* * *
JUST AFTER EIGHT O’CLOCK Christmas Eve, Molly kissed her sleeping son and eased from his bedroom. She wasn’t surprised they’d only been able to get halfway through “Twas the Night before Christmas.” Her son was deliriously excited.
Whereas she knew she still had so much to do to make amends before the holiday ended.
She reached for her phone just as a knock sounded on her front door.
Molly looked through the glass.
Chance?
Heart pounding, she opened the door.
He stood on her doorstep in a sport coat, snowy-white shirt, Santa Claus and Rudolph tie, and jeans. He’d recently showered and shaven. His hair had that mussed, sexy look she loved. But it was the hopeful sparkle in his eyes that got to her the most.
She nodded at his tie. “Glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”
The crinkles around his eyes deepened. “I thought you might like it.”
She liked more than that.
She liked everything about him.
Especially this. The fact that he knew just when she needed him most and showed up.
Because it was the showing up, it was the being there, that was most important of all.
“Seriously.” Chance’s voice dropped a sexy notch, his gaze devouring her from head to toe. “I hope it’s not too late.”
Flushing beneath his tender scrutiny, Molly swung the door open wide and motioned him in. “Actually, your timing is perfect,” she whispered, ushering him back to the kitchen, where their voices were least likely to carry. “I just got Braden to sleep.” Knowing now was the time to give him a gift from the heart, too, she ignored the shaking of her knees and hurried on. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you. I don’t like the ways things ended the last time we—”
He put a finger to her lips. Hazel eyes serious, he interrupted sternly, “If anyone is going to apologize, it’s got to be me.”
This she hadn’t expected.
Shaking his head ruefully, he took her all the way into his arms. Threaded one hand through her hair, wrapped the other reverently around her waist. “I’m sorry, Molly. For trying to maneuver you into making the decisions I wanted regarding your future.” He hauled in a rough breath, admitting, “My only responsibility as the man in your life is to do everything I can to support you in whatever you want.”
Molly splayed her hands across his chest; the rapid beat of his heart matched hers. Tears of happiness misted her eyes as the relief inside her built. “You mean that?”
“I do.” He nodded soberly. Then bent to tenderly kiss her brow. “I don’t care where we live, Molly, as long as we’re together.”
She knew what it took for him to concede that. “But Bullhaven...” Her voice broke.
“Can be run with or without me on the premises every day.”
“But there’s Mistletoe and all the other bulls, not to mention Mistletoe Jr.”
He promised gruffly, “I’ll work that out, too.”
She saw he meant it. With all his heart and soul. Still...“It’s your life work.”
He nodded. His eyes held hers. “And only part of what I want,” he said thickly.
Her heart pounded like a wild thing in her chest. She moved in closer, taking in all the heat and strength he had to give. “What’s the rest?” She let her eyes rove his handsome face. Memorizing this Christmas for all time.
He lifted her hand, kissed the back of it and then held it against his chest. Their gazes still locked, he told her, “I want you. And Braden. And a life together.” His voice caught as the tears she’d been holding back spilled over her lashes and flooded her cheeks.
“Which is why you tried to give us part ownership in Mistletoe and Mistletoe Jr. Because they are the most precious gifts you have to offer.”
He tightened his grip on her. “So you do understand that I only gifted them to you to secure your financial future, and show you how much I wanted us to be family?”
She nodded. “I know how much you love your prize bulls. And that you giving us half ownership in them was a very big deal.”
“Then why did you take it as an insult?”
“Because the enormity of the gift—the long-lasting deeply personal nature of it—scared me, Chance.” She tipped her head back to better see into his eyes. “For years now, I’ve been telling myself I didn’t need anyone, so long as I had enough money to keep Braden and I safe. I thought my duty as his parent was to provide all the material things and opportunity denied me as a child. I couldn’t see—didn’t want to see—that we already had everything we needed, here in Laramie. A great home. A caring community of friends and neighbors.”
Chance drew her close. “A school that fits him and his exuberant, engaging personality.”
She leaned into him. “I wanted more for him.”
He stroked a hand through her hair. “More for you?”
Molly nodded. “All of it, based on the things that I’ve since realized matter the least.” His strength and tenderness gave her the courage to go on. “And then you came into my life. Challenging everything. Showing me whether I wanted to acknowledge it or not that the grass wasn’t always greener and the luxe life was no guarantee of happiness.”
She wreathed her arms around his broad shoulders. “And while financial security will always be important, it’s not nearly as crucial as having someone to love who will love you back.” Her voice trembled with emotion as she took the biggest leap of faith of all. “And I do love you, Chance.” Letting him see and feel just how much, she kissed him deeply, sweetly.
“Damn, Molly,” Chance kissed her back with all the yearning she had ever wished for. “I love you too,” he whispered, kissing her again. “So much...”
Chance released her and got down on one knee. He reached into his pocket. “Which is why I got this...”
Inside the box was a diamond engagement ring. He lifted his face to hers, an endless supply of hope and faith shining in his eyes.
Mirrored in her heart.
He clasped her hand tightly, looking as if this were the most important moment in his life. “Marry me, Molly.”
The joyful tears overflowed again. She tugged him to his feet and drew him back into her arms. “On one condition,” she promised, holding him so close their hearts pounded in unison. “We stay in Laramie.”
Surprise warred with the pleasure and relief on his handsome face. “You’re not moving to Dallas?”
She shook her head, kissing him again, tenderly and persuasively. “This is where I want to be, for Christmas and forevermore.” She gazed into his eyes. “Right here with you.”
Epilogue
One year later...
“Is it time to go yet?” Braden asked. “Can we give the bulls their Christmas presents?”
