Small lines crinkled around his eyes, genuine surprise flowing out of him. “That’s a lot, considering we’ve only known each other a couple of weeks.”
“I know it seems strange, but there are times you know when something’s right.” She reached for his hands, grasping them.
“This isn’t right.”
Her heart thudded. She’d been so sure he cared for her, even that he loved her.
“Oh.” The word slipped from her mouth.
He gripped her hands and squeezed. “You’re right for me, but what you’re prepared to do for me, for us? That’s not right.” He slipped one of his hands out of hers and ran his fingers down her cheek, wiping away her tears. “You came into my life like a breath of fresh mountain air, sweet and revitalizing.”
“There’s an us.” That sounded like a question and a statement rolled into one.
“I want there to be an us. We’re both right. We need time to grow, to test the waters, so to speak, to make sure we don’t screw this up for Danny.” His shoulders began relaxing as if he’d realized he didn’t have to carry the weight of the world on them.
“That’s what I’m saying. I’m going to move to Seattle.”
He shook his head. “Shelby had the right idea. Danny should stay here until I’m done with the military. By then, we’ll know everything about each other.”
She laughed again, the colors of the world becoming crisp and clear again. “I can’t imagine a military man without a few good secrets.”
Aidan’s face sobered. “It’s true I’ll have to keep some information classified, but I’ll share everything I can about my present, and I’ll talk to you about my past. In return, you’ll tell me about Danny and Stormy.” He paused, and she saw the first hint of a smile. “And Hyacinth and Belinda.”
“What about them?” Natalie winced.
Aidan explained about Sweet Shelby’s Tea Room, and her mouth dropped open. He leaned over and kissed her, and she pulled him close, the kindness and bravery of him irresistible. For seconds, maybe minutes, the kiss swirled everything inside her into a kaleidoscope of color and wonder that this man wanted her in his life.
She pulled back and gasped, reveling in the taste of coffee and Aidan remaining on her lips. “Penelope!” She glanced at her phone and moaned. “We need to be there in five minutes.”
“That should be enough time for us to make a plan together.”
As they walked hand in hand, he talked about the tea room and a series of his own phone calls, including one to Mayor Wes and one to the firm in Washington, DC, which agreed to having him act as a consultant on a contractual basis after his discharge. He’d live here but fly out when needed.
They arrived at the lawyer’s office with no time to spare. In a mere five-minute walk, they’d settled Danny’s future, at least as far as the next year was concerned. She’d stay in Hollydale with him, while Aidan would visit when he could do so. Once his discharge came through, he’d move here permanently. Until then, Becks could rent Shelby’s house. Her sister being close by would help out not only her sister, but all of them. And Bob Woodley, the current city manager, would stay on long enough to get his full pension and benefits before Aidan arrived to take over the job.
“You thought of everything, Murphy,” she joked as they climbed the stairs to the front door.
“Well, I didn’t know if you’d give me another chance, Harrison.”
She went up on tiptoe and he lowered his head as their lips met for a brief kiss.
“I think the grand marshal, who helped a small kitten survive and negotiated a truce in the town, deserves one more chance. Heroes don’t come along every day, you know.”
“Neither do vivacious redheads who turn my life upside down.” He smiled.
EPILOGUE
AIDAN CHECKED HIS duffel bag in the parking lot. New cat toy for Stormy, check. Lego set for Danny, check. His honorable discharge papers, check. Until last week, he hadn’t expected the military to release him from his duties three months early. However, the JAG attorney who’d met with him had explained he received credit for his medical injury, which had pushed up his discharge date to March instead of June.
Spring break never looked so good as it did at Hollydale Park, with green shoots coming out of the hickory tree branches and the red maples in full leaf. Working with Diane and Carl Harrison, he’d arranged a surprise for Natalie and Danny.
A knock at his window grabbed his attention. There was Danny with a load of balloons. Aidan jumped out of the car and hugged his nephew.
“Surprise, Uncle Aidan!” Danny held him tight while the sunlight streamed across his face.
Somehow, he should have known he couldn’t catch Natalie and Danny off guard.
Barking filled the air. A puppy on a leash was headed his way, tugging Natalie along the path. His breath caught. For a minute, he wanted to check to make sure this was all real. Despite everything thrown at her, she hadn’t given up on him. Her bangle bracelets provided a soft melody, and she stopped and smiled as he soaked in her yellow sundress with matching yellow-and-brown cowboy boots. He’d dreamed of this moment, but nothing beat the reality of coming home and being with her.
