His Montana Sweetheart
Catching His HeartOlivia Franklin suspected coming home to Jasper Gulch would mean eventually running into her first love, Jack McGuire. But she's adamant that she not repeat the mistakes that led to her broken heart. Yet from the moment she lays eyes on her former sweetheart, her resistance begins to crumble. The tall, handsome rancher made his choice all those years ago. He'd gone from the baseball diamond to a high-rise office and finally back home to the Double M–all without her. And no amount of centennial nostalgia can change the past. But the future is another story, and the pretty historian is about to get a lesson in romance from the lonesome cowboy she will never forget!Big Sky Centennial: A small town rich in history…and love.
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Catching His Heart
Olivia Franklin suspected coming home to Jasper Gulch would mean eventually running into her first love, Jack McGuire. But sheâs adamant that she not repeat the mistakes that led to her broken heart. Yet from the moment she lays eyes on her former sweetheart, her resistance begins to crumble. The tall, handsome rancher made his choice all those years ago. Heâd gone from the baseball diamond to a high-rise office and finally back home to the Double Mâall without her. And no amount of centennial nostalgia can change the past. But the future is another story, and the pretty historian is about to get a lesson in romance from the lonesome cowboy she will never forget!
Big Sky Centennial: A small town rich in historyâ¦and love.
Batter up!
The Jasper Gulch Centennial Committee Invites You to Join In Some Old-Fashioned Fun as We Welcome Back Our Hometown Heroes for an Old Timersâ Baseball Game⦠Montana Style!
Thereâs nothing like baseball in Montana.
Is it the fresh mountain air? The cowboy mentality? No one knows for certain. But itâs no wonder the Jasper Gulch Old Timers have captured our hearts!
And no two hearts could be more entwined than
Livvie Franklinâs and Jack McGuireâs. Though itâs been eight years since these former high school sweethearts have laid eyes on each other, something tells us Livvie has never gotten over her Jasper Gulch all-star. Can the centennial celebration help them turn back time? Join us in the bleachers as we root them on!
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Big Sky Centennial:
A small town rich in historyâ¦and love.
RUTH LOGAN HERNE
Born into poverty, Ruth puts great stock in one of her favorite Ben Franklinisms: âHaving been poor is no shame. Being ashamed of it is.â With God-given appreciation for the amazing opportunities abounding in our land, Ruth finds simple gifts in the everyday blessings of smudge-faced small children, bright flowers, freshly baked goods, good friends, family, puppies and higher education. She believes a good woman should never fear dirt, snakes or spiders, all of which like to infest her aged farmhouse, necessitating a good pair of tongs for extracting the snakes, a flat-bottomed shoe for the spiders, and for the dirtâ¦
Simply put, sheâs learned that some things arenât worth fretting about! If you laugh in the face of dust and love to talk about God, men, romance, great shoes and wonderful food, feel free to contact Ruth through her website, www.ruthloganherne.com.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall
I know even as also I am known.
â1 Corinthians 13:12
To my beloved father-in-law, Floyd âSonnyâ Blodgett, a gentle man of few words and a loving heart. Dad suffered through the years of Alzheimerâs slow decline with his family surrounding him. Dad, your example of handling whatever came your way has passed on through multiple generations. God truly blessed us with your kind, quiet presence. May you rest in the peace and light of Godâs eternal love.
Contents
Of all the town meetings, in all the world...
The altered line from Casablanca knotted Livvie Franklinâs heart.
Jack. Here. Now.
She drew a breath that stuck square in her throat.
Tall. Still lanky, but with a shoulder breadth that made folks take notice, and from the appreciative glances of the single women in the roomâand a couple of older mothers, tooâshe wasnât the only one who had noticed.
Green eyes. Brown hair, shaggy, in need of a cut, but she understood the rigors of ranching, and Jack had lost his mother a few years before. Now he and his dad had house chores on top of everything else in their short Big Sky growing season.
She knew sheâd run into him sooner or later. In a town the size of Jasper Gulch no one stayed hidden forever.
But sheâd dismissed the possibility at a council meeting about the Old-timersâ Baseball Game. Jack had shied away from all things baseball since he blew his arm out over eight years before. He decided then to shrug off ball-playing and his girlâherâas anathema.
So be it.
Sheâd slip out the back, she decided, but Olivia had forgotten the force of the locals. As soon as the small gathered crowd saw Jackâ
The same folks whoâd been greeting her since she came into town a few days beforeâ
Heads swerved from Jack to her, their looks expectant.
Jack turned, following the track of their collective attention. He stopped. Stared. His gaze, always so open and trusting for the years they dated, was more somber. Surprise widened his eyes, and the saltwater green brightened.
He moved her way, preventing her escape, forcing a confrontation she didnât want. As he drew closer, with pretty much the entire group focused on this unplanned reunion of high school sweethearts gone amok, she forced herself to engage in a moment of self-honesty.
