by Elena Aitken
Jill comes from a large family with six siblings, including an identical twin. She was raised in the Pacific Northwest and later relocated to Colorado for college and a successful IT career before discovering her talent for writing sweet and sexy page-turners. After Colorado, she decided to move south, living in Texas and now making her home along the Emerald Coast of Florida. You will find that the settings of several of her series are inspired by her time spent living in these areas. She has two sons and off-set the testosterone in her house by adopting three furry little ladies that provide her company while she’s locked in her writing cave. She enjoys heading to the beach, hiking, swimming, wine-tasting, and pickleball with her husband, and of course writing. If you have read any of her books, you may also notice that there is a love of food, especially sweets! She has been blamed for a few added pounds by her assistant, editor, and fans… donuts or pie anyone?
The Cowboy’s Christmas Bride
Cora Seton
After traveling around the globe for over a year, Cole Linden is more than ready to return home to Montana, so when his fiancée, Sunshine, suddenly cuts their trip short and books them flights back to Chance Creek, Cole feels like the holidays have come early this year. He hopes she’ll love the present he bought her: a restaurant space downtown. If only he can transform it into the sleek, modern style she likes before Christmas, maybe she’ll finally agree to set a date for their wedding.
Sunshine can’t believe she’s pregnant, but she is, which means it’s high time to get back home. It also means she needs to re-think her career goals. She can’t run a world-class restaurant in tiny Chance Creek—especially not with a baby. So Cole will have to be the breadwinner of the family. Which means he needs a ranch. Luckily she’s found one. Three hundred acres of prime ranch land and a wonderful—if dilapidated—house. With Christmas looming, she’ll need to race to turn it into the comfortable family home they’ll need as soon as they get married.
But when a delayed flight results in the loss of their hotel room, Cole and Sunshine realize they’ll have to couch surf through the holidays. Staying with each of their friends in turn leads to a series of revelations that might undermine their relationship for good. Can Cole and Sunshine make it until Christmas?
Or will this be the holiday that ends it all?
Copyright © 2015 Cora Seton
ISBN-13: 9781927036877
Published by One Acre Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Created with Vellum
Chapter 1
“Ready to go home?” Cole Linden reached out to stroke his fiancée’s cheek.
She smiled back at him. “I think so.”
Even after negotiating the chaos of Heathrow Airport at Christmas time, she was as bright and cheerful as ever. That was one of the things Cole loved about Sunshine. Her disposition resembled her name: upbeat, easygoing, happy to be alive. Sitting on a hard plastic seat, her winter coat undone, a scarf hanging every which way over her shoulders and her beautiful blond hair spilling out of a felted wool hat, she still took his breath away. After traveling around the world together for nearly three years, they probably should have been at each other’s throats, but they’d hardly exchanged a cross word in all that time, which Cole counted as a miracle. The real miracle, of course, was that they’d met at all. Cole was a country boy through and through. He loved everything to do with small town living from riding horses to hunting, and he’d been running an indoor rifle range when their paths crossed. Sunshine was a city girl and a vegan—a chef who’d never set foot in a range before that fateful day.
“It’ll be good to spend the holidays in Chance Creek.” He couldn’t wait for Christmas morning. He had a surprise for Sunshine—a big one. One that would guarantee she’d never want to leave town again. After their extended trip, he was more than ready to settle down.
“What was it you got me for Christmas again?”
Cole smiled at her none-too-subtle question. They’d been joking about presents for the past few weeks. Sunshine claimed she had a surprise that would knock his socks off, but Cole had warned her that nothing could beat what he’d gotten for her.
“Weren’t you the one who said Christmas wasn’t a competition? I’m sure whatever paltry gift you bought for me will be just fine. Even if it is overshadowed by my incredible present to you.”
“Paltry gift? You’re going to eat your words, mister.” She elbowed him companionably. He kissed her on the tip of her nose. In truth, he was worried he couldn’t carry off his Christmas surprise for Sunshine. It was going to take a lot of work, and he’d have to slip away almost every day once they were back in Chance Creek in order to accomplish it. That might be difficult when they were staying in a motel room and would need to share a rental car. It would have been easier if they’d been able to return to the rooms they’d once shared next to his rifle range and her café. Scott Preston inhabited them now, however. He’d been acting as their caretaker while they’d been gone, and since they were returning on such short notice, they didn’t want to evict him.
Besides, it was time to hunt for a real house as soon as the holidays were over. They’d long outgrown the living quarters next to the range, and when they finally married, they’d want something more permanent.
“I don’t think so. I wouldn’t mind eating some of your cooking, though,” Cole said to Sunshine and kissed her again. He found it hard to get enough of her. He’d been happy to be her traveling companion, but three years was an eternity to be away from the town where he’d grown up.
