He handed her a crumpled, folded piece of paper which she opened carefully, almost with a sense of reverence. For a moment, she couldn’t tell what she was looking at. Even when she started to understand, she couldn’t make herself believe it. Her eyes flew back up to Austin’s face, and she found that he was watching her closely, a nervous smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
“Is this what I think it is?” she asked breathlessly, gripping the paper so tightly that she actually punched a hole through it.
"They're blueprints," he nodded, his grin widening. "It's still a rough plan, but I wanted to have something to show you so that you know what's on my mind. When it comes to the actual design, I thought you might want a hand in that. It's going to be your space, after all, so you can start a private practice on the ranch. Maybe we can even expand it one day, add some kind of equine therapy. We could use the land to help children heal. I think there's something sort of beautiful about that, don't you?"
Sara thought it was a whole lot more than beautiful. She didn't even have a word for what Austin was presenting to her. She didn't think one existed in the English language. What she did know, with absolute certainty, was that nobody had ever done anything like this for her before. Nobody had ever known her well enough to, nor cared this much about her happiness.
“I’m sorry, too,” she said quietly, still staring down at the map of their future life. “It wasn’t all you, the things that went wrong between us. We both made mistakes, and we’ll probably make more. But being with you and Lea makes my life so much richer than it’s ever been before. I know that building my own practice won’t be easy, but I also know it will be an adventure. I want to fight for that. I want to fight for our own little family.”
She hardly got the words out of her mouth before Austin wrapped her up in a crushing embrace, the blueprints mashed between them. She turned her face up to his, and he kissed her, his hands moving to her hair as they melted into one another. From her perch on the couch, Lea cheered, clapping as if she were witnessing the greatest love story in human history. As far as Sara was concerned, that was exactly what it was.
Twenty-Seven
“How many years are you again?” Rachel asked, a comical frown on her face. “Two? Three? No, I’ve got it! It’s one, isn’t it?”
“No, Aunt Rachel,” Lea sighed with exasperation. “It’s four. I’m four years old. This many!”
Lea held up four chubby fingers, moving them so close to Rachel's face that she went cross-eyed trying to look at them. The small gathering of friends from Lea's preschool and families from town laughed appreciatively, and Rachel took hold of Lea's fingers, pretending to gobble them up before kissing each of the four fingertips.
Austin watched the scene unfold happily, a sense of unreality washing over him as he thought about what a difference a year could make. Lea's third birthday had been his first attempt at a child's party, at a time when everything in his world had seemed adrift. He had still clung to the belief that his father truly wanted to be a part of his life, and he hadn’t yet admitted to himself just how much Sara meant to him. He had been desperate to build a certain kind of life for himself and his little girl, but he hadn’t understood what exactly he needed that life to be.
Now he watched as friends and family who were closer than he had ever imagined possible sat together on the front porch, all of them there to celebrate his little girl. As for Lea, she was hardly recognizable as the child she had been a year ago. She talked so much now that Austin would be willing to swear on the Bible that the only time she wasn't speaking was when she was asleep. She wore the kind of easy confidence that came from knowing how dearly she was loved, and it had been months since she had so much as mentioned her absent mother. It was thanks to Sara that she was so well-adjusted, he reminded himself as his hand slipped compulsively into his pocket, as was just about every good thing he had in front of him right now.
"Hey there, mister," Sara said, popping up out of nowhere as if his thinking about her had called her to his side. "Penny for your thoughts."
“Jeez!” he gasped, pulling his hand so quickly from his pocket that he almost toppled the nearby refreshments table. “You startled me, Sara. What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?”
“No,” she said with a mischievous smile. “At least not today. What I’m trying to do is figure out what’s got you so tense.”
“Tense?” he repeated, the forced bewilderment sounding false in his own ears. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that you’ve been jumping at your own shadow all day,” she said with a giggle and a playful shove. “Is it the whole party thing? Because if it is, you don’t have anything to worry about. The whole thing is awesome. It’s an undeniable success, so you can go ahead and relax now.”
“Yeah,” he agreed with a nervous laugh, his hand trying to go for his pocket again before he could stop himself. “That must be it. At least we got to do the superhero theme this year instead of just pink. So thank God for small miracles, right?”
"Oh, don't worry," Sara laughed. "I'm sure she'll be combining the two before long. In the meantime, why don't you and I take a little walk? Rachel can hold down the fort, and maybe a little bit of quiet will help you calm down enough that you can enjoy the party. What do you say?"
“I say that sounds like a fantastic idea,” he answered, secretly thinking it was something he should have thought up himself.
