Its me, all right!
He must have been staring, because Sherry flashed him an embarrassed grin. At least, he thought it was Sherry. He couldnt get any words past his lips. She looked nice, he supposed, but she didnt look like Sherry anymore. Gone was the cascade of curls that had reached the middle of her back. Now her hair fell in gentle waves down to her shouldersand it was brown.
But the changes didnt stop there. What had happened to those glossy red lips? Her clothes could only be described as sedate, and her shoes had no heel whatsoever. Even her voice seemed more subdued.
With an inward groan, he realized this metamorphosis was his doing. Shed changed for him.
Dear Reader,
Things get off to a great start this month with another wonderful installment in Cathy Gillen Thackers series THE DEVERAUX LEGACY. In Their Instant Baby, a couple comes together to take care of an adorable infantand must fight their instant attraction. Be sure to look for a brand-new Deveraux story from Cathy when The Heiress, a Harlequin single title, is released next March.
Judy Christenberry is also up this month with a story readers have been anxiously awaiting. Yes, Russ Randall does finally get his happy ending in Randall Wedding, part of the BRIDES FOR BROTHERS series. We also have Sassy Cinderella from Kara Lennox, the concluding story in her memorable series HOW TO MARRY A HARDISON. And rounding out things is Montana Miracle, a stranded story with a twist from perennial favorite Mary Anne Wilson.
Enjoy all we have to offer and come back next month to help us celebrate twenty years of home, heart and happiness!
Sincerely,
Melissa Jeglinski
Associate Senior Editor
Harlequin American Romance
Sassy Cinderella
Kara Lennox
www.millsandboon.co.uk
MILLS & BOON
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Texas native Kara Lennox has been an art director, typesetter, advertising copy writer, textbook editor and reporter. Shes worked in a boutique, a health club and has conducted telephone surveys. Shes been an antiques dealer and briefly ran a clipping service. But no work has made her happier than writing romance novels.
When Kara isnt writing, she indulges in an ever-changing array of weird hobbies, from rock climbing to crystal digging. But her mind is never far from her stories. Just about anything can send her running to her computer to jot down a new idea for some future novel.
Books by Kara Lennox
HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE
840VIRGIN PROMISE
856TWIN EXPECTATIONS
871TAME AN OLDER MAN
893BABY BY THE BOOK
917THE UNLAWFULLY WEDDED PRINCESS
934VIXEN IN DISGUISE*
942PLAIN JANES PLAN*
951SASSY CINDERELLA*
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
Epilogue
Chapter One
He had no idea how it had happened. One minute he was herding a bunch of cows to their winter pasture. The next, Jonathan Hardison was flying through the air, landing on his head with a thud hard enough to knock the air out of him, then being stomped on by the same stupid horse that had just bucked him off.
Damn, being stomped on hurt. A white-hot pain stabbed through his leg, but he was no stranger to pain. Ranching wasnt an occupation for any guy who couldnt stand the sight of blood or who got the vapors if he cut his hand on barbed wire.
As he lay there on the ground, struggling to get a breath, his right-hand man got off his horse and came over to check out the damages. Cal Chandler was a new man at the Hardison Ranch, but he was the local veterinarians grandson, and he seemed competent enough.
Until now.
Cal just stared at Jonathan, gaping.
Well, dont just stand there, Jonathan said when he could finally catch enough breath to speak. Help me up.
I dont think so, boss, Cal said in a shaky voice. He waved away Jons horse, which had come over to investigate why his master was on the ground, having apparently forgotten that moments ago he was in a blind, bucking panic. I think you better just stay right there till an ambulance gets here.
What? Have you gone loco? I might be a little banged up Jonathan leaned up on one elbow, then wished he hadnt because he got a good look at his leg. It was bent in a place no leg should be bent.
You got a cell phone on you? Cal asked.
In the saddlebag, Jon said, just before he passed out.
IT ISNT AS BAD as it could have been, said Jeff, Jonathans brother, the next day at Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler, Texas. Tyler was the closest big town to the Hardison Ranch. It was an ugly break, but at least the swellings down.
So let me go home, Jon grumbled. Lying in bed doing nothing was not his favorite way to spend time.
Tomorrow. Maybe, Jeff said. Im more worried about the concussion than the leg, to tell you the truth. Jeff also happened to be Jonathans doctor, and he seemed to love bossing his older brother around.
Like hell, maybe, Jonathan said. Ill check my own damn self out.
Ohh, surly, are we? Jeffs fiancée, Allison, had also dropped in for a visit, as if this was some kind of social event. Allisons presence was the only thing that kept Jonathan from cussing Jeff out.
Youd be surly, too, if you had to wear one of these stupid gowns with your butt hanging out.
Seriously, Jon, Allison said, you shouldnt go home until youre sure you can handle it. Youll be on crutches
No way. Put one of those rubber tips on this thing, Jonathan said, knocking his knuckles against his cast. I can walk.
You cannot walk, Jeff said. You put weight on this leg at this stage, itll never heal.
Then give me the crutches and let me get out of here.
Maybe, Jeff said again. That word was starting to tick Jonathan off.
Even with crutches, youre going to need some help when you go home, Allison said. Youve got two lively kids to care for.
Pete can handle the kids, Jonathan said, referring to their eighty-one-year-old grandfather. Pete had built the Hardison Ranch from nothing, but hed long ago deeded the property to his three grandsons and retired. He still lived in the house, though, and he helped take care of Jonathans children: eight-year-old Sam and seven-year-old Kristin. He said it made him feel useful, which was just fine with Jonathan, since hed been long divorced and needed help at home.
