Cole

Raised by a stepfather in Knight’s Ferry in the California foothills, once Cole reached adulthood, he found work on a local cattle ranch in the San Joaquin Valley. Now in his mid-twenties and living in a region where men still significantly outnumber women, he doesn’t give much thought to the prospect of marriage and family. Then again, he does not take into account one Lucy Barker who, at seven years of age, feels it is her mission to see her sister, Amelia, married to someone Lucy thinks is handsome and will be a good big brother for her. Amelia Barker, whose father involves himself with local and state politics as much as his cattle ranch, worries she might not have much choice in the man she weds. After already witnessing one of her friends married off as a political pawn, she fears she might suffer the same fate. Contrary to her parent’s wishes, she spends more time on her horse roaming their ranch and the surrounding foothills than she does pursuing “womanly” activities that would please her mother. From afar, she has watched her father’s cowhands work the family spread. One in particular has caught her eye, but she doubts anything can come of her interest in him. Then again, she does not count on her sister, Lucy. Cole Meyer is the stepson of Kendrick Denham, whose story you will find in Kendrick, Book 9 in the Bachelors & Babies series.