THE INSIDE STORY

From the very beginning, Tanner O'Brien always had a younger brother named Tucker, who ran off to travel the rodeo circuit. What else would the son of a bull rider and a barrel racer do? It was finding the right story for Tucker that was the hard part.

Why did Tucker O'Brien run off when he was fifteen-years-old? And where did he go?

Tucker was always supposed to return to the Rocking O. But when?

I'd been working on The Reluctant Wrangler, Nikki's story, and went to bed. As usually happens when writing, instead of sleeping, I started thinking about Nikki and Mac's wedding and decided that it would be held outside at the Rocking O Ranch. What better way for Tanner to show that he accepted her completely as his sister? But it was the reception after the wedding that I was thinking about, with the bride and groom moving among family, friends and neighbors—their wedding guests. And then, like Nikki, in my mind I saw a man walking toward her, carrying a cane and limping. I knew immediately that it was Tucker, but what I didn't know was why he was using a cane and limping. Once I answered those questions, thanks to Tucker, it all came together, and Tucker's story was ready to be told.