The Rancher's Blessed Event

The Rancher's Blessed Event
Stella Bagwell

twins on the doorstepWITH BABY ON THE WAY…The very sight of Cooper Dunn still made Emily's pulse race, but the last thing she wanted was to let him back into her life…or her heart. What Emily needed was a man who would stay, a man who would love her more than the next rodeo…a man who'd love the baby she was carrying.Cooper made no promises–he'd help get the family ranch in working order and then he'd move on. But spending time with Emily awoke long-buried feelings–and made him yearn for a family.And then the baby came….STELLABagwellThe next generation of Murdocks continues the adventure of love!

“There’s no way in hell I’ll leave now.” (#u50cb0612-6dbf-5eb2-9096-18064db5e4b0)Letter to Reader (#ufd20707a-cb28-5afb-bd64-cef0bc49d029)Title Page (#uc6f02c94-67c5-5ff3-bb4c-a0be5142faaa)Acknowledgments (#uc1beced3-e3e5-5aae-8564-ac2060dbc1cc)STELLA BAGWELL (#u2d4776ee-91e0-5be2-aec5-c31e8202e998)Letter to Reader (#u70ec3832-e37d-55e6-bccd-875a0cc4894d)Chapter One (#u491b3132-9eb7-551e-a8b3-71f67bab0d78)Chapter Two (#u8c885b88-a7cc-5e2f-8624-6c7f5b00572e)Chapter Three (#ue8a8862b-7775-579a-a900-d4a2a55b7126)Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

“There’s no way in hell I’ll leave now.”

Emily stared at him with fury in her eyes. It was incredible that he was saying this to her now. Ten years too late! “Get this straight, Cooper Dunn, I am no concern of yours. You might own part of this ranch, but you don’t own me.”

Emily took a deep breath to get her anger under control. “My being pregnant has nothing to do with you,” she told him.

“But you need someone here to look after you.”

The gentle regard on his face both touched and infuriated her. If only he’d shown her as much ten years ago.

“You’re not a man who could stay in one place for more than a week, much less look after a pregnant woman.”

But, oh, how her heart wished he was that man!

Dear Reader,

Unforgettable Bride, by bestselling author Annette Broadrick, is May’s VIRGIN BRIDES selection, and the much-requested spin-off to her DAUGHTERS OF TEXAS series. Rough, gruff rodeo star Bobby Metcalf agreed to a quickie marriage—sans honeymoon!—with virginal Casey Carmichael. But four years later, he’s still a married man—one intent on being a husband to Casey in every sense....

Fabulous author Arlene James offers the month’s FABULOUS FATHERS title, Falling for a Father of Four. Orren Ellis was a single dad to a brood of four, so hiring sweet Mattie Kincaid seemed the perfect solution. Until he found himself falling for this woman he could never have.... Stella Bagwell introduces the next generation of her bestselling TWINS ON THE DOORSTEP series. In The Rancher’s Blessed Event, an ornery bronc rider must open his heart both to the woman who’d betrayed him...and her child yet to be born.

Who can resist a sexy, stubborn cowboy—particularly when he’s your husband? Well, Taylor Cassidy tries in Anne Ha’s Long, Tall Temporary Husband. But will she succeed? And Sharon De Vita’s irresistible trio, LULLABIES AND LOVE, continues with Baby with a Badge, where a bachelor cop finds a baby in his patrol car...and himself in desperate need of a woman’s touch! Finally, new author C.J. Hill makes her commanding debut with a title that sums it up best:

Baby Dreams and Wedding Schemes.

Romance has everything you need from new beginnings to tried-and-true favorites. Enjoy each and every novel this month, and every month!

Warm Regards!

Joan Marlow Golan

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

The Rancher’s Blessed Event

Stella Bagwell

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To Mary-Theresa Hussey and Melissa Senate.

Thanks for keeping the Murdock family alive!

STELLA BAGWELL

sold her first book to Silhouette in November 1985. Now, more than thirty novels later, she is still thrilled to see her books in print and can’t imagine having any other job than that of writing about two people falling in love.

She lives in a small town in southeastern Oklahoma with her husband of twenty-six years. She has one son and daughter-in-law.

