by Amanda Renee
SURPRISE TIMES THREE!
Hollywood event planner Jade Scott can handle a crisis. But when her sister disappears, leaving Jade to care for her infant triplet daughters, Jade needs help. Lots of help. Specifically from Wes Slade, the sexy and not-so-anonymous sperm donor, who also made her teen years miserable. As the egg donor, she won’t abandon her children. Their children.
Wes was never supposed to be part of this family. At least he and Jade have another thing in common: busy lives outside of Saddle Ridge, Montana. He can’t wait to get back to the rodeo circuit. As they look after the triplets, Wes discovers they may have more in common than he ever expected—no idea how to imagine life without their precious babies...or each other!
“Wes, meet Audra.” She held the infant out to him. “Please help me.”
The weight of Audra in his arms made her all the more real. Her cries stopped as a soft mew emanated from the tiny bundle. He didn’t want to look. But he couldn’t not look. He needed to see his daughter.
“Oh, my God.” His heart sprang back to life.
“What is it?” Jade frantically asked.
“She’s beautiful,” he whispered.
“They all are. We made quite the heartbreakers.”
He lifted his gaze to hers. The edginess had faded to a gentle softness. Even with her stained blouse and what appeared to be a black marker streak across her left cheek, she exuded beauty. “I guess we did.” He lowered his eyes to the other two girls contentedly sucking on the bottles Jade held for them.
And then he saw more black marker. “Did you write on their feet?”
Dear Reader,
Welcome to the fourth book in my Saddle Ridge, Montana series! The Bull Rider’s Baby Bombshell came together during one of my “thinking” car rides. Most of my brainstorming occurs on the road alongside Duffy—my four-legged sidekick. The changing scenery never fails to spark ideas. When I drove past a woman pushing one of those three-across triplet strollers down the main street of a little country town, Wes and Jade’s story immediately began churning in my brain.
I love characters who share a past, but not necessarily a romantic one. And Wes and Jade’s acrimonious history definitely gives them reason to keep their distance from one another...until they find themselves temporarily parenting six-week-old triplets.
I’ve always envisioned actress Kat Dennings as Jade Scott. Her take-no-prisoners attitude is a perfect match for a stubborn Slade man. And when I first saw fitness model Parker Hurley astride a steel horse in the pages of a fashion magazine, I knew he was my Wes.
I hope you enjoy The Bull Rider’s Baby Bombshell. Feel free to stop in and visit me at amandarenee.com. I’d love to hear from you.
Happy reading!
Amanda Renee
THE BULL RIDER’S BABY BOMBSHELL
Amanda Renee
Amanda Renee was raised in the northeast and now wriggles her toes in the warm coastal Carolina sands. Her career began when she was discovered through Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest. When not creating stories about love and laughter, she enjoys the company of her schnoodle, Duffy, as well as camping, playing guitar and piano, photography and anything involving animals. You can visit her at amandarenee.com.
Books by Amanda Renee
Harlequin Western Romance
Saddle Ridge, Montana
The Lawman’s Rebel Bride
A Snowbound Cowboy Christmas
Wrangling Cupid’s Cowboy
Harlequin American Romance
Welcome to Ramblewood
Betting on Texas
Home to the Cowboy
Blame It on the Rodeo
A Texan for Hire
Back to Texas
Mistletoe Rodeo
The Trouble with Cowgirls
A Bull Rider’s Pride
Twins for Christmas
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
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For Brad.
Thank you for the inspiration.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Excerpt from Rodeo Family by Mary Sullivan
Chapter One
Call Jade.
I can’t do this.
Please forgive me.
Jade Scott read her sister’s note for the tenth time since arriving in Saddle Ridge. Almost an entire day had passed since Liv had vanished, leaving behind her month-and-a-half-old triplets. Jade would’ve arrived sooner if there had been more flights out of Los Angeles to the middle-of-nowhere Montana. She’d ditched the godforsaken town eleven years ago and had sworn never to return. But her sister’s children had annihilated that plan. Especially since Jade had been partially responsible for their existence.
“I didn’t call the police like you asked, but now that you’re here, I think we should.”
“No!” Jade spun to face Maddie Winters, her sister’s best friend and the woman who had taken care of the children for the past twenty hours. “As soon as we do, Liv’s labeled a bad parent and those girls go in the system.”
“Nobody will take them away with you here.” Maddie checked to see if there were any new messages on her phone. “I’m really worried about her.”
Jade scanned the small living room. A month ago, it looked like a baby—or three—lived there. Today it looked cold and sterile, devoid of any signs of the triplets. The crocheted baby blankets and baskets of pastel yarn were gone from the corner. Once covered with stacks of photo albums her sister couldn’t wait to fill, the coffee table now sat bare. Embroidered pillows with their cute mommy and baby sayings no longer littered the couch. Her sister had even removed the framed pictures of the girls along with their plaster hand-and footprints from the mantel. Except for the video baby monitor, nothing baby related remained in sight. Why? She knew Liv’s desire for order was strong thanks to their chaotic upbringing, but she’d never thought her sister would wipe away all visible traces of her children.
