The Cowboy's Christmas Family

The Cowboy's Christmas Family
DONNA ALWARD

HIS CHRISTMAS PRESENTWidow Madison Wallace is determined to make this Christmas extra special for her twin boys, even if money is tight. The part-time job at Cole Hudson’s ranch seems like the perfect solution, and kind, sexy Cole only makes it better. But Maddy isn’t ready to trust a man with her heart again…Cole only intended to help Maddy out with the holidays. But the moment she and her boys arrive at his ranch, they capture his heart completely. Convincing Maddy to give him a chance won’t be nearly as easy…but Cole knows he’s found his family for life.

“Cole, why me?” Maddy sighed. “I’ve got baggage. A lot of it. I’m prickly.”

Cole chuckled and she felt the vibration of the sound through his chest and into her back. “You’re not the only one with baggage,” he admitted. Before she could ask what he meant, he continued on. “Listen, what happened to you just made you cautious. You’re not prickly. You’re scared. I would be, too.”

They let the thought sit for a few minutes, and then Cole spoke again. “I don’t know, Maddy. I got thinking about how you’re young and pretty and so damned strong and then … and then I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

She looked up into his face. “The last thing I was looking for was a date. Maybe it just snuck up on both of us.”

She licked her lips, which suddenly felt dry, and saw his gaze drop to where her tongue had wet the surface. Desire surged through her, terrifying by its very presence and exhilarating at the same time.

“It snuck up on me for sure,” he admitted quietly, smiling. “You snuck up on me.”

The Cowboy’s

Christmas Family

Donna Alward

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

DONNA ALWARD is a busy wife and mother of three (two daughters and the family dog) and she believes hers is the best job in the world: a combination of stay-at-home mum and romance novelist. An avid reader since childhood, Donna has always made up her own stories. She completed her arts degree in English literature in 1994, but it wasn’t until 2001 that she penned her first full-length novel and found herself hooked on writing romance. In 2006, she sold her first manuscript, and now writes warm, emotional stories for Mills & Boon.

In her new home office in Nova Scotia, Donna loves being back on the east coast of Canada after nearly twelve years in Alberta, where her career began, writing about cowboys and the West. Donna’s debut romance, Hired by the Cowboy, was awarded a Booksellers’ Best Award in 2008 for Best Traditional Romance.

With the Atlantic Ocean only minutes from her doorstep, Donna has found a fresh take on life and promises even more great romances in the near future!

Donna loves to hear from readers. You can contact her through her website, www.donnaalward.com (http://www.donnaalward.com), or follow @DonnaAlward (http://www.twitter.com/DonnaAlward) on Twitter.

To my family—the reason for everything.

Contents

Cover (#ue51938cb-cf86-5bae-91f3-76bac431460e)

Introduction (#ued08adfd-2631-5b42-8b08-448bdc8399c2)

Title Page (#u142d1570-5b48-5111-b362-e28b9db27cb6)

About the Author (#ub19fdacd-137e-53fc-876c-c111c38ef9ad)

Dedication (#u4f61eba0-19e1-5c3e-a744-ce7607a5115c)

Chapter One (#u15ba4730-1dbf-5f93-9988-c9888825bbe8)

Chapter Two (#ub0b2e6a3-066d-5938-924a-85d6dfe705a8)

Chapter Three (#u6797eb89-c551-543e-b6c8-7cd13f14f611)

Chapter Four (#u08314374-b19b-5b1a-a3e8-45fbdc8b80cf)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter One (#ulink_9f602ba2-2ab1-531c-9bde-3022ddf1cf4c)

There were days when Madison Wallace felt like a single-mom Cinderella.

She blew at a few strands of hair that had escaped her messy ponytail, then tucked them behind her ears for at least the tenth time in the past half hour and checked her watch yet again.

Six twenty. The library closed at eight. The meeting was due to start in ten minutes and she didn’t even have the coffeepot going yet. The boys were in a playpen in one of the smaller meeting rooms, and her brain was on the verge of shutdown, with her body not far behind.

Whoever came up with the idea of Snowflake Days needed their head examined.

Oh, right. That would be her.

Of course, she’d put forth that proposal last winter, and the mayor and council had loved the idea. She’d thought she’d have tons of time to help with the planning committee. The babies would be a little older, she’d be back at work, Gavin would be home at night to lend a hand, and life would be back to normal.

And then everything had changed.

She couldn’t think about that now. She didn’t have time. And playing the what-if game was a waste of energy, anyway.

The meeting room where the twins were was quiet except for the odd babble, so she rushed around as committee members started arriving and gathered in the foyer, chatting. There were twelve altogether, a blend of male and female, young and old, business owners and retirees and anything in between. She put tablets of paper at each spot at the conference table as well as pens that said Gibson Public Library on them. A separate table held coffee, now dripping merrily into the pot, ice water, and an array of muffins and breads, which she’d baked just this morning while the boys were napping rather than taking from the library’s petty cash, which was always pretty tight.