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Wild Cat and the Marine
Jackson Gray has finally come home…
Jackson had always hated living on a farm and, as soon as he could, he got out of Engerville, North Dakota, leaving Catherine Darnell behind. Now, back temporarily to help his ailing father, Jackson is happy to see the lovely “Wild Cat” again. But he can’t let himself get too close to his beautiful neighbor, or to her adorable young daughter, because he isn’t staying.
Cat has struggled to make her broken-down horse farm a home for her and Joey. When she finds out Jackson has returned, she worries that the security she fought so hard to achieve will fall apart once he finds out her secret—that Jackson left more than her broken heart behind….
Jackson had always hated living on a farm and, as soon as he could, he got out of Engerville, North Dakota, leaving Catherine Darnell behind. Now, back temporarily to help his ailing father, Jackson is happy to see the lovely “Wild Cat” again. But he can’t let himself get too close to his beautiful neighbor, or to her adorable young daughter, because he isn’t staying.
Cat has struggled to make her broken-down horse farm a home for her and Joey. When she finds out Jackson has returned, she worries that the security she fought so hard to achieve will fall apart once he finds out her secret—that Jackson left more than her broken heart behind….
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 2003
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February 2, 2026
Catherine/Cat lives on her family's horse farm in rural Engerville, North Dakota with her 8 year old daughter, Joey. Cat's dad recently died.
She gets a call that her neighbor (Will) was injured by a bull.
Will's daughter begs her brother, Jackson, to come home. He grew up not wanting to work on a farm, and he had a falling out with his dad years ago when he left to join the Marines. His sister assures him their dad will be happy to see him. So he decides to come home while his dad recuperates.
In high school, the girl he was seeing, Rebeka, went to prom with another guy, and Jackson went with Cat. Jackson and Cat ended up having sex on prom night.
Joey is his daughter, but Cat never told him, because she didn't want to baby trap him in a life he would absolutely hate. She wasn't going to make him stay in Engerville.
While he's there helping take care of his father, he visits Cat sometimes. He meets Joey, but doesn't realize he's her father, because Joey looks like Cat. And he doesn't ask Joey's age.
Then one night, Jackson sees Cat's house is on fire, and he saves her and Joey from the fire. And he thinks of saving his "teenage love." He starts thinking it would be nice to have a family like Cat and Joey, but Cat's not going to leave the horse farm and Jackson's not going to live in Engerville, so that's that.
Jackson's helping Cat every day fix up the burnt room in her house, and one day Joey tells Jackson her birthday is February 3, nine months after prom. He thinks Cat would have told him if he was the dad. But eventually, he can't stand wondering anymore, and he finally goes to her house and asks her. She admits it, and they argue.
She says their fathers would have forced us to marry, and at the time all she could think of was being forced to marry a man who hates her for the rest of her life. He says they wouldn't have had to live in Engerville, they could live on base. She says no, she grew up moving from place to place and wasn’t going to keep moving around because he’s in the military. He's still angry that she didn't tell him and says he will never forgive her.
Unknown to them, Joey is woken up by the arguing, and now she hates Jackson for making her mother cry.
After that, Joey continues hating him, and Jackson's worried that he ruined any relationship with Joey with that one overheard conversation.
The other issue is that Jackson had planned to move to Seattle to buy a business and start a new career on September 1. That's only 1 month away. He still doesn't want to live in Engerville, and he plans on leaving, but he also doesn't want to be that far away from Joey.
Jackson's dad wants them to reconcile, so he uses his strained relationship with Jackson to fake an argument and make Jackson go stay at Cat and Joey's house.
But that night, Jackson brings up the idea of him and Cat getting married. Joey's there and she says she doesn't want her mom to marry Jackson. Still hating him. Cat and Jackson have an argument and end up confessing that they always loved each other, and he's sorry he left her. They have sex again, but this time with a condom. 😌
He ends up promising Cat he won't leave. But the reconciliation doesn't stop him from being sad at the thought of staying in Engerville. The smell of horse manure makes him want to cry. But he can't leave Cat and Joey. He really doesn't want to leave them, I'll give him that much credit.
Then Rebeka, Jackson's high school sweetheart, comes to the Cat's horse farm with her husband to look at buying a horse. And she's obviously being flirtatious, so Joey makes sure to call Jackson her Daddy in front of Rebeka! 🤣 That makes Rebeka jealous. She expected to be able to reel Jackson back in.
