The Maverick's Midnight Proposal. Brenda Harlen

his bride.

      “I am happy,” Bella assured him. “And I know this is going to be the best Christmas ever, not just because it’s my first as Mrs. Hudson Jones—” she sent an adoring look toward her husband “—but because Luke is finally home and Danny is planning his Christmas Eve wedding.”

      Luke opened his mouth, intending to tell her that he wouldn’t be staying in Rust Creek Falls for Christmas, but the last part of her statement pushed everything else from his mind.

      “Our Danny?”

      Bella nodded.

      “He’s here—in Rust Creek Falls?”

      “You didn’t know?”

      Luke shook his head. “We kind of lost touch a few years back,” he admitted.

      “He’s been here since October,” Bella told him now. “After he saw an interview with Jamie on The Great Roundup, he realized he missed his family and finally decided to come back.”

      “What’s The Great Roundup?”

      His sister seemed surprised by the question. “Don’t you watch TV?”

      “Not a lot,” he admitted.

      “The Great Roundup is a reality show, similar to The Amazing Race but with a Western theme,” Hudson explained. “There are various challenges of skill and survival, and the winner gets a million dollars.”

      “And you watch this?” Luke asked, his tone dubious.

      “Travis Dalton and Brenna O’Reilly are on the show,” his brother-in-law explained.

      “And they’re engaged!” Bella exclaimed.

      Although Luke didn’t know Travis or Brenna, he knew the Daltons and O’Reillys were longtime residents of Rust Creek Falls. But he was more interested in what she’d said about their brother than the details of a reality show. “And you said Danny’s engaged, too?”

      “To Annie Lattimore,” she said, naming their brother’s high school sweetheart.

      “I should have known,” he realized. “Danny never wanted to leave Rust Creek Falls—or Annie.”

      “Then why did he?” Bella wondered. “Why did you?”

      He answered with the truth—or at least part of it. “Because we couldn’t stay. The grandparents made it clear they didn’t want us hanging around, that even four kids were too much of a burden.”

      “Not long after you left, they sent Dana and Liz away, too,” Bella told him.

      Hudson slid an arm across her shoulders—a wordless gesture of support and comfort—while Luke just looked on helplessly.

      “I’m so sorry,” he told her. “We—I—honestly thought it was the best decision at the time.”

      “Well, you’re here now,” she said again, blinking away the tears that had filled her eyes. “And Dana’s been found, too—she lives with her adoptive family in Portland—so I’m confident that we’ll all be together again soon.”

      Luke shifted his gaze to his brother-in-law. “Has your PI succeeded in tracking down everyone else?”

      “Not yet,” Hudson admitted. “But he’s got some leads and I’m sure we’ll see results soon.” He glanced down as his cell phone buzzed. “Sorry—that’s a business call I need to take.”

      “Of course,” Bella acknowledged, nudging Luke back toward the door, then closing it softly after she’d followed him out. “I need to get back to work, too,” she said apologetically.

      Luke nodded. “Maybe we can catch up some more later.”

      “We’ll definitely catch up later,” she immediately responded. “But now you’re probably exhausted after your long drive, so why don’t you go back to our house, put your feet up and relax? Even have a nap if you want.”

      “A nap?” he echoed.

      “Nap time isn’t just for preschoolers,” she assured him, pressing something into his palm.

      He stared at the key, wondering how it was so easy for her to not only accept his sudden reappearance in her life but even open up her home to him after so much time had passed. “I don’t want to impose,” he told her.

      “It’s not an imposition,” she insisted. “We’re happy to have you.”

      He believed that she was happy, but he didn’t think her husband was overjoyed.

      “You and Hudson are still newlyweds,” he protested. “I should get a room at the boarding house so you aren’t tripping over me.”

      She laughed. “Obviously you haven’t yet seen the house. When you do, you’ll realize that there’s plenty of room and no reason to worry about anyone tripping over anyone else.”

      Still, he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of staying with the sister he’d had no contact with for more than a decade. Or maybe it was the prospect of staying in Rust Creek Falls at all that made him uneasy.

      “Please,” she added, and with that single word, the last of his resistance melted away.

      “Okay,” he relented. “I’ll stay for a couple of days.”

      “That’s a good start,” she agreed.

       Chapter Two

      Luke was smiling and shaking his head as he walked out of the day care and headed back to his truck. He’d forgotten how sneaky his sister could be—and how he’d never been able to refuse anything she asked. But he was grateful for her invitation and looking forward to the opportunity to catch up with her and Jamie and Danny.

      He was also curious to check out Bella and Hudson’s house, but he wasn’t quite ready to put his feet up. What he was, his growling stomach pointed out, was hungry.

      Earlier, his gut had been so twisted up in knots over the impending reunion with his sister that he hadn’t been able to eat anything. Now that the initial meeting was over, he realized he was famished.

      He hadn’t forgotten about the Ace in the Hole—or the thick, juicy burgers that were served with a mountain of crispy fries. In fact, the memory alone was enough to make his mouth water and, when his stomach rumbled again, he steered his truck toward Sawmill Street.

      But for reasons he couldn’t fathom, he abruptly turned off Sawmill onto North Broomtail and pulled up in front of Daisy’s Donut Shop again.

      * * *

      After graduating from high school, Eva had wanted to follow her passion and pursue a diploma in baking and pastry arts. But following her heart had led to heartache more times than she could count, so she’d listened to the urging of her parents and opted to study accounting instead. She’d just completed her first year when her father was diagnosed with lymphoma, so she’d returned to Rust Creek Falls to support her family and postponed the rest of her studies.

      She’d been fortunate to get a job at Daisy’s Donut Shop. The part-time hours had allowed her to earn a little bit of income while also providing the flexibility she’d needed to take her father to his various doctors’ appointments and therapies. When Ray Armstrong had finished his treatments, she’d been able to increase her hours and now she was working full-time. Since the doctors had officially declared her dad to be in remission, he’d been pressuring his daughter to return to school and complete her degree. In the spirit of compromise, she’d been taking some online courses and was now only a few courses shy of completion, but she was still happier baking than studying.

      Her friends liked to tease that she would be the perfect wife and homemaker, but she hadn’t yet met a man who agreed with