A cowboy to her rescue...

Creating a family through Bent Creek Blessings

Since losing his childhood sweetheart, cowboy Garrett Wade has avoided emotional entanglements. But when he comes across pregnant Hannah Sanders stuck in a flash flood—and in labor—it’s Garrett to the rescue. He becomes fiercely protective of the single mom and her son. Inviting her to stay at his family ranch seems natural, but can Garrett release the heartache of his past?

KAT BROOKES is an award-winning author and past Romance Writers of America Golden Heart® Award finalist. She is married to her childhood sweetheart and has been blessed with two beautiful daughters. She loves writing stories that can both make you smile and touch your heart. Kat is represented by Michelle Grajkowski with 3 Seas Literary Agency. Read more about Kat and her upcoming releases at katbrookes.com. Email her at katbrookes@comcast.net. Facebook: Kat Brookes.

Also by Kat Brookes

Bent Creek Blessings

The Cowboy’s Little Girl

The Rancher’s Baby Surprise

Texas Sweethearts

Her Texas Hero

His Holiday Matchmaker

Their Second Chance Love

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

The Rancher’s Baby Surprise

Kat Brookes

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09046-9

THE RANCHER’S BABY SURPRISE

© 2018 Kimberly Duffy

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

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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www.millsandboon.co.uk

“Hold out your arms and I’ll hand him over to you,” Hannah said with a reassuring smile.

Garrett did as she said, feeling an overwhelming sense of awe as she settled the babe into his outstretched arms. So, this was what becoming someone’s father would have felt like.

“Now bring him to your chest,” Hannah coached softly.

As he settled the towel-swaddled infant against his chest, Garrett felt his heart swell.

“I’d like to name him after you,” Hannah said, her eyes drifting shut.

Garrett’s gaze snapped up, her words taking him by surprise.

“That is, if it’s all right with you,” she mumbled sleepily.

“I’d be honored,” he said. Truth was, he couldn’t have been more honored. It wasn’t as if he’d ever have children of his own to pass his name down to.

“Garrett Austin,” Hannah said with a sigh. Her soft, even breathing told him she had finally fallen into an exhausted slumber.

Garrett looked down at the precious bundle he held in his arms and smiled. “Welcome to the world, Garrett Austin Myers.”

And they that know thy name

will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord,

hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

—Psalms 9:10

I’d like to thank Harlequin for the opportunity I’ve been given to share my stories with so many of its wonderful readers. It was a dream of mine for a very long time to write for Harlequin, and now I am living that dream. I’d like to thank Melissa Endlich for bringing me into the Love Inspired family, the editing department, my cover artist and Harlequin’s fabulous marketing crew. Lastly, I’d like to extend a very warm welcome to my new editor, Carly Silver. Thank you for your time and input with this story. I look forward to publishing many more books with you in the future.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Hannah Sanders eased her foot off the gas pedal as she struggled to make out the winding country road ahead. The overcast day had turned as black as night when she’d driven into the storm. Even her car’s high beams struggled to push through the wall of rain before her. Deepening puddles along the barely visible road pulled at her tires, causing Hannah to tighten her grip on the steering wheel even more.

“Dear Lord,” she prayed, resisting the urge to run a hand over her rounded abdomen, knowing she needed to keep both hands firmly wrapped about the steering wheel, “please don’t let anything happen to this baby.” Her sister’s baby.

The wipers, set on high, pushed water to and fro on the windshield, but the deluge outside rendered them nearly useless. Why hadn’t she turned around when she’d seen the approaching storm? As if in answer to her question, the cramping in her lower back returned, this time wrapping around to her swollen abdomen. She hadn’t turned around because, according to her GPS, Bent Creek, Wyoming was the closest town in any direction to seek shelter from the storm she was driving through.

Hannah clenched her teeth as the cramping sensation, one she still hoped was nothing more than false labor pains, settled low in her abdomen. Tears pooled in her eyes. “This can’t be real labor,” she uttered in denial as she fought to push away the sense of panic threatening to overcome her. It was too soon. The baby, the tiny little blessing her older sister and her husband had entrusted her with, wasn’t due to arrive for five more weeks. A child that, following the multicar pileup that had taken her sister’s and brother-in-law’s lives three months earlier, would be Hannah’s to raise. To love.

And love this baby she would. With all her heart. He was all she had left of Heather, her only sibling. She told herself to stay calm. That stress wasn’t good for the baby, and what she was experiencing was nothing more than false labor pains. But what if they weren’t? She couldn’t give birth to Heather and Brian’s son on the side of some rain-soaked road alone. There could be complications? What if—

A crack of thunder erupted in the looming clouds above just as Hannah started across an old wooden single-lane bridge, yanking her from her fearful thoughts. The Honda Civic shuddered almost violently below her. Then, before she could fully process that the rumble she’d both heard and felt wasn’t thunder, the bridge gave way beneath her car.

A panicked cry escaped her lips. She jammed her foot on the brake, not that it made any difference as the nose of her Civic dipped downward. The creek’s rampant flow immediately crested over the front end of the hood on the driver’s side, mixing with the deluge of rain still coming down around her. Hannah’s stomach dropped, and it had nothing to do with the life growing inside her. It was an instantaneous fear of what might very well be her last few moments on this earth. Was this how her sister had felt in the milliseconds before the deadly crash that took her life?

Guilt rose up, overtaking that fear. Her decision to drive on through the storm instead of pulling off onto the side of the road to wait it out would cost her not only her life, but that of the innocent babe she carried inside her. Thick, hot tears of regret rolled down her cheeks. Just when she thought her car was about to be swept away, the rear of the vehicle caught on something, causing it to hang up on the rain-soaked hillside behind her. The car now hung partially submerged in the rushing water of the creek. Thankfully she hadn’t been going fast enough for the front air bags to deploy. There was no telling what kind of injury that might have caused to the baby this far along in her pregnancy.

However, the seat belt she’d secured herself in with, thanks to the downward slant of the vehicle, now pulled taut against her swollen abdomen. While it kept her from sliding forward into the dashboard, it also made it harder to breathe and nearly impossible to move.

The engine sputtered and died as water pushed through the partially submerged hood of the car, causing the headlights as well as the inside lighting to go out. Fearing that any movement she might make would dislodge her car from the creek’s hillside, Hannah sat perfectly still. If one could call it sitting, with gravity wanting to pull her body downward toward the nose of the car.

Darkness shrouded the world around her as she sat listening to the sweeping rush of the water around her. Rain drummed against the car’s roof, the sound drowning out the furious pounding of her heart as the reality of the situation she suddenly found herself in settled into her panic-stricken mind. She was caught up in a flash flood. She’d seen enough news coverage on them over the years to know what they were capable of. Less than two feet of rushing water could sweep vehicles away as if they were nothing more than weightless toys.

A damp chill began to seep into the car, making Hannah shudder. She had to do something. But what if her movement caused the Civic to break free of whatever it was that had hung it up? The car bobbed against the water’s force and she knew time was running out. With the water rising as quickly as it was, the flooding creek would soon sweep her—them—away. Two more lives gone far too soon.

Her thoughts went to her sister’s child and the life he would never have the chance to live. And what of her father? What would become of him? He was still grieving over the loss of his oldest daughter. She couldn’t do this to him again. Wouldn’t do this to him. Forcing one hand’s iron-banded grip to loosen on the steering wheel, she released it and then eased slightly numb fingers across the center console, searching the front passenger seat for her purse and the cell phone she’d left lying on the seat next to it. She only prayed she would have signal out there in the middle of what felt like nowhere.

Her fingertips danced over the empty passenger seat and Hannah groaned. Her purse must have slid onto the floor when the bridge dropped out from under the front of her Honda. There was no telling where her phone had ended up.

“Dear Lord, please keep us safe until help arrives,” she prayed, determined to cling to her faith despite the gnawing fear that no one would be out in a storm like this. Why would they be?

She turned her head slowly from one side to the other, trying to assess her situation. Through the heavy downpour, she was barely able to make out the hazy outlines of tree trunks along the creek’s bank on either side of her car. Below her, angry whitecaps churned in the rising creek as fallen logs and other debris swirled past.

To think that she’d made the conscious decision to take less-traveled roads on her way back from Idaho to Steamboat Springs, believing the fewer vehicles on the road the safer she and the child she carried inside her would be. She’d been so wrong.

