by Lilian Darcy
Then she took a series of marble hallways to another exit—the one that led out to the colonnade above the palace gardens. Alice paused at the top of the white stone stairs leading down to the garden.
Below, a giant white silk tent had been erected. Golden light glowed from within the tent, where dinner for three hundred would be served. The palace, the tent, the gardens, the whole of Montedoro—everything seemed ablaze with golden light.
“There you are.” Her sister Rhiannon, five months pregnant and glowing with happiness, clutched the frothy tiered skirts of her strapless ivory gown and sailed up the stairs to Alice’s side, her growing baby bump leading the way.
Alice adored all four of her sisters, but she and Rhia shared a special bond. They were best friends. “Sorry I’m a little late. The streets are awash in limousines.”
The sisters shared a quick hug and kissed the air by each other’s cheeks. Rhia whispered, “I’m just glad you’re here. I’ve missed you....” Flashes went off. There were always photographers lurking around, way too many of them at an event like this.
Alice hooked her arm through Rhia’s. They turned as one to face the cameras. “Smile,” Alice advised softly, trying not to move her lips. “Show no weakness.”
Rhia braced her free hand proudly on the bulge of her tummy and smiled for the cameras. She had a lot to be happy about. For almost a decade she’d struggled to deny her love for Marcus Desmarais. Now, at last, she and her lifetime love were together in the most complete way. Rhia and Marcus had married in a small private ceremony three weeks ago. They’d flown off for a honeymoon in the Caribbean on the same day Alice had made that fateful trip to Scotland.
The party tonight was in lieu of the usual big wedding. The world needed to see how the Bravo-Calabretti family welcomed the new husband of one of their own.
Rhia’s groom had been orphaned soon after his birth. He’d started with nothing—and become a fine man, one who’d gone far in spite of his humble beginnings. The party wasn’t just for show. The Bravo-Calabrettis did welcome him.
Alice loved that about her family. They judged a man—or a woman—by his or her behavior and accomplishments. Not by an accident of birth or a string of inherited titles. If Alice were to choose a man with nothing, her family would support her in her choice.
Not that she was anywhere close to choosing anyone. Certainly not a bold blue-eyed American she’d only just met and would likely not see again.
She banished the stable hand from her mind—yet again—as Rhia grabbed her hand and pulled her down the curving staircase. They wove their way through the crowd toward the wide-open entrance to the big white tent. Alice spotted her brother Damien, the youngest of the four Bravo-Calabretti princes, entering the tent, his dark head thrown back as he laughed at something the tall golden-haired man beside him had said....
“Allie?” Rhia turned back to her with a puzzled frown.
Alice realized she’d stopped in midstep at the base of the stairs and was staring with her mouth hanging open. Her brother and the other man disappeared inside the tent. She’d only caught the briefest glimpse of the other man from the back. And then from the side, for that split second when he’d turned his head. “It can’t be...”
“Allie?” her sister asked again.
“I could have sworn...”
“Are you all right?” A worried frown creased the space between Rhia’s smooth brows.
Alice blinked and shook her head. Lovely. Not only was she obsessing over a near stranger, she was also hallucinating that she saw the same man, perfectly turned out in white tie and tails, chatting up her brother. “Did you see that tall blond man with Dami? They just went inside the tent.”
“Dami? I didn’t notice.”
“You didn’t notice Dami, or the man with him?”
“Either. Allie, really. Are you all right?”
“I’m beginning to wonder about that,” she muttered.
“You’re mumbling. Say again?”
Alice would have loved to drag her favorite sister off somewhere private, where she could tell her all about the scruffy, sexy, unforgettable stable hand—whom she could have sworn she’d just seen wearing a perfectly cut designer tailcoat and evening trousers and sharing a joke with their brother. She wanted a comforting hug and some solid, down-to-earth advice. But now was not the time. She tugged on Rhia’s hand. “It doesn’t matter. Come on. Let’s go in. Marcus will be wondering where you’ve gone.”
* * *
The family table was a long one, set up on a dais at the far end of the tent. All their brothers and sisters were there. The married ones had come with their spouses. Even dear Belle, who lived in America now with her horse-rancher husband, Preston McCade, had come all the way from Montana to celebrate with Rhia and Marcus. Only the little nieces and nephews were missing tonight. This was a grown-up party after all.
Rhia whispered, “We never have time to talk anymore.”
“I know. I miss you, too.”
“Come to our villa at seven Sunday night. We’ll have dinner, catch up. Just the two of us.”
“What about Marcus?”
“He’s dining at the palace with Alex. Something about the CCU.” Alexander, Damien’s twin, was third-born of their brothers. Alex had created the elite fighting force the Covert Command Unit, in which Marcus served.
