Patti Standard - His Perfect Family

His gut twisted, His gut twisted, a combination of admiration for her and envy of the man who’d had such a woman and turned his back on her. What he could have done with a woman like Adrianne at his side, back when he’d still thought he could make a difference, when he’d still tried to. Could he have leapt those tall buildings, after all? Cutter moved his hand from her shoulder to her face, cupping her cheek. He let his thumb stroke her lips, outlining their softness. She didn’t move. Bending his head, he replaced his thumb with his lips. A soft, gentle caress, meant to heal. Except the feel of her slammed into him, sucking the air from his lungs, and suddenly he was the one in need of healing. Because this feeling hurt, it squeezed his chest and blurred his thoughts. And her response brought him to his knees.... Letter to Reader Dear Reader. This April, Silhouette Romance showers you with six spectacular stories from six splendid authors! First, our exciting LOVING THE BOSS miniseries continues as rising star Robin Wells tells the tale of a demure accountant who turns daring to land her boss—and become mommy to The Executive’s Baby. Prince Charming’s Return signals Myrna Mackenzie’s return to Silhouette Romance. In this modern-day fairy-tale romance, wealthy FABULOUS FATHER Gray Alexander discovers he has a son, but the proud mother of his child refuses marriage—unless love enters the equation.... Sandra Steffen’s BACHELOR GULCH miniseries is back with Wes Stryker’s Wrangled Wife! In this spirited story, a pretty stranger just passing through town can’t resist a sexy cowboy struggling to raise two orphaned tykes. Cara Colter revisits the lineup with Truly Daddy an emotional, heartwarming novel about a man who learns what it takes to be a father—and a husband—through the transforming love of a younger woman. When A Cowboy Comes a Courting in Christine Scott’s contribution to HE’S MY HERO!, the virginal heroine who’d swom off sexy, stubborn. Stetson-wearing rodeo stars suddenly finds herself falling hopelessly in love. And FAMILY MATTERS showcases Patti Standard’s newest novel in which a man with a knack for fixing things sets out to make a struggling single mom and her teenage daughter His Perfect Family. As always, I hope you enjoy this month’s offerings, and the wonderful ones still to come! Happy reading! Mary-Theresa Hussey Senior Editor, Silhouette Romance Please address questions and book requests to: Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Oat. L2A 5X3 Title Page His Perfect Family Patti Standard www.millsandboon.co.uk Dedication To Tom. Thanks for getting us where we’re at. About the Author PATTI STANDARD reads romances as well as writes them because she’s hooked on happy endings. She knows that in spite of seemingly insurmountable odds, the hero and heroine are just plain old meant to be together, and they will be on that final page. That’s the joy of the romance novel. Reality is a little less certain sometimes, but her husband and children are a constant reminder that bits of that same joy are found on every page in life. Letter to Reader Dear Reader, I was raised in a “traditional” family, with a stay-at-home mom and a professor father, one sister, one brother and the requisite dog and cat. Yet in my family, my father did the cooking and my mother farmed our fifty acres of alfalfa. My father taught me that a good stock is the secret to perfect soup; my mother knew that baling hay in the predawn dew ensured the heaviest bales. So much for traditional. As we approach the millennium, it’s harder to find a definition of family that fits everyone. But one thing we all agree on is that family matters. It matters to me, and it always matters to my characters. In His Perfect Family, both Adrianne’s and Cutter’s worlds revolve around their families. Flawed, tense and occasionally chaotic—definitely not perfect—their families ground them, define them and comfort them. May your family, however traditional or non, however chaotic or calm, be the perfect family for you. Best wishes, Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Epilogue Copyright

His gut twisted,

a combination of admiration for her and envy of the man who’d had such a woman and turned his back on her. What he could have done with a woman like Adrianne at his side, back when he’d still thought he could make a difference, when he’d still tried to. Could he have leapt those tall buildings, after all?

Cutter moved his hand from her shoulder to her face, cupping her cheek. He let his thumb stroke her lips, outlining their softness. She didn’t move. Bending his head, he replaced his thumb with his lips. A soft, gentle caress, meant to heal.

Except the feel of her slammed into him, sucking the air from his lungs, and suddenly he was the one in need of healing. Because this feeling hurt, it squeezed his chest and blurred his thoughts.

And her response brought him to his knees....

Dear Reader.

This April, Silhouette Romance showers you with six spectacular stories from six splendid authors! First, our exciting LOVING THE BOSS miniseries continues as rising star Robin Wells tells the tale of a demure accountant who turns daring to land her boss—and become mommy to The Executive’s Baby.

Prince Charming’s Return signals Myrna Mackenzie’s return to Silhouette Romance. In this modern-day fairy-tale romance, wealthy FABULOUS FATHER Gray Alexander discovers he has a son, but the proud mother of his child refuses marriage—unless love enters the equation.... Sandra Steffen’s BACHELOR GULCH miniseries is back with Wes Stryker’s Wrangled Wife! In this spirited story, a pretty stranger just passing through town can’t resist a sexy cowboy struggling to raise two orphaned tykes.

