The first chapter of my romantic intrigue entitled Secret Heart is on my website today. The novel features a young British woman who runs away from her fiancé due to his illegal dealings. Ashleigh Prescott comes to America and hides on an Oklahoma ranch owned by Luke Bradford, the brother of her cousin’s fiancee. While Ashleigh lives in a cabin on Luke’s ranch, they grow close. Will Scotland Yard detectives find her in time to keep her safe from her ex-fiancé? Will she be able to leave Luke to keep him safe?

This is the next novel I hope to put up on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, so please feel free to read it and give me any feedback you would like. I’m extremely interested in what my friends and family have to say so I can make any adjustments to the storyline I feel are good ideas.

Because I love my Kindle eReader and because I publish digitally on Kindle Direct Publishing, I decided to become an Amazon Associate and promote different Kindle eReaders on my site. I’m currently trying to figure out how to do it so it will link through the Amazon Affiliate program, but so far I’m not having much luck. For now I’ll have to settle for linking by my old method. Kindle eReader, 6″ Glare-free with WiFi. This link will take you to Amazon.com, in particular the eReader. BUT if you go to the upper left-hand corner of this site, you will see a drop-down menu. If you click the link there, I will get credit if you decide to purchase the eReader.

Please keep reading for Chapter 1 of my romantic intrigue novel entitled Secret Heart.

 

One

 

This was it—the birth of a new individual. Granted, the person had been alive for twenty-eight years, but the personality that she’d tried desperately to restrain for her parents’ sake had burst into the world that day. From the first time her cousin had told her about America, she’d longed to become a citizen, but she’d never before given the idea serious consideration. Now the vague dream had become an obsession. As soon as everything was settled, she would declare that she wanted to be a U.S. citizen. She didn’t want to completely renounce her British citizenship, but if she had to, that is what she would do.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and considered what had led to her decision. Her life had changed irreversibly in the past several hours. Not only was she crossing the Atlantic Ocean from England to the United States, she was crossing from one way of life to another. Even though she’d been born in America, she was raised as a British citizen. But America had been her home during her boarding school years, and she had traveled it extensively.

The life ahead of her, though, was foreign in a different way. When she got off the plane in New York, she would abandon her previous existence, just like she would abandon her filled luggage. Instead of being Ashleigh Prescott, she would become Lenore Ogden, a woman like every other woman in America—with one exception. Someone would be looking for her.

If only she could have contacted Aimee before she left. Her sister was the only person she considered a trustworthy confidant. All Ashleigh could do now was pray that Aimee would understand the clue she’d left behind. Hopefully, she would remember what they’d discussed about William a few months ago.

It had taken William years to convince her of his love, just as it had taken her years to grow to love him. What a mistake! One minute she had been making plans for the year’s biggest wedding; the next, she was beginning the long pilgrimage to a new life.

The vision of her £25,000 diamond ring splashing into the toilet lingered as a satisfyingly vindictive memory. By now it was somewhere in the bowels of London, flushed away as her love had been four hours earlier. Thank goodness that part of her life was over. Nothing remained of her love but a dull ache deep within her heart which diminished more with each passing mile. Now all she felt was self-reproach for having been beguiled by a smooth-talking gentleman from a high-society family.

Pulling a pen and small notebook from her purse, she listed the steps she should take. First, she had to have her waist-length, champagne blonde hair cut into an entirely new style and dyed a mousy, unassuming brown. After that she needed a suitcase, old clothes from a thrift store, and a bus ticket out of New York.

With a deep frown, Ashleigh leaned back against the seat and turned her empty stare out the window. How could she have been so vulnerable? She’d always been wary of men and had been equally leery of Sir William Weatherly, until he had convinced her of his love. Only then had she opened her heart to a possible life with him.

Running her fingers through her hair, she sighed with resignation. What would she have done if she couldn’t afford the large emergency cash supply in the wall safe of her exclusive, London apartment? Unfortunately, all but fifty dollars of the money, split between her purse and her carry-on case, was in pounds. She needed to exchange some of her currency before she could do anything else.

She also had to write a letter to her employer at the museum. What could be a plausible excuse for taking an unscheduled, indefinite holiday? She certainly couldn’t tell him the truth. Tapping her pen on the pad, Ashleigh concentrated on her task but came up with nothing. The only way to avoid explanations was to relinquish the job she loved, even if it did increase the suspicion already on her. Unable to think of another approach, she wrote the date at the top of her paper then began her letter of resignation.

