Allison Leigh – The Rancher's Christmas Promise (страница 1)
“We believe the infant girl under our protection is your daughter.”
With that, rancher Ryder Wilson’s world turns upside down. But he’s determined to make a home for the baby his late estranged wife left on a stranger’s doorstep. Local lawyer Greer Templeton is there to help, after growing attached to little Layla during the search for her daddy. It’s enough to make Ryder propose a marriage of convenience. But does love factor into his Christmas promise?
Though her name is frequently on bestseller lists, ALLISON LEIGH’s high point as a writer is hearing from readers that they laughed, cried or lost sleep while reading her books. She credits her family with great patience for the time she’s parked at her computer, and for blessing her with the kind of love she wants her readers to share with the characters living in the pages of her books. Contact her at allisonleigh.com.
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Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk
The Rancher’s Christmas Promise
Allison Leigh
ISBN: 978-1-474-07825-2
THE RANCHER’S CHRISTMAS PROMISE
© 2018 Allison Lee Johnson
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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For my family.
Contents
“Y
Ryder Wilson stared at the people on his porch. Even before they introduced themselves, he’d known the short, skinny woman was a cop thanks to the Braden Police Department badge she was wearing. But the two men with her? He’d never seen them before.
And after the load of crap they’d just spewed, he’d like to never see them again.
“We’re not kidding, Mr. Wilson.” That came from the serious-looking bald guy. The one who looked like he was a walking heart attack, considering the way he kept mopping the sweat off his face even though it was freezing outside. March had roared in like a lion this year, bringing with it a major snowstorm. Ryder hadn’t lived there that long—it was only his second winter there—but people around town said they hadn’t seen anything like it in Braden for more than a decade.
All he knew was that the snow was piled three feet high, making his life these days even more challenging. Making him wonder why he’d ever chosen Wyoming over New Mexico in the first place. Yeah, they got snow in Taos. But not like this.
“We believe that the infant girl who’s been under our protection since she was abandoned three months ago is your daughter.” The man tried to look past Ryder’s shoulder. “Perhaps we could discuss this inside?”
Ryder had no desire to invite them in. But one of them
His aunt hadn’t raised him to be slob. She’d be horrified if she ever knew strangers were seeing the house in its current state.
He slapped his leather gloves together. He had chores waiting for him. But he supposed a few minutes wouldn’t make much difference. “Don’t think there’s much to discuss,” he warned as he stepped out of the doorway. He folded his arms across his chest, standing pretty much in their way so they had to crowd together in the small space where he dumped his boots. Back home, his aunt Adelaide would call the space a