Counting on Love (Carson Hill Ranch: Book 3)

By Amelia Rose

A contemporary cowboy romance novel.
This is book 3 in the Carson Hill Ranch series.
The twins' younger brother, Joseph, is trapped in a downward spiral of drinking and drugs, all in an effort to cope with the daily pain he lives with after being thrown from his horse months ago. Not sure what to do or believe, the family enlists the help of Emma, a girl with a shady past, who knows the nightmare of addiction all too well. Can Emma help Joseph find his way out of the pit, before they lose him for good?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gold Crown
• Release date: Apr 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311536082

Amelia Rose

Amelia Rose holds a PhD in Literature and Language; she specializes in teaching positive, self-reliant principles to children and adults of all ages.  Dr. Rose lives with her husband and three children in the Hudson Valley, New York area, where she enjoys the outdoors and spending time with her family and friends.   Matthew Maley is an artist with nearly twenty-five years in the fields of Illustration and Design. His work has appeared in publications such as Archie Comics, Marvel, Disney, Nickelodeon, and Children’s Television Workshop. He lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife, daughter, and a variety of animals.

Book preview

Counting On Love

Carson Hill Ranch: Book Three

AMELIA ROSE

~~~

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2013 by Amelia Rose.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedication

To YOU, The reader.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your emails.

Thank you for your reviews.

Thank you for reading and joining me on this road.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

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About Amelia Rose

Chapter One

Yo, buddy. We’re closing up soon. You’re gonna have to go, the young bartender said, slamming his open palm on the top of the bar several times near Joseph’s head. Come on, take it outside. The new boss doesn’t let people stay in here after hours.

Joseph lifted his bleary head from the bar and blinked his bloodshot eyes against the glare of neon lights advertising different brands of beer. He nodded mutely at the bartender’s request, then dropped his head back onto the damp surface.

Only with help from two employees on either side of him did Joseph finally end up on the bench outside the bus station across the street. He more or less slept face down on the wooden bench, using his arm as a pillow and snoring loudly in his stupor. The lights in the bar finally blinked out, leaving Joseph in the near darkness of just the single bulb that lit up the doorway above him.

Amy came out of the sheriff’s office and started to climb into her truck to head home when she took one last look around, spotting a sleeping body as she did. She approached the body cautiously, and her heart sank when she realized it was Joseph. Again.

She took out her phone and dialed the number she knew by heart. She hated to wake anyone at this hour, but Amy also knew the family would be devastated enough at getting the call but that it would be more heartbreaking if they thought Joseph had slept out in the cold overnight. A familiar voice answered, deliciously husky from sleep and sending chills throughout her entire body.

Hey, sweetheart, what’s wrong? Carey mumbled.

Nothing, honey, everything’s fine. But I have Joseph down here, and he can’t make it home again. I’ll meet you halfway, okay? Amy suggested, feeling her fiancé’s disappointment through the phone. This was not the first late night rendezvous Amy and Carey had shared since getting engaged but more and more often, Joseph was the reason.

Um, yeah, Carey grumbled, still half-asleep and confused. I’ll be there right away, just give me about five minutes.

Take your time, honey, he’s not going anywhere. And I still have to get him into the truck. I may have to go a little slower so he doesn’t throw up this time, so I’ll see you in about thirty minutes. I love you.

I love you, too, and Amy, I’m really sorry about this, Carey added for good measure. Again, I mean.

Hey, it’s all part of my job! she said with a laugh, finishing with a Western movie-style drawl. I’m the sheriff in these parts, remember? She heard Carey laugh quietly, a sound that never stopped causing her heart to leap inside her rib cage, then she said softly, Besides, it’s what family does for each other. I’ll see you in a little while. Drive carefully.