“I’m worried too. We don’t need to involve the police though. She wasn’t kidnapped.” Liv was a chronic planner and everything about the situation felt deliberate. “She made a conscious decision to walk away. She wrote a note, she called you to babysit and then left on her own accord. If we call the police, the girls go into the system. Hell will freeze over before I let that happen.”
Jade knew all about the system. She and Liv had spent fourteen years in foster care, bounced from place to place until Liv had been old enough to become her guardian. Being two teenage girls on their own had forced them to grow up fast. Too fast.
Jade’s phone rang inside her bag jarring her back to the present. It wasn’t her sister’s ringtone, but she reached for it to be safe. It was her office in Los Angeles. She answered, praying Liv had called there by mistake instead of her cell and they were patching the call over to her. “Yes.”
“I’m sorry to bother you,” Tomás, her British assistant, began. “I just wanted to let you know the Wittingfords have finally decided on their
venue for their summer opener.”
Jade’s heart sank. Tomás’s call was great news, just not the news she wanted to hear at that moment. The Wittingfords were the most extravagant clients her event planning company had seen to date. And their showstopping party guaranteed to outshine all the celebrity weddings she’d produced this year.
“I’m glad to hear it. I just wish I was there to oversee it.” Jade tugged her laptop out of her bag and opened it on the dining room table. “Email me the contract and I’ll review it. I want you to look it over first. Flag anything you question. I need you to be my extra set of eyes while I’m away. And please call my clients and tell them I’ve had a family emergency. Give them your contact info and make sure they understand I haven’t abandoned them. But they need to phone you with any issues or changes and you can fill me in later.”
“I’ll get on it, straightaway. Any news about your sister?”
“Nothing yet.” Jade lifted her gaze to see Maddie glaring at her from the living room. “I need to go. We’ll talk later.”
“I can’t believe you’re putting work first.” Maddie picked up the baby monitor from the coffee table and checked the screen.
“I’m sorry you don’t approve of my multitasking.” Jade turned on the computer. “I know my sister. She doesn’t do crazy. Wherever she is, I’m sure she’s safe. While I try to figure out what’s going on with her and where she ran off to, I still have a business to maintain.”
“And walking out on your newborn triplets isn’t crazy?”
Not unless you knew the whole situation. “All right, tell me again. What time did you come over yesterday afternoon?”
“A little after three. Liv sounded frazzled when she called. I asked what was wrong, but she kept doing that answer a question with a question thing that drives me up a wall. I got nothing out of her.” Maddie ran both hands through her hair, on the verge of tears. “I tried to talk to her, but she took off the second I walked in. I found the note taped to the nursery room door a few minutes after that.”
“When did she remove the baby things from in here?”
“I don’t know.” Maddie shook her head wildly. “I’m trying to remember the last time I came over.”
“What do you mean? You’re her best friend and you didn’t check on her? When I left, you assured me you would. You only live next door.”
“She insisted on space so she could learn how to take care of the girls on her own. I guess it’s been a little over a week since I’ve been here. I’ll be honest, her abrupt dismissal hurt. I had been staying in the guest room after you left. I should have noticed something was wrong.”
Uneasiness grew deep within Jade’s chest. “I keep thinking the same thing. I missed our video chat on Sunday night because I was too busy with work.” Many of Jade’s ex-boyfriends had accused her of putting her career before anyone else. Had she selfishly done the same with her sister? Jade scanned her inbox, hoping to find an email from Liv. Nothing. “I’ll check her office. Are you able to stay for a little while longer?”
“For however long you need.”
Jade continued to walk around the old farmhouse. Her sister had set up three bassinets in the room next to her office in addition to an equal number of cribs in the former master bedroom, now the nursery. Liv had been prepared. Some may even say overprepared. She’d read every parenting book and magazine she found. Took infant care classes and had insisted Jade learn infant CPR too. From researching the best laundry detergents and baby shampoos to memorizing the symptoms of childhood illnesses and diseases, she’d planned for every contingency. It didn’t make sense why she left. Outside of neither of them not knowing what good parenting was.
Their father had been a drifter and their mother had been behind bars on and off since Jade was two. They’d seen the inside of more foster homes than they could count. Some good, some bad. Whenever they had made it into a decent one, their mother had gotten out of jail, claimed to be ready to raise them again after completing her therapy and halfway house program only to fail miserably weeks later and wind up right back in jail. Her mother had always wanted what she couldn’t have. That included Liv and Jade. Once in her care, she’d discovered they were too much work to support. Besides, her drugs were more important. She wanted those more than anything. More than her children.
The court system had reached a point where they said no more, and Jade and Liv had mixed emotions the day they learned they wouldn’t have to live with their mother ever again. Liv had handled it better than she had. Jade had been angry. All the time. It hadn’t helped that kids had picked on her constantly at school. One kid had been the ringleader. The one she had trusted, and then he betrayed her. And she had never forgotten him. Wes Slade.
