The Rancher and His Unexpected Daughter (24 page)

“I love you, Harlan Adams,” she whispered.

At the sound of those sweet words, a tremendous sense of peace stole through him. They were going to be so damned good together. Family had always been the most important thing on earth to him. Now, after losing his beloved Mary and his son, Erik, both in terrible tragedies that had taken them too soon, his family circle was going to grow once more. His life was once again complete.

“I love you, Janet Runningbear. And I love the daughter you've brought into my life.”

Her eyes lit with a teasing glint. “Who knows, Harlan? Maybe I'll give you another one before we're done.”

It was a good thing she slid into his lap and kissed him then, because he was too darned flabbergasted to say a single word. A father again? What an astonishing, incredible idea! One thing for sure, any child they had together was bound to be a hellion.

He could hardly wait.

THE RANCHER AND HIS UNEXPECTED DAUGHTER

B
y golly, if Janet didn't go and make good on her promise. Barely nine months to the day after their honeymoon, Harlan found himself pacing the hallways at the hospital waiting for her to give birth. The whole danged family was there, fussing and carrying on, teasing him unmercifully about getting a second chance at parenthood.

“Maybe this time you'll get it right,” Cody teased.

“There's not a thing about the way I did it the first time that I'd do over,” he shot right back, then sighed heavily. “Except with Erik. I'd do that over if I could.”

Luke put his arm around him. “Daddy, Erik made his own choices.”

Jessie stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “That's right. It's time to let it go. Besides, this should be a happy occasion. We should be concentrating on the new baby, not sad memories.”

Jenny, who'd been standing impatiently in the corridor outside the delivery room for the past hour, came up in front of him and scowled. “I just don't get it. What's taking so long? And why aren't you in there with her?”

“Because he'd be telling the doctor what to do, that's why,” Cody chimed in. “The delivery room staff signed a petition to keep him out.”

“But you took those classes with Mom and everything,” Jenny protested. “Now she doesn't even have a coach in there with her. If I'd known you were going to chicken out, I'd have taken the classes.”

Just then a nurse appeared in the doorway. She zeroed straight in on Harlan. “Mr. Adams, your wife is asking for you.”

His breath caught in his throat. “The baby?”

“Should be here any minute now,” the nurse said. “She says you'll probably only have to suffer through a contraction or two.”

When his sons heard that, they hooted. “Now we know,” Jordan taunted. “Janet was terrified you were going to faint in there, wasn't she?”

“We reached an agreement is all,” Harlan said defensively.

The truth of it was, Janet had fought like a demon to keep him from seeing her in pain. He'd fought just as hard to be in that delivery room. He'd missed out on the birth of his sons, because that was the way of the world back then. He'd regretted it more than he could say. This time he wanted to be there for the miracle, just one of many to come into his life since the day he'd met Janet and Jenny.

As promised, he walked through the door of the delivery room just in the nick of time. Janet's face was bathed in sweat, but the smile she turned on him was enough to fill his heart to overflowing. He clasped her hand.

“I hear you're doing great,” he said.

“So they tell me,” she said, suddenly clenching his hand in a grip so fierce he thought for sure the bones would break. “This is it.”

“Sure is,” the doctor agreed. “That's it, Janet. Come on. Just a little more.”

Harlan's incredulous gaze was fixed on the doctor, watching his concentration, then the smile that slowly spread across his face just as he lifted their brand-new baby into the air.

“It's a girl,” he announced. “A big one, too. Pretty as her mama.”

If there'd been a chair close by, Harlan would have collapsed onto it. Tears welled up in his eyes as he turned a tremulous smile on Janet. “A girl,” he repeated softly. “Another daughter.”

“I promised, didn't I?” Janet whispered.

He leaned down and pressed a kiss filled with gratitude and love to her lips. “Thank you for my two girls,” he murmured. “Most of all, thank you for loving me and making my life complete.”

Just then a nurse approached carrying their daughter in a pretty pink blanket. “Here she is, Mr. Adams. Would you like to hold her?”

An awe unlike anything he'd ever before experienced spread through him as he took that precious bundle into his arms and gazed down into his daughter's tiny, scrunched-up face.

“She is so beautiful,” he said, barely getting the words past the lump in his throat. “What are we going to name her? Have you decided?”

“I had a thought, but I wasn't sure how you'd feel about it,” Janet said.

“What?”

“I was thinking of naming her Mary Elizabeth,” she said, watching his face intently.

He was stunned by the generous, unselfish gesture. “Wouldn't you mind naming her for Mary?”

Eyes shining, she reached for his hand. “It's something I'd like very much to do for you and your sons. I was thinking we might call her Lizzy.”

He gazed down at the child in his arms and grinned. “Lizzy, huh? What do you think?”

Mary Elizabeth Adams opened her tiny mouth and wailed. There was no telling if that was a sign of approval or dissent, but Harlan took it as a positive reaction. He smiled at Janet. “Lizzy, it is.”

“So,” she said, as they wheeled her and the baby to her room, “do you think there are any more surprises in store for us?”

“You bet,” he promised. “They're around every corner.”

* * * * *

#1
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ISBN-13: 9781460380321

THE RANCHER AND HIS UNEXPECTED DAUGHTER

Copyright © 2015 by Sherryl Woods

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