***

Ashleigh rocked on her feet, nervously awaiting an answer to her knock on the apartment door. Within seconds a tall, brown-haired man opened it and gazed at her curiously. Now she knew for sure that her medium brown shoulder-length hair and thick bangs had changed her appearance.

“May I help you?” he asked.

“Don’t you recognize your own cousin, Rex Cornelius?” she returned with a mischievous grin.

He studied her from head to toe and back again. “Ashleigh?”

Then he stared into her eyes, a deep blue like his but with a touch of green. He’d always called them sea blue, because he said they were too green to be classified strictly as blue. He’d also told her many times that, out of all the men he’d met who knew her, none had escaped falling prey to their captivating power.

After a brief pause, he questioned her in amazement. “What have you done to yourself? And why?”

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

“Sure.” When he stood back, she slung her carry-on bag over her shoulder and pulled a large, plaid fabric suitcase behind her, setting them near the door. “Where’s the rest of your luggage?”

“This is it,” she said.

Rex escorted her to the living room then laid his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her onto the couch. Sinking down beside her, he studied her, his curiosity evident on his face. “Okay, princess, out with it. Why the old clothes and the hair change? I didn’t even recognize you.”

“I didn’t want you to.” Ashleigh examined her favorite cousin with a fond smile. Maybe her appearance had changed, but his certainly hadn’t. He still forgot to get his hair cut, still wore faded blue jeans and T-shirts with odd sayings on them. This yellow one was almost indecent—a green frog with a long red tongue asking Your pad or mine? But he looked as good as ever, slightly taller than she and a bit underweight. Drawing in a deep breath to still her nerves, she explained her unannounced arrival. “I broke up with William. I need to get away for a while.”

“I can understand that. I’d feel the same way if Martha and I split. But I sure wouldn’t color my hair.”

“You wouldn’t need to.”

“True, but I still think something’s up. Come on, princess, you know you can tell me.”

“I’m in trouble—serious trouble—and it’s all because of my so-called fiancé. I came to Oklahoma City because only family would expect me to. You won’t tell anybody, will you?”

“I suppose not,” he granted. “You’re welcome to stay …”

“I can’t stay with you.” At that moment, the phone rang, and Rex started to rise. Ashleigh grabbed his wrist to stop him. She couldn’t let him answer a call that might be someone other than her mother. “Don’t. If it’s important, whoever it is will ring again. Please, Rex, I really need to talk to you uninterrupted.”

“I’ll let it ring, princess, but only if you tell me what’s up.”

“I can’t. And don’t call me that. You know how I hate it.”

“Okay, okay. The least you could do is stay here. We have a spare bedroom.”

“Absolutely not. I don’t want you involved.”

Rex’s eyelids narrowed. “Involved?”

If she met his gaze, Rex would be able to read her emotional burden. To avoid that, she also had to avoid direct eye contact, so she watched her fingers toy with the cuff of her long-sleeved shirt. “You won’t get another word out of me. Just hide me somewhere.”

“Why are you being so mysterious?”

“I have my reasons. Will you help me find a place where I can be alone? The fewer people who know my whereabouts, the better. Even a motel has too many people who could see me. I’ll take anything, Rex, even an old trailer. Don’t you know anywhere I could go?”

“Sorry.” After an almost imperceptible pause, his face lit with excitement. “Wait a minute! Yes, I do. Luke Bradford has a cabin on his land.”

“Is that Martha’s father?”

“Older brother. She’s on duty at the hospital tonight, but I work with another one of her brothers at the TV station. I told you that Paul introduced us, didn’t I? Best move I ever made, marrying that woman.”

“Would you stop reminiscing and ring up Mr. Bradford? I’d prefer having permission to use his cabin. Besides, I shouldn’t stay here any longer than necessary.” While Ashleigh watched, Rex wandered toward the kitchen. “And don’t explain over the phone. See if you can get him to come over here.”

“Explain what?” he grumbled. “I don’t know anything. I’ll have to call Paul. I don’t know Luke’s number, and Martha doesn’t have it written down.”

Twenty minutes after Rex placed the call, he admitted a tall, muscular, blond man to his apartment. As the men joined Ashleigh in the living room, she examined the new arrival with interest. If Luke looked anything like his brother, she would have a very hard time keeping her distance. This blond man was gorgeous!

Rex’s merry laugh brought her to reality, and she shot her startled gaze to his face as they stopped before her.

