“Dad, it’s wado,” Talei told him.
Amused, Leon responded, “Yes, ma’am, little one.”
Leon took Talei to the park to play while Misty and the baby were napping. He enjoyed being a father and looked forward to raising his children to adulthood. However, he didn’t want them growing up too fast. He and Misty wanted their kids to enjoy being children—something they both missed out on.
“I have two daddies,” Talei announced. “Daddy in heaven and you.”
“You’re a very lucky girl,” Leon said. “Because we both love you dearly.”
“We have a baby.”
He chuckled. “Yes, we do.”
“I wanna hold my brother when we get home. I won’t hurt him.”
“I’m not worried about that. You’re a big girl and I know how much you love Leo. If he’s awake, you can spend some time with him. Okay?”
Talei smiled. “Okay.”
They left the park and stopped to visit with Eleanor before heading home.
“Osiyo, Auntie,” Talei greeted. “Uncle home?”
“He’s at work, sugar. How’s my big girl doing?” Eleanor asked. “You just had a birthday. You’re growing up on me.”
“I’m four.”
Leon smiled. Talei’s birthday was last month, but for Eleanor, time passed differently. A touch of sadness rose up in him, but he brushed it away as quickly as it had come. She was still so full of life—he cherished every moment he had with her.
* * *
OMA HAD DINNER ready when they returned to the house.
They gathered at the dining room table to eat as a family. Leon hadn’t expected Misty to join them. He’d had her mother prepare a plate and was in the process of placing it on a tray when she strolled into the kitchen.
“Sweetheart, why don’t you go back to bed. You just had a baby.”
“Leon, I’m a little sore, but I’m not sick. It won’t hurt me to sit and have dinner with my family. I can’t just lie around in bed. I need to move around.”
“I wanna say the grace,” Talei stated.
“Go for it, little one.”
Her head bowed down, she said, “Our Father, thank you for our food we eat. Thank you for your love. We love you, too. Amen.”
“Good job, sweetie.”
Grinning, Talei picked up her fork and dived into the macaroni and cheese.
Leon glanced at Misty and smiled. The day that little girl had come into his life, he was forever changed.
As promised, Talei was allowed to not only hold Leo, but she was also able to feed him after her mother pumped breast milk in a bottle.
When it was time for bed, Leon tucked Talei in for the night. His eyes traveled to the framed photo of him and John on the nightstand. The other photo was of Misty.
“That’s you and Daddy.”
“Yes, it is,” Leon said, picking up the picture. “He was a good friend.”
“Do you miss him?”
He nodded. “I do. I miss John a lot.”
“Me, too.” Talei sat up in bed. “Sometimes he visits me in my dreams. He told me that he was happy that you’re my dad now.”
Leon believed that if there was a way possible for John to visit with his daughter, he would do it. “I promised him that I’d take care of you.”
Talei sat up and took his hand. “I like my baby brother, Dad. Can I have a baby sister, too? I want her for Christmas.”
Leon chuckled. “I think we have to ask Mommy about that.”
Oma entered the bedroom. “I promised Talei a glass of warm milk and a bedtime story.”
“I’ll leave you to it,” he said after planting a kiss on her forehead. “Good night, little one.”
Leon returned to the bedroom just as Misty had finished changing the baby. “You need anything?” he asked.
“We’re fine,” she responded. “Especially this little sleepyhead. He fell asleep in the middle of my changing him.”
Misty repositioned the pillows behind her. “Did Talei go down without a fuss?”
“Pretty much. You mom brought her some warm milk to help her sleep,” Leon said. “Oh, Talei just told me that she wants a baby sister for Christmas.” He took the sleeping baby from Misty and placed him in the bassinet at the foot of their bed.
“As in seven months from now?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Our little girl is about to experience her first Christmas disappointment,” Misty said. “There’s no way we can accomplish that. I’m not even willing to try.”
“Maybe we can consider it in a year,” Leon suggested.
Misty nodded. “I’m good with that. She’ll be in school.”
Leon sat down on the chaise to remove his shoes. He padded barefoot to the bathroom and took a shower.
Ten minutes later, he climbed into bed beside his wife.
“Wado, adali’i. You’ve given me such a beautiful gift.”
Misty broke into a smile. “Have you been taking lessons from Mama?”
“I wanted to know how to say wife in Cherokee.”
“What else did you learn?”
“Gvgeyu’i.”
Misty kissed him, then whispered, “I love you, too.”