They slipped off of the porch hand in hand, and Austin steered them in the direction of the little house Sara used to operate her private practice. It had been up and running for a couple of months now and was more successful than either one of them had anticipated. It seemed that a presence like hers had been needed in town for quite some time, and Sara's reputation for being unusually empathetic spread quickly. She had more work than she could possibly take on all at once, and more importantly, she seemed happy and fulfilled. She seemed just as pleased by the success of the ranch as a whole, too, which filled Austin with contentment. His ranch was finally restored to what it had been in its glory days, only now it was better because it was being used to help people, too.
"Why don't we sit a moment?" he said when they reached the butterfly garden he had built for Sara outside of her practice. He moved for the bench nestled in beside it, leading Sara by the hand and patting the wood next to him. She sat down happily, leaning her head on his shoulder and breathing a sigh of contentment.
“I love this place,” she said happily, resting one hand on his upper thigh. “I love everything about it, and I don’t just mean my practice.”
“I know you do,” he murmured, his hand going for his pocket one final time. “And I love it all the more with you in it. You have no idea how lucky I feel, having you here with me. It’s been one of the greatest joys of my life. I can’t imagine being here without you, Sara. I can’t imagine being anywhere without you by my side.”
“I feel the same way,” she said, turning her face towards his and kissing him on the cheek. “Sometimes, when I think of everything we’ve built together, I can’t even believe it’s real. It seems too good to be true.”
“I know what you mean,” he agreed, reaching for her face with his free hand and gently lifting it so that he could get off the bench. She cocked her head to the side, a question on her face, and he laughed nervously before getting awkwardly down onto one knee.
“Oh my gosh!” she gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. “Austin, what are you doing?”
“What I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time,” he answered, pulling the velvet ring box out of his pocket and holding it out for her to examine. “Because this world, my life—they don’t make any sense without you in them. I love you more than anything, and there is nothing I want more in this world than to have you for my wife. If you’ll have me, that is.”
“If I’ll have you?” she laughed breathlessly, tears shining in her lovely eyes. “Oh, Austin, it’s all I want. You and Lea, you’re my wh
ole world.”
He removed the ring from its satin pillow and with trembling hands, slid it onto Sara’s finger. She gasped again and then flew off the bench, landing in the grass in front of him and throwing her arms around his neck. Back at the house, Rachel and their friends were celebrating Lea, making sure that she felt loved exactly the way she deserved. They would all be overjoyed to hear Austin and Sara’s news, and he was happy to tell them, too—and to tell a certain little girl who’d been smart enough to want Sara to be her mama all along. For the time being, though, he was happy to be there with her and her alone. He was glad to keep their news secret for just a little while longer.
“Hey,” she finally said, pulling back from him and looking at him with a sly smile. “I have an idea.”
“Oh, yeah?” he asked with a smirk, kissing her deeply before letting her finish. “What kind of idea is that?”
“I was thinking we might take a little detour to the barn before rejoining the party. I seem to recall a certain hayloft…”
“Sara, I don’t know if I’ve told you this before, but I like the way you think,” he said, pulling her closer so that her body pressed against his, leaving no doubt of how much he wanted her.
"Good," she said smugly, letting her hand trace along the band of his jeans teasingly before she got to her feet. "And don't worry. If there's a snake, I'll kill it for you. After all, what are fiancées for?"
End of The Rancher’s Tempting Nanny
Do you love sexy small-town cowboys? Then keep reading for an exclusive extract from The Rancher’s Marriage Bargain and The Cowboy’s Pregnant Fake Fiancée.
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About Mary Sue Jackson
Mary Sue Jackson is the romance pen name created for all those cowboy dreamers! This Montana-based cowgirl is a rancher, and knows what hard work means. But despite being up at dawn and working past dusk, she still finds time for what she really loves... romance! With so many hours spent alone, riding across the seemingly never-ending expanse of grasslands, she has plenty of time to dream of love and the romantic tales of ranch life.
When Mary Sue's not out on the grasslands dreaming up her next story, she's most often spending time with her own personal hunky rancher, her husband. One of Mary Sue's favorite activities is to ride the ranch with her husband in the evening and hold his hand as they watch the sun go down over the prairie.
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About Leslie
Leslie North is the USA Today Bestselling pen name for a critically-acclaimed author of women's contemporary romance and fiction. The anonymity gives her the perfect opportunity to paint with her full artistic palette, especially in the romance and erotic fantasy genres.
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BLURB
After a horrible and humiliating break-up, chef Jolie Hill wants nothing more than to lick her wounds and avoid all involvement with men for a while. An ad for a cook and nanny at a remote ranch seems like the perfect opportunity to get away. She thought she’d learned her lesson about having a workplace romance—until she met Colson Westland, a hard, taciturn man who’s as hot as he is serious. Working for Colson and caring for his young ward, Adam, is testing her resolve to stay uninvolved and it doesn’t take long before she not only loves the little boy, but she’s terrifyingly aware she’s falling for Colson. He may be a hard man, but Jolie recognizes a soft side, one that makes her heart melt just a little too much.