But it doesn't really matter, does it? Because Cat's just stringing Jackson along and doesn't really plan to marry him or trap him in Engerville. He brings up marriage again and she ends up telling him that SHE is happiest on the farm and she doesn’t want to leave so she can’t marry him or move to Seattle. So, he says ok, he’ll leave next week like he planned. But inside, he’s angry with her for dooming them all to lonely lives.
So he has to tell Joey he’s leaving, and she’s back to hating him.
He asks his father for advice, and his father’s girlfriend/ lady friend gives him a plan. He leaves for Seattle just like he said he would, with the intention of making Cat realize he shouldn’t have made him leave. And it works because Cat and Joey decide to move to Seattle to go find him. But he shows up at the farm before they can leave. All part of the plan. Then they argue about where they should live. They agree to live in Seattle but take Joey’s own horse with her and have her stabled somewhere.
She gets a call that her neighbor (Will) was injured by a bull.
Will's daughter begs her brother, Jackson, to come home. He grew up not wanting to work on a farm, and he had a falling out with his dad years ago when he left to join the Marines. His sister assures him their dad will be happy to see him. So he decides to come home while his dad recuperates.
In high school, the girl he was seeing, Rebeka, went to prom with another guy, and Jackson went with Cat. Jackson and Cat ended up having sex on prom night.
Joey is his daughter, but Cat never told him, because she didn't want to baby trap him in a life he would absolutely hate. She wasn't going to make him stay in Engerville.
While he's there helping take care of his father, he visits Cat sometimes. He meets Joey, but doesn't realize he's her father, because Joey looks like Cat. And he doesn't ask Joey's age.
Then one night, Jackson sees Cat's house is on fire, and he saves her and Joey from the fire. And he thinks of saving his "teenage love." He starts thinking it would be nice to have a family like Cat and Joey, but Cat's not going to leave the horse farm and Jackson's not going to live in Engerville, so that's that.
Jackson's helping Cat every day fix up the burnt room in her house, and one day Joey tells Jackson her birthday is February 3, nine months after prom. He thinks Cat would have told him if he was the dad. But eventually, he can't stand wondering anymore, and he finally goes to her house and asks her. She admits it, and they argue.
She says their fathers would have forced us to marry, and at the time all she could think of was being forced to marry a man who hates her for the rest of her life. He says they wouldn't have had to live in Engerville, they could live on base. She says no, she grew up moving from place to place and wasn’t going to keep moving around because he’s in the military. He's still angry that she didn't tell him and says he will never forgive her.
Unknown to them, Joey is woken up by the arguing, and now she hates Jackson for making her mother cry.
After that, Joey continues hating him, and Jackson's worried that he ruined any relationship with Joey with that one overheard conversation.
The other issue is that Jackson had planned to move to Seattle to buy a business and start a new career on September 1. That's only 1 month away. He still doesn't want to live in Engerville, and he plans on leaving, but he also doesn't want to be that far away from Joey.
Jackson's dad wants them to reconcile, so he uses his strained relationship with Jackson to fake an argument and make Jackson go stay at Cat and Joey's house.
But that night, Jackson brings up the idea of him and Cat getting married. Joey's there and she says she doesn't want her mom to marry Jackson. Still hating him. Cat and Jackson have an argument and end up confessing that they always loved each other, and he's sorry he left her. They have sex again, but this time with a condom. 😌
He ends up promising Cat he won't leave. But the reconciliation doesn't stop him from being sad at the thought of staying in Engerville. The smell of horse manure makes him want to cry. But he can't leave Cat and Joey. He really doesn't want to leave them, I'll give him that much credit.
Then Rebeka, Jackson's high school sweetheart, comes to the Cat's horse farm with her husband to look at buying a horse. And she's obviously being flirtatious, so Joey makes sure to call Jackson her Daddy in front of Rebeka! 🤣 That makes Rebeka jealous. She expected to be able to reel Jackson back in.
But it doesn't really matter, does it? Because Cat's just stringing Jackson along and doesn't really plan to marry him or trap him in Engerville. He brings up marriage again and she ends up telling him that SHE is happiest on the farm and she doesn’t want to leave so she can’t marry him or move to Seattle. So, he says ok, he’ll leave next week like he planned. But inside, he’s angry with her for dooming them all to lonely lives.
So he has to tell Joey he’s leaving, and she’s back to hating him.
He asks his father for advice, and his father’s girlfriend/ lady friend gives him a plan. He leaves for Seattle just like he said he would, with the intention of making Cat realize he shouldn’t have made him leave. And it works because Cat and Joey decide to move to Seattle to go find him. But he shows up at the farm before they can leave. All part of the plan. Then they argue about where they should live. They agree to live in Seattle but take Joey’s own horse with her and have her stabled somewhere.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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