Kiss for Cade

Lori Copeland

Description

Bestselling author Lori Copeland shares another marvelous romantic Western full of God's grace, the beauty of redemption, and second chances.Famous bounty hunter Cade Kolby is forced off the trail to decide the fate of his late sister's orphaned children. He's not just returning to his hometown and nieces and nephews, but also to the fiery redhead he loved and left 17 years ago.The last person Zoe Bradshaw wants to see is Cade. She tries to be cool and polite, even as the attraction between them flares up again. Only this time, Zoe is determined to not let Cade get close to her heart.But the townsfolk have other ideas. They want to see the little orphans with a mother and a father, and they form a plan that includes the possibility of a kiss...Formerly titled The Courtship of Cade Kolby, rewritten for the inspirational market.

Sujets

• Westerns
• Western (genre)
• Romance
• Western

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736936941
• Langue: English

Extrait

A Kiss for Cade
LORI COPELAND
HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Cover by Left Coast Design, Portland, Oregon
Cover photos Shutterstock; Pozazides
Author photo The Picture People
Published in association with the Books Such Literary Agency, 52 Mission Circle, Suite 122, PMB 170, Santa Rosa, CA 95409-5370, www.booksandsuch.biz .
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.






A KISS FOR CADE
Copyright 1997 by Copeland, Inc.
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Copeland, Lori.
[Courtship of Cade Kolby]
A kiss for Cade / Lori Copeland.
p. cm.-(Western sky series)
Previous title: The courtship of Cade Kolby.
ISBN 978-0-7369-2763-5 (pbk.)
1. Foster parents-Fiction. I. Title.
PS3553.O6336C68 2009
813 .54-dc22
2009018450
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 / DP-SK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Table of Contents
Prologue
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
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
About the Author
Other books by the Author
Prologue




Winterborn, Kansas 1885

Z oe Bradshaw walked into the sweltering bedroom, dread filling her heart. Addy and her husband lay on the bed, their nightclothes soaked with sweat. You rang the bell?
Addy whispered, John s gone.
Zoe s hand flew to her throat. She stared at the middle-aged man, lying still as death. I just checked him a few minutes ago. Why didn t you call-
He took a long, deep breath and stepped over.
Moving closer, Zoe gently closed the deceased s eyelids, whispering, Rest in peace, John.
He s in God s care now.
Zoe still remembered that cold Kansas winter morning when John had accepted God s gift of salvation. She and Addy had been young girls. Kneeling beside her best friend, Zoe held tightly to her hand. Addy was more sister than friend. They had walked to school every morning, carried each other s books and lunch pails, shared their dreams. Addy knew everything about Zoe, and Zoe knew everything about her. The dam burst and tears rolled down Zoe s cheeks. John and Addy only had the fever a few days. How could such a small sickness take John? Addy would be brokenhearted, and her four children devastated. Addy s hand tightened in Zoe s. You have to do something for me.
I ll take care of the services, the wake-
No. Send for Cade.
The mention of Addy s brother stopped Zoe s tears. She lifted her head. Don t bring him back here, Addy. Please. I ll take care of everything. I ll look after the children and you. Zoe had finally gotten Addy s brother out of her heart. Six years ago she had married Jim Bradshaw, the mercantile owner. Jim hadn t brought out the same giddy emotions that Cade could, but they had had a good life. A gratifying life. Together they had run the mercantile. When Jim was shot and killed a year ago in a senseless robbery, she had been able to go on. Addy had seen her through the first few months of grief. Zoe had begun to look forward to what each new day had in store, before Addy and John both took ill with the fever.
I need my brother, Zoe. Cade was young and restless when he rode out of here fifteen years ago. He s a different man now.
Perhaps, but Zoe didn t want him back in her life. Not ever. Stepping to the open window, she called Brody, Addy s oldest son. The boy came running.
I need you to go into town and get some help-
Ma?
She shook her head. Just tell Gracie I need help right away. Ask Holly to keep Will and Missy outside until you get back.
The boy left at a run.
Turning back to Addy, Zoe forced a normal tone. What possible good would it serve to bring Cade back? I m widowed. Together, you and I can raise the children. They re already like my own.
Addy s feverish hand sought Zoe s. I want Cade to decide who ll raise my children.
You re talking nonsense. You re not going to die-John was weaker. You ll be fine soon. Her gaze avoided John s lifeless body lying next to Addy s.
Tell Cade Coughing, Addy sat up and Zoe spoon-fed her drops of cool water. When the spasm subsided, her friend dropped back to the pillow and closed her eyes. You must do this for me, Zoe.
Of course. When the crisis passed and Addy felt better, the promise would be moot. If anything happens, which it won t, I ll send for him. Curiosity made her wonder why Addy would even ask such a thing. Cade was a bounty hunter, a man with no roots and, if you asked Zoe, no heart. Addy s children were like her flesh and blood, and Addy knew Zoe could never have children of her own. The fever must have addled her reasoning.
Zoe sat quietly beside the bed in the airless room. Outside, darkness closed in around the small log house. Gracie, the mayor s wife, would feed the children supper. Winterborn took care of its own. Please, Lord, don t take Addy. I ve made it without Jim, but if I lose Addy too
Addy s eyes flew open and fixed on the ceiling. Zoe leaned closer. A little more water?
Cade. Tell him I love him, and I understand why he did what he did to help Ma and Pa.
Addy, please. You re going to be fine. You can t die. I couldn t live without you. Zoe turned away briefly to wring out a cool cloth, and when she turned back, Addy s eyes were closed.
Stepping back, she straightened, her eyes automatically checking for the slow rise and fall of Addy s breathing. Leaning closer, she frowned. Throwing back the light sheet, she bent her head to Addy s chest and listened for a heartbeat.
The only sound that met her ear was the buzzing noise of the cicadas outside the window.
Chapter One




