A visit with the McCade brothers one at a time...Wyatt McCade.

Sometimes as authors develop their heros they picture just what this hero looks like and who they act like and so on. It has been no different for me. When I first started letting Wyatt's personality show itself in Sawyer's Rose, all I could think of was Nick Barkley from The Big Valley. One of my favorite cowboys out there in TV land. And of course Wyatt McCade being the second of John McCade's sons fits that first temperament well.

Wyatt quickly became my favorite of these brothers but then I say that for every new hero I write. But Wyatt found a place as the bounty hunting brother who admires the sheriff in his eldest brother, Sawyer, and often times becomes the peacemaker between Sawyer and youngest brother Evan. While Wyatt is quick to anger, he is also fast to find the things that matter. Wyatt prides himself on a clean shirt of all things and keeping his hair and beard trimmed. They say give your characters a little bit of some quirk and in the old west that wasn't what too many cowboys worried about. Sawyer's teases him he prunes like a girl but Wuyatt's response is "Yep but I look good." But Wyatt is the most like his deceased father with a quick temper and strong as heck. He is a fighter and will stand up against the worst outlaws and is a dead eye shot with any weapon. He puts money in his pocket bringing in outlaws for the Bounty and is the best there is at tracking down those who do wrong.

But every man has his weakness and for Wyatt that is the lady doctor, Teas Sullivan. The widow physician has a past she cannot forgive herself about enough to let go and love Wyatt McCade and so she turns down his proposal which all but crushes our hero and her. But as the story transpires...Wyatt is beaten and left for dead by the same man who killed his father. As he regains his strength he will stop at nothing when the same man holds Tess hostage in a bad game of hide and seek. Wyatt is now faced with the biggest bounty of his life and will stop at nothing to rescue the only woman he has ever loved. ANd it's Wyatt who finally brings down the evil that has been stalking the McCades for years. Swoon...at least for me. Wyatt is every woman's hero, overcoming big obstacle to hold the doctor in his arms again.

BLURB:

         Bounty hunter Wyatt McCade is recklessly taking down one outlaw at a time. Hard work is one way to forget Tess Sullivan’s womanly curves. But when he learns that she never left Cheyenne, he rides home and right into a trap. Left for dead, he recovers in the capable hands of the lady doctor and even if she can’t forgive herself, loving her is the easy part. But when McCade lands are threatened and he uncovers the truth, it is Tess who is caught in the balance. Finding himself on the bounty hunt of his life, he’ll risk it all to rescue the woman he loves.              

            Doctor Tess Sullivan shattered her own heart by turning down Wyatt McCade’s proposal. Worse than the hurt in his eyes was watching him ride out of Cheyenne, knowing she’d made the biggest mistake of her life. Pining for his return, she blames herself when he is brought to Cheyenne beaten and near death. Forgiveness comes quickly in the arms of the bounty hunter she has always loved, but she soon finds herself the pawn in a deadly game of revenge, praying Wyatt will find her before it’s too late.

EXCERPT>>>

“Wyatt?” “Huh?” 

 “I loved you…long before Israel died.” The confession rocked her thoughts. She had loved Israel, but she had longed for Wyatt years before Israel had died. It had been wrong, and there were times it made her feel like she hadn’t done right by her deceased husband. She weaved her fingers into Wyatt’s, touching with tenderness where the fracture had been. “I did, right or wrong. I mean…I loved Israel, we had so much in common with his study of science and plants and my study of medicine, but I was guilty of dreaming for you long before…he died.” 

     His smile was tender as he lifted her chin. “I’ve known that for a long time, Doc. And I can’t count how many nights I lay awake, wishing I were holding you.” She held tighter to him. “And when you left Cheyenne, it was all my fault. I knew I had made a mistake. I wasn’t even myself without you. It was as if I kept falling and falling, never hitting the ground to land anywhere.” 

 With that he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. “I’ll always be here to catch you, Doc, always.”