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Rodeo Father
Mary Sullivan
TEMPTED BY A FAMILY…Travis Read never wanted to settle down anywhere—with anyone. He’s in Rodeo, Montana, just long enough to fix up a house for his sister and he’ll be on his way. Then he meets Rachel McGuire. Beautiful and kind—and with magnetic whiskey-colored eyes—Rachel is everything that Travis could want. Except that Rachel is also very, very pregnant.A struggling widowed mom, Rachel wants to give her family the stability she’s never had. Travis dashed those hopes by buying her dream house. Okay, she can start over. But she wasn’t counting on such a fierce attraction between them. And this cowboy was never meant to settle down…
TEMPTED BY A FAMILY…
Travis Read never wanted to settle down anywhere—with anyone. He’s in Rodeo, Montana, just long enough to fix up a house for his sister and he’ll be on his way. Then he meets Rachel McGuire. Beautiful and kind—and with magnetic whiskey-colored eyes—Rachel is everything that Travis could want. Except that Rachel is also very, very pregnant.
A struggling widowed mom, Rachel wants to give her family the stability she’s never had. Travis dashed those hopes by buying her dream house. Okay, she can start over. But she wasn’t counting on such a fierce attraction between them. And this cowboy was never meant to settle down…
“You can let go of me now…”
Cripes. Travis was holding Rachel with his other arm, tucked against his body and out of harm’s way.
“Oh…sorry…ah, I—” He didn’t know what to say because he didn’t know what he’d been thinking.
A small handful, a perfect fit, her belly hard and warm against him, she belonged in his arms.
It felt natural and good to hold her.
No! No, no, no. He didn’t need a woman in his life right now, especially not one laden with burdens he didn’t want to bear.
A funny smile curled her lips. “I truly can take care of myself, Travis. I deal with stuff like this most nights.”
“I really didn’t know I was doing that.”
“I know. I could tell.”
The feeling of well-being, and the sense of rightness she engendered in him, shook him so badly that he rushed to let her go.
Before he could, the softest of touches flitted across his ribs. Wonder filled him.
The touch had come from Rachel’s big belly.
Dear Reader (#u9b9ea7e3-d0c7-524b-be5e-e86853cd70c9),
Rodeo Father is my very first Harlequin Western Romance and I am thrilled to be a new member of the Western family.
I have a soft spot for cowboys and babies, so Western fits the bill perfectly for me!
In Rodeo Father, nomadic loner Travis Read arrives in yet another town, determined to stick around only long enough to make a home for his sister and nephews. He will move along the second they are settled.
He doesn’t count on having his heart stolen by the appealing widow who lives across the street, and by her little girl, too. Travis has had enough burdens to last a lifetime, so he doesn’t need this attraction to a pregnant woman.
What he doesn’t realize is the profound depth of his own loneliness and the desire to set down roots he didn’t know existed.
Travis has lived on the outside looking in for too long. When the widow invites him into a world of tenderness and affection he thought existed only for others, he can’t resist.
He has always thought the life of a family man, and of fatherhood, was restricted to others and never meant for him.
Rachel McGuire turns out to be the answer to dreams he wouldn’t admit he’d been having. Rodeo, Montana, becomes home.
I absolutely loved writing Travis and Rachel’s story. I hope you enjoy reading it!
Mary Sullivan
Rodeo Father
Mary Sullivan
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
A city girl born and raised, MARY SULLIVAN found her mother’s anecdotes about growing up in rural Canada fascinating. Mary’s first career as a darkroom printer fueled her creativity. When traditional darkrooms disappeared with the advent of computers, she learned enough about the machines to use them to fuel her other passion—writing. Once she redirected her energy to creating stories of romance, her mother’s tales came back to her and now she devotes her time to writing about rural life. She chooses cowboys and cowgirls for many of her stories. Her Harlequin Superromance books have won awards and earned wonderful reviews. She is now thrilled to write Harlequin Western Romances, too! She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website, marysullivanbooks.com (http://www.marysullivanbooks.com).
To my wonderful agent,
Pamela Hopkins, who continues to have
faith in me book after book after book.
Offering you a profound Thank You.
