Delores Fossen - Undercover Daddy

“I suppose you’re here to arrest me for the illegal adoption?”

“That all depends.”

“On what?” Finally, there was a slip in her resolve. Her voice cracked.

“You.” Luke came to a stop in front of the house, turned off the engine and stared at her.

“This is my babysitter’s house. What are we doing here?”

He turned towards Elaina so he could see every nuance of her reaction. He ignored how beautiful, how vulnerable she looked. “Why do you think I’m here?”

“Oh, no. I can’t let you do this. You can’t arrest me. You don’t understand – he’s my son. I’m the only mother he’s ever known.”

“Believe me, I know that.”

“I won’t let you take him from me,” she insisted.

“You have no choice.”

“Then I need to talk to his father, make him understand how much Christopher means to me.”

“You’re already talking to him. Christopher is my son.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Imagine a family tree that includes Texas cowboys, Choctaw and Cherokee Indians, a Louisiana pirate and a Scottish rebel who battled side by side with William Wallace. With ancestors like that, it’s easy to understand why Texas author and former air force captain Delores Fossen feels as if she was genetically predisposed to writing romances. Along the way to fulfilling her DNA destiny, Delores married an air force top gun who just happens to be of Viking descent. With all those romantic bases covered she doesn’t have to look too far for inspiration.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Elaina McLemore– When someone tries to kill her, she moves with her adopted son to a small Texas town, changing her name and inventing a missing husband. Then Luke Buchanan shows up, claiming to be her long lost husband – and her baby’s father.

Special Agent Luke Buchanan– Robbed of the chance to raise his son when Elaina unknowingly participated in an illegal adoption, nothing will stop him from getting to know his child. But when an elusive criminal comes after them, Luke vows to protect his baby and the only mother his son has ever known.

Christopher– Luke’s one-year-old son. He’s too young to understand the danger. He only knows that he loves having his daddy around.

George Devereux– Once a successful businessman, now behind bars. Just how far would he go to get back at Luke for arresting him?

Carrie Saunders– Elaina’s shop assistant and friend. Carrie has been acting very odd, but she claims she has no idea who’s trying to kill Elaina and Luke.

Brenda McQueen– A newcomer to the sleepy Texas town where Elaina’s been hiding with Christopher.

Collena Drake– The troubled former cop who now devotes her life to finding illegally adopted babies.

Gary Simpson– Elaina’s potentially mentally unstable neighbour. Gary is also jealous of Luke.

DELORES FOSSEN

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To Daphne Betterton. You’re the best.

Chapter One

Crystal Creek, Texas

“Elaina, your husband is…alive.”

The eight-by-ten piece of amber glass that Elaina Allen had been examining slipped from her hand and crashed onto her desk. It didn’t break but smashed right into a paper plate containing a half eaten slice of cherry pie. The red sugary filling spattered in every direction.

“Excuse me?” Elaina asked her assistant, Carrie. “What did you say?”

“Your husband is alive,” Carrie repeated, nodding frantically. She bobbled up and down on her tiptoes and gave an excited squeal. “He’s in Crystal Creek and on the way to the shop. He should be here any minute.”

Elaina’s heart dropped to her knees.

“There must be some mistake. Daniel’s missing in action in the Middle East,” Elaina lied. “If he’d been found, the air force would have told me.”

Carrie grinned. “Well, they obviously didn’t. A snafu maybe, or Daniel probably just wanted to surprise you. Anyway, he stopped by the gas station, and when he got ready to pay, the attendant, Jay, saw your picture in Daniel’s wallet. That’s when Jay figured out who he was. Jay said after Daniel filled up, he headed in this direction.” Carrie’s crystal blue eyes widened. “Oh, God. I blew the surprise by telling you, didn’t I?”

Elaina couldn’t answer. She could only shake her head. No. This couldn’t be happening. It just couldn’t be.

“Are you all right?” Carrie asked. “You look like you’re about to be sick.”

There was a reason for that. Elaina knew that the comfortable, safe life she’d created was over . Her house and her stained-glass shop were as good as gone. She’d have to go on the run again.

“You’re happy about this, right?” Carrie asked. “I mean, this is what you wanted—for Daniel to come home to Christopher and you. You’re always saying how much you miss him.”

She stared at her shop assistant. They were more than employer and employee. The eternally optimistic Carrie had become her friend. Well, as much of a friend as Elaina could have considering she’d lied to Carrie from day one.

Elaina wasn’t immune to the guilt she felt about that, either. She’d never quite come to terms with the pretense.

But she had a more pressing problem.

Daniel Allen was on the way to her shop.

Because that took her to the brink of panic, Elaina almost came clean about everything to Carrie. She almost explained all the lies. And, sweet heaven, there was a mound of lies. But she stopped her near confession and tried to make some sense of all of this.

“Jay said this man had my picture in his wallet?” Elaina clarified, praying for an out.

There had to be an out.

Carrie nodded, and the concern deepened in her eyes. “But he didn’t just have your picture. When Jay asked, he told him that he was Daniel Allen.”

Then, he was lying. No doubt about it.

Because there was no Daniel Allen.

He was the biggest lie of all.

Daniel Allen was an idea that Elaina had concocted to explain why she’d moved to the sleepy Texas town of Crystal Creek. An MIA husband. A grieving heart. The desire to start a new life while keeping hope that her husband might be alive and that he might return someday.

Elaine had purposely kept the personal details sketchy, because details could be examined too closely. So, she’d had no picture of her fake husband in case someone compared his looks to her son’s. Instead, she’d told everyone that all her photos had been destroyed in a house fire.

The façade had kept some nosey questions from being asked, had given her space and privacy and it had allowed her and her baby, Christopher, to be accepted in a town where newcomers were often treated as outsiders.

That acceptance wouldn’t continue once the townsfolk had learned that she was a liar. And this man, this imposter claiming to be Daniel Allen, would expose her.