Leanna Wilson - The Double Heart Ranch

Elise stared at Cole for a long moment. It wasn’t the proposal she’d always imagined. No bended knee. No promised words of love.

She reminded herself that this was more of a business arrangement, and yet something inside her constricted.

Oh, come on, Elise! Here’s a strong, good-looking man who has a home and a family, asking to marry you. And he’s willing to offer it all to you! Just not love.

Cole grasped her hands in his much larger ones. Electricity skittered through her, making her feel as if every nerve was exposed. His eyes darkened, turned to a misty blue-gray “Are you having doubts now?”

“No, no second thoughts,” she said. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Cole.”

His features softened for a moment, and the baby inside her moved.

Elise felt as if she were hanging by her fingertips off a cliff. Was Cole the one pushing her over the edge? Or was he pulling her up to safety?

Dear Reader,

Not only is February the month for lovers, it is the second month for readers to enjoy exciting celebratory titles across all Silhouette series. Throughout 2000, Silhouette Books will be commemorating twenty years of publishing the best in contemporary category romance fiction. This month’s Silhouette Romance lineup continues our winning tradition.

Carla Cassidy offers an emotional VIRGIN BRIDES title, in which a baby on the doorstep sparks a second chance for a couple who’d once been Waiting for the Wedding—their own!—and might be again…. Susan Meier’s charming miniseries BREWSTER BABY BOOM continues with Bringing Up Babies, as black sheep brother Chas Brewster finds himself falling for the young nanny hired to tend his triplet half siblings.

A beautiful horse trainer’s quest for her roots leads her to two men in Moyra Tarling’s The Family Diamond. Simon Says…Marry Me! is the premiere of Myrna Mackenzie’s THE WEDDING AUCTION. Don’t miss a single story in this engaging three-book miniseries. A pregnant bride-for-hire dreams of making The Double Heart Ranch a real home, but first she must convince her husband in this heart-tugger by Leanna Wilson. And If the Ring Fits… some lucky woman gets to marry a prince! In this sparkling debut Romance from Melissa McClone, an accident-prone American heiress finds herself a royal bride-to-be!

In coming months, look for Diana Palmer, a Joan Hohl-Kasey Michaels duet and much more. It’s an exciting year for Silhouette Books, and we invite you to join the celebration!

Happy Reading!

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To Melissa & Katy, I love you both!

Silhouette Romance

Strong, Silent Cowboy #1179

Christmas in July #1197

Lone Star Rancher #1231

His Tomboy Bride #1305

Are You My Daddy? #1331

Babies, Rattles and Cribs…Oh, My! #1378

The Double Heart Ranch #1430

believes nothing is better than dreaming up characters and stories and having readers enjoy them as much as she does. Leanna is the winner of the National Readers’ Choice Award and Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award. Married to her real-life hero, she lives outside Dallas with their active toddler. While playing and reading to her son, she is cherishing the wonder of her baby daughter. But all the diapers and lullabies haven’t kept her from writing. She’s busy working on her next book, be it a Silhouette Romance, Mills & Boon Temptation or Mills & Boon American Romance novel. She enjoys hearing from her readers, so you can write to her c/o Leanna Wilson, P.O. Box 294277, Lewisville, TX 75029-4277.

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

“And they lived happily ever after.” Cole Dalton closed the book and ignored the tightening around his chest. “Happily ever afters” didn’t happen so easily. Not at all in his life.

“Read another one, Daddy!”

“Not tonight, darlin’.” He patted his daughter’s leg which lay beneath the pale pink comforter. “You have school tomorrow.”

“But I’m not sleepy.” Haley stuck out her bottom lip.

“I am.” He faked a yawn, stretching his arms out wide and opening his mouth until the sound of a creak came from his throat.

“What if I have a bad dream?”

“Then you can sleep with me.” He gave her a light kiss on the top of her curly blond hair. Crossing the five year old’s frilly room, he then turned off the lamp. Automatically the night light clicked on, glowing yellow in the corner, illuminating his daughter’s upturned face. “Now be a good girl and go to sleep.”

“Okay.” Haley snuggled down into her covers and her hair splayed out across the pillow. “G’night, Daddy.”

He could hear the chirp of crickets and croak of bullfrogs outside her window. He wondered why his ex-wife Paula had hated those sounds so much. To him, the comforting chatter seemed to embrace the ranch house. But it had never seemed serene when his wife had lived here, not with her complaining about the heat in the summer, the cold in the winter and the isolation year round.

Relieved that the nights were now peaceful and calming here on his ranch alone with his daughter, he whispered into the gray darkness, “G’night, sweetheart.”

Before he could close the door all the way, he heard her soft voice ask, “Will they really?”

He paused, confused. “Will who what, darlin’?”

“Live happily ever after?”

In the dim light, Haley stared at him with those big, solemn brown eyes. His throat closed as if a fist had cut off his airway. Haley’s constant barrage of questions always made him nervous. He never knew if he was answering the right way or about to scar his daughter for life. He knew firsthand that storybook endings didn’t happen. But should he shatter that fairy tale for his daughter now? Or let her learn it the hard way, like everyone else?

“I guess so. That’s what the book said.” He leaned against the doorframe and felt a throbbing pain resonate in his chest. It was hard being a parent. More so, a single father. He didn’t have anyone to consult with or confide in. But then he’d never had that with his ex-wife, either. “Now go to sleep, Haley.”

“But, Daddy…”

He drew a shaky breath, not sure he wanted the answer to his next question. “What is it, baby?”

“How come we don’t have a happy ever after?” Her squeaky voice could have punctured a hole right through his heart.

His hand folded around the doorknob and squeezed until he could draw a full breath into his tight lungs. Slowly, he pushed the door open wider and reentered her room. The thick, pink carpet softened the clomping sound of his boot heels. His heart pulsed with self-doubts and recriminations. He carefully sat on the edge of his daughter’s bed and tried to find the words to answer her woeful question. “Aren’t you happy here with me, sweetheart?”

“Yes, but—” She stopped herself and shut her brown eyes.

He couldn’t miss the quiver in her chin.

A cold clamp locked around his spine. Hadn’t he tried to give her everything a little girl needed—cute clothes, nourishing food on the table, a happy home and all the attention a five year old could stand?