Sandra Steffen - Wes Stryker's Wrangled Wife

Jayne was perfect for him. Jayne was perfect for him. She could match his wit, and give snide comment for snide comment. She could kiss like a dream. Hell, she could even swear. There was only one little problem. She wasn’t ready for children. And Wes Stryker had just petitioned for custody of not one, but two. Thank goodness he hadn’t already fallen in love with her, he told himself. He just had to put her out of his mind. He’d put women out of his mind before. He could do it again. By the time he’d pulled his truck between the fence posts lining his driveway, he’d decided it was a good thing he’d discovered this now. A good thing, hell. If it was so good, why did he feel like starting a fight? And why could he still smell the heady scent of her perfume? 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 mummy to The Executive’s Baby. Prince Charming’s Return signals Myma Mackenzie’s return to Silhouette Romance. In this modem-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 sworn 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, Ont. L2A 5X3 Title Page Wes Stryker’s Wrangled Wife Sandra Steffen www.millsandboon.co.uk Dedication For Sally Bulgarelli: You give great advice. Better yet, you listen (sometimes) to my great advice. We laugh at the same jokes, cry at the same injustices and know what’s important. Were we sisters in another lifetime? Maybe. Friends in this one? Certainly. I’m so glad. SANDRA STEFFEN SANDRA STEFFEN Her fans tell Sandra how much they enjoy her fictional characters, especially her male fictional characters. That’s not so surprising, because although this awardwinning, bestselling author believes every character is a challenge, she has the most fun with the men she creates, whether they’re doctors or cowboys, toddlers or teenagers. Perhaps that’s because she’s surrounded by so many men—her husband, their four sons, her dad, brothers, in-laws. She feels blessed to be surrounded by just as many warm, intelligent and funny women. Growing up the fourth child of ten in a family of ambitious and opinionated people, she developed a keen appreciation for laughter and argument, for stubborn people with hearts of gold and intelligent people who aren’t afraid of other intelligent people. Sandra lives in Michigan with her husband, three of their sons and a blue-eyed mutt who thinks her name is No-Molly-No. Sandra’s book, Child of Her Dreams, won the 1994 National Readers’ Choice Award. Several of her titles have appeared on national bestseller lists. Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Copyright

Jayne was perfect for him.

She could match his wit, and give snide comment for snide comment. She could kiss like a dream. Hell, she could even swear. There was only one little problem. She wasn’t ready for children.

And Wes Stryker had just petitioned for custody of not one, but two.

Thank goodness he hadn’t already fallen in love with her, he told himself. He just had to put her out of his mind.

He’d put women out of his mind before. He could do it again.

By the time he’d pulled his truck between the fence posts lining his driveway, he’d decided it was a good thing he’d discovered this now. A good thing, hell. If it was so good, why did he feel like starting a fight? And why could he still smell the heady scent of her perfume?

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 mummy to The Executive’s Baby.

Prince Charming’s Return signals Myma Mackenzie’s return to Silhouette Romance. In this modem-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 sworn 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, Ont. L2A 5X3

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For Sally Bulgarelli:

You give great advice. Better yet, you listen (sometimes)

to my great advice. We laugh at the same jokes, cry at

the same injustices and know what’s important. Were we

sisters in another lifetime? Maybe. Friends in this one?

Certainly. I’m so glad.

SANDRA STEFFEN

Her fans tell Sandra how much they enjoy her fictional characters, especially her male fictional characters. That’s not so surprising, because although this awardwinning, bestselling author believes every character is a challenge, she has the most fun with the men she creates, whether they’re doctors or cowboys, toddlers or teenagers. Perhaps that’s because she’s surrounded by so many men—her husband, their four sons, her dad, brothers, in-laws. She feels blessed to be surrounded by just as many warm, intelligent and funny women.

Growing up the fourth child of ten in a family of ambitious and opinionated people, she developed a keen appreciation for laughter and argument, for stubborn people with hearts of gold and intelligent people who aren’t afraid of other intelligent people. Sandra lives in Michigan with her husband, three of their sons and a blue-eyed mutt who thinks her name is No-Molly-No. Sandra’s book, Child of Her Dreams, won the 1994 National Readers’ Choice Award. Several of her titles have appeared on national bestseller lists.

Chapter One

Wes Stryker spread the crinkled sheet of paper out on the small table in front of him. The words, written in fountainpen ink in an old woman’s shaky scrawl, swirled before his eyes. He blinked to bring them into focus, although he knew them by heart. Annabell wanted him to take the kids. Kate and Dusty’s kids. The thought of Kate and Dusty, and the accident that had taken their lives, sent a stabbing pain all the way through him.

The blinking lights on the Christmas tree in the corner reflected off his glass of beer. Very festive. Ho. Ho. Ho. Wes folded the letter and very carefully slid it into his pocket. Now and then one or two of the local ranchers who were huddled in the bar made an attempt at small talk, and every five minutes Forest Wilkie deposited more coins in the jukebox. Wes wondered how many times he’d heard Elvis Presley’s rendition of “Blue Christmas” tonight. Five? Six? It didn’t matter, because he was pretty sure that if he heard it one more time, he was going to have to hit somebody.

“Slow night,” Butch Brunner mumbled from a table nearby.

Wes acknowledged the statement, but he didn’t look up from the beer in front of him. It was a slow night, all right. Christmas Eve. The longest, slowest, dreariest night of the year.

“Snow’s really coming down out there.”

Wes cast a cursory glance out the window. “Yeah.”

“You doin’ anything tomorrow?”

“Nope. You?”

“Nope.”

Silence. Ah, blessed silence. Unfortunately, it only lasted until Forest deposited more coins.

“For cryin’ out loud,” one of the other area ranchers grumbled. “Can’t you play anything else?”

Ignoring the criticism, Forest settled himself back at his table. Wes continued staring into his beer, wondering what a down-on-his-luck ex-rodeo champion with a bum knee could offer his dead best friends’ kids. Children, especially orphaned children, needed a woman’s touch, didn’t they? He could think of at least one down-on-his-luck ex-rodeo champion who could have used the same thing.

All in all, he figured he’d done a halfway decent job reminding himself that life wasn’t so bad. So what if the woman he’d set his sights on had just married somebody else? He liked Louetta Graham. He’d even go so far as to say he liked her a lot, but he hadn’t been in love with her. Good ol’ Louetta. had known it and had proceeded to let him down in a manner that had left his pride intact. And so what if his rodeo days were over? He’d given bronco riding everything he had. The last couple of years, that had become harder and harder to do. Wes knew timing was everything—it was one of the reasons he’d taken so many trophies over the years. And it had been time to get out. Start over. Come home.

That was what he’d done.

It wasn’t as if he didn’t have anything to come home to. He had the ranch, such as it was. Aside from stiff joints and a limp that probably wouldn’t be getting a whole lot better, he had his health. He supposed he might as well be thankful that he had the town of Jasper Gulch to come back to, not to mention the Crazy Horse Saloon where he could nurse a beer along with a handful of other men who had no better place to be on Christmas Eve. Now, if Forest would stop playing that danged song, they all might make it through the long, gloomy night.