The Rancher's Blessed Event. Stella Bagwell

      “There’s no way in hell I’ll leave now.” Letter to Reader Title Page Acknowledgments STELLA BAGWELL Letter to Reader Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Copyright

      “There’s no way in hell I’ll leave now.”

      Emily stared at him with fury in her eyes. It was incredible that he was saying this to her now. Ten years too late! “Get this straight, Cooper Dunn, I am no concern of yours. You might own part of this ranch, but you don’t own me.”

      

      Emily took a deep breath to get her anger under control. “My being pregnant has nothing to do with you,” she told him.

      

      “But you need someone here to look after you.”

      

      The gentle regard on his face both touched and infuriated her. If only he’d shown her as much ten years ago.

      

      “You’re not a man who could stay in one place for more than a week, much less look after a pregnant woman.”

      

      But, oh, how her heart wished he was that man!

      Dear Reader,

      

      Unforgettable Bride, by bestselling author Annette Broadrick, is May’s VIRGIN BRIDES selection, and the much-requested spin-off to her DAUGHTERS OF TEXAS series. Rough, gruff rodeo star Bobby Metcalf agreed to a quickie marriage—sans honeymoon!—with virginal Casey Carmichael. But four years later, he’s still a married man—one intent on being a husband to Casey in every sense....

      

      Fabulous author Arlene James offers the month’s FABULOUS FATHERS title, Falling for a Father of Four. Orren Ellis was a single dad to a brood of four, so hiring sweet Mattie Kincaid seemed the perfect solution. Until he found himself falling for this woman he could never have.... Stella Bagwell introduces the next generation of her bestselling TWINS ON THE DOORSTEP series. In The Rancher’s Blessed Event, an ornery bronc rider must open his heart both to the woman who’d betrayed him...and her child yet to be born.

      

      Who can resist a sexy, stubborn cowboy—particularly when he’s your husband? Well, Taylor Cassidy tries in Anne Ha’s Long, Tall Temporary Husband. But will she succeed? And Sharon De Vita’s irresistible trio, LULLABIES AND LOVE, continues with Baby with a Badge, where a bachelor cop finds a baby in his patrol car...and himself in desperate need of a woman’s touch! Finally, new author C.J. Hill makes her commanding debut with a title that sums it up best:

      Baby Dreams and Wedding Schemes.

      

      Romance has everything you need from new beginnings to tried-and-true favorites. Enjoy each and every novel this month, and every month!

      

      Warm Regards!

      Joan Marlow Golan

      Senior Editor, Silhouette Romance

      Please address questions and book requests to:

      Silhouette Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Oat. L2A 5X3

      The Rancher’s Blessed Event

      Stella Bagwell

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To Mary-Theresa Hussey and Melissa Senate.

      Thanks for keeping the Murdock family alive!

      STELLA BAGWELL

      sold her first book to Silhouette in November 1985. Now, more than thirty novels later, she is still thrilled to see her books in print and can’t imagine having any other job than that of writing about two people falling in love.

      

      She lives in a small town in southeastern Oklahoma with her husband of twenty-six years. She has one son and daughter-in-law.

      Dear Reader,

      

      Writing a trilogy is a lot like reading one. In the process you become so attached to the same characters, you grow very reluctant to finally tell them goodbye. Such was the case when I finished the last of my TWINS ON THE DOORSTEP trilogy. So you can imagine what a special thrill it was for me when my editor asked if I would like to continue writing about the Murdock family!

      

      Telling you how Rose, Justine and Chloe found their twin siblings—and love in the bargain—was pure pleasure for me. And I would like to express a big thank-you to all you readers who read and responded so warmly to each book. You are the reason my job is so rewarding, and I can’t convey how much I appreciate each and every one of you.

      

      Now with great delight, I would like to invite you back to Lincoln County, New Mexico, where you’ll find old familiar friends and meet new ones, too. Beginning with Emily Hamilton and her unexpected reunion with an old flame, you’ll find the Murdock children have all grown up and, ready or not, are about to find love of their own!

      

      Love and God bless,

      Chapter One

      Emily Dunn bolted upright in the bed. Her heart was thundering in her chest and nothing about the dark room felt familiar.

      Jerking her head to the right, she saw a row of curtained windows. Back to the left, her eyes fixed on a nightstand. There, beneath a table lamp, the red glowing numbers of a digital alarm clock glared twelve forty-five.

      Slowly her senses began to right themselves and everything came rushing back to her. The accident. The funeral. The awful realization that her husband was never coming back.

      Swinging her legs over the side of the mattress, she reached for a robe lying at the end of the bed. It was a cold