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Mummy and the Maverick
Meg Maxwell


She only has weeks to convince him he can love again…Billionaire businessman Autry Jones swore off single mothers after the pain of losing both the woman he loved and her child when she left him. But now he’s met widowed mother of three Marissa Jones, who might change his mind – and his life – in just three weeks…







And Daddy Makes Five

Rust Creek Ramblings

In a town as small as Rust Creek Falls, it would be hard not to notice the new millionaire on Main Street, even if he wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous. But bachelor Autry Jones does not disappoint—he’s every bit as handsome as his settled-down brothers Walker and Hudson. However, this business-minded CEO not only shies away from commitment, he’s also heading for Paris in a month. So why is he keeping company with Marissa Fuller, a young widow with three daughters?

Marissa and Autry have made a “no-strings/just friends” agreement, but Abby, Kiera and Kaylee clearly have other ideas. Can a dedicated tycoon find happiness with a mom and her kids? We here at the Gazette are hopeful. Some contracts were made to be broken!


“What about you, Marissa? What would make you happy?”

“When my crew is happy, I’m happy.” She smiled. “I guess it’s hard to separate one from the other. It’s been a long time since it’s been just me, you know?

“What would make me happy?” She paused and looked at him, and she was pretty sure her answer was written all over her face.

He sucked in a breath and leaned close and kissed her. She kissed him back, grateful for their secluded corner.

“Just for tonight,” she said.

“Just for tonight.”

She kissed him again, her hands on his face, everything she felt going into the fierce kiss. “No strings attached,” she whispered.

“That’s always been the case,” he said.

No strings. She’d shake on that again, but not on being friends. She couldn’t be casual friends with Autry, not after this, and certainly not after they made love.

“Maybe we should take this conversation upstairs,” he said.

“I think we’re done talking,” she whispered and kissed him again.

* * *

Montana Mavericks: The Great Family Roundup— Real cowboys and real love in Rust Creek Falls!


Mummy and the Maverick

Meg Maxwell






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


MEG MAXWELL lives on the coast of Maine with her teenage son, their beagle and their black-and-white cat. When she’s not writing, Meg is either reading, at the movies or thinking up new story ideas on her favorite little beach (even in winter) just minutes from her house. Interesting fact: Meg Maxwell is a pseudonym for author Melissa Senate, whose women’s fiction titles have been published in over twenty-five countries.


In memory of my beloved grandparents.


Contents

Cover (#uc7d4793b-e8b8-58dc-a336-dbc1b38add2f)

Back Cover Text (#u14734be2-7021-5424-9db8-56d0e456c162)

Introduction (#ub7c0991a-7669-5d1c-bfe2-7b5c12ab7549)

Title Page (#u9daad152-cf6a-5b23-89f5-d3aca290c32c)

About the Author (#ua439a06b-eb6e-5922-9c27-7dcb569831ac)

Dedication (#ua18f339d-aabb-519b-ab3e-7520a415b98f)

Chapter One (#u31308ed5-5a96-5a0d-8a55-889ec89e48b7)

Chapter Two (#u3fb1371f-1678-5a37-85da-adca10497e2b)

Chapter Three (#u8eb70939-f55b-55e5-8ae5-b8b2b1a9ba09)

Chapter Four (#u3eaa2c46-29cb-5e6e-a589-3b3773466165)

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)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)


Chapter One (#u1d1145dc-5a75-5f3b-8154-b24677c7dce4)

Autry Jones stood on the sidewalk in front of Just Us Kids Day Care Center, trying to process that his family’s corporation, the venerable Jones Holdings, Inc. was in the day care business. And that he was about to walk inside the building.

Autry and children didn’t mix. Joneses and children weren’t supposed to mix, but somehow, two of his four brothers had not only settled down with wives in this small Montana town, but were heavily invested in a day care franchise.

Autry took off his aviator-style sunglasses and tucked them in his pocket. He sucked in a breath and pulled open the front door.

There were babies everywhere.

Well, little humans, Autry amended, as he stepped inside and glanced around the main room. And only a handful of them, now that he actually counted. A big-cheeked baby was in a woman’s arms. A toddler wearing a shirt decorated with a cartoon monkey was building a tower of cardboard blocks. A little girl with bright red pigtails sat at a pint-size table, drawing a picture of a house and the sun with a smiley face in the center.

The middle-aged woman holding the baby smiled at him and walked over. He read her name tag: Miss Marley.

“Hi, Miss Marley,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m Autry Jones. My—”

The woman grinned and shifted the baby in her arms. “No introductions necessary, Autry. You’re Walker and Hudson’s brother. I’d know a Jones brother anywhere. They mentioned you were flying in today. But you just missed them. They left for Ace in the Hole. Everyone in town is getting together there for a viewing party.”

Ace in the Hole? Was that some kind of golf tournament? He could see Walker on the course, but Hudson? No way. “A viewing party?”

Miss Marley looked at him as if he’d been living on Mars for a while. “To watch The Great Roundup, of course! I plucked the short straw, so I’m on duty with this lil cutie and the Myler siblings until their parents get off work, but three people promised to record the premiere for me.”

Ah, a TV show, Autry figured. He didn’t watch much TV. As president of Jones Holdings, an international company involved in real estate and manufacturing—and lately, a day care franchise—Autry was focused on negotiating deals and making money. Having time to watch TV was beyond him, despite the stretches he spent in airport lounges and on flights to everywhere from Dubai to Australia. Free time was about preparation—which was practically his family’s motto. Well, his father’s. Not that that had always been the case for Autry. Something he didn’t like to think about.

Now, though, Autry had found himself with an entire three weeks, twenty-one days, to himself. No necessary meetings. No deals to broker—not until late August, when he’d have to be in Paris for the Thorpe Corp. negotiations. He could be spending these much-needed vacation weeks on the beach in Bali or southern California. Appreciating the view, including sexy women in bikinis. But two of his brothers had shocked him—and the rest of the Jones family—by settling down with wives in the boondocks of Montana.

Rust Creek Falls. If he looked one way there was a building—barely. Another, Montana wilderness. Walker hadn’t been kidding when he referred to Rust Creek Falls as something of the “Wild West.”

Speaking of his oldest brother, Walker Jones the Third, who didn’t have a speck of small town in him, the company CEO had not only built a Jones Holdings, Inc. office here, but had built an actual log cabin for him and his new wife, Lindsay Dalton Jones, to live in. Autry wouldn’t have believed it, but he’d seen the cabin with his own eyes at their wedding, back in May. Granted, it was pure luxury, but still. Logs. A cabin. Montana wilderness. Autry expected that of his brother Hudson, who loved ranch life and the open spaces of Wyoming and Montana. Hudson operated the business of the day care for Walker, and had fallen for the manager, Bella Stockton, and now the happily married couple lived together at the Lazy B Ranch.

Two Jones brothers down. None to go. Well, three, but Autry, despite being thirty-three years old, wasn’t the marrying kind, and though he wasn’t close with any of his brothers, he couldn’t see Gideon and Jensen getting hitched. But if Walker and Hudson had, anything was possible.

He had these three weeks, zero relationships with his brothers and a chance to change that.

There was discord between his father, the domineering, controlling Walker Jones the Second, and his brother Walker the Third; their father had given up years ago on “wayward” Hudson following in the family footsteps. If Autry didn’t take this time to try to bond with his brothers a little, maybe smooth over things between them and their father, the family would disintegrate. Unfortunately, his dad didn’t seem to care, nor did his mother, so it was up to Autry. Why he cared so much, he wasn’t sure. But he did. He wanted to know his brothers. Especially now that they’d done something so...unexpected, like falling in love and getting hitched. Making lifetime commitments.

“Whose daddy are you?” the little red-haired girl asked suddenly, her big eyes on Autry, her crayon poised in the air.

Autry froze. No one’s. And that’s the way it’s going to stay. “No, sweetheart, I’m not anyone’s daddy. I’m just visiting.”