The force of the rising water, surging in a constant push against the side of her Civic, had Hannah’s panicked gaze shifting toward the driver-side window. There would be no leaving out that door, which was taking the brunt of the creek’s rushing flow. She looked frantically to the passenger side, which, much to her dismay, had water lapping up along its side mirror as well. With no power, she couldn’t lower the windows. That left her with only one other option: getting her very pregnant self into the backseat where she might be able to, if the car remained where it was, make her way out onto the bank of the swollen creek through one of the rear doors. Then she would have to pray she didn’t lose her footing on the wet, muddied ground.

The vehicle shifted again beneath her, making Hannah gasp. By the grace of God, it remained where it sat, precariously suspended on the side of the bank. Whatever she was going to do, she needed to do it now. If her car were to dislodge and be taken away by the rushing water, her life would end, right along with that of the innocent baby tucked so trustingly in her womb.

Heart pounding, she moved to unlatch her seat belt. With trembling fingers, she jabbed at the button, but it refused to release. She tried again to no avail. “No,” she gasped, a deeper panic setting in. She tried to push free of the strap, but her protruding abdomen made that impossible. Nausea roiled in her gut. Closing her eyes, she tried to calm down. She needed to think.

Another pain, this one sharper than the previous ones had been, caused her stomach to clench. A hazy darkness began to skirt the outer edges of her vision. Hannah’s thoughts went to her sister and the babe that should have carried on his parents’ legacy. She thought of her widower father back in Steamboat Springs, who would be utterly devastated to lose yet another daughter, another grandchild.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed softly. Then, letting her fear go, she turned herself over to the Lord’s safekeeping as the darkness claimed her.

“I’ve driven in storms before,” Garrett Wade muttered into the phone as he pulled away from his ranch house.

“I’d rather lose a horse than a friend,” Sheriff Justin Dawson said worriedly from the other end of the line. Justin, the best friend of Garrett’s younger brother Jackson, had property that bordered the Triple W Rodeo Ranch, which Garrett and his brothers shared with their parents. Shortly after the storm had begun, he’d called to ask Garrett for advice regarding one of his mares that was having birthing complications. While he could have possibly talked Justin through the birthing, Garrett felt better seeing to it himself. After all, as a veterinarian, that’s what he’d devoted his life to—caring for animals, horses in particular. He’d delivered dozens of foals over the years, and it appeared he’d be adding another to his list that dark and stormy afternoon.

The storm worsened, slowing his travel to what felt like a mere crawl. Rain deluged the windshield of his truck, making it almost impossible to see more than one or two cars lengths ahead. He rounded the curve that cut through one of the smaller wooded hillsides on the property, wondering if he might be better off turning around at the bridge just beyond and help Justin with the delivery of the foal via the phone.

He knew far too well how helpless one could feel when a life hung in the balance. Even if the life in jeopardy that afternoon belonged to a horse. He was still driven to do whatever he could to make certain Justin’s mare and its foal survived whatever complications had arisen. As he hadn’t been able to with Grace. Not that there was any comparison to the loss of a human life. But if he had the ability to make a difference where he hadn’t been able to in Grace’s case he would. Be it animal or human.

Grace. It had been a stormy afternoon very much like this one when he’d lost the other half of his heart. His high school sweetheart. No, not lost. She’d been taken from him—by cancer. Seventeen years old, with so much life ahead of her, a life she was meant to spend with him, she had slipped away with him holding her hand.

Pulled abruptly from the painful thoughts of his past, Garrett stepped hard on the brake as he eyed the road ahead. He sent a prayer of thanks heavenward as he took in the sight before him. Had he been traveling any faster, he might not have noticed the bridge had been washed out until it was too late.

The bridge had been old and in need of replacing anyway, but its loss had effectively cut off his family’s fastest route into town. Shifting the car into Reverse, he started to back away, preparing to turn his Ford F-450 around and head back to the ranch. However, something protruding from the space where the bridge had once been caught his eye as his truck’s headlights passed over it.

Leaning forward, Garrett squinted, trying to make out what that something was through the heavy rain. Part of the bridge, perhaps? He slowly drove toward the creek until the blurred outline became clearer. The moment he realized the back end of a car was jutting up from the sloping hillside, Garrett threw his Ford into Park and jumped out into the rain. Had the vehicle’s passenger, possibly even passengers, managed to escape before the car settled so precariously over the rapidly rising creek? Or were they trapped inside, on the verge of being swept away by the swirling water? Heart pounding, he raced toward the collapsed bridge.

“Hello?” he hollered. “Is anyone in there?”

When he received no response, he ran toward the upended vehicle, stopping just far enough away from the creek’s edge not to accidentally slip into it. Water was halfway up the front doors, but by some Providence the car’s rear held fast against the muddied hillside. Thunder and lightning crashing around him as he pulled his cell from the front pocket of his jeans and switched the flashlight app on. It wasn’t as good as having the real thing, but at that moment it cast enough light into the vehicle to see that the Honda wasn’t empty. The shadowy outline of a slight female form lay limp against the taut harness of the driver’s side seatbelt. He couldn’t see her face, as the woman’s head faced the opposite direction, but she appeared to be unconscious.

The vehicle creaked and groaned as the rushing water threatened to tear the car free of whatever it was that held it to the bank. His gaze shifted immediately toward the rushing water below as it crested over the car’s hood. There was no time to waste. Garrett broke into a run for his truck, heedless of the stinging rain. Dear Lord, please don’t let me have arrived too late.

He grabbed a heavy-duty flashlight along with the recovery towrope he kept in his truck in case one of their horse trailers got stuck in mud and secured the rope to the front of the F-450. Then he hurried back to where the Honda hung precariously atop the hillside and kneeled on the ground where the back end teetered. Shining the light under the car’s carriage, he found a secure place to latch the towrope.

He ran back to his truck. Throwing the oversize vehicle into Reverse, he eased backward until the rope grew taut. Then he gave it a little more gas and began pulling the smaller car back up the bank. It caught for a moment, refusing to budge, which sent Garrett into another round of fervent prayers. Then, as if in answer, it let loose, sliding in the slick mud as it ascended the remainder of the way up the side of the flooding creek.

It wasn’t until he’d gotten the car safely away from Bent Creek’s rising water that Garrett realized he’d been holding his breath. Exhaling his relief, he grabbed once more for the flashlight and then went to check on the driver inside the other vehicle.

When he reached the car, he pulled on the front door handle, only to find it locked. Aiming the beam of the flashlight directly inside, he saw the unconscious woman now lying back against the seat. A surge of urgency filled him. He pounded on the window as the driving rain beat down on him.

The woman shifted slightly and then her eyes fluttered open. Light green eyes, the color of peridot, looked up at him. The expression on the young woman’s face, one of both fear and relief, had him wishing there wasn’t a solid metal door separating them. He wanted to tell her she was all right. Needed to know that she truly was all right. Needed his pounding heart to settle back into its normal rhythm.

“You’re safe!” he hollered over the storm.

Wide-eyed, the woman looked up at him pleadingly, but she made no move to open the door. Was she suffering from shock? It was understandable if she was. A slender hand rose to flatten against the window in a silent plea and then dropped away as an expression of pain moved across her face. Had she been injured when the car had gone down over the bank?

“Unlock the door!” he instructed, motioning toward the door beside her.

She moved then, just enough to reach for the manual lock button. Then the door clicked.

“Thatta girl,” he muttered as he eased the door open. Rain spilled off the brim of his cowboy hat as he leaned in, keeping the beam of the flashlight averted as not to blind her with it. Looking down into her tear-stained face, he asked, “Where are you injured?”

“I’m not,” she said shakily.

Maybe she didn’t realize she’d been hurt, because there had been no mistaking the pain he’d seen etched across her face as he’d peered down at her through the rain-splattered window.

Before he could respond, she added, “I think I might be in labor.”

Labor? She had that part all wrong. Justin’s mare was in labor. She was recovering from the shock of nearly being swept away by a flash flood. His gaze dropped down to where the shaft of light from the flashlight crossed over her midsection. Her very swollen midsection. Dear Lord.

His calming heart kicked up again. “Are you sure?”

“No,” she answered with a sob. “But I’ve been having pains on and off for the past few hours. It’s got to be false labor. Please tell me it’s false labor,” she pleaded, fear in her eyes.

