He’s the family she’s been missing. Will discovering a secret daughter change his mind about a family? When Drew Calhoun returns home to save the family ranch, he knows he’ll run into his ex-sweