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Struck By The Texas Matchmakers
Judy Christenberry
The matchmakers of Cactus, Texas, are back–and all the single folk better beware!Everyone was convinced that Diane Peters and Jeff Hausen were perfect for each other. Everyone but Diane and Jeff, of course. She was a carefree career girl with big-city dreams. And the town's new doctor was content with the snail's pace of rural Texas. Never had two more opposite individuals been forced to stay under one roof–and never had an attraction been so strong. So when two adorable children in desperate need of a home plus several well-meaning but meddling ladies were thrown into the mix…well, good luck…. Because once a couple is struck by the Texas matchmakers, the only cure is a swift trip down the aisle!
“Hi, honey, I’m home.”
Jeff laughed as he said those words, somehow believing Diane would understand his little joke as he walked inside the kitchen.
That belief disappeared when a loaf of bread flew through the air and plopped against his face—courtesy of Diane.
“Do you know what everyone in town is saying? They think we’re sleeping together. They think I’m trying to catch you. Everyone in the grocery store thinks I’m a kept woman!”
Which explained her reaction to his teasing. “Ah. I guess my words weren’t too funny, huh?”
“Oh, you were hysterical,” she replied, slight tears in her eyes. “Aren’t you worried about what everyone thinks is going on here?”
“No. I mean, we’re both adults, single. If people want to believe we’re—” He broke off, unable to even talk about sleeping with Diane without reacting to the thought.
“Pretty soon they’ll be expecting wedding bells!” Diane exclaimed with a groan.
Jeff felt a groan coming on himself. Because the thought of Diane and him and wedding bells wasn’t creating the same reaction at all….
Struck by the Texas Matchmakers
Judy Christenberry
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Judy Christenberry has been writing romances for fifteen years because she loves happy endings as much as her readers. A former French teacher, Judy now devotes herself to writing full-time. She hopes readers have as much fun reading her stories as she does writing them. She spends her spare time reading, watching her favorite sports teams and keeping track of her two daughters. Judy’s a native Texan, but now lives in Arizona.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue
Chapter One
She’d hoped this day would never come.
Diane Peters shook herself, determined not to think in those terms. After all, most people would consider her to be a lucky woman.
Fresh out of law school, she’d just been offered a position with the most prestigious law firm in the area.
The area of Cactus, Texas.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like Cactus. It was her hometown, and she had a lot of good memories from her childhood. Her family had never been wealthy, but they’d been happy. She and her five brothers and sisters had shared adventures and laughter.
When she was thirteen, however, her father had died suddenly. Her mother had been a great cook and housekeeper, a devoted wife and mother. But she was a disaster as a breadwinner.
Diane sighed as she slowed down for the curve in the narrow road that led to her childhood home. Suddenly she threw on her brakes. A car rested half in the ditch, half on the road, the driver side crushed.
Diane frowned. The car hadn’t been there when she’d driven by an hour ago. As she slowed to a stop, a small face appeared at the back window.
A child? Someone was in the car? She slammed her old Volkswagen sedan into Neutral, pulled up the handbrake and jumped out of the car. Then she ran for the other vehicle.
“Are you all right?” she cried before she even got to the car.
The toddler, whose face she’d seen from the road, pressed her face against the glass, smearing it with big, fat tears.
Diane wanted to cuddle the baby to her, but she saw the other two occupants. The fact that the driver and the little boy in the back seat weren’t moving made them her first priority.
Without opening the car door, she called, “Just a minute, baby,” before she turned around and ran back to her car to find the cell phone her sister Katie and her husband, Gabe, had given her. Thank God.
She dialed Doc’s number, grateful she still remembered it.
“Doctor’s office.”
“This is Diane Peters. There’s been a wreck on FM 29. A lady and two children are hurt. I don’t know what to do. Can Doc come?”
“We’ll get help to you. Have you called the sheriff’s office?”
“No, I—”
“We’ll call for you. Help should be there soon.”
The click in her ear reminded Diane to move. She tossed the cell phone into her front seat and rushed back to the car. The driver door wouldn’t open. The back door, though slightly damaged, did open partially after she tugged on it for several minutes.
The toddler grabbed for her.
Diane’s first inclination was to hold the baby, but she left her buckled in the car seat to see if she could help the others. The lady driver was unconscious. She’d bled quite a lot, but the bleeding appeared to have stopped. Diane felt helpless. She could quote laws, but she knew nothing about serious injuries.
She turned her attention to the little boy. Reaching across the child seat, she touched his denim-clad leg. “Are you awake?” she asked.
He stirred but the only response was a moan. She didn’t see any blood, however, so she didn’t know anything else to do. She’d read that moving an injured person could cause more problems. Since it was summer in Cactus, she didn’t even have a jacket she could use to help prevent shock.
“Mama, Mama!” the little girl cried, trying to cling to Diane.