He didn’t want her to be afraid. Didn’t want her to be in labor, for that matter. Not here. Not now. Memories of that awful, stormy day years before threatened to rush in, but the woman’s soft whimper kept Garrett anchored to the present. “When is your due date?” he asked with another glance down at her protruding abdomen.

“Not for five more weeks,” she replied, biting at her quivering lower lip.

It was at that moment he realized she was shivering. The inside of the vehicle had grown chilled as it hung partway in the water. The cold rain hadn’t helped matters, either, causing that afternoon’s temperatures to drop. “Wait here,” he told her. “I’ll be right back.”

“Please don’t leave me,” she cried out, panic filling her voice.

“I’m going to get my poncho from the truck,” he told her. “You’re already chilled. We don’t need you getting soaked to the bones on top of that.”

She eased back against the seat and nodded slowly, another shudder racking her form.

Garrett raced back to his truck, sending up a silent prayer of thanks to the Lord for placing him there when he had. Collecting the oversize poncho, he hurried back to the frightened young woman. Five more weeks. Please let it be false labor pains and nothing more.

Opening the car door, he called out, “Slide out and I’ll cover you with this.” He shook out the folded rain poncho and held it up over himself and the top of the car.

“I... I can’t.”

His brows drew together. “We’re far enough away from the water. It’s safe for you to leave your car.” But not for a whole lot longer, if Bent Creek kept rising the way it was.

“M-my seat belt is stuck.”

“Sit back,” he told her. “I’ll give it a try.”

“Okay,” she managed with a weak nod.

Leaning into the car, he reached around the rounded mound of her stomach and jabbed at the release button. Just as she had said, it wouldn’t budge. Chilly rain seeped into his clothes as he worked at the latch. Finally, he pulled back with an apologetic frown. “It’s not going to give.”

Fear lit her eyes. “Are you going to have to leave me here?”

“Not a chance,” he said, wanting nothing more than to quell the panic he heard in her voice. “I’m going to cut the seat belt away.”

“C-cut it?” she stuttered, the chill she’d taken on seeming to get worse. “Wouldn’t oiling the latch be better?”

“I don’t have any oil handy,” he told her and then with a regretful frown said, “I know you’d rather I didn’t damage your car, but with the bridge out and other possible flash floods hitting the area, there’s no telling how long it would be before 911 could get anyone out here.”

“After having creek water rush through the hood of my car, I think the worst of the damage has already been done.”

He nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, her expression changed, her breath catching as her hand moved to the pale yellow shirt stretched taut across her stomach.

“The baby?” he inquired worriedly.

“Yes,” she gasped. “Cut the belt,” she blurted out. Then, as if suddenly realizing the forcefulness with which she’d made her request, added, “Please.”

Hearing the urgency in her voice, Garrett reached into the front pocket of his jeans and withdrew his pocketknife. “I’m coming in from the other side,” he said as he stepped back and closed the door, wanting to keep her as dry as possible.

He hurried around and slid into the passenger side, yanking the door closed behind him. Shoving the rain poncho aside, he shifted to face the woman trapped behind the wheel. “Do you think you could hold the flashlight for me? It’s heavier than your average household flashlight.”

“Y-yes.” She reached out to take it from him, holding it firm despite the trembling he’d seen in her hand as she’d done so. With a slight adjustment, she centered the beam on the point where the belt and the latch met. It danced around slightly, but she did her best to steady it.

“Thatta girl,” he cooed again, as if talking to a wounded horse. Turning in the seat as much as his long frame would allow, he unfolded the razor-sharp blade. Seeing her tense, he said calmly, “What’s your name?”

“H-Hannah. Hannah Sanders.”

“Just hold real still for me, Hannah. This should only take a second.”

Her gaze dropped to the blade and she swallowed hard. “Y-you didn’t tell me your name.”

“Garrett Wade,” he replied, noting the fear in her eyes as she looked down at his knife. “No need to worry. I grew up on a ranch.” He worked the tip of the knife gently beneath the stubborn strap. “My father taught all three of his sons at an early age how to handle a knife properly.”

Her gaze lifted. “How old are you now?”

“Thirty-four,” he answered as he focused on the troublesome belt, carefully slicing into it.

She exhaled a sigh of relief. “So you’ve had lots of time to p-perfect your knife skills.”

“Enough,” he agreed, her reply causing a grin to tug at his lips.

A scant few moments later, he had freed Hannah Sanders from her restraints. She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes.

Garrett stilled. “You okay?”

Opening her eyes, she met his worried gaze. “Yes. It’s just such a relief to be able to breathe fully again.”

He nodded in understanding, and then he folded and put away his pocketknife as his racing heart slowed. To think of what might have happened if he hadn’t gotten there when he had. “Now we just have to get you somewhere warm and safe.”

“Safe?”

He inclined his head toward the creek. “The water’s still rising. Best to clear out, just in case it spills over and tries to sweep your car away again.”

The look of relief he’d seen on her face faded away with his words.

Garrett silently chided himself for not giving more thought to the words he’d spoken. While they’d been truthful, he supposed he could have kept his concerns to himself. Unlike his brothers, he’d never been any good at saying the right thing when it came to women. Most likely because a majority of his time was spent in the company of animals. Not the best learning ground for social interaction.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he said. “And I’m a man of my word. Now just sit tight while I come around to help you out.”

“M-my purse,” she said, shivering. “It fell to the floor.”

Glancing down by his booted feet, he frowned. “I’m afraid I got mud on it.”

“That’s okay,” she assured him with a weak smile. “It’ll wipe clean.”

With a nod, he reached for it and then handed it over to her. “I’ll be around to get you.” Drawing the poncho up over his head, he slipped back out into the storm.

Hannah looked out into the darkness, the flashlight still gripped tightly in her hand. Its beam still directed downward. She watched through the pouring rain outside as her rescuer made his way around the front of her car.

Thank You, Lord, for sending this man to help us. She placed a hand against her stomach, feeling the life stir beneath it. “We’re going to be all right, little one.” While she didn’t know this cowboy who had rescued them, Hannah knew in her heart that he would keep them safe.

Her rescuer stepped up to the driver’s side door and eased it open. He had the poncho draped over his head, one long arm holding the outer edge of it over the Civic’s roof to help shield her from the rain when she slid out.

Clutching her purse in one hand and the weighty flashlight in her other, Hannah turned, easing a foot out the open door.

“Let me get that,” he said, taking the flashlight from her. “Now, careful you don’t lose your footing,” her said, his words nearly drowned out by the loud pulse of rain hitting the poncho he held extended over them.

Nodding, she pushed to her feet. Only it wasn’t the water under her shoes that had her going down. It was her trembling legs which promptly gave way beneath her. The next thing Hannah knew, she was being swept up into a pair of strong arms and carried away from her car and the raging creek beyond.

“I c-can walk,” she protested.

“I can see that,” came his reply, concern lacing his words. “But I’m not taking any chances. Not when you’re having abdominal pains.”

“I’m not having them now,” she told him, closing her eyes, too exhausted to say any more. When they reached his truck, she expected Garrett to set her on her feet, but he held her securely against him as he opened the passenger door and placed her, as if she weighed nothing at all, up into the spacious bucket seat.

“Don’t take the poncho off until I close the door,” he told her. “I’ve got to go unhook the towrope from the truck and then we’ll get going.”

As soon as the heavy door slammed shut beside her, Hannah worked her way out from under the poncho, her gaze searching the curtain of rain coming down outside for the man God had sent in answer to her prayers. She latched on to his shadowy outline, this kindhearted cowboy who had become her lifeline when she’d thought all was lost. By the time he’d climbed into the driver’s seat, Garrett was soaked from his wide-brimmed cowboy hat to his muddied boots. Beneath the fading glow of the truck’s dome light, she could see the beads of water dripping from the damp tips of his wet, wavy hair.

“I’m so s-sorry you had to get out in this storm,” she said as he reached between them to place his wet cowboy hat onto the floor behind her seat.

“Given the alternative outcome, I thank the good Lord above for putting me in the right place at the right time,” he replied as he reached back between the seats to grab a thick woolen blanket. Handing it over to her, he said, “Shove that wet poncho to the floor and wrap up in this. I can hear your teeth chattering from over here.”

Nodding, she draped the blanket over herself, relishing the warmth it provided. “I c-can’t thank you enough for coming to my rescue.” Her hand moved to her swollen belly. “Our rescue.”

