With the authenticity of a real cowboy, bestselling author Dusty Richards weaves a moving coming-of-age story set against the cattle trails and open vistas of South Texas. Twin brothers Andrew and Jackson Franks have lived and worked under the iron fist of their father, Prior, for as long as they can remember. But when a petty household argument turns violent and Prior shoots and kills their mother before turning the gun upon himself, the boys are left with nothing but each other and the family's hardscrabble South Texas ranch. Andrew's a planner and a thinker, while Jackson's a workhorse with a stubborn streak a couple miles wide. They've both got dreams of climbing out of the dust to become real Texas cattleman, but they'll need a hell of a lot more than hope to make it happen. They'll need luck, too, a whole damn heap of it... and it comes in a form they never imagined. Texas law--enforced by the crotchety county judge--says they need a guardian, and the judge finds a cousin from Arkansas, a widow woman named Sophie Grenada, willing to come to Texas to take the two pigheaded boys in hand. When she arrives, though, she's nothing like what any of them expect. Sophie's smart, tough, worldly, more than a little sassy... and most surprising of all, she cares. Through Indian raids, range wars, and the tough business of building a real, working ranch, they form an unbreakable bond--two boys thrust into a man's world before their time, and a woman who loves and cares for them as her own. If they can avoid a fetched arrow or a .45 slug in the back, with Sophie's help, Andrew and Jackson might just build the empire they're hoping for, and fulfill their destiny to become The Pride of Texas.

Author Biography

Dusty Richards grew up riding horses and watching his western heroes on the big screen. He even wrote book reports for his classmates, making up westerns since English teachers didn't read that kind of book. His mother, though, didn't want him to be a cowboy, so he went to college, then worked for Tyson Foods and auctioned cattle when he wasn't an anchor on television. His lifelong dream, though, was to write the novels he loved. He sat on the stoop of Zane Grey's cabin and promised he'd one day get published, as well. In 1992, that promise became a reality when his first book, Noble's Way, hit the shelves. In the twenty-five years since, he's published over 150 more, winning nearly every major award for western literature along the way. When he's not writing or travelling the country promoting his work, Dusty also like to fish for trout on the White River.