The Texas Rancher's Marriage. Cathy Gillen Thacker

don’t want another shot,” Jeffrey whimpered, holding his hand over his thigh.

      Paige held open the door to the hospital annex, where all the physician offices were located. “You’re not going to get one today. You already had your flu shots last month, remember?”

      Jeffrey rubbed his thigh in memory. “That’s why I don’t want another one.”

      “So how come we’re here, if we’re not going to the doctor?” Jessalyn persisted, pausing to study the festive turkey and cornucopia display taped outside the pediatric services suite.

      Merri took the children’s hands and pressed on. “I thought we’d surprise Chase and see if he’d like to have lunch with us in the cafeteria.”

      More frowns. “I’d rather go to the Dairy Barn,” Jessalyn said with a pout.

      Merri paused outside the general surgery suite. “Another time,” she promised.

      She ushered the children in, only to be told by the receptionist, “You just missed him. He went down to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat.”

      “Perfect!” Merri smiled and ushered the children back out into the hall. Not surprisingly, they grumbled and dragged their heels all the way to the cafeteria.

      Chase had already gone through the line. Tray in hand, he was searching for a seat when he saw them. He flashed a devastating smile, set his tray on a table for four and strode toward them.

      He was looking more handsome than ever in blue surgical scrubs and a white doctor’s coat, and Merri felt her heart quiver in response. She knew this wasn’t a real marriage in the traditional sense, but at the moment, it felt as if it were.

      Aware that all eyes were on them, she beamed at him. “Hey.”

      Still smiling, Chase pressed a quick, casual kiss to her temple, then leaned down to do the same to the kids.

      Instead of welcoming the gesture, they both shrank back, out of reach. The twins clung to Merri, hiding their faces in the fabric of her wool trousers.

      “Can we go home now?” Jeffrey’s voice was muffled against her leg.

      Merri patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Let’s have some lunch first, okay?”

      The little boy was about to protest when a loud cheer went up behind them. Squeals of delight were followed by a chorus of “There he is!” “What a sight for sore eyes!” “Handsome as always, Dr. Heartbreaker!”

      Dr. Heartbreaker?

      Merri turned, coming face-to-face with the half-dozen young women from Chase’s photo. They were clad in desert-hued camouflage pants, jackets and form-fitting beige

      T-shirts, and were all incredibly glad to see Chase. From the welcoming expression on her now husband’s face, he was equally thrilled to see them.

      En masse, the women streamed toward him. And one after another, with everyone in the hospital cafeteria looking on, they greeted Chase with more whoops and hollers and heartfelt hugs.

      “What are you-all doing here?” he asked, beaming as if he had just won the lottery.

      And maybe he had.

      One of the ladies flashed a megawatt smile. “You said we could visit anytime and you’d put us up!”

      “So when we all unexpectedly got a month’s leave and decided to go on a road trip, we figured we’d take you up on it,” a striking brunette added, going on tiptoe to give Chase another long, lingering hug. She drew back, the name-necklace at her throat glittering, and with an air of feminine possessiveness punched on his broad shoulder playfully. “Besides, what’s a holiday without our favorite guy?”

      Okay. Enough was enough, especially with a big chunk of the hospital visitors and staff looking on, absorbing every word.

      “Or his family,” Merri interjected sweetly, asserting herself once again.

      The women all turned to look at her and the children.

      Abruptly recalling his manners, Chase stepped back. Drawing Merri and the kids around him, he said, “Ladies, I’d like you to meet my wife, Merri, and our kids, Jeffrey and Jessalyn.”

      Our kids. Merri liked the sound of that almost as much as the sound of my wife.

      “Wife?” the women echoed in shock.

      The brunette with the name necklace—Starr—stepped forward. “Kids?” she demanded. “Since when?”

      “Don’t tell us you were married all along, you heartbreaker!” the freckled redhead said.

      “Actually, we just got married yesterday,” Merri told them.

      Six brows furrowed in confusion.

      Chase lifted a palm, not about to go into it there with the entire hospital cafeteria crowd still watching. “It’s a long story,” he said mildly.

      “Fortunately,” the striking brunette, Starr, said with a playful moue, “we’ve got all the time in the world to hear it.” She insinuated herself between Chase and Merri, snuggled up to his side and gazed up at him adoringly. “That is, if you’re still as good as your word, Chase Armstrong, and intend to put us all up for the Thanksgiving holiday, Texas-style.”