“I’ll be there,” Alice promised.
With a last hug, Rhia left her to join her groom in her seat of honor at the center of the table.
Alice went to greet her parents. Her mother, looking amazing as always in beaded black Chanel, gave her a kiss and a fond, “Hello, my darling,” and didn’t say a word about her tardiness. Her mother was like that. HSH Adrienne had high expectations, but she’d never been one to nag.
In the past, Alice had crashed a motorcycle in the marketplace, run off with a sheikh for a week in Marrakech, been photographed for Vanity Fair wearing only a cleverly draped silk scarf and been arrested in Beijing for participating in a protest march. Among other things.
Until Glasgow, her mother had never done more than gently remind her that she was a princess of Montedoro and expected to behave like one. But after Glasgow, for the first time, Alice had been summoned to her mother’s office. HSH Adrienne had asked her to shut the door and then coolly informed her that she’d finally gone too far.
“Alice,” her mother had said much too sadly, too gently, “it’s one thing to be spirited and adventurous. It’s another to be an embarrassment to yourself and our family. In future I am counting on you to exercise better judgment and to avoid situations that will lead to revealing, provocative pictures of you splashed across the front pages of the Sun and the Daily Star.”
It had been awful. Just thinking about it made her feel a little sick to her stomach.
And sad, too. A bit wilted and grim.
Shake it off, she commanded herself. Let it go.
Alice looked for her place card and found it between her older sister Belle’s husband, Preston McCade, and her younger sister Genevra. Genny wore shimmering teal-blue satin and was giggling over something with another sister, the youngest, Rory, who was seated on Genny’s other side.
Damien sat at the opposite end of the table. No sign of the man who looked like Noah. Alice considered hustling down there and asking Dami...what?
Who was that man with the dark blond hair, the one you came in with?
And what if he stared at her blankly and demanded, Allie, darling, what man?
She waffled just long enough that she missed her chance. Her mother rose and greeted the guests. A hush fell over the tent. Then her father stood, as well. He picked up his champagne glass to propose the first toast.
Allie reached for her glass, raised it high and drank on cue. Then she took her seat. She greeted her sisters and Pres
ton, whom she liked a lot. He was charming and a little shy, with a great sense of humor. He bred and trained quarter horses, so they had plenty to talk about.
There were more toasts. Alice paced herself, taking very small sips of champagne, practicing being low-key and composed for all she was worth. By the time the appetizer was served, she felt glad she hadn’t asked Dami about the broad-shouldered stranger with the dark gold hair and perfectly cut evening clothes.
It was nothing. It didn’t matter. She would have a fine evening celebrating her dearest sister’s hard-earned happiness. And no one else would know that she’d imagined she saw someone who wasn’t really there. She accepted a second glass of champagne from a passing servant and picked up a spear of prosciutto-wrapped asparagus—and then almost dropped the hors d’oeuvre in her lap when she glanced over and saw Noah.
He wore the same perfect evening attire she’d glimpsed earlier. And he sat between a stunning blonde and a gorgeous redhead several tables away, staring right at her.
Copyright © 2013 by Christine Rimmer
ISBN-13: 9781460321324
THANKSGIVING DADDY
Copyright © 2013 by Susan Civil-Brown
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
Good things do come in small packages in the latest book in Lilian Darcy’s new miniseries, The Cherry Sisters!
Independent Lee knew she had a cushy life in Aspen. A great job as a ski instructor, a luxury home (well, the caretaker’s apartment, but it was right on the slopes). And a new fling with new coworker Mac Wheeler. He was handsome, athletic, sexy—the après-ski had just gotten a whole lot better!
Only it was never meant to get serious. She’s pregnant. Mac’s baby, conceived at Christmas. Overnight, her plans change: she’s moving back East to work at the family hotel with her sisters. But the real shock is…Mac has followed her. Yes, 1,700 miles, determined to be…what? Angry? Sure. Daddy? Guess so. Husband…? Who knew…
He hadn’t been in touch.
He might be packing up to move back to Idaho. He would surely have heard about the job at Barrier Mountain by now. What had they ever had together that could make her believe in this kind of a future? Flowers and a veil and the promise of undying love… No. They hadn’t been heading in that direction at all. They’d said nothing to each other about anything like that.
“But we never actually ended it,” he repeated now.
“No, we didn’t.”
“And if you hadn’t gotten pregnant, what would have happened? Were you planning to end it, before that happened?”
“Not at that point, I—”
“Not at that point?”
“We met at a bar in a resort town, Mac. In that situation, you’re not looking for something long-term, and you kind of assume the other person isn’t, either.”
