Rancher Daddy (Family Ties Book 2)

by Lois Richer

  “I can’t,” he said forcefully.

  “You can’t what? Take the love God offered you for an amazing woman who would share every aspect of your life on this ranch?” Andy shook his head. “Do you know how rare real love is? Instead of opening your heart to such an incredible gift, you let fear take over. You chose your ranch over her. What else is she going to do but pack up and leave?”

  “I never thought about it that way,” Luc mumbled.

  “So think about it. You’ve got this magnificent spread, your dream. But Holly’s gone and Henry will be soon. What’s left? What good is your beloved dream if you can’t share it?”

  There was nothing to say. Andy was right and Luc knew it. But how could he be sure he wasn’t making a mistake?

  “All this time, I should have taken my own advice because you’re not qualified on love, Luc.” Andy was only half joking. He rose and dumped out his coffee. “Think and pray about it, buddy. This is a turning point in your faith journey. You’ve got to trust God sometime.” After a slap on the shoulder and a “thanks for supper,” Andy left.

  Luc sat alone in the darkness with only the faint wail of coyotes.

  “So what do I do? What is Your will?”

  But he knew. Inside he knew God’s will.

  God had gifted him with love for Holly and Henry. Whether or not that love would flourish into something he’d only ever dreamed of was not the question. The question was whether or not he’d throw it away.

  *

  “What in the world?” Holly blinked groggily. Two thirty in the morning and someone was banging on her door as if there was a fire.

  The banging stopped for two seconds then resumed even louder.

  “I’m coming,” she called as she tied the belt of her robe. “Please stop making that racket,” she begged as she dragged open the door then gasped. “Luc? What’s wrong?”

  “Everything.” He leaned against the door frame, tall, lean and incredibly handsome even in the greenish glare of a cheap light fixture. “I need to talk to you.”

  All down the hallway doors opened and necks craned to see the cause of the commotion. Holly knew that tomorrow she’d get a call from the super to complain about the noise. How she hated this compacted living; she missed the freedom of Cool Springs Ranch.

  “You have to talk to me in the middle of the night?” she snapped, irritated by the lack of privacy from curious onlookers. “Well, you can’t stand out here to do it. Come in.” She latched onto his arm and tugged him inside her apartment. “Now,” she demanded, hands on her hips, “what is so important that it couldn’t—”

  Luc’s lips covered hers in a kiss that reached into her heart and pulled her into the circle of his strong arms, right where she’d longed to be. Holly kissed him back, her lips molded to his, her arms sliding around his neck as she wordlessly told him what lay in her heart. How could she not? She’d lived, prayed for this moment. Now she asked no questions, simply gloried in the relief of expressing her love for this magnificent, attractive, delightfully frustrating man.

  At last, breathless, Holly eased back to study Luc’s beloved face, so glad he kept his strong muscular arms tight around her waist.

  “I love you, Holly,” Luc said, his voice hushed, reverent. “I have forever but I was afraid to say it. You are what gives my world meaning. You give me strength and support. Without you nothing matters and that scares me a whole lot more than loving you. Come home where you belong, Holly. Please?”

  Her smile began with his first words and grew wider the longer he spoke. When he finally finished, she couldn’t hide her joy any longer. It spurted out of her in a bubble of laughter.

  “Oh, Luc. You really are Mr. Just In Time, aren’t you?” She pressed her lips against his mouth once more then broke off the kiss to draw him forward.

  “I asked you a question,” Luc said with a frown.

  “Which I intend to answer. Come and sit down, darling, and I’ll explain.”

  “I like the darling part,” he murmured in her ear before following her across the room. Once he was seated on her knobby sofa, Holly sat beside him, deliriously happy when he lifted his arm to draw her close against his side. She left his embrace for one second to lean forward and lift a paper from the coffee table.

  “What’s that?” He broke away from caressing her neck to stare curiously at the paper.

  “This, my darling Luc, is a deal I made with God.” She smiled at his mystified look. “It’s a lease agreement. You had until tomorrow, technically today,” she reminded him, “to contact me before I sign it for a year’s lease on this place. For saving me from that alone you deserve many thanks.”

  “So thank me,” he said with a twinkle in his dark eyes. So Holly thanked him as best she could in a kiss that came from her heart and needed no words to explain. “Surely you wouldn’t have stayed here?” he asked sometime later with a disapproving glance around. “It’s so—” he paused, searching for the right word.

  “Ugly?” Holly supplied, hiding her smile.

  “Exactly. And this sofa is about as comfortable as the rocks at the creek.”

  “How I’ve missed that creek,” she told him.

  “Then let’s go.” Luc rose and reached out for her hand.

  “Luc, we can’t go to the creek now.” Holly let him draw her into his arms anyway.

  “Work?” he asked, brushing his lips across her forehead.

  “No, I’m off tomorrow but—”

  “Come on, Holly,” he murmured before kissing her once more. “At least come for a ride with me. Please?”

  How could she withstand that loving, tender voice? She couldn’t. Five minutes later she was changed and riding toward Buffalo Gap in his restored truck. The moments seemed too special, too precious to spend talking so Holly sat next to Luc, silently savoring the joy of having this beloved man of her dreams so near. It seemed mere moments before they arrived at Cool Springs Ranch.

