Dakota Dreamin’

Now she could make her dreams come true.  Edie Gibbs stared at the check in her hand.  She’d never imagined that the inventions Joe worked on during their eighteen years of marriage would provide a windfall after his death.  Actually, she had only one dream: to own a ranch in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  And now, she could.  But it wasn’t quite that simple.  Her new ranch was a run-down wreck, and her neighbor, arrogant local rancher Will Maddock, made every encounter a battle.  Some dream, Edie told herself.

“We Maddocks aren’t such a bad lot, Edie.”  Will went on, “You’ve got the wrong impression of us.  Our differences have been on a purely business level.  Your mistake was taking it personally.  I’ve told you that before, but you still don’t believe me.  Your ranch happens to sit on land I want.  If you had bought any other place, I would have wished you the best of luck.”  His finger slowly stroked the underside of her jaw, tracing its firm set.  Edie shut her eyes at the raw ache his caress induced.  Her fingers closed over his forearm to draw his hand away.  “Which doesn’t change the fact that we still own the ranch, Maddock,” she said firmly, “and we aren’t going to sell.”  Edie knew her land was safe from Will Maddock—but her heart certainly was not…