Dead Ringer. B.J. Daniels
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Can a stubborn cowboy recapture the one who got away?
Ledger McGraw may know all about horses, but he doesn’t know anything about the lie that broke up his first romance with waitress Abby Pierce. Abby, tricked into marrying the wrong man, is at the end of her tether in her abusive relationship. When she learns the truth about her terrible marriage, she becomes desperate to escape it—before her jealous husband kills her.
Though Ledger’s heart was wounded by Abby, he’ll still do anything to protect her and free her from her violent spouse. He’s determined to win her back and reignite their passion…
“Where are you taking me?” Abby asked from the passenger seat of the pickup.
He could tell that each word hurt her to speak. He would have brought the Suburban so she could lie down in the back but he hadn’t known how badly she was hurt.
“To the hospital,” he said.
“No!” She tried to sit up straight but cried out in pain and held her rib cage. “That’s the first place he’ll look for me.”
“Abby, you need medical attention.”
“Please.”
He quickly relented. He couldn’t let Wade near this woman, which meant no hospital. At least for now.
“I’ll take you to the ranch and call our family doctor. But, Abby, if he says you have to go to the hospital—”
“Then I’ll go.” She lay back and closed her eyes. “I didn’t want you involved.”
“I’ve always been involved, because I’ve always loved you.”
She said nothing. He could tell that she was in a lot of pain. It had him boiling inside. If he could find Wade right now…
Dead Ringer
B.J. Daniels
B.J. DANIELS is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author. She wrote her first book after a career as an award-winning newspaper journalist and author of thirty-seven published short stories. She lives in Montana with her husband, Parker, and three springer spaniels. When not writing, she quilts, boats and plays tennis. Contact her at www.bjdaniels.com, on Facebook or on Twitter, @bjdanielsauthor.
This book is dedicated to JoAnn Hammond, who was one of the first in Whitewater to read one of my books :) So glad we got to know each other—and share a love for quilting and reading.
Contents
Abby Pierce opened her eyes and quickly closed them against the bright sunlight. She hurt all over. As she tried to sit up, a hand gently pushed on her shoulder to keep her flat on the bed.
“Don’t sit up too fast,” her husband said. “You’re okay. You’re in the hospital. You took a nasty fall.”
Fall? Hospital? Her mouth felt dry as dust. She licked her lips. “Can you close the drapes?”
“Sure,” Wade said and hurried over to the window.
She listened as he drew the drapes together and felt the room darken before she opened her eyes all the way.
The first thing she saw was her husband silhouetted against the curtains. He was a big imposing man with a boyish face and a blond crew cut. He was wearing his sheriff’s deputy uniform, she noted as he moved back to the bed to take her hand.
She’d known Wade for years. She’d married him three years ago. That was why when she saw the sheepish look in his brown eyes, she knew at once that he was hiding something.
Abby frowned. “What was I doing that I fell?”
“You