Miss Marley smiled at the girl. “This is Mr. Walker’s and Mr. Hudson’s brother, Mr. Autry.”

“Mr. Walker and Mr. Hudson are nice,” the girl said, then went back to coloring.

What? Walker was nice? Hudson has his moments, but Autry wouldn’t go so far as to characterize him as nice. What had Rust Creek Falls done to the Jones brothers?

And what had his family done to him if he thought the words nice and Jones could never be paired in the same sentence?

Autry looked around the colorful space with its square foam mats with letters of the alphabet, its beanbags and rows of cubbies in primary colors. Kid-size tables and chairs dotted the room. He could see doorways leading into classrooms, a nursery with cribs, and what looked like a break room. The area above the reception desk, with WELCOME spelled out in blocks, was full of photographs of babies and watercolors by “Sophia, age three” and “Marcus, age seven”

How his brothers spent so much time around kids, Autry had no idea. Autry liked kids just fine. As long as he wasn’t having them or raising them. In fact, Autry had a rule for himself when it came to dating: no women with baby fever. And under no circumstances would he date a single mother.

Lulu’s sweet face came to mind. A face he hadn’t let himself think about in months. Another big-cheeked baby, but with silky dark hair. Lulu, short for Louisa, had been a package deal with her single mother, beautiful Karinna. Autry had fallen in love with Karinna and soon felt like Lulu was his own flesh and blood. Suddenly the jet-setter had been changing diapers and wanting to stay in and listen to the woman he loved sing lullabies, instead of disappearing for weeks at a time on Jones Holdings business. But a few months later, when she left him for someone even richer, Autry lost not only his heart but the child he’d come to love.

So single mothers: never again.

“Ace in the Hole is on Sawmill Street,” Miss Marley said, interrupting his thoughts. “Just past the gas station. Can’t miss it. Oh, and order the ribs. Trust me. Best in town.”

Ah. Ace in the Hole was starting to sound like a bar and grill. The kind with a big screen TV. Ribs and a good craft beer sounded pretty good. Plus, he was looking forward to seeing his brothers and getting to know their wives. Autry had flown in for the weddings, but had had to leave the next day. Now, he had weeks to solve the mystery of his brothers’ complete turnarounds.

“Thanks for letting me know, Miss Marley,” Autry said. “I’ll be sure to order the ribs.”

“Go, Brenna and Travis!” Marley said, giving the baby a little pump in the air. “Imagine that, two of our own on a reality TV show. So exciting!”

Autry had no idea who Brenna and Travis were, but a reality TV show called The Great Roundup probably had something to do with cattle. Maybe horses?

“Da,” said the baby in Miss Marley’s grasp, reaching out his arms toward Autry.

An old ache gripped Autry, catching him off guard. He’d thought he was done with the sudden stabbing pain over what had happened.

Marley smiled. “That’s not your daddy, Dylan, but yes, he does look like your father with his blond hair and blue eyes.”

Autry forced a smile. “It was nice to meet you,” he said, extending his hand, then he headed out the door.

The one thing you could count on in this life was that there would be no babies or children in a bar.

Ace in the Hole, here I come. And not a minute too soon.

* * *

“Wow,” Marissa Fuller said as she and her nine-year-old daughter, Abby, walked into the Ace in the Hole. “Standing room only tonight.” Good thing she’d decided to leave her two younger daughters at home with their grandparents.

Abby’s face lit up. “This is so exciting, Mom! The first episode of The Great Roundup is finally going to be on TV! Did you ever think a reality TV show would film right here in Rust Creek Falls? I could totally pass out from the anticipation! All those cute cowboys competing in teams for a zillion dollars—in Western feats and wilderness survival...and two who we actually know! I can’t wait to find Janie and watch!”

How her daughter got that all out in one breath, Marissa would never know. While Abby scanned the crowd for her best friend, Marissa looked around for two empty seats. There was one—right next to her good friend Anne Lattimore, Janie’s mother.

“Marissa!” Anne called, waving her over. “I’ve been saving you this seat for twenty minutes and have gotten a bunch of mean looks by folks who want it. One guy even offered to buy me the sirloin special if I let him have the chair.”

“Was he cute?” Abby asked as they approached. “Blond or dark haired? Did he have dimples like Lyle in 2LOVEU?”

Marissa smiled and shook her head, then gratefully sat down next to Anne at the table for two that was wedged between two others. Her daughter’s favorite subject was 2LOVEU, a boy band she listened to on repeat for hours. Marissa had heard the songs so often they’d grown on her, too.

“He was cute,” Anne told Abby. “But around fifty. And no dimples, sorry.”

“Abby, you can sit on my lap, like old times,” Marissa said, squeezing her daughter’s hand.

Abby’s eyes widened. “Mom, I’m nine,” she whispered in horror.

“No worries,” Anne said, smiling at Abby. “Janie’s over there, sitting on the floor in the kids section. She saved you a spot, too.”

“Bye!” Abby squealed and ran over to the area, where Marissa could see around thirty or so children sitting on foam mats, talking excitedly and munching on the free popcorn the Ace staff was handing out in brown paper bags. There was a good view of the two giant screen televisions on stands on either side of the bar. No matter where you sat in the room, you could see them.

“You’re the best, Anne,” Marissa said, scooting a bit closer to her friend to avoid being elbowed in the ribs by the woman at the next table. A divorced mom with a full-time job as a receptionist at the veterinarian’s office, Anne had her hands full but her act completely together. Something Marissa was working on. “I meant to get here twenty minutes ago, but Kiera couldn’t find her favorite doll and had the tantrum of all tantrums just as I was leaving. I thought tantrums were supposed to stop by five years old.”

Anne smiled, pushing a swath of her wavy blond hair behind her ear. “One of my neighbors threw a tantrum this morning over someone’s dog walking on the edge of her property. I don’t think there’s an age limit, sorry.”

Marissa laughed. “And then Kaylee managed to smush a green bean in her ear at dinner, so I had to deal with a three-year-old sobbing that this means she’s going to turn into a green bean.”

Anne squeezed Marissa’s hand. “Oh, to be three years old.”

But finally, Marissa had made it. Her mom and dad, doting grandparents, had shooed her out the door, assuring her they’d help Kiera find the doll, and calm down Kaylee. But even when Marissa needed a night out so badly she could scream, she never felt comfortable leaving her parents to deal with sobs and tantrums. That was Marissa’s job. She was the parent. She was the only parent.

She may have moved back in with her folks for the sake of the girls—and yes, her sake, too. But she wasn’t about to take advantage of her parents’ kindness and generosity. They’d been there for her two years ago when her husband, Mike, had died. They’d been there when she was struggling to make ends meet. They’d been there when she’d surrendered to the notion that she needed help, and had accepted their offer to move home. But her three daughters were her responsibility, and no matter how tired she was from her job at the sheriff’s office, or comforting a sick child at three in the morning, Marissa was their mom. Despite that, though, living under her parents’ roof sometimes made her feel like one of the kids instead of a twenty-seven-year-old widow, a grown-up.

A cheer went up in the room and Marissa glanced at the TV. It was showing a teaser promo for The Great Roundup, which was about to start in a few minutes, and there was Brenna O’Reilly, hometown girl, giving an interview, reality-TV-style, to someone off camera about how she never thought she could do this, but here she was, a hairstylist from Rust Creek Falls, participating in the competition with her hot fiancé, and she was going to give it her all.

You go, Brenna. Marissa knew all about finding herself in uncharted territory. You gave it your all or... There was actually no alternative.

“Brenna O’Reilly and Travis Dalton?” Anne said. She smiled and shook her head. “The cowboy no one ever thought would settle down and the flirty hairstylist always up for adventure—engaged. Crazy.”

Marissa had gone to high school with Brenna, who’d been a year behind her. They’d been only acquaintances, but she had to agree. Plus, hadn’t Brenna always talked about getting out of Rust Creek Falls? Granted, she had for the TV show, which had filmed for what must have been six very exciting weeks at the High Lonesome Guest Ranch. Rumor had it that Brenna and Travis would be coming to the viewing party, even though they’d been invited to watch the first episode with the producers and some of the other competitors.

