Wyatt's Ready-Made Family

“Mommy, I’m scared,” her daughter whispered. “Make the bad man go away.”

“I will, honey.” Fighting her own fears, Maura pushed the kids into her bedroom. “You two wait in here. I’m going to make him go away. Don’t come downstairs no matter what. Promise?”

With nods from both her six-year-old son and her three-year-old daughter, Maura closed them inside her bedroom, then crept cautiously to the hall closet and took out an old rifle that had been left behind before she’d moved in. She suspected it wouldn’t shoot, not that she could pull the trigger anyway, but she wasn’t going to let the intruder know that.

Maura started down the stairs. With each step, she struggled to slow her breathing. A small table lamp was on, casing a soft glow over the large sparsely furnished living room. Most everything in the house had been given to her secondhand, except the black duffel bag beside the front door.

That belonged to the visitor.

She stayed back in the shadows, knowing that if it was her ex-husband, there would be no reasoning with him, but she would do anything she had to do to keep him away from her kids. She listened at the sound of cupboard doors being opened and closed. Then the sound of boots on the bare floors told her he was coming toward her. Here was her chance to catch him by surprise.

The huge shadow appeared, too big to be Darren. A strange relief ran through Maura, then she realized she faced a different kind of danger. He was a thief, maybe worse. She pointed the rifle at him. “Just hold it right there, mister.”

“What the hell?” The man stopped at the entrance of the room.

Maura bit back a gasp as she took in the tall, handsome stranger. He was dressed in a Western shirt and jeans with a big silver buckle on his belt. He had midnight-black hair long enough to brush against his collar. His eyes were a brilliant blue hooded by dark brows.

“Raise your hands,” she said, fighting to keep the quiver out of her voice, and her hands steady.

To say the least, Wyatt Gentry was surprised to find this pretty interloper in his house. By her state of dress, the long nightgown and her mussed, honey-blond hair, she’d been awakened from sleep. And she looked sexy as all get out. So she was the reason the inside of the house had looked so neat…so welcoming. Too bad the woman holding the rifle didn’t.

He sure-as-hell didn’t want to talk to anyone holding a weapon at him. “I’m not here to cause any harm, ma’am.”

“Then you shouldn’t have broken into my home in the first place.”

Her home? “Why don’t you put the rifle down and we’ll talk about it?”

“No! We’ll just wait until the sheriff gets here.” Her chocolate-brown eyes widened as she waved the rifle toward the sofa. “Go and sit down.”

Wyatt started to walk across the polished hardwood floor, but decided he didn’t like this situation at all. And he needed to do something about it. Now. He swung around, grabbed the barrel of the rifle and jerked it from her hands. What he didn’t expect was for her to fight him like a sharp-clawed cat. Her small size didn’t diminish her strength as she pushed him off balance, but he took her with him when she refused to let go of the rifle. They ended up on the floor. When he finally got leverage, he rolled her over beneath him, then straddled her. She still didn’t give up the fight, causing her shapely body to rub against his, reminding him that she was nearly naked and very much a woman. The friction between them was like a jolt of electricity.

“Will you stop fighting me so we can talk about this?” he asked when suddenly something hit him from behind.

“You leave my mother alone,” a youngster said as a small fist plummeted him. Hard. Wyatt reach back and pulled a boy off him as he stood up.

“Hey, kid. I’m not going to hurt anyone.” He held the small flailing body away from him. He glanced at the woman as she scurried from the floor to the little girl crying on the stairs.

“Please, release my son and just take what you want,” the woman pleaded. “I have a little money in my purse. Just don’t hurt us.”

Seeing the fear in the woman’s eyes, Wyatt hurried to reassure her that he wasn’t going to harm her or her family. “I’m not going to hurt anyone,” he insisted and tossed the rifle on the sofa. He doubted it would fire anyway. “And I don’t want your money. I’m only here because I own this house and property. I have a key.”

Shock turned to puzzlement on the woman’s pretty face. “You bought this ranch?”

