Leigh Riker - Twins Under The Tree

He never stayed put…

…until she gave him a reason to

Rebel cowboy Hadley Smith had never been one to stick around. Then he suddenly became a single father—to twins. Hadley doesn’t need Jenna Moran looking over his shoulder, but he grudgingly starts to fall for her compassion and strength. When faced with an impossible choice, can Hadley prove to Jenna he’s willing to put down roots?

LEIGH RIKER, like so many dedicated readers, grew up with her nose in a book, and weekly trips to the local library for a new stack of stories were a favorite thing to do. This award-winning USA TODAY bestselling author still can’t imagine a better way to spend her time than to curl up with a good romance novel—unless it is to write one! She is a member of the Authors Guild, Novelists, Inc. and Romance Writers of America. When not at the computer, she’s out on the patio tending flowers, watching hummingbirds, spending time with family and friends, or, perhaps, traveling (for research purposes, of course). She loves to hear from readers. You can find Leigh on her website, leighriker.com, on Facebook at leighrikerauthorand on Twitter, @lbrwriter.

Also By Leigh Riker

Kansas Cowboys

The Reluctant Rancher

Last Chance Cowboy

Cowboy on Call

Her Cowboy Sheriff

The Rancher’s Second Chance

A Heartwarming Thanksgiving

“Her Thanksgiving Soldier”

Lost and Found Family

Man of the Family

If I Loved You

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Twins Under the Tree

Leigh Riker

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09897-7

TWINS UNDER THE TREE

© 2019 Leigh Riker

Published in Great Britain 2019

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.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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“Maybe I should let it go at that. This, too.”

He leaned away, his eyes somber on hers. He tilted her chin up with one finger. “Because all I have to offer you is this.”

With tears trailing down her cheeks, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her. His lips felt firm yet soft, and she wanted to tell him he was wrong. He could care about someone other than his twins and his brother. He could care about her. She sensed it in his kiss.

But was he telling her goodbye? Was that the best thing for Jenna? She’d always known this time would come, that she shouldn’t trust him.

For another brief moment it didn’t seem to matter. She cared about him, and even with the words between them that should have made her leave now, as he would leave Clara’s ranch, she stayed in Hadley’s arms…

Dear Reader,

I’m so excited about this latest book in my Kansas Cowboys miniseries! This is Hadley Smith’s story (he was the foreman in The Rancher’s Second Chance ), and this bad boy seriously needed reforming. That’s now Jenna Moran’s job, which she’s not quite prepared to take on—along with Hadley’s twins.

Twins have always fascinated me. When I was a teenager, my best friend and I used to babysit her cousin’s twins. Although as toddlers they were a bit older than my fictional babies, they were equally adorable. Add their five-year-old sister, who was part of our babysitting assignment, too, and we really had our hands full. But the fun more than made up for the trouble!

It’s the same way for Hadley in this book—even when he never expected to become a father and doesn’t think he’d be very good at it. We all learn the hard way. At first, he doesn’t welcome Jenna’s involvement, and she’s definitely not eager to risk her own heart again. But I hope you enjoy watching these two struggle as they develop a love, and a family, that neither of them dared to dream of.

As always, happy reading!

Leigh

For my family

Because that’s what matters most

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Introduction

Dear Reader

Dedication

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

November Near Barren, Kansas

“WOULD YOU LIKE to hold your babies?”

The nurse’s soft voice reached Hadley as if it had come down a long tunnel, the words echoing inside him. He stared through the big window of the nursery in Farrier General Hospital, where the two little infants wrapped in pink and blue blankets, looking for all the world to him like a pair of burritos, wriggled in their plastic isolette. One tiny hand waved in the air as if to say hello. Another set of china-blue eyes gazed straight at him. They were less than an hour old—and they had no mother.