Love in the Wild - Signed Paperback

Gage Howard’s last name is a legacy, and not a good one. The Howards and the Pattons have been rivals for half a century, but his sister's actions have branded her a traitor. Now, his own loyalty is divided.

Hadley Morgan has no clue how bloody the family feud between the Howards and the Pattons is when she volunteers to help her new roommate get information to Gage. A fake relationship with her roommate’s brother is a simple solution to stay below the radar.

Gage is guarded and stoic, while Hadley is full of hope. As they carefully navigate their arrangement, they find unexpected connection in the tragedies of their past.

Hadley is determined to show Gage a God of forgiveness as he is constantly reminded of his dark past. Alliances are drawn, and betrayals can put a target on anyone’s back. Together, they’ll have to strive to keep the Howards and Pattons from destroying each other while fighting for the new love that could be the way to healing for both of them.

If you loved the Blackwater Ranch series and the Wolf Creek Ranch series, get ready to fall in love all over again in Blackwater, Wyoming.

Gage snuck out of the break room and headed toward the garage. He came to Blackwater Automotive to work, not clap and eat cake. 

Why did everything need a celebration? Two people get married, and they throw a party. A guy asks a woman to marry him, and half the town has to huddle up in a tiny room and squeal about it. 

Gage had seen enough celebration today to last him a lifetime, but everyone else at the garage was suffering from excitement overload. Colt and Remi had gotten married earlier today. Now Dawson just proposed to Olivia, and they expected Gage to clap and share some sort of congratulations. 

He didn’t know Colt and Remi at all. He liked Olivia just fine because she dropped off food at the garage a few times a week. But Dawson? Gage liked the guy about as much as he liked his kitchen sink. There were no feelings, only indifference. 

Back in the garage, Gage focused on the old Chevy Malibu in front of him. The tangy smell of metal and the greasy oil on his hands grounded him to the job in front of him. He understood cars, not people. Vehicles were made up of pieces, and each piece either did its job or needed replacing. People were unpredictable and couldn’t be trusted. 

There was a knock on the metal frame of the car, and Gage’s boss, Beau, appeared beside the Chevy. It was weird seeing the guy in a pressed suit. He’d never worn anything to work except the T-shirts with the shop name printed on the front pocket with jeans and work boots. Grease stains were usually swiped over most of his clothing, and holes were common on the shirts. 

“Hey, man.” Beau tilted his head toward the back room where a dozen people were still jumping for joy because Dawson proposed to Beau’s sister, Olivia. “Thanks for showing up.”

This was why Gage had trouble understanding people. Why did they care if he was around when Dawson proposed to Olivia? It wasn’t as if they were friends. It wasn’t like he cared. 

Gage couldn’t afford to care about anything. He had one goal in life, and that was to keep his head down and work. He worked so he could have money to pay his bills. He worked to get away from his family. He worked to stay out of jail. He worked so he didn’t have to talk to people or make friends. 

Things were going great. 

“You’re welcome,” Gage said as he turned his attention back to the vehicle. 

“We’re going to Barn Sour in a little bit. Want to come?”

Hanging out at a backwoods bar and dancing to country music sounded a lot like torture. Gage would rather push sticks underneath his fingernails. “More celebration?”

“Yeah. It’s not my idea of fun either, but Olivia is pretty convincing.”

Gage scoffed. Olivia was nice enough, but she tried to be a mother hen a little too often. “Pushy is the word you’re looking for.”

Beau chuckled. “True, but I’d do anything for my sister.”

Gage stopped with his hand on the jack handle. Was his sister on the other side of the world or just the country? Wherever Thea was, hopefully she was far enough that she could never be found.

Five years. She’d been gone half a decade, and it was still tough not to think about her–worry about her. 

Beau would go to a party for his sister. Gage had sent his away and hoped to never see her again. All to protect her, of course, but few would see it that way.

“You coming?” Beau asked. 

Gage’s phone rang, and he wiped his hands on the rag in his back pocket. When he pulled his phone out, his mom’s name lit up the screen. “I need to take this.” 

“Sure. Just meet us there if you want,” Beau said with a wave over his shoulder.

Gage scanned the garage as he answered the call. “Hey. Everything okay?”

“Gage, she’s back.” His mom’s voice shook on the hasty words. 

A warning tingle spread over the back of his neck. There was only one girl whose return could strike that kind of fear in his mom, but he asked the question anyway. “What?”

“It’s Thea. She’s back. Gage, you have to get to her before they do.”

Dropping the rag in his hand as his feet propelled him toward the office, the entire world around Gage faded into a fog with a red tint around the edges. 

