Suddenly Married

Suddenly Married
Loree Lough

SUDDENLY!FINALLY A BRIDETeacher Dara Mackenzie loved kids with all her heart. Trouble was, she seemed destined to remain forever single, forever childless. Until two solemn, motherless tykes in her Sunday school class caught her eye, captured her heart–and dragged her home to meet Daddy!Miraculously, blue-eyed widower Noah Lucas was the kind of man Dara had waited a long, lonely lifetime for. And the harried dad clearly wanted a woman around the house. So, before she knew it, Dara was a bride! But Dara knew that it took more to make a family. Now it was up to Noah to open his heart to Dara's love.Celebrate the joys of parenthood in this series full of unexpected special deliveries!

Table of Contents

Cover Page (#ue65fa94d-6201-564e-ac12-6af269d539bc)

Excerpt (#ufa154d24-6594-5a39-9ffc-da3fbffcac02)

About the Author (#uf1931e7b-fa72-56ce-a271-07fa1a83c204)

Title Page (#u8411dc64-5da6-52c1-8633-872384b9d10f)

Epigraph (#u2174e7df-056c-548b-8a8e-919b919b94ec)

Dedication (#ua8b79d55-5f5c-5b04-9c7d-579b0ffedd82)

Prologue (#uf82f0207-0d3b-5309-acb9-2901d862256e)

Chapter One (#u4938ac7d-b2f5-5c3a-9f8b-94759e5fcc78)

Chapter Two (#u26ee4fd9-5d7f-56a6-8b5b-5ac555e7a124)

Chapter Three (#u37771725-b500-5276-84e0-cbcd7c3ea957)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

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)

Dear Reader (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

From the moment they were born,

Noah’s two children had given his life new meaning. Once they were born, it took little more than a toothless smile to brighten his world. And now they were loving little beings who deserved to be loved right back.

By a woman’s gentle hands.

He’d try to persuade Dara Mackenzie to marry him.

Dara was the woman God intended him to spend the rest of his days with; his prayers had convinced him, and Noah knew it like he knew the earth would continue spinning.

So somehow he had to convince her of that.

For his children’s sake.

And…for his own?

LOREE LOUGH

A full-time writer for more than twelve years, Loree Lough has produced more than two thousand published articles, dozens of short stories—appearing in magazines here and abroad—and novels for children ages eight to twelve. The author of twenty inspirational romances (including the award-winning Pocketful of Love and Emma’s Orphans, and bestsellers like Reluctant Valentine and Miracle on Kismet Hill—all from Barbour Books), she also writes as Cara McCormack and Aleesha Carter. A comedic conference speaker, Loree loves sharing in classroom settings what she’s learned the hard way. And since her daughters, Elice and Valerie, have moved into homes of their own, Loree and husband Larry have been trying to figure out why some folks think the “empty-nest syndrome” is a “bad” thing.…

Suddenly Married

Loree Lough

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

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.

—Psalms 37:7

To Elice and Valerie, my beloved daughters… and lifelong friends.

Prologue (#ulink_57410cf7-f5dd-555b-a681-45f176213eb1)

“This is ridiculous,” she seethed, slamming the report onto the desk. “I refuse to believe my father could have done such a thing.”

Dara stood so abruptly her chair toppled over behind her. Noah Lucas gave the fallen chair a cursory glance before turning his dark-blue gaze to her. “I’m afraid it’s all right here in black and white.”

Dara uprighted the chair and ran a trembling hand through her hair.“Then…there must be some mistake, because—”

“I’ve been over these files three times. Numbers don’t lie.”

Spoken like a true accountant, she reflected.

Ironically, Dara had been drumming that very lesson into her geometry and algebra students’ heads since she began teaching at Centennial High eight years earlier. Frowning, she looked from the computer readout to the corporation’s checkbook to the year’s worth of her father’s bank statements. Money—great sums of it—had been moved from the company coffers into Jake Mackenzie’s personal account. Hands clasped beneath her chin, Dara paced beside the desk. “Who could have done such a thing?” she wondered aloud. “And why?”

He heaved an exasperated sigh. “I have no idea why the man would do anything so foolish. I mean, surely he realized that sooner or later, he’d be found out.” Shaking his head, he added, “How he managed to get away with it through last tax season is a myster—”

Her pacing came to an abrupt halt beside the desk. “I don’t like what you’re implying, Mr. Lucas.”

He got to his feet, planted both powerful palms flat on her father’s desk. “I’m not implying anything, Miss Mackenzie. My accounting firm was hired by the board of directors to examine…” He smiled patronizingly. “For the sake of protocol, let’s just say we were called in to investigate certain, ah, incongruities in Pinnacle Construction’s books. Lucas and Associates has earned its reputation for being able to solve problems like this.”