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The Groom, I Presume?
Annette Broadrick
CELEBRATION 1000 Daughters of Texas THE BRIDE HAD HER BOOTS ON… .And she was ready to walk down the aisle. Only she was missing a little something - her intended had run off and married someone else! So what was Maribeth O'Brien to do? What any true-blue daughter of Texas would do - marry the best man. He turned out to be Chris Cochran, and his last-minute proposal sure saved Maribeth's wedding day.But after she'd said "I do," Maribeth was surprised - the handsome stranger she'd married intended to lasso her heart! Now who would save her? Why, the groom, she presumed!CELEBRATION 1000: Come celebrate the publication of the 1000th Silhouette Desire, with scintillating love stories by some of your favorite writers!
Table of Contents
Cover Page (#u59a4372f-73d9-5d4a-a574-ec679f1a0ced)
Excerpt (#u7745c3e3-b21a-5fae-9f62-0c7fd4526707)
Dear Reader (#u26e45fd3-5ab6-5a5a-983a-c43d663c4d97)
Title Page (#u28abfd1d-859d-5ea6-a1c7-471386caf5ae)
About The Author (#ued1299e1-2317-5c4b-82a1-0776bffb5283)
Dear Reader (#u0a8e6885-b458-5a28-b985-54de8c556d3c)
Chapter One (#u3a3b45a3-f040-5db2-a1b1-c190a463d330)
Chapter Two (#u609c89f2-df44-5e95-b31a-5b4675505398)
Chapter Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
“I’m Suggesting That You Go
Ahead With The Wedding.”
“What in the world are you talking about? I can’t have a wedding without a groom.”
“I know. So I’m volunteering.”
With a disbelieving shake of her head, Maribeth said, “You can’t be serious!”
Chris met her bewildered gaze with a level one of his own. He let her see what was in his eyes, what he was feeling, before he replied, “I’m very serious, Maribeth.”
Marriage with Chris? Why, she’d never thought of him in that way. At least…not exactly. He made her nervous in a way she couldn’t quite describe. What would it be like to be married to him? To live with him? To make love—
“I can’t take advantage of you,” she said slowly.
Chris couldn’t help but be amused. “Sure you can. You have my permission to take advantage of me any time, starting right now….”
Daughters of Texas: The hardest-working women in the land, the O’Brien sisters—Megan, Mollie and Maribeth—are three brides waiting to lasso the hearts of their very own cowboys!
Dear Reader,
Can you believe that for the next three months we’ll be celebrating the publication of the 1000th Silhouette Desire? That’s quite a milestone! The festivities begin this month with six books by some of your longtime favorites and exciting new names in romance.
We’ll continue into next month, May, with the actual publication of Book #1000—by Diana Palmer—and then we’ll keep the fun going into June. There’s just so much going on that I can’t put it all into one letter. You’ll just have to keep reading!
This month we have an absolutely terrific lineup, beginning with Saddle Up, a MAN OF THE MONTH by Mary Lynn Baxter. There’s also The Groom, I Presume?— the latest in Annette Broadrick’s DAUGHTERS OF TEXAS miniseries. Father of the Brat launches the new FROM HERE TO PATERNITY miniseries by Elizabeth Bevarly, and Forgotten Vows by Modean Moon is the first of three books about what happens on THE WEDDING NIGHT. Lass Small brings us her very own delightful sense of humor in A Stranger in Texas. And our DEBUT AUTHOR this month is Anne Eames with Two Weddings and a Bride.
And next month, as promised, Book #1000, a MAN OF THE MONTH, Man of Ice by Diana Palmer!
Lucia Macro,
Senior Editor
Please address questions and book requests to:
Silhouette Reader Service
U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269
Canadian: P.P. Box 609, Fort Erie, Out. L2A 5X3
The Groom, I Presume?
Annette Broadrick
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ANNETTE BROADRICK
believes in romance and the magic of life. Since 1984, when her first book was published. Annette has shared her view of life and love with readers all over the world. In addition to being nominated by Romantic Times as one of the Best New Authors of that year, she has also won the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best in its Series for Heat of the Night, Mystery Lover and Irresistible; the Romantic Times WISH award for her heroes in Strange Enchantment, Marriage Texas Style! and Impromptu Bride; and the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Awards for Series Romance and Series Romantic Fantasy.
