Those Canyon Nights

By Roni Denholtz

The last person Faith Benson expects to see while visiting family in Big Cat canyon for Thanksgiving is Jared McKay. Years ago she had a major crush on the handsome cowboy. But because of his past, Jared has no faith in women and blames her for his brother’s problems.

Jared’s old attraction to Faith is reignited as they spend time together during the holiday and he can’t help his growing feelings for her. Now he wants the opportunity to spend days—and nights—with Faith.

Can Faith prove to Jared that there is more to their relationship than some hot canyon nights?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Roni Denholtz
• Release date: Aug 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463028612

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Those Canyon Nights, Copyright 2018 Roni Paitchel Denholtz

Published by Roni Paitchel Denholtz

Cover and Interior Layout: www.formatting4U.com

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All rights reserved. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author. Please contact the author at [e-mail]. This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

For more information on the author and her works, please see www.ronidenholtz.com.

Dedication

TO MY HUSBAND JEFF

WHO GOT ME INTO WATCHING WESTERNS LIKE CHEYENNE AND RAWHIDE,

AND SHARED AN AMAZING TRIP TO UTAH WITH ME.

WITH LOVE!

Acknowlegments

Thank you to Judi Fennell, editor/formatter/cover artist extraordinaire!

Thank you to Carolyn Brown who encouraged me to write contemporary western stories.

ALSO BY RONI DENHOLTZ

Lights of Love

Somebody to Love

Negotiating Love

Marquis in a Minute

Salsa with Me

A Taste of Romance

Borrowing the Bride

Setting the Stage for Love

Stuck in the Saddle with You

One of These Nights

Room for Love

Forecast for Love

CHAPTER I

The air chilled her, seeping through her coat as Faith Benson left the car and went up the sidewalk to her aunt’s home. Not unusual for a November Friday in Utah. The drive from St. George had been a pleasant one, but as she’d drawn close to their house, she’d felt a little lonely. Another Thanksgiving was approaching in approximately three weeks. Another one spent without someone special.

She was here for the weekend, to help with prep for the food along with her mom, aunts and cousins. Her Aunt Shelly was hosting the celebration, as she had for a couple of years, but everyone pitched in to cook and help weeks before the actual holiday.

Faith lugged her duffle bag with her clothes for the weekend plus a shopping bag full of the groceries for her famous pumpkin and zucchini breads.

The door swung open. Faith! It was her aunt Delores, and she ran out to help with her packages but managed a hug too. Come in, it’s so cold out here!

Another Big Cat Canyon November, Faith joked. The canyon always seemed colder than other parts of the state because of the winds sweeping over the terrain. And yet…she adored it here. There was a stark beauty to the canyon, and the people who survived the hot summers and harsh winters had a strong bond with each other. Neighbors and friends became family out here.

She loved it.

She followed her aunt into the house, which was warm and full of female voices.

Faith! Her favorite cousin Winnie rounded a corner and practically sprinted to give her a hug. Winnie, who was Shelly and Doug’s daughter, held her toddler son on her hip. The child had tousled red hair and was smiling.

Faith hugged Winnie, as Delores directed another cousin to put Faith’s bag of food in the kitchen. She hugged her twin cousins, Leanna and Deanna, and then her mom Kathy. Did you have a good drive here, honey? her mom asked.

Not too bad. She shrugged out of her coat and put it in the crowded closet.

You’ll be in your usual room with cousin Deanna, her mom told her. Why don’t you go on up and drop off your duffle bag. Then you can come down and have a soda pop and greet everyone.

Good idea. As she went up the stairs, she could smell her cousin Winnie’s special spice cake. It was so popular she usually made three.

Once she’d freshened up and was coming back down the stairs, she saw the front door open. A gust of cold air preceded two men, hauling some greenery.

Shelly wants to do some holiday decorating for Thanksgiving, her uncle Doug was explaining to the man beside him, even though it’s a mite early. The other man’s face was hidden by the branches holding pinecones, but she could see his hunky body. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and wore a tan cowboy hat perched on his head.

Something about him seemed familiar—

I’ll take those. Aunt Shelly had appeared. Winnie’s older son trailed after her.

As the man placed the bundle in Shelly’s arms Faith got a look at his face.

She almost jumped backwards.

Jared. Jared McKay.

Her stomach clenched.

Jared was the younger brother of her old boyfriend, Rod. The boyfriend she’d broken up with almost four years ago, when he’d gotten drunk one too many times and she realized he didn’t want to get help.

She’d argued with herself on and off about whether to let Rod’s family know about his problem. Finally, deciding he would never get help without his family’s support, she had called Jared.

Unfortunately, when she called Jared to let him know that his brother needed help, he’d blasted her. He’d found out about their break-up, and was blaming her for Rod’s problems. She’d tried to explain he’d had the drinking problem before she broke up with Rod, but to no avail. Neither Jared or his sister Meg wanted to hear it. Their father had died a year earlier from cancer, and the siblings were all still reeling from that loss.

The one positive fact coming from all this was that Jared had never known about the mad crush she’d had on him. A crush that had alerted her to the fact that her relationship with Rod wasn’t what she had hoped it would be. Because if she could think constantly about, and develop feelings for another man, then she couldn’t be in love with Rod. It must have been just a passing fancy.

Still, she’d had feelings for Rod, enough to give him an ultimatum: either he stopped drinking and got help to straighten up, or she was breaking it off. She had figured if he straightened up, she’d give the relationship another try.

He chose alcohol the next day, when she came over and found him passed out with a bottle of Kentucky whiskey.

She’d packed up the few things she kept at his place, left him a note, and never went back.

As Jared’s eyes met hers now, she saw the shock in them at