Contents
Cover (#u8119bc1e-1c0d-50fe-a516-873d5c16d276)
Back Cover Text (#uc46baae8-f7a9-5149-aac2-6f74bef5357f)
Introduction (#ua12e0b28-8f5e-59a3-8bbb-e2653d080f9f)
Dear Reader (#ue4b4492d-ee7d-547b-914c-ab205baa3002)
Title Page (#u7b6addab-2867-52a8-ac6c-c90be3e17f72)
About the Author (#ud28366c8-e4d6-500f-a861-3e481eb556ed)
Dedication (#ufb67b111-dd2b-5913-8a4e-a86c268b608f)
Chapter One (#u1cdc1d44-e47a-5dc5-9d9a-dc19bbb90b76)
Chapter Two (#u08eabd0a-0b23-5aa1-a623-07a54e8aa262)
Chapter Three (#ue91e754b-7743-5299-9de6-6e5f60d42a23)
Chapter Four (#ua85aa167-15fe-51f9-82cb-d420862768c5)
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)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#u9b9ea7e3-d0c7-524b-be5e-e86853cd70c9)
Travis Read stood on the outskirts of Rodeo, Montana, and stared at the sorriest excuse for a midway he’d ever encountered.
He’d pulled his truck over for a closer look.
Old rides littered the prairie like a county fair graveyard. Rusty signs hung askew.
A hint he should hightail it out of town before he’d even arrived? Maybe, save for one ride. Front and center, a spit-shined carousel stood out from the other decaying machines as though risen fresh from the grave.
Merry-go-rounds weren’t usually on Travis’s radar, whimsy being a stranger in his life, but he had his nephews to think about now.
He’d bet both his old Stetson and broken-in cowboy boots the boys would be tickled by the carousel. He was.
Gleaming in the meager late-October sunshine, the merry-go-round seemed like a good omen.
No way, Travis.
Grimly, he straightened his spine. He didn’t believe in omens, good, bad or otherwise.
“You look like a man who could use a smile.”
A feminine voice drifted out of the early-morning mist that shrouded the hushed countryside, carried on the faint breeze like a melody.
A young woman stepped up behind one of the inanimate ponies on the ride, materializing with a playful smile and a smear of grease across her left cheek.
One fist gripped a wrench and the other a rag, which she used to burnish a gilded saddle on a white pony. The contrast of that wrench and the small hand charmed Travis. No mean feat. He didn’t charm easily.
She thought he could use a smile. Dead right.
The woman grinned and his heart stuttered. Good vibes shimmered from her like sunshine reflecting off clear water.
The corners of his mouth, rusty with disuse, twitched.
“Yes, ma’am, I sure could use one of those.” No sense denying the truth she’d picked up on. “You don’t see many of these around anymore.”
She crossed her arms on the elaborate saddle. “Bet you’ve seen better looking amusement parks.”
“Could use some work.”
She laughed. “That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one.” As she stared around the downcast place, her expression became subdued.
Her friendliness had lightened up the gray corners of his heart.
“Nothing a little elbow grease won’t cure,” he ventured, clumsy in his attempt to make her smile again.
She drew herself up and grinned. Aaah. Better.
“Yes,” she said. “You’re absolutely right.”
Unnaturally drawn to this attractive stranger, Travis leaned forward, his body pressing against a wood-slat fence that needed a hammer, a whole lot of nails and a few coats of paint.
“Someone’s done a good job on the carousel.” By the look of pride on her face, he’d found the culprit. “Looks great.”
She looked great. Her smile warmed the chill in his heart.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
He doffed his Stetson. His mom might not have taught him much, but she’d stressed the importance of good manners. “Travis Read.”
“Rachel McGuire.” Her voice rang like birdsong. “Haven’t seen you around town. Just passing through?”
She rested her chin on her crossed arms, her glance flickering toward his truck and horse trailer parked on the shoulder.
“Looks like you’ll be staying a while?”
He stiffened. He didn’t discuss his life with strangers, a habit ingrained years ago.
Yeah, he planned to stay, but only long enough to get his sister and nephews settled in, and then he’d be moving on.
No sense telling that to Rachel, no matter how attractive he found her humor-filled eyes.
It was none of her business.
“Got hired to work for the Webers,” was all he was inclined to share.
“On the Double U? You’re fortunate. Udall’s a good man. Uma mothers everyone for fifty miles around. As long as you’re a hard worker, they’ll treat you like gold.”
If there were a definition in the dictionary for hard worker it would be his name. He’d toiled since he was old enough to shovel shit and straw.
Enough about him.