Dear Reader,
What an exciting time to be writing for the Silhouette Desire line. I’m pleased to be a part of the Celebration 1000. My first Desire was number 185, so I feel that I’ve been a part of the line for a long time.
Many things have changed in the world over the years since I began writing, but one thing has stayed the same—the need for warm, uplifting stories to remind us of the strength of the human spirit to overcome all obstacles and seek its fulfillment.
As long as we continue to want to share our hopes and dreams with others, Silhouette Books will be there with our stories.
Let the celebration continue.
One (#ulink_d9679b41-1ae0-5571-ad29-537f7fc82e3f)
Chris Cochran slowed his late-model sports car and turned into the lane leading to the O’Brien ranch. He hadn’t visited the ranch since he and Maribeth O’Brien had graduated from Texas A & M College. That had been four years ago.
Four years could be a long time in a person’s life.
Seeing the ranch triggered all kinds of memories for him. In many ways, he was revisiting his child hood… the happiest times of his childhood.
Four years. He wondered what kind of changes had taken place in Maribeth’s life in that time.
The ranch certainly looked prosperous these days. He wasn’t surprised. Travis Kane, married to Maribeth’s oldest sister, Megan, had built a fine reputation as a horse breeder and trainer since retiring from following the ro deo circuit.
As Chris followed the lane to the ranch headquarters located on a rise of one of the hills, he noted several new outbuildings had been erected on the place. In addition, there were new pastures fenced and neatly whitewashed. The lane, previously graveled, was now blacktopped.
The place looked good. Chris was pleased to know that the O’Brien family was doing all right.
Actually, Maribeth was the last member of the family still using the O’Brien name. When Megan had married Travis, there had been some talk around the county that the family might change the name of the ranch. That kind of talk was quickly stopped when the O’Brien sisters had reminded their friends and neighbors that the property had been known by that name for more than a hundred years. As long as any member of the original family continued to live there, the place would be known as the O’Brien ranch.
Chris pulled up and parked in front of the fence that separated the sprawling, native-stone-covered house from the rest of the buildings. He unfolded his long, rangy body and stretched. He’d left Dallas about five hours ago. Not too bad a driving time between the city and the hill country of central Texas.
“Well, look who’s here!”
Chris smiled at the woman loping across the shaded lawn of the backyard toward him. “Chris Cochran, I almost didn’t recognize you, it’s been so long since you showed your face around here!” She opened the gate and waved him through. “City life must agree with you, cowboy. You’re looking real good these days.”
“It’s good to see you, Megan,” he said, giving her a quick hug. If she thought he was looking good, he could say the same about her with complete honesty. Married life definitely agreed with her.
He’d always liked Maribeth’s sisters. They were loving, unpretentious people who made him feel accepted for himself. In the circles he now inhabited, he was cynically aware that the type of gushing attention he generally received was because he was Kenneth Cochran’s sole heir.
“You remember Mollie, don’t you?” Megan asked, motioning toward the other woman who now approached them. “We’ve been enjoying all this nice sunshine—after all those storms we’ve been having lately— by sitting outside and letting the kids play together. With the size of our families, we could start our own day-care center with no problem at all.”
Chris nodded to the other sister and adjusted his Stetson, pulling it low on his forehead so that it rested just above his sunshades. “H’lo, Mollie.”
“I take it you came down a few days early to visit with your mom and grandparents before the wedding, huh?” Megan asked, grinning. “You ready to get all duded up for everybody to stare at?”
“I imagine I’ll be able to muddle through all right,” he drawled. “Speaking of the wedding, is Maribeth around?” He glanced around the area, not seeing her with the children who were still playing well together, despite their mothers’ momentary lack of attention.
“Of course she is,” Megan replied. “Since we finished the new barn for the horses, she practically sleeps out there, looking after the new arrivals. Maybe you’ll have better luck getting her out of there than we have. You can tell her we’ve got fresh lemonade up here for both of you.”
Chris looked back at the newest and largest building on the property, before returning his gaze to Megan. “I’ll see what I can do, but I’m not promising anything. Maribeth is a law unto herself.”
“Don’t I know it,” Megan agreed.
She should know, Chris thought as he crossed the ranch yard to the building that sprawled across the way. Megan had been both mother and father to Maribeth since their parents had been killed. Megan had been barely sixteen at the time, while Mollie had been ten years old and Maribeth eight.
He felt nothing but admiration for that kind of family love and loyalty, neither of which had been part of his childhood. Perhaps that was why he’d sometimes envied Maribeth when they’d been children together.
