Cara Colter - Weddings Do Come True

“Lacey, have you done this before?” “Lacey, have you done this before?” Ethan asked as understanding dawned on his face. He rolled off her, and sat up on the edge of the bed. Then he turned and gently did up the buttons on her blouse. She blushed red-hot. “I’m thirty years old,” she said. “I want you,” she whispered fiercely. “Not like this,” he said gruffly. “You don’t even know me.” Didn’t know him? How could he think that? How could she not know him when she had seen him tame a horse with his touch, and gentle her charges with his voice? How could she not know him when she had ridden through the snow with him, and felt the warmth of his hands? When she had stood in a bathroom still steamy from his shower? How could she have watched the steely gray of his eyes soften with tenderness and not know him? She knew him. And she wanted to know all of him. Letter to Reader Dear Reader, Compelling, emotionally charged stories featuring honorable heroes, strong heroines and the deeply rooted conflicts they must overcome to arrive at a happily-ever-after are what make a Silhouette Romance novel come alive. Look no further than this month’s offerings for stories to sweep you away.... In Johnny’s Pregnant Bride, the engaging continuation of Carolyn Zane’s THE BRUBAKER BRIDES, an about-to-be-married cattle rancher honorably claims another woman—and another man’s baby—as his own. This month’s VIRGIN BRIDES title by Martha Shields shows that when The Princess and the Cowboy agree to a marriage of convenience, neither suspects the other’s real identity...or how difficult not falling in love will be! In Truly, Madly, Deeply, Elizabeth August delivers a powerful transformation tale, in which a vulnerable woman finds her inner strength and outward beauty through the love of a tough-yet-tender single dad and his passel of kids. And Then He Kissed Me by Teresa Southwick shows the romantic aftermath of a surprising kiss between best friends who’d been determined to stay that way. A runaway bride at a crossroads finds that Weddings Do Come True when the right man comes along in this uplifting novel by Cara Colter. And rounding out the month is Karen Rose Smith with a charming story whose title says it all: Wishes, Waltzes and a Storybook Wedding. Enjoy this month’s titles—and keep coming back to Romance, a series guaranteed to touch every woman’s heart. Mary-Theresa Hussey Senior Editor Please address questions and book requests to: Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Avae., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo. NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3 Title Page Weddings Do Come True Cara Colter www.millsandboon.co.uk Dedication To my dear friend, Marilyn Breckenridge About the Author CARA COLTER shares ten acres in the wild Kootenay region of British Columbia with the man of her dreams, three children, two horses, a cat with no tail and a golden retriever who answers best to “bad dog.” She loves reading, writing and the woods in winter (no bears). She says life’s delights include an automatic garage door opener and the skylight over the bed that allows her to see the stars at night. She also says, “I have not lived a neat and tidy life, and used to envy those who did. Now I see my struggles as having given me a deep appreciation of life, and of love, that I hope I succeed in passing on through the stories that I tell.” Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Copyright

“Lacey, have you done this before?”

Ethan asked as understanding dawned on his face. He rolled off her, and sat up on the edge of the bed. Then he turned and gently did up the buttons on her blouse.

She blushed red-hot. “I’m thirty years old,” she said. “I want you,” she whispered fiercely.

“Not like this,” he said gruffly. “You don’t even know me.”

Didn’t know him? How could he think that? How could she not know him when she had seen him tame a horse with his touch, and gentle her charges with his voice? How could she not know him when she had ridden through the snow with him, and felt the warmth of his hands? When she had stood in a bathroom still steamy from his shower? How could she have watched the steely gray of his eyes soften with tenderness and not know him?

She knew him. And she wanted to know all of him.

Dear Reader,

Compelling, emotionally charged stories featuring honorable heroes, strong heroines and the deeply rooted conflicts they must overcome to arrive at a happily-ever-after are what make a Silhouette Romance novel come alive. Look no further than this month’s offerings for stories to sweep you away....

In Johnny’s Pregnant Bride, the engaging continuation of Carolyn Zane’s THE BRUBAKER BRIDES, an about-to-be-married cattle rancher honorably claims another woman—and another man’s baby—as his own. This month’s VIRGIN BRIDES title by Martha Shields shows that when The Princess and the Cowboy agree to a marriage of convenience, neither suspects the other’s real identity...or how difficult not falling in love will be! In Truly, Madly, Deeply, Elizabeth August delivers a powerful transformation tale, in which a vulnerable woman finds her inner strength and outward beauty through the love of a tough-yet-tender single dad and his passel of kids.

