Married By High Noon

Married By High Noon
Leigh Greenwood

Since childhood Dana had dreamed of marrying her best friend's big brother. But plainspoken Gabe couldn't picture glamorous Dana as his small-town bride, and he sent her packing.Now, though, Dana was coming home to Iron Springs, named joint guardian with Gabe to his sister's little boy. And the only way they could keep precious Danny was to wed–TOMORROW!This husband, this child–this family–would complete her. But could Dana bear a mere marriage of convenience to the man of her dreams? Or would Gabe finally open his eyes to her love–before their wedding at high noon?

When she was eleven and Gabe seventeen, she had fallen in love and made up her mind to marry him.

Dana had spent countless hours fantasizing about her best friend’s big brother.

And now Gabe looked even better than she remembered. Taller. More rugged.

But it wasn’t his broad shoulders or tight jeans that riveted her attention. It was the dark eyes that stared into hers until she wanted to run away again.

But Dana wasn’t a little girl now. And she hadn’t the slightest intention of running away. She told herself her feelings for Gabe Purvis were long gone, and he’d never had any for her.

She told herself she’d come to Iron Springs strictly to fight for little Danny’s future….

But was the real reason standing before her?

Dear Reader,

Happy Anniversary! We’re kicking off a yearlong celebration in honor of Silhouette Books’ 20th Anniversary, with unforgettable love stories by your favorite authors, including Nora Roberts, Diana Palmer, Sherryl Woods, Joan Elliott Pickart and many more!

Sherryl Woods delivers the first baby of the new year in The Cowboy and the New Year’s Baby, which launches AND BABY MAKES THREE: THE DELACOURTS OF TEXAS. And return to Whitehorn, Montana, as Laurie Paige tells the story of an undercover agent who comes home to protect his family and finds his heart in A Family Homecoming, part of MONTANA MAVERICKS: RETURN TO WHITEHORN.

Next is Christine Rimmer’s tale of a lady doc’s determination to resist the charming new hospital administrator. Happily, he proves irresistible in A Doctor’s Vow, part of PRESCRIPTION: MARRIAGE. And don’t miss Marie Ferrarella’s sensational family story set in Alaska, Stand-In Mom.

Also this month, Leigh Greenwood tells the tale of two past lovers who must be Married by High Noon in order to save a child. Finally, opposites attract in Awakened By His Kiss, a tender love story by newcomer Judith Lyons.

Join the celebration; treat yourself to all six Special Edition romance novels each month!

Best,

Karen Taylor Richman

Senior Editor

Married by High Noon

Leigh Greenwood

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

LEIGH GREENWOOD

has authored twenty historical romances and debuted in Silhouette Special Edition with Just What the Doctor Ordered. The proud parent of three children ranging in age from seventeen to twenty-four, Leigh lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. You can write to Leigh Greenwood at P.O. Box 470761, Charlotte, NC 28226. A SASE would be appreciated.

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

Chapter One

As she slowly drove down the single street in the tiny mountain community of Iron Springs, Dana Marsh felt like she was stepping back into the past. She hadn’t been here in fourteen years, yet nothing had changed. If it hadn’t been for the little boy sleeping in his car seat behind her, she would have felt that she was a teenager again, coming to spend the summer with her grandmother.

In the town that had betrayed her. She’d sworn never to come here again.

“Wake up, darling. We’re here.”

She was glad Danny had slept almost the entire trip from New York. He still didn’t understand that his mother’s sudden death a month earlier from cancer meant he’d never see her again. He asked for Mattie all the time, especially at night. Dana hadn’t wanted to change his routine by uprooting him from his home so soon, but his uncle had insisted that she bring him to Virginia the minute he recovered from his fever.

Dana pulled her Jaguar to a stop in front of a two-story, white, clapboard house.

“Want juice,” Danny announced.

Danny had his mother’s soft Southern accent rather than the sharp edge of Dana’s New York inflection. Even though Danny wouldn’t be two for another month, he could already talk as well as a four-year-old. That didn’t surprise Dana. He had a brilliant executive of a Fortune 500 company for his father, and an innovative artist for his mother.

“Let’s wait until we get inside,” Dana said.

He still wasn’t potty trained. She didn’t think her initial meeting with Gabe and his lawyer would be the best time to change a wet diaper. She expected Gabe would cringe in disgust. Why should he have any ability to understand a child’s feelings, even his nephew’s? He hadn’t understood hers when she was sixteen.