Surprise Christmas Family, page 1
“Aunt Hope says you can’t be our daddy.”
His gaze swung back to Hope. “Did she, now?”
“Yeah.” Harper took a quick, audible breath. “But she also said we can get a puppy instead.”
“I said we’ll see.”
“Okay, yeah,” Harper admitted, engaging Hope in a stare down. “But that’s almost the same thing as yes.”
Hope held the child’s glare with an unflinching one of her own. “I made no promises, Harper.”
Walker’s chuckle interrupted the staring match. “Wise woman.”
And now she was locked in a silent contest of wills with him. Their gazes held a long, silent beat. An unspoken message passed between them, but Hope couldn’t quite decipher the meaning.
Walker broke eye contact first.
“Ready to move in to your new home?” The words were directed at the twins, but Hope felt them in the depths of her soul.
Eight words, spoken in that rich, masculine baritone, and the carefully constructed life she’d envisioned for herself with the twins morphed into something new. Something different.
And for the first time in her life, unrealized dreams seemed possible.
Renee Ryan grew up in a Florida beach town where she learned to surf, sort of. With a degree from FSU, she explored career opportunities at a Florida theme park and a modeling agency and even taught high school economics. She currently lives with her husband in Nebraska, and many have mistaken their overweight cat for a small bear. You may contact Renee at reneeryan.com, on Facebook or on Twitter, @reneeryanbooks.
Books by Renee Ryan
Love Inspired
Thunder Ridge
Surprise Christmas Family
Village Green
Claiming the Doctor’s Heart
The Doctor’s Christmas Wish
Love Inspired Historical
Charity House
The Marshal Takes a Bride
Hannah’s Beau
Loving Bella
The Lawman Claims His Bride
Charity House Courtship
The Outlaw’s Redemption
Finally a Bride
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
SURPRISE CHRISTMAS FAMILY
Renee Ryan
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
—2 Corinthians 12:9
For the girls: Barb, Donna, Jenna and Shirley, a multitalented foursome that helped me through some really tough times. I love you, sister-chicks!
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Epilogue
Dear Reader
Excerpt from A Haven for Christmas by Patricia Davids
Chapter One
She was not stalking him, Hope Jeffries assured herself. Nothing so sneaky. She was simply confirming she’d found the right man. It was a risk, coming to his place of employment. But confronting him at a hospital was safer than showing up at his private residence.
Enough stalling. She was ready.
Hope unbuckled her seat belt, then checked her bag for the custody papers she’d had her attorney draw up last week. There they were, waiting for one final signature.
After a quick glance in the rearview mirror, she swiveled around to face the precious cargo sitting in the back seat. “Ready to go, girls?”
Two identical faces of dread stared back at her. Hope hated seeing the twins upset.
You’re doing this for them.
For Harper and Kennedy. Her five-year-old nieces had become her world. Hope desperately wanted to make their lives as easy as possible, especially after the ordeal of losing their mother to cancer barely three months ago. The Lord had given Hope an unexpected blessing out of tragedy. She would not squander this chance to do right by the sister she’d failed in so many ways.
“This won’t take long.” She increased the wattage on her smile by a million. “We’ll be in and out in a flash.”
Giving them no chance to argue, she climbed out of the rental car and stepped into Thunder Ridge, Colorado, founded in 1899. The sign at the edge of town claimed a population of 15,128 and an oxygen-stealing elevation of 9,111 feet.
For a moment, Hope simply stood there and drank in the scene. Wow, just...wow. The Christmas season had arrived with an explosion of sparkles and bright colors. Fat, lazy snowflakes fell over the heavily decorated buildings of Main Street. Wreaths adorned the old-world style streetlamps, while miles and miles of garland hung from every available ledge, roofline and storefront window.
“Beautiful,” she whispered. It was as if she’d been dropped in the middle of a live-action postcard designed to lure tourists.
Hope was definitely lured.
Thunder Ridge was a far cry from New York City. What must it be like to live here year-round? Pretty awesome, she guessed. The girls could be happy here. Hope prayed it didn’t come to that.
I can’t lose them, Lord. Her heart tripped at the thought. I just can’t.
She might not have a choice.
Drawing in a deep, calming breath, she shifted her attention to the mountains looming on the horizon. They stood like dark, ominous guardians watching over what belonged to them. Hope could almost hear them say, “Intruder beware.”
Now she was being fanciful. Dr. Hope Jeffries was never fanciful. As a college professor of Economics on track for tenure at Columbia University, she preferred practical theories to fairy tales.
One final look at the winter wonderland and she stepped back to the car. She helped the girls out of their car seats, then guided them onto the shoveled pavement of the hospital’s parking lot.