Cara Colter revisits the lineup with Truly Daddy an emotional, heartwarming novel about a man who learns what it takes to be a father—and a husband—through the transforming love of a younger woman. When A Cowboy Comes a Courting in Christine Scott’s contribution to HE’S MY HERO!, the virginal heroine who’d swom off sexy, stubborn. Stetson-wearing rodeo stars suddenly finds herself falling hopelessly in love. And FAMILY MATTERS showcases Patti Standard’s newest novel in which a man with a knack for fixing things sets out to make a struggling single mom and her teenage daughter His Perfect Family.

As always, I hope you enjoy this month’s offerings, and the wonderful ones still to come!

Happy reading!

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor, Silhouette Romance

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Oat. L2A 5X3

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To Tom.

Thanks for getting us where we’re at.

PATTI STANDARD reads romances as well as writes them because she’s hooked on happy endings. She knows that in spite of seemingly insurmountable odds, the hero and heroine are just plain old meant to be together, and they will be on that final page. That’s the joy of the romance novel. Reality is a little less certain sometimes, but her husband and children are a constant reminder that bits of that same joy are found on every page in life.

Dear Reader,

I was raised in a “traditional” family, with a stay-at-home mom and a professor father, one sister, one brother and the requisite dog and cat. Yet in my family, my father did the cooking and my mother farmed our fifty acres of alfalfa. My father taught me that a good stock is the secret to perfect soup; my mother knew that baling hay in the predawn dew ensured the heaviest bales.

So much for traditional.

As we approach the millennium, it’s harder to find a definition of family that fits everyone. But one thing we all agree on is that family matters. It matters to me, and it always matters to my characters. In His Perfect Family, both Adrianne’s and Cutter’s worlds revolve around their families. Flawed, tense and occasionally chaotic—definitely not perfect—their families ground them, define them and comfort them.

May your family, however traditional or non, however chaotic or calm, be the perfect family for you.

Best wishes,

Chapter One

Cutter Matchett stopped sanding and blew away the layer of fine oak dust. He ran a callused hand over the satiny wood, sensitive to the slightest imperfection, and wished that Mr. Jonathon Round would move out of his light.

“So, anyway,” the balding young man was saying, “barely an hour after our accountant friend has embezzled the twenty-five grand, he’s making his getaway, zipping down the highway...when guess what?”

Without looking up, Cutter reached out and took the insurance adjuster by his pseudosilk tie and pulled him aside. That was better.

“Cutter, are you even listening?”

He inspected the piece of sandpaper critically, folded it into a smaller square and began to rub the wood again. “Cut to the chase, John.”

“Jonathon.”

“Whatever.”

“The chase is, Mr. Harvey Rhodes takes a turn too fast—probably so excited by the thrill of recent larceny—hits a cement divider...” Jonathon brought his palms together with a loud clap. “Ends up with massive chest injuries. Dead as a doornail.” He wiped at the large thumbprint on his tie and tucked it into the waistband of his navy pants with their knife-edged crease. “But that’s not all.”

“No, I didn’t suppose so.”

“The police are on the scene in minutes, but where’s the money? Hmm? He’d just left the office with the bucks in his briefcase, makes no stops anybody knows of, but twenty-five thou never makes it to the morgue with him. Vamoose. Nowhere to be found, and nobody knows nothin’.”

Cutter raised his head.

“Hell, Cutter, it was two weeks before our client even realized his accountant had screwed him. By that time, the grieving widow has cremated the body, the car’s been scrapped and our insured is whining for us to ante up. Police started an investigation, but there were no witnesses, they swear there was nothing in the car but personal effects and wadded-up napkins, there’s no fat, juicy deposits in any accounts... The trail’s as cold as ice.”

“So a cop’s got sticky fingers. It’s happened before.”

Jonathon shook his head. “The first blue on the scene is squeaky-clean. My gut tells me our man stashed the cash somewhere just before he hit the wall. I’d bet my retirement that money wasn’t in the car when the police got there.”

Cutter refrained from commenting on just what he thought about the adjuster’s gut. “Did he have time to get it to the wife?” He felt a stirring of interest in spite of himself. “Is she sitting on it?”

Jonathon Round smiled. “That’s where you come in.”

That smile reminded Cutter of certain suck-up lieutenants he used to take great pleasure in transferring to Biloxi in August He didn’t like the adjuster for First Fidelity Insurance, he decided as he did every time they met. He didn’t even particularly like investigating the cases Jonathon brought him. But the money was good, and they kept his skills from getting rusty. There wasn’t much call for a retired naval intelligence officer in Little Rock, Arkansas. Picking a few locks for Johnny every now and then held a certain nostalgic appeal.