Dear Reader,

Writing a trilogy is a lot like reading one. In the process you become so attached to the same characters, you grow very reluctant to finally tell them goodbye. Such was the case when I finished the last of my TWINS ON THE DOORSTEP trilogy. So you can imagine what a special thrill it was for me when my editor asked if I would like to continue writing about the Murdock family!

Telling you how Rose, Justine and Chloe found their twin siblings—and love in the bargain—was pure pleasure for me. And I would like to express a big thank-you to all you readers who read and responded so warmly to each book. You are the reason my job is so rewarding, and I can’t convey how much I appreciate each and every one of you.

Now with great delight, I would like to invite you back to Lincoln County, New Mexico, where you’ll find old familiar friends and meet new ones, too. Beginning with Emily Hamilton and her unexpected reunion with an old flame, you’ll find the Murdock children have all grown up and, ready or not, are about to find love of their own!

Love and God bless,

Chapter One

Emily Dunn bolted upright in the bed. Her heart was thundering in her chest and nothing about the dark room felt familiar.

Jerking her head to the right, she saw a row of curtained windows. Back to the left, her eyes fixed on a nightstand. There, beneath a table lamp, the red glowing numbers of a digital alarm clock glared twelve forty-five.

Slowly her senses began to right themselves and everything came rushing back to her. The accident. The funeral. The awful realization that her husband was never coming back.

Swinging her legs over the side of the mattress, she reached for a robe lying at the end of the bed. It was a cold October night, but whatever had awakened her so abruptly had left her sweating beneath her nightgown. She swiped a hand against her damp forehead, then stood on shaky legs to pull the burgundy velour robe over her bare arms and shoulders.

Knowing sleep was out of the question now, she headed to the kitchen to make herself a cup of cocoa and switch on the radio. Snow had been predicted in the mountains around Alto, Ruidoso, Lincoln and Hondo. An hour ago when she’d gone to bed, the sky over the ranch was low and gray, but no snow had yet fallen.

Halfway to the kitchen Emily stopped in her tracks. She was certain she’d heard a rattling noise outside. Perhaps something other than her troubled thoughts had interrupted her sleep? It could have been a piece of loose sheet iron whipping in the wind, but an inner feeling told her something or someone was out there.

Quickly tightening the sash of the robe around her waist, she hurried to the nearest window and pulled back the curtain. Throughout the ten years she’d lived on the Diamond D, she couldn’t remember them ever having a prowler or anything stolen. But now that Kenneth was dead someone might view the place as easy pickings. The ranch was located on a lonely stretch of land north of the valley where the mountains turned to desert. Certainly no one came here unless they meant to.

The noise came again and this time Emily decided it was definitely the rattle of a stock trailer. What in the world was going on? Her father, Harlan, would never drive over here in the middle of the night unless it was an absolute emergency. At ten, she’d spoken to him briefly on the telephone and he’d been on his way to bed. As for the rest of her family, they would never show up in the middle of the night without calling first.

An uneasy chill swept through her as her mind began to spin. Her uncle Roy was the sheriff of Lincoln County. She could call him. But he and Aunt Justine lived a good thirty minutes away. She didn’t want to disturb them unless it turned out to be a real emergency. Besides, if a thief was already out there, he could drive off with a whole trailer load of cows and horses by the time the law could get here.

Her jaw grimly set, she walked quietly but quickly back to the bedroom and took a .30.30 rifle down from a rack on the wall. A box of bullets was in the nightstand. Her heart tripping over itself, she loaded the rifle full, then jacked a shot into the barrel. She didn’t intend to shoot anyone. But she wouldn’t hesitate to scare the hell out of them.

Rifle in one hand, she pulled on a pair of cowboy boots, then dropped a cellular phone into the pocket of her robe. If she did find more trouble than she could handle outside, she would at least be able to call her uncle Roy for help.

Moments later, she slipped soundlessly from a door at the back of the house. Wind was blowing from the north and Emily realized the mist stinging her face was actually bits of snow too fine to see in the dark.

Shivering from cold and fear, Emily made her way to the corner of the house, then carefully peeped around the edge toward the barn. The yard lamp at the corner of the corrals would normally have illuminated the front of the barn, but the light had been broken for months. What little moonlight there might have been was blotted out by the clouds. The most she could discern was the back of a two-horse trailer.