“Forget it, princess,” Rex said. “I can see what’s on your mind, and he’s a married man with a baby on the way. Paul, this is my cousin …”

“Lenore Ogden,” Ashleigh interrupted, shooting to her feet. “I’m pleased to meet you, Paul.”

Rex stared at her in astonishment, and she had no doubt that he was wondering why was she using his mother’s maiden name. To urge him from his obvious stupor, she spoke with a perfect Midwestern twang like their mothers’. “Come on, Rex. Ask him.”

“What’s going on, Rex?” Paul asked. “You’re really acting weird.”

“I’m just worried about my cousin,” Rex said. “She wants someplace out of the way to stay. She and her fiancé broke up, and she wants to be alone. Do you think Luke would let her stay in his cabin?”

Paul hesitated. “Man, I don’t know. Luke left yesterday morning to spend a couple weeks judging on the rodeo circuit. And I doubt he’d let her without a good reason—one a lot better than hiding from an ex-boyfriend. But I’ll call his …”

Panic set in. Paul couldn’t contact Luke. “Please, don’t call him, Paul. You’re already one person too many who know I’m here.”

He stared down at her as she gazed directly into his baby blue eyes, while she forced her own to plead with a little-girl quality that she prayed he would find irresistible. Hopefully, his power to deny her would be lost like had happened with many other men.

“There are some ground rules you have to follow if you don’t want Luke to find out you’re there,” he announced after a moment of silence. “And I can’t guarantee that he won’t—no matter how careful you are. First, you can’t use any more electricity and water than absolutely necessary. I’ll have to bring out a microwave oven so you can cook. The stove is gas, and I don’t dare turn it on or he’ll find out for sure.”

“As long as I can feed myself.”

“You can take some of our food,” Rex said. “Our microwave, too. We don’t use it that much, anyway.”

“Won’t Martha be suspicious?”

“I’ll tell her I loaned it to a friend, but I should tell her the truth. She could help by buying any feminine things you need.”

Ashleigh considered his suggestion. There were some things she would need that Rex would feel uncomfortable purchasing, and asking him to do it was unfair. Nor was it fair that she expected him to keep a secret of this magnitude from his fiancé of less than a year. As reluctant as she was to have people know her location, she couldn’t ask her favorite cousin to jeopardize his relationship.

Wandering to the kitchen, she said, “All right, Rex. You can tell Martha—but nobody else. Now let’s get me some food.”

While Rex and Ashleigh bagged up some groceries, Paul called his wife to tell her that he had to run out to Luke’s for a while and then sat down at the table to chat with the cousins. “There’s something I should warn you about, Lenore. We Bradfords have a really nasty trait. We all have quick tempers, and Luke’s is the worst. If he finds out you’re in his cabin before I tell him, he’ll blow sky high. You’d better cooperate with him if he finds you.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

“Good. Should I come out once or twice a week with supplies?”

“Once. I’ll make lists of what I’ll need.”

Rex laughed. “She will, too. I’ve never seen anybody make lists like she does.”

“That sounds fine to me,” Paul said. “Just don’t forget that you’re planning a week in advance. And don’t forget to cooperate with Luke.”

“I won’t,” she replied, gazing at him with her head bowed. Talking with strange men always made her nervous, and looking at them during a conversation was even more difficult. For years she’d tried to overcome her shyness, without success. But Paul sounded so insistent that she needed to see his expression. At first, she thought he’d been exaggerating about his brother’s temper. Now she knew better. She’d never seen such a serious, concerned look on anyone’s face.

“I mean it, Lenore. The phrase raging bull was meant for my brother. Don’t even think about crossing him. He beat the tar out of the last trespasser he had.” Her eyes widened in horror, and he offered her a consoling smile. “Forget I said that. I’ll admit he’ll be furious, but he’s never hit a woman in his life. And I don’t believe for a second that he ever would.”

With the food packed, Rex helped Paul carry the groceries, microwave, a small television set, and a radio/CD player to Paul’s car. Before she left on the hour-long trip, Ashleigh kissed Rex’s cheek and thanked him for his support.

***

“I don’t know what else I can tell you, sir,” the red-haired man said into the telephone. “She disappeared. Her luggage is here in New York, but she hasn’t claimed it. She hasn’t even turned in a voucher to declare it missing.”

“This is insane!” Sir William Weatherly raged on the other end of the line. “She has to be there somewhere.”

“I’ve been watching her bags for three hours, and she hasn’t come for them yet.”

