Bring Me a Maverick for Christmas!

by Brenda Harlen

  “I want to know when it’s nap time,” Fallon confided. “We’ve been up for hours already with the triplets, and when we finish up here, we’re heading over to my parents’ place for Christmas Day—round three.”

  “I’m glad you were able to squeeze this into your schedule,” Bella said sincerely.

  “Are you kidding? This is the best part of the day,” Fallon said to the woman who had been her friend long before she was her sister-in-law.

  “It is special,” Dana chimed in. “To be able to celebrate the holidays with all of you.”

  Of course, everyone was aware that the group was incomplete. Unless and until Liza was found, there would always be something missing. But for now, they focused on the joy of being together. And when everyone had eaten their fill, they retreated to the living room to disperse the presents that were piled under the tree.

  “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Annie said, nudging Bailey with her shoulder as the triplets attacked an enormous box that had all their names on it.

  “What’s amazing? The noise? The mess? The chaos?”

  His sister-in-law laughed softly. “Well, all of that,” she acknowledged. “Because it’s all part and parcel of being a member of this family. But I was actually referring to the difference that a year can make.”

  “This time last year, you and Dan were newlyweds,” Bailey noted.

  “And you’d just returned to Rust Creek Falls, a bitter and cynical Grooge, certain you weren’t going to stay.”

  He couldn’t deny that was true—or that, until only a few weeks ago, he’d remained mostly bitter and cynical and unconvinced that there was a future for him in this town. And then his brother and sister-in-law had conned him into donning Santa’s hat and coat.

  He’d totally been faking it that first day. He’d had no Christmas spirit of his own to share with the kids. Serena had helped him find not just that Christmas spirit again but closure on his past and hope for his future.

  She’d changed everything for him.

  “It’s true,” he agreed. “A lot can change in a year—or when you finally find the one person you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with.”

  “You’re welcome,” Annie said.

  “Yeah, maybe I do owe you for that,” he acknowledged.

  “And I know just how you can pay me back.”

  “How?” he asked, a little warily.

  She smiled. “Be happy.” Then she kissed his cheek and moved away to find her husband.

  But Bailey knew that he already was.

  As he looked around the room, he was grateful and humbled to be part of this crazy family whose connection and affection had not only endured but grown stronger over distance and time. Of course, their family had grown in size, too, with so many of his siblings pairing up and having babies. Or, in Dan and Annie’s case, an almost-teenager.

  He found Serena in the crowd, and felt his heart swell to fill his whole chest. She was sitting on the floor by the fire with Jared—or was that Henry?—on her lap. The nephew had a gingerbread cookie in his hand, which he would gnaw on for a while and then offer to Serena, and she would gamely take a nibble of the soggy treat before the little guy shoved it back in his own mouth.

  She fit so perfectly here. With his family. With him.

  Annie was right—a single year could make a world of difference. And he hoped that by next Christmas, Serena would be his wife rather than his fiancée. And maybe, not too long after that, they’d have a child of their own to contribute to the mayhem.

  That thought gave him a moment’s pause.

  Henry—or was it Jared?—toddled over to his brother with two chunky toy trucks clutched in his fists, obviously hoping to entice him away from his cookie to play. His brother was happy to abandon his snack, but he kissed Serena’s cheek before sliding from her lap, and she smiled as she watched the brothers move away.

  Bailey found a napkin on a nearby table and offered it to her. She wrapped the remnants of the soggy cookie, then wiped the crumbs from her hand.

  “You looked deep in thought over there,” she commented, as he sat down beside her.

  “I was just wondering how long it takes to plan a wedding,” he said, sliding his arm around her shoulders.

  “You can’t be talking about our wedding.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because we only just got engaged.”

  “Do you know why I asked you to marry me?”

  “Because you love me and want to spend the rest of your life with me?”

  “All of that,” he agreed. “And because I want to start our life together as soon as possible.”

  “I want that, too.”

  “So let’s set a date,” he urged.

  “Okay,” she agreed. “June 25.”

  “That’s six months away.”

  “I figure it will probably take that long to plan a wedding.”

  “Unless we get someone to do it for us,” he noted. “Caroline Ruth did a great job with the Presents for Patriots event.”

  “She did,” Serena agreed. “And now that you mention it, Sawmill Station would be the perfect venue for a wedding.”

