While my Aussie cowboy Gareth might not be from the wild, wild, west of America or about to jump on a bull at the local rodeo, he still possesses the qualities that we all love in a cowboy. Gareth is hard working, loyal and of course incredibly hot. He grew up on the family farm in country Australia and fell in love with the cowgirl next door. Unfortunately life threw some hurdles in the path of Gareth and Emily’s love story…

It’s such a cliché — country boy moves to the big city to follow his dreams, leaving his girl and everything he loves behind ““ but that’s exactly what Gareth Andrews has done. Not that Gareth hasn’t begged Emily to join him in the city he has, on bended knee — but Emily needs to stay in Gunnedah and help her father on the family farm until her brother’s stint in the armed forces is over. But Gareth knew it’s more than that. Emily is hiding away, embarrassed by the scars that mar her body in a constant reminder of the bushfire that nearly took her life.

Can love give Emily the courage to face strangers again when her father is badly injured and Gareth shows up at the hospital to support her? Or will she let her fear and shame get the better of her and break her one true love’s heart for a second time?

Here is an excerpt from Emily’s Cowboy, book 5 in my League of Love series.

Emily knew she shouldn’t lean on Gareth, but old habits died hard. She was exhausted. Her face and neck ached, felt tight and hot, probably due to her overwhelming, bone-deep tiredness. Seeing her father lying in the hospital bed was awful. He looked as if he had shrunk overnight, as if the hospital bed had sucked his size from his body through those horrible tubes and cables attached to him, draining fluid build-up and pus, checking his vitals.

The monotonous beeps, the perpetual noises all the machines made were deafening in their regularity. Beep”¦ Beep”¦ Beep”¦ Wheeze”¦ Beep”¦ The noise was maddening against the silence of the room””so impersonal.

Her dad was naked, with one thin sheet between him and the world, with all those tubes everywhere. Emily knew he would just hate it””the fussing, the continual scrutiny from the nurses. God, she needed him to get through this, to come back to her. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing him, her father”¦her dad. Tears slipped from her eyes. She had given up trying to brush them away. The motion was ineffectual, since they just kept coming.

But through it all Gareth sat by her, hour after hour.

“Babe, why don’t we take a minute, get something to eat? Nothing has changed in the last two hours, and you need to keep up your strength. Mac will need you more then, when he is awake. You have to be ready for that.”

Emily looked into Gareth’s penetrating blue eyes, fell into them. She loved those eyes, their unique colour reminding her of sun-filled country skies, and in them the concern for her showed unreservedly. Emily could always judge Gareth’s mood, his emotions, by looking into his eyes, as if they opened a door to his soul for her.

His blond hair, a little darker now since he wasn’t spending time working on the farm under the bleaching, harsh rays of the Australian sun, was mussed, the curls falling over his brow. He needs a haircut. It seemed like a strange thought to have under these circumstances. Emily could not resist touching his hair, brushing it from his face, remembering the familiar texture. She ran her finger down over his high cheekbones, caressing his face, his lips with her fingertip. She felt the stubble on his strong jaw””prickly, masculine.

“I’ve missed you so much.” The words slipped from her lips before she had a chance to censor them. But they were true. She had missed Gareth with a ferocity that had made her weep, night after night, at the loss.

“I’ve missed you too, Em. But I’m here now, and that won’t change. Let’s go for a walk, get some air.”

It was a good idea. Emily needed some air, needed to get her emotions back under control. She loved Gareth””always had, always would””but her reasons for pushing him away had not changed. He deserved someone better than her. Someone he could be seen in public with, be proud to have on his arm. Maybe this Pippa woman was the answer? Emily understood that, but it still hurt. She couldn’t lose her resolve when it came to Gareth. She loved him enough to see that, and as much as it would destroy her she would push him away again””but later. She needed his strength to get her through this, as selfish as that motive was. He had said he was worried for Mac as well, wanted to be there for her father, so she would let him for the time being.

After checking in with the ICU nurse, giving Gareth’s phone number and extracting a promise that they would call her if her father’s condition changed, Emily let Gareth lead her from the ward. I must look a wreck. Deep in thought, she mentally listed the items she could purchase at the hospital shop for herself and her father. Toothbrush, hairbrush”¦ I’d kill for a change of clothes. Wonder where the nearest shopping centre is? She was so caught up in her mental list-making that she didn’t realise until too late that Gareth was greeting someone.

“Rook, Pippa””what are you two doing here?”

As soon as she heard that one name, that same name he had used before””Pippa“”her heart became a leaden weight in her chest. Oh, my god. Gareth’s girlfriend, the one he’d told he loved over the phone, had come for him. She tried to spin from his grasp, turn back to the door of the ICU, tried to find the call button to gain admittance, but Gareth would not let go of her. His grip on her hand was painfully tight, allowing her no chance of escaping the nightmare that was about to unfold, no chance of ignoring the woman who stood in front of them. The woman with the beautiful, unblemished face. Emily wished the ground would open up and swallow her.

Donna Gallagher ““ League of Love Series  Website  Blog  Twitter Amazon