Allie Pleiter - Snowbound With The Best Man

Do their matchmaking daughters have the right idea?

A Matrimony Valley novel

Snowed in with the best man at a wedding weekend, florist Kelly Nelson can’t help but notice that the handsome widower seems overwhelmed raising his young daughter. So Kelly is delighted when her own daughter befriends the girl. But when the little matchmakers target Kelly and Bruce with an adorable Valentine’s Day plot, will the reluctant single parents give love a second chance?

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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Snowbound with the Best Man

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The Texas Rancher’s Return

Coming Home to Texas

The Texan’s Second Chance

The Bull Rider’s Homecoming

The Texas Rancher’s New Family

Lone Star Cowboy League: Boys Ranch

The Rancher’s Texas Twins

Lone Star Cowboy League

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Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Snowbound with the Best Man

Allie Pleiter

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08593-9

SNOWBOUND WITH THE BEST MAN

© 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

“Well, what did yours look like?”

Kelly produced her valentine, handing it to Bruce matter-of-factly.

He pulled his version from his jacket pocket and handed it to her, scanning the frilly card she gave him. Even though they were essentially trading evidence of wrongdoing, it still felt peculiar to be standing with this woman exchanging valentines.

“I’m so sorry this happened.” It seemed like the right thing to say.

“It’s not your fault.” Her tone was as flustered as his. “It’s…well, it’s nothing you did. The girls just…dreamed it up, that’s all.”

Bruce rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the collection of glittery hearts in his hand. “Carly’s never done anything like this before. I don’t know where they got the idea, frankly.” That sounded stupid the minute he said it. He knew exactly where Carly had gotten the idea—that was the worst part of it.

Under different circumstances, Kelly Nelson could be someone he might consider dating. She was, in fact, the first woman who even remotely struck him as someone he might want in his life. If he was ready to date.

Which he absolutely wasn’t.

Dear Reader,

Comebacks are hard. Restoring hope is an uphill battle for so many of us, especially when life knocks us down. Ah, but God moves most mightily in the uphill battles, and He is a splendid restorer. Often, His restorations bring back to us even more than we had before. That certainly is true for Bruce and Kelly—and adorable Carly and Lulu—and my prayer is that it is true for you, as well.

If this is your first visit to Matrimony Valley, go back and discover His Surprise Son , where Mayor Jean has her own family restored beyond her wildest expectations. And look forward to the next book in the Matrimony Valley series, where baker Yvonne Niles finds her own recipe for happiness.

I love to hear from readers, so please connect with me on Facebook or Twitter, email me at allie@alliepleiter.com or use good old-fashioned post at P.O. Box 7026, Villa Park, IL 60181.

Blessings,

Allie

The heavens declare the glory of God;

and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

—Psalms 19:1

For Captain Kyle

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

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

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Kelly Nelson thrust a rose into the air and waved it around like a victory flag. “Yes!” She grinned at her daughter, cutting hearts out of leftover ivy leaves on the table beside her. “We got her!”

“Got who, Mom?” Lulu said.

“That lady from the wedding magazine. Samantha Douglas. The one Mommy’s been trying to convince since Christmas. She’s covering a Valentine’s Day event in Asheville, and I got her to agree to come up here afterward. I think she should do a piece on the wedding we’re having next weekend.”

Lulu grinned. “Yeah!” She sounded so excited that Kelly wondered if she had shared a bit too much of her frustration over getting the attention of the regional bridal magazine. Lulu should never think about how hard it was to keep a business afloat. Eight-year-olds shouldn’t give a thought to how old the van was getting or how last month’s storm sprung two new roof leaks. Children ought to spend their days happy and secure, right? Lulu could certainly share in celebrating their flower shop’s successes, but Kelly felt an obligation to ensure her daughter had no sense of struggle or worry.

“She’ll love us. She’ll love everything,” Lulu added, making Kelly smile.

“Yes, she will. And our valley has lots to love, doesn’t it?” In the past year, the entire community of the newly christened Matrimony Valley had put its efforts behind reinventing itself. What once had been a small, struggling mill town had bootstrapped itself, bride by bride, into becoming a quaint Smoky Mountain wedding destination.