“Chemistry works in mysterious ways,” Jamie Stockton said, his arm around his wife, Fallon O’Reilly Stockton—Brenna’s sister.

It sure was nice to see Jamie Stockton out for a change. Before he’d fallen in love with Fallon, the widowed rancher had been raising his baby triplets on his own. If anyone needed a night out, it was Jamie.

Fallon smiled and nodded, raising her beer mug. She had visited her sister on location during the filming of the show last month. But Fallon wouldn’t say a word about what had gone on behind the scenes. Apparently, she’d had to sign confidentiality papers not to ruin any surprises.

What the whole town did know was that originally, Travis, the ultimate showman cowboy, was the only Rust Creek Falls contestant on the show, which was about cowboys—men and women—competing in Western-style challenges. But when the producers were in town last month to film some hometown segments and saw what amazing chemistry Travis had with his girlfriend, Brenna—and how camera ready Brenna was—they’d invited them both on the show. No one had even suspected Travis and Brenna were dating, but the next thing everyone knew, Travis had proposed and they were competing as The Great Roundup’s “engaged couple.” If Marissa could binge watch the whole season in one night, she would. But she, like everyone else, would have to wait for every episode over the next several months.

“Now, that sounds like Travis,” said Nate Crawford, who owned the general store and a hotel in town, “Asking a woman to marry him for good ratings.” He grinned and shook his head.

Anne laughed. “I saw them a bunch of times together last month during the filming here. When the cameras weren’t rolling. No way were they faking anything for ratings. Those two are in love for sure.”

“Still, I can’t imagine proposing to a woman on a whim,” Zach Dalton said, adjusting his bolo tie as though it were squeezing his neck. Marissa glanced at Zach at the table on their other side. The handsome newcomer to town and his four brothers were cousins of Travis’s.

“Well, no matter what happened behind the scenes,” Anne said, “everything sure worked out for Travis and Brenna. They’re engaged.”

Marissa sighed. It sure had. All the romance in the air had left her a little wistful. Last month, her daughter Abby had talked nonstop about how “dreamy” their new town “star” Travis was, almost as dreamy as Lyle, the lead singer of 2LOVEU. And Marissa had always admired Brenna’s free-spirited ways, especially back in high school. Brenna had had lots of dates, while Marissa had dated only one boy throughout high school and always expected they would get married. When she got pregnant after prom night, she’d married Michael Fuller at age eighteen. But Brenna had sown her wild oats and found love when she was ready for it. Good for you, Brenna.

Just as Marissa was about to try to flag one of the very busy waitresses, who were all racing around with platters of steaks and appetizers and ribs and trays of beer and soda, Abby ran over.

“Mom!” her daughter said, her brown eyes all dreamy. “That’s the one you should pick. For sure.”

Pick? Huh? Marissa looked in the direction her daughter was staring.

Ah. Three very good-looking men—two the Jones brothers and a third, who looked just like them—stood at the bar, talking, smiling, whispering. Marissa couldn’t take her eyes off the one she didn’t know. She was pretty sure she’d heard that Walker and Hudson, who owned Just Us Kids, had other brothers. And the tall Adonis between them, with his thick dark blond hair and sparkling, intense blue eyes, his designer shirt clearly costing more than her three kids’ wardrobes for a year, had to be a Jones. They were millionaires, yes, but also rare men who looked like they belonged both in Montana and a big city. There was something about the cut of the Western shirt, the premium leather cowboy boots, the belt buckle on which was carved the initials AJ and the trim fit of low-slung dark jeans. Since her daughter knew who Walker and Hudson were, the girl had to be talking about the one in the middle. Abby was right. He was sexy.

“They look like they should be in an ad for men’s cologne,” Marissa quipped. “Or on a movie poster. But pick for what?” she asked her daughter.

Abby grinned and leaned close. “To be your boyfriend.” The girl giggled and ran back to her seat next to her best friend.

Anne burst into laughter, but Marissa sighed. This was not the first time Abby had brought up the b word.

“Isn’t she a little young to be this boy crazy?” Marissa asked her friend. “I mean, it’s one thing for Abby to be putting up posters of 2LOVEU on her bedroom wall. It’s another for her to be sizing up every man she sees as a potential love interest for her own mother.”

Anne smiled but sighed, too. “Janie’s the same. I hear her say good-night to the lead singer of 2LOVEU before bed. We weren’t much different with our posters when we were kids.”

“Except we can’t remember being kids because we’re a hundred years old,” Marissa pointed out.

Anne laughed. “Exactly.”

Marissa found herself staring at the gorgeous stranger again. She had to hand it to her daughter—the girl had amazing taste. Marissa loved the way his blond hair swooped up and back like a Hemsworth brother’s. The few crinkles at the edges of his blue eyes suggested he was a bit older than her. Early thirties, she’d say. And those shoulders. Those arms. The way his waist narrowed down to those delicious jeans, which—

Oh my God.

He raised his beer glass at her and winked.

He’d caught her staring!

Mortifying!

“Can the floor open up and swallow me?” Marissa said, wishing the woman at the table in front of her had bigger hair so she could block Marissa and her cheeks, which had to be bright red.

“And miss the start of The Great Roundup?” Anne said with an evil grin. “Go talk to him! Hurry. You only have a few minutes.”

“What? Talk to that? That absolute gorgeous specimen of man? He barely looks real he’s so hot.”

Anne laughed. “The waitresses are so busy we’ll never get served before the show starts. Go get us two drafts and order a platter of something yummy. Perfect excuse to meet His Hotness. I heard Lindsay mention that her brother-in-law Autry was due in town this week and that Autry has been to just about every country in the world. How exciting is that? The man is a jet-setter. And gorgeous. Go get him.”

A tiny bit of Marissa, who was trying to be more “in the moment,” per a magazine article, wanted to do just that.

But come on. Marissa was a widowed mother of three young daughters and living with her parents. She might seem attractive across a room when he knew nothing about her, but she had no doubt that the man would run all the way back to Tulsa, where she’d heard the Jones brothers hailed from, the moment he discovered what her life was.

“I can just see that very expensive-looking man plucking green beans out of Kiera’s ears,” Marissa said. “Not. He’s nice to look at, but come on. I’m going to be on my own until Kaylee’s out of high school.” Which was only, gulp, fifteen more years.

“Marissa Fuller!” Anne chastised her with a smile. “What did Brenna and Travis’s crazy whirlwind romance teach us? That you just never know. If you’re open to it, if you’re there, love just might show up.”

Marisa was so touched by how positive Anne always was—and Anne was the divorcee who’d never, ever gotten over her first love, Daniel Stockton. She wrapped her friend in a hug. “Maybe we’ll both find love again,” Marissa said.

“Well, if I were you, I’d march over to the bar before some other single woman does.”

But Marissa stayed put, an eye on Abby and her thoughts back home. Yes, a night out was sorely needed, but Marissa missed putting her little ones to bed and wishing them sweet dreams. That was her life. Not hot men in thousand-dollar cowboy boots.

But this particular one sure was nice to fantasize about.


Chapter Two (#u1d1145dc-5a75-5f3b-8154-b24677c7dce4)

Autry watched the brunette with the dark eyes try to snag the waitress’s attention at least five times. She wasn’t having any luck. Which gave him his perfect in. He asked the bartender for two of the finest craft beers and got an eye roll and two drafts on tap.

“I keep telling you, Autry,” his brother Walker said. “This is Rust Creek Falls. And a dive bar in Rust Creek Falls. We don’t do twelve-dollar bottles of beer here.” His brother’s wedding band glinted in the dim lighting.

“And two beers?” Hudson asked with a grin. “You got here, what? Five minutes ago? And you already have your eye on someone?”

Autry smiled. “I’m in town for three weeks. That’s a long time. And you two have wives now and lives outside Jones Holdings. I need something to fill the hours.”

