The Rancher's Expectant Christmas Read online

  An Unexpected Homecoming

  Deanna Blake is stunned at the loss of her estranged father—and inheriting half his ranch. In a strange twist, the other half goes to Josh Talbot...her former crush and one of the many sources of trouble between Dee and her dad. Not to worry. The single mom-to-be hates this place, steeped in reminders of the past she’s still trying to leave behind. She’ll sell her share now and ensure a comfortable future for her unborn child.

  Except Josh can’t afford to buy her out. Reluctantly, the handsome cowboy agrees to sell the entire operation and split the proceeds. Josh—and his young son—will have to start over. But as Dee warms to their friendship, something sparks. And Josh begins to wonder if maybe they should keep it all in the family.

  The smile grew, even if it didn’t quite catch in his eyes.

  “Your father was crazy, I hope you know.”

  This was said so gently, and with so much love, Deanna’s eyes burned. But before she could recover, Josh said, “I know why he sent you away, Dee. Or at least, I can guess. And no, he never talked about you all that much afterward. But when he did...” Looking away, he shook his head. “It was obvious how much he loved you.” His gaze met hers again. “How much he loved you. Missed you—”

  “You mind if we don’t talk about this right now? About Dad?”

  His cheeks pinking slightly, Josh straightened, turning to look out over the pasture. “Sorry. I’m not real good at this.”

  “At what?”

  “Social graces. Knowing when to keep my trap shut. I hear this stuff in my head—” he waved in the general direction of his hat “—and it just falls out of my mouth.”

  “I remember,” Deanna said quietly, then smiled, not looking at him. “I think that’s why we were friends.”

  “Because I have no filter whatsoever?”

  “Yes, actually.” She let their eyes meet, and her heart thudded against her sternum even harder than the baby kicking her belly button from the inside.

  * * *

  Wed in the West:

  New Mexico’s the perfect place

  to finally find true love!

  The Rancher’s Expectant Christmas

  Karen Templeton

  www.millsandboon.co.uk

  KAREN TEMPLETON is an inductee into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. A three-time RITA® Award–winning author, she has written more than thirty novels for Mills & Boon. She lives in New Mexico with two hideously spoiled cats. She has raised five sons and lived to tell the tale, and she could not live without dark chocolate, mascara and Netflix.

  Once again, I have to give a shout-out to

  Kari Lynn Dell

  For her patience,

  Friendship,

  And willingness to answer probably some of the

  dumbest horse-related questions she’s ever heard.

  I hope your eyes don’t hurt TOO much

  from rolling so hard.

  To Carly Silver

  Editorial Assistant Extraordinaire

  It’s with very mixed feelings that I congratulate you

  On your promotion.

  Because you, my dear, have been a true godsend

  To this beleaguered author.

  So. Much. Love.

  Contents

  Cover

  Back Cover Text

  Introduction

  Title Page

  About the Author

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Epilogue

  Extract

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  The baby walloped her full bladder, jerking Deanna Blake out of a mercifully sound sleep and scattering wisps of agitated dreams into the predawn gloom. Her heart hammering, she scooched farther underneath the soft Pendleton blanket, cradling her belly...

  “A-choo!”

  Gasping, Deanna heaved herself around just as the small child fled the room, awkwardly yanking shut the bedroom door behind him.

  For what felt like the first time in weeks, she smiled, then clumsily shoved herself upright. Spearing a hand through her short, undoubtedly startled-looking hair, she frowned at her old room, coming more into focus as the weak November sun gradually elbowed aside the remnants of a dark country night. She’d been so wiped out from her cross-country flight, as well as the three-hour drive up from Albuquerque after, she hadn’t even turned on the light before crawling into bed. Now, taking in the old Gilmore Girls poster, its curled edges grasping at the troweled plaster walls, she wasn’t sure which was weirder—how long it’d been since she’d last slept here, or that the room was exactly as she’d left it more than ten years ago. Then again, why would Dad have changed it—?

  Deanna squeezed shut her eyes as a double whammy of grief and guilt slammed into her, even stronger than the next kick that finally forced her out of bed and into the adjoining bathroom where she studiously avoided glancing at the mirror over the chipped marble sink. Between the pregnancy puffies and an unending series of sleepless nights, in the past few weeks her complexion had gone from fair to vampiresque. Meaning it was simply best not to look.

  Teeth brushed and comb dragged through hair, she wrestled into a pair of very stretchy leggings and a tent-sized sweater before, on a deep breath, opening her door. A child’s laughter, the comforting scent of coffee she couldn’t drink, tumbled inside.

  As if everything were perfectly normal.

  Through a fog of sadness and apprehension, Deanna crept down the Saltillo-tiled hallway toward the kitchen, hoping against hope that Gus, her father’s old housekeeper, was just looking after the little boy while his daddy tended to some ranch duty or other. Just as Gus had watched Deanna from time to time, as well as Sam Talbot’s boys whenever the need arose. In some ways it’d been like having four older brothers, both a blessing and a curse for an only child living out in the New Mexico boonies.

