Christine Rimmer - A Bravo Homecoming

But he didn’t.

Somehow, he kept his head.

She turned when she reached the doorway to the sitting room. “See you tomorrow.” She quietly shut the door behind her.

He sank to the edge of the bed, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

Thinking he should call the whole thing off.

And knowing he would do no such thing.

Dear Reader,

Travis Bravo’s mom is determined to find him the perfect woman. And she doesn’t listen when he asks her, repeatedly, to stop matchmaking, please. He’s loved and lost and he’s not going there again. Now he just wants to go home for Thanksgiving without having every pretty debutante in San Antonio waiting to meet him.

He comes up with a plan. Yeah, okay, his strategy involves a great big lie. But still. It’s a harmless lie, one that hurts no one. All he needs is the right woman.

His good buddy Samantha “Sam” Jaworski is the perfect choice. He talks her into helping him out a little. Sam’s a soft touch. She’ll do anything for a friend, and Travis is about the best friend she’s got. Plus, Sam wants to make a few changes in her life.

They come to an agreement. She’ll go home with him for Thanksgiving and help him get his mom off his back. He’ll help her spiff up her image and find a new job.

It sounds like a great idea. Until they begin to discover more about themselves—and their true relationship—than either of them bargained for.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Yours always,

Christine Rimmer

www.millsandboon.co.uk

came to her profession the long way around. Before settling down to write about the magic of romance, she’d been everything from an actress to a salesclerk to a waitress. Now that she’s finally found work that suits her perfectly, she insists she never had a problem keeping a job—she was merely gaining “life experience” for her future as a novelist. Christine is grateful not only for the joy she finds in writing, but for what waits when the day’s work is through: a man she loves, who loves her right back, and the privilege of watching their children grow and change day to day. She lives with her family in Oregon. Visit Christine at www.christinerimmer.com.

For good men and true-hearted women everywhere.

May your holidays be filled with good cheer, family togetherness and much love!

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

“Honey, are you seeing anyone special?” Travis Bravo’s mother asked.

Travis stifled a groan. He should have put off calling her back.

But he’d already done that. Twice. In a row. Aleta Bravo was a patient and understanding mom, and she got that he wasn’t real big on keeping in touch. But she did have limits. After the third unreturned call, she would have started to worry. He loved his mom and he didn’t want her worrying.

Besides, when Aleta Bravo started to worry, she might get his dad involved. And if his dad got involved, steps would be taken. The two of them might end up boarding a helicopter and tracking him down in the middle of the Gulf.

No joke. It could happen. His parents had money and they had connections and when they tracked you down, you got found.

So now and then, he had no choice but to call his mom back, both to keep her from worrying and to keep from getting rescued whether he needed it or not.

She was still talking, all cheerful and loving—and way too determined. “I only ask because I have several terrific women I want you to meet this time. Do you, by any chance, happen to remember my dear friend Billie Toutsell?”

He did, vaguely. Not that it mattered if he knew the woman or not. He knew what she had.

Daughters.

At least one, probably two or three.

His mom continued, “Billie and I go way back. And I’ve met both of her girls. Brilliant, well brought up, beautiful women. Cybil and LouJo. It so happens both girls will be in town for Thanksgiving week…” In town meant in San Antonio, where his mom and dad and brothers and sisters still lived. “And I’ve been thinking it would be nice to invite both of them out to the ranch over the holiday weekend, maybe Friday or Saturday. What do you think?” Before he could tell her—again—that he didn’t want to be set up with any of her friends’ daughters, she went right on. “Maybe Billie and her girls would even like to come for Thanksgiving dinner and our reaffirmation of vows.”

After forty years of marriage, his parents were reaffirming their wedding vows, which was great. They’d had some troubles in the past few years, even separated for a while. He supposed it made sense that they would want to celebrate making it through a tough time, coming out on the other side still married and happy to be together.

But did his mother have to invite him and every available single woman in south Texas to the big event?

What made him so damn special? His mother had six other sons and two daughters and they’d all been allowed to find their own wives and husbands. In fact, as of now, he was the only one who had yet to settle down. That, somehow, seemed to have triggered a burning need in her to help him find the woman for him.

Hadn’t she done enough? She’d already introduced him to both of his former fiancées. Rachel, whom he’d loved with all his heart, had been killed eight years ago, run down by a drunk driver while crossing the street. He’d thought he would never get over losing her.

But then, three years later, he’d met Wanda at a family party, over the Christmas holidays. His mother and Wanda’s mother were friends. He shouldn’t have gotten involved with Wanda. But he had. And it had not ended well.

Evidently his mom thought the third time would be the charm. “Oh, Travis. I’m so glad you’ll be there.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” he muttered. “But, Mom, listen. I really don’t need any help finding a girlfriend.”

“Well, of course you don’t, but opportunity is everything. And you’re always off on some oil rig somewhere. How many women are you going to meet on an oil rig?”

“Mom, I—”

She didn’t even let him finish his sentence. “It’s been years. You have to move on. You know that.” She spoke gently.

“I have moved on.”

She sighed. And then she said briskly, “Well, it never hurts to meet new people. And, you know, I’ve recently been acting as a docent—twice a month at the Alamo. It just so happens that I met a lovely young woman there, also a docent, Ashley McFadden. I know you and Ashley would hit it off so well. She’s perfect. Great personality. So smart. So funny.”

Travis winced and sent a desperate glance around the lounge. He could a use a little help about now. He needed someone to rescue him from his own mom.

But rescue was not forthcoming. He was alone with a wide, dark flat-screen TV, a row of snack and drink machines, random sofas and chairs and a matched pair of ping-pong tables. Across the room, a couple of roughnecks were Wii bowling on the other TV. Neither of them even glanced his way.

Faintly all around him, he could hear pounding and mechanical noises and the mostly incomprehensible babbling from the PA system, sounds that were part of life on the Deepwater Venture, a semi-submersible oil platform fifty-seven miles off the coast of Texas.