“Careful, brother,” Walker said, running a hand through his dirty-blond hair. “There’s something in the water here. It got me. It got Hudson. It’s gonna get you.”

“Not a chance,” Autry said, his gaze on the luscious brunette beauty. Had a woman in jean shorts and a yellow T-shirt ever been so stunning? “End of August, I’ll be in Paris. As single as ever.”

“If you say so,” Hudson said, raising his beer glass at Autry.

Autry caught the smirk Hudson gave Walker. No matter what, it sure was nice to see Walker and Hudson together. Joking, laughing, sharing a beer. Once, back when they were all kids, Walker and Hudson had been close. But they hadn’t been for years. Looked like being neighbors had changed that some.

A woman standing next to them with a baby in her arms turned to Walker. “Hey, Walker, will you hold Jackson for me for a moment while I go hug my aunt and uncle?”

“You bet, Candace,” Walker said, taking the baby as if he did this sort of thing all the time.

Walker Jones. The Third. With a baby in his arms. Bouncing it a bit and making baby talk. “Who’s a cute one?” Walker said, nuzzling his nose at the tiny tot.

Good Lord. What planet was Autry on? Was Rust Creek Falls in another dimension?

And there really were babies everywhere. Even in bars. Though, granted, tonight was a special occasion. From the looks of the place, the entire town had turned up to watch The Great Roundup. With all the buzz Autry had heard about the show in the ten minutes he’d been in the Ace in the Hole, he was excited to watch. Cowboys competing for a million bucks? Hell yeah. That was his kind of TV. The Jones family might be millionaires, but they were cowboys at heart. Autry’s first memory was of being on the back of a horse. And the first gift he’d ever gotten? A “piggy” bank in the shape of a stallion. Money and horses were two hallmarks of the Jones family.

The baby’s mother returned and held out her arms for little Jackson. “You’re a peach,” she said to Walker.

Walker, a peach? Autry couldn’t help himself. He laughed.

Hudson grinned. “Trust me. If peachhood got Walker and me, you’re next. You’re here.”

“I’m immune,” Autry said.

“Sure, bro,” Hudson said with a knowing nod. He glanced toward the tables. “Bella’s waving us over to our seats. Our rib platters arrived.”

Autry glanced at their table—two entire tables away from the brunette beauty. Way too far.

“Let’s all go sit down,” Walker said, nodding at his wife, Lindsay, who sat next to Bella. “I’m really glad you’re here, Autry. We barely got to talk at the weddings. After the show we’ll all head over to Maverick Manor for a nightcap.” Walker clapped Autry on the shoulder, then followed Hudson across the room.

The bartender placed the two beers Autry had ordered on the bar. “Be right there,” Autry called.

Beers in hand, he wove his way through tables and the standing room–only crowd. There was no way in hell he could resist meeting this woman. Just as there was no chance in that same hell they’d have anything other than a few amazing weeks together before he jetted off to Paris. If she was game, what was the harm in letting something happen between them for twenty-one delicious days? And something would happen. The closer he got to her table, the more her brown eyes and her unenhanced pink-red lips drew him in. He had to know her. Well, on a superficial level.

“Hello,” he said, nodding at the brunette and the blonde beside her. “Here you go,” he said, handing a beer to each woman. “Autry Jones, at your service.”

“I knew you had to be a Jones brother,” the brunette said. “I’m Marissa Fuller and this is my friend Anne Lattimore. Thanks for the beers. That was very thoughtful.” She smiled and took a sip, then set down the glass and looked around. Not at him.

Huh. Where was the flirtatiousness? Where was the fawning? Where was the sidling up to him and pressing herself against him like most women did?

“Are you in town visiting your brothers?” Marissa asked, taking another sip of beer.

He nodded. “For three weeks. I’m used to Tulsa, so Rust Creek Falls is a nice change.”

“Are you staying with Walker or Hudson?” Marissa asked. “I’ll admit, sometimes I drive by Walker’s house just to look at it. It’s amazing. A mansion made entirely out of logs.”

He smiled. “A log mansion for Walker and a beautiful ranch for Hudson. I visited both homes after their weddings back in May and June. But I’m staying at Maverick Manor.”

Surprise crossed her pretty features. “For three weeks?”

“I like room service,” he said. The truth was that he wasn’t close enough with either brother to feel comfortable staying with them that long. And he did like room service. Besides, Autry had gotten so used to luxury hotels that anything too homespun would feel...wrong and claustrophobic.

She laughed. “Don’t we all.”

Her smile had him so captivated he almost forgot where he was. But then the lights dimmed and he noticed Walker waving him over. “Autry, I’m gonna eat your share of the ribs,” his brother called.

Marissa glanced at Walker and laughed. “Better get over there before there’s nothing but a plate of bones.”

“Nice to meet you, Autry,” Anne said. “And thanks for the beer.”

He. Could. Not. Make. His. Legs. Move. Away.

“Uh, buddy, you’re blocking my view of the TV,” a man said, and Autry snapped back to attention.

“Sorry,” he said to the guy. He smiled at Marissa and her friend and headed over to his seat.

Autry glanced back at Marissa shortly after, but instead of ogling him with a sexy look on her face, letting him know she was up for meeting later, she was chatting with her friend.

Well, well, he thought, biting into a succulent rib with the best barbecue sauce he’d had in years. A challenge had just presented itself. And challenge was Autry Jones’s middle name.

* * *

Hmm, Marissa thought as the credits began rolling on the two big-screen TVs. The man was in town for three weeks. Might be nice to go out to dinner or a movie with a very good-looking man, a nice change of pace from watching ET and Frozen for the thirtieth time in her parents’ family room, then cleaning up errant popcorn kernels.

“There’s Travis!” Anne said, as the cowboy’s handsome face filled the screen. They were showing a promo video he’d shot last month in Rust Creek Falls, talking about his love of horses and his fiancée. Then there was Travis and Brenna on horseback, riding along with the other contestants to the “canteen” where the host, Jasper Ridge, a middle-aged cowboy all in black with a black handlebar mustache, awaited. The Ace in the Hole erupted in cheers.

Jasper explained the rules—the last cowboy or cowgirl standing would win one million dollars. Whoa boy. That was a lot of money. The contestants would be paired for some challenges, but each was competing on his or her own. So alliances could be made, but it might not get the contestants anywhere but tricked and eliminated. Marissa watched as the twenty-two contestants were introduced in little snippets. There was the Franklin family—widowed Fred and his twin sons, Rob and Joey. A grizzled cowboy named Wally Wilson in his late sixties. A fortysomething divorcée named Roberta and a handsome former soldier, Steve, with a prosthetic leg. Marissa’s attention was snagged by one contestant in particular—a sexy blonde rodeo star named Summer Knight.

From just the first five minutes it was clear to Marissa that Summer had a huge crush on Travis. She kept trying to sidle up to him, but Brenna, never one to sit quietly by, sidled right up between them, nudging Summer away. Marissa had to smile. And it was clear that the divorcée, Roberta, was very interested in the war hero, who was at least a decade younger. From the way Steve looked at Roberta, the man was smitten with her, too.

The host, Jasper, explained how the main challenges would work—contestants would be paired in teams and the events would involve everything from building a lean-to to cow roping to hay-bale racing. The winning contestant in each challenge would receive immunity for the next one, and after the day, one contestant would be eliminated.

Marissa sipped her beer while the contestants made “immunity” bracelets of braided leather and beads and put them in a carved wooden box with much ceremony. Then the group set up a tent camp and built a community fire in front. Finally it was time for the first challenge, freeze branding cattle, and Travis and Brenna were paired together. When neither was eliminated at the end of the episode, everyone cheered.

Suddenly an even bigger cheer erupted in the bar, folks standing and clapping. The Ace in the Hole was so crowded that Marissa couldn’t see what was going on. She turned to Anne. “What are we missing?”

Anne shrugged, and they both glanced around. A crowd had formed by the door. Marissa craned her neck. She could just make out a pink cowboy hat. Marissa knew of only one woman who wore a pink hat.

