Home on the Ranch: Unexpected Daddy

by Pamela Britton

She felt her breath catch. “I don’t deserve you, Maverick Gillian.”

  He shook his head. “No, you deserve the moon and the stars and everything in the heavens for all you’ve done for kids and all you’ve gone through. You deserve happiness and love and laughter, and I swear to you, Charlotte, I’m going to give it to you.”

  She started crying again.

  “Do you believe me?” he asked.

  She nodded, slowly at first, then faster and faster.

  “Good. Because I meant every word.”

  Epilogue

  “Well?” Jayden asked from the other side of the bathroom door.

  Charlotte stared at the twin lines on the pregnancy test, clutching the skirts of her wedding dress for moral support. She refused to believe her own eyes. She set the plastic stick down and picked up the box, matching the diagram on the side to the markers on the test.

  Dear Lord in heaven.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  The words had barely escaped as a whisper, but Jayden must have heard them. “You are!” she squealed from the other side, and she must have jumped up and down because Charlotte could hear a thump. And that must have been quite a feat in her blue bridesmaid dress and heels. “I knew it.”

  Charlotte turned and mutely opened the door. Jayden immediately drew her into her arms, something not easy to do given Charlotte wore a wedding dress that would have done a Southern belle proud.

  “How did this happen?” Charlotte heard herself say.

  “Well...” Jayden drew back. “I’m guessing you and Maverick had sex.”

  “Jayden!”

  Her soon-to-be sister-in-law laughed. “When are you going to tell him? Tonight? When you start your honeymoon? That would be a helluva wedding present.”

  “This wasn’t supposed to happen now. We were supposed to adopt first. Let Olivia get older. Maybe adopt two children before having our own, and now...”

  Jayden leaned toward her. “It never happens when you want it to.”

  “What’s wrong?” said Ava, her other future sister-in-law, coming into Maverick’s bedroom, where they were all getting dressed for the wedding. They were about to make the trek up the hill and to the clearing above Crystal’s house. “You look shocked. Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?”

  “She’s pregnant,” Jayden said, her ice-blue dress flaring at her feet as she spun toward Ava.

  “No,” Ava gasped. “I thought you guys were waiting.”

  “She was,” Jayden answered for her. “But she’s been sick all week, so I made her take a pregnancy test just now.”

  “On her wedding day?” Ava asked in disbelief. “You made her take a test now? Today, of all days?”

  “I couldn’t pin her down before now.” Jayden splayed her hands. “So I bought one this morning and handed it to her when she went to change.”

  “You’re incorrigible,” Ava said with a shake of her head.

  “Just wait until you tell my brother,” Jayden said. “He’s going to faint in shock. Ooh, I get to plan another baby shower, and this one will be even better than the last.”

  “First we should make sure he marries her,” Ava said.

  “True,” Jayden said. “But I’m so excited CJ will have another cousin to play with soon.” She patted her now flat belly. Jayden had given birth two months before to Colby Jr., and these days you couldn’t even tell she’d been pregnant.

  “Excuse me.” Charlotte didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She’d come to love these two women more than she would have thought possible over the past year. “I’m still here.”

  They both turned to look at her. Ava smiled and said, “Congratulations, Char. You’re going to be a great mother.”

  But she wasn’t supposed to be pregnant. They’d had a plan. She’d taken the job of regional director with the caveat that she’d do the job from Via Del Caballo. She hadn’t thought they’d agree, but they had, which meant she’d spent the past year busier than she’d ever been. But at least she hadn’t had to plan the wedding. They’d had the good sense to hire a wedding planner.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” she heard herself say.

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” Jayden said. “You’re in your wedding dress. I might be your bridesmaid, but I’m not cleaning barf off that white silk.”

  “It’ll be okay,” Ava said, rubbing Charlotte’s silk-clad shoulder. “There’s a reason why this happened now. Trust me, you’re going to be all right.”

  And as she looked into the eyes of her future sister-in-law, Charlotte knew Ava was right. She couldn’t have asked for a better support group than the Gillian family. They were her family, the one she’d never had, and it made her want to cry just thinking about it...

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” Jayden said again. “Don’t you dare cry. We are not doing your makeup again.”

  “I think I’m in shock,” Charlotte admitted.

  “You’re pregnant.” Ava smiled knowingly. “Your emotions will be up and down for the next nine months.”

  “She’s what?”

  They all turned toward Crystal, who was resplendent in a floor-length blue gown, Olivia in her arms, the little girl’s eyes opening wide when she saw Charlotte in her dress.

  “Pretty,” Olivia said, pointing. “Like a princess.”

  The look in Olivia’s eyes made Charlotte smile. “Thank you, sweet pea.” She came forward, her dress swooshing on the ground, as Olivia reached for the pearls and crystals that covered the bodice. “You look pretty, too.”

  “She’s got a bun in the oven,” Jayden whispered to her aunt. “We just found out.”

  “Today?”

  “Today. Thanks to Dr. Estrogen here.” Ava nudged Jayden. “Who the heck buys a bride a pregnancy test to take on her wedding day.”

  “I figured she’d want to know,” Jayden said.

  “Want down.” Olivia started wiggling in Crystal’s arms. “Want chocolate.”

  That was what Olivia called her. Chocolate, and it made Charlotte’s smile grow even bigger. Jayden was right. It’d be okay. How could it not be with a man like Maverick and a daughter like Olivia in her life?

  “No, no, honey. We came up to get Charlotte, remember? Your soon-to-be new mommy.” The shock must have worn off for Crystal, too, because she smiled, although it looked a bit rueful. “She’s going to be late for her own wedding if she doesn’t climb into that carriage outside soon. Remember? The carriage. You wanted to ride in it.”

  Olivia’s eyes grew wide at the mention of the glossy black vehicle. She’d been begging to ride in the Georgian-era coach ever since Crystal had bought it.

  “Let’s go,” Jayden said. “You can tell Maverick after.”

  And the thought of seeing Maverick, of walking toward him all the while knowing she was now pregnant, made her nervous all over again. What would he say? Would he be angry? She’d made such a big deal about sticking to the plan and yet somehow she’d blown it. Was it the pills she’d missed taking? She’d been so busy lately. But you were supposed to be able to catch up.

  She would never remember climbing into the coach, which had been decorated with Christmas lights. It was an evening wedding. The two of them would say their vows beneath the old oak tree that had remained so special to Charlotte and Maverick, and Olivia clapped and laughed the whole way there. Their wedding planner, Amy, had strung lights all along the path the carriage took. She’d done the same thing to the old oak tree—wrapped lights around the trunk and branches. The effect was dazzling, to say the least.

  “So pretty,” Olivia said, pointing at the lights.

  “I know.”

  The women of her life—her bridesmaids because, yes, Aunt Crystal was her maid of honor even though she was fond of saying she was hardly a maid—kept shooting her reassuring smiles. But they didn’t help. Should she
tell him now? Before the marriage? At the altar?

  “Here we go,” Ava said, helping her stand, smoothing her skirts.

  Ava’s husband, Carson, handed her down. The men of the family wore black jackets and white button-downs, but they’d insisted on wearing jeans and boots. Charlotte hadn’t minded.

  “Flowers,” said Amy, their wedding planner, the dress she wore barely covering her own bulging belly. “Where are her flowers?”

  “Here,” Flynn said, bringing over a box.

  Her wedding planner took the box from Flynn, the two of them exchanging an odd look that gave Charlotte pause.

  “It looks beautiful,” Charlotte said, touching Amy on the arm and drawing her attention. “Everything is just as you said it would be.”

  She watched as her wedding planner took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

  “You’ve done an amazing job,” Charlotte said. “Really. I don’t know what we would have done without you.”

  “Are we ready?” Crystal interrupted, glancing down at Olivia. “Ready to drop your flowers, Olivia?”

  Charlotte gave Amy one last squeeze of gratitude before turning away. Olivia grew excited all over again. She would walk down the aisle with Crystal, and Charlotte got misty eyes watching the two of them set off up a gently lit path that would lead them to the altar that had been set up beneath the brightly lit tree. Shane, Maverick’s best man, was next. Jayden walked opposite Shane and then went Ava and Carson. Flynn took the arm of Susan, her coworker, who’d been a rock this past year and had become a close friend.

  Then it was just her.

  “Ready?” asked Maverick’s dad, coming up behind her. She hadn’t even noticed him there.

  She inhaled sharply. This was it. The moment she’d been waiting for.

  “Let’s do this.”

  But he didn’t take off immediately. Instead, he held her hand for a moment. “In case I don’t have a chance to say it, I’m proud of my son and the woman he’s chosen to spend the rest of his life with.”

  She felt her eyes well with tears, remembered Jayden’s stern warning not to cry and took a deep breath. “Thank you, Reese.”

  They walked toward the giant oak tree. Amy had wrapped so many lights around the massive trunk and branches that it looked like a living lightning bolt. An altar stood at the edge of the tree’s massive reach, one covered in more lights that were entwined with grapevines from below. People sat on benches Carson had carved. Bella, Ava’s daughter, held Sadie’s leash. Colby stood next to her, taking CJ’s tiny arm and waving it at her. Charlotte had cried when Carson told her each one of his family members would get to take home a bench in honor of their wedding day. Such a special gesture.

  Her groom turned.

  And she knew it’d be all right. That things would work out. That she might be pregnant, but it would be okay.

  She smiled. He smiled, too. Reese handed her off to her groom. Maverick took her hand. Their pastor stepped forward, an older man who’d married Ava and Carson, too.

  “Welcome, everyone,” he said with a wide smile. “We’re gathered here today to marry Charlotte Bennett to Fineus Gillian.”

  She giggled at the use of his name, Maverick glancing at her in mock anger, which made her smile. When Jayden started to giggle, too, it made Charlotte laugh, and that set the tone for the rest of the ceremony. Laughter when Olivia insisted on picking up the rose petals she’d already dropped. Teasing when Maverick almost dropped her wedding ring. And most of all...love. Love in the eyes of her groom and in the eyes of her new family and in her heart.

  “I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Fineus Gillian.”

  Which made everyone laugh all over again, and that was how they walked back down the aisle, hand in hand, smiling and waving.

  “We did it,” Maverick said when they made it back to Crystal and Bob’s house for their wedding dinner.

  “Yes, we did, but I probably should have told you something before we said our ‘I do’s.”

  Maverick tipped his head. “What?”

  She took a deep breath, and it shocked her how much just thinking the words brought love to her heart. “I’m pregnant.”

  “Ha ha ha,” he said. “Very funny.”

  She stared up at him with utter seriousness. “No, Maverick, I really am.”

  He still didn’t look like he believed her, but then Crystal arrived with Olivia in tow.

  “Did you tell him yet?”

  He glanced at his aunt and then back at her, and finally—finally—he started to believe. She could see it in his eyes.

  “You’re pregnant.”

  She nodded, and then she felt tears build and she knew she was about to cry. Dang it. She’d held it together through the whole ceremony, but the look in Maverick’s eyes...

  He pulled her into his arms. “Oh, Charlotte,” he whispered softly. “I love you so much.”

  She released a soft sob. “I love you, too, Fineus.”

  He kissed her, and the rest of her new family gathered around, and when he drew back, there were claps on the back and congratulations and some teasing because Ava told Charlotte she would have to do her toasting with sparkling apple cider.

  “This was not part of the plan,” she said as they headed to the backyard, where they’d set up tables for their wedding reception.

  “No,” Maverick said. “This is so much better.”

  And it was.

  * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Her Favorite Maverick by Christine Rimmer.

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  Her Favorite Maverick

  by Christine Rimmer

  Chapter One

  As Sarah Turner emerged from the tiny back-room office of the former train depot, Vivienne Shuster Dalton glanced up from a worktable covered in fabric swatches, to-do lists, project folders and open sample books.

  “There you are,” said Viv.

  “Just giving it all one more look.” Sarah tried for a light tone, but going over the books yet another time hadn’t changed a thing. The news was not good.

  “Please tell us you’ve found a solution to our problem.”

  If only.

  Viv’s business partner, Caroline Ruth Clifton, stood across the worktable from her. Caroline turned her big dark eyes on Sarah and asked hopefully, “We can swing it, right?”

  The answer was no.

  And for Sarah, whether she was trying to cla
w her way up the food chain at the biggest accounting firm in Chicago or working in her dad’s little office right here in Rust Creek Falls, Montana, her least favorite part of the job remained the same. She hated telling clients that they were in trouble—especially clients she liked and admired.

  Viv and Caroline were a couple of dynamos. They’d even opened a second location down in Thunder Canyon, Montana. Caroline spent most of her time there.

  And here in Rust Creek Falls, all the brides flocked to the old train depot to get Viv to create their perfect wedding.

  Unfortunately, both the rustic train depot and Viv’s primary local wedding venue—the brick freight house nearby—needed new roofs. All new. They couldn’t just slap a fresh layer of shingles on. Both buildings required tear-outs and rebuilds. Plus, there were structural issues that would have to be addressed. Viv had collected bids. She knew what the work would cost.

  It was a lot.

  And the wedding planners had already stretched every penny to the limit.

  Gently, Sarah laid it out. “I’m sorry. I’ve been over and over the numbers you gave me. The money just isn’t there. You need a loan or an investor.”

  “A loan against what?” Viv was shaking her head. “The buildings and the land belong to Cole’s family.” Her husband, Cole Dalton, was a local rancher. Cole and his large extended family owned a lot of the land in the Rust Creek Falls Valley. “I can’t take a loan against my in-laws’ property. We’re doing great, but, Sarah, you already know it’s all on a shoestring—and frankly, I struck out on my own so that I could do this my way.” Viv’s big green eyes shone with sheer determination. “An investor is going to want a say in how we run things.”

  “Not necessarily. Some investors just want a percentage of—”

  The little bell over the front door cut Sarah off midsentence.

  “Good morning, ladies,” boomed a deep male voice. The imposing figure in the open doorway swept off his black Stetson to reveal a thick head of silver hair. “Maximilian Crawford, at your service.” The man plunked his big hat to his heart. Tall and powerfully built, with a handsome, lived-in face and a neatly trimmed goatee and mustache, the guy almost didn’t seem real. He reminded Sarah of a character from one of those old-time TV Westerns. “I’m looking for Vivienne Dalton, the wedding planner,” he announced.