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Chapter One
Honor Prescott sat on her white stallion and stared down from the mountain ridge at the sprawling Diamond R Ranch. From this vantage point, Honor had a bird’s-eye view of the property. She could see horses in the paddock and a few ranch hands milling around. Snow from last night’s snowfall covered the ground. She let out a sigh of appreciation at the vast acreage. This view had always been spectacular.
A few cars were parked in the driveway by the main house. She spotted Lee Jamison’s distinctive yellow-and-tan wagon parked by the house. She felt her lips twitching at the sight of it. That van had to be older than Lee himself. As town attorney and a member of the town council, Lee was a beloved figure in Love, Alaska. Honor had come to the Diamond R Ranch today at Lee’s request.
Honor drew her coat tighter around her as the February wind whipped relentlessly against her body. Although the sun was shining, there was a chill in the air. Honor grabbed Lola’s reins and cantered toward the property. Riding her horse rather than driving over from the wildlife preserve was a luxury for her. Lately, she’d been so busy with work demands she rarely had the opportunity to spend time with her horse.
A feeling of nostalgia swept over her. It had been years since she had visited the ranch owned by Bud Ransom, the patriarch of the Ransom family. Bud had unexpectedly passed away a few days ago. She would miss him and his warm, solid presence. And she would be forever grateful to him for leaving the ranch to the town in his will.
Bittersweet memories washed over her as she surveyed the property. The two-story log cabin–style home was a generous size. It had been home for generations of Ransoms. Her ex-fiancé, Joshua Ransom, had grown up here with his grandparents, parents and his older brother, Theo. When they were dating, Honor had spent a lot of time at the Diamond R. Too much time, according to her own brothers—Boone, Liam and Cameron. They had been vehemently opposed to her relationship with Joshua, who had been in and out of trouble for the duration of their relationship. Joshua had been the ultimate rebel. Boone, who served as town sheriff, had hauled Joshua into his office on more occasions than she could count for a variety of charges. Drunk and disorderly. Vandalism.
But Honor and Joshua had been head over heels in love and committed to a life together. She had defended him at every turn, much to her family’s dismay. In the end, their engagement had imploded after Joshua’s involvement in a fire that had gutted a beloved town church and left a man seriously injured. It had been the final straw for her. Honor had given him back his diamond ring and headed off to college in Michigan. They hadn’t spoken since.
After Honor had left Love, she’d discovered she was carrying Joshua’s child. Weeks later she’d lost the baby. It still crushed her to remember how alone and scared she’d been. Since that time, Honor had turned to her faith and developed a relationship with God. She would never repeat the mistakes of the past.
Joshua had never known about their child. A few months after the miscarriage, she’d discovered that Joshua had gotten married. Joshua’s quickie marriage mere months after their breakup had been a terrible blow to Honor’s self-esteem. For some reason, it still stung.
Honor let out a sigh. The ranch represented a more innocent time in her life. She had experienced her first kiss in the barn. This ranch was where she’d fallen for Joshua. They had made plans for their future sitting amidst bales of hay. Their love had been genuine. Honor shivered as feelings of loss suddenly crept over her. After all this time, it still wasn’t easy to think about losing the only man she’d ever loved. It had broken her young heart to end her engagement. She’d been so naive back then, believing that there might be a happily-ever-after for the two of them.
Joshua. Her first love and former fiancé. She hadn’t thought about him in a very long time. Their relationship had ended in such a painful manner for Honor that it was easier now to stuff those memories deep down into a dark hole where they could no longer hurt her.
She had been a mere kid at the time—eighteen years old. W
hat had she really known about love?
As she led Lola toward the stable so she could tether her to a post while she met with Lee, Honor heard the crunching sound of footsteps walking on the snow. She swung her gaze up and found herself staring into the eyes of the last person she’d expected to see in all of Alaska.
Her heart constricted. Everything came to a standstill around her. The dark head of hair. The cleft in his chin. The sky blue eyes. Joshua Ransom, her high school sweetheart, was back in town. Her first instinct was to hop back onto Lola and ride off as quickly as possible in the opposite direction.
“Honor.” The sound of her name tumbling off his lips was startling. It had been six years since she’d last heard it. Truthfully, she had never believed she would ever hear it again.
“Joshua.” Somehow she managed to speak past the huge lump in her throat.
“It’s been a long time,” he said, his mouth quirking. “How are you?”
Her mouth felt as dry as cotton. “I’m doing well. And you?” she asked, marveling at the fact that they were able to exchange pleasantries despite the huge chasm between them.
“I can’t complain. What brings you out here?” he asked, his eyebrows knitting together.
“Lee asked me to meet him out here. We understood none of the family was returning since Bud didn’t want a service. When did you get back?”
“Yesterday. Theo and I flew in together from Anchorage.”
Theo Ransom had moved away from Love years ago and joined the military. To her recollection, neither brother had been back to Love in the ensuing years.
“I’m guessing you didn’t hire O’Rourke Charters to fly you here,” Honor said. Her voice crackled with sarcasm.
A hint of a frown marred his brow. “No, we didn’t.”
She shouldn’t have brought up the bad blood between him and the O’Rourke brothers—Declan and Finn. It harkened back to when she was dating Joshua and her own brothers had been staunchly against their relationship. There had been a lot of discord. It had all come to a head when she and Joshua had secretly gotten engaged and her family found out about it. Not a single person in town had been happy for them, except Bud. Despite his gruff demeanor, Bud had been a marshmallow at his center.
Joshua ran a hand over his face. “Bud never wanted a proper funeral, but Theo and I figured we should have some sort of memorial service for him. And we need to settle his affairs. Then I’ll be heading home to Seattle.”
Honor frowned. She hadn’t heard a single word about a service for Bud. From what she had understood, Bud hadn’t wanted any fanfare. The townsfolk would certainly want to know about the service so they could say a final farewell. Although she wanted to ask Joshua about Bud’s desire to leave the Diamond R Ranch to the town of Love, she wasn’t sure it was her place to ask Joshua probing questions. It would appear insensitive since his family was in mourning.
“I’m sorry about Bud. He was always kind to me.”
Joshua nodded. “Thanks. He thought you were the real deal. I think he hoped you could straighten me up so I’d walk the straight and narrow path.” Joshua let out a harsh-sounding laugh, although both he and Honor knew he wasn’t joking. Honor couldn’t count on two hands the number of times Bud had pulled her aside and asked her to steer his grandson in the right direction. At the time, she had naively believed it was possible. Life had shown her how wrong she’d been to believe it. Being in love with Joshua had given her a pair of rose-colored glasses.
Honor smiled at the memory of Bud. “Well, he always saw the good in people. It was what he did best.”
Joshua nodded. “He was a great man. I’ve always been proud to be his grandson.” He grimaced. “I wish I’d been better,” he muttered.
He didn’t have to say any more. Honor knew exactly what Joshua meant. As a rebellious teenager, Joshua had been in and out of trouble so much it had broken his grandfather’s heart and caused his family a world of embarrassment. He had tarnished the Ransom family name.
He jutted his chin toward Lola, then reached out and ran his palm across her side. “It’s nice to see you and Lola are still a team.”