“It’s Brenna and Travis!” someone shouted.

As word spread across the Ace in the Hole that the hometown stars had shown up, everyone started clapping and wolf whistling.

“Hot wings and a round for everyone!” Travis called out. “On me.”

“Lemonade for the kids!” Brenna added with a grin.

The cheers got even louder as the waitresses headed into the kitchen to make good on Travis’s generosity.

“Thank you all so much for coming to cheer us on,” Travis said, lifting his Stetson.

“Ya’ll were cheering for us, right?” Brenna added with a grin.

Marissa didn’t have a good view of the pair, but she could see Brenna’s long red hair in a loose braid under the pink cowboy hat. Handsome Travis was in jeans and boots, his arm slung over Brenna’s shoulder.

And glinting on Brenna’s finger was a diamond engagement ring.

As Brenna and Travis answered questions about the episode, careful not to give away anything about episode two, Marissa couldn’t help but notice the way the pair looked at each other as each spoke. They were truly in love. Travis gazed at Brenna with such warmth and respect in his eyes. And Brenna had never looked so happy.

Good for them, Marissa thought. Feeling just slightly jealous. In a good way. Maybe being a little envious meant that one day she’d want that for herself.

Of course, she couldn’t imagine having some big romance. She was a widowed mother of three young children. That was her life. That was her full-time job, despite her part-time job at the sheriff’s office. How on earth could she even have time for a hot love affair?

“Love is in the air in Rust Creek Falls,” Anne whispered. “If it happened to them, it could happen to us.”

Marissa watched as Travis dipped Brenna for a dramatic kiss, covering their faces with his cowboy hat. Sigh. Had she ever been kissed like that? Even in the brief window when she and Mike had been just a couple and not parents?

“Please,” Marissa said. “They’re TV stars. I’m just regular old me in my jean shorts.”

“Well, someone who’s anyone but ‘regular old me’ sure seems to like those jean shorts,” Anne said, wiggling her eyebrows with a sneaky grin.

“What?” Marissa asked but her gaze slid over toward where Autry Jones was sitting.

He was looking right at her, his expression a mix of warm, friendly and downright...flirtatious.

He raised his glass to her and she smiled, then turned back to the TV. She took another peek, and Autry was deep in conversation with his brother Hudson.

Well, here’s your chance to be a little more adventurous, Marissa told herself, admiring the way his hunter green shirt fit over his broad shoulders. If the man asks you out, you will say yes. It’s just a date. He doesn’t have to want to marry you. He doesn’t have to want to be father to your kids. You’re not looking to get married again, anyway. It’s just dinner and a stroll or a movie, culminating, hopefully, in an amazing kiss. Times twenty-one days, she added. Yes. She decided it right then and there. If Autry asked her out, she’d accept.

But then she glanced up at the sight of Brenna on TV in an ad for next week’s episode, her diamond engagement ring sparkling, talking about how gallant and romantic Travis was even while freeze branding cattle. There was no way a man like Autry—single, as far as she knew; childless, as far as she knew; jet-setter, as far as Anne knew—would want to date a widow with three kids, a demanding part-time job, and parents with eagle eyes and a comment about everything.

Sure was nice to think about, though.

* * *

Well, so much for sticking around the Ace in the Hole to squeeze through the crowd to congratulate Brenna or be tapped on the shoulder by that inhumanly hot Autry Jones and asked out on a date.

Not five minutes after the episode officially ended and the television channels were changed to sports analyses, Marissa’s mother had called. Kiera was convinced there was a monster in her closet and a half hour of trying to make the five-year-old believe otherwise had only exhausted Marissa’s parents. She’d said goodbye to Anne, who was ready to leave herself anyway, and headed home with Abby, who’d talked nonstop on the way about how dreamy Travis was and wasn’t it amazing that he was as dreamy on TV as he was in person and it only proved that Lyle from 2LOVEU was probably a regular nice guy in real life just like Travis was.

Marissa was grateful for the chatterbox beside her as they headed into the house. The more Abby talked and required nods and “Oh yes, I agree” from her mother, the less Marissa could think about a certain six-foot-plus, muscular, gorgeous blond man.

She hadn’t been able to catch his eye as she’d left. All for the best.

And so Marissa had gone upstairs with her monster-blaster super sprayer, which doubled as her spray bottle of water for fixing her hair and ironing clothes. Roberta Rafferty had tried the monster blaster, but apparently only Mommy had the superpower of vanquishing the monster in the closet.

Armed with the spray bottle, Marissa burst into her daughters’ room, tiptoeing so as not to wake Kaylee, who’d managed to sleep through Kiera’s tears and Grandma and Grandpa’s attempts to prove there was no monster.

“Mommy! The monster is going to get me,” Kiera said, holding her pillow in front of her as a shield between herself and the closet on the other side of the room.

Marissa sat down on her middle daughter’s bed. “Sweets, I’m your mother and I’ll always tell you the truth, no matter what. I promise you that even though you believe there’s a monster in the closet, there really isn’t. Sometimes our minds tell us something and scare us, even though it’s not true.”

Kiera tilted her head. “But I saw him! He opened the door and made a mean face at me! He had three eyes!”

“Well, let’s see,” Marissa said. With Kiera biting her lip and looking nervous, holding out her shield-pillow, Marissa walked over the closet. She opened the door. No monster. Just a lot of pink and purple clothing. “There’s no monster, Kiera. I promise.”

“Can you spray inside just to be safe?”

Marissa pumped the water bottle, the fine mist landing on the girls’ suitcases.

Marissa closed the door and walked back over to Kiera’s bed. “There will never be a monster in that closet. You can count on that.”

“I feel better now, Mommy.”

Three seconds later, Kiera was snoring, her arm wrapped around her stuffed orange monkey. Meanwhile, her mother was completely exhausted.

“You’re such a great mom,” came a little whisper.

Marissa whirled around.

Her nine-year-old daughter stood in the doorway, looking like she might cry.

“Abby? Are you all right?”

“Yeah. I’m just—”

“What?” Marissa asked, her heart squeezing.

“I’m really glad you’re our mom. You always know what to say and do.”

Marissa held out her arms and Abby rushed over. Sometimes she forgot that Abby was just nine, right in the middle of kidhood. She was the eldest Fuller girl and took her role as big sister seriously.

“Thank you, Abby,” Marissa said. “I love you to the moon and back.”

“Me, too, Mom.” With that, Abby got into bed. She said good-night to her poster of 2LOVEU above her bed, then grabbed her own favorite stuffed teddy bear that her father had given her when she was born. Within five minutes, Abby was fast asleep.

Marissa watched her daughter’s chest rise and fall and pulled up the pink comforter, then kissed her cheek and tiptoed over to Kiera to do the same. Kaylee was on her tummy in her big-girl toddler bed. Marissa bent over to kiss her forehead, then sat down on Abby’s desk chair and looked at her girls.

This was her life. And this was everything. Yeah, it might be nice to fantasize about having the attention of a handsome man. A hot man. A gazillionaire, no less. Pure fantasy.

Marissa Fuller had everything she needed and wanted right in this room. Her heart was full and her life was blessed, despite the hardships.

Her head screwed on straight, she got up, said good-night to her parents and thanked them both again for watching the girls while she’d enjoyed a night out with Abby, then went into her bedroom and changed into a T-shirt and yoga pants and finally slid into bed.

Where she immediately thought of Autry Jones. What it would be like to kiss him. To feel his hands on her.

She smiled. Just a fantasy. Nothing wrong with that, right? Their paths would likely not cross while he was in town. Her life was here and work and grocery shopping and taking the girls to the doughnut shop for an occasional treat.

But again, no reason she couldn’t dream about a TV-style romance with Autry Jones in the privacy of her own bedroom.


Chapter Three (#u1d1145dc-5a75-5f3b-8154-b24677c7dce4)

“Kaylee, no!” Marissa called, but it was too late. Her three-year-old had pushed her little doll stroller, with a yellow rabbit tucked safely inside, into a huge display of cereal boxes in Crawford’s General Store. They came tumbling down, narrowly missing her.