“Let’s do this.” She used her most cheerful voice, remembering the advice their child psychologist had given Hope. Dr. Stephens had warned her that the girls took their cues from her.
Apparently not today. Instead of returning smiles, Hope received a chorus of pitiful sighs. Taking their tiny hands in hers, she steered the twins toward the sidewalk that led to the hospital’s main entrance. They followed along in brooding silence.
“Aunt Hope? Do we have to go inside with you?” Kennedy glanced longingly over her shoulder, then shared a determined look with her sister. “Can’t we wait in the car?”
“Absolutely not.”
“If Mommy was here, she’d let us.”
The disturbing thought had Hope gaping at her niece. “That can’t possibly be true.”
“It is so,” Harper said. “We used to stay in the car all the time.”
Hope prayed her niece was exaggerating. Surely Charity wouldn’t have left her daughters in her beat-up VW Bug while she did, well, whatever called for her to fly solo. The possible activities were too numerous and, frankly, too frightening to contemplate. It was moments like these that Hope regretted the years of estrangement from her sister.
“Please, Aunt Hope,” Kennedy whined. “Can’t we sit in the car? You can lock us in. We won’t try to get out. We know better.”
“You’re not waiting in the car.”
“You might look like our Mommy,” Harper said, hands on her hips. “But you don’t act like her.”
Her niece was correct. In terms of behavior, Hope had never been like her identical twin. There were times she wished she could be more carefree like Charity. Not this time. “You’re coming with me, and that’s the end of it.”
Their crestfallen expressions nearly broke her heart. The twins had been through a lot of upheaval since Charity had shown up on Hope’s doorstep. If this horrifying insight into their lives was true, their ordeal had started long before their mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Oh, Charity, why didn’t you come to me sooner?
“Tell you what,” she said, reaching for a compromise that would satisfy all three of them. “Once I’m finished with my—” she paused again “—errand, we’ll stop in that sweetshop we passed this morning and get something fun to eat.”
Kennedy’s face lit up. “You mean, like, maybe some candy?”
“Maybe,” Hope hedged, thinking a bribe probably wasn’t the right way to go.
The girls looked at each other. In silent twin code, they communicated something only they understood, then nodded. “Okay,” they said in unison.
Calling it a win, Hope squeezed each of their hands and set out for the hospital’s entrance. She didn’t like including the girls. She’d rather not have brought them to Colorado at all. But with their mother gone three months now, she was the only family they had left. Or rather the only family they knew.
That could change soon.
She wasn’t ready.
What if Walker Evans wasn
This was a mistake.
Hope shouldn’t have come to Thunder Ridge. She’d been too quick to act on her attorney’s advice. She started to turn around, then stopped herself. She’d dragged the twins this far. She had to see this through. For their sake.
Keep telling yourself that. Admit it, professor, you’re curious.
She was so curious.
How much did Walker Evans know about his daughters? She still fumed over the story Charity had told her right before she succumbed to the cancer. There’d been an impromptu Las Vegas wedding, and then a forced annulment when the selfish cad had discovered his new wife was pregnant. Hope couldn’t imagine anyone being so heartless. She’d vowed to make him pay for what he’d done to her sister. Unfortunately, Charity died a handful of days after her confession, leaving Hope with more questions and very few answers.
She’d begun her search immediately following Charity’s funeral. How many Walker Evanses could there be? More than she would have expected, but she’d eventually found the right man. He was an emergency room doctor working the night shift at Thunder Ridge Hospital. He came from a large, close-knit family that included lots of siblings, several dogs and rambling houses with white picket fences.
Just then, she spotted Dr. Evans standing inside the emergency room’s entrance.
Hope’s feet ground to a halt. She’d found her man. Oh my...
His black hair curled at the tips, and those eyes, the shape so familiar, so similar to the ones that stared out of Harper and Kennedy’s sweet faces. Hope swallowed back a ridiculous sigh as she watched him, head bent, speaking to a little boy with his arm in a sling. In full doctor-mode, he alternated his attention between the child and his parents, who responded with nods and smiles. Lots of smiles.
It was clear the man was well-liked. By at least three people.
Hope sorted through the mass of emotions raging through her. There was surprise, worry, a little awe and fear. So much fear, it brought a sting to the back of her eyes. Maybe he would decide to step up. Five years was plenty of time to change a mind.
Maybe she was being overly pessimistic. Maybe the man would sign over custody without a fight. He’d abandoned his pregnant wife. That spoke volumes about his character. Didn’t it?
As if sensing her gaze on him, he wrapped up his conversation with the family, straightened to his full height of six foot three and turned his head in her direction. Their eyes met through the plate glass window. And...
Boom.
That’s inconvenient, she thought.