She clicked off her phone and headed over to where Joseph still lay, unmoving. She looked down at him for a long time, saddened that in this state, he still looked every bit the kid she knew from Carson Hill Ranch, his boyish features still visible under his weeklong growth of beard. He’d had a hard time since his accident, still walking with a slight limp whenever it was cold like this, the pain of healed bones in his back, shoulder, and ribs making it impossible for him to do what he’d always loved best, which was to work the ranch alongside his father and five brothers.

C’mon, Joseph, we have to get you home. Let’s go, she said loudly, putting her hands beneath his arms and helping to pull him up to sitting. Once he was semi-vertical, she put an arm underneath his shoulder and half-walked, half-dragged him to her truck.

Shoveling him into the front seat for the thirty minute drive to the halfway point between the town of Hale, Texas, and the Carson’s massive cattle ranch, Amy thought for the millionth time about how different her job as a law enforcement officer in this rural part of the country was from her years as a Detroit patrol cop. Back in the city, a drunk on a bench would have earned a night in a holding cell with fifty others, followed up in the morning with a hefty fine and another charge on his record.

But here, she had the authority to handle things differently, especially when anyone could see that there’s usually a reason for the things people do. In Joseph’s case, it was a near crippling injury at such a young age. To add insult to injury, it had happened while doing what he loved—working a cattle drive—the same cattle drive where Amy had first met her future husband, Carey Carson. Amy’s cowboy vacation as a paid guest taking part in the family’s annual drive turned into something more when a local drug ring tried to bring down the Carsons, and she had stepped in with Carey to save them.

In Hale, where her office now oversaw most of the happenings in the county, everyone knew the Carsons for being good people and good ranchers. That’s probably why everyone turned a blind eye to Joseph’s recent change, including the bar owner, who was probably looking the other way with Joseph’s drinking. Sure, the new owner had only opened the bar after Crazy Mack had been shut down and convicted of meth manufacturing, but Amy knew Joseph was still about six month shy of being old enough to drink, and about forty years shy of being old enough to drown his sorrows in a bar every night.

They bounced slowly along the dirt road on the edge of the Carson property, Amy trying to be careful of Joseph’s head where it leaned against the passenger window. Not two weeks ago, he’d been in this same condition in this same front seat, but the movement of the truck over the roads had made him sick. Amy did not want a repeat performance.

After some time, she saw headlights in the middle of the dirt road, waiting for her. Carey, she thought with a huge smile. She didn’t see nearly enough of her fiancé as it was, and if it took meeting at two in the morning to pass off a drunk family member to spend any amount of time with him at all, she’d take it.

She pulled up alongside his vehicle and jumped down from her truck, coming over to the passenger side and climbing in. She scooted across the seat to Carey’s waiting arms and leaned against his chest. Amy kissed Carey for a long time before pulling back and saying, I’m sorry I had to wake you up.

No, it’s okay. I’m glad you did. Besides, our middle of the night dates are the best time to see you, he teased, placing another soft kiss on her lips and wrapping his arms tighter around her. But now you have to drive back, too. I’m really sorry.

That’s okay. It’s all part of the job. But what are we gonna do about Joseph? He can’t keep going like this, Carey. This is the fourth time I’ve had to drag him back home. She looked at his sad eyes, made all the more ominous in the glow of his truck’s dashboard. I’ve seen this kind of behavior before in my own family. He’s just going to keep going downhill.

I know. I just don’t know what to do to make him listen. No one’s said a word about this to my dad, but maybe it’s time we did. It’s gonna break his heart but this has to stop. Amy placed an arm around Carey’s neck and held him, sending her love and her support through that gesture.

Well, we’ll figure that out soon. For now, get him home and then get back in your bed. Be sure to think wonderful, sexy thoughts about me! She smiled at him before kissing him one last time, and getting out of his truck. It took both of them to get Joseph into Carey’s truck, then they said their goodnights and each went home.

Chapter Two

 Are you sure you can’t stay longer? Emma asked, hugging Dee one last time before the bus driver came back from getting himself a cup of coffee. We’ve been doing all right all this time, we could just keep doing what we’ve been doing.

Dee shook her head, her newly permed curls bouncing