His gaze dropped to the rounded, blanket-draped mound and then back up to her face. “It’s going to be okay. I’m going to take you to my brother’s place, where you can warm yourself by the fireplace,” he said as he threw the truck into gear. “It’s closer than mine. We’ll hole up there until the storm lets up. You sure you’re all right?”

“I’m alive,” she replied with a grateful smile. “I’d say that’s far better than all right.”

He nodded.

“Do you think your brother will mind?” she asked, the chattering of her teeth easing somewhat as the blanket, along with the heat blasting up from the truck’s floor heater, began to ease the chill from her body.

“Jackson?” Garrett said, glancing her way. “Not a chance. The man is a social butterfly. He always welcomes company.” He turned the vehicle around and started back along the rain-soaked road.

The warmth filling the truck’s cab cocooned her as they drove through the storm. The farther away from the flooding creek they got, the more relaxed she felt. And tired. So very tired. She needed to stay awake. That was her first thought. But, as her eyelids grew heavier, she knew she was fighting a losing battle. While Garrett Wade was little more than a stranger to her, Hannah knew he’d been guided to that washed-out bridge by the Lord in answer to her prayers. He would keep her and the baby she carried inside her safe from the storm outside. Comforted by that knowledge, she closed her eyes and gave in to the exhaustion.

“Are you sure she’s only sleeping?”

“She’s been through a traumatic experience,” a vaguely familiar voice replied. “That sort of thing would wear anyone down.”

Hannah struggled to push away the haze of sleep as arms moved beneath her, lifting her. “Garrett?” she said sleepily, trying not to wince as her abdomen suddenly constricted, the pain slightly more intense than it had been before.

“I’ve got you,” he replied.

“You need me to take her?”

“I’ve got her,” Garrett said as he pivoted away from the truck. “Can you see to the door?”

“She doesn’t look to weigh much more than a bale of hay. I think my bum leg could have handled it.”

“Maybe so, but I promised to see her safely to your place and I intend to do just that.”

The passenger door slammed shut behind them as Garrett carried her toward what she assumed was his brother’s house, rousing Hannah more fully. She forced her eyes open, her gaze first settling on Garrett and then drifting over to the man keeping pace beside her rescuer. He was holding a large umbrella up over her and Garrett, heedless of the rain soaking into his flannel shirt.

As they neared the house, light from the porch spilled out across the man’s face. A face very like the man who held her in his arms. “You must be the butterfly,” Hannah said, trying not to show the worry she felt as the possibility that she might truly be in labor settled in.

He looked down at her in confusion and then cast a worried glance in his brother’s direction as they ascended the wide porch steps. “Are you sure she didn’t hit her head on the steering wheel or something when the bridge dropped out from under her car?”

Garrett hesitated, glancing down at her. “I don’t think so.”

“I didn’t,” Hannah replied with a slight shake of her head.

“But you heard what she just called me, right?” the younger man insisted. “Butterfly.”

“Oh, that,” Garrett said as they stepped beneath the protective covering of the porch roof. “She got that from me,” he explained as they crossed the porch. “I said you were a social butterfly,” Garrett added in clarification and then added impatiently, “Can you get the door?”

His brother yanked the screen door open and then stepped aside, holding it in place until Garrett had her safely inside the house. Then he followed with a frown. “You couldn’t have compared me to something else, like a wolf, for instance?”

Ignoring his brother’s muttered complaint, Garrett carried her into one of the rooms off the entryway, where he lowered her onto a large brown overstuffed sofa. Then he kneeled to slide the rain-soaked sneakers from her feet. “Best get these wet shoes off you.” He glanced back over his shoulder at his brother. “Got a thick pair of socks she could borrow?”

“Be right back,” his brother said.

“I don’t need...” she began, but he was already moving through the entryway in long-legged strides, his gait somewhat off.

“Yes, you do,” Garrett said firmly as he set her wet shoes aside and then adjusted the bottom of the blanket to cover her stockinged feet. Then he stood and took a step back. “You can’t afford to catch a chill.”

Too tired to argue, she said, “No, I suppose not.”

His brother hurried back into the room, a thick pair of wool socks in hand. “These might be a little big on you, but they’ll be plenty warm.”

She reached for them. “Thank you.”

“If you haven’t already figured it out,” Garrett said as she removed her socks and pulled on the pair she’d been given, “this lanky cowboy beside me is my brother Jackson Wade. Jackson—” his introduction was cut off as Hannah let out a soft gasp. His worried gaze shot to her face. “Hannah?”

She sank back into the sofa, a hand pressed to her swollen belly. “It’s okay,” she said shakily. At least, she prayed it was.

“Another pain?” he asked with a frown.

Jackson’s gaze dropped to the blanket covering the rounded swell of her stomach and his thick brows shot upward, clearly noticing her condition for the first time since she’d been carried in. “Is that... I mean is she...?”

“Pregnant?” Garrett finished for him. “Yes. And, despite her reassurance otherwise, I think she might be in labor.” He looked down at her. “Hannah? Should I call 911?”

His brother’s eyes snapped up, some of the color leaving his tanned face. “Labor? As in, having her baby right now?”

Dear Lord, I hope not. Hannah shook her head, refusing to believe that was the case. “I don’t think there’s any need to do that. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately. And then getting caught up in that flood, well, I’m sure they’re just false labor pains. I’m not even close to my due date yet.”

Jackson looked relieved. Garrett, on the other hand, didn’t appear to be as accepting of her reply.

“We should call your husband,” Garrett said. “Let him know you and the baby are safe.”

“I’m not married,” she replied.

“I see,” he said with a quick glance at her rounded abdomen.

Warmth blossomed in her cheeks. “The baby’s not mine.” The second the words left her mouth she realized how untrue they were. The child growing inside her womb was hers now, for as long as the good Lord willed it to be.

The two men exchanged glances. Not that she blamed them. She knew how that last statement had to sound to them.

“The baby was my sister’s,” she explained, tears filling her eyes. “She and her husband had tried for so long to have a child, but she could never carry to term. So, when the doctor suggested they look into finding a gestational surrogate to carry their baby for them, I knew I wanted to do this for her.”

“Was your sister’s?” Garrett replied with a gentle query.

Her hand went protectively to her stomach as she choked out the words, “Heather and Brian died three months ago in a car accident.”

“Hannah,” Garrett groaned. “I’m so sorry.”

She brushed a stray tear from her cheek. “I’ll manage.”

“Alone?”

“Women raise children alone every day.” She ran her hand over her stomach, a knot forming in her throat. “This child is all I have left of my sister. I’ll do whatever it takes to make his life one filled with love and happiness.”

“Is there someone else we could call for you?” Jackson asked.

Her gaze dropped to the floor between them. “No.”

“No one?” Garrett pressed worriedly.

“It’s just my father and me, and he’s been really sick with a virus. Probably brought on by all the stress of dealing with my sister’s recent death,” she said. “It’s been so very hard on him. Especially since we lost my mother a little over a year past. I won’t have him worrying himself even sicker over me when I’m perfectly fine. Just carless.”

Garrett nodded in understanding, yet the worried frown remained fixed on his handsome face. “We’ll see what we can do in the morning about getting your car out of there.”

“If it’s still there,” she said with a shudder.

“Either way,” he agreed, “it’s not going to be drivable. You’ll be needing a rental car to get back to...”

“Steamboat Springs,” she supplied.

“You’re a ways from home,” Jackson said.

Hannah felt another twinge starting. Please, oh, please, make it stop. “There was something I needed to do,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm when she felt the panic washing over her. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to freshen up a little bit.” And take a moment alone to collect herself. Stress wasn’t good for the baby and she’d been under so much of it. Was it any wonder she was experiencing premature labor pains?

Jackson motioned toward the doorway. “Take a left down the hall. The bathroom will be the second door on your right. In the meantime, can I offer you something to drink?”

“I think I might have a few packets of tea left in the cupboard,” Jackson replied. “Can I fix you a cup of chamomile tea?”

“It would help to take the chill off,” she said, another sharp pinch squeezing at her abdomen. Maybe she should ask Garrett if he could drive her to the hospital once the rain slowed, just to be sure she wasn’t in true labor. “But I hate to impose on you any more than I have already.”

“You’re not imposing,” he replied. “I like having company. I’m a social butterfly, remember?” he said with a glance in Garrett’s direction, causing his brother’s mouth to quirk in a barely suppressed grin. Then he turned back to Hannah. “That being the case, I just wish we had been able to meet under better circumstances.”

