The Pregnant Bride

The Pregnant Bride
Crystal Green

THE ULTIMATE REVENGE?Like a haunted gunslinger intent on avenging old wrongs, bitter but now filthy-rich outcast Nick Cassidy was back in Kane's Crossing, seeking retribution from the conniving golden boy who'd once framed him and drove him from town. And why not serve justice on a silver platter–by wedding his enemy's pregnant conquest and giving her baby his notorious name?But Nick's "convenient" marriage to Meggie Thornton, his angelic childhood chum, brought out dangerously heart-melting emotions in him. And the cold comfort of wreaking revenge, then clearing out of Kane's Crossing, soon vied with this rebel's urge to warm himself at Meggie's home fires…with his future family!

His childhood friend in the arms of the enemy?

A black look crossed Nick’s face at Meggie’s news of her pregnancy.

“Don’t worry, Meggie. We’re going to make things right,” he growled.

She shook her head. “When the father gets back to town, I’m afraid he’ll want my baby, drag me through a custody battle.” And she’d lose her child forever. “You know he can do it, Nick. His family has so much money and power.”

Nick ran a hand through his hair, looking angrily around the town that hated him. “There’s one solution, Meggie….”

There was no solution as far as she was concerned. “Thanks for the optimism, but I have no idea what to do.”

Nick took a deep breath. “You can marry me. You can give your child my name.”

Dear Reader,

’Tis the season to ask yourself “What makes Christmas special?” (other than a Silhouette Special Edition novel in your stocking, that is). For Susan Mallery, it’s “sharing in established traditions and starting new ones.” And what could be more of a tradition than reading Susan’s adorable holiday MONTANA MAVERICKS story, Christmas in Whitehorn?

Peggy Webb’s statement of the season, “The only enduring gift is love” resonates in us all as she produces an enduring gift with The Smile of an Angel from her series THE WESTMORELAND DIARIES. Along with love, author Patricia Kay feels that Christmas “is all about joy—the joy of being with family and loved ones.” And we are overjoyed to bring you the latest in her CALLAHANS & KIN miniseries, Just a Small-Town Girl.

Sylvie Kurtz shows us the “magical quality” of the holidays in A Little Christmas Magic, a charming opposites-attract love story. And we are delighted by Patricia McLinn’s My Heart Remembers from her WYOMING WILDFLOWERS miniseries. For Patricia, “Christmas is family. Revisiting memories, but also focusing on today.” Crystal Green echoes this thought. “The word family is synonymous with Christmas.” So curl up with her latest, The Pregnant Bride, from her new miniseries, KANE’S CROSSING!

As you can see, we have many talented writers to celebrate this holiday season in Special Edition.

Happy Holidays!

Karen Taylor Richman

Senior Editor

The Pregnant Bride

Crystal Green

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To Mom and Aunt Mary, the hardest working supporters in the world; and in memory of Regina Emig Ronk, whose courage and advice still inspire me.

CRYSTAL GREEN

lives in San Diego, California, where she has survived three years as an eighth-grade teacher of humanities. She’s especially proud of her college-bound AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) students who have inspired her to persevere.

When Crystal isn’t writing romance, she enjoys reading, creative poetry, overanalyzing movies, risking her life during police ride-alongs, petting her parents’ Maltese dogs and fantasizing about being a really good cook.

During school breaks, Crystal spends her time becoming readdicted to her favorite soap operas and traveling to places far and wide. Her favorite souvenirs include travel journals—the pages reflecting everything from taking tea in London’s Leicester Square to backpacking up endless mountain roads leading to the castles of Sintra, Portugal.

THE KANE’S CROSSING GAZETTE

August 18, 1985

Delinquent Bombs Chaney’s Drugstore!

No injuries, but store is destroyed, along with town’s faith in foster care system.

Chad Spencer, great-grandson of the town’s founding father, Kane Spencer, told police last night that he and his friends never expected Nicholas Cassidy to set off a bomb during their night of fun.

“I swear on my great-granddaddy’s grave, we never saw it coming,” said the Spencer High School Junior Varsity quarterback. “All we were doing was hanging out, when old Nicholas whips out this space-age looking doodad. I’m telling you, that kid was no good from the get-go.”

Cassidy, a resident of Kane’s Crossing for merely one year, refrained from commenting as he was escorted from town. His foster parents were also unavailable for comment, but….

Contents

Prologue

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

Chapter Sixteen