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Their Little Cowgirl
Myrna Mackenzie
Dearest Godmother,You said all I must do to regain my youth is play matchmaker for twenty-one couples. Well, it's harder than you made it sound! Luckily, I've only got six more to go.Take my latest attempt: ex-ugly-duckling Jackie Hammond and sexy rancher Steven Rollins. There's sizzle between these two strangers–even I can see it–but Jackie just found out that Steven's one-year-old cutie is biologically hers. (How? You'd have to ask the fertility clinic.) I can't blame her for wanting two weeks with a child she has to give up, but how can I make Jackie see that she should fight for the little girl–and the one man who makes her feel beautiful?Merry
How come she had to be so…fascinating?
Steven reluctantly admitted what he had refused to allow himself to think thus far. In another lifetime, he would have wanted to pursue her and take a good long taste of those lips. As it was…
He wanted her out of his life completely, to hell with those vulnerable blue eyes. He had thought Jackie was most likely a woman who wasn’t interested in children. But the way she’d looked when she’d said the word baby…
How could he have thought anything would be easy with a woman like that?
But what he wanted right now was to get himself out of this tangled mess. He needed to stop thinking about how she looked and start thinking about how to get her to sign away any rights she had to him and his child.
Their Little Cowgirl
Myrna Mackenzie
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To my mother, a living example of what a strong heroine
should be. Thanks for always being there for me, Mom.
MYRNA MACKENZIE,
is the winner of the Holt Medallion honoring outstanding fiction, and was a finalist for numerous other awards, including the Orange Rose, the National Reader’s Choice, the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice and WisRWA’s Write Touch. She believes that humor, love and hope are three of the best medicines in the world and tries to make sure that her books reflect that belief. Born in a small town in southern Missouri, Myrna grew up in the Chicago area, married her high school sweetheart and has two teenage sons. Her hobbies include dreaming of warmer climes during the cold northern winters, pretending the dust in her house doesn’t exist, taking long walks and traveling. Readers can write to Myrna at P.O. Box 225, LaGrange, IL 60525, or they may visit her online at www.myrnamackenzie.com.
The Tale of The Ugly Duckling
When Mother Duck saw the sixth egg in her nest was oddly shaped, she knew one of her children would be different from the rest. Sure enough, that summer, when the ducklings hatched, one was bigger and uglier than the others.
After being kicked aside by his siblings, the ugly one ran away from the pond. But after not much time away, he missed the water and yearned for his true home. As autumn covered the countryside, he headed out into the wide world.
One day, on his journey back to the water, he heard the sound of great flapping wings. In the air, he saw a flock of birds flying high. They were as bright as snow and their long necks were stretched southward. He dreamed of going with them, though he knew he was no fit companion for such beautiful birds.
After a hard, cold winter and plenty of adventures the duckling again saw the flock of beautiful creatures. With his heart in his throat, he decided to follow them. He would risk rejection rather than pass up the chance to take flight with the heavenly beings.
To his surprise, they welcomed him! And when he looked for his dull, awkward reflection in the water, he saw a beautiful swan instead.
Contents
Prologue
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
Epilogue
Prologue
Merry Montrose, known in another life as Princess Meredith Bessart of Silestia, put her hand on the small of her back and rubbed. She was the manager of La Torchére, an island resort in southwestern Florida, and in early May the island should have been paradise. Many people would have deemed themselves lucky to be here, and she knew that, but Merry just felt rather used up and slightly panicky. She frowned at her companion, Lissa Bessart Piers, the resort’s concierge.
“If you had to put a curse on me,” Merry told Lissa, “did you have to make me a crone? I think I’m starting to creak.”
Lissa smiled slightly. “As your godmother, I have a duty to make sure you either turn out to be a good princess for the people back in your homeland, or that you end up being no princess at all. There was a reason for the curse, as well you know, and there’s a way out, as you also know.”
Merry wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t even do that much. I don’t deserve to look and feel so old.”