  “Then I suggest we reach out to her as soon as possible to get started with the planning.”

  “What’s your hurry?” she wondered.

  “Well, I was thinking—” he tipped his head toward hers, his expression filled with cautious hope “—the sooner we get married, the sooner we can get started making a baby.”

  Her heart fluttered, yearned. “In that case,” she said, her eyes growing misty, “the sooner the better.”

  * * *

  It was an almost perfect day.

  Of course, spending Christmas morning with his siblings, it was natural that Bailey would think about the parents who were no longer with them. And while their absence tugged at his heart, he felt certain that Rob and Lauren Stockton were looking down on their children, happy to see them celebrating together.

  Of course, they weren’t all together. Not yet. But some of Serena’s eternal optimism must have rubbed off on him, because he was starting to believe that the reunion of his siblings would soon be complete.

  That thought had barely formed in his mind when the doorbell rang.

  The sound didn’t interrupt the festivities. Several of the adults exchanged curious glances, silently wondering who would be visiting on Christmas Day, then Luke went to discover the answer to that unspoken question.

  A few minutes later, he returned with an unexpected but very welcome guest.

  Bailey’s heart hammered against his ribs as he reached for Serena’s hand and linked their fingers together.

  “Liza.”

  It was Bella who first ventured to whisper the name, and the younger woman’s familiar blue eyes immediately filled with tears.

  Then, more loudly for the benefit of those who hadn’t realized that someone new had joined the party, Bella announced, “Liza’s home.”

  The rest of her siblings all rushed forward to embrace the long-lost sister who had finally returned.

  Serena decided it was an appropriate time to extricate herself from the family gathering. Though she was thrilled for Bailey and all his brothers and sisters, their impromptu family reunion was a painful reminder that her family was still in pieces. Yes, she was starting to rebuild a relationship with her mother, but she still felt the loss of the father who’d walked out of her life fifteen years earlier and, even more deeply, the absence of the sister who had disappeared without a trace a year previous to that.

  But Serena’s efforts to slip away were thwarted by her fiancé.

  “Where are you going?” Bailey asked her.

  “Home,” she said. “I’ve already been gone longer than I intended to be.”

  “Your SUV is in a ditch,” he reminded
her.

  She held up the keys in her hand. “Eva’s letting me borrow her vehicle.”

  “That’s not necessary,” he said. “I can take you.”

  “I know you can, but you’ve been waiting for this reunion a long time.”

  “And you’re still waiting for yours,” he realized.

  “I am,” she admitted. “But seeing you with your siblings, knowing you found your way back to one another after so many years apart, gives me renewed hope that I’ll find Mimi again.”

  “You will,” he said confidently.

  “But in the meantime, my pets are waiting for me,” she told him.

  “So we’ll go get Marvin, Molly and Max and bring them back here,” he decided.

  “Don’t you think that will be a little...chaotic?”

  “No, I think it will be a lot chaotic,” he acknowledged. “But it’s Christmas, and family should be together on Christmas.”

  * * *

  “You got more than you bargained for, didn’t you?” Serena remarked later, after she and Bailey had returned to the relative quiet of his cabin following dinner with his family—and hers. Because Amanda and Mark had been at her apartment when they went to get her pets, and Bailey had persuaded them to join the festivities at Sunshine Farm.

  “It was every bit as chaotic as you promised,” he confirmed. “And I wouldn’t have changed a minute of it.”

  Marvin, Molly and Max might have agreed with his assessment, but they were already snuggled up together and asleep in the dog’s bed, exhausted from so much attention and excitement.

  “Grams didn’t even protest being dragged away from her celebration on the beach to hear the news of our engagement,” Serena noted.

  “Although she did request that we plan a summer wedding.”

  “June 25 is summer,” she pointed out, referencing the date she’d originally suggested.

  “And it’s a long time to wait to make you my wife,” he grumbled.

  “I know you’re eager to get started on a family of our own, but a June wedding ensures we’ll have lots of time to practice our baby-making technique.”

  “Are you suggesting that I need practice?” he asked, his tone indignant.

  “Of course not,” she soothed. “I’m only suggesting that I would very much enjoy practicing with you.”

  “Okay, then,” he relented.

  “In fact...I was kind of hoping we might practice tonight.”