Molly looked at Chance. It was still half an hour before the appointed feeding time on Christmas Eve, but if they didn’t spring into action soon, their little guy was going to burst with excitement. A fact the love of her life seemed to know very well.
Chance grinned. “I think we can go now, buddy.”
The three of them donned their hats, coats and gloves and headed out to the barn, a little red wagon full of specialty grain sacks, emblazoned with each bucking bull’s name, behind them. One by one, Braden called out a jubilant “Merry Christmas!” to each and every animal. Then, with Chance and Molly’s help, he carefully poured the yuletide gifts into the buckets of regular feed before Chance set them in the stalls.
Finally, they made their way to the barn that held the trio of prize-winning cattle.
Seeing them walk in, Mistletoe let out a low bellow. Jr. and Momma followed suit. Both bulls came over to the edge of their pens. Chance hoisted Braden in his arms. As had become custom, Braden ge
ntly petted their heads under Chance’s supervision, while Molly went over to check on the only female of the bunch. Eventually, Chance and Braden came over, too, their twin sets of cowboy boots echoing on the cement barn floor.
Braden peered through the opening in the metal pen rails. “How come Momma Cow is getting so fat?” He frowned at her sagging, barrel-shaped tummy.
Molly had been wondering when Braden would notice the unmistakable weight gain. “She’s going to have another baby bull in the spring.”
Braden perked up. “I like babies!” he said.
Molly took a deep breath. “That’s good.” She and Chance had been waiting for the right time. Maybe this was it. “Because Daddy and I like them, too. So we were thinking,” she continued as casually as she could, “that the three of us should have a baby, too.” Smiling, Chance telegraphed his support and reached over and squeezed her hand. “Then you’d have a little brother or sister.”
Braden tipped his cowboy hat back and thought that over. “Is the baby going to be born in the barn?”
Molly and Chance choked back laughter. Soberly, Chance knelt down. “Probably the hospital,” he said.
“Okay.” Braden happily considered that, then moved on. “Can we put out the treats for Santa?”
It was a little early yet for that.
On the other hand, they had a Lockhart family party to go to in a little bit, so maybe it was good to do as much as possible now. “Sure,” Molly and Chance said, as in tune about this as everything else.
They went inside and washed up. Molly poured a small glass of milk while Braden arranged a selection of treats on a plate, then went to play with his Christmas village and ranch.
As delighted about their expanding family as she, Chance ran his hand possessively over Molly’s tummy. Briefly he inclined his head at Braden, murmuring, “That went better than expected.”
They hadn’t been sure how Braden would take the news. Although they had hoped...
The thought of the new life growing inside her filled Molly with warmth. “I think so, too.”
She turned to Chance, aware how much had changed in the months since they’d first become involved.
They’d married in July. She’d converted her home in town to an interior design studio and office for their joint general contracting firm. Chance was teaching her and Braden the bucking-bull and ranching business. Best of all, not only was Braden thriving in the school he had always gone to but he was relishing his new “cowboy” life on an actual ranch. And he had the doting daddy she’d always wanted for him, too.
She paused to kiss her ruggedly sexy husband. “Have I told you lately that thanks to you, all my dreams have come true this year?”
All the love she had ever wanted shone in his eyes. “Mine, too,” he rasped contentedly.
She hugged him close, aware she had never felt so joyous. “Merry Christmas, cowboy.”
Chance stroked a hand through her hair and tenderly kissed the top of her head. “Merry Christmas to you, too, darlin’.”
* * * * *
EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT
Crown Prince Armando enlists Rosa Lamberti to find him a suitable wife—but could a stolen kiss under the mistletoe lead to an unexpected Christmas wedding?
Read on for a sneak preview of
WINTER WEDDING FOR THE PRINCE
by Barbara Wallace
“Have you ever looked at an unfocused telescope only to turn the knob and make everything sharp and clear?” Armando asked.
Rosa nodded.
“That is what it was like for me, a few minutes ago. One moment I had all these sensations I couldn’t explain swirling inside me, then the next everything made sense. They were my soul coming back to life.”
“I don’t know what to think,” she said.
“Then don’t think,” he replied. “Just go with your heart.”
He made it sound easy. Just go with your heart. But what if your heart was frightened and confused? For all his talk of coming to life, he was essentially in the same place as before, unable or unwilling to give her a true emotional commitment.
On the other hand, her feelings wanted to override her common sense, so maybe they were even. As she watched him close the gap between them, she felt her heartbeat quicken to match her breath.
“You do know that we’re under the mistletoe yet again, don’t you?”
The sprig of berries had quite a knack for timing, didn’t it? Anticipation ran down her spine ceasing what little hold common sense still had. Armando was going kiss her and she was going to let him. She wanted to lose herself in his arms. Believe for a moment that his heart felt more than simple desire.
This time, when he wrapped his arm around her waist, she slid against him willingly, aligning her hips against his with a smile.
“Appears to be our fate,” she whispered. “Mistletoe, that is.”
“You’ll get no complaints from me.” She could hear her heart beating in her ears as his head dipped toward hers. “Merry Christmas, Rosa.”
“Mer…” His kiss swallowed the rest of her wish. Rosa didn’t care if she spoke another word again. She’d waited her whole life to be kissed like this. Fully and deeply, with a need she felt all the way down to her toes.
They were both breathless when the moment ended. With their foreheads resting against each other, she felt Armando smile against her lips. “Merry Christmas,” he whispered again.
Don’t miss
WINTER WEDDING FOR THE PRINCE by Barbara Wallace
Available December 2016
PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY
www.millsandboon.co.uk
Copyright ©2016 by Barbara Wallace
ISBN: 978-1-474-04191-1
A TEXAS COWBOY’S CHRISTMAS
© 2016 Cathy Gillen Thacker
Published in Great Britain 2016
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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