Lissa didn’t react.
“All right, maybe I did insult Prince Alec a little.”
“He was your betrothed and you did more than insult him a little. And that wasn’t the only thing you did, either.”
Merry shrugged. “I suppose you mean that teensy little incident where I tried to break up my father’s engagement. It wasn’t that big a deal.”
“It was a very big deal. He’s a king.”
“She was older than my father.”
“She was his choice, and you not only tried to sabotage the engagement, you took it a step further when that didn’t work and did your best to interfere with the wedding itself. You were out of control. Those were hardly the acts of a princess.”
“I’m not sorry.”
“Even though you’re getting older and grayer every day?”
Merry touched her wrinkled face. “All right, I’m a little sorry, and this way out you’ve discussed, I’m—” She covered her face completely with her hands. “I’m just not sure I’m going to make the deadline. If I don’t…”
“You’ll always be a crone. Silestia and your ties to your family will be a thing of the past.”
“But there’s so little time left, and the task is so great. To get twenty-one couples to fall in love and marry, it’s almost impossible.”
“You only have five to go.”
“Yes, but less than a year to do it in.”
“You wasted a lot of time when I first put the curse on you. I gave you seven years, all the way to your thirtieth birthday, and the first couple of years you didn’t do a thing.”
“I know,” Merry admitted, surprising herself. “And once I began, it was so difficult. It took me four years and several mismatches to get things straight. I’ve been doing this long enough now to be realistic. One year is not enough time to ensure that five couples will meet, fall in love and marry. Could you—”
“What?” Lissa asked, her eyes kind, but her voice firm.
“Give me a little more time.”
Lissa shook her head sadly. “A princess wouldn’t ask for more time.”
“So, it’s hopeless.”
“If you just stand around talking, yes, it is.”
Merry let out a sigh. She looked down at herself, at her once beautiful body, now ravaged by age and riddled with aches that even the warm winds of this Florida island couldn’t take away. To be like this forever, to never go back to her lovely pampered life…
“All right, I’m working on it,” she said. “I just have to keep taking it a step at a time, a couple at a time. Let’s look at who’s due at the resort this week.” She sat down at her computer and called up the schedule of guests. A groan escaped her. Lissa looked over her shoulder.
“I see what you mean,” Lissa said. “There doesn’t appear to be anyone very promising in this batch. You might have to wait until next week.”
But by next week she would be that much closer to losing her youth and beauty and life of royalty forever.
“No, if there aren’t two people in this group who are likely to fall in love, well then, I’ll just have to choose two people who are unlikely to fall in love and work a little magic.”
“Your magic is limited, you know.”
“I know.” Of course, she knew. She had discovered that time and time again. But all she had was her subtle magic. And, oh yes, she did have one thing more.
“If they won’t fit, I’ll make them fit,” she said defiantly. “I may not have much, but I have determination.”
She ran her finger down the list. “There. Him. And her. She’s already here, which might make it easier for me to persuade her. And as it happens, the two of them already have a connection of sorts.”
Lissa crossed her arms. “It’s not a positive connection. They’re likely to be adversaries, not lovers.”
Merry crossed her arms in kind and glared at her godmother. “You set me a task. I’m tending to that task. You may want me to fail, but I don’t intend to do that if I can help it. Now, if you don’t mind, I have business to see to. If I’m going to attempt the nearly impossible, I have to rest up. There’s matchmaking to be done, whether the man and woman want to be matched or not.”
She took a deep breath and stalked off.
Behind her, Lissa smiled. “Oh, I don’t want you to fail, my dear. I very much hope you succeed, but, you’re right—this is a difficult task. And you’ve chosen to make it more difficult by trying to match two people who won’t appreciate your efforts. For the first time, even I am beginning to doubt that you might make it.” And she sighed and went back to work.
