Linda Ford - Montana Cowboy's Baby

Stand-in Daddy

Conner Marshall knows the baby on the doorstep isn’t his—despite what the note says—but little Ellie needs a protector...and urgent medical care. Turning to the doctor’s daughter and capable assistant, Kate Baker, for help, he keeps the truth to himself. Why should he care if Kate believes the worst of him? The wary rancher can’t afford feelings for a woman who’ll soon be moving east for medical school.

A promise to her dying grandmother decided Kate’s future. She’ll become a doctor and forgo a family of her own. Now, tending to Ellie at the Marshall ranch, she sees just what she’s sacrificing, especially when Ellie’s mother returns. But the littlest matchmakers can sometimes make the biggest dreams come true...

“Did you see that? Ellie smiled,” Kate said.

Conner chuckled. “I told you, she likes you.”

“We’re going to do this.” Kate looked deep into Conner’s eyes. “We are going to save this baby, so help me, God.” She meant it as a prayer and a vow, and when Conner nodded, she felt as if they had joined hands in mutual agreement.

There welled up within her a sense of something sweet and powerful. She tried to tell herself it was the same sensation she got whenever she helped her father, saw a baby or a child or an adult improving and knowing she had a hand in it. Only the feeling was unlike any she’d ever before experienced, and she could not dismiss it so easily nor fit it into a tidy slot in her brain.

When she was satisfied the baby had taken all the milk she would, she hurried to the kitchen...in need of an escape from the intensity prevailing in her thoughts while sitting so close to Conner, hearing his deep voice murmur to the baby. And knowing all the while that baby Ellie’s mother belonged where Kate now sat.

Dear Reader,

As many of you know, my husband and I have adopted ten children. My goal and dream and wish for them has always been that they find healing and wholeness in the love and support of a large family. Psalm 68:6 says God sets the lonely in families. I believe strongly in the power of family. May this story help each one to see how important family is. If you don’t have a family unit like I am talking about, I pray you will find it either through the acceptance of a welcoming family such as the Marshalls or in the warmth of an accepting church.

You can learn more about my upcoming books and how to contact me at www.lindaford.org. I love to hear from my readers.

Blessings,

Linda Ford

LINDA FORD lives on a ranch in Alberta, Canada, near enough to the Rocky Mountains that she can enjoy them on a daily basis. She and her husband raised fourteen children—four homemade, ten adopted. She currently shares her home and life with her husband, a grown son, a live-in paraplegic client and a continual (and welcome) stream of kids, kids-in-law, grandkids and assorted friends and relatives.

Montana Cowboy’s Baby

Linda Ford

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

—Psalms 46:1

To my editor, Tina, who guided me through the tangled threads of this story. Thank you.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

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

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Bella Creek, Montana, summer 1890

Twenty-two-year-old Kate Baker walked out of the big house on the Marshall Five Ranch. She’d completed her errand and was intent on returning to her home, four miles away, in Bella Creek. She’d taken two steps toward her buggy when a wagon rolled up to the house.

A stranger got down, retrieved a basket like the one Kate used for laundry and handed it to her.

“For Conner Marshall.”

Before she could think to ask who he was or what he’d delivered, he jumped back to the seat, flicked the reins and drove away.

She turned to look in the basket and met the dull brown eyes of an infant. Not a single rational thought came to her mind. What was she to do with this baby?

Think, she ordered herself. Who would bring a baby to Conner? He wasn’t even married.

Grandfather Marshall was inside—she had delivered some new liniment for him from her father, the local doctor—but he was in no shape to take care of a baby.

Grandfather, as everyone called him, had said everyone else was away. Wait, hadn’t he said Conner had stayed on the ranch to keep an eye on things...meaning the older man?

She glanced around. Did she detect movement in the corrals by the barn? It could be one of the hired hands or Conner.

“Conner,” she yelled. “Conner Marshall.”

The movement turned into a body that vaulted the fence and raced toward her.

She watched Conner approach. The middle Marshall son was twenty-four years old. He was a big man. Blond as all the Marshalls were with piercing blue eyes. His dusty cowboy hat tipped back from his pace, allowing her a view of his strong, angular face.

He reached her side. “Is something wrong? Is it Grandfather?” He clattered across the wooden veranda toward the door.

“Not Grandfather.” Her words stopped him and he slowly turned. She pointed toward the basket that she had lowered to the ground. “Someone brought this for you.”

“Me? What is it?”

“You best look and see.”

He did so. “A baby? Why would anyone send me a baby?”

Exactly her question. They stared at the solemn infant.

“Look, there’s a note.” She pointed to the piece of paper tucked by the bedding.

He seemed incapable of moving, so she picked it up. “It has your name on it.”

He plucked it from her fingers, unfolded it and read it aloud. “‘Conner, this is Elspeth. She’s yours. Take care of her. Thelma.’”

Kate lowered her gaze, unable to look at the man. He had a baby? And obviously no wife, unless she had left him. “You’re married?” She kept her voice low, revealing nothing of the shock this news provided.

“No, of course I’m not.”

He’d fathered a baby out of wedlock? She’d known him since she and her father had moved to Bella Creek in the spring and would never have considered him the sort to act this way. It left her stunned to the point she couldn’t think how to respond.

Drawn by the sound of their voices, Grandfather came to the doorway.

“You should be resting,” Kate said in her kindest voice, knowing how much his legs must hurt. He’d been injured a couple of years ago and his legs had never healed properly.

“Can’t rest with all this commotion. What’s going on?”

“A baby.” Conner sounded as shocked as he looked. He handed the note to his grandfather, who read it and grunted.