“Oopsies,” Kaylee said, her face crumbling. “Sorry.” The girl hung her head, tears dripping down her cheeks.

Oh God, Marissa thought, shaking her head. After waking up twice during the night to comfort Kaylee, who had a tooth coming in, she’d had a crazed morning looking for Kiera’s other red light-up sneaker and then Abby’s favorite shirt, which had “disappeared” from the folded-laundry basket—it turned out it was never put in the hamper. That was followed by a three-hour shift at the reception desk of the sheriff’s office, ending with getting yelled at by Anne Lattimore’s neighbor for not sending an officer to deal with the dog-being-allowed-to-walk-on-the-edge-of-my-lawn-issue. Marissa didn’t need one more thing. But here it was. And it was only eleven in the morning.

“Kaylee, it’s—”

She swallowed her okay as the girl ran sobbing down the aisle, running so fast that Marissa had to abandon her cart and leap over the boxes of Oat Yummies littering the floor.

“Ah!” Kaylee said. “A giant!”

Marissa dodged a few more cereal boxes and glanced up into the amazing blue eyes of Autry Jones.

The man she’d been unable to stop thinking about. After soothing Kaylee back to sleep last night, Marissa had been so tired she’d squeezed beside her on the toddler bed, imagining Autry’s long, lean, muscular physique beside her before she’d finally drifted off to sleep.

“Oh, thank God,” Marissa said. “She sure is fast. A human roadblock was just what was needed.”

Autry laughed. “Should we find the runaway train’s mother before another display of cereal boxes comes tumbling down, this time on top of us?”

Marissa tilted her head. Was it strange that he didn’t assume the little getaway artist was hers? “You’re looking at her. She pushed her doll stroller a smidge too far and that was that. This is Kaylee. She’s three going on ready for the Olympics.”

Kaylee continued to stare up at “the giant.” Marissa was five feet six and a huge supporter of comfy flat shoes, and Autry towered over her at at least six foot two, so she could understand why Kaylee thought she was dealing with a fairy-tale giant. He was much better looking than giants usually were, though.

“Yours?” Autry said, staring at Marissa.

“Are you a giant?” Kaylee asked, craning her neck.

Autry knelt down in front of the girl. “Nope. I’m an Autry. Autry Jones. And it’s very nice to meet you, Kaylee. You know, when I was a kid, I would race my brothers up and down the aisles of supermarkets until the manager marched over to yell at us.”

Kaylee tilted her head, understanding only about half of that. “Did you win?”

“I won every now and then,” Autry said. “But with four brothers and me right in the middle, there was always one bigger and faster or lighter and faster.”

“No fair,” Kaylee said. “Guess where we’re going now.”

“Grocery shopping?” Autry asked.

“But guess why we’re here,” she said.

“To buy groceries?” Autry suggested, covering his mouth so he wouldn’t laugh.

“We’re getting picnic stuff,” Kaylee said. “Sandwiches and fruit and cookies. You can come, too.”

Marissa watched Autry stiffen. Yup, there it was. He now knew she was a mother, likely figured she was divorced or widowed and so had taken a literal and figurative step back.

“Sweetie,” she said to her daughter, “Autry is in town to visit his family and I’m sure he has plans for the day.” Marissa waited for him to jump on the out she’d just given him.

“What kind of sandwiches?” he asked Kaylee, still kneeling beside her.

“Peanut butter and jelly—my favorite,” the girl said.

Autry smiled. “That’s my favorite, too. I’d love to come. I have two hours before I have to meet my brothers at my hotel.”

Marissa stared at the man. Did he just say he’d love to come? That peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were his favorite?

Huh.

“Yay!” Kaylee said.

A millionaire executive cowboy was coming to their picnic. Why did Marissa have the feeling this would not be the first time Autry Jones would surprise her?

* * *

Whoa boy. What the hell was he doing? When Marissa had told him the cute little girl was hers, for a split second Autry had almost gone running out of the grocery store. No single mothers. That was his rule. And he didn’t have many rules. But instead of racing out the door, he’d said yes to going on a family outing. And that was after Marissa had given him a perfect and easy out.

So why hadn’t he taken it?

Because he’d been unable to stop thinking about Marissa Fuller since he’d first laid eyes on her yesterday at the Ace in the Hole. He’d been hoping to talk to her after The Great Roundup ended, but by the time he’d woven his way through the crowd, she was gone. He and his brothers had met up at his hotel and they’d talked for a while over good scotch in the lobby bar. He’d wanted to ask Walker and Hudson if they knew Marissa, and surely they did, since Rust Creek Falls was such a small town. But Autry realized he didn’t want to hear anything about her secondhand; he wanted to get to know her himself.

You can still run, he told himself as he carried the grocery bags containing their picnic and walked alongside Marissa, who held her little girl’s hand. They were on their way to a park Marissa had mentioned that was just a bit farther down Cedar Street. He could make up a forgotten appointment. Someone to see. And book the hell away.

But he kept walking, charmed—against his will—by cute Kaylee’s light-up sneakers and the way she talked about the puppy that stole her sandwich the last time she went on a picnic with her mom.

“Well, this time, I’ll guard your sandwich from every puppy in the park,” Autry said.

He felt Marissa’s eyes on him. Assessing him? Wondering if he was father material? He wasn’t. He was in town temporarily, end of story. As long as he kept his guard up, his wits about him and his eye on the prize, which was to drink in the loveliness of Marissa Fuller for a few weeks, he’d be A-OK.

He glanced at Marissa, surprised again at how damned alluring she was. The woman wore jean shorts, a short-sleeve blue-and-yellow-plaid button-down shirt and orange flip-flops decorated with seashells. Her toenails were each polished a different sparkly color, and something told him she’d let Kaylee give her the pedicure. She wasn’t wearing a stitch of makeup, and her wavy, long dark hair fell past her shoulders. She was as opposite the usual woman who caught his eye as possible. Autry met most of the women he dated in airport VIP lounges, alerted to their presence by their click of polished high heels on the floor and the smell of expensive perfume.

“Guess how many sisters I have?” Kaylee asked him, holding her free hand behind her back.

Autry froze. There were more?

“One?” he asked, trying not to visibly swallow.

Kaylee shook her head and giggled.

She let go of Marissa and held out both hands, palms facing him. Ten? She had ten sisters? He was going on a picnic with a mother of eleven?

Earth to Autry, he ordered himself. The girl is three. Calm down.

Kaylee giggled again and held up two fingers like a peace sign.

There was nothing peaceful about this. He might not be dating a mother of eleven, but he was dating a mother of three. Not that an impromptu picnic counted as a date. This was just a friendly little picnic. After all, three-year-olds didn’t accompany their mothers on first dates.

Autry felt better. Not a date. Just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some fruit.

Still, he pulled at the collar of his polo shirt. It was strangling him. And granted, it was August, but was it a thousand degrees suddenly?

“There’s the park,” Marissa said, pointing down North Buckskin Road.

Autry glanced at the sign as they passed it. Rust Creek Falls Park. He didn’t spend a lot of time in parks or going on picnics. But it was eighty-one degrees and sunny, with a delicious breeze that every now and then blew back Marissa’s wavy hair, exposing her enticing neck. Perfect park weather. And it wasn’t very crowded. A few people walked dogs, a couple joggers ran on the path and a group of teenagers were sunbathing and giggling in the distance.

“Here’s a perfect spot,” Marissa said. “Right under a shade tree.”

“Hi, Mr. Autry,” Kaylee said, for absolutely no reason as she stared up at him. Gulp. She was looking at him with pure adoration in her twinkly brown eyes. She slipped her little hand into his.

Oh God. He wasn’t supposed to be charming the three-year-old! It was the elder Fuller he wanted to have looking at him that way. Instead, Marissa was focused on laying out the blanket she’d brought.