  She hesitated, gazing through a French door leading into the courtyard centering the traditional hacienda-style house. A light snow sugared the uneven flagstone, sparkling in the early morning sun. Save for the spurts of laughter, the house was as eerily quiet as she remembered. Especially after the constant thrum of traffic, of life, in DC. A pang of something she couldn’t quite identify shuddered through her. Not homesickness, she didn’t think. She palmed her belly, where the baby stirred.

  Uncertainty? Maybe.

  No, definitely.

  The cavernous kitchen was empty, save for a huge gray cat sitting on a windowsill, calmly ascertaining Deanna’s worthiness to share its breathing space. The room hadn’t been vacant long, though, judging from the softly crackling fire in the potbellied stove at the far end of the enormous eat-in area, anchored by a rustic wood table that easily sat twelve. Even though the Vista Encantada’s century-old main house had long since been converted to natural gas, Gus had always lit the old stove, every morning from early October through mid-May. The dark cabinets and hand-painted Mexican tiles were the same, as well, even though the vintage six-burner range’s lapis finish seemed a little more pitted than she remembered. And for a moment she was a kid again, scarfing down one of Gus’s breakfast burritos before catching the school bus in the dark—

  “Dee?”

  She turned, immediately trapped in a pair of moss-colored eyes that had
at one time been very dear to her. Dear enough to prompt her father to send her clear across the country when she was fifteen, to live with her mother’s sister. And oh, how she’d initially chafed at Dad’s assumption that something was going on between her and Josh Talbot that wasn’t. And wouldn’t. Because Josh had never been like that, even if Deanna hadn’t fully understood at the time what “that” might have been.

  Somehow, she doubted he’d appreciate the irony of her current situation.

  “Hey,” she said, crossing her arms as Josh dumped an armful of firewood into the bucket beside the stove, his mini-me peeking at her from behind his legs. It’d been over a decade since she’d caught more than a glimpse of him on her occasional visits home. And the tall, solid cowboy whose sharp gaze now latched on to her belly, then her hair, was nothing like the skinny, spindly teenager she used to sneak off to see, prompting her father’s conclusion-jumping. Although the shy, lonely girl she’d been, still reeling after her mother’s death, had only been seeking solace. A refuge. Neither of which, looking back, Josh had been under any obligation to give her—

  “I didn’t expect...” Deanna shoved out a breath. “Where’s Gus?”

  “Went into town with my mother for groceries. For...tomorrow.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, but with a decided, And where the hell have you been? edge to it.

  So much for thinking her heart couldn’t be more shredded than it already was. Irony, again, to find herself facing exactly what she’d avoided by not coming home, that look of disappointment. Confusion. Not from her father, no, but still.

  “Same goes,” she said into the awkward silence. Because she could hardly explain things with a child in the room, could she?

  His mouth set, Josh nodded, and pain knifed through her. Josh’d been the only one of the former manager’s sons to show any real interest in ranching. Or, later, the horse-breeding operation. Even so, when medical issues forced Sam’s early retirement a few years back, her father’s asking Josh to take his dad’s place had surprised her. At least until she realized how close Josh and her father had become, despite that business when she and Josh had been teenagers. That Dad clearly thought of her childhood friend like a favorite nephew. If not the son he never had.

  A feeling she’d gleaned had been mutual.

  Blinking away tears, Deanna cleared her throat and smiled for the little boy, who kept peering at her from behind his daddy. Her father had told her about the child, that his mama wasn’t in the picture. Her hand went to her belly again, as if to reassure the little one inside.

  “Hey, guy,” she said softly. “I’m Deanna. Mr. Blake’s daughter. Although you can call me Dee if you want. What’s your name?”

  The child ducked back behind Josh and muttered something unintelligible. Sighing, Josh twisted to haul the boy into his arms. “How about trying that again? Only so she can actually hear you this time.”

  “Austin,” the kid got out, giving her a sweet, heart-squeezing smile. Dark hair, like his daddy. Same eyes, too.

  “Pleased to meet you, Austin—”

  “How come your tummy’s so big?” he said, pointing to her belly, and Josh’s face blazed.

  “Oh, jeez...”

  Deanna laughed, even as she thought, At least one person in the room is being honest. “It’s okay, I’m used to it.” Returning her gaze to Austin, she bent over as much as she could and whispered, “There’s a baby growing inside me.”

  The kid frowned. “Like the horses?”

  “Exactly. Except this baby doesn’t have hooves.”

  “Oh. Is it a boy or a girl?”

  “A girl.”

  Austin frowned at her belly again. “What’s her name?”

  “Haven’t decided yet.”

  The kid gave her a maybe-you-should-get-on-that look that made Deanna’s chest tickle as she bit down on a smile. Then, heaving a breathy “Okay,” he wriggled out of his father’s arms and took off to mess with the cat, who’d thudded to the tiled floor then flopped in the morning’s first sunbeam, belly bared to the world. Or in this case, little boys. Brave cat.

  “Sorry about the interrogation,” Josh said, and Deanna turned to see his mouth pushed into something reasonably close to a smile.

