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Heart of Texas Volume 2: Caroline's Child
Debbie Macomber
Perfect for fans of Maeve Binchy' - CandisWelcome to the town of Promise, deep in the heart of Texas! Promise, a ranching community in the Hill Country, is a place with a mysterious past and a secret or two hidden under its everyday exterior. It’s also a place where family and friendship are the things that really matter….CAROLINE’S CHILD Who’s the father of Caroline’s child? Everyone in town wants to know, but no one’s ever asked—or ever will. The people of Promise are protective of Caroline Daniels and five-year-old Maggie. They care. Especially rancher Grady Weston, who’s beginning to realize he more than cares…DR. TEXAS They call her Dr. Texas. She’s Jane Dickinson, a newly graduated physician from California who’s working at the Promise clinic—but just for a couple of years. They call him Mr. Grouch. Cal Patterson was left at the altar by his out-of-state fiancée, and he’s not over it yet. Too bad Jane reminds him so much of the woman he’s trying to forget!“Macomber puts a new twist on the small-town romance.” —Publishers Weekly
LET DEBBIE MACOMBER TAKE YOU INTO THE HEART OF TEXAS
Welcome back to Promise, Texas, a ranching community deep in the Hill Country. It’s a good place to live and raise a family—and a good place to visit. Yes, there’s a secret or two hidden beneath Promise’s everyday exterior, but what town doesn’t have its secrets?
CAROLINE’S CHILD
Who’s the father of Caroline Daniels’s child? Everyone in town wants to know, but no one’s ever asked—or ever will. The people of Promise are protective of Caroline and five-year-old Maggie. They care. Especially rancher Grady Weston, who’s beginning to realize he more than cares….
DR. TEXAS
They call her Dr. Texas. She’s Jane Dickinson, a newly graduated physician from California who’s working at the Promise clinic— but just for a couple of years. They call him Mr. Grouch. Cal Patterson was left at the altar by his out-of-state fiancée, and he’s not over it yet. Too bad Jane reminds him so much of the woman he’s trying to forget!
Praise for Debbie Macomber’s Heart of Texas series
“Debbie Macomber brings the people of Promise, Texas,
to life as she blends drama, romance and adventure
in Caroline’s Child.”
—RT Book Reviews
“I’ve never met a Macomber book I didn’t love!”
—Linda Lael Miller
“Romance readers everywhere
cherish the books of Debbie Macomber.”
—Susan Elizabeth Philips
“Debbie Macomber writes stories as grand as Texas itself.”
—Pamela Morsi
“Debbie Macomber’s name on a book is a guarantee of delightful, warmhearted romance.”
—Jayne Ann Krentz
“Popular romance writer Macomber has a gift for evoking the emotions that are at the heart of the genre’s popularity.”
—Publishers Weekly
“With first-class author Debbie Macomber it’s quite simple–she
gives readers an exceptional, unforgettable story every time
and her books are always, always keepers!”
—ReaderToReader.com
Dear Friends,
I hope you’re enjoying the Heart of Texas series. Although I wrote these books years ago, I continue to receive reader mail regarding this series. A lot of people were looking for one title or another and wrote to ask if I knew where they might find a copy. It was for this reason that my publisher decided to reissue these books.
The Heart of Texas series helped inspire my current Cedar Cove series set in the Pacific Northwest. As with almost everything in life, writing is a learning and growing process. Heart of Texas was a giant step forward for me. It was this series that led to my first New York Times bestseller, Promise, Texas. But that’s only one reason these books are special to me. I came to love this little town I’d created deep in the Texas Hill Country and the characters who live there. And I associate these stories with some wonderful visits to Texas.
Caroline’s Child and Dr. Texas are the middle books in the series, which also includes Lonesome Cowboy and Texas Two-Step (Volume One) as well as Nell’s Cowboy and Lone Star Baby (Volume 3). Promise, Texas and Return to Promise are the final two titles. (Return to Promise is available in the collection entitled Small Town Christmas.)
As you might have gathered, I enjoy hearing from my readers; I read every word you write and value your comments. You can reach me through my website at www.DebbieMacomber.com or at P.O. Box 1458, Port Orchard, WA 98366.
Now, find a comfortable chair and spend a few hours with the people of Promise, Texas. I’m sure you’ll hear a few whispers about the ghost town of Bitter End while you’re there.…
Have a good visit!