Leon was still awake long after she had fallen asleep. He slipped out of bed and went to check on Talei, who was sleeping soundly. The light in the guest room was still on, so he assumed Oma was still up, but he didn’t disturb her.
He returned to his bedroom and eased back into bed, careful not to disturb Misty.
Leon had everything he wanted—a job he loved, a beautiful wife and two adorable children. The shadows across his heart were completely gone. He no longer feared losing those he loved so fiercely. Having experienced so much loss, Leon recognized how fleeting life could be, so he vowed to live and love each day as if it were his last.
“You can’t sleep?”
“What are you doing awake?” Leon asked. “Leo will be wanting to nurse soon.”
Misty sat up in bed. “What’s going on? Why can’t you sleep?”
“I think I’m just excited about what the future holds for us. We’ve both weathered terrible storms—we’ve walked through the fire and we’re better for it. I was afraid to love someone again, but you and Talei changed that—you changed me.”
“Your love saved me, Leon,” Misty said. “I never thought I’d meet a man like you. You came into my life during a difficult time. You didn’t try to rush things between us. You allowed me to grow.”
Leon pulled her close to him. “From this moment forward, our life will be a blaze of love, laughter and memories to last a lifetime.”
Snuggling against him, Misty whispered, “And the firefighter and his lady lived happily ever after.”
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781488074608
A Family for
the Firefighter
Copyright © 2021 by Jacquelin Thomas
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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www.Harlequin.com
“Krista Montgomery. Please step away from the edge,” Will said over the microphone.
Krista registered the drop behind her and stepped forward. She waved at him and grinned.
He felt a lift, that same lightness as when she’d hung his arm around her shoulders. “We need to deal with that drop. It’s possible that there are other people here as oblivious to danger as my girlfriend.”
He stopped. He’d just said Krista was his girlfriend to hundreds of people.
The crowd roared.
“Just finish the speech,” Alyssa hissed.
But it was impossible now. He’d spent all day looking forward to seeing Krista. He’d fooled himself into thinking it was because he needed his fake girlfriend, but the truth was, he had just wanted her by his side. Had from the time he’d proposed the plan to her.
And now her as his fake girlfriend was just an excuse...until he found a way to convince her to be his real one.
Dear Reader,
The Montgomerys of Spirit Lake series continues with the youngest of the three sisters, Krista. I had a lot of fun creating this city girl/country boy story. I’m a country girl—I grew up on a farm with a cow-calf operation, which my brother still runs. All the bits about ornery cows and broken machinery are straight from my experience. For the parts about horses, I drove up the road from the family farm to my cousin’s. Let me tell you, saddles are hea-vy!
The layout of the Claverley Ranch is based on my experience attending a local rodeo years ago run by a well-known ranching family. I was slinging jerky there, a vendor much like Krista with her speed pedicures, and got a few glimpses behind the scenes of the rodeo life.
I love hearing from my readers. You can contact me via my website, mkstelmack.com, and on Facebook by searching M. K. Stelmack. I’m also on Goodreads, as is the group Harlequin Heartwarming. We Heartwarming authors also have a vibrant Facebook page with frequent guest appearances from the Heartwarming sisterhood.
Enjoy! Hope you all get the chance to have a warm, green country summer.
Best,
M. K.
Her Rodeo Rancher
M. K. Stelmack
M. K. Stelmack writes historical and contemporary fiction. She is the author of A True North Hero series with Harlequin Heartwarming, the third book of which was made into a movie. She lives in Alberta, Canada, close to a town the fictional Spirit Lake of her stories is patterned after.
Books by M. K. Stelmack
Harlequin Heartwarming
A True North Hero
A Roof Over Their Heads
Building a Family
Coming Home to You
The Montgomerys of Spirit Lake
All They Want for Christmas
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
To Lionel and his farm
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
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
EPILOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
KRISTA MONTGOMERY GRIMACED behind her mask as Janet Claverley held up four fingers in serious need of cuticle care. “Spring snowstorm about to hit and four calves wandered off.”
Krista tapped the towel encouragingly with her cuticle pusher. “Oh no. Did you find them?”
“They hadn’t gone far, but it’s all brush, thick as wool, and I wouldn’t take Silver in there.”
Silver? Oh, the horse. Janet floated her hand down and Krista resumed lifting off more cuticle tissue on one nail than she did on both hands of other clients.
