The Rancher's Family--A Clean Romance by Barbara White Daille

Author:Barbara White Daille
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-06-05T14:39:18+00:00

* * *

“THE NOISE LEVEL in here could break the sound barrier,” Cara said with a laugh as she and Andi loaded the industrial-sized dishwasher in Paz’s kitchen.

“This is nothing. Wait till you’re around when we’re prepping for a wedding reception. Now, that’s noise. You can’t even hear yourself think.”

Today came close. The rattle of silverware, clatter of dishes and raised voices in the room almost drowned out Cara’s thoughts. Not quite.

As always, she had spent the first few minutes after waking up thinking about the baby. The sad reminders had stopped crashing so heavily on her and were beginning to blend with happier memories—the joy of discovering she was pregnant, the pleasure of shopping for her baby-to-be. She could only hope this meant her pain would soon start to ease.

Then her thoughts had turned to other things. The list of jobs she had agreed to do for Andi. Lizzie and her worries. Her own concern about Wes cutting his kids off from their family and friends.

Maybe she should have planned to drop by to work this weekend. Monday seemed so far away.

Her next glance across the kitchen revealed she wouldn’t have to wait till then. There, framed in the doorway, stood a handsome cowboy with a heart-stopping smile, a child at his side and a baby in his arms.

Wes and his kids made the perfect picture. But she wasn’t part of it.

Mark ran toward her, his arms already held wide for a hug. “Hello, Miss Cara!” He waved to Andi, then turned back to her.

“Hi, Mark! Did you come for the cookout?”

He nodded energetically. “Yes. And a b’rito. Daddy wants a b’rito, too.” Tugging on her hand, he led Cara to the doorway.

“Hi, hi, hi!” Squealing, Tracey waved both hands.

Cara waved back. “Hi,” she said, greeting both Tracey and Wes.

“Hey. I stopped by to see Jed, then decided to come say hello to Paz.”

Not a bad start to the conversation. The last time she’d seen him, he hadn’t talked much. “Well, I’m sorry to say she’s too busy to blink right now. You’re probably better off waiting till the cookout’s underway and she can catch her breath.”

A waitress excused herself to pass by them, and Wes backed out of the doorway into the hall.

“It’s crazy in here—obviously,” Cara said. She knew another place in the hotel that would interest Mark, and she would go there with them to make sure Wes didn’t head to the front door. “Let’s take a walk to the sitting room.”

After a word of caution from his daddy, Mark skipped rather than ran ahead of them down the hall. She and Wes followed more slowly. Suddenly at a loss for words, she focused on playing one-handed pat-a-cake with Tracey and trying not to pat Wes’s arm accidentally.

They found the sitting room off the lobby deserted except for two boys; Andi’s son, Trey, and Tina’s son, Robbie. Both were only a year or two older than Mark. All three boys already knelt in one corner with Robbie’s collection of toy horses.

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