  And that’s just what they did—all night long.

  Epilogue

  “Did you hear the news?” glowing newlywed Vivienne Shuster Dalton asked her recently engaged friend and colleague Caroline Ruth.

  “If you’re referring to the news that Bailey Stockton proposed to Serena Langley on Christmas Eve, then yes, I did,” Caroline confirmed.

  “That’s six engagements in the past six months.”

  “Love is definitely in the air in Rust Creek Falls,” Caroline agreed.

  “Fingers crossed—” Vivienne demonstrated with her own “—we’re going to be planning a lot of weddings in the upcoming year.”

  “But there are still a lot of single men and women in town,” Caroline noted.

  Vivienne clapped her hands together gleefully. “Which promises even more business in years to come.”

  Although Caroline shared her business partner’s optimism, she felt compelled to issue a word of caution. “Some of them might need a little nudge to set them on the right path.”

  “Oooh, you’re right.” Vivienne considered, then nodded. “That’s a great idea.”

  Caroline wasn’t sure how to respond to her colleague’s unbridled enthusiasm. “What did I say? What’s a great idea?”

  “Adding matchmaking to our list of services.”

  “That wasn’t my idea,” she immediately protested.

  But now that it was out there, the possibilities were undeniably intriguing...

  * * *

  Look for the next book in

  award-winning author Brenda Harlen’s

  miniseries Match Made in Haven

  The Cowboy’s Cupids-in-Training

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  wherever Harlequin books and ebooks are sold.

  And catch up with the cowboys of

  Montana Mavericks: The Lonelyhearts Ranch

  in these great titles!

  The Maverick’s Bridal Bargain

  by Christy Jeffries

  A Maverick to (Re)Marry

  by New York Times Bestselling Author

  Christine Rimmer

  The Maverick’s Baby-in-Waiting

  by Melissa Senate

  The Little Maverick Matchmaker

  by USA TODAY Bestselling Author Stella Bagwell

  Unmasking the Maverick

  by Teresa Southwick

  The Maverick’s Christmas to Remember

  by Christy Jeffries

  Bring Me a Maverick for Christmas!

  by Brenda Harlen

  Available now, wherever Harlequin books

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  Keep reading for an excerpt from Same Time, Next Christmas by Christine Rimmer.

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  Same Time, Next Christmas

  by Christine Rimmer

  Chapter One

  December 23
, four years ago...

  Even with the rain coming down so hard he could barely make out the twisting gravel road ahead of him, Matthias Bravo spotted the light shining through the trees.

  The Jeep lurched around another twist in the road. For a few seconds before the trees obscured his view, Matt could see his getaway cabin in the clearing up ahead. Yep. The light was coming from the two windows that flanked the front door.

  Some idiot had broken in.

  Swearing under his breath, Matt steered his Jeep to the almost nonexistent side of the road and switched off the engine and lights.

  The rain poured down harder, pounding the roof, roaring so loud he couldn’t hear himself think. Out the windshield, the trees with their moss-covered trunks were a blur through the rippling curtain made of water.

  Should he have just stayed home in Valentine Bay for Christmas?

  Probably. His injured leg throbbed and he was increasingly certain he’d caught that weird bug his brothers had warned him about. He had a mother of a headache and even though he’d turned the heater off several miles back, he was sweating.

  “Buck up, buddy.” He slapped his own cheek just to remind himself that torrential rain, a sliced-up leg, a headache and a fever were not the worst things he’d ever lived through.

  And at the moment, he had a mission. The SOB in his cabin needed taking down—or at the very least, roughing up a tad and kicking out on his ass.

  Matt kept his rifle in a hidden safe at the back of the Jeep. Unfortunately, the safe was accessed through the rear door.

  “No time like the present to do what needs doing.”

  Yeah. He was talking to himself. Kind of a bad sign.

  Was he having a resurgence of the PTSD he’d been managing so well for over a year now?

  No. Uh-uh. Zero symptoms of a recurrence. No more guilt than usual. He wasn’t drunk and hadn’t been in a long time. No sleep problems, depression or increased anxiety.

  Simply a break-in he needed to handle.

  And going in without a weapon? How stupid would that be?

  He put on his field jacket, pulled up the hood, shoved open his door and jumped out, biting back a groan when his hurt leg took his weight.