Allie Pleiter - His Surprise Son

Mayor with a past

Faced with her son’s father!

Mayor Jean Matrim’s plan to turn Matrimony Valley into a wedding destination is going swimmingly for the town—and disastrously for Jean. Their first bride’s stepbrother is Jean’s ex-fiancé...and the father of her son. Hiding Jonah’s existence from Josh Tyler wasn’t something Jean chose lightly. More stands between them now than ever before. Will the little boy be enough to bring them together at last?

ALLIE PLEITER, an award-winning author and RITA® Award finalist, writes both fiction and nonfiction. Her passion for knitting shows up in many of her books and all over her life. Entirely too fond of French macarons and lemon meringue pie, Allie spends her days writing books and avoiding housework. Allie grew up in Connecticut, holds a BS in speech from Northwestern University and lives near Chicago, Illinois.

Also By Allie Pleiter

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The Texas Rancher’s New Family

Lone Star Cowboy League: Boys Ranch

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Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

His Surprise Son

Allie Pleiter

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08430-7

HIS SURPRISE SON

© 2018 Alyse Stanko Pleiter

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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“Did you ever really love me?”

“Yes,” Jean answered.

“And still you think I’d reject you and our child,” Josh said.

“Not reject. You’re brilliant, and captivated by your work, not me. I don’t even think you noticed how unhappy I was. You can’t be that way with Jonah.”

“It doesn’t change that I had a right to know. You had no right to keep this from me.”

“I accept that, but, Josh, am I really that far off? Do you know how many days you took off during the time I was with you? Three. You proposed to me on the front steps of your office building.”

“We were sharing our success together.”

“No. You were enjoying your success. I was just grafted in. Has it changed?”

“What do you mean?”

“Tell me, when’s the last time you took a vacation? I chose to give Jonah the gift of not being ignored or sidelined by a long-distance man too busy to be a father. That’s not a life for a child.”

Dear Reader,

I love restoration stories. It warms my heart to read of wrongs put right, gaps closed, hurts healed and broken hearts mended. There’s not enough of that in our world, is there? That’s where the power of story wields its greatest strength—reminding us of what could be.

I love reinvention stories, too. Second chances, new purposes and discovered gifts all make a powerful difference to my heart. Josh, Jean, Jonah and the whole town of Matrimony Valley inspire me to remember how nothing is ever truly lost from God’s view. Our Lord knows no lost causes—what better message could we hear?

I hope you’ll come back to Matrimony Valley to watch Kelly Nelson, the straight-talking town florist and Lulu’s devoted mother, get her own happy ending in the next Matrimony Valley series book coming soon.

Until then, remember that I’d love to hear from you at allie@alliepleiter.com, on social media (Instagram, Facebook and Twitter) and good old-fashioned mail at PO Box 7026, Villa Park, IL 60181.

Blessings,

Allie Pleiter

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

—Ephesians 4:32

To courageous moms

of special needs children everywhere.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to American Sign Language interpreter Kristine Orkin, NIC, DSPS, and to the friendly staff of Headwaters Outfitters Fly Fishing Adventures in Rosman, North Carolina. All of you were more than generous with your expertise. I hope I’ve done you proud and gotten the details of this story right.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

H ere comes the bride.

For Jean Matrim, the arrival of Matrimony Valley’s first bride was a victory. She was looking at living, ready-to-walk-down-the-aisle proof that her long struggle to overhaul this town into a wedding destination was finally paying off.

Violet Thomas was going to be wowed if Jean had to call in every favor and spend every last ounce of energy to do it.