“Hi,” Kaylee said again. “Hi.” She rested her head against his hip.

“Hi,” he said, forcing a smile.

Yes. He had definitely entered another dimension of time and space. Where Autry Jones was in a park with a single mother and her three-year-old, about to eat sticky peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which, granted, were his favorite.

Make your escape. Any ole excuse will do. Bolt, man! Bolt.

But Autry’s feet stayed right where they were, his gaze transfixed on Marissa’s lovely eyes and a beauty mark near her mouth. Now he was staring at her lips. Wanting to reach out and—

“Mr. Autry, you’re lucky,” Kaylee said, snagging his attention as she sat down.

“Because I’m here with you guys?” he asked, tapping the adorable little girl on the nose as he sat at a reasonable distance. Did she have to be so stinking cute?

She tilted her head as though that was a dumb answer. “Because you get to eat dessert first if you want. You’re a grown-up.”

“Ah,” Autry said, smiling at Marissa. “But I always eat my healthy sandwich first. Then dessert.”

Kaylee shrugged, turning to look in the bags. Marissa pulled out a jar of peanut butter, strawberry jam and a loaf of bread, then some paper plates and plastic utensils.

“Allow me,” he said, taking the knife and peanut butter.

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, Autry, but you really don’t strike me as a man who eats a lot of PB and J.”

“You’ve never seen me at midnight, hungry for a snack while going over fiscal projections.”

Her cheeks grew pink. Hmm. That could mean only one thing. That she was imagining him at midnight, naked, eating peanut butter in his kitchen. Not that that was remotely sexy. Maybe she was just imagining him at midnight. Naked or not. She still wasn’t giving him any signals either way. She didn’t flirt. She didn’t laugh at every little thing he said, funny or not. She didn’t brush up against him to try to turn him on. He really had no idea if Marissa Fuller, mother of three, was interested in him in the slightest.

They ate. They had sandwiches. They had oranges. They had chocolate chip cookies. By the time Autry almost finished his sparkling water, Kaylee had fallen fast asleep on the blanket, using her little monkey backpack as a pillow.

“Three kids, huh?” he said. “That can’t be easy.”

Marissa took a sip of her water. “It’s not. But loving them is. Plus we live with my parents. In the house I grew up in. So I have backup 24/7.”

He noticed she kept her gaze on him, as if waiting to be judged.

“You’re the lucky one,” Autry said. “If you live with your parents, you must be close with them. And your kids and folks must be close. That’s gold, Marissa.”

She tilted her head. “I guess I’ve never really thought of it that way. But you’re right, we are close. Maybe too close!” She smiled. “Not you and your family?”

He looked up at an airplane high in the sky, watching it jet over the clouds. “No. We were never a close family. The Joneses were about business. Everything is about Jones Holdings, Inc. Interestingly, not even that managed to bring us closer. But I was never close with my brothers growing up. And there are five of us.”

“But you’re here,” she said. “Visiting Walker and Hudson.”

“I’m trying,” he said. “My father, the imperious Walker Jones the Second, feels like his namesake eldest son defected. Walker moved here. Opened a Jones Holdings office here. Is doing what he wants—here. And Hudson always marched to his own drum, which never involved the family business.”

“And you?” she asked. For a moment he was captivated by how the sun lit up her dark hair.

“All about business. But I try very hard not to be a workaholic. I never want to be like my father, who put the company above everything—family, birthdays, special occasions. He missed everything and still believes business comes first.”

“You just said you’re all about business,” Marissa pointed out.

“Because I don’t have other commitments or responsibilities. For a reason. No wife. No kids. When I work around the clock or fly off to Dubai for a month, I’m not hurting anyone. In fact, I’m making someone happy—my father.”

“But surely you want a family someday,” she said, popping a green grape into her mouth.

He reached for his water and took a long sip. Did he? If he were really honest, he didn’t know. He’d had his heart smashed, his trust broken, and all his tender feelings for that sweet baby he’d come to think of as his own had hardened like steel.

“So you’re divorced?” he asked, glad to change the subject. He wanted to know everything about Marissa Fuller.

“Widowed,” she said, taking a container of strawberries from the bag. “Two years ago in a car accident. My five-year-old, Kiera, has very little memory of her father. Kaylee here has none at all.”

“And the third daughter?”

“Abby. She’s nine.”

Nine? Marissa couldn’t be older than twenty-seven, maybe twenty-eight. She’d been a mother a long time, practically all her adult life.

He watched her bite her lip, seeming lost in thought. “Abby was seven when her dad died and remembers him very well. A few times a week, when Abby is saying her good-nights to her little sisters, I’ll overhear her telling them about their daddy.”

Marissa’s life was very different from his. What she’d been through. What she did on a daily basis.

“She sounds like a great kid,” he said.

Marissa nodded. “And one who had to grow up too fast. She mothers her little sisters all the time. Sometimes I even forget that life before their dad died wasn’t quite like the paradise Abby paints for her sisters.”

Her cheeks turned red, as though she hadn’t meant to say that aloud. She held out the container of strawberries and he took one.

“Well, I might not be married,” Autry said, “but I have no doubt that marriage is hard and takes work. And you clearly got married very young.”

“I got pregnant on prom night. Married and a mother at eighteen. Four years later, Kiera came along. And Kaylee was a surprise—a nice surprise, but maybe not the boy Mike ho—” She turned away. “I guess sometimes I start talking about all this and end up saying too much.”

He reached out and moved a strand of hair from her face, the slightest touch against her cheek, and yet he felt it everywhere. “Best way to get to know someone is to listen to them talk when they’re not guarded.”

She smiled. “You’re trying to get to know me?”

“Well, I only have three weeks in Rust Creek Falls, but yes. I want to know you, Marissa Fuller.”

“Marissa Fuller, mother of three. With baggage. With live-in parents. With a really busy schedule.”

“I’d like to steal up your free time,” he said.

She laughed. “Do I have free time? If I ever have time to myself, I always think I should spend it one-on-one with one of the girls. Or I should scrub the bathroom tub before my mother does, and she always gets to it before I can. My life isn’t exactly Italian restaurants and dancing and walks in big-sky country.”

He moved a bit closer to her. “But maybe you’d like to go to dinner at an Italian restaurant. Go dancing. Take a walk in big-sky country.”

“I’d love all that, Autry. But I’ve got responsibilities. Three young kids.”

He nodded. “Of course. But do you know who you sound a little bit like? My dad. He never felt comfortable taking a day off. He never relaxed or had fun. The business was everything, just like your home life is. As it should be, Marissa. Home and family—that’s everything. But you need some time to yourself, too. To recharge.”

“I wish,” she said. “But I’ve been doing this since I was eighteen, Autry. You’re what? Thirty-two? Thirty-three? I can’t even relate to that kind of freedom. I hear you jet all over the world for Jones Holdings.”

“Thirty-three and, yes, I do. Our corporate headquarters are in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where I grew up. I live in a skyscraper on the twenty-fifth floor. But I’m never there. I have a whole atlas of destinations in mind to build our corporate profile and assets.”

“And no woman has ever tempted you to settle down? Like your brothers?”

He frowned and turned away, hoping his expression didn’t match what he was thinking. He didn’t want to talk about Karinna or Lulu. “I don’t have the luxury of that,” he said. “Not if I want to keep Jones Holdings expanding globally. Just like you don’t have the luxury of going to a movie whenever you feel like it. In three weeks, I’ll be in Paris, likely for a year.” He paused and looked directly at her. “Maybe until I leave, we can keep each other company.”

“Exsqueeze me?”

He laughed. “I don’t mean in bed. I mean I’d like to spend time with you.”

“I’m a package deal, Autry. Even for three weeks in August.”

“Kaylee likes me,” he said. “I’ve already passed the Fuller daughter test.”

Marissa smiled. “I suppose you have. She’s not easy to charm.” She took a long sip of water. “Look, Autry. You’re tempting. Very tempting. But my life isn’t about fantasy or what I think about before I drift off to sleep.”