  “Hey. At least he didn’t ask how the baby got in there.”

  “Give him a minute,” Josh muttered, and for a second she saw the boy who’d kept her from losing it, all those years ago.

  The boy she might have loved, if she’d been inclined to such foolishness.

  “Austin’s adorable. He looks like you.”

  “So everyone says.” He frowned. “Your...the baby’s father let you come alone?”

  “We’re...not together.”

  There was no denying the judgment in his stony expression. And not only about her pregnancy, she guessed. The baby kicked; stifling a wince, Deanna glanced over at Austin before meeting that penetrating gaze again. “I had no idea Dad was even sick. I swear. Because he’d made Gus swear not to tell me. Because if I’d known, nothing would’ve kept me from being here. And the worst thing is...” Her eyes stung. Tough. “I can’t even tell Dad how angry I am. How...hurt.”

  The staring continued for several seconds before Josh said, “I know he didn’t tell you. But if you’d bothered to pay a visit in the last six months—”

  “And why would I do that when Dad made it more than clear he didn’t particularly want me to?”

  And why was she was even trying to explain something she didn’t entirely understand herself?

  A long, tense moment passed before Josh said, “For what it’s worth, it happened pretty fast.”

  “So Gus said.” Deanna glanced over at Austin, now lying beside the cat and apparently telling it a story, before facing Josh again. “Although I gather the only reason he did was because he figured I’d see the death certificate, discover the truth whether Dad wanted me to or not.”

  Another breath left Josh’s lungs. “I suppose he didn’t want you to worry—”

  “What he did,” Deanna said, not even trying to hide the bitterness in her voice, “was unfair and selfish. Kind of a major thing to keep from me.”

  Josh’s eyes once more dropped to her swollen middle, and Deanna’s face warmed. Especially when he looked back up.

  “Just like I’m guessing Granville had no idea about his granddaughter.”

  “I didn’t intend to keep her a secret forever, for cripe’s sake! But I did know...” Her lips pressed tightly together. “That the circumstances surrounding my condition wouldn’t exactly make Dad happy. At least not...not before he had a chance to meet her. I had a plan,” she said over the stab to her heart. “Unfortunately it didn’t jibe with the Universe’s.”

  That got a hard stare before Josh walked away to open the fridge.

  “What would you like for breakfast?”

  Deanna frowned, confused. “You don’t have to—”

  “When was the last time you ate?”

  “Um...lunch yesterday? But cereal’s fine, don’t go to any trouble—”

  “Not planning on it. But Gus left pancake batter, and even I can scramble eggs. The squirt already ate, an hour ago.”

  “Eggs, then. If you’re sure—”

  He shot her another look that shut her up...a look that said they only had to get through the next few days. Then everyone could get back to their regular lives.

  Or whatever.

  Another wave of grief shunted through her, as she thought about the ramifications of her father’s passing, not only for her but for the entire community. Weird, how she’d never thought much about what would happen to the ranch after his death, mainly because that’d always seemed so far in the future. Even though he’d been significantly older than her mother,
somehow Deanna had always thought of Dad as immortal, like some Greek god. Especially since he’d never discussed the disposition of the property with her—

  A sudden burst of voices from the mudroom shattered her thoughts. “Gramma!” Austin yelled as he abandoned the probably very relieved cat and sprinted across the room, where the woman who’d so often filled the gap in Deanna’s life, and heart, after her mother died dumped several recyclable grocery totes on the counter, then swept her grandson into her arms. Gus, the belly cantilevered over his giant belt buckle nearly as big as Deanna’s, followed a moment later, hauling several more bags which landed unceremoniously on the floor. Her long ponytail a mass of delicate, staticky silver wires against her back, Billie Talbot turned, her expression softening when she spotted Deanna.

  “Oh, sweetheart...” she crooned, and fresh tears sprang to Deanna’s eyes. A moment later she was wrapped in the older woman’s arms. “I’m so sorry...so, so sorry...”

  Unable to speak, Deanna nodded against Billie’s shoulder, the coarse fabric of the older woman’s poncho scratching her cheek. “Such a good man, your daddy,” Billie whispered into her hair. “Whole town’s gonna miss him like crazy...and oh, my goodness!” Holding Deanna apart, Billie grinned. “Seven months?”

  “More or less.”

  “And they let you fly?”

  Scrubbing a tear off her cheek, Deanna smiled, remembering that Josh’s mother was a midwife. “Believe me, the flight attendants all breathed a huge sigh of relief when we landed,” she said, and Billie chuckled.

  “I’ll bet they did.” Then she sighed. “It’s so good to see you, honey. I just wish it weren’t under these circumstances.”

  “Me, too.”

  Another gentle smile curving her lips, Josh’s mom tucked her hands underneath the poncho, seeming to see the rest of her for the first time. “Your hair...adorable. The darker color suits you.”

  Deanna flushed. “Thanks.”

  “And on you, the nose stud totally works.” A low laugh rumbled from her chest. “Although I can only imagine your daddy’s reaction. But listen, you need anything while you’re here, anything at all, you let me know. I mean it.”