Wishing For Love (Carson Hill Ranch: Book 5)

By Amelia Rose

A contemporary cowboy romance novel.
Gracie Billings is at odds with her life on Carson Hill Ranch. Having shown up with her sister six years ago as a scrawny, needy child, she has grown into a beautiful girl and a capable horsewoman. But everywhere she turns, she's thwarted in her attempts to contribute like a real cowboy.

Seamus Carson has practically grown up with Gracie and has always seen her as the kid sister that fate denied him. When he begins to realize that there's something special about Gracie, his fears of his family's reaction to the news keeps him from seeing her as anything more than the sister he's always picked on.

Will Seamus and Gracie admit their feelings for each other, or will they continue to deny themselves until the day it almost tears the family apart?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gold Crown
• Release date: May 31, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310521850

Amelia Rose

Amelia Rose holds a PhD in Literature and Language; she specializes in teaching positive, self-reliant principles to children and adults of all ages.  Dr. Rose lives with her husband and three children in the Hudson Valley, New York area, where she enjoys the outdoors and spending time with her family and friends.   Matthew Maley is an artist with nearly twenty-five years in the fields of Illustration and Design. His work has appeared in publications such as Archie Comics, Marvel, Disney, Nickelodeon, and Children’s Television Workshop. He lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife, daughter, and a variety of animals.

