Jill Gregory at Smashwords.

All rights reserved. No part of this book, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews, may be reproduced in any form by any means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission from the author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, business establishments, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

CHAPTER ONE

Cougar Creek

Wyoming Territory, 1877

Tumbleweed skittered down the dust-caked street. A roaring drunk barreled out of the Last Chance Saloon. And there was a slight commotion going on in the alley behind Cooper’s General Store. Gabe Morgan knew he should just keep walking.

He had someplace he had to be and he didn’t have time to fight anyone or shoot anyone or deal with the law. Not now. So he tried to ignore the three bushwhackers roughing up the well-dressed Easterner in the gritty alley behind Cooper’s. But when a stout woman in a dove-gray gown emerged from the hotel, saw the commotion, and began to scream, rushing toward the dark-suited man being shoved around the alley, he stopped dead.

Sure enough, one of the low-down hombres ducked out of the fight and gave her a shove, and Gabe knew then he was going to be late getting where he was going.

The gunslinger moved like lightning, his tall frame and long legs covering the ground between the planked boardwalk and the alley in less than five seconds. He slugged the barrel-chested man who’d shoved the woman, sent him spinning to the ground, and drew his gun faster than a blackbird’s blink on the other two scumbags.

Thomas! the woman cried when she saw the bloody nose of the man in the fancy three-piece suit. Throwing herself at him with a small moan of dismay, she clutched at his arm. Oh, Thomas, you’re hurt! I knew we should never have come to this awful town!

You two folks all right? Gabe asked in his deep, calm voice. The three no-goods who’d wanted to have some sport with the Easterner glared at him as if they’d like to stake him out in the desert sun.

Thanks to you, sir, the man gasped, slipping an arm around his wife’s ample waist. I... I don’t know who you are, but you have my thanks.

And mine, the woman said breathlessly, her voice shaking. Her pale blue eyes blinked rapidly.

Pleasure, ma’am. Why don’t you folks go on your way now? These dirt bags won’t be troubling you anymore.

He didn’t take his gaze off the three vermin as the man and woman rushed off toward the hotel.

Look, I don’t know who you are either, Mister— The man he’d punched scrambled to his feet, moving fast for a big-boned galoot. One dirty fist scooped up his hat and plopped it back on his head. His heavy-jowled face was mottled with fury, but before he could say another word, the thinner of his two companions grabbed his arm.

Shut up, Verne. That’s Gabe Morgan.

Verne stiffened. A shadow of fear flashed in his sunken, beetle-black eyes. The thin man, whose long, narrow features resembled those of a wild fox, trained an uneasy gaze on Gabe’s Colt. But the third man, whose stringy, sand-colored hair fell almost to his shoulders and looked like it hadn’t been washed in a month of Sundays, didn’t look scared. He looked furious. His chest rose and fell rapidly beneath his frayed plaid shirt, and rage burned in his needle-sharp eyes the color of cow dung.

I don’t care who you are, you got no damn business interferin’! he yelled. With those words he went for his gun, but before it was fully drawn from his holster, Gabe shot him twice in his gun arm. The man screamed and dropped his pistol. The other two dove at Gabe, but he swiftly slammed his gun against Verne’s head and punched Foxface with a powerful blow that sent him spinning face-down into the dirt. Then he heard someone outside the general store yelling, Somebody git the sheriff!

Yep, Gabe thought in resignation. Going to be late. No damn help for it. One more thing the old man’ll hold against me. He kept his Colt aimed and steady, his keen, slate-gray eyes pinned on the small-town bullies now gasping and moaning and staring up at him from the ground.

He hadn’t seen his father in at least ten years. And that weighed on his mind more than facing down a dozen men like these three. Out of the blue, he wondered if Georgianna would be at his father’s party too.

Now where the hell had that come from?

Warm memories of the carrot-haired tomboy he’d befriended one summer popped into his head. It had been quite a while since he’d thought of her. He’d only known her a short time—they hadn’t corresponded in years—but he’d never really forgotten about her. She and her grandmother both thought the sun rose and set with his father.

Yep, they’d be there.

Most likely neither of ‘em will even speak to me, he reflected ruefully. But he wasn’t going all the way to Lost Gulch to renew old friendships. He was going there to save his father’s life.

He heard rushing footsteps and caught a glimpse of

Reviews for And Then There Was You

[benn9314 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A sweet story about another family in the early American frontier