The Cowboy Finds a Family
Page 23
Mace shook his head. “Been there. Done that. It doesn’t work.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her against him. “But I can do this. I want to do this—even though I’m scared—because you’ll be doing it with me. Won’t you?” He raised a brow at her.
Jenny went up on tiptoe just enough to touch her lips to his. “Yes,” she said. “Oh, yes.”
Then the doors opened, and the first passengers began to appear. Grandmas and grandpas. Aunts, uncles. Brothers, sisters. Families and friends—home for Christmas—were all swooped down upon by eager relatives.
And then at last there was Ian.
He had a girl clutching one side of his coat, a boy clutching the other, and a smaller, sleeping boy in his arms. A slender dark-haired older woman came with them, her eyes scanning the crowd of people, settling at last on Jenny and Mace.
Ian stopped just inside the doorway, his eyes meeting first Jenny’s, then Mace’s. And then his gaze dropped to the children. The older boy looked worried. The girl looked scared.
“My children,” he heard Jenny whisper, awed.
The family she’d always wanted. The family Mace realized he had wanted more than he’d ever dared admit.
“Our children,” Mace corrected her under his breath. Their fingers squeezed together. Their hearts beat as one.
Together they walked toward Ian and the children and their grandmother. She studied their faces, her own expression softening. She nodded, then smiled.
With tears running down her face, Jenny held out her arms and Ian settled the sleeping toddler in her embrace.
Mace brushed a finger across Antonio’s still baby-soft cheek, and then he hunkered down until he was at eye level with his brand-new son and daughter. They looked apprehensive, but hopeful. He felt apprehensive, but hopeful—and as if he’d been given the best Christmas present in the world.
He felt his own tears brimming and did his best to blink them back as he held out his hands to Marcos and Pilar.
“Bienvenidos, mis hijos,” he whispered, and if his voice broke, he didn’t care. He gathered them in—his sons, his daughter—and held them next to his heart. It felt true. It felt right.
“Our children,” he whispered and looked up at Jenny who cradled Antonio in her arms. “Our family.” Because that’s what they were, what they would become. He hugged them all close. “Welcome home.”
The End
Want more? Check out the first book in Anne McAllister’s Tanner Brothers series, Cowboys Don’t Cry!
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If you enjoyed The Cowboy Finds a Family, you’ll love the next books in….
The Cowboys of Horse Thief Mountain series
Book 1: The Cowboy Finds a Family
View the series here!
Book 2: The Cowboy Steals a Lady
Coming in March 2021!
Book 3: The Cowboy Crashes a Wedding
Coming in May 2021!
More books by Anne McAllister
The Tanner Brothers series
Book 1: Cowboys Don’t Cry
Buy now!
Book 2: Cowboys Don’t Quit
Buy now!
Book 3: Cowboys Don’t Stay
Buy now!
Book 4: The Cowboy and the Kid
Buy now!
Book 5: Cowboy Pride
Buy now!
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About the Author
Years ago someone told Anne McAllister that the recipe for happiness was a good man, a big old house, a bunch of kids and dogs, and a job you loved that allows you to read. And write. She totally agrees.
Now, one good man, one big old house (since traded for a slightly smaller house. Look, no attic!) a bunch of kids (and even more grandkids) and dogs (and one bionic cat) and seventy books, she’s still reading. And writing. And happier than ever.
Over thirty plus years Anne has written long and short contemporary romances, single titles and series, novellas and a time-travel for Harlequin Mills & Boon and for Tule Publishing. She’s had two RITA winning books and nine more RITA finalists as well as awards from Romantic Times and Midwest Fiction Writers. One of the joys of writing is that sometimes, when she can’t go back in person, she can go back in her mind and her heart and her books.
For more from Anne, visit her at annemcallister.com.
Like Anne on Facebook and follow her Twitter @AnneMcAllister5
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