Thea couldn’t be back. She’d promised she’d never come back. 

People break promises all the time. His sister might have been a saint, but this was one mistake she’d regret. 

Gage reached the doorway leading into the offices in the back of the garage when Olivia almost ran into him. Her dark hair whirled around her as she jerked to a stop. 

“Gage, have you seen Lyric?” Olivia asked. 

“No. Where’s Beau?” 

Olivia’s eyes widened as recognition clicked into place. “Everly just called. She’s still at the church. She said…”

“Spit it out. What’s wrong?” Gage asked, hanging onto the very end of his patience. He didn’t have time for wedding talk. He had to find Thea. 

Olivia looked from one side to the other before taking a step back. 

He probably looked like a soldier on the warpath right now, and she was smart to give him plenty of space. 

“Olivia, what is it?”

“It’s Thea. Someone dropped her off in the parking lot at the church.”

Gage erased the space Olivia had put between them. “Talk fast,” he ordered. 

“They’re taking her to Cody.”

“Who?”

“Paramedics. Jameson and Noah were at the wedding, so they–”

Gage was already walking away. When he hit the hallway, he broke into a jog. “Beau!”

Paramedics. Thea was headed to the nearest town with a hospital, and Gage needed a wall he could punch without having money for the damages deducted from his paycheck. 

“Gage! Wait!” Olivia shouted behind him. 

Rounding on her, Gage asked, “What’s wrong? Why is she going to the hospital?”

Olivia tucked her shoulders again. Good grief, he wasn’t going to hurt her. He just needed her to keep saying words. 

“Everly said she was bleeding. Maybe beaten up. Do you know what happened to her?”

“Do I look like I know what happened to her?” Gage asked, throwing his hands out to his sides. 

Who were the possible suspects? Definitely a Howard or a Patton. This wouldn’t be the first time Thea got herself tangled up in the middle of the family feud. 

Thea’s ex, Brett Patton, could have come to finish what he started when he killed their dad five years ago. Another Patton might have seen a chance to take down the weakest and most innocent Howard.

There was also the very real possibility that their own family had done this. She’d allied herself against the Howards when she started dating a Patton, and not a single one of them had forgiven her for it. 

And that was the main reason Gage had worked so hard to get her out of Blackwater. He couldn’t protect her if they were surrounded on all sides. Thea had a heart of gold, but their family didn’t care. She was a traitor, and traitors weren’t tolerated. 

“Gage, lay off. She’s trying to help,” Beau said behind him. 

Gage pulled off his ball cap and brushed a hand through his hair. Deep breaths. Don’t scare her off. 

He turned back to Olivia and softened his voice. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just need to know the details.”

Olivia nodded quickly. “I know. Everly said Brett went with her in the ambulance.”

Gage’s hands fisted at his sides. “What did you say?”

Beau’s hand landed on Gage’s shoulder, but he continued staring at Olivia. There was no way Brett Patton was with his sister. Everything bad that had ever happened to Thea was Brett’s fault. Gage would burn the streets down if Brett touched a single hair on Thea’s head. 

Brett Patton. Man, it had been a hot minute since Gage had given that waste of air a thought. 

“Just go.” Beau pushed Gage’s shoulder, turning him toward the exit. 

“Wait. What can we do?” Panic wrapped its claws around Olivia’s words. 

Gage homed in on the door at the end of the hallway and barked over his shoulder, “Nothing.” 

“Beau, we have to help,” Olivia said low behind Gage. 

Gage turned as he reached the metal door leading out into the side parking lot. “Seriously, don’t do anything. It’s dangerous.”

Beau rested a hand on Olivia’s back. “He’s right. Stay out of it.”

At least someone was smart around here. In this situation, helping could only hurt. 

Gage couldn’t keep his sister safe. He’d risked his own skin to get her out of here. Now, she’d come back to Blackwater without warning, and he was starting his search ten steps behind. 

The freezing wind hit his face as he pushed out into the night. He hadn’t even bothered to grab his coat before running off after Thea. 

Who cared about frostbite when Thea was injured. What had they done to her? 

Who had done this? Thea was as pure as fresh snow, but she had half a dozen enemies. Where to start?

Gage shut the door of his old truck with a metallic thud that echoed in the night. The Pattons hadn’t given much trouble recently. He kept tabs on Brett, just in case he got a wild hair to start trouble, but the rest of them had been relatively quiet over the last five years. 

Despite the war history, the Pattons weren’t Gage’s first suspects. His and Thea’s own uncles, Tommy and Bruce, were at the top of the list. Their cousin, Cain, was also a possibility, but he wasn’t the mastermind. He was a sidekick who followed orders and got a weird high off making people bleed. 