  “You’ve saddled Melody,” she marveled when he helped her from the truck. Luc cupped his hands, offering her a step to mount the horse. Then he swung up onto his own.

  “Let’s go,” Luc invited. Holly nodded.

  The September night was clear with a blazingly bright full moon that lit their way up the hills to the spot Holly treasured most. She’d never thought to return and now caught her breath at the beauty of the silver-sparkled water, the milky white stones glowing in the moonlight and the murmur of bubbling creek water.

  “Look, Holly,” Luc whispered, one arm around her waist while the other waved to the panoramic view before them. “This is our land. This is our home.”

  “Yours,” she corrected.

  Luc shook his head.

  “Ours.” He helped her sit on the largest boulder then knelt in front of her. “Before he died, your father made me promise that I’d make sure you were happy. I haven’t done a very good job of that. I’d like to make amends starting now.”

  “Oh, Luc.” She loved his hands covering hers then linking their fingers together.

  “I love you, Holly. Without you, nothing else in my world matters.” Luc’s voice betrayed no pause, no hesitation. “I’m sorry I never told you that. I’m sorry I didn’t make sure you knew that you are my security, my meaning, the one I trust above all others.”

  “I love you, too, Luc,” she whispered. “So much.”

  He smiled but placed a finger against her lips letting her know he needed to say this.

  “This love for you is the most precious gift God’s ever given me. It allows me to face the future with you with no fear, because God will be behind us. It means I can handle anything as long as God is with us.”

  Holly studied his dear face with misty eyes and a heart full of praise. Once again God had proven his love for her by sending her this beloved man.

  “What I’m asking you for, Holly, is a life partnership, a non-breakable promise that I will hold you to,” he warned, his voice tense. “I need you to love me as much as I l
ove you.”

  For a moment the world around them stood still, breathless, waiting. Then,

  “Will you marry me, Holly Janzen?”

  “On one condition,” she said through her tears.

  “Name it.” Luc held her gaze, hands and voice steady.

  “You can’t rescind it,” she said, tenderly cupping his face in her hands. “You can’t ever take it back. I love you, Luc Cramer. Since that’s not going to change, this has to be a lifetime commitment.”

  They solemnly shook on it, laughed gleefully then sealed the deal in the most satisfactory way possible—a kiss. When Luc finally released her, Holly asked about Henry.

  “The adoption’s fallen through,” Luc told her, holding her tight as if to stave off the pain. He explained what Abby had told him. “He’s not going to be our son.”

  “You’re going to have to be tougher if you intend to stick with me, Luc.” Holly held him close. “We have God on our side and He is faithful. He led the three of us together that first morning when we found Henry. He’s not going to abandon us now. This is our first hurdle and we’ll trust God. Agreed?”

  “How could God have blessed me with such a smart intelligent woman?” Luc asked after he’d sealed their agreement with a kiss.

  “Because He’s God and He knew you needed me,” she shot back with a grin.

  “Thank You, Lord.” They sat side by side on the rocks, talking, sharing everything in their hearts as the first streaks of daylight turned the sky peach.

  “I meant to tell you, Holly. I’m not buying your ranch.” Luc smiled at her immediate protest. “Now who doesn’t have faith?”

  “Tell me your plan.” She leaned against him and listened.

  “We’ll run them as equal partners,” Luc told her. “That’s if you want to come back to the ranch. What about your new job?”

  “I’m supposed to work a month before deciding but I’d already decided to give notice. I realized it’s not where God wants me.” She chuckled. “I was waiting to learn His next step but I didn’t think I’d find out in the wee hours. Now I know it’s with you and Henry. Want to hear my plan?”

  While the sun crested over the hills, Holly laid out her plan to adopt Henry and then to take online training so she’d be able to help more women.

  “I’m going to ask Abby to let me add a counseling service to Family Ties to help those ladies who need us.” She raised an eyebrow for Luc’s input.

  “Just keep some time free for your husband,” he said to which she readily agreed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Luc, you’re not going to make it back in time for our wedding,” Holly wailed into the phone one late-October morning.

  “You’re not getting out of marrying me,” he said, puffing slightly. “Even if I was late, you know very well it would be worth it.”

  “So what happened?” she asked, breathless with anticipation at the way her life was changing.

  “Your judge heard we’re getting married today, asked me about Shelly’s petition then told me how much he’d appreciated your nursing ability when he had his heart attack. I told him about our great relationship with Henry and Finn and that we are the best couple the two of them could ever have as parents.” He chuckled. “He told me how grateful he was to have you when he was in hospital, and—”

  “Luc, get to the point,” Holly said with a quick glance at the clock in her bedroom.

  “He signed our adoption petition. We are Henry’s parents.”

  Unable to contain her joy, she let out a scream. Then she heard the sound of the phone falling and a faraway squeak of dismay coming from Luc.

  “Luc?”

  He was going to be late coming back from Calgary. Holly just knew it. And then the release of the birds would be off, which would annoy Mayor Marsha whose idea it was. And that would annoy the school bandleader who wanted his group to perform a “bird” song as Marsha’s birds took flight, which in turn would—

  “Holly? Holly, are you there?” Luc was back on the phone. “You’re worrying again, aren’t you?”

  “I can’t help it, Luc. I love them all but they’ve taken our simple wedding in the meadow and turned it into some kind of Buffalo Gap circus. And now you’re going to be late.”

  “Impossible. I’m almost to your place. You better be ready to go. I love you, Holly.” Luc hung up.

  Holly sniffed, clicked off the phone, adjusted her Stetson and the white wedding dress she’d made and decorated with her favorite lace then went to open the door. In the distance she could see dust trails from Luc’s restored truck. He’d pick her up then they’d ride to the meadow where they’d be married in front of anyone from Buffalo Gap who wanted to attend. Which by now was probably every one of them.

  “‘This is the day that the Lord hath made,’” she recited between calming breaths as Luc finally pulled up. She slid into his arms for a reassuring kiss. “Darling, your truck looks magnificent with those ribbons.”

  “That was Hilda’s idea. She wants to make wedding knots or something. I sure hope she doesn’t leave any scratches.” Luc leaned back to survey her. “You’re beautiful, Holly. A credit to the town, best bride Buffalo Gap’s ever seen, symbol of everything—” He had to stop because Holly put her hand over his mouth.

  “In about ten minutes, if you don’t delay, I will be Holly Cramer and I’ll never have to pay attention to what anyone says about Holly Janzen again,” she told him. “Now let’s go.”

  “Huh.” Luc helped her into the truck then climbed in beside her. “Is my name the only reason you’re marrying me?”

  “Not even close,” Holly assured him with a smug smile.

  After a very satisfying embrace, which delayed the wedding a little longer, they drove to the meadow where Henry waited impatiently.

  “What’s around your neck, Henry?” Luc asked, shooting Holly a surprised look. She shook her head.

  “I’m the ring bearer, right?” Henry glanced at them, waiting for reassurance.

  “Right.” Holly bent and pressed a kiss against his cheek. “Everyone will know that because you’re carrying a pillow with our rings.”

  “Yeah. And everybody knows Luc. But you went away,” Henry said to Holly. He shoved his glasses up his nose with one hand, his little face as serious as could be. “So me an’ Tommy, my buddy from school, hafta make sure all these people know who you are.”

  “Good idea.” Luc winked at Holly.

  “So we made a sign to tell them.” As Henry shifted a sign swung from his back to his front. “We did it at school. Teacher helped us to not spell it wrong.”

  Here comes the bride.

  Holly wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. All she knew was this precious boy and man were hers to love forever. Because God so loved her.

  “All right now.” Luc’s arm slid around her waist. “Are we ready to get married, Holly?”

  Just then Ornery Joe stuck his head through a nearby grove of trees. Holly glanced at Luc.

  “Really?”

  “A lesson in getting softened by love would do him good.” Luc kissed her nose. “Don’t worry, he can’t get out.”

  “Make that a three-ring circus,” Holly muttered.

  “Which you love.” Luc leaned toward her. “Ready?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Luc signaled to Hilda, who attached the rings to Henry’s pillow then urged him down the makeshift aisle, his sign bumping from knee to knee as he walked. Luc hurried around the side of the assembled townsfolk to the arch in front and waited beside Pastor Don for Holly.

  Holly paused to take in the blessings God had showered on her. Everything in her life had led her to this moment. She could not regret any of it.

  “I love you, Dad,” she whispered inside her heart. Then she took the next step to the rest of her life.

  *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from FAMILY WANTED by Renee Andrews.

  Dear Reader,

  Welcome back to my fictional t
own of Buffalo Gap where cowboys roam as freely as their herds. I hope you enjoyed Holly and Luc’s story. Holly is trying to live up to the town’s high expectations and Luc has never quite been able to let go of the loss of his family and security. Neither is ready to let go of the past and move into what God has specially planned for them until they relinquish their lack of trust in the Father who is love. Their story reminds us that none of us stands alone, each of us requires God’s grace, leading and forgiveness before we can truly live as His children. Henry is a reminder that though life is rarely simple it can be filled with simple joy if we will trust.

  I love to hear from readers. You can friend me at facebook.com/LoisRicherAuthor, via email at loisricher@yahoo.com or through loisricher.com. For those who prefer snail mail, you can write to me at Box 639, Nipawin, Sk. Canada S0E 1E0.

  Till we meet again I pray you’ll feel the intense, never-ending, gloriously motivating love of our Father God in every aspect of your life.

  Blessings,

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired story.

  You believe hearts can heal. Love Inspired stories show that faith, forgiveness and hope have the power to lift spirits and change lives—always.

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  Family Wanted

  by Renee Andrews

  Chapter One

  Dear Titus, hurting you was the last thing I ever intended to do.

  Isabella Gray drove beneath the wooded canopy leading to the future home of Willow’s Haven, trepidation shimmying down her spine. An orphanage. The man she’d promised to see had to be building an orphanage. Oh, they might call it something different, a “child home,” but Isabella wasn’t fooled by the tender name.