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Chapter One
Kaylee Collins nibbled a crunchy cheese doodle and frowned at her laptop screen as she tried to ignore the pleading brown eyes of Gladys, her adorable corgi and self-proclaimed assistant. She never let herself use, or even consider, the wordswriter’s block. She just couldn’t figure out what was going to happen in the next scene.
In this chapter, she wanted the spitfire red-haired heroine, Sassy Scott, to convince the cute cowboy hero, Duke Ramsey, to do…something…she just couldn’t figure out what. And to top it off, there were still a lot of scenes that had to happen between this one andthey lived happily ever after.
“Any ideas on what the hero could do on a ranch that would show what a great guy he is?” she asked Gladys as she gave in and passed a cheese doodle to the corgi. Her six-year-old canine companion gobbled up the treat but didn’t offer any suggestions. She had her head in Kaylee’s lap in hopes of a chin scratch and catching any fallen chips. Kaylee pet the pudgy pup’s side and chastised herself for not taking the dog for a walk—again.
Both of their waistlines could do with some exercise. And some fresh air. She squinted at the date on her laptop.Ugh.Apparently, she hadn’t left the house in four days. She peered down at her favorite comfy yoga pants and poked an errant brown curl back into her messy bun. Was the stain on her shirt from her coffee this morning, or the spoonful of chocolate ice cream she’d snuck in the middle of the night? At least the characters in her books had active lives, doing…whatever ranchers did all day.
Her cell phone rang as she was typingcommon activities done on a ranchinto the search bar. She shivered with dread when she saw the caller’s name on the screen.
“Hello,” she said, cringing as the remains of the cheese doodle dried up in her mouth.
“Good, I’m glad I caught you. Kaylee, we need to talk,” her editor, Faye Montgomery bellowed. Kaylee held the phone away from her ear. Faye spoke as fast as she walked, and she imagined her editor striding through Millennium Park, phone in one hand, takeout coffee—black with one sugar—in the other as her sensible heels beat a staccato rhythm along the sidewalk.
“We got another one,” Faye continued, not even pausing to let Kaylee speak. “These bad reviews are killing us. You’re a brilliant writer, darling, but you’re writing Western romance when you’ve never even been on a ranch. And it’s starting to show. You faked it with that first book or two, but that’s not going to work again. You can’t just Google ‘what do ranchers do all day’ and still hope to connect to your readers.”
Kaylee snapped her laptop shut as if Faye could actually see her search bar. “I’m—”
“I know what you’re going to say, and it’s not enough. I’m serious here. Both our behinds are on the line. I’m trying to convince the publisher to sign your next four books, but that won’t happen unless something changes. And you know I wouldn’t go to bat for you if I didn’t believe so much in your writing.”
“I appreciate that. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes to improve these books.” She meant it. She’d never been afraid of hard work.
“I’m going to hold you to that. Because I’ve come up with an idea. It’s a little out there, but you’vegotto put yourself out there if we’re going to save this deal.”
“Great. Let’s do it. I’m in.” Sheneededthis deal. Not just to bolster her writing career, but to pay off the credit card debt she’d amassed trying to survive between now and the last advance check she’d received. If she didn’t get that contract soon, she’d have to consider moving to the cheaper suburbs. She would’ve moved already if she hadn’t loved Chicago and her apartment so much. Just because she hadn’t gone to any cute restaurants or coffee shops lately didn’t mean that she didn’t still love having the option. And being able to get amazing Thai food delivered at ten o’clock on a weeknight was a luxury she wasn’t willing to lose.
“You promise?”
“Yes, of course. Faye. You know how hard I’ve worked trying to become a full-time author. A career in writing is what I’ve been working toward my entire life. IpromiseI will do whatever it takes to make this new book the best it can be to help secure another contract. Just tell me what I need to do.”
“Great. First you’re going to need to get out a suitcase.”
Her heart leaped. “Are you sending me on a writing retreat?” She loved the idea of holing up all alone in a cozy cottage on the beach and focusing solely on her book. “What about Gladys? Can I bring her?”
Faye chuckled, sounding more like an evil villain than a guardian angel. “Sure, you can think of this as a writing retreat. I’m sending you to Montana to spend a week at my brother’s ranch.”
“Montana?” Definitelynota cottage on the beach.And not alone. “I didn’t even know you had a brother.”
“Well, I do. And he’s agreed to let you stay at our family’s ranch in Bartlett, Montana, home to one stoplight and lots of cows.”
“Your family has a ranch? What kind of ranch?”
“The kind you’ve been writing about in your books. Horses, cows, pigs, tractors, haybales—Dusty Acres has it all. All the stuff you put in your scenes that you’ve never actually experienced. You,andGladys, are gonna love it.”
Kaylee squirmed in her seat. She hadn’t left the city in years, and she’d never been west of the Mississippi River. Just thinking about it made her break out in a sweat.
“A ranch in Montana? I don’t know.”
“I know this makes you uncomfortable, honey. But that’s the point. You need to getoutof your comfort zone. We were just talking last week about how great JD Hawk’s books are selling. That guy spent two weeks alone camping out in the middle of grizzly bear country when he was working onMountain Justice. And it showed.”
“I do love those books. And of course, I want my books to be that successful.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “But don’t you have any ideas of how I can get out of my comfort zone and still stay in my apartment? Like maybe some YouTube videos to watch? Or send me a rope, and I’ll try to learn how to lasso something.”
Gladys whined. Kaylee shook her head and mouthednot youas she gave the dog a reassuring neck scratch.
“No. This is just the kind of thing I’m talking about. You’re writing about small towns and ranch work, but you’ve never experienced that sense of community or the ache in your limbs after a hard day’s work on the ranch. You need to get out in the country, feed some cows, and get your hands dirty.”
Kaylee cringed as she gazed around her tidy apartment. She was not a fan of getting dirty. She was a fan of being organized, neat, and controlling her surroundings. A cow did not sound like something she could control.
