Struck By The Texas Matchmakers

Struck By The Texas Matchmakers
Judy Christenberry

The matchmakers of Cactus, Texas, are back–and all the single folk better beware!Everyone was convinced that Diane Peters and Jeff Hausen were perfect for each other. Everyone but Diane and Jeff, of course. She was a carefree career girl with big-city dreams. And the town's new doctor was content with the snail's pace of rural Texas. Never had two more opposite individuals been forced to stay under one roof–and never had an attraction been so strong. So when two adorable children in desperate need of a home plus several well-meaning but meddling ladies were thrown into the mix…well, good luck…. Because once a couple is struck by the Texas matchmakers, the only cure is a swift trip down the aisle!

“Hi, honey, I’m home.”

Jeff laughed as he said those words, somehow believing Diane would understand his little joke as he walked inside the kitchen.

That belief disappeared when a loaf of bread flew through the air and plopped against his face—courtesy of Diane.

“Do you know what everyone in town is saying? They think we’re sleeping together. They think I’m trying to catch you. Everyone in the grocery store thinks I’m a kept woman!”

Which explained her reaction to his teasing. “Ah. I guess my words weren’t too funny, huh?”

“Oh, you were hysterical,” she replied, slight tears in her eyes. “Aren’t you worried about what everyone thinks is going on here?”

“No. I mean, we’re both adults, single. If people want to believe we’re—” He broke off, unable to even talk about sleeping with Diane without reacting to the thought.

“Pretty soon they’ll be expecting wedding bells!” Diane exclaimed with a groan.

Jeff felt a groan coming on himself. Because the thought of Diane and him and wedding bells wasn’t creating the same reaction at all….

Struck by the Texas Matchmakers

Judy Christenberry

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

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Judy Christenberry has been writing romances for fifteen years because she loves happy endings as much as her readers. A former French teacher, Judy now devotes herself to writing full-time. She hopes readers have as much fun reading her stories as she does writing them. She spends her spare time reading, watching her favorite sports teams and keeping track of her two daughters. Judy’s a native Texan, but now lives in Arizona.

Contents

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

Epilogue

Chapter One

She’d hoped this day would never come.

Diane Peters shook herself, determined not to think in those terms. After all, most people would consider her to be a lucky woman.

Fresh out of law school, she’d just been offered a position with the most prestigious law firm in the area.

The area of Cactus, Texas.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like Cactus. It was her hometown, and she had a lot of good memories from her childhood. Her family had never been wealthy, but they’d been happy. She and her five brothers and sisters had shared adventures and laughter.

When she was thirteen, however, her father had died suddenly. Her mother had been a great cook and housekeeper, a devoted wife and mother. But she was a disaster as a breadwinner.

Diane sighed as she slowed down for the curve in the narrow road that led to her childhood home. Suddenly she threw on her brakes. A car rested half in the ditch, half on the road, the driver side crushed.

Diane frowned. The car hadn’t been there when she’d driven by an hour ago. As she slowed to a stop, a small face appeared at the back window.

A child? Someone was in the car? She slammed her old Volkswagen sedan into Neutral, pulled up the handbrake and jumped out of the car. Then she ran for the other vehicle.

“Are you all right?” she cried before she even got to the car.

The toddler, whose face she’d seen from the road, pressed her face against the glass, smearing it with big, fat tears.

Diane wanted to cuddle the baby to her, but she saw the other two occupants. The fact that the driver and the little boy in the back seat weren’t moving made them her first priority.

Without opening the car door, she called, “Just a minute, baby,” before she turned around and ran back to her car to find the cell phone her sister Katie and her husband, Gabe, had given her. Thank God.

She dialed Doc’s number, grateful she still remembered it.

“Doctor’s office.”