THIS COWBOYâS PRECIOUS JEWELâ¦
After a painful divorce that left him the sole parent of his sweet baby girl, Eli Clayton shut the door on relationships. Hard. Then he walks into his ranching familyâs small-town gem shop and sees his daughter in the arms of a stunning woman whose eyes are the color of Montana blue sapphires. And he melts.
Brianna Frost canât deny the serious attraction between her and the hunky cowboy dad, or the bond she has with his little girl. Still, Brianna canât quite shake the feeling that Eliâs ex is still in his lifeâand in his heart. Would falling for this Clayton cowboy mean loving a family who could never be hers?
âWould you let me hold her so you can eat?â
âYouâre sure?â The blue of Eliâs eyes darkened with emotion. âEven though you said goodbye to me?â
âI was upset that night,â Brianna answered honestly. âYour daughter is so precious, Eli. Of course I want to hold her, but Iâll try not to wake her.â
âDonât worry about it.â He walked over and placed Libby in her arms.
The motion caused her eyelids to flutter open. Her blue eyes were so much like her fatherâs.
âHi, darling. Do you remember me? Iâm Brianna.â
The little girl put her arms around her neck and clung to her. Brianna held her against her heart and felt her breathe. âIâm so glad youâre feeling better.â She rocked her back and forth, loving the feel of those arms holding on to her.
Though he sported a slight beard and looked exhausted, Eli stood there watching them with a sweet expression on his rugged face. âI do believe youâre the reason sheâs suddenly acting normal.â
Brianna smiled up at him. âHer daddy is all the medicine she needs.â
REBECCA WINTERS, whose family of four children has now swelled to include five beautiful grandchildren, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the land of the Rocky Mountains. With canyons and high alpine meadows full of wildflowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favorite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her romance novels, because writing is her passion, along with her family and church.
Rebecca loves to hear from readers. If you wish to email her, please visit her website, www.cleanromances.com.
Dedicated to my fantastic parents, who somehow managed that I would be born on Valentineâs Day. They made that birthday special for me all the years that they were alive. What a blessing!
Chapter One
âHey, BriannaâI keep telling you I wish youâd come home. You could never be in the way. When you said you wanted to stay with Aunt Joanne and Uncle Clark in Montana, I thought youâd only be gone a few weeks. Itâs now been six months!â
âI know.â She looked at the Cattlemenâs Association calendar on the wall. It was already the twenty-seventh of December. âBut Iâve been doing well here working for them. I like being busy and was afraid if I came home for the holidays, Iâd be overwhelmed with memories and I canât deal with that yet.â
The car crash that had killed her beloved parents seven months ago had been so devastating that Brianna was amazed sheâd survived this long.
âI hear you,â he said in a mournful voice, âbut I want you to realize that Carol and I miss you more than anything.â
âI feel the same way.â But Doug, her elder brother, who was as blond as she was and sounded like their father, had only been married to his longtime girlfriend a few months before their parents had been killed. They were now running their parentsâ fruit farm in Marysville, California, and making a success of it. This early in their marriage they shouldnât have to worry about Brianna. Not when theyâd had so much responsibility thrust on them.
The aunt and uncle she adored and whoâd been so close to their family had never been able to have children. Theyâd begged her to come and live with them for a while.
âIf you stay away any longer, youâll probably forget you have an older brother.â He was twenty-seven to her twenty-three.
âDonât be silly. I love you to death and promise to fly home soon.â The nearest airport was in Missoula, a half hour away from Stevensville. An hour if the roads in midwinter were bad. According to her uncle, this winter hadnât hit them too hard and business had been good. Today was a beautiful day with a lot of sun that had brought in the customers.
Four or five times a year since she was a little girl, Brianna had come to Montana with her family to visit her aunt and uncle. They often took in a rodeo because her father and uncle once did bull riding themselves and Brianna loved it. In fact the three of them were going to the Stevensville rodeo tonight. While she stood there swamped by sweet memories, she heard the front door open. It was closing time, but she hadnât locked up yet.