Mae Nunn - Fatherhood 101

Could he really be Professor Perfect?

A handsome professor in a flannel shirt and a Texas Rangers cap? Returning to university just became less intimidating—and more intriguing—than Sarah Eason expected. As a widow in her thirties and single mom of three, Sarah’s hardly a typical coed. Except Professor Cullen Temple is starting to make her feel like one. He’s brilliant, attentive, incredibly sweet…and he’s winning over her girls. Yet there’s something troubled in those gray eyes. Something that makes her wonder if he might be too good to be true.

Plus a bonus short story by USA TODAY bestselling author Ingrid Weaver

“Sounds like your date’s here.”

“Cut it out,” Cullen said, dismissing his brother’s insinuation. “The lady needed a friend and I happened to be in the right place at the right moment.”

“Yeah, well just watch your step or you’ll have a ready-made family on your hands.”

A ready-made family…

A knock on the door resounded in the entry hall. Rocket began to bark in earnest and giggly girls squealed in response on the front porch. The tranquility of his home was about to be shattered, for the day at least, and he had no one to blame but himself.

A ready-made family?

Perish the thought!

Dear Reader,

Welcome back to East Texas and life with the Temple Brothers, whose stories are unfolding Deep in the Heart. In Fatherhood 101 you’re going to fall for Cullen Temple, named for Texas oilman and philanthropist Roy Cullen. Cullen’s life seems to be an open book, but in truth it’s more like a confidential file. When an abandoned pup, a young widow and three little girls invade his quiet life, Cullen must decide which is his greater fear: risking the best thing that’s ever happened to him or risking his grip on reality. In true Lone Star State fashion, Cullen will sweep you off your high heel boots and along with him on his search for happiness.

Before the year is out, you’re also going to get to know Joiner Temple through the eyes of my new writing partner, Gwen Ford Faulkenberry. Gwen is a high school coach’s wife, English teacher and a busy mother of four who knows firsthand the joys and dramas of a big family. Gwen will take Joiner on a wild ride as the polo-playing Temple brother learns how to be a real cowboy.

Until we meet again, let your light shine!

Mae Nunn

Contents

Fatherhood 101

Dear Reader

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

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Epilogue

Finders Keepers

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

Fatherhood 101

Mae Nunn

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Fatherhood 101

Mae Nunn

MAE NUNN

grew up in Houston and graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in communications. When she fell for a transplanted Englishman living in Atlanta, she moved to Georgia and made an effort to behave like a Southern belle. But when she found that her husband was quite agreeable to life as a born-again Texan, Mae happily returned to her cowgirl roots and cowboy boots! In 2008 Mae retired from thirty years of corporate life to focus on her career as a full-time author.

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” —Abraham Lincoln

This book is dedicated to you, Mama. You were my spiritual guide, my champion, my conscience and my example of a Proverbs 31 woman. I miss you so very much.

Wilma Ruth Holliday

February 6, 1929—September 18, 2003

CHAPTER ONE

“CULLEN, IT’S TIME you stopped being the Texas version of Peter Pan and accepted some grown-up responsibility,” Dr. Blair Mastal insisted.

“I take umbrage with that statement,” Cullen Temple responded with an upward tilt of his chin that probably needed a shave, as usual.

Blair was a popular professor who’d been Cullen’s mentor and friend throughout his college career. And after several degrees in history, college truly had become Cullen’s career.

Blair was making a familiar point and it just happened to be shared by Cullen’s three brothers and everybody else who felt compelled to express an opinion on his obsession with higher education.

“Well, you can take umbrage all you want to as long as you take over my classes for the summer term.”

“I’m not a teacher,” Cullen protested. The very thought of being the one accountable for whether or not the students learned all the material in the syllabus caused gooseflesh to prickle the skin beneath his favorite flannel shirt. “I can’t replace you in the classroom, Blair.”

“That’s hogwash. You’ve stood in for me a hundred times over the past dozen or so years.”

“Standing in for a few days and stepping in for you forever are completely different. Besides, I don’t have a teaching degree―I’m not qualified.”

“The university wants a subject matter expert, not an educator. In that respect you are overqualified, but they’ll turn a blind eye if you’ll accept the contract, even on a trial basis.”

“My life is sublime just the way it is, thank you very much. Why would I complicate perfection?”

“How about the fact that you’re stuck in a rut about as low as a snake’s belly in a wagon wheel track? This building has been your home away from home for a dozen years. You’ve run out of degrees to earn. Consider shaking things up a bit.”

“I happen to enjoy being a student of history.”

“I’m not suggesting that you stop learning, but how about studying somebody alive for a change?”

“No way.” Cullen shook his head. “Folks who’ve been dead for hundreds of years are dependable, predictable. They’re not likely to up and leave you just when you start appreciating their company.”

“They’re also not going to keep you warm at night, or watch the Rangers game with you.”

Blair swatted the bill of Cullen’s baseball cap and it flopped down over his eyes. He ducked the fake punch his mentor always threatened to land on his jaw and adjusted his cap.

“Seriously, my friend,” Blair continued. “For a man of your advanced years you’re sorta one-dimensional.”

“Hey, I’m only thirty-four years old. I have my whole life ahead of me,” Cullen insisted.

“But when your daddy was thirty-four, his life was already half-over. If he were still alive I have a hunch he’d suggest that you give fewer hours to the people in our textbooks and more to the living, breathing folks right here on this campus.”