She took for granted all the love and mutual respect that surrounded the three sisters and their families. He, on the other hand, considered the many warm relationships something of a miracle. He could only witness their interactions with a certain amount of awe.
Chris studied the horse barn as he approached it, amazed at how well the structure had been designed. Stalls ran the length of the barn on either side of a wide walkway. Each stall had two doorways—one that opened out into an enclosed pasture, while the other gave access from inside.
He heard Maribeth before he saw her. She was softly crooning, no doubt getting one of the newborns used to the touch and presence of a human being.
Chris’s pulse automatically picked up in anticipation, even before she came into view. He was amused by his reaction, but not surprised by it. He’d had the same reaction around her ever since they were kids. Some things just never changed.
He paused at the gate to the stall where she was grooming a colt, her voice a steady stream of honeyed endearments while she gently stroked the animal with both hands, only one of which held a currycomb. Since she was unaware of his presence, Chris took the rare moment to study the woman he’d been in love with since he’d first seen her when they were in the third grade.
She’d always reminded him of a shooting star—a blazing flash of light across a darkened sky—once seen, never forgotten. As a child, she’d been filled with vitality and exuberance, eager to embrace the world. The years had subdued very little of that spark, thank God.
The bright red hair of early childhood had darkened gradually over the years, but it maintained its vibrant shade, no doubt still causing heads to turn for a second glance.
Not that Maribeth ever noticed.
One of her most endearing qualities was her blindness to her own beauty. She was totally unconscious of the fact that her tall slender figure, her fair, creamy skin and her wide-set golden eyes could have easily graced the covers of innumerable magazines around the world.
She’d always been oblivious to her looks. Instead she’d grown up wearing boots and jeans, a typical tomboy who enjoyed ranching life and gave very little thought to the world outside of Agua Verde.
Maribeth had been awarc of only one male since Chris had known her—Bobby Metcalf. She’d always been Bobby’s shadow, while growing up. And Bobby Metcalf had been Chris’s closest friend from grade school through college.
So Chris had contented himself with being a part of a small group of friends who spent their time together, never letting on to anyone how he truly felt about Maribeth.
He’d just been grateful for both of their friendships. Without them, his childhood would have been very lonely.
Bobby had given Maribeth an engagement ring for Christmas their senior year in college. Not that anyone who knew them had been surprised. They’d been talking about getting married someday as far back as high school, but for some reason, the ring made everything more real to Chris, symbolizing all that he would never be able to share with her.
Once the three of them had graduated from college, Chris had deliberately stayed away from Agua Verde. He’d recognized that the time had come for him to make a clean break and to get on with his life.
No doubt Maribeth had made the right choice for her. He couldn’t really say that his heart had been broken. How could it be? They had never been more than friends. She’d never given him any reason to suggest that she saw him as anyone other than Bobby’s best friend.
No. His heart wasn’t broken. Maybe dented a little, but there had never been any doubt in his mind that he would recover.
Bobby should be here now, not me, Chris thought with more than a little frustration. He’d lost track of the many times in their lives when he’d wanted to wring Bobby’s neck, but never had he felt the urge more strongly than today.
“Hello, Maribeth,” he finally said to the woman he’d come to see. He kept his voice low in order not to startle either the woman or the colt.
At the sound of the familiar deep voice Maribeth froze. She hadn’t heard it in years, but once heard, Chris Cochran’s voice could never be forgotten.
She spun around and saw him standing in the shadows of the barn. For a moment she forgot to breathe. What in the world was the matter with her? This was Bobby’s friend, Chris.
He looked different, somehow, standing there watching her impassively. His youthful good looks had matured into a formidably handsome, mysterious man. She recalled that nobody had been able to figure out what Chris was thinking. He made a great poker player for that reason.
A tiny shiver danced along her spine. He’d always affected her that way. She wasn’t certain why. There was just an air about him, an aloofness that had always made her feel the slightest twinge of nervousness whenever he was around. And yet…there was no one in her life whom she trusted more.
“Chris,” she whispered, almost to herself, while she slipped through the gate to where he stood. She paused, gripping the currycomb tighter. “You’re early!” Then she felt really stupid to have blurted out such a statement. “I mean, you must be here to visit your mother and grandparents. It’s good to see you.”
His dark eyes always seemed to look deep into her soul. She felt as though any secrets she might have would be easy for him to read.