She managed to release the clasp holding the child in place and lifted the little girl into her arms. “There, sweetie, it’s going to be all right.”
She hoped she was telling the truth, but she prayed Doc would get there soon. The older gentleman was such a comfort, always seeming to know what to do.
As she cuddled the little girl against her, she heard the sound of a car speeding toward them. “Please let that be Doc,” she prayed, moving to the edge of the road.
She was disappointed when it came into view. Doc drove an old red pickup. This vehicle was a navy blue Suburban. Cactus was too small to be able to afford paramedics and all the emergency equipment of big cities. But maybe the driver would stop anyway. She waved and relief flooded her when he braked to a stop. At least she wouldn’t be alone anymore.
“Is she hurt?” the man asked briskly almost before he was out of the car.
“Not badly, I think. Not like the other two,” she said. “The doctor is on the way, but—”
“I’m the doctor,” he snapped, not slowing as he hurried to the car.
Diane stared after him, shocked. Doc was no longer in Cactus? Surely he hadn’t died. Katie or her mother would’ve told her. But then they hadn’t said he’d moved away either. She knew about Samantha, Mac Gibbons’s wife, who had come to Cactus to be Doc’s partner, but—
“Come help me,” he ordered.
Diane hurried over, still dealing with the surprise.
“Set the little one on the grass and help me get the boy out. He’s got a broken arm and I don’t want to do more damage than I have to.”
It was difficult to free herself from the toddler sobbing in her arms, but she promised she’d be right back with her brother. Then she hurried to help the doctor.
“Can you manage to handle his legs? He’s heavier than he looks.”
Diane didn’t waste time telling him she’d been raised on a farm and had helped pay for college working at the airport as a ticket agent which included shifting luggage. She nodded.
Gently they transferred the boy to the patch of grass where his sister was sobbing.
“Stay with them and hold his arm against his body until I can stabilize the woman.”
Before Diane could agree, he’d disappeared into the car again. But she wasn’t complaining. She was relieved the man seemed to know what he was doing. Sitting down on the grass, not caring about any grass stains on her new dress, she let the little girl snuggle into her lap while she gently held the little boy’s arm against his chest.
“Shh, baby, you’re all right,” she comforted.
She felt more sure of that when she heard the siren that meant someone from the sheriff’s office was on the way. She hoped it was Cal Baxter, the sheriff himself.
By the time the Blazer halted, the doctor was beside it. Diane saw Cal get out. He nodded in her direction, taking in the children, before the doctor urged him back to the wreck.
The boy moaned and his eyes fluttered open.
“Be still, honey, the doctor’s helping your mama right now,” Diane said, hoping the words would help him, but they only reminded her smallest charge that she didn’t have her mama. Which, of course, brought on renewed sobbing.
More sirens sounded. Diane was startled as an ambulance appeared. She hadn’t realized Cactus had an emergency vehicle.
By the time the ambulance came to a halt, Cal and the new doctor had gotten the woman out of the car. The ambulance driver brought out a stretcher and they placed the woman upon it and moved her straight to the ambulance.
As soon as she was put inside, Cal pulled out his cell phone. “Tell Sam the patient’s on her way. Here’s Jeff to give you the details.” He handed the phone to the doctor and came to Diane’s side.
“Hello, Diane. Need some assistance?”
“Yes, please,” she said. “The doctor said to keep the boy’s arm still and this little lady is upset.”
Cal reached for the little girl. With two little ones of his own, he knew how to handle them. Diane shifted the boy’s head into her lap and cuddled him against her, hoping her body heat would help him. She brushed his brown hair off his face and dropped a kiss on his brow.
The doctor reached them with a blanket under his arm and Cal asked, “Did the lady come to?”
The man shook his head and knelt beside Diane. “How’s he doing?”
“He seems to be in a state of shock,” she said quietly.
The doctor spread the blanket over the little boy.
“Do you need me to go with you to the clinic?” Cal asked. “I’ll have to do an investigation and try to find out their identities, but I can call a deputy to get started while I go with you.”
“I’ll help, too,” Diane offered.
The doctor gave her a sharp look. Then he shifted his gaze to Cal.
She stiffened. He didn’t think she was trustworthy enough? She was used to everyone knowing her and her family, and his questioning her ability irritated her.
Cal said quickly, “Diane Peters, Katie’s sister.” Then, taking the doctor’s agreement for granted, he said, “Thanks, Diane. I appreciate that. We can contact relatives a little faster that way.”
The doctor nodded and stood. “I’ll transfer the baby seat and get the other stretcher.”
As soon as the doctor had moved away, Diane hurriedly asked, “Who is he? Where’s Doc?”
“That’s Jeff Hausen. Doc is still in town but he’s the medical examiner now. He’ll probably be at the clinic helping Sam when you get there. He pitches in for emergencies.”
