Mia Ross - His Two Little Blessings

About the Author MIA ROSS loves great stories. She enjoys reading about fascinating people, long-ago times and exotic places. But only for a little while, because her reality is pretty sweet. Married to her college sweetheart, she’s the proud mom of two amazing kids, whose schedules keep her hopping. Busy as she is, she can’t imagine trading her life for anyone else’s—and she has a pretty good imagination. You can visit her online at miaross.com .

Booklist Also By Mia Ross Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Introduction Dear Reader Bible Verse Dedication Acknowledgments Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Epilogue Extract About the Publisher Liberty Creek Mending the Widow’s Heart The Bachelor’s Baby His Two Little Blessings Oaks Crossing Her Small-Town Cowboy Rescued by the Farmer Hometown Holiday Reunion Falling for the Single Mom Barrett’s Mill Blue Ridge Reunion Sugar Plum Season Finding His Way Home Loving the Country Boy Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Title Page His Two Little Blessings Mia Ross www.millsandboon.co.uk

Copyright ISBN: 978-1-474-08437-6 HIS TWO LITTLE BLESSINGS © 2018 Andrea Chermak 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. ® 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

Introduction “I’d hate to be a third wheel.” “Technically, you’d be the fourth wheel,” Rick corrected Emma, adding a mischievous grin. “And if you want to come, we’d love to have you. The girls, I mean,” he amended quickly. “What about you?” “What about me?” “Are you honestly that clueless, or are you just messing with me?” He laughed out loud. “Okay, you got me. It’s nice to have another grown-up to talk to, and you’re great company.” “Really? But I’m so quiet.” “And funny and sweet. I have to say, I’ve never met anyone quite like you, Emma. You’re one of a kind.” “Does that work on the other women you’ve known?” Suddenly, the humor left his expression. “Only one.” “Sarah?” When he nodded, she steadied her voice. “I’m honored. May I ask you something?” “Sure.” “Do you think you’ll ever be able to think of her and smile?” He took a moment to consider that and nodded. “Someday. People tell me the pain eases, but I didn’t believe that. Until recently, anyway.”

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

“Miss Calhoun! Miss Calhoun!”

At the sound of a child’s voice calling out her name, Emma looked into the crowd milling around the annual Liberty Creek Arts and Crafts Show. It was a gorgeous New Hampshire day in early May, and there were dozens of kids in the tree-shaded square who might have shouted to her. Being the elementary school’s only art teacher, she knew most of the young ones in town, so it could have been any one of them.

Then she caught sight of a little girl running toward her stand near the white gazebo, hand waving enthusiastically in the air, a riot of blond curls bouncing behind her. When she stopped in front of Emma’s jewelry stand, her cheeks were pink from the exercise, her china-blue eyes shining in excitement as she exhaled a breathless “Hello.”

“Hello to you, too, Caitlin,” Emma replied, stepping out to give the bright kindergartener a hug. “I’m so glad you found me.”

“There’s a lot of people here,” she agreed, glancing around before looking back at Emma. “But my daddy’s tall, so he saw you from way over there.”

She pointed to the edge of the park, and Emma followed the motion to see Rick Marshall, the bank’s new assistant manager, moving toward them, carrying a smaller version of Caitlin in his arms. They’d met a few times at school functions, but she’d never spent more than a few minutes chatting with him. Wearing khaki shorts and a dark blue polo shirt, he had the look of someone who spent his days in suits and ties and was happy to be dressed down for the weekend.

The sun picked up some highlights in his brown hair, not to mention the color of his eyes that echoed his daughters’. His wife was a very fortunate woman, Emma mused as he joined them. “Good afternoon, Mr. Marshall. How are you today?”

“Just fine,” he replied with an easy smile. “And I know I’ve told you at least twice to call me Rick.”

Emma made it a policy to address her students’ parents—especially the good-looking fathers—in a formal way that couldn’t possibly be misinterpreted as flirting. Being twenty-six and single was hard enough without creating the kind of wrong impression that could earn her a reprimand from the district superintendent or a complaint from a jealous wife.

So she ignored the chiding and focused on the adorable cherub he held. “You must be Aubrey. Caitlin has told me a lot about you during art class, but it’s nice to finally meet you in person.”

The child gave her a bashful half smile before burying her head in her father’s chest.

“She’s a little shy,” Caitlin explained, patting her sister’s back in a comforting way that said she did it often. “Being four is scary.”

“It certainly is,” Emma confirmed, directing her comments to the older girl to avoid frightening the younger one. “Even grown-ups get scared about new things sometimes. That’s why it’s good to have a family watching out for you.”

They chatted about school and the new friends Caitlin had made since starting there during the winter term. After a couple of minutes Aubrey swiveled her face toward the conversation, clearly interested in what they were saying. Emma was careful not to look directly at the reserved child, but from Rick’s pleased expression, she guessed that Aubrey was slowly warming up to her. Being on the timid side herself, Emma hated it when people tried to force her to participate in a discussion when she wasn’t ready. She could definitely relate to Aubrey’s cautious approach to the world around her.