Youre forgetting, Jeff said. Pete and Sally are getting married this Saturday.
Ah, hell, thats right, Jonathan said. After the wedding, Pete and his long-time sweetheart, Sally Enderlin, were going on a weeklong cruise. I dont care. Ill manage somehow. But he really didnt know how. His youngest brother, Wade, who ran a horse-breeding operation on his portion of the ranch, had offered to pitch in with the cattle-ranching work during Jonathans recuperation. But how in the world would Jon cook, clean and supervise his superactive kids?
Ill hire someone to come in, Jonathan said decisively.
But Jeff was shaking his head. Youll need someone there all the time, at least for the first week or so.
Jonathan looked to Allison, half hoping shed volunteer. But realistically he knew she couldnt. She was the dentist in Cottonwood, the small town where they all lived, and she had a thriving practice to manage. She couldnt just take off a week.
Allison had a peculiar look on her face that Jonathan had come to associate with an impending brainstorm.
What are you thinking? he asked her point-blank.
I have this friend in Dallas whos a nurse, Allison said, casting worried glances at Jeff. Shes starting a new job in December, but for now shes at loose ends. Ive been trying to get her to come visit me in Cottonwood. If she knew someone here needed her nursing skills, shed be here in a flash.
I do not need a nursemaid, Jonathan protested, picturing some horse-faced pain queen with a hypodermic.
But thats precisely what you do need, Jeff said. Id feel much better about releasing you if I knew a registered nurse was keeping an eye on you. Why dont you call her, Allie?
Allison looked at Jonathan. Its up to you.
He saw no other alternative. Once this nurse saw he could take care of himself, she would leave him alone and focus on caring for the children. He nodded his assent.
Allison smiled and opened her purse. Ill call Sherry right now.
Jeffs jaw dropped. Sherry? You mean Sherry McCormick, the she shark?
Oh, Jeff, youre way too harsh. So, she had a crush on you. So what? Allison scrolled through the phone numbers on her cell phone.
A crush? She wanted to eat me alive at that convention.
This was getting interesting, Jonathan thought. A she shark? Didnt sound like a horse face, at least.
She happens to be an excellent nurse, Allison said. At least, she just landed a job working for one of Dallass top cosmetic surgeons.
You cant bring Sherry McCormick to Cottonwood, Jeff said flatly. A city girl like her wont fit in here.
Whats the matter? You afraid shell come after you again? Well, dont. Shes over you.
And you want to inflict her on Jonathan instead?
Allison waved away Jeffs concern. Jonathan isnt her type. Anyway, she told me she never gets involved with a patient. It isnt professional.
Why am I not her type? Jonathan wanted to know. Unfortunately, this Sherry sounded like his typeflashy and aggressive. His ex-wife, Rita, had been exactly that, all spike heels and expensive perfume. It had not been a match made in heaven. Rita had about died of boredom in tiny Cottonwood, Texas, and not even her two children had been enough to make her stick around. Shed fled to New Orleans, where shed grown up, and saw the kids maybe twice a year.
She goes for doctors and lawyers, Jeff answered. Guys in suits with expensive cars who will keep her on a steady diet of four-star restaurants and adorn her with diamonds.
That certainly didnt describe Jonathan.
Im not interested in romantic potential, Jonathan said. If shes willing to come and can do the job, bring her on.
Allison flashed a satisfied smile and dialed a number on her cell phone. Jeff groaned.
SHERRY MCCORMICK drove slowly around the town square of Cottonwood, hardly believing her eyes. It could have been a set from a Hollywood back lotfor a period piece from the 1920s. Quaint hardly began to describe this town.
Fortunately, Sherry was a sucker for quaint. The picturesque shops and restaurants charmed her silly. Did people really live like that? Even as she tried to tell herself the idea of residing in the sticks repulsed her, she felt an insistent pull toward this place.
Cottonwood was a town a person could call home.
Sherry had never lived in a place that felt like home. Certainly the double-wide in which shed grown up hadnt qualified. Her parents had been a lot more interested in drinking and smoking dope than raising their only childexcept to sporadically hurl criticism and occasional pieces of furniture her way. That was their idea of parenting.
She was okay with her current home, a condo in Dallas shed bought last year. Shed taken great care in decorating it, choosing each picture and accent piece one at a time. But no matter how many homey touches she added, it still felt cold to her. She supposed no place could feel really like a home when only one person lived there.
But maybe that was her lot in life. She sighed as she turned her car away from town and followed the directions Allison had given her to the Hardison Ranch. Shed tried really hard to find a companion, a man she was compatible with, one who would love her, one who wanted to commit and eventually grow old with her. But it seemed the harder she tried, the worse things turned out. Shed found plenty of men who would love herfor one night. Maybe she just wasnt the kind of woman a man wanted hanging around for the rest of his life.
As sobering as that thought was, Sherry knew she could live without a husband. Growing old without children, thoughshe wasnt going to settle for that. Still, at thirty-one, she had a little time. And until she figured out the rest of her life, she had her nursing career, which was a real blessing. Shed been let go from her last position, an event that seemed grossly unfair to Sherry. She was a good nurse, a conscientious one, and it was only a personality conflict that had gotten her fired. But then shed landed a plum position with the best plastic surgeon in Dallas, along with a big hike in pay, so it had all worked out.