“I went in myself without work gloves, that’s why my hands are all scratched up. Laura was supposed to cover, but she was with the caterer. I’ll be so glad when her wedding is over and done with.”
And when Krista’s run of luck would also be over and done with. She’d opened her private salon three months ago in February, and her old high school friend had been her first half-day spa customer. During the manicure, Krista had suggested bridal updos which excited Laura so much that she pleaded with Krista to do them for her and her bridesmaids on the day of the wedding. Up to her ankles in a footbath, Laura then decided what better thank-you gift to her loyal bridesmaids than their own pedicure.
One of those bridesmaids was looking for a hairstylist for her own bridal party. And that sister had a friend who booked massages for her bridesmaids. Three bridal bookings in a month. Not bad word-of-mouth business from one wedding.
Proof positive that her salon was her true calling, her rocky social media start aside. And even that online debacle with her ex had only toughened Krista for the challenges of running a business. She’d learned not to give up, focus on first steps, set doable goals, change obstacles into opportunities. She was her own walking motivational poster for determination. Nobody or nothing—including her own fears—would stop her from operating the best little spa around. One that had Janet Claverley, the well-to-do mother of her high school bestie, booking regular treatments after Krista wowed her with an awesome manicure.
She started innocuously. “Laura certainly came up with a great apology gift for leaving the calves to you.”
Janet frowned at her nails. “I’m not sure why she thinks I need a manicure. I keep my nails trimmed and clean. And there’s not much you can do about the cuts and scrapes.”
Didn’t she see the state of her cuticles? That she had two hangnails as a result? Lost on Janet was the healing potential of the pampered body. “It’s nice to get something you wouldn’t give yourself but still secretly want.”
Laura’s mom eyed the stylized heart on the bathrobe Krista had cajoled her into wearing.
“Why undress for a manicure?” she’d wondered. “What kind of spa experience is it if someone walks in on us?”
Janet read the lettering on the bathrobe. “‘The heart wants what the heart wants’?”
Krista’s motto also featured on her store sign and on her business card. Krista would display it on her social media platforms, too, if she ever got the courage to launch them again.
“We all need to indulge ourselves,” Krista said. There, done with that hand. She rubbed cuticle oil on the nail base.
“You make the heart sound like a tyrannical two-year-old. I told all my children, ‘Lose your head, lose your heart.’”
Krista’s motto was as much a warning as inspiration, but she couldn’t resist teasing Janet. “Laura can barely get out a sentence without mentioning Ryan.”
Janet sliced the air with her freshly moisturized
hand. “That girl lucked out with him. He’d remembered her from her barrel-riding days, and he ranches, too, so they have loads in common.”
Krista took Janet’s other hand, every bit as weather-beaten as the first. She’d have to find a way to introduce Janet to her line of oil-based hand treatments. “Insta-love is how Laura describes it.”
“Maybe to her, but to me those two simply see eye to eye on a number of very practical matters like money, career, kids, even the trees for their new orchard. Common interests make for lasting relationships.”
Provided they really were common. Krista’s last relationship had blown up because she’d pretended to like what he’d liked, and that had done them both a disservice.
“It was the same with my husband and me. Dave and I were friends long before we were—” Disgust twisted her mouth. “Goodness, what is all that?”
Krista wiped away tiny white flakes. “Cuticle overgrowth. The stickiest tissue in our body.”
The toughened ranch matriarch looked alarmed. “Is it normal?”
“The amount depends on how often the nails are treated,” Krista said delicately.
“I really don’t have time for all this.” Janet looked around at the room Krista had designed for tranquility and comfort. Was there an ever-so-faint note of regret in her voice?
“I’ll also apply a layer of filler to smooth out your ridges.”
“Ridges? Doesn’t everyone have those?”
“Time and wear increase them.”
Janet quietened, absorbed with Krista’s work. When Krista had cleaned and smoothed the final nail, she wrapped each of Janet’s hands in a thick washcloth.
Next, Krista’s coup de grâce. She unhooked her mask for filtering out fine nail dust and rubbed her absolute favorite oil into her palms. Lavender—a warm, soothing scent. She unwrapped Janet’s hand and laid it gently on her own left hand. Krista’s regulars knew at this point to sink into their chair and let the magic happen. Janet stared, her eyes widening when Krista slipped her hand up the sleeve of Janet’s roomy bathrobe to her dry, dry elbows. Krista massaged the radius muscle. Janet Claverley had serious tension there.
Harlequin Heartwarming June 2021 Box Set Page 72
