Mistletoe Daddy

Countdown to a Christmas Baby

After Vivian Grainger buys him at the town’s charity bachelor auction, Nick McKenna feels obligated to provide his carpentry skills. He’ll help the bubbly blonde construct her dream spa and beauty shop in time for Christmas—but the burly cowboy won’t be sticking around. When he realizes Vivian is pregnant, though, everything changes. Seeing the joy she brings to everyone around her despite the difficulties she’s overcome, it’s clear to Nick that Vivian—and her child—are what’s missing from his life. As they build her dream shop together, Nick will do his best to build a path to Vivian’s heart.

“Call me crazy, but I’m actually feeling relieved now.”

“Relieved? How are you relieved? Because the prank wasn’t aimed at you?”

“No. Because you weren’t the one who was the instigator. For a while there I thought maybe you really disliked me, or at least that you didn’t want me opening the spa. I want to make sure you’re sticking around this time because you see the potential in what I’m doing and not because of some misplaced sense of obligation. That stupid auction means nothing. You know that, right?”

Nick glanced over at Vivian. She was such a striking woman, with her golden hair silhouetted against the moonlight in the dark cab, that his breath snagged in his throat. He wasn’t certain he was staying for all the right reasons…definitely not for the genuine motives Vivian was suggesting.

No—he was starting to think he was sticking around for the wrong reasons. He was feeling all muddled up inside his head. Confused. Part of him felt like bolting. And yet he couldn’t even consider walking away.

Dear Reader,

I’m so excited to return once again to Serendipity, Texas, and the beautiful small-town community there. It’s been a special pleasure to write the story of Nick, the oldest of the McKenna brothers. I’ve enjoyed spending time with these three large, rugged cowboys, the spirited women with whom they fall in love and the babies who make their lives complete.

Though total opposites in every way, both Nick and Vivian struggle with their pasts creeping up on their futures, believing they are not good enough to embrace the love that is before them, both in their relationship with God and each other. I think that’s a common theme for most of us. What Nick and Viv discover is that in offering a loving sacrifice to each other, their own hearts are healed.

For Christmas this year, my grandchildren have each been given a handful of hay. Every time they perform an act of loving sacrifice, they are allowed to place one straw in the manger. By Christmas Eve, Jesus will have a soft, comfortable place to lay His precious head. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the season, I encourage you to spend time considering how you, too, can make the Savior’s nativity special this year.

I’m always delighted to hear from you, dear readers, and I love to connect socially. You can find my website at www.debkastnerbooks.com. Come join me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/debkastnerbooks, and you can catch me on Twitter @debkastner.

Please know that I pray for each and every one of you daily.

Love Courageously,

Award-winning author DEB KASTNER writes stories of faith, family and community in a small-town Western setting. Deb’s books contain sigh-worthy heroes and strong heroines facing obstacles that draw them closer to each other and the Lord. She lives in Colorado with her husband and is blessed with three daughters and two grandchildren. She enjoys spoiling her grandkids, movies, music (The Texas Tenors!), singing in the church choir and exploring Colorado on horseback.

Mistletoe Daddy

Deb Kastner

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Through Him then, let us continually offer God

a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess His name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have; God is pleased with sacrifices of that kind.

—Hebrews 13:15–16

For Isabella and Anthony, who show by

your innocent faith what it really means to make loving sacrifices to the Lord.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

“Texas men are built like bricks and so good lookin’, don’t you think? Especially these here McKenna boys,” elderly Jo Spencer crowed. The cheerful crowd gathered on the community green for the first annual Bachelors and Baskets auction clapped their agreement.

Jo swept her arm, gesturing from the top of Nick’s black cowboy hat down to the toes of his boots. “Just feast your eyes on this handsome guy.”

Vivian Grainger was definitely looking, though feasting wouldn’t have been the word she would have used.

Critically assessing would be more accurate. She was trying to decide if Nick McKenna was the right man for the construction contractor job she had to fill. After all, that’s what made this auction different from most of the ones she’d heard of before. The organizers weren’t auctioning off dates with the men who had volunteered. Even the married men were auctioning themselves off for charity. Instead, the men agreed to perform some task or chore for the women who “bought” them. One of Nick’s brothers, Slade, had been the first man auctioned off, and when his wife, Laney, won him, she’d announced that he’d be doing dishes and laundry for a month. In turn, the ladies offered a picnic lunch for their winning bid—hence the Bachelors and Baskets theme.