He was sure it was different for Sunshine. She’d only lived there for about eight months in all. She’d come to town because her aunt Cecily left her the building that housed Cole’s rifle range, a tiny restaurant space and the attached living quarters. Unfortunately, Cecily had left them to Cole, too. She’d pitted them against each other in a contest to see who would ultimately win sole ownership, and at first they’d regarded each other as enemies. That didn’t last once they began to share close quarters. The attraction between them was instant and electrifying, and it wasn’t long before they figured out a way to share everything. Cole continued to run the rifle range and manage the apartment buildings he owned. Sunshine ran her café from the restaurant space. They lived together in the attached rooms.
But several months later, when they became engaged, they’d received another message from their attorney. It seemed that Cecily’s will had a secret codicil to be read only if Sunshine and Cole decided to marry. The old woman had left them each a large sum of money. As soon as Cole found out about it, he knew what they needed to do. Sunshine had always talked about traveling the world. Here was their chance. He’d paid off the mortgage on the two apartment buildings, which freed up funds to pay Scott a salary to run them and the range while they were away. Scott had moved into their rooms beside the restaurant to keep an eye on things, and Cole and Sunshine had embarked on an epic journey, the likes of which Cole had never imagined taking.
“I can’t wait until I have a kitchen to call my own again,” Sunshine said. She peeled off her hat and scarf, and struggled out of her coat. Cole helped her drape them over her chair.
He’d determined at the start to let Sunshine call the shots about the itinerary and duration of the trip. This was her chance to study cooking in the field, so to speak, and learn from experts in all kinds of situations. He found it easy to be patient. For one thing, he was head over heels in love with Sunshine, for all their talk about a long engagement. For another, Sunshine had assured him that when they were done they’d return to the town he dearly loved. That was a huge concession from a city girl, and he wanted to honor the spirit in which she made it by throwing himself into the adventure wholeheartedly.
He’d never guessed she’d make the trip so long, though. He�
�d begun to think they’d never get home.
Still, he was proud of Sunshine and the way she’d handled the rigors of so much travel. They hadn’t stuck to tourist destinations; far from it. Sunshine was fascinated by indigenous recipes, and in every country they visited, she took them off the beaten track into villages and hamlets and somehow convinced women—and men—to teach her everything they knew about cooking. Cole had done his best to photograph the locales, people, ingredients and food preparation steps. They’d taken copious notes in order to correlate recipes, photographs and information about people and locations. When they got home, Sunshine hoped to combine them into a cookbook and get a publishing deal.
Cole had watched people all around the world take to Sunshine. He wasn’t sure if it was her smile, her laugh, or the shimmer of her blond hair that caught their attention and made them go out of their way for her, but he couldn’t count the number of kindnesses complete strangers had performed for them during the past three years.
He’d worried that such an intense journey might cause trouble between them, but the more they traveled, the more he loved Sunshine. With Christmas looming and their return home at hand, he’d decided to give her the one other thing he knew she wanted: a restaurant. He’d purchased one already, sight unseen, from a realtor he knew and trusted back in Chance Creek. It was located in the heart of town and he figured Sunshine could make it a success.
“That snow doesn’t look promising,” Sunshine said, glancing out of the airport window where a cold afternoon had long since faded into darkness. “I think it’s coming down even harder.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
She nodded. “I hope so.” Fidgeting in her seat, she added, “We’re not due to board for another half hour. Want to go for a little walk?”
“If we stand up now, we’ll lose our seats.” The waiting room was packed with travelers. Cole was thankful they’d gotten tickets at all since they’d bought them with only a couple weeks’ notice.
“You’re right,” she admitted with a sigh. “I hope I can sleep on the plane. It’s a long flight.”
He doubted he would. He was too wired thinking about all he needed to do in the next ten days. Collect the paperwork and keys for the restaurant, hire contractors, rip out anything that needed repairs. He knew it was unlikely he’d get everything done before Christmas, but he wanted to make the restaurant look its best before he presented it to Sunshine. He took her hand. “It’s going to be busy when we get home. I’ll probably have to spend a lot of time at the rentals.” Best to lay the groundwork for his disappearances now.
“You don’t think Scott’s doing a good job?”
“I’m sure he is, but he’s not the owner.”
“Of course. I have a lot of shopping to do anyway. I need to throw packages together fast for my family and get them in the mail.”
“I guess we’ll both be busy, then.” Cole was relieved. It was crucial his present remained a surprise: that’s what made it so much fun. If Sunshine was busy, she wouldn’t ask difficult questions—or have time to pry. Last year she’d found his gift three days before Christmas. Refusing to admit defeat, he’d had to rush out and find a replacement present. He reached over to take her hand and frowned. Sunshine suddenly looked a little pale. “You feeling all right?”
“All the travel is catching up to me, I think.”
“It’ll be good to be home.”
“You’ve got that right.”
Sunshine shifted in her uncomfortable chair again. Pregnant. She was pregnant. For the last four weeks Sunshine hadn’t been able to think of anything else. She was thrilled and terrified and so confused she didn’t know which way she was heading most of the time. When Cole announced he’d be busy with the rental complex once they got home, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her pregnancy wasn’t her only secret; the ranch she’d bought for Cole was another big surprise.