And Then He Kissed Me by Teresa Southwick shows the romantic aftermath of a surprising kiss between best friends who’d been determined to stay that way. A runaway bride at a crossroads finds that Weddings Do Come True when the right man comes along in this uplifting novel by Cara Colter. And rounding out the month is Karen Rose Smith with a charming story whose title says it all: Wishes, Waltzes and a Storybook Wedding.

Enjoy this month’s titles—and keep coming back to Romance, a series guaranteed to touch every woman’s heart.

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

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

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

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To my dear friend, Marilyn Breckenridge

CARA COLTER

shares ten acres in the wild Kootenay region of British Columbia with the man of her dreams, three children, two horses, a cat with no tail and a golden retriever who answers best to “bad dog.” She loves reading, writing and the woods in winter (no bears). She says life’s delights include an automatic garage door opener and the skylight over the bed that allows her to see the stars at night.

She also says, “I have not lived a neat and tidy life, and used to envy those who did. Now I see my struggles as having given me a deep appreciation of life, and of love, that I hope I succeed in passing on through the stories that I tell.”

Chapter One

Ethan Black gazed out the window above the kitchen sink. He was buried up to his elbows in suds. The last light was fading from the sky; leafless trees and snow-capped evergreens were stark black silhouettes against the sunset’s final streaks of orange and pink. A cow lowed, the sound deep and melodious.

Slivers of light still illuminated the tops of the rolling hills that stretched to the far horizon. He could no longer see the lonely ribbon of road that wound from miles away, down over Sheep Creek Ridge, through the shadowed valley and up here to his home on Black’s Bluff, but at night like this, he could see headlights coming from four miles off.

But there were no pinpoints of light heralding the arrival of the cavalry.

He frowned. His aging hired hand, Gumpy, should have been back from Calgary by now. With the reinforcements.

Reinforcement. Mrs. Betty-Anne Bishop.

Tearing his hopeful gaze from the place the headlights would first appear crowning the crest of the ridge, he looked down at the contents of the sink with disgust. He was doing dishes. Lots and lots of dishes. Once upon a time, doing dishes had meant turning on the hot water tap and giving a single plate a quick swish through it. Two plates, if Gumpy joined him.

Once upon a time. Only two weeks ago. How could two weeks seem so long?

Peals of shrill laughter erupted from down the hall, and he closed his eyes. That was how.

He leaned back from the sink, trying not to drip too many suds, and peered down the darkened hallway. A light was on in his bedroom at the end of the passageway.

The two children were jumping up and down on his bed, squealing with hyenalike glee.

They were twins, and though not identical, the resemblance between them was strong and striking. Both had short dark hair, though not nearly as dark as his and not as heavy. Doreen’s eyes were blue; Danny’s were the Black eyes, gray as slate. Both of them had cheekbones that only hinted at their grandmother‘s—his mother’s—Sarcee Indian blood. Tsuu-T’ina, Gumpy’s voice corrected him inside his head. Gumpy would be disgusted to know Ethan was relieved his niece and nephew would not be taunted through their school years as he had been. Called half-breed and worse. Driven, later on, to prove himself. To prove that he was just as good as anybody else. No, better. Stronger. Tougher. Wilder. More fearless.

He watched the children for a moment longer, thinking either of them was going to bounce one of their stocky little bodies right off the bed. He should tell them to settle down.

On the other hand, they weren’t fighting.

He turned back to the chore at hand. The morning and lunch dishes finally done, he shook his hands over the sink. Reminding himself the end was in sight, he went and cleared the supper dishes off the table.

“I hate this, Unca,” his five-year-old niece, Doreen, had told him a half hour ago.

“Eat it anyway.”

Her huge cornflower-blue eyes had filled with silent tears. They had the oddest way of filling, from the bottom, like a clear glass fish bowl filling up. Or maybe everybody’s eyes filled up that way before they bawled and he’d just never had a chance to see it up close before.

Thank God.

Needless to say, she had not eaten one bite of the prime T-bone on the plate. Or the baked potato, which admittedly had not been cooked all the way through. She had nibbled a single leaf of lettuce, which, from the level of energy she was now demonstrating on his bed, had sufficiently nourished her.

He dropped the dishes in the sink. He had to bend in an awkward way, right from the small of his back, to get at the dishes, and he was starting to ache from it. Of course, his aching back might also have a little something to do with a long-ago bull named Desire. His aches and scars—and there were many of them considering he had barely broken thirty—were mostly named after bulls he’d met over a seven-year stint as a pro-rodeo cowboy.

Not one moment of which had been as frightening as the moment Doreen and her twin brother, Danny, had stepped into the airport waiting area, holding hands, their names pinned to their coats, their eyes huge and frightened.

He heard a thud as one of them tumbled off the bed. He waited for the howl and felt his muscles actually unbunching when it didn’t come. A moment later the springs were again squeakily protesting each jump.