Ever since Jolie came to work at the ranch, the place seems lighter. Happier. And Colson has felt lighter and happier too. Caring for Adam has been a pleasure, but ever since his best friend left the little guy to his care, he’s felt a bit overwhelmed. Jolie, with her laughter and spirit, seem to be just the right touch his ranch needs. But when Adam’s grandparents sue for custody of him, claiming a bachelor’s home is no place to raise a child, Colson immediately thinks of marrying Jolie. Not for himself, of course, but for Adam. He’d do anything for the kid. It’s a marriage of convenience, just until he wins the custody battle. The problem with his plan, though, is that it didn’t include the matter of him falling in love…
Grab your copy of The Rancher’s Marriage Bargain
Available September 3, 2020
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EXCERPT
Chapter 1
“Breathe, Jolie. Just don’t forget to breathe, and the rest will wind up okay.”
Jolie Hill sat in her little VW bug, parked on the side of the road beside a tall, formidable gate, the sign atop it proclaiming “Westland Ranch.” It reminded her of a medieval fortress, almost impenetrable and impossible to escape without the consent of the master of the fortress.
“Stop it,” she admonished herself, glancing in her rearview mirror and adjusting the set of her thick, brown-black hair for what had to be the hundredth time that day. “You’re being a nincompoop.”
The word was one that had made her giggle ever since she was a little girl, much to her oh-so-serious parents’ chagrin, but at the moment it brought only a faint smile. Oh, but the nerves swarming in the pit of her stomach were threatening to get the best of her. If she hadn’t needed this new job so badly, she would have thrown her car into reverse, peeled out in a tire-smoking turn worthy of the movies, and have been on her way. As it was, she allowed herself one last, compulsive look in the mirror, and then put her trusted Beetle back into drive.
Fortunately for her, she was not heading into a medieval fortress, and would presumably be allowed to leave whenever she saw fit. Instead, she was in the Texas Hill Country, an area that she had not seen since she was a child, and which took her breath away now. Her grandmother, who had died when Jolie was a very little girl, had called the Hill Country God’s country. Looking at the rolling, rocky hills and gently waving grass beneath a sky so vast it took a person’s breath away, Jolie was heartily ready to agree. It was a far cry from the steel and chrome of Houston, the city in which she had grown up. So far, though, she was mildly surprised to find that it was a welcome one. It helped make her nerves over this unexpected new venture in her life just a bit more bearable.
She guided her little car up an impossibly long drive, really more of a small road than a driveway, wincing a little at the way the chunks of gravel pinged against the bottom of her car. Her Beetle was plenty good for city driving, but she wasn’t so sure about its effectiveness here. The most annoying part about it was that her father had made a comment along those lines before she’d left early that morning, one in a long line of negativity, the bulk of which Jolie had chosen to ignore. Now, it was starting to look like he’d been on to something.
“Which doesn’t mean that he’s right about everything,” she reminded herself stubbornly as she finally reached the expansive white ranch house where her new life awaited her.
She guided her car into what looked like an acceptable parking place and eased it into park, her mouth dropping open at the sight of her new home. To call it a house didn’t seem to do it justice, for it was unlike any picture of a ranch house she’d ever conjured up in her mind. It was a massive, two-and-a-half story construction that had clearly been standing there for generations, but that had been artfully tweaked to keep up with the times. There were plenty of windows, each of which was flanked by friendly blue shutters, and Jolie’s thoughts went immediately to how lovely the place must look during the Christmas s
eason. It was the kind of place most people would only ever dream of living in, and yet, for the time being, it was to be her home.
Like a fairy tale, she thought absent mindedly, immediately followed by a silent but stern warning not to get too far ahead of herself. She understood all too well that things didn’t usually work out the way you hoped they would.
She might have sat in her car all day trying to predict her future, if for no other reason than to avoid actually meeting it head-on. Before she had time to contemplate much else, however, two kindly looking people spilled out onto the obscenely large front porch.
“Hello, there!” One of the people called out, waving enthusiastically. She then elbowed her companion, who rolled his eyes before raising his own hand in greeting.
“Hi!” Jolie called back in greeting, wincing a little at how loud her voice sounded and wondering if her greeters would recognize it as nerves. She was nervous, plenty so, but she didn’t necessarily want these people to see that just yet.
Leaving her car unlocked, she hurried forward, meeting the man and woman at the bottom of the porch steps and holding out a tentative hand. The man grasped it firmly in his own, shaking twice before letting it go. When she went to do the same with the woman, though, she was pulled in for a warm, familiar hug that for some reason made her feel like she might cry.
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