Texas Rose. Marie Ferrarella

      CLUB TIMES

      For Members’ Eyes Only

      Which Carson Has Been Playing in the Wainwrights’ Sandbox?

      I’m not pulling a fast one over on you, members. One of our elders saw some, ahem, cozy behavior between a certain Carson cowboy and a “bookish” Wainwright female not too long ago. Now, I don’t want to start World War III here, but I’m just saying that some Carson-Wainwrights sure ain’t feudin’! The betting pool for which Wainwright and which Carson will take place in the Yellow Rose Café after the lunch shift this coming Sunday. We hope you understand that this is all in good fun, members. We don’t want to aggravate Archy Wainwright’s ticker or Ford Carson’s cholesterol count.

      As usual, we’re holding our candlelight vigil for valuable member Luke Callaghan’s safe return from wherever he is. The little scamp is probably in some hot air balloon wafting over Japan, with a harem to boot! Phone home, Luke!

      Of course you know it’s not our place to poke into anyone’s affairs, but does anyone know why Carl Bridges has been so grouchy lately? He almost bit one nameless club employee’s head off for pouring his coffee too slowly. We’re not here to judge; it’s just that we care about our members. On a related note, do y’all remember Carl Bridges’s scallawag son, Dylan? Now there’s a handsome buck who’s always up to no good. Wonder what he’s doing now….

      As always, members, make your best stop of the day right here at the Lone Star Country Club!

      About the Author

      MARIE FERRARELLA

      began writing when she was eleven. She began selling many years after that. Along the way, she acquired a master’s in Shakespearean Comedy, a husband and two kids [in that order]—the dog came later. She sold her first romance in November of 1981. The road from there to here has a hundred and thirty-eight more sales to it, with a hundred and twenty being to Silhouette. She’s been fortunate enough to have received several RITA^® nominations over the years, with one win for Father Goose [in the Traditional Category]. Marie hopes to be found one day—many, many years from now—slumped over her computer, writing to the last moment…with a smile on her face.

      She found working on the LONE STAR COUNTRY CLUB series especially fun since she originally learned how to speak English by watching old John Wayne movies on Channel 13 and has loved Westerns and anything with a western flavor ever since.

      Texas Rose

      Marie Ferrarella

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Welcome to the

      Where Texas society reigns supreme—and appearances are everything.

      The search for Baby Lena’s parents continue—and scandal spreads like wildfire through Mission Creek….

      Matt Carson: Although he is the target of the Wainwrights’ wrath for ruining their daughter’s sterling reputation, nothing is going to stop this spurned cowboy from reclaiming his true love. Even if it means following her to the bright lights of New York City.

      Rose Wainwright: When her forbidden tryst with her family’s most hated enemy results in a shocking development, Rose makes the ultimate sacrifice to protect the man she cherishes. But the truth has a way of coming out….

      The Undercover Investigation: Is the Mafia behind the anonymous threats that Haley Mercado’s trusted friend and secret cohort has been receiving? Residents beware: the Texas underworld might be on the verge of wreaking more havoc in Mission Creek!

      To Margaret O’Neill Marbury,

       for all the headaches she endured. Love, Marie

      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

      Chapter Fifteen

      Epilogue

      One

      “Whose is it, girl?”

      Archy Wainwright’s question exploded like thunder, swallowing up the deathlike silence that had come a moment before. Stunned silence had been the initial reaction to Rose’s quietly spoken announcement, delivered at the dining room table where her father, sister and brother had gathered for dinner.

      The announcement had been an unwilling one on her part. If she’d had her choice, Rose Wainwright would have opted to spare her family the news altogether. Being told that his unmarried, thirty-year-old librarian daughter was pregnant wasn’t exactly something a father wanted to hear—least of all the stern, volatile Archy Wainwright, respected land baron of one of the two oldest families in Mission Creek, Texas.

      But it wasn’t as if this was something that could remain a secret indefinitely. Even now, only six weeks along, Rose was certain she was going to begin showing at any moment. Despite her small waist. Despite the fact that her clothes still all fit just the way they always had. She felt pregnant. Hugely so.

      Maybe it was the overwhelming weight of her secret that made her feel this way.

      Or maybe it was because her world had been set on its ear ever since she’d stood in the bathroom within her wing of the sprawling ranch house, holding her breath, waiting for a small stick to decide her fate.

      No, Rose amended, that wasn’t really true. Her world had been upended ever since she’d first succumbed to Matt’s charms and fallen in love with him. Ever since she’d first laid eyes on him. He’d leaned over the library counter and asked, with that devil of a twinkle in his beautiful blue eyes, if he could take out anything he found within the library. When she’d answered a tentative, “Yes,” he’d put his hand on hers and said that what he really wanted to take out was the librarian.

      Rose remembered blushing to the roots of her jet-black hair. Even so, she’d taken exception to Matt’s unabashed flirtation. She’d been schooled to be cautious because he was, after all, who he was. A Carson. The enemy. Forbidden fruit.

      At least, for a Wainwright girl. Or a Wainwright woman, as she now most definitely was.

      Where had her mind been? she upbraided herself, watching as her father’s complexion turned from mildly ruddy to deeply red. What could she have possibly been thinking, falling for Matt Carson? Making love with Matt Carson? Was she completely insane?

      Yes, yes, she was, Rose thought. Completely and utterly insane. Insane about him. But that didn’t change anything. Not the situation, not the outcome. She, a Wainwright, was pregnant by a Carson.

      And nobody was ever going to find out that part.

      Standing