“Doesn’t mean you can’t have a little romance in your life.”

“Romance? I think I’m done with that, Autry.”

“Marissa—”

She took a deep breath. “My marriage wasn’t perfect. Many nights, Mike and I went to bed angry. It wasn’t easy for me to juggle working full-time with having three little kids and trying to take care of a home, so I became a stay-at-home mom. Money was tight, and Mike worked longer hours at the office to secure a promotion and a raise. We argued at times, the stress made it impossible not to, but we both agreed the sacrifices were worth it. Thing was, with so many added responsibilities, romance went out the window. That’s just the way it was and I wasn’t about to complain. I knew I had a blessed life. A home, a good husband, three healthy children. Till that one day when a drunk driver took Mike away.”

“I’m so sorry.”

She nodded. “I was so overwhelmed by grief and panic. I wasn’t really sure how I’d keep things going, but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other for the kids. The meager life insurance policy that Mike had helped for a while, but I worried about money constantly. So when my parents suggested we move in, I said yes. Ralph and Roberta Rafferty are wonderful grandparents, but I’m a twenty-seven-year-old woman living at home with Mom and Dad.”

“I admire you, Marissa. You did what you had to do at every step.”

He thought about how tough her life was—rewarding and full of love, yes, but tough. He didn’t date single mothers, but if he couldn’t break his own rule, what good was it? For the three weeks he had in Rust Creek Falls he wanted to give her the world. Her and her kids. It wasn’t like he’d fall in love. Marissa was a single mother of three. There was already a great barrier built right in.

“Well, I’d like to get to know you while I’m here,” he said. “I’d like to treat you and your daughters to a little fun. Good clean fun like this picnic. Hot-air balloon rides. Baseball games. You name it.” He paused. “But clearly, I’m very attracted to you, Marissa. I think you’re drop-dead gorgeous. I like spending time with you. I like you. So romance is definitely on my mind. I just want to put that out there.”

He’d enjoy his time with Marissa, cement a bond with his brothers, repair things with them and his dad, then he’d jet off to Paris—no heartache for either of them.

She stared at him with those brown eyes, and again he could see her thinking. Assessing. Considering. “You’re not looking for commitment and I’m not, either,” Marissa finally said. “So...friends. No strings attached.”

“No strings,” he repeated.

But their agreement left him a bit uneasy. It was one thing to say no strings and another to really mean it. And hurting Marissa—or her kids—was unacceptable.


Chapter Four (#u1d1145dc-5a75-5f3b-8154-b24677c7dce4)

At dinner that night, when it was Kaylee’s turn to share something special that had happened that day, a Fuller-Rafferty tradition going back generations, the three-year-old couldn’t stop talking about the nice man who came on their picnic and did magic tricks.

Yes, Autry Jones did magic tricks. The man was full of surprises. Big ones and little ones. At the two-hour mark of the unexpectedly long picnic, Marissa had had to wake up Kaylee so Autry could meet his brothers and Marissa could go pick up Kiera and Abby from their playdates, but Kaylee had been a little grumpy and still tired. Autry had plucked a clementine from the bag and made it magically disappear and reappear atop Kaylee’s head, which had brought forth belly laughs and “do it again, Mr. Autry.”

“Who was it?” Abby asked, reaching for the bowl of mashed potatoes.

Marissa slid a glance at her mother, who was pretending great interest in passing the platter of roast chicken to her husband, but was really hanging on to every word. Marissa didn’t often spend time with any men. Nice or otherwise.

“While we were shopping for our picnic in Crawford’s,” Marissa explained, “we ran into someone I met at the viewing party last night. So we invited him to join us. No big deal.”

“Who was that, dear?” Roberta Rafferty asked, so nonchalantly that Marissa smiled.

“Autry Jones.”

Fifty-five-year-old Ralph Rafferty paused with his fork in midair. “Autry Jones? Is he one of the millionaire Jones brothers?”

Marissa knew Autry was rich. Filthy rich. And he looked it. But somehow, the man she’d gotten to know a bit last night and today was a bunch of other things before millionaire. Kind. Thoughtful. Patient. A good listener. And so insanely handsome that just thinking about his face—and yes, that amazing body—gave her goose bumps. “Yup. He’s in town for three weeks visiting his brothers.”

“Wait,” Abby said, her brown eyes the size of saucers. “Do you mean to tell me that the man I saw with Walker and Hudson at the Ace came on your picnic?”

Marissa bit her lip. It was one thing for her daughter to notice a cute man for her mother to “date,” never having known her mother to date. It was another for that to become a reality.

Abby frowned and stared at her.

Uh-oh. This was new territory for Marissa. Though technically, she and Autry weren’t dating. They were friends. Who might kiss, maybe. Probably. Marissa sure hoped so.

“I can’t believe I missed the picnic!” Abby’s expression turned all dreamy, and if Marissa wasn’t mistaken, cartoon hearts were shooting out of her chest. “So you’re dating him? That’s so exciting!”

Marissa glanced at her mother, whose expression was its usual granddaughters-are-watching-and-listening neutrality. Roberta Rafferty would let Marissa know her opinion loud and clear later, when the girls were in bed.

“Abby, Autry Jones and I are not dating. We’re...friends. New friends, at that.”

“He does magic tricks,” Kaylee said. “Grandma, Grandpa, Mr. Autry made a little orange appear on my head!”

Her parents laughed, and mentally, Marissa thanked Kaylee for breaking the tension.

“So everyone knows him but me?” five-year-old Kiera asked, pushing her long brown hair behind her ears. “No fair.”

“Well, Mr. Autry did offer to come over tomorrow night and make a special dinner,” Marissa told her middle daughter. “Steaks and potatoes on the grill. Who wants to help make dessert for after?”

“Me-e-e!” a chorus of three trilled.

Again Marissa felt her mother’s eyes on her. She added potatoes to her plate, despite not having much appetite. “Tomorrow is your night to cook, Mom, so it’ll be nice for you to have a night off.” Marissa, her mom and her great cook of a dad took turns feeding the family of six every night. She tried to imagine Autry Jones wearing an apron. Flipping steaks on the grill. Sitting down to a meal with her entire family.

“Oh, I’m very much looking forward to grilled steak and potatoes,” Roberta said. “And meeting Autry Jones.”

Roberta’s chin was a bit high, her eyes a bit narrowed, her expression a bit...motherish. A millionaire Jones brother in town for three weeks and mysteriously making dinner for the whole family tomorrow night? Marissa could read her very smart mother like a good book.

There was only one reason why such a man would do such a thing. Because he was physically attracted to Marissa. If and when the notch on his belt was made, his grilling days for the Fuller-Raffertys would be over.

Her mother did have a cynical streak that she defended as “reality,” and quite frankly, so did Marissa. She was no one’s fool. She knew when a man was attracted to her, and Autry Jones clearly was. But unless she’d suddenly turned naive—and after all she’d been through in life, she doubted it—Autry Jones wasn’t a user, wasn’t a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am kind of guy. Her gut said so, anyway, and any time Marissa stopped listening to her gut, she paid the price.

Yes, indeed she, too, was looking forward to Autry coming over tomorrow. Maybe a little too much.

* * *

The next afternoon, Autry sat in a leather club chair in the lobby bar of Maverick Manor. He wished there were a Maverick Manor in all the destinations he found himself in. Autry had always been a glass and marble guy, appreciating clean lines and craftsmanship. Who knew he’d love a log-cabin-style hotel, albeit one that was pure luxury, bringing in big-sky country with great architectural detail and all the amenities? Maverick Manor soothed something inside of him, something he hadn’t even been aware of. Out the windows was a breathtaking view of the Montana wilderness, and across the room a massive stone fireplace that almost made him wish it were winter. He glanced up at the mural above the reception desk featuring residents of Rust Creek Falls. The focus on community and family appealed to Autry, which surprised him. But then again, the call of family unity was really why he was in town in the first place instead of scuba diving at an Australian reef or working on his tan on the French Riviera.




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