She nodded. “Agreed.” When the viselike grip took hold of her stomach, Hannah fought the urge to groan aloud. Shoving aside the blanket Garrett had lent her in the truck, she made a quick adjustment to the leather strap of her purse, securing it atop her shoulder as she pushed awkwardly to her feet.

Garrett reached out to steady her.

“Thank you.”

“Do you need me to walk you down the hall?”

Shaking her head, she lifted her gaze to meet his. “There’s no need. I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t think—” he began, only to be cut off by his brother.

“Why don’t we go fix that tea Hannah said she’d like to help take the chill away?”

“It doesn’t take two of us to make a cup of tea,” Garrett argued with a frown.

His younger brother arched a warning brow.

Reluctantly, Garrett stepped aside, watching worriedly as Hannah made her way past him and out of the room.

“I’ll tell you right now,” she heard him say as she walked away, “The cowboy in me doesn’t like leaving her to fend for herself in her condition. Not one little bit.”

Thank the Lord for cowboys. If not for men like Garrett Wade, she might have lost more than her own life. She would have lost the baby Heather had prayed so long for.

Chapter Two

Garrett glanced up from where he sat at the edge of the sofa, waiting on Hannah’s return, when his brother came back into the room carrying a steaming ceramic mug.

Jackson glanced around. “Not back yet?”

“No,” he muttered with a frown, his gaze moving past his brother to the entryway.

He followed the line of Garrett’s gaze with a deepening frown. “Maybe you should go check on her.”

He wanted to. Would feel a whole lot better if he did. But Hannah had assured him that she was fine. He had to take her word for it. “Best give her a little time,” he told his brother. “She’s been through quite an ordeal. I’m sure she just needs a little extra privacy to sort through all of her emotions.”

“You’re probably right,” Jackson agreed with a nod as he placed the mug onto the coffee table and then settled into a nearby recliner.

Garrett sat staring at the paper tag that dangled over the rim of the stoneware cup as the tea steeped. Rain pinged against the windowpane as the storm continued on outside. Beside him, the clock over the fireplace mantel ticked away the minutes. Too many minutes. What if Hannah’s legs had given out on her again? What if she’d fainted from all the stress she’d been under? Losing her sister and brother-in-law, suddenly finding herself in the role of mother-to-be, nearly dying in a flash flood.

“Maybe I will go check on her,” he announced and was just about to shove to his feet when Hannah, face alarmingly pale, stepped into the doorway.

The sight of her wan complexion and fearful eyes had both men shooting to their feet.

“Hannah?” Garrett inquired as he moved toward her.

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. “I think my water just broke.”

It took a moment for her words to sink in. Dear Lord. “You think?” Maybe she was mistaken.

“I’m pretty sure it did,” she said shakily.

He crossed the room to where she stood trembling. “Everything’s going to be okay.” He prayed he sounded more confident than he felt at that moment.

“I’ll call 911,” his brother said as he pulled his cell phone from his jeans pocket.

“I’ll take her to the guest room,” Garrett replied with a worried frown as he scooped Hannah up into his arms, using the utmost of care. Since her water had broken, he thought it best she not walk around.

She trembled against him as he carried her back down the hall to one of the guest rooms.

“I’m so sorry,” she said against his shirtfront with a hiccupping sob.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” he assured her as he lowered her quaking form onto one of the twin beds lining the walls. “Are you in pain?”

“Not at the moment,” she choked out as she curled up on her side.

“But you’re still having contractions?” he deduced.

“Yes,” she confirmed, tears streaming down her cheeks. “And they’re coming closer together.”

He didn’t have the means to stop, or even slow her contractions. And with her water having broken, there was no turning back. Hannah was having her baby whether she was ready for it or not. “Looks like you’re about to bring that little one into the world. We’ll need to start timing them.”

Her hand shot out, grasping at the sleeve of his shirt. “He can’t come yet. It’s too soon.”

“Babies come early sometimes,” he said calmly when he was anything but. Still, he felt the need to say something, anything, to ease the fear he saw in those large, green eyes of hers. “They just need a little extra seeing to. As soon as the ambulance gets here...” he began, the words drifting off as her troubled gaze left his. Garrett turned to see his brother standing in the open doorway, looking nearly as pale as Hannah had only moments before.

“There’s a tree down across Miller Road,” his brother said evenly. “No through traffic.”

“We’ve got chainsaws,” Garrett said determinedly. “We can see to it.”

“Please don’t leave me,” Hannah blurted out, her grasp on his shirtsleeve tightening.

Jackson stepped farther into the room, shaking his head. “We won’t.” He looked to his brother. “Can’t actually. The tree brought several wires down with it, some of which are hot. The electric company is sending out an emergency crew. Once that’s been taken care of, the tree can be safely cleared away and the ambulance can get through. Until then...” He let the words trail off.

“We’re on our own,” Garrett muttered in understanding.

Another gasp pushed through Hannah’s pinched lips, drawing both men’s gazes her way.

“Aren’t you going to do something?” Jackson demanded of his brother.

Garrett forced his gaze to his brother. “Me?”

Jackson glanced over at Hannah, his expression one of concern. “You’re a doctor. Help her.”

“You’re a doctor?” Hannah repeated, sounding so hopeful.

He shot his brother a chastising look before turning back to Hannah. “I’m a veterinarian. The only babies I have ever delivered are the four-legged kind.” He glanced back over his shoulder. “Jackson, head on over to Mom and Dad’s and let them know what’s going on. Bring Mom back with you. If anyone knows about birthing babies, it’s her.” She had chosen to deliver her two youngest sons at home with only the help of Mrs. Wilton, a friend of his mother’s who was a midwife.

“Garrett, I would never forgive myself if they got caught up in a flash flood on their way back here to help me.”

“They’ll be fine,” he assured her. “Go,” he said to Jackson. As soon as his brother took his leave, Garrett turned back to Hannah. “Our parents live just a short distance up the road in the direction opposite from the rising creek.”

“Jackson will have Mom back here in no time. In the meantime, we’ll need to give your ob-gyn a call to let him know what’s going on.”

“Her,” she said with a soft sniffle. Releasing the hold she probably hadn’t realized she still had on his sleeve, she reached into her purse to retrieve her phone. Her hands were trembling so hard, it appeared to be all Hannah could do to hold on to it as she brought up her contact list. She lifted her gaze to his. “Would you mind calling for me?”

He reached for the phone and glanced down at the names on the screen. “Dr. Farland?”

“Yes. That’s her,” she said.

As he made the call, Garrett prayed the Lord would continue to keep her and her unborn child safe. He had told her everything would be all right, but that decision lay in far greater hands than his own.

“Garrett?” he heard his mother call out as Jackson’s front door banged open. Scurrying footsteps followed.

He looked up from where he sat in a chair next to Hannah’s prone form to see his mother, followed by Jackson, spill into the room, twenty minutes after his brother had gone to get her.

Hannah, whose long, dark russet hair now hung in sweat-dampened ringlets around her face, accentuating her large, pain-filled eyes, attempted to sit up.

“Don’t get up on my account,” Emma Wade immediately protested with a staying hand as she crossed the room. Then, after taking a good look at the woman Garrett had rescued from near tragedy, said, “You must be Hannah.”

“Yes.”

“Such a pretty name.” With a warm, motherly smile, she introduced herself.

Hannah nodded, unable to speak as a groan slid past her tightly compressed lips.

Garrett couldn’t suppress his worried frown as he looked up at his mother. “Her pains are coming about six minutes apart.”

“Then I’m here just in time to take over,” his mother said, giving his arm a comforting pat.

“I’ll just wait out on the front porch,” Jackson said as he backed out through the open door.

Garrett started to stand, to join his brother, but Hannah latched on to his hand, her grip firm. He glanced down to find glistening, fear-filled eyes staring back at him, and he couldn’t bring himself to leave her side.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said, giving her hand a comforting squeeze. Just then, thunder rumbled outside, rattling the windowpane and Garrett was pulled back to the past.

“I’m scared.”

“You’re going to be okay, Grace. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised. And then she was gone.

A firm hand came to rest on Garrett’s shoulder, pulling him back to the moment. “Honey,” his mother said softly beside him, “I’ll see to Hannah now. Why don’t you go wait with your brother and watch for the ambulance to get here? They might get the road cleared sooner than expected.”

He looked to Hannah, torn between the need to stay with her and the need to distance himself from the bad he knew could happen so unexpectedly.