Chapter One
“Darn it!” Jacqueline Hammond said to the four walls that surrounded her. She was here in this lovely resort on this lush island to do business, but business wasn’t going well at all right now. And Parris, her half sister and business partner, was nowhere to be found.
“I’m not sure we’re going to make it,” she muttered out loud to herself. “And if we don’t make it, we’re going to lose the business before we’ve even gotten started. And then that man, our father, is going to win. He’s going to say that we can’t do anything right.” Which was exactly what he had been thinking ever since Jackie had been born.
And for today, that just might prove to be the truth. Nothing had gone right all morning.
“Well, at least not much more could go wrong,” Jackie reasoned out loud.
The telephone on the desk in the temporary office that the resort had provided rang loudly. Jackie groaned. She picked up the receiver.
“Hammond Events,” she said, amazed that her voice sounded cool and calm even though she was mentally preparing herself for more bad news.
“Jackie?” The now familiar voice of Merry Montrose, resort manager, flowed crisply through the lines.
“Yes, this is she.”
“I’m at the front desk with someone who wants to see you. A rather…interesting someone. I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be escorting him to your office.”
Ugh, not another celebrity coming to reclaim some family heirloom that yet another family member had tried to sneak into the auction Hammond Events was organizing. Didn’t people just donate things out of the goodness of their hearts anymore? Didn’t donated items stay donated anymore?
“All right, thank you, Ms. Montrose,” Jackie said, trying to keep the weariness and frustration from her voice. It was getting more and more difficult to smile the longer the preparations for the auction went on.
She looked around the room at the collection of items that were starting to stack up. Which precious item was this person going to want to take back? She was beginning to wonder how well any of the donors actually knew the woman who had commissioned Hammond Events to run the auction. Victoria Catherine Smith seemed to have money and the ability to preen with the best of them, but she didn’t appear to have any true friends, not when everyone was taking back their stuff. For a minute, Jackie regretted taking this project on, but then she remembered what was at stake—this business, the only thing that had ever been close to belonging to her, even if she had to share it with a half sister she didn’t know very well. If this auction failed, so would the business. There had been no question that they would take on Ms. Smith’s auction to raise money to build the Victoria Catherine Memorial Aquarium, slated to showcase some of the local marine life but mostly, Jackie guessed, to showcase Ms. Smith’s name to the wealthy who flocked to La Torchére.
The problems with the reluctant donors made it a difficult task, and no doubt it was going to get more difficult within the next few minutes when the unknown man finally made it to her office. She wondered if he was the owner of the Pollock hanging on the wall. She hoped not. It was one of the items most likely to draw crowds to the auction. She frowned at the painting.
“It doesn’t look that bad to me,” a male voice said.
Jackie whirled and found herself staring up into the face of a tall, dark-haired, broad-shouldered man. His face was tanned, his eyes nearly black and unreadable. And though he’d seemed to be making a joke, there was no trace of levity in his expression. Indeed, the way he was studying her made him look a bit like a hunter, and she felt more than a bit like his prey.
With great effort, she forced herself to smile and ignore that ridiculous thought.
“Is it yours?” she asked.
He blinked. No, it obviously wasn’t. “It’s hanging in your office,” he pointed out.
“Yes, but it’s an item for the auction I’m hosting and…well, never mind. How can I help you, Mr….”
“Rollins. Steven Rollins.”
His voice was deep, the words rolling off his tongue in a soft, sexy drawl. Jackie couldn’t help noticing that he seemed too big and masculine for the room. Even so, he looked very much in control, as if this was his office rather than hers.
The thought made her angry. She had been forced to share almost everything of importance all of her life.
Jackie frowned, then realized how silly she was being. This was business. She had to be nice. “How can I help you, Mr. Rollins? Are you here about the auction, or is there some other business you would like Hammond Events to handle?”
He stared directly at her—those dark, compelling eyes seeming to gaze into places no man had ever looked before. “I don’t want to buy anything from you, Ms. Hammond, and I certainly don’t want to sell you anything that belongs to me.”