W ell, if that don t beat all. Cade Kolby, showin up after fifteen years as if he hadn t been gone a day. Sawyer Gayford shifted in his chair to watch the town s famous prodigal son ride in.
Roy Baker, editor of the Winterborn News, elbowed the dust from the front window of the barbershop and craned his neck. Never saw anything like it. Look at him. You d swear he didn t know he was the most feared bounty hunter in Kansas.
There s your headline this week, Roy, Sawyer said. Kolby Shows Up for His Sister and Brother-in-Law s Deaths , only they been in the ground a week.
Roy snorted. This week ? Cade coming home will be news for months to come.
Kolby left as a boy, but he s coming back a man. Walt Mews motioned for Roy to sit back down in the barber chair. Looks like he s been rode hard and put away wet.
Sawyer spat tobacco juice in a tin can he carried. Heard tell he s shot and killed ten men.
Some say twenty, Roy said.
Walt snipped the final bits of hair around Roy s ear. More like fifty. Then he shook out the barber cape. Reaching into his pocket, he plucked out a coin and flipped it to Roy. You win. I bet he wouldn t come.
I knew he would, Roy said, chuckling as he pocketed the windfall. Mac and Senda raised him right.
Humph. He s ornery, if you ask me. Run him off once with a shotgun for tying my cats tails together, Sawyer complained. Nearly killed each other afore I got em loose.
He was full of it, all right, Walt agreed, glancing out the front door.
Adolescent boys playing marbles around the hitching post abandoned their shiny agates and shooters and raced to watch the arrival of Winterborn s most notorious citizen.
He wasn t all that bad as a kid, Walt mused. When my Edna hurt her back, he showed up to weed her rose garden. Then he sat a spell with her to eat the sugar cookies she baked him. Seems like he was a right thoughtful young un.
Sawyer grunted. The boy s made hisself quite a reputation.
The missus don t hold with all that killin , but I say a man s got to do what he s got to do. Walt closed the shop s door. A man with a price on his head expects trouble.
Roy snickered. That little redhead s been in a snit for fifteen years, thinking he wasn t going to show up. The girl s ill-tempered as a hornet. The wife sent me over to the store this morning for flour and oatmeal, and Zoe nearly took my head off.
Hard to believe she was sweet on Cade at one time.
Sawyer nodded. Yeah, you d think she da had better sense.
Walt straightened the shelf beside the mirror in front of his barber chair, lining up pungent-smelling hair tonics alongside each customer s personalized mug, painted by Edna Mews s questionable artistic hand. Zoe s daddy, may his soul rest in peace, would ve stripped the hide off Cade if he d k