“I don’t care what it takes, McKnight. Find Ashleigh for me, or I won’t even pay your expenses, let alone your fee. As soon as you do, ring me up immediately—day or night. I want that lady found.”

***

Luke Bradford returned home three weeks later. He was exhausted, but he had work to do. His commitment to judge the rodeo had been lengthened when another judge on the circuit withdrew due to a family emergency, so he’d lost some time he spent on paperwork.

Before he started, though, he called Barbara Jenkins to announce his homecoming. Even after two years of dating, he’d neither missed nor thought of her during their separation. The romance was over for him, so he had made arrangements for a dinner date to break the relationship gently but cleanly.

With a groan, he stretched then returned to paying the household bills. Then he noticed the increased utility bill. Someone was using his cabin again. Uttering an angry profanity, he propelled his black leather, executive chair back so hard that it crashed against the wall behind him as he rushed from the house.

Infuriated beyond control, Luke strode to the stable with two mastiffs trotting beside him. While saddling his horse, he spoke irately to the gelding and two large dogs.

“You know, boys, I get damned mad about trespassers in my cabin. Why the hell do people think they can come onto someone’s property without permission? There’s no way I’ll let anybody use my cabin. I beat the devil out of the last trespasser. And believe me, this bastard better cooperate, or he’ll have hell to pay, too.”

Mounting his Arabian steed, he called to the mastiffs as he rode out of the stable at a gallop. When the cabin was visible in the distance, Luke reined to a slower pace. The chestnut gelding whinnied his disapproval.

***

A horse’s neigh disrupted her concentration on the sketches, and Ashleigh raced to the window. Fear engulfed her in an instant. Someone was coming! Whoever William had hired to locate her had done it. Now what was she going to do? She couldn’t risk losing her freedom. It was all she had left. She didn’t even know if she could ever return home. Somehow she had to protect her freedom as surely as a mother would protect her children.

Ashleigh slipped out the kitchen door and closed it behind her. The most effective escape was waiting until the rider entered the cabin then dashing to the nearest cover—almost a half mile north. If she ran the moment she heard the front door, maybe she could get to the grove of trees before he realized what had happened.

As soon as the door slammed open, Ashleigh sprinted across the plain. She had only gone about two hundred yards when she heard a dog’s bark, low and terrifying in the dimly moonlit night. She’d been found! But she couldn’t stop her frenzied race, even at the sound of the shrill whistle immediately followed by hoof beats.

She increased her speed, desperate to escape. Somewhere in the back of her brain she summoned up a frantic prayer for help. Then her fear-numbed mind drifted to the old American television program she’d watched in boarding school. Oh, how she wished she could snap her fingers and disappear like that witch!

Despite her speed, she felt as though she was going nowhere. The hoof beats grew louder as the horse approached. Finally daring a glance over her shoulder, she saw the rider looming behind her—getting closer and closer—moving his arm in large circles over his head.

Ashleigh bent her head and forced herself onward. Her feet were moving! She could see them. Her lungs felt as though they would burst. Her heart beat so rapidly she was sure she would collapse at any second. Suddenly, she was lying facedown on the ground with a rope tightly binding her knees.

A deep voice told Samson to grin, and Ashleigh gazed up into the black face of a massive canine with large, white teeth. She gasped in horror. A knee pressed into the small of her back as the man grabbed her arm. Pain shot through her gloved hand, spreading upward to her elbow. With the heat off in the cabin, she’d put on as many clothes as possible to keep warm. The knit hat into which she’d tucked her hair hid the length. But she was cold now, anyway—cold with fear. If only those same clothes weren’t hiding her obvious femininity from the rider. Maybe then he wouldn’t be tying her wrists behind her back.

“Okay, you bastard!” the stranger growled. “Roll over.”

He stood over her now, one foot planted on each side of her shoulders. The first thing she saw was his large cowboy boot—at least a size fourteen or fifteen. As she rolled slowly onto her back, her wide eyes wandered up his unending leg to the waist of his skin-tight blue jeans. His hands were balled, his thumbs jammed into the belt on either side of the silver and turquoise buckle.

She shuddered at the sight of his enormous fists; yet at the same time, she was intrigued. Her gaze continued over his cowboy shirt to his wide chest, the dense forest of hair covering it partially exposed. Filled with a confusing mixture of fascination and fear, she looked up into his face. It was framed by thick black hair, neatly trimmed but covering his ears. Finally, her eyes met his.