Christy Jeffries - The Maverick's Christmas To Remember

All She Wants for Christmas is a Cowboy!

Rust Creek Ramblings

A few weeks ago, local wedding planner Caroline Ruth took a tumble off a ladder, and when she came to, she believed Thunder Canyon cowboy Craig Clifton was her boyfriend. Trouble was, they’d never met before. What was an upstanding rancher to do? Now, until Caroline’s memory returns, Craig is acting as reluctant faux fiancé. But with Christmas around the corner, dear readers, we’re hoping for a real-life happy ending for this unexpected couple!

CHRISTY JEFFRIES graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a degree in criminology, and received her Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law. But drafting court documents and working in law enforcement was merely an apprenticeship for her current career in the dynamic field of mummyhood and romance writing. She lives in Southern California with her patient husband, two energetic sons and one sassy grandmother. Follow her online at christyjeffries.com.

Also by Christy Jeffries

A Proposal for the Officer

A Family Under the Stars

The Makeover Prescription

The Matchmaking Twins

From Dare to Due Date

Waking Up Wed

A Marine for His Mom

The Maverick’s Bridal Bargain

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

The Maverick’s Christmas to Remember

Christy Jeffries

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07831-3

THE MAVERICK’S CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER

© 2018 Harlequin Books S.A.

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

To Kate Gove Campbell,

one of my favorite people on earth and a member

of my Golden Girls. You are always the first to order

my books, the first to respond to my texts and

posts and the first to laugh at my dumb jokes. Even

from across the country, your support is always

constant. Not only do you give the best and tightest

hugs, you have taught me how to be a better friend

and you make the world a warmer and happier

place. You are the Rose to my Dorothy, and

I can’t wait to share a lanai with you…

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

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

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Caroline Ruth loved romance and happily-ever-after stories and all sorts of things that her academic-minded mother considered nonsense. That was how she knew with absolute conviction that this career as an assistant wedding planner in Rust Creek Falls, Montana, was tailor-made for her. And so did her boss, who was currently on her honeymoon and had left their newest client in Caroline’s more-than-capable hands.

Josselyn Weaver sat across the desk from her, poring over bridal gown catalogs as they both waited for the groom to arrive to the couple’s initial consultation. Picking a gown always seemed to hold the most excitement for the brides, but Caroline knew that booking a venue was the foundation of building a successful event. After all, the guest list and decorations and theme usually depended on the location.

Caroline’s stomach growled and she wished she had stopped for a breakfast croissant at Daisy’s Donuts on her way to work this morning. But she’d been so eager to get to the office and prepare for this meeting that she’d barely allowed herself time for a couple of bites of a disgusting protein bar she’d found smashed in the bottom of her giant tote bag.

“So when we met a couple of months ago, you were pretty adamant that you wouldn’t be getting married anytime soon,” she finally said when Josselyn looked up from a glossy magazine spread. Not that she wanted to rush the bride, but Caroline had too much energy for long periods of silence, no matter how comfortable they were. Besides, the more she could learn about the couple she was working with the better. “I’m glad to see you changed your mind.”

“I know. I remember you telling me that you’d be planning my wedding soon and I thought it was the craziest thing I’d ever heard.” Josselyn’s eyes were bright with humor, and Caroline smiled since she was well accustomed to people not really taking her instincts seriously. The bride continued, “I’d just moved to Rust Creek Falls to take the school librarian job and wasn’t even looking for a date, let alone a relationship. I know people say that love finds you when you’re not looking for it, but if someone had told me that I’d be engaged by Christmas, I never would have believed it.”

Caroline gulped as a shiver made its way down her back.

Engaged by Christmas.

The words brought back the memory of Winona Cobbs’s prediction that Caroline would be engaged before she turned twenty-four. That was a bit more than a month away, which meant that if the old psychic was correct, the right man would need to come along soon.

Shaking off the tingling vibration along her skin, Caroline glanced down at the wastebasket by her feet and wondered if she’d been a little too quick to throw out the half-eaten protein bar. She was suddenly feeling a bit light-headed and needed to keep this meeting moving along.

“So tell me about your fiancé,” she suggested. She was almost as new to the small town as Josselyn was, and despite the fact that she’d already assisted with a few weddings out at Sunshine Farm, Caroline hadn’t met the groom yet.

“Drew is an obstetrician at the Rust Creek Falls Clinic. His first wife died in a car accident several years ago, and since this is his second wedding, I want to make sure that I’m being respectful to her memory.”