Jade opened the bottom filing cabinet drawer and scanned the hanging folder tabs. The last one had BABY scrawled on it. The generic word surprised her. At the very least, she’d expected all three girls’ names to be written on the label, if not three separate files. She removed the thick folder, laid it on the desk and began looking through it. On top was the first ultrasound picture of the triplets. Jade ran her fingers over the black-and-white image. She could still see her sister holding up the photo to the screen during their video chat. Liv had been shocked, but thrilled just the same. She was finally getting the family she had always wanted. And it had been a long time coming.
Liv had battled fertility issues for years. Married at twenty-three, she and her husband had tried everything to get pregnant. There was just enough wrong with each of them to prevent a successful pregnancy. Kevin had wanted to adopt, but it had been important to Liv to carry her children and have a physical connection to them. He’d refused the donor idea and their constant baby battles wound up destroying their marriage.
Jade sat in Liv’s ultralux, oversize perfect-for-pregnancy office chair and glanced around the room. Her sister had always been neat and organized. Not a pen or paperclip out of place. She peered inside Liv’s desk drawers hoping to find a clue to her whereabouts. Everything related to her job as a financial planner. Liv still had another two months of maternity leave until she had to return to work full-time. Working from home would help the transition although Liv had considered hiring a nanny during the day so she could talk to clients without interruption.
Her sister had a plan. A definitive plan on how her life would run smoothly as a single mom of three children. Walking away was completely out of character.
Jade continued to flip through the contents of the folder. The only item left was Jade’s egg donation contract giving her sister the biological link to the babies she wanted. She just hadn’t expected Liv to use all the embryos at once. Because of her sister’s long infertility battle, the doctor had believed her best chance for a successful pregnancy was to implant them all in hopes one would survive. The surprise had been universal.
“Dammit, Liv, where are you?”
She stood to put the folder back in the drawer when she noticed another one lying on the bottom of the cabinet. Sliding the other files forward, she removed the thin, unmarked and probably empty folder. She flipped it open to double-check and saw another donor contract. Why? Jade had been the only donor. Liv had used a fertility clinic for the father.
She began to read the document:
This agreement is made this 22 day of July 2017, by and between Olivia Scott, hereafter RECIPIENT, and Weston Slade, hereafter DONOR.
“No, no, no!” Jade’s heart pounded in her chest. “Liv couldn’t have.” She continued to read the contract. But she had. Wes Slade was the donor and the father of Jade’s biological children. Her sister had fertilized Jade’s eggs with the man she despised more than anyone.
* * *
A FEW HOURS LATER, Jade stood in front of the check-in clerk at the Silver Bells Ranch lodge. The woman whispered into the phone. “One of Wes’s fans is here to see him.”
“Excu
se me. I am no fan of his.”
The clerk cupped the mouthpiece and whispered, “She may be an ex-girlfriend.”
“Are you kidding me?” Jade reached over the counter and snatched the phone. “This is Jade Scott. I need to speak to Wes concerning my sister, Liv. It’s...um...an emergency of sorts.”
Still reeling from her discovery, Jade needed absolute confirmation Wes was the triplets’ father. She prayed he had backed out or that Liv had changed her mind at the last second. Anything...just not this.
“Oh hey, Jade. It’s Garrett, Wes’s brother. It’s been what, ten years or more? I saw your sister and the triplets last week. They sure are beautiful. Reminded me of my two when they were born.”
You have no idea. Jade swallowed hard. “I’m staying with the kids for a few days while Liv is—is away on business. She’s unreachable today and I have a problem at the house. Since she and Wes are friends, I’m thinking he might have some ideas.” At least Jade assumed they were friends. Who would ask a casual acquaintance to father their children?
“He’s out with our guests on a trail ride. He should be back soon. You’re welcome to wait or maybe I can help you.”
“Uh, um. No. I appreciate the offer, but I need Wes. I don’t mind waiting.” Yeah, she did. The longer she waited, the more questions churned in her brain. “Where’s the best place I can catch him?”
“The stables.” Garrett paused. “Do you have the girls with you? I’m sure my daughter would love to me—”
“They’re with the sitter.” The last thing Jade needed was to introduce the triplets to their cousin.
The entire time Liv had been pregnant, Jade kept her part in the process tucked neatly away in the dark recesses of her brain. Surprisingly, Liv had carried to almost thirty-seven weeks. The day of her sister’s scheduled cesarean, Jade had been by her side in the operating room, cheering her on. But the moment Jade had held those tiny bundles of perfection and stared into their blue eyes, reality hit. She was the biological mother of three little girls and she had wrestled with it during the rest of her stay in town. They were Liv’s children. Not hers. It wasn’t until she was on a plane flying back to LA three weeks later that she finally breathed easier. Once she had returned to her normal routine, any lingering thoughts of being their mother faded and she gladly slipped into the role of auntie.