She’d bought it on an impulse only days after she’d realized she’d missed her period. First she’d had to confirm her pregnancy without letting Cole know. She’d gone out of her mind with impatience until Cole had wandered off one afternoon to visit an agricultural museum outside of London. Then she’d rushed to the closest pharmacy, bought an over-the-counter pregnancy test, taken it in a public restroom… and tossed the evidence in the trash as soon as she’d snapped a photograph of the results.
Pregnant.
Sunshine hadn’t known whether to laugh or cry. She’d been struggling for months to decide what to do about her future. Now the question had been answered for her. Forget about opening a restaurant. It was time to buy a home. She’d called a realtor she knew in Chance Creek, told her what she wanted and was thrilled when the realtor said she had one that would fit the bill. “I’ll take it,” she’d said after looking at the photos online; she knew ranches were hard to come by and she didn’t want to risk losing the place and the chance to give Cole a fabulous Christmas present. In the rush to sew up the deal she’d had no time for second thoughts.
Now—after she’d put her money down on the ranch—she’d succumbed to doubts again. On the one hand, she couldn’t wait to be a mother and she adored Cole. She’d enjoyed living in Chance Creek far more than she’d expected to during the months she’d stayed there.
On the other hand, her ambitions would be difficult to pursue in a small Montana town. She was a vegan chef, for heaven’s sake. How could she take the world by storm in cowboy country?
It made far more sense to return to Chicago where she’d once helped to run a highly successful restaurant. If she sold the ranch she’d just bought, she could put a hefty down payment on a restaurant and build a real business.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t picture Cole happy in Chicago. He was a country boy through and through. He had definite thoughts about the kind of home he wanted to raise their children in, too. He wanted them to have lots of space to run and play and he wanted them to grow up on a property that they could take over one day.
In other words, he wanted a ranch.
And thanks to the help of her realtor, she’d found him one. Everything was signed, sealed and delivered.
She couldn’t change course now.
She squeezed Cole’s hand and he squeezed hers back, his expression full of tenderness. She had to smile when she pictured his reaction on Christmas morning when she took him out to show it to him. Of course, between now and then it needed a lot of spiffing up. She hoped she could get at least some of that done before Christmas.
And if she had to put off her dream of one day owning a real restaurant—not just a hole in the wall café like the one attached to the rifle range—well, she was sure it would happen someday. Until then she’d make do.
She glanced at Cole again, studying the handsome man who had become so crucial to her happiness. She remembered when she first arrived in Chance Creek. She’d been aghast to find the building she’d inherited already inhabited by an uncouth cowboy with a penchant for firearms.
Soon enough she’d fallen for Cole hook, line and sinker, and they’d had so much fun during those first months after they’d buried the hatchet and learned to work together. Cole had ruled the roost at his indoor rifle range and she’d cooked for his clients and anyone else who’d ventured into the neighborhood. When customers were scarce, they’d fooled around. She found it hard to keep her hands off of the man.
Three years abroad hadn’t changed that. Cole could set her nerves alight with a single touch. Every night when they slid into bed she felt like she had the first time they’d been together. His body gave her endless pleasure. What more could she ask for?
She pressed her hand to her belly, tingling with the knowledge that her baby was growing inside of her.
Their baby.
It was such a precious secret. A secret it had been killing her to keep. Every time Cole made love to her she’d wanted to scream it out loud.
But she had to wait just a little longer. She sighed and leaned against Cole’s sh
oulder.
And noticed the woman heading straight for them.
“Cole Linden, is that you?”
The strident female voice startled Cole—and several people around him. He looked up to see a redhead approaching him just as the man in the seat next to him stood up, collected his things and walked away.
A familiar redhead…
“For God’s sake, it’s Frannie Lake—don’t tell me you don’t remember your first kiss!” the woman exclaimed.
Cole glanced at Sunshine, hoping she wasn’t paying attention, but unfortunately she was. “Of course I remember you, Fran. Good to see you.” It wasn’t good, though. Fran was halfway right; she hadn’t been his first kiss, but she’d been his first in other ways and he remembered her all too well. He hoped like hell she’d grown up in the intervening years.
“What are you doing at Heathrow?”
“Heading home.” He hoped Fran read his disinclination to talk in his tone, but she didn’t—or she ignored it. Plopping down in the empty seat beside him, she sighed. “Me, too.”
“To Oklahoma?” He was about to tell her she was at the wrong gate.
“No, silly. To Chance Creek. My folks are still there. We all come home at Christmas. You know that.”
Cole had always done his best to avoid her. She’d been a little hard to get rid of back in high school. “Say hello to your folks for me when you get there.” He lifted the magazine he’d bought for the plane ride to signal the end of the conversation.
“You’ll have to stop by and say it yourself. I’ll make sure Mom hangs the mistletoe and you can give me another kiss. I’ve missed them. Nobody kisses like a Chance Creek cowboy.”