Book preview

Wishing For Love

Carson Hill Ranch: Book Five

AMELIA ROSE

~~~

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2013 by Amelia Rose.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedication

To YOU, The reader.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your emails.

Thank you for your reviews.

Thank you for reading and joining me on this road.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Other Books by Amelia Rose

Connect with Amelia Rose

About Amelia Rose

Chapter One

Bernard leaned back in his chair behind his massive mahogany desk and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes shut tight against the pounding headache that had been forming all morning. For a man of his age, he was still fairly active on the sprawling 800,000-acre ranch, one of the largest ranches in Texas and one of the last remaining family-owned working farms. His doctor had taken him out of the saddle years ago, but his mind was as sharp as ever and he showed no signs of slowing down in overseeing the land he’d inherited from his father nearly sixty years ago.

Until today. The old man had endured a lifetime’s worth of hassles and headaches involved in taking care of a working ranch with a staff of fifty and a family that grew almost by the minute. He’d seen his six sons grow up out here, and married off four of them. He was a grandpa a few times over. Bernard had witnessed the complete destruction of the ranch at the hands of a tornado only a year ago, but nothing had been as painful as the news today.

Bernard looked out the large wall of windows in his office and watched the daily activity happening on the ranch. In the distance, his sons and several daughters-in-law, along with different crew members of his staff, went about the business of moving hundreds of head of cattle to different pastures, bringing other head into the new three story barn for feed and medicine, and rotating out the smaller herds for their turn at fresh grazing land.

There was movement everywhere he looked, even inside the newly reconstructed home. His office, where he was currently hiding, if he was being honest with himself, took up most of the bottom floor to the west of the house, with an equally large living room on the opposite side of the house. Behind that was the oversized kitchen that could seat thirty at a time for meals that were served in shifts, along with another large room that accommodated the dozen washers and another dozen dryers that kept everyone on the property in clean clothes most of the time. Running along the back of the house was a locker room-style shower room.

Even inside the house, Bernard could hear thundering footsteps and hurried activity, and voices calling out to each other throughout the rooms and hallways. With the noonday lunch shifts in full swing, there was almost as much going on inside the house as there was outside, minus all the cows.

Did you get your lunch yet, Mr. Carson? Amanda from the kitchen asked as she walked past, sticking her head in to check on her boss. Usually, he was the first in line during the first shift, and he tended to linger through most of the shifts, too. He told himself it was the only way he could see everyone who lived and worked on his ranch, relative or not, but truthfully, he simply loved the flurry of activity and the camaraderie among the cowboys who worked his land. Sure, seeing them so awake and alive made him miss the years he’d spent out doing the same jobs in almost exactly the same way these young guys now handled things. But he knew the torch had been passed long ago, even if he could feel some of that spirit again when they came together to eat.

What? Oh, sorry, Amanda. Yes, I did. Thanks. Bernard answered Amanda vaguely; then he went back to looking out the window, watching the others work.

Well, can I get these dishes out of your way? I’ll just take them back to the kitchen for you, she offered, a worried look of unsettling confusion on her face. It wasn’t like the patriarch of the Carson family to skip the midday meal with the others; even at times when he ate at his desk because of some task that needed doing, any of his sons or foremen were usually in here as well, conferring on some issue while they ate. This solitude and distracted expression weren’t anything at all like the normally jovial, vibrant old man.

Bernard muttered his thanks and looked out the window again, completely unaware of the concern on Amanda’s face.

He decided he would wait until the evening dinner shifts to call his sons together to discuss the letter. Bernard debated on including their wives, too, and as much as he loved his sons’ wives like they were his own daughters, this was going to be a hard enough conversation without making anyone feel on edge. Deep down, he knew he’d never get his sons’ true reactions if they had to remember to keep their manners in check.

No, waiting was the right thing to do, and telling them all at once without prying eyes was the right thing to do, too. He’d let them have the rest of the day to do what they loved best before destroying everything.

Chapter Two

You can’t be serious, Dad, Seamus yelled, jumping up from the sofa in his father’s office. Around him, four of his brothers looked to their father for confirmation, willing him to respond to Seamus’ outburst. A nearby console table held a phone, where a middle brother, Anders, joined them from his accounting office in Dallas.

Night had finally fallen outside, darkening the windows of Bernard’s office. He’d finally bit the bullet and called his five sons who lived at the ranch to talk to him. Seeing how the news upset them, he was glad he’d made the decision to leave their wives out of it, for now. Because this was going to impact all of them, he knew that, at some point, the others would have to be told but for tonight, it would be just the remaining original Carsons.

I’m afraid I am serious, he croaked softly, fighting to keep the emotion out of his voice. More than anger, more than sadness, he just felt tired. This latest piece of news was about to undo everything he’d worked for his entire life, and it was all beginning to feel like it had been for nothing.

But how can they do this? How can they just take the ranch? Casey asked, looking for an answer from the faces around him. He found none. Carey finally put a hand on his twin’s shoulder to calm him before speaking.

It’s called imminent domain, and it gives the government the right to take property and improve on it, if it’s for the greater good. He looked down as he spoke, knowing that this had always been a source of worry for his father. No piece of land was safe from a greedy politician when there was lobby money to be made, and this time, Carson Hill Ranch had fallen into the crosshairs of someone who was hunting dollar signs.

They can’t just take it, though, right? We have to agree to sell it, or something? Jacob, Seamus’ twin and the youngest of the Carson brothers, only nineteen, asked. Bernard nodded slightly, not jarring his head with that headache still plaguing him.

That’s right. But they get to set the price based on what they think is fair market value. They have to pay for the land, and for any damages incurred during construction. If it was crop land, there’s some calculation about how much money we would have made from the crops for the next so many years, but because our crop is cattle, they’re able to tell us that we just don’t need this much land for the herd.

I just don’t get it, Casey continued. Why would they want our farm? Isn’t there a shortage of viable working farms in this country as it is?

Anders interrupted via the telephone. Does the letter say what they plan to do with it?

Bernard answered. It’s not really clear, but it looks like they’re leaving the door open for several different possibilities. It’s all written in lawyer-talk.

Well, there have been some of these cases that turn out to be no big deal, Anders continued. We could end up losing the top corner of the property for a new highway to be built, or something like that. That piece of land is two hours away from the main house, and a new road would actually help us bring in supplies and bring out the herd when it’s time to drive them to market. We’re getting all worked up without enough information yet to know if this is really all that bad.

All that bad? They’re taking our land, and you don’t think it’s all that bad? Joseph stormed. Always the more hotheaded of the bunch and the closest in age to Anders, he was quick to lash out at his missing brother. I bet this looks pretty damn good from your fancy office, doesn’t it?

Hush, Joseph! Bernard roared in an uncharacteristically harsh tone before calming himself enough to speak. Anders is right, we don’t know enough about this yet to know how bad this is. Maybe he’s right; maybe we lose a little strip of land that we hardly ever use anyway. This could even be a good thing, right? They pay us for that little bit of land, and we no longer pay property taxes on 800,000 acres. And we might even get a new road out of it as well.

He stood up from his leather chair and stretched as his sons looked up at him with wide-eyed expressions, much like they did when they were small and turned to him in everything. I only brought all of you in here to tell you about the letter. It doesn’t mean anything just yet, but you needed to be prepared. At my age, I can’t afford to keep secrets about the family business, on account of you never know. Hearing him so openly admit that he could leave them at any time was even more heartbreaking than any stupid letter from the government. Now, you boys go get your rest because until we know anything more, it’s gonna be business as usual at Carson Hill. You older ones can tell your girls if you want to, because like I said: we have no secrets here.

What about the staff? What if word gets out and they start jumping ship, looking for other work? Carey asked fearfully. You know how people talk. They could take this as a sign that we’re selling the place and begin looking out for themselves.

"Would you blame