Cain was definitely involved, which meant Bruce was probably the leader on this one. 

Gage gripped the steering wheel and choked the leathery material until his palms burned. The headlights illuminated the short path in front of him, leaving the rest in pitch black. Tiny snowflakes fell slowly in front of the truck as he drove–too small and gentle for the turmoil rioting inside him. 

They touched Thea. He’d kill them all and not lose a wink of sleep. She was the only one with clean hands, and they’d taken out their anger on her. 

Big mistake. 

Visions of revenge had Gage leaning into his foot on the accelerator. He grabbed his phone from the passenger seat and called Bruce. Every unanswered ring earned the idiot another injury. 

He tried again with no answer. Cain was next, and those calls went unanswered while Gage’s anger stewed to boiling. 

Gage threw his phone against the passenger door and let out the scream that had been pushing up his throat. 

Thea. He had to find her. Had to be smart. 

He didn’t want smart. He wanted punishment. 

Thea. Focus. He couldn’t find her if he went in with his fists flying. 

The phone dinged again, and he grabbed it. 

Beau: Dawson said she’s on her way to Cody Memorial Hospital.

Great. Now Gage knew where he was headed. 

His fist hit the steering wheel. He’d forgotten about the run he had to make to Silver Falls tonight. If he told Bruce he couldn’t do it, he’d know Gage knew about Thea.

Slamming on the brakes, he whipped into the first drive he passed and headed back toward Blackwater. He needed a plan. He’d run the moonshine early, then head to Cody. If he had to go by Bruce’s garage to get the shine, he could listen for any news about Thea. 

He pulled up at Bruce’s garage and let the fury propel him forward. His palm hit the door leading into the hallway behind the garage, sending it crashing against the wall as he barreled into the lion’s den. 

Rhythmic thuds and grunts came from the back room, and he set a course for action. 

Focus. Get Thea. Vengeance can wait. 

Gage stormed in just as Cain swung another fist at the punching bag. The guy was all brawn and no brain and had a good thirty pounds of muscle on Gage. 

Cain still hadn’t landed a punch on Gage in the last ten years. Apparently, his brainless cousin had enough self-preservation to stay out of his way. Cain might be dumb and desperate, but Gage was cunning and calculating. 

“Does anyone around here have enough sense to answer a phone call?” Gage asked. 

Bruce looked up from where he sat on the weight bench and lifted a bottle of whiskey. His sparse hair scattered thin over his wide head, and a bulging beer belly stretched a faded shirt. 

Instead of the string of expletives Gage expected, Bruce just stared at him with cold, hard eyes as he tipped the bottle and gulped the liquor. 

“I’m not your dog. I don’t come when anyone calls,” Cain said, landing another punch on the bag. 

Gage crossed his arms over his chest and locked his stare with Bruce. “Can you put your dog to good use and see if he can get my truck loaded? Saul wants his run early.” 

Cain mouthed off and lit up Gage’s last nerve. He pushed Cain’s shoulder, turning him so they were face-to-face. 

Cain’s eyes narrowed as a grin spread over his mouth. The guy was ready to fight, and Gage was happy to oblige. 

“You better be glad I’ve got somewhere to be,” Gage sneered. 

Cain gained his balance and spat tobacco onto the floor. “Let’s brawl, cuz. I hate your stupid lectures.”

Gage took another step forward. “Where were you when I called?”

Cain shrugged. “I went grocery shopping.”

Gage’s teeth ground together as his hands clenched into fists. One hit. It would only take one hit to land Cain on his back. Built like a rock or not, Gage had training his cousin didn’t.

Bruce stood from the weight bench and tossed the empty bottle into a barrel in the corner of the room. “Lay off. We’ve been here. Just didn’t hear the phone.”

Each breath Gage exhaled was a huff through his nose as he tried to rein in the anger. Bruce and Cain’s silence was as good as a confession, but he was still no closer to finding Thea. 

After loading twenty gallons of moonshine into the bed of his truck, Gage pulled out a second phone and called Beau. The call rang once, and Gage had barely made it to the main road when his boss picked up. 

“How is she?” Beau asked in greeting. 

“Don’t know. Any chance you could find out for me? It’ll be a while before I can get there.” 

Gage had friends in low places and dozens of people who owed him favors, but none of those IOUs would come in handy now. Beau had more friends than Gage had scars, and that was saying a lot. 

“I’ll call you back when I know.”

Gage tossed the phone to the side and stared at the road ahead. Thea was injured and stuck with the man who killed their dad, and Gage hoped Beau had quick friends or else he might lose his mind before he got to Cody.