Linda Warren - One Night in Texas

“Make excuses for yourself, Hardy, but I know what happened that night was real.”

Hardy kept staring into the heat of her eyes, getting lost in the sweet essence that was Angie. He used to fight it, but tonight he had to admit she was right. What they'd shared had been real. Just as real as what he was feeling right now.

He stepped close to her and cupped her face with his hands. Her skin was as smooth as anything he'd ever touched. He was always afraid to touch her, almost as if it was forbidden. He never understood why until this moment. Because she was the only woman who could make him lose himself. And he prided himself on control. Losing it for a second had brought on the guilt.

“It was real for me, too,” he whispered against her lips.

One Night

in Texas

Linda Warren

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Two-time Rita ®Award-nominated and award-winning author LINDA WARRENloves her job, writing happily-ever-after books for Mills & Boon. Drawing upon her years of growing up on a farm/ranch in Texas, she writes about sexy heroes, feisty heroines and broken families with an emotional punch, all set against the backdrop of Texas. Her favorite pastime is sitting on her patio with her husband watching the wildlife, especially the injured ones that are coming in pairs these days: two Canada geese with broken wings, two does with broken legs and a bobcat ready to pounce on anything tasty. Learn more about Linda and her books at her website, www.lindawarren.net, or on Facebook, at www.facebook.com/AuthorLindaWarren.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Special thanks to Britany Smith for her help and advice. And, a big hug and thanks to Jaci and Addie Siegert for answering my many questions. Love you girls.

And, thank you, Tammy Medina, for sharing about your son's fractured femur. And, thanks to the ladies who answered my questions about kolaches.

DEDICATION

To: Christi Hendricks and Carousel Paperbacks.

Thanks for fifteen years of fun book signings.

Contents

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

Epilogue

Extract

Chapter One

To Angela Wiznowski the sweetest sound in the world was her daughter’s giggle: a bubbly gurgle erupting from her throat.

Angie leaned against the half-brick pillar on the porch of her bungalow-style house and watched Erin play in the front yard with her friends on a Slip ’N Slide. Today was her tenth birthday, and she’d had a fun-filled day. As the girls played with the water hose, shrieks and girlish laughter echoed through the late-May afternoon in Horseshoe, Texas.

Being a single mom hadn’t been easy, but Angie must have done something right. Her daughter was happy. It was what Angie had done wrong that kept her awake at night.

The whole Wiznowski family had been there today, along with Angie’s friends and neighbors. Everyone had come. Everyone except Erin’s father.

Angie had made that decision a long time ago, but the remnants of guilt lingered. Maybe because it had been the wrong decision. A child had a right to know her father.

It was clear now. Back then, though, everything wasn’t so black-and-white. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t tried to tell him, but he’d left town three days after they’d slept together for an extended vacation in Europe. Her attempts to contact him had failed. When he’d returned, he had an internship waiting for him in Houston. Angie had still tried to reach him, but when she found out he was engaged to someone else, she was devastated and unsure of what to do.

At eighteen, she’d felt alone and afraid. Keeping Erin’s parentage a secret had never been a deliberate choice. It had just turned out that way. She couldn’t tell him when he was set to marry another woman.

In college, Angie had met someone else, too, so fate had stepped in and the secret had stayed a secret. Part of her, the part that niggled at her late at night, knew Erin had missed a lot by not knowing her biological father.

Life went on, though. Her marriage had dissolved and she’d moved home to raise Erin alone. Although she wasn’t alone, surrounded by her very large family in Horseshoe. Sometimes it just felt that way.

To make matters worse, two years ago Erin’s father had returned to the small town and ran for the district attorney’s office and won. He was now the D.A. Angie saw him almost every day. They had polite conversations like “How are you?” or “How’s your family?” or “How are things at the bakery?” They were like strangers, as if that night had never happened. As if Erin had never happened.

Angie wrestled with her conscience daily, especially since his wife wasn’t with him. Horseshoe was a small town and gossip was like a balloon—the more air blown into it, the bigger it became, and soon it was floating all over town with nothing to hold it up but a lot of hot air puffed up with half-truths.

Still, everyone listened to the gossip. It was better than boredom. The story was his marriage had ended years ago and he’d come home because his father’s health was failing. She’d lost track of the number of times she’d marched to the courthouse to speak with him. He had a right to know, and she had to tell him even though her daughter might hate her.

But he was always in court or out of the office. She’d been waiting for the right time. When it came, he’d introduced her to his new girlfriend and she couldn’t bring herself to tell him. Maybe she was just a coward. Fear kept her tied to her secret because she was afraid of losing what she loved most: her child. Erin’s father was a lawyer and, even after all this time, he could try to take Erin from her.

Erin was starting to ask questions, too. One day Angie would have to tell her daughter about her father. Today was not the day. She dismissed the thought for now. The day of reckoning would come soon enough.

The afternoon was winding down and everyone had gone home except for two little girls and Jody, Erin’s best friend, who were waiting to be picked up. The girls continued to play on the Slip ’N Slide, getting totally soaked, chasing each other with the hose.

Erin ran for the house. “Mama, I’m getting my beach ball. We want to play with it.”

Angie started to stop her, but it was her birthday. They’d bought the ball at Walmart, getting ready for their summer vacation. They were driving to Disney World and stopping at every hotel/motel that had a pool until they reached the beach in Florida. Just Angie and her daughter. Erin would hit those teen years soon enough, and Angie wanted this special time with just the two of them.

Going to college and working, Angie depended on her family’s support and help. Erin had three surrogate mothers in Angie’s sisters. They adored their niece. At times, though, it was hard to have one-on-one time with her daughter. That was why Angie had moved out of her parent’s home eight years ago and bought a house so she and Erin could have their own life.