“Right.” After a moment, he added quietly, “Are you really that cynical and hard-edged? You were that ready to dump the whole thing the moment it threatened to go deeper?”
“No! I was…really enjoying it, if you want the truth. Every bit of it.”
Scaring myself a little bit, wondering once or twice if I was being played.
* * *
THE CHERRY SISTERS:
Three sisters return to their childhood home
in the mountains—and find the love of a lifetime!
Dear Reader,
Would you describe yourself as the outdoorsy type? Or are you someone who much prefers to tuck yourself cosily away indoors during the cold of winter?
Like my heroine in this story, I’m a mix of both. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing like fresh air and beautiful views and a good hike or swim or ski. There’s also nothing like that delicious feeling of coming back to a warm house and something good to eat after a bracing few hours in the open.
Lee has her life set up exactly the way she wants in this area. She’s a ski instructor in Colorado by day, with a very nice arrangement as live-in caretaker for an eleven-million-dollar mansion that occupies much of her free time but gives her access to an open fire, a Jacuzzi and seven bathrooms.
Yet when the story opens, she’s not in Colorado—she’s back home in upstate New York, staring down a very angry Mac Wheeler, who has followed her halfway across the country to say his piece. What has happened to throw both of these characters so far beyond their comfort zone?
Well, you’ve probably guessed the answer to this from the book’s title. More important, however, how did it happen, and what are they going to do about it?
I hope you enjoy Lee and Mac’s tumultuous relationship, and their equally tumultuous journey.
Lilian Darcy
THE BABY MADE AT CHRISTMAS
Lilian Darcy
Books by Lilian Darcy
Harlequin Special Edition
The Mommy Miracle #2134
⌘Daddy on Her Doorstep #2176
⌘A Doctor in His House #2186
⌘A Marriage Worth Fighting For #2200
ΩThe One Who Changed
Everything #2282
ΩThe Baby Made at Christmas #2297
Silhouette Special Edition
Balancing Act #1552
Their Baby Miracle #1672
¤The Runaway and the Cattleman #1762
¤Princess in Disguise #1766
¤Outback Baby #1774
The Couple Most Likely To #1801
A Mother in the Making #1880
The Millionaire’s Makeover #1899
The Heiress’s Baby #2063
Silhouette Romance
The Baby Bond #1390
Her Sister’s Child #1449
Raising Baby Jane #1478
*Cinderella After Midnight #1542
*Saving Cinderella #1555
*Finding Her Prince #1567
Pregnant and Protected #1603
For the Taking #1620
The Boss’s Baby Surprise #1729
The Millionaire’s
Cinderella Wife #1772
Sister Swap #1816
Family Secrets
Racing Hearts
¤Wanted: Outback Wives
*The Cinderella Conspiracy
⌘McKinley Medics
ΩThe Cherry Sisters
Other titles by Lilian Darcy available in ebook format.
LILIAN DARCY
has written nearly eighty books for Silhouette Romance, Harlequin Special Edition and Harlequin Medical Romance. Happily married with four active children and a very patient cat, she enjoys keeping busy and could probably fill several more lifetimes with the things she likes to do—including cooking, gardening, quilting, drawing and traveling. She currently lives in Australia but travels to the United States as often as possible to visit family. Lilian loves to hear from readers. You can
write to her at P.O. Box 532, Jamison P.O., Macquarie ACT 2614, Australia, or email her at [email protected].
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
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Excerpt
Chapter One
Upstate New York, March
“I am so angry with you, Lee.” Mac stood there at the bottom of the porch steps, against a backdrop of blooming crocuses in bright yellow and purple, while the still-bare trees gleamed with a coating of ice against a perfect late-March blue sky.
His hair was getting a little long, and he must have combed it back with his fingers because it lay in untidy, slightly wavy strands along the top of his head and down the back of his neck. A glint of sunlight caught his cheekbones, and the shadow above them made his dark eyes seem even darker. His shoulders looked strong and square under his shirt, and he stood with his feet planted on the ground as if ready for a fight with a grizzly bear. He was so gorgeous it almost hurt to look at him.
He hadn’t told Lee he was coming, and he’d driven here, he hadn’t flown. His familiar dark blue pickup was parked right there, still muddy and speckled with splashes of Colorado mountain road salt even after a journey of two thousand miles.
It spooked Lee that he’d driven all this way without a word of warning. Rattled the cage of her catlike independence, and made her very wary about his reasons. There was a statement in what he’d done. He’d ambushed her deliberately, and she didn’t know whether to be angry right back, or fall into his arms, or some third alternative that for the moment she couldn’t bring to mind.