Rancher Daddy (Family Ties Book 2)

by Lois Richer

  His Perfect Family

  All rancher Luc Cramer’s ever wanted is to someday have a family of his own. And from the moment he meets five-year-old orphan Henry, he’s determined to give the little boy a home and a father. So the good-looking cowboy enlists his neighbor Holly Janzen to help him with the adoption process. As she spends time with Luc and adorable Henry, she knows she’s losing her heart to them. But once Luc finds out Holly’s long-held secret, will he still see her as the wife and mother that she is clearly meant to be?

  “What if I do or say the wrong thing?” Luc said hesitantly.

  “Henry isn’t my son yet. What if I do something that damages my case? What if I somehow hurt him or make a mistake with him? I couldn’t stand that.”

  “Luc, nobody is born knowing how to be a parent. It’s trial and error for everyone.” Holly smiled, hoping to ease his anxiety. “Come on, Luc. You’ve talked about adopting Henry. Now’s not the time to get cold feet. In fact, this is probably the perfect time to try the things you want to do with Henry when you adopt him. Show him what you love,” she said quietly. “He’ll love it, too.”

  “I guess that’s my biggest fear,” he admitted. “Maybe Henry won’t like my life.”

  “Are you kidding? Cowboys are Henry’s heroes. He’s going to dive headlong into whatever you show him. But if he doesn’t, you’ll find something else, right? Because Henry is the son you’ve always wanted.”

  Without warning, Luc leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her forehead. “You’re a good friend, Holly.”

  She gulped, utterly unnerved by that soft kiss and yet deeply moved that this strong, competent man needed her. It took a second to get her happy-go-lucky mask in place so Luc wouldn’t see how deeply he’d affected her.

  Lois Richer loves traveling, swimming and quilting, but mostly she loves writing stories that show God’s boundless love for His precious children. As she says, “His love never changes or gives up. It’s always waiting for me. My stories feature imperfect characters learning that love doesn’t mean attaining perfection. Love is about keeping on keeping on.” You can contact Lois via email, loisricher@yahoo.com, or on Facebook (LoisRicherAuthor).

  Books by Lois Richer

  Love Inspired

  Family Ties

  A Dad for Her Twins

  Rancher Daddy

  Northern Lights

  North Country Hero

  North Country Family

  North Country Mom

  North Country Dad

  Healing Hearts

  A Doctor’s Vow

  Yuletide Proposal

  Perfectly Matched

  Love for All Seasons

  The Holiday Nanny

  A Baby by Easter

  A Family for Summer

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  RANCHER DADDY

  Lois Richer

  Let Him have all your worries and cares,

  for He is always thinking about you and

  watching everything that concerns you.

  —1 Peter 5:7

  This book is dedicated to children young and old who have ever felt abandoned, alone and unloved. You are not. God loves you with a love so deep no human love could touch it. If you let Him, He will fill your heart and soul so that you never again need to feel you’re on your own.

  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

  Dear Reader

  Excerpt from Family Wanted by Renee Andrews

  Chapter One

  Holly Janzen loved her early-morning ride home after a night shift on the hospital’s pediatric ward. Especially now that spring had crept into the valley where Buffalo Gap nestled in the foothills of the Alberta Rocky Mountains. With the sun just cresting, the town lay bathed in the rosy hue of May’s promise. The best part was that morning signaled a fresh start, untouched by the horrible memories of her past.

  Holly gaped at the twenty-foot photo of her own face pasted to a huge billboard in the center of town, her heart sinking as she read,

  Holly Janzen. Buffalo Gap’s citizen of the year.

  Why did they keep doing that? Several times a year Mayor Marsha Grant and the town council did something that featured Holly as the town’s poster child for success. Years ago they’d granted Holly, the girl voted most likely to succeed, a scholarship to earn her nurse practitioner credentials in Toronto. The mayor and the rest of the town never heard the truth about those years down east and how un-poster-child-like she’d behaved, because nobody in Buffalo Gap ever saw past the good-girl image of her childhood. To them Holly Janzen was a role model they wanted their own kids to emulate.

  As if!

  Tired of the never-ending guilt that memories of those years in Toronto always brought, Holly shoved them away and focused instead on the sight of the newly renovated hotel that now housed Family Ties, an adoption agency two friends had set up to help kids who needed homes. But unlike most days, this morning Holly gave the place more than a yearning glance.

  This morning a child sat on the steps that led to the front door.

  A horn sounded behind her, a short beep, just enough to let her know someone didn’t appreciate her pausing in the middle of the street. Holly identified the rusty brown half-ton truck in her rearview mirror and smiled. Luc Cramer, aka Mr. Just In Time.

  Luc had come to her rescue many times but especially during her father’s illness and after his death three months ago. He’d continued as Holly’s ranch manager leaving her free to focus on her work as the community’s nurse practitioner which often meant she helped pregnant moms deliver healthy newborns. A side benefit of that was that she got to work with moms-to-be at Family Ties.

  Holly mostly accepted what Luc suggested in regard to the ranch and so far it was working out great. The only negative side was that whenever Holly voiced her concern that Luc wasn’t benefitting as much as she was from the arrangement, he brushed her off.