Heart of Texas Volume 2
Caroline’s Child
Dr. Texas
Debbie Macomber
www.mirabooks.co.uk (http://www.mirabooks.co.uk)
Caroline’s Child
Debbie Macomber
CAST OF CHARACTERS
THE PEOPLE OF PROMISE
Nell Bishop: thirtysomething widow with a son, Jeremy, and a daughter, Emma; her husband died in a tractor accident
Ruth Bishop: Nell’s mother-in-law; lives with Nell and her two children
Dovie Boyd: runs an antiques shop and has dated Sheriff Frank Hennessey for ten years
Caroline Daniels: postmistress of Promise
Maggie Daniels: Caroline’s five-year-old daughter
Dr. Jane Dickinson: new doctor in Promise
Ellie Frasier: owner of Frasier’s Feed Store
Frank Hennessey: local sheriff
Max Jordan: owner of Jordan’s Town and Country
Wade McMillen: preacher at Promise Christian Church
Edwina and Lily Moorhouse: sisters; retired schoolteachers
Cal and Glen Patterson: local ranchers; brothers who ranch together
Phil and Mary Patterson: parents of Cal and Glen; operate a local B and B
Louise Powell: town gossip
Wiley Rogers: sixty-year-old ranch foreman at the Weston Ranch
Laredo Smith: wrangler hired by Savannah Weston
Barbara and Melvin Weston: mother and father to Savannah, Grady and Richard; the Westons died six years ago
Richard Weston: youngest of the Weston siblings
Savannah Weston: Grady and Richard’s sister; cultivates old roses
Grady Weston: rancher and oldest of the Weston siblings
Contents
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1
CLUTCHING THE MAIL IN ONE HAND, Grady Weston paced the narrow corridor inside the post office. He glanced distractedly at the row of mailboxes, gathering his courage before he approached Caroline Daniels, the postmistress.
His tongue felt as if it’d wrapped itself around his front teeth, and he was beginning to doubt he’d be able to utter a single sensible word. It shouldn’t be so damned difficult to let a woman know he found her attractive!
“Grady?” Caroline’s voice reached out to him.
He spun around, not seeing her. Great. Not only was he dreaming about her, now he was hearing her voice.
“Open your box,” she instructed.
He fumbled for the key and twisted open the small rectangular door, then peered in. Sure enough, Caroline was there. Not all of her, just her brown eyes, her pert little nose and lovely mouth.
If he’d possessed his brother’s gift for flattery, Grady would have said something clever. Made some flowery remark. Unfortunately all he managed was a gruff unfriendly sounding “Hello.”
“Hi.”
Caroline had beautiful eyes, dark and rich like freshly brewed coffee, which was about as poetic as Grady got. Large and limpid, they reminded him of a calf’s, but he figured that might not be something a woman wanted to hear, even if he considered it a compliment. This was the problem, Grady decided. He didn’t know how to talk to a woman. In fact, it’d been more than six years since he’d gone out on an actual date.
“Can I help you with anything?” she asked.
He wanted to invite her to lunch, and although that seemed a simple enough request, he couldn’t make himself ask her. Probably because their relationship so far hadn’t been too promising. Calling it a “relationship” wasn’t really accurate, since they’d barely exchanged a civil word and had never so much as held hands. Mostly they snapped at each other, disagreed and argued—if they were speaking at all. True, they’d danced once; it’d been nice, but only when he could stop worrying about stepping on her toes.
Who was he kidding? Holding Caroline in his arms had been more than nice, it had been wonderful. In the month since, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that one dance. Every night when he climbed into bed and closed his eyes, Caroline was there to greet him. He could still feel her softness against him, could almost smell the faint scent of her cologne. The dance had been ladies’ choice, and that was enough to let him believe—hope—she might actually hold some regard for him, too. Despite their disagreements, he’d been the one she’d chosen to ask.
“You had lunch yet?” Grady asked, his voice brusque. He didn’t mean to sound angry or unfriendly. The timbre of his voice and his abrupt way of speaking had caused him plenty of problems with Maggie, Caroline’s five-year-old daughter. He’d been trying to get in the kid’s good graces for months now, with only limited success. But he’d tried. He hoped Caroline and Maggie gave him credit for that.
Caroline’s mouth broke into a wide grin. “Lunch? Not yet, and I’m starved.”
Grady’s spirits lifted considerably. “Well, then, I was thinking, seeing as I haven’t eaten myself…” The words stumbled all over themselves in his eagerness to get them out. “You want to join me?”
“Sure, but let me get this straight. Is this an invitation, as in a date?”
“No.” His response was instinctive, given without thought. He’d been denying his feelings for her so long that his answer had come automatically. He feared, too, that she might misread his intentions. He was attracted to Caroline and he wanted to know her better, but beyond that—he wasn’t sure. Hell, what he knew about love and marriage wouldn’t fill a one-inch column of the Promise Gazette.
Some of the happiness faded from her smile. “Understood. Give me a few minutes and I’ll meet you out front.” She moved out of his range of vision.
Grady closed the box, but left his hand on the key. How could anyone with the skills to run a thriving cattle ranch in the Texas hill country be such a fool when it came to women?
He rapped on the post-office box hard enough to hurt his knuckles. “Caroline!” Then he realized he had to open the box. He did that, then stared through it and shouted for her a second time. “Caroline!”
Her face appeared, eyes snapping with impatience. “What’s the rush?” she demanded. “I said it’d take me a few minutes.”
The edges of the postbox cut into his forehead and chin and knocked his Stetson askew. “This is a date, all right?”
She stared back at him from the other side, and either she was overwhelmed by his offer to buy her lunch or surprised into speechlessness.