She reminded herself that Harper and Kennedy were her first—her only—priority. And if all went according to plan, they would no longer be her nieces.
They would be her daughters.
* * *
Walker couldn’t help noticing the woman lurking behind a large potted plant just outside the hospital’s main entrance. Kind of hard not to notice her. She was looking straight at him. Her stare was unwavering, unfriendly and, if he were honest with himself, unsettling. He couldn’t imagine what he’d done to warrant such blatant hostility from a complete stranger. He’d never met her before. He’d have remembered those almond-shaped eyes and all that wheat-colored hair hanging past her shoulders in thick, unruly waves.
His stomach did a fast, unexpected roll. He hadn’t been this intrigued by a woman since...
He refused to let his mind finish the thought.
Still, the instant masculine interest was as unwelcome as it was unexpected. It made him feel itchy, sad and slightly empty inside. No, not today. He wasn’t going to relive the past, not even in the privacy of his own thoughts. He shoved aside the agonizing memories clawing for release and focused on the woman glaring at him.
Locked in their silent battle of wills, he attempted a neutral smile.
Mystery woman did not return the gesture.
In fact, her spine straightened. It was obvious she didn’t like him. Really didn’t like him. People usually liked him. A good bedside manner was part of the job.
She moved past the plants, and...whoa. Walker’s breath caught in his throat. Mystery woman was not alone. She had two very wide-eyed little girls with her. They were identical in size and coloring and were absolutely adorable.
Walker guessed the twins were somewhere around four, maybe five years old. They wore matching red coats with shiny gold buttons marching down the front. Plaid knit caps had been positioned over their sleek dark hair at a jaunty angle.
Something deep and miserable washed over him. A familiar twinge of sorrow came next, giving him a hard pang in the center of his chest. Walker had come so close to happiness, and had actually had it for nearly a year, but then the Lord had cruelly ripped it away from him in a handful of hours. All that he had left was foggy memories, a lot of pain and something that had started as sorrow, but was becoming bitterness as each year passed.
He shook away the depressing insight as mother and daughters entered the building hand in hand in hand.
They drew closer, until Walker got a good look at the children’s faces. His heart took another hit. Their eyes were a familiar pale blue. He’d seen those same eyes every day of his life. Whenever he looked in the mirror.
But that couldn’t be.
The trio stopped a few feet in front of him. Walker rubbed a hand over his face, took another, longer look at the evidence staring back at him and accepted the truth.
The twins had his eyes.
Chapter Two
Hope witnessed the exact moment the good doctor made the family connection. The recognition was there in his frozen stance and stunned expression.
Clearly, she’d thrown him off balance. Or rather, the twins had. Hope had been right to approach him this morning.
As the man’s gaze bounced from twin to twin, his shocked silence stretched into the uncomfortable. Shifted the power in Hope’s favor. She pressed her advantage, reminding herself that this man might have—probably—abandoned his family. “Are you Dr. Evans? Dr. Walker Evans?”
She heard the disdain in her voice and nearly apologized. She wasn’t usually so rude. But then she remembered what he’d done to her sister and, consequently, the twins. Hope had every reason to be antagonistic.
“That’s right. I’m Dr. Evans. Are you, or—” with lightning speed, his gaze shifted from Harper to Kennedy, then settled back on Hope once again “—one of the girls, ill?”
“No, no. No!”
A faint smile crossed his lips. “One ‘no’ will do.”
Hope frowned. She hadn’t expected him to act so much like a, well, like a doctor. Then again, it was his profession. “The twins and I are perfectly healthy.”
He visibly relaxed. In the next instant, he tensed up again. His body language wasn’t guarded, exactly, but neither was it especially friendly. Did he recognize her, or rather—Charity?
“So,” he began. “You’re here because...?”
“I, that is, we...” Hope trailed off, not quite sure how to continue. Clearly, she hadn’t prepared enough for this part of her plan. She’d expected recognition, denial, something. Anything but confusion.
“Okay. Let’s try a different approach.” He spoke with a gentle assertiveness that probably endeared him to his patients. “We’ve established who I am, and that none of you are sick, but I still don’t know who you are or why you’ve come to my ER.”
Right.
“I’m Hope. Hope Jeffries.” She enunciated her last name, waiting for some sign of recognition on his part.
None came, only more masculine bafflement that seemed a little too genuine to pass off as an act. It was possible Charity hadn’t told him she had a twin sister, and so he wasn’t making the connection. Too many questions, not enough answers, Hope thought. Or maybe he hadn’t heard her clearly.
“Jeffries,” she repeated.
Still nothing.
Something wasn’t right. The man had married a woman with the same last name as Hope. Not just any woman, either, but Hope’s identical twin. They shared matching features, except for a few cosmetic differences.