“It’s okay,” Hannah said, slowly slipping her hand from his. “I’ll be fine.” She sent an appreciative smile to his mother.

If it was okay then why did he feel like he still needed to do more?

Before Garrett could respond, Autumn, new bride of his youngest brother, Tucker, stepped into the room. “Water is heating on the stove.”

“Thank you, honey,” his mother replied.

“Jackson called you and Tucker, too?” Garrett asked with a frown.

“He didn’t call them,” his mother replied as she returned to Garrett’s side. “I did. I thought it would be good to have another woman here to help out, just in case the ambulance hasn’t arrived by the time Hannah’s little one is ready to make his grand entrance into the world.”

“And Blue?” he asked, referring to his niece, Tucker’s little girl.

“Is back at the house, coloring with her grandpa,” Autumn answered.

“Hannah, honey,” his mother said, “this is my daughter-in-law, Autumn.”

“I’m so sorry you all had to come out on a day like this,” Hannah said, tears filling her eyes. Before either Autumn or his mother could reply, she gasped, and then clutched at the mound beneath the blanket he’d covered her with while they had waited for his mother to get there. Her pretty face contorted in pain, and her breaths became panicked, coming short and fast.

His mother nudged him from the chair. “Time for you to go join your brothers out on the porch.”

He nodded and stood, knowing his mother was right. He needed to leave the room, but it was killing him to do so. His gaze moved once more to Hannah and the pain he saw there grabbed at his heart. Lord, please find it in Your heart to ease her pain. He looked to his mother. “Call me if you need my help.”

“I will,” she said calmly.

“Garrett,” Autumn said softly from behind him.

He turned to look at his sister-in-law.

She offered a calming smile and said in that sweet, Texas-accented voice, “Your momma and I are gonna take real good care of Hannah and her little one.”

“Honey,” his mother said as she settled into the chair he had just vacated, “ask Jackson if he has a hair dryer. I don’t want Hannah catching a chill with her damp hair. We’re going to be needing some clean towels, and something to cut and then clamp the umbilical cord with. Sterilize them with rubbing alcohol, if your brother has a bottle of it on hand. And please ask Jackson to bring us that water Tucker put on the stove to boil.”

“I’ll see to it,” he replied, grateful to have something to do other than just stand around wondering when the ambulance was going to get there. He just prayed it would be soon.

“Thanks for calling to let me know,” Garrett said, relieved to hear that Justin had been able to help his mare deliver her foal safely into the world. Now he just prayed Hannah would be able to do the same with her baby.

“Keep me updated on Miss Sanders,” Justin said. “In the meantime, I’ll see to it the road to the washed-out bridge is closed.”

“I will,” Garrett said, ending the call. Then he turned and started back across the porch, shoving his cell back into the pocket of his jeans.

“You’re going to pace a hole right through my porch floor,” Jackson grumbled as Garrett passed by the rustic wooden chair in which his brother was seated.

Tucker nodded in agreement from where he sat stretched out in the matching high-back bench. “If he paces any faster, the floorboards are likely to spark into a trail of flames.”

How could his brothers just sit there, sipping at their coffee and making jests as if it were just another ordinary day? It wasn’t. Truth was, riding bulls and climbing atop broncs during his rodeo days had been less nerve-racking then this. “Do either of you realize how serious this situation is?” Garrett demanded as he continued pacing. “It’s not time for her baby to come.” He looked toward the door. “I should be in there with her.”

“She’s in good hands,” Tucker said soberly.

“Best thing you can do for her right now is pray,” Jackson suggested.

“And what if those prayers go unanswered?” he asked, as they hadn’t been with Grace. “Hannah’s too young to die.”

“Hannah isn’t going to die,” Jackson said firmly. “She’s young and healthy.”

“She’s been in labor for nearly three hours.”

“Babies come out when they’re good and ready,” Tucker replied, “If God planned to call Hannah home, He wouldn’t have seen to it that you were there to save her and the child she’s carrying from those flood waters.”

He prayed his brother was right. Yet, despite his brother’s reassuring words, Garrett couldn’t quell the restless energy that filled him. So, he continued pacing the length of the porch which ran all the way across the front of the cedar-sided ranch house.

The front screen door creaked open, bringing Garrett’s steps to a halt and drawing all three men’s gazes that direction. Autumn stepped out onto the porch and Garrett swallowed hard. It had only been forty-five minutes since he’d left Hannah in his mother’s and Autumn’s safekeeping, minutes filled with searching glances toward the distant road for an ambulance that had yet to arrive, minutes filled with anxious pacing and fervent prayers. Why wasn’t his sister-in-law still inside helping his mother? Unless...

Garrett’s heart thudded as he zeroed in on Autumn’s face. Hannah had said herself that it was too soon for her baby to be born. Not that babies didn’t arrive early all the time, but usually they were delivered in a hospital with medical equipment readily available to care for a premature baby. His fears were laid to rest the moment he realized that his sister-in-law was smiling.

“Hannah?” Garrett asked, the word coming out of a raspy croak.

“Tired, but doing well.”

Jackson sat upright and pushed to his feet. “And the baby?”

“He’s tiny,” she said, and then seeing Garrett’s worried frown, added, “but that’s to be expected seeing as how he came early. And he’s breathing on his own.”

“Thank the Lord,” all three men muttered in unison.

“No sign of the ambulance?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Tucker answered with a shake of his head.

A slight frown pulled at her lips at hearing that.

“I’ll call and see if I can find anything out,” Jackson offered.

“That would be good,” she said with a nod. Then she looked to Garrett. “Hannah’s asking for you.”

“She is?” he said, feeling a surge of something he couldn’t explain move through him. And then, without waiting for a reply, he hurried into the house. Long strides carried him down the hallway to his brother’s guest room. He needed to see for himself that Hannah was all right. That her baby was all right.

His mother looked up from where she sat watching over Hannah when he stepped into the room. “Perfect timing,” she said with a smile as she rose from the chair. “I’m parched. While you sit with Hannah and her little one, I’m going to go fix Autumn and myself a cup of tea and call your father.”

Garrett looked to the bed where Hannah lay, her face blessedly pain-free. She looked tired—understandably, after all she had been through—but there was a glow about her that hadn’t been there before. Her long hair, now dry with the exception of a few sweat-dampened spirals, fell about her face and down over her shoulders. It was the most vibrant shade of copper-red he’d ever seen, reminding Garrett of a fall sunset. Something he hadn’t picked up on in the dark of the storm.

His gaze fell to the towel-wrapped bundle Hannah held in her arms as she lay there and the tiny face peeking out of it. So very tiny.

“He doesn’t bite,” Hannah said with a sleepy smile as she looked down at the babe in her arms. “You can come closer.”

“He’s perfect,” Garrett said in awe as he moved to settle into the straight-backed chair his mother had just vacated. Despite his slightly wrinkled, blotchy red skin and scrawny little limbs, her son was perfect. The baby had a dusting of strawberry blonde hair on his head and big, slate blue eyes.

“He’s so small,” Hannah said with a worried frown as she looked down at her son. Then her gaze lifted to meet Garrett’s. “But he’s here. Without you, he might have...” Tears filled her eyes. “We might have...”

“But you didn’t,” he said, not wanting her to dwell on what could have happened. It hadn’t. “And I think the Lord played more a part in it than I did,” he added with a warm smile.

“That might be the case,” she agreed. “But you were the one He sent to save us. The man who risked his own life to save ours. The man who helped to calm me, finding us shelter during the storm. I can never thank you enough for what you did for us.”

“Seeing that you’re both all right is enough for me,” he said, noting that she could barely keep her eyes open.

“I should leave you to rest,” he said.

“I’m so tired,” she admitted with a soft sigh.

“Then close your eyes and get some sleep,” he told her.

Worry creased her brows. “I don’t dare. Not while I’m holding him. He could fall from my arms if I relaxed in sleep.”

“I could hold him for you,” he heard himself offering before he thought things out thoroughly.

“If you don’t mind,” she agreed with a sleepy yawn. “I know he’ll be safe with you, and I’ll only close my eyes for a short while.”

She was trusting the most precious thing in the world to her into his safekeeping. Garrett’s gaze came to rest on the sweet face of her newborn son. He was so small. Hardly bigger than his own outstretched hand, he thought with a surge of panic. Not that he hadn’t handled other small newborns before, but those had been in the form of bunnies and puppies and kittens. This was a baby, and he would never have one of his own.