He nodded. “As of three o’clock this afternoon when I signed the papers.”

“Jeffrey, stop!” she commanded her still struggling son. “The man isn’t going to hurt us.”

The boy finally stopped fighting, but continued his threatening stare as he was lowered to the floor and backed away toward his mother.

Wyatt straightened. “I’m Wyatt Gentry. Sorry, I had no idea anyone was living in this house.”

“I’m Maura Wells, my daughter, Kelly and son, Jeff. We’ve been staying here for a while…”

“A while. You’re renting the place?”

Her incredible dark brown eyes rounded before she glanced away. “I had an agreement with the owner—previous owner. But since you’re here now we should leave.”

Wyatt had no idea he would be greeted by a full house. Why hadn’t the lawyer told him about the renters? How could he toss this woman and her kids out in the middle of the night? And where was her husband? He glanced at her ringless left hand.

“There’s no need for you to leave—” he began.

Just then the front door burst open and a tall man rushed in and headed straight for Wyatt. He grabbed a handful of his shirt. “If you laid one hand on any of them you’re going to be sorry—”

“No, Cade, please, don’t,” Maura said as she stepped between them, then reached for the man’s arm. “It’s okay. This is Wyatt Gentry. He just bought the place.”

Cade released him. “You bought this ranch?”

Wyatt nodded. “As of today when I signed the papers.” He went to the duffel bag, pulled out the property title and handed it to him.

Cade glanced over the legal agreement. “Well, I’ll be damned.” He looked at Wyatt as a ruddy color covered his cheeks. “I guess I owe you an apology,” he said and gave him back the documents. “I’m Cade Randell. We had no idea the property had sold.”

A strange feeling came over Wyatt as he stared at Cade Randell. This was not how he’d planned to meet his half brother. He glanced away, fighting to stay focused on the problem at hand.

Cade Randell turned to the woman. “Maura, why don’t you pack your things and you and the kids come home with me?”

Wyatt stepped in. “Like I was telling Mrs. Wells,” Wyatt began, “there’s no need to leave in the middle of the night. Besides, I’m not going to toss out renters.”

Maura spoke up. “I’m not exactly renting…this house,” she said timidly. “Cade got permission for me to live here until the place was sold. I guess that’s right now.”

So Cade Randell had once again been her champion. Was something going on between these two?

“It was like this,” Cade said, “I know the owner, Ben Roscoe, and he agreed to let Maura and her kids stay here for a while. I guess when he went on vacation, he neglected to explain the situation to his lawyer.” Cade exchanged another glance with Maura. “It’s just that this old place has been up for sale for over four years. No one thought it would be a problem for Maura to take the job of house-sitter.”

Wyatt had had a long day, a long week with his drive from Arizona, not counting the endless arguments he’d had with his brother, Dylan, about him purchasing the once-Randell property. Now it was nearly midnight and he was exhausted.

“Why don’t we hash this out tomorrow?” he suggested. “I can get a motel room and stay there tonight. And we can discuss the living arrangements in the morning.”

He studied Maura Wells carefully. Why would a woman and her two kids be living in a deserted house? He didn’t like the scenario he came up with.

“Mr. Gentry, I can’t make you leave your own house.”

Wyatt took another look at her. Not a good idea. She had big brown eyes and fair, flawless skin. Her silky hair was the color of honey. When his body took notice of her attractiveness, he forced his gaze away and glanced around the room.

“Listen,” he began, “I was told to expect to have to spend a lot of time cleaning to make this place livable so I wasn’t planning on moving in tonight anyway.” He placed his black cowboy hat on his head. “I’ll stop by in the morning.” He picked up his duffel bag and headed out the door.

Maura was thrown by the stranger’s kindness. But that didn’t change the fact that she and the kids would be homeless in the morning. That meant she would need to find another place to live. Easier said than done. She didn’t have the kind of money it would take to relocate and to pay rent.

“I still say you should come home and stay with Abby and me,” Cade suggested.