  Now Holly thrust her hand out of her car window, pointed to the boy on the steps then steered hard left, crossing the street to pull into an angled parking spot in front of Family Ties. Two seconds later Luc’s truck pulled in beside hers as she jumped out of her orange jeep.

  “Holly, you can’t just stop in the middle of the street and then pull across it like that,” he began in that quiet but pained tone he sometimes used, which carried a kind of big-brother resignation.

  “What are you doing in town so early, Luc?” she asked.

  “Just coming home from Calgary.” He smiled at her arched eyebrow. “No, I wasn’t partying, I was trying to help a friend who’s going through a messy, painful divorce.”

  “That’s nice of you.” She tilted her head in the boy’s direction. “Who’s this little guy?”

  “No idea. Let’s find out.” Luc followed Holly as she hurried forward. She was aware of him but her focus centered on the little boy in worn-out jeans and a tattered red hoodie sitting in front of Family Ties. Big black glasses made him look like a wise owl.

  “Hi, honey,” she said in a soft voice, crouching down to meet the child’s gaze. “What’s your name?”

  “Henry.” He blinked huge brown eyes at her then his gaze shifted to Luc. “Are you a real cowboy
?” he asked in awed tones.

  Holly turned to see Luc’s slow, easy grin slash across his handsome, tanned face.

  “Real as they get, partner,” Luc said in a drawl that reminded her of some Hollywood star in a bygone Western movie. When he hunkered down beside Holly, his elbow brushed her arm, sending an electric charge up it as he thrust out a hand to shake Henry’s.

  Holly noticed the contact with her hunky foreman because it caused her stomach to do that shaky dance. But she couldn’t figure out why that was. Luc was a friend but nothing more. That was the way she wanted it.

  “Pleased to meet you, Henry. I’m Luc and that’s Holly.” Luc smiled then quietly asked, “What are you doing here?”

  “Waiting.” The boy reached up to touch the brim of Luc’s jet-black Stetson, the one Holly had only ever seen Luc remove for church and funerals. But this morning the cowboy took off his hat and set it on the boy’s head. Henry’s eyes widened. “I wish I had one of these.”

  “Maybe one day you will.” Luc shot Holly a look that asked for help.

  She nodded. They needed to find out more about this boy so they could figure out what to do next.

  “Are you waiting for someone special, Henry?” Holly asked.

  “Uh-huh. The people who work here.” The boy jerked a thumb over one shoulder. “They find families for kids. I want one.”

  Nonplussed, Holly glanced at Luc, who stared right back at her, his brown eyes crinkling at the corners with his lazy grin. That was Luc—laid-back, comfortable in his skin and always in a good mood. When she arched an eyebrow at him he simply shrugged. Obviously he was waiting for her to continue the investigation.

  “What’s your last name, Henry?” she asked.

  “Brown. Henry Brown.” His little chest puffed out. “I’m five and three quarters.”

  Five and three quarters. He was almost the same age as her baby… Holly gulped at the memories of that tiny innocent child and instead concentrated on what Henry was saying.

  “Last night I stayed with this lady—Ms. Hilda.” Henry’s big brown eyes narrowed. His lips pressed together as he scrunched up his nose so his glasses would move back in place. “She snores.”

  “I see.” Holly shot Luc a look meant to stifle his snort of laughter. She guessed Henry was one of the many foster kids from Calgary for whom Mayor Marsha often agreed to find temporary care.

  Holly considered phoning the mayor but hesitated. Marsha was still recovering from complications after her second knee surgery. Maybe Abby Lebret, owner of Family Ties, would be a better choice. But it was barely 6:00 a.m. and if Abby’s young twins hadn’t yet woken her, she wouldn’t appreciate an early-morning call, either.

  “I want a family,” Henry said with a glance over one shoulder, his voice and face as serious as a little old man.

  “Me, too. Are you hungry, Henry?” Luc’s grin flashed at Henry’s emphatic nod. “Hey, me, too.”

  “Well, what’s new about that?” Holly grumbled, irritated that her ranch manager didn’t seem to be taking the situation seriously. “You’re always hungry, Luc.”

  “Sounds like maybe you are, too, Miss Cranky,” Luc teased, his eyes as warm as his smile. “Long shift, huh? What say we go get some breakfast?”

  “Luc, you can’t just take him—”

  “Can I have pancakes? I love pancakes,” Henry asked, his voice beseeching.

  “Pancakes it is.” Luc straightened. “We can come back here, Holly. When Family Ties is open,” he added when she frowned.

  “Well, all right,” she agreed. “But we’d better phone Hilda first. She might be missing Henry.”

  “She’s prob’ly still snoring.” Henry’s tone was utterly serious.

  Holly had to turn away to hide her smile. When she did she bumped into Luc. He grasped her arms to steady her, which set her heart on a gallop.

  “Whoa there, little lady. You must need some food if you’re swaying on your feet.” His hands dropped away but his gaze never left her face. “Did you forget to eat your lunch again?”

  “I ate an apple around midnight,” Holly said, avoiding his gaze. “I can take care of myself, Luc.”