“Garrett?”

He looked up at Hannah. “I’ve never held a baby before. I’m not sure I would even know how to go about it.”

“That’s how I felt when your mother laid him in my arms. But it’s much easier than you think,” she said with a reassuring smile. “But you’ll need to wash your hands first.”

Of course. He knew that. He should have done so before ever coming into the room, but he’d been so eager to see for himself that Hannah and the baby were all right. “Be right back,” he said, hurrying off to the washroom.

When he returned, Hannah smiled up at him. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Okay, now hold out your arms and I’ll hand him over to you.”

He did as she said, feeling an overwhelming sense of awe as she settled the babe into his outstretched arms. So, this is what becoming someone’s father would have felt like.

“Now bring him to your chest,” Hannah coached softly. “It will help to keep him warm. Just make sure his face isn’t covered. He doesn’t have as much body fat on him as a full-term baby would have had.”

As he settled the towel-swaddled infant against his chest, Garrett felt his heart swell.

“I’d like to name him after you,” Hannah said, her eyes drifting shut.

Garrett’s gaze snapped up, her words taking him by surprise.

“That is, if it’s all right with you,” she mumbled sleepily.

“I’d be honored,” he said. Truth was he couldn’t have been more honored. This child she’d given birth to was all she had left of her sister and he was going to carry Garrett’s first name. And it wasn’t as if he’d ever have children of his own to pass his name down to. His heart had died with Grace that day, along with his dreams of having a family of his own.

“What’s your middle name?”

“Austin,” he replied, his attention centered on the tiny face before him.

“Garrett Austin,” Hannah said with a sigh. Her soft, even breathing told him she had finally fallen into an exhausted slumber.

Garrett looked down at the precious bundle he held in his arms and smiled. “Welcome to the world, Garrett Austin Sanders.”

He sat holding the infant for nearly half an hour, his mother and Autumn popping in and out to check on Hannah who was still sound asleep. Both had offered to take the baby, but he’d refused to part with the sleeping infant. While holding something so small—a living, breathing little something—terrified him, Hannah had entrusted him with her baby’s safekeeping. He would keep her son cradled in his arms until she awakened.

That determined thought had no sooner passed through his mind when the sound of the baby’s breathing changed. Not significantly. If he hadn’t been holding the bundled infant against his chest, he might not have even noticed. But it had definitely quickened, the urgent little breaths enough to stir unease in his gut.

He crossed the room and stepped out into the hallway. “Mom,” he called out softly, not wanting to startle the baby.

A second later, she was in the hall, moving toward him. “Honey? Is something wrong?”

“I’m not sure,” he answered with a worried frown as he looked down at the baby. “His breathing seems a little off. I wanted to see what you thought before overreacting.” Preemies might have issues with underdeveloped lungs, but that wasn’t always the case.

Concern lit her features as she leaned in to check on Hannah’s son. That concern remained as she lifted her gaze back up to his. “His coloring doesn’t look good. We need to get him some immediate medical care.”

Care that Garrett couldn’t provide. “Take the baby and have Autumn get Hannah ready to leave.” He started for the front door.

“What are you going to do?” she called after him.

“Whatever it takes,” he answered as he let himself outside.

Minutes later, Hannah was lying across the backseat of his truck, her newborn son held securely in her arms as they drove across the range, along the fence line that ran parallel to the temporarily impassable road. He hated that they didn’t have a car seat for her son, but there was no time to wait for the ambulance to be able to get through. Jackson and Tucker had gone on ahead of them to take down a section of the fence for them to drive through in order to safely access the road beyond the downed wires.

“Garrett,” Hannah said, “I’m scared.”

That made two of them, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “We’ll be at the hospital before you know it. Tucker’s calling to let them know we’re on our way.” He followed his words of assurance up with a silent prayer. One for the baby and one for himself, because he was going to have to step through those dreaded hospital doors.

They were met by hospital personnel with a wheelchair for Hannah at the emergency room pull up. Her son, now laboring for breath, was quickly whisked away ahead of them. Hannah looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “It’s going to be all right.”

As soon as she was settled, the hospital attendant wheeled her in through the automatic sliding doors.

Garrett, heart pounding, nausea roiling in his stomach, stood staring at those same doors as they slid shut behind the departing wheelchair. Hannah needed him. But so had Grace. Please, Lord, let us have gotten here in time.

Gathering his courage, more courage than he’d ever needed back when he was riding bulls and broncs professionally, Garrett followed them inside.

Chapter Three

Fighting a yawn, Garrett pulled out his cell phone to check the time—9:37 a.m. He wondered if Hannah had awakened yet. The previous day’s events had clearly left her spent, and understandably so. And what about her son? Lord, he prayed the infant that he’d held in his arms shortly after his birth was faring well. The emergency room personnel had taken him straight to the neonatal intensive care unit as soon as they’d arrived at the hospital and he hadn’t gotten to see the baby again before he’d left to head home.

Hannah hadn’t been the only one under emotional stress when they’d arrived at the hospital the day before. Garrett hadn’t stepped foot inside the place since the day Grace had taken her last breath there. Truth was, he dreaded ever having to return there again, but none of that had mattered when Hannah’s son’s life was at stake.

Once Hannah had been examined, she’d been placed in a private room just down the hall from the NICU. Garrett had then done his best to calm her fears, pushing his own aside. Despite the doctor’s reassurance that it was common for a baby born five weeks earlier than expected to need a little help breathing, that his lungs would strengthen in the days and weeks ahead, she’d been beside herself. So much so, that Garrett had ended up staying by Hannah’s bedside until late into the night, talking to her about anything and everything to keep her mind from going into the dark places he knew all too well. Places he’d gone to when Grace had taken a turn for the worse, with all the whys and what-ifs.

Exhaustion threatened to drag him down. He had remained seated at Hannah’s bedside the night before until sleep had finally claimed her. And that hadn’t been until well after midnight.

“Morning,” Garrett muttered as he stopped by the corral on his way to the barn.

“Morning,” Tucker replied. His brother stood in the center of the corral, working with a green mare they’d purchased to use as a saddle horse. Breaking in horses was one of his brother’s specialties. “Didn’t expect you in this early. Not after the late night you put in.”

Garrett raised a brow. “How did you know about that?” He’d been in touch with his family from the hospital to update them, but he hadn’t called anyone when he’d finally headed home. It had been too late.

“Couldn’t sleep,” his brother admitted. “I was sitting on the porch when you drove past. How was Hannah doing when you left?”

“As well as can be expected, under the circumstances.” Garrett glanced around, seeing their other brother’s truck parked beside the far end of the barn. “Where’s Jackson?”

“In the barn,” Tucker replied, his gaze remaining fixed on the young mare. “Just got back from running feed out to the veteran horses.”

Unlike a lot of rodeo stock companies that unloaded their retired stock once the animals’ profitability was gone, the Triple W Rodeo Ranch kept theirs. They had a special section of land fenced off specifically for the older horses where they could live out the remainder of their lives in leisure, being grain-fed daily. They had worked hard during their rodeo years. In his opinion and his brothers’, they deserved no less.

Garrett nodded, not that his brother had seen him do so. Tucker’s visual focus remained solely on the mare he was coaxing to pick up her pace as she ran around the outer edge of the fenced-in enclosure.

Shoving his phone back into his jeans, he leaned against the fence, watching his little brother at work.

“Didn’t expect to see you here this morning.” Jackson’s familiar voice came from behind him.

Garrett glanced back over his shoulder to see his brother striding toward them. “Why wouldn’t I be here?”

“You having had such a late night and all,” his brother prompted.

Garrett’s gaze shifted back to Tucker.

His youngest brother must have felt his accusing stare, because there was no way Tucker could have seen it with his back to them the way it was. Yet he called back over his shoulder, “I might have mentioned to Jackson that there was a good chance you’d be hitting Snooze on your alarm clock today.”

“Well, I didn’t,” he said in irritation. At thirty-four he could still manage a late night here and there and still get up in time to help his brothers with ranch duties. How was he supposed to sleep in, anyhow, with thoughts of Hannah and her son weighing so heavily on his mind? “I have blood draws to do today.”

Every six months, they needed to draw blood from the rodeo stock to keep their health certificates up-to-date. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to transport the broncs from state to state to the various rodeos. Having an in-house vet on the ranch also saved them money.

Jackson lifted a brow. “Someone’s a little on the touchy side this morning.”

