Can he cowboy up for fatherhood?
He had no room for love...until now.
After meeting the son he never knew he had, Marcus Palermo’s simple life turns upside down. Complicating things further is Lissa Hart, the boy’s lovely guardian. She’ll help him become a parent—but falling for a gruff cowboy is not in her plans. Will she realize her future lies in Bluebonnet Springs with the rugged rancher?
BRENDA MINTON lives in the Ozarks with her husband, children, cats, dogs and strays. She is a pastor’s wife, Sunday-school teacher, coffee addict and sleep deprived. Not in that order. Her dream to be an author for Harlequin started somewhere in the pages of a romance novel about a young American woman stranded in a Spanish castle. Her dreams came true, and twenty-plus books later, she is an author hoping to inspire young girls to dream.
Bluebonnet Springs
Second Chance Rancher
The Rancher’s Christmas Bride
The Rancher’s Secret Child
Martin’s Crossing
A Rancher for Christmas
The Rancher Takes a Bride
The Rancher’s Second Chance
The Rancher’s First Love
Her Rancher Bodyguard
Her Guardian Rancher
Lone Star Cowboy League: Boys Ranch
The Rancher’s Texas Match
Lone Star Cowboy League
A Reunion for the Rancher
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk
The Rancher’s Secret Child
Brenda Minton
ISBN: 978-1-474-08423-9
THE RANCHER’S SECRET CHILD
© 2018 Brenda Minton
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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“Let’s try to be friends.”
“I’m trying,” Marcus told her in his low, gruff voice. “You have to give a guy a few days to figure things out and get over feeling like he’s had his legs kicked out from under him.”
“I know.” She pulled her seat belt around and he reached over to click it into place for her. “Thank you.”
“I’m not going to take him from you,” he said as they headed down the long driveway back to the main road.
The sting of tears took her by surprise. She wiped at them and when he handed her a handkerchief, she shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
“Yeah, of course you are.” He shoved the handkerchief into her hand. “I know he needs you. I know he doesn’t need a scarred-up, dysfunctional cowboy for a dad.”
“I think you’re wrong,” she told him.
And the words took her by surprise.
She hadn’t expected to like Marcus Palermo...
I’m so glad we were able to spend time together in Bluebonnet Springs, Texas. I hope you enjoyed the Palermo family, Essie’s café and the other characters in this series. I think it’s rather fitting to end the series with the story of Marcus Palermo. He seemed to need a happy-ever-after. Thanks to the arrival of Lissa Hart and a little boy named Oliver, Marcus will find a path to love and happiness.
I think the Palermo family are an example of the healing that comes from finding faith and in not giving up. They were abused, broken and lost, but each of them found a way to take back what was taken and make new lives from the old.
I hope you enjoyed their stories and I hope you’ll stick around for my next miniseries. I’ve caught myself singing the song “Oklahoma” around the house recently. Hint hint...
Blessings,
Brenda
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
—Lamentations 3:22–23
This book is dedicated to my Aunt Joyce, Aunt Alice and Aunt Betty. And in memory of my Aunt Shirley Clark. They have taught us to have fun, to be classy when it matters, to live life to the fullest and to love family.
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