  “Oh, I know that,” he said, nodding, though his next words belied that. “But you do forget to eat when you’re on night shift. Come on. Let’s go to Brewsters.” He swung his arm around Henry’s shoulder. “They have the best breakfast,” he said in a low voice.

  “They have the only breakfast at this time of the morning,” Holly corrected, noticing how easily Henry and Luc had bonded. Feeling left out, she dialed Hilda’s. When there was no answer, she left a message on the machine then followed the two males while wondering how Luc knew she usually forgot her lunch.

  He knew because he was always there for her.

  Luc’s being there had started the day he’d purchased the land adjoining her dad’s Cool Springs Ranch. It continued after Holly’s dad got a terminal diagnosis and elected not to fight his lung cancer. Marcus Janzen had chosen instead to live out his days at home. Since her mom had long since abandoned her daughter, husband and Cool Springs Ranch, Holly was the only one Marcus had left. Because she loved her dad dearly she’d focused her time and efforts on making his final days perfect, with Luc’s help.

  Marcus and Luc had become fast friends the day after Luc moved in to the neighboring spread three years ago. He’d shown up at Cool Springs that evening to ask Marcus about a sick steer. He’d come a hundred times since, eager to learn all he could about ranching from Holly’s very knowledgeable dad.

  Maybe that’s why it had seemed normal for Luc to “help out” as he put it, when Marcus fell ill. Luc did the chores her dad couldn’t, sold the cattle Marcus wanted to part with and even sheared the sheep Marcus had just begun raising. After Marcus died, Luc kept coming back, kept helping out. And Holly had been glad of it, especially after Family Ties opened and, as the local nurse practitioner, she was called on to assist with several births.

  “You must be daydreaming about something wonderful,” Luc whispered in her ear when she passed through the door he held open. “Your smile couldn’t get bigger. Something good happen?”

  “Yes.” She sank into a booth across from Henry. She smiled at him then faced Luc. “This morning I made a decision. I’m going ahead with the renovations on the house. I intend to make the extra bedroom into a full-blown sewing room.”

  She’d decided to go ahead because this morning the very thought of always having to clear off the dining table so she could sew the baby clothes she sold online seemed daunting. The extra bedroom was the perfect space; it just needed a few modifications.

  Holly grimaced. Was it her good-girl image that made her try to gloss things over? Truthfully, that room needed a lot of modification if it was going to help her grow her business.

  But Holly didn’t tell Luc that. Nobody in town knew about her business and that’s the way she intended to keep it. Getting dumped the day before her December wedding had generated enough gossip in Buffalo Gap to last a lifetime. She sure didn’t need the town thinking she was so heartbroken and desperate to have a child that she now poured her soul into making baby clothes for other moms because she’d lost her chance to be a wife and mom.

  “Holly?” Luc’s touch on her arm roused her from her introspection. “Pancakes and sausage? That’s what Henry and I are having.”

  “No, thank you.” Holly made a face. “The very last things I want are heavy, syrup-drenched pancakes and sausages before I go to sleep. I’ll have dry rye toast, two scrambled eggs and tea, please,” she said to Paula Brewster. They shared a smile before Paula left to place the orders.

  “Pancakes are good,” Henry told her seriously. “Way better than eggs or cereal.” He lost his serious look for a moment when Luc held out a hand to high-five him. But the gravity returned almost immediately. “When do I get my family?”

  Holly didn’t know how to answer. It would be nice to say “not long,” to reassure the boy, but the truth was that n
either she nor Luc knew anything about Henry and whether or not Family Ties could help him.

  “That’s a hard thing to answer, Henry,” Luc said seriously. Holly liked the way he didn’t brush off the boy’s concern or make promises he couldn’t keep.

  “Why?” Henry’s big brown eyes looked into Luc’s trustingly, waiting for an answer.

  “Because families are hard things to build,” Luc told him. He grinned. “Look at me. I don’t have a family yet.”

  “Don’t you want one?” Henry thanked their server for his glass of milk, took a sip then leaned back in his chair to hear the answer.

  “Definitely.” Luc nodded. “But finding a family isn’t easy. I grew up without my own family. Instead, other families took care of me.”

  “Did you like that?” Henry asked.

  “Mostly I did. I was safe,” Luc said after a moment of thought. “I had a place to sleep, good food to eat and nobody hurt me. It was okay.”

  “I want a family to love me.” Henry’s earnest tone matched his solemn face. “I prayed to God for it.”

  “That’s the best thing you could do, Henry.” Holly waited until Paula had served their food before she continued. “God loves us. He wants to give us what we most want. You just keep praying for a family.”

  “Do you have a family?” Henry studied her seriously.

  “Not anymore,” Holly explained quietly, setting down her fork as she spoke. “My dad died three months ago. He was all the family I had.”

  No way would she include her mother as family. Since the day she’d walked out, Holly barely gave the woman a thought and certainly not in terms of motherhood.

  It struck Holly then that she’d done a much worse thing than her mother had done. The familiar burden of guilt that always accompanied thoughts of her baby settled on her spirit once more.

  “I’m sorry.” Henry reached across the table and enfolded her fingers in his. “I’ll ask God to get you and Luc families, too.”