“Maybe a little,” he grumbled. “Lack of sleep, and then receiving some bad news, has a tendency to bring that about.”

Jackson’s head snapped around. “Hannah?”

He shook his head. “No. She and the baby are okay. Or, at least, they were when I left the hospital last night. The bad news is business related.”

That grabbed both of his brothers’ attention.

“Kade called this morning,” he explained. “He had to put Little Thunder down last night.” Kade Owens owned the Breakaway Ranch in Oklahoma where, along with raising beef cattle, he bred and raised bucking bulls. Little Thunder was one of Kade’s top, prize-winning bulls. The Triple W had partnered up with Kade a few years back to allow them, as a joint partnership, to qualify for a PRCA stock contractor card, which required the stock provider to own a minimum of twenty-five bareback horses, twenty-five saddle bronc horses and twenty-five bulls.

“What happened?” Tucker asked.

“Thrombosis of the inferior vena cava.”

“Which is what?”

“A liver abscess,” Garrett explained, “which led to a serious infection near the heart.”

Jackson shook his head. “A real shame. He’s been a good bull. Hopefully, The Duke and Wise Guy will come into their own this year.”

“They showed promise last season, so maybe this will be their year,” Garrett acknowledged with a nod, recalling the two newest additions to Kade’s rodeo bull lineup. “At least, Kade still has some top contenders that rank right up there with Little Thunder for the upcoming season.” Their first scheduled rodeo fell during the second week of June. Without having promising stock to offer for rodeo competition, contractors risked losing out on future contracts. That’s why they made sure their stock stayed strong and healthy, sending the best they had to offer out to the various rodeos.

“True,” Jackson agreed with a nod as they watched Tucker move in slow, fluid circles from where he stood in the center of the corral, following the movement of the mare as it made its way in larger circles around him.

Garrett slid his cell phone from his jeans pocket once again. A quick glance told him there were still no messages from Hannah or the hospital. That had to be a good thing. At least, he prayed it was. If something had happened, surely someone would have contacted him. Hannah had placed his name on the very limited visitor’s list, along with his cell phone number.

“You don’t need to be here, you know,” his brother said, his tone no longer teasing. “Tucker and I can handle things here if you want to go to the hospital to check on Hannah and the baby.”

“You and Tucker can’t see to the blood draws,” Garrett pointed out. “Besides, it’s not my place to be there with her,” he muttered, despite the pull he felt. The last thing he wanted to do was force himself in her life.

“You’re right,” Tucker agreed as he turned, following the horse’s path. “Best you stay here and be useless, because your focus is anywhere but on what you’re supposed to be doing this morning.”

“And I’m sure Hannah prefers to be alone in that big old hospital with no one to turn to if she starts feeling overwhelmed with everything,” Jackson tossed out. “And with her baby being in neonatal ICU, you can pretty much bet she’s at least a little fearful—”

“Point made,” Garrett grumbled. If he wasn’t already worried about Hannah, he would be hard-pressed not to be after his brothers’ guilt-inducing comments. But she’d refused to let him call her father the night before. She’d said she’d needed a little time to let everything sink in, and that even if her father had wanted to come to the hospital to be with them he couldn’t. Not while he was sick.

“Someone should be there for her.”

“I could go after I’m done here,” Tucker volunteered as he relaxed his posture, signaling for the horse circling about him to slow down. “Seeing as how you’re digging in your heels at the thought of doing it. I could pick up Autumn on the way. I’m sure she’d like to know how Hannah’s doing, her having helped with her baby’s birth and all.”

Garrett shot his youngest brother an incredulous look. “Appears I’m not the only one lacking focus today. Yours is supposed to be on that horse right now, not on other people’s conversations.”

Tucker chuckled. “What can I say? The good Lord blessed me with the ability to be a successful multitasker.”

“He is, at that,” Jackson agreed. “Listen, I’m almost done here. Why don’t I run over to the hospital and sit with Hannah for a few hours, seeing as how you and Tucker are going to have your hands full for a while with breaking horses and performing vet duties?”

His brother’s suggestion immediately had Garrett rethinking his decision to put off going to the hospital until after he’d done blood draws. There was no reason he couldn’t finish them up on the remaining horses later that day, or even tomorrow, for that matter.

“I rescued Hannah and her baby from that rising creek,” he said determinedly. “That makes them my responsibility. So, if anyone’s going to the hospital to sit with her, it’s going to be me. I can see to the blood work later.”

Jackson’s mouth tugged up at one side, displaying the lone dimple all three brothers had inherited from their father. “Far be it from us to try and usurp your responsibility, big brother.” He started for the barn, calling back over his shoulder, “Tell Hannah she’s in my thoughts.”

“Give her my regards as well,” Tucker called out as he turned, gaze fixed on the young mare he was working with as he queued her to speed up.

With only a wave of acknowledgment, Garrett walked away. He would go to the hospital, but he was only going to stay long enough to make certain Hannah and the baby were doing all right. He didn’t want to feel as if he needed to be there with Hannah and her son. Didn’t want to care more than he already did in the brief time since he’d come across Hannah’s partially submerged car at the washed-out bridge. Because other than the love he held for his family, he preferred not to care with any real depth for anyone else ever again.

He had just reached his truck when his mother called out to him from the chicken coop, “Garrett!”

Turning, he started toward her, meeting her halfway. “I was just—”

“Heading to the hospital,” she finished for him as she switched the basket of eggs she’d collected to the crook of her other arm.

“How did you know?” he asked in surprise.

“Because I know you, and you’re not the type of man to leave something unfinished.”

He looked at her questioningly.

His mother tilted her head to look up at him, the morning sun glinting off her smiling face. “You’re the reason Hannah and her son are alive today, with the good Lord’s guiding hand, of course,” she was quick to add.

“He’s not her son,” he said. “She was carrying that little boy for her sister who died in a car accident a few months ago.”

“I know,” she said, her eyes filled with compassion. “Jackson explained things to me when he called for us to come over and help with the baby’s birth. And then Hannah filled in the rest when Autumn and I were helping to deliver her baby. Such a heartbreaking way to become someone’s mother. And that’s what she is now—that boy’s mother. Something Hannah might not have even had the chance to experience if you hadn’t come along when you did.”

He nodded in agreement.

“That being the case,” his mother went on, “it only stands to reason that you would feel the need to look in on them today and for however long they’ll be in the hospital. The three of you will forever share a very special connection.”

“What if I’d rather not feel any sort of connection to them?” he muttered with a frown.

His mother’s expression softened even more. “Honey, I know you’d rather live your life free of any sort of emotional entanglements, but they’re a part of life. No matter how large or how small, they help to shape the man you are and the man you will become.”

He was content with the man he was now. He had a good life. A supportive family. A successful veterinary business. Part ownership of a thriving rodeo stock company. He didn’t need shaping, and he certainly didn’t want entanglements of any sort.

“Your needs aside,” she said in that motherly tone he knew so well, “you and I both know there are still going to be some hard days ahead for Hannah. Not only with her own physical and emotional recovery, but with the baby’s health as well.”

“Garrett Austin,” he said, recalling Hannah’s words the afternoon prior.

His mother looked up at him in confusion. “What?”

“Hannah asked if I would mind if she named her son after me.”

His mother’s eyes teared up. “What a truly touching thing for her to do.”

Ignoring the lump that formed in his throat, Garrett muttered, “I just hope Hannah doesn’t regret that decision down the road.”

“Whatever makes you think she’ll regret it?”

“Because she’s been through so much,” he explained. “Losing her mother, and then her sister and brother-in-law so close together. Then having to come to terms with the knowledge that she’s going to be the one raising her sister’s son. And if that wasn’t enough for one person to shoulder, she got caught up in a flash flood while in labor. She might have second thoughts on a name she chose when her emotions were so taxed.”

His mother nodded. “It’s true. That poor dear has had more than her share of tough times. But she’s here, her son’s here, because of your selfless actions yesterday. You and I both know how easily that ground along the side of the creek could have given way while you sought to rescue Hannah from her car. Garrett, you took such a risk to save them.”

He could hear the worry in her voice. “But it didn’t. Although I admit I did a fair amount of praying yesterday.” The second he’d realized someone was trapped inside that partially submerged car, he knew he would have done whatever he could to help. “From the moment Hannah looked up at me through the driver’s side window, her eyes wide with fear, I knew I couldn’t—wouldn’t

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