He was thrilled to see them both. He dropped his duffel bag on the sidewalk. “Is this the puppy we talked about adopting?”
A tan puppy sniffed him and decided he liked Aidan as he licked his leg and flopped onto the sidewalk for a belly rub. Aidan complied.
“I know it seems like I talked you into it,” she began. “But someone dropped a litter of puppies off at Lucie’s house, and she’s eight months pregnant, so we all pitched in. Georgie and Mike took one, Becks took two—she’s such an overachiever—and who could say no to this face? Even Stormy approved.”
He stopped any other words with a kiss, a long one he didn’t want to end.
Danny hopped up and down beside them. “I got to name him, Uncle Aidan. He’s Edison cause we were studying him at school, but Aunt Natalie shortened it to Eddie.”
He grinned and met her gaze. Sparks zinged the air.
“Welcome home, Aidan.”
Diane came out of nowhere and grabbed the leash. “Come on, Danny. Come on, Eddie. Let’s get this party started.”
Natalie moved into his arms, and he held her tight, the strawberry scent soaking into him. He knew he’d never forget this moment as long as he lived.
“I’ve missed you,” she said.
“I love you.” The words spilled out of him as he repeated himself in five other languages for good measure.
She cupped his face and kissed him. Seconds passed, and he gave in to the sweetness and the love. Breaking away, she took his hand and pulled him toward the pavilion, where half the town seemed ready to welcome him back officially.
“You knew, didn’t you? Who told you? Your mom? Your dad?” After all, when he’d called her parents to tell them his intention of asking Natalie to marry him and sought their approval—rather old-fashioned but something Aidan felt compelled to do—he had revealed his homecoming date.
“When you Skyped me last week, the discharge papers were on your desk. So was the airline ticket.” Her eyes twinkled. “It’s hard to fool a kindergarten teacher. You might want to remember that.”
Tonight he’d surprise her when he proposed. He knew she’d say yes. The look in her eyes communicated enough love for a lifetime and then some. In Hollydale, he’d found a home. He’d found Natalie.
She tapped his shoulder, and he leaned over. “By the way, I’m going to knock your socks off when you see me in my green cocktail dress at Hollydale’s new fancy restaurant tonight.” She beamed. “Just in case any important questions get asked.”
His laugh was full and rich. One day he’d surprise her, although he didn’t know when and he didn’t know how. After all, unexpected twists had made his life that much fuller, start
ing with his nephew, and the redhead who was leading him into the pavilion to share her friends and family with him.
Natalie was the bright star that would always guide him home.
* * *
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ISBN-13: 9781488074509
The Soldier’s Unexpected Family
Copyright © 2021 by Tanya Agler
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
For questions and comments about the quality of this book, please contact us at [email protected].
Harlequin Enterprises ULC
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www.Harlequin.com
Quinn looked at the sprawling view of the ranch below.
“This is very beautiful,” she whispered.
“Yes, beautiful,” he echoed, and when she glanced at him, he was looking at her.
“I’m glad you brought me here,” she murmured. It was a good memory she’d take with her.
She felt a tendril of hair that had come free of her ponytail brush against her cheek. Seth let go of her hand to gently push the hair back behind her ear. “I’m glad you came with me,” he said.
As they walked back down the trail, Quinn stayed behind Seth. She’d never forget the wonderful moments on the ridge. She hadn’t had too many of those in the past seventeen months, since Michael died. She took a deep breath, part of her wishing they could’ve stayed longer, then she thought about Seth holding her hand earlier. Maybe it was a good thing they were going back now.
Dear Reader,
When I first had the idea for the story of Seth Reagan, who’d failed at love, and Quinn Lake, who’d found love and tragically lost it, I remembered a quote I’d heard somewhere in the past. It suggested that the wonder of a young heart falling in love for the first time is equaled only by the joy of a broken heart coming to love again.
Her Wyoming Hero is about Seth and Quinn coming into each other’s lives when they’re both trying to make sense of those lives and give them purpose. Quinn arrives at the ranch in northern Wyoming, never expecting to find that Seth Reagan—a tech wizard who built his own business—is a kind man who just wants to do the right thing for those close to him. Seth finds himself drawn to Quinn but fights it, knowing she isn’t over losing her husband. Gradually, unexpectedly, the two find a promise of a home and a love that neither one believed they could have.
I hope you enjoy the journey of Seth and Quinn, how love can bring the most wonderful joy into our lives and the deepest, truest connection with another person we’ll ever have.
Mary Anne Wilson
Her Wyoming Hero
Mary Anne Wilson
Mary Anne Wilson is a Canadian transplanted to California, where her life changed dramatically. She found her happily-ever-after with her husband, Tom, and their three children. She always loved writing, reading and has a passion for anything Jane Austen. She’s had around fifty novels published, been nominated for a RITA® Award, won Reviewers’ Choice Awards and received RWA’s Career Achievement Award in Romantic Suspense.
Books by Mary Anne Wilson
Harlequin Heartwarming
Eclipse Ridge Ranch
Under a Christmas Moon
The Carsons of Wolf Lake
A Question of Honor
Flying Home
A Father’s Stake
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
For: Julie Geisler, Emily Geisler Amy Levin, Taylor Levin Kate Wilson and Jodie Gerringer/Wilson
The strong and loving women and girls in my life who have been there when I needed them.
Love you all more than you could ever say you love me!
CONTENTS
Prologue
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
Epilogue
PROLOGUE
“I SHOULD HAVE called this in,” Seth Reagan muttered. Alone in his two-room private living quarters in the S.R. SoffTec corporate tower, he paced back and forth. Seth hated waiting for others to decide what he’d do for the next three or four months. He stopped by the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked down twenty-one stories at rain-drenched Seattle. The storm had passed, but the choppy waters of Puget Sound were almost black.
Seth exhaled and turned away from the gloomy day to glance at his surroundings—the place he’d lived for the past seven years. It was functional, with all-white walls, an exercise room through a door to the left by the sauna and a bathroom. The main space had a long computer center and a large platform bed that faced the views. Only one decoration hung over the bed. It was a framed picture of three teenaged boys with a large rugged-looking man, all four of them grinning into the camera near a horse corral. It had been taken during Seth’s last year at the group foster home on a ranch north of Eclipse, Wyoming.
He remembered the day clearly, that moment when James “Sarge” Caine had rounded up Jake Bishop, Ben Arias and Seth by the stables. The man declared that his wife, Maggie, wanted a picture of him and his boys. The boys had been fifteen-year-old strangers when they’d arrived at the ranch, but they were family when they’d each left at eighteen. His family. Seth quickly crossed to the photo and took it off the wall. After he put it in his suitcase, he zipped up the bag, anxious to leave.
When the connecting door to his executive offices opened, Owen Karr, his executive vice president, finally showed up. Seth greeted him with a blunt, “It’s about time.”
The slender man was forty, seven years older than Seth, and looked more like a CEO than Seth ever had or would. In a gray pinstriped suit and polished oxfords, with his red hair newly styled, Owen was corporate all the way. Seth, on the other hand—wearing jeans, a gray thermal shirt and scuffed leather boots, along with the shadow of a beard—probably looked like he belonged in maintenance.
“I’m here now,” Owen said as he motioned Seth to one of two leather chairs by the windows. “Sit and I’ll make this quick.�
�
Seth dropped into the chair closest to him and raked his fingers carelessly through his hair, which was in desperate need of a trim. “Okay, what did the board say?”
Owen swiveled his chair to face Seth. “They agreed to your sabbatical with a return set at three months. They also agreed to your request for me to be acting CEO while you’re gone.”
“Great,” Seth said. The priorities that had driven Seth’s life as an adult had all been about his company and about protecting anything to do with it. But that had shifted drastically when he’d received a phone call just after Thanksgiving last November. Sarge had taken a fall on the ranch. He hadn’t been found until hours later by the only ranch hand who still worked there.
From that moment on, Seth’s life had changed. Work had ceased to control his every waking hour. The company he’d founded and grown was strong and could survive without him for as long as Sarge needed him. “Now I’m going home.”
Owen nodded. “Got it.”
Seth glanced at his wristwatch. Just over an hour before he could make a break for it. “Conrad, my pilot, called ten minutes ago. The storm’s over and it’s clearing up to the east. So, I’ll need the town car in the lower parking garage at one o’clock to get to the airport.”
“Got it. There’s just one more thing,” Owen said, and Seth almost groaned out loud. Just one more thing was the magic phrase that usually preceded bad news. Seth braced himself, the way he had years ago when a caseworker came to tell him he was being relocated to another foster facility. Even at five years old, he’d learned quickly to listen, accept it and not fight it. “What?”
“There’s a guy waiting in lower-level reception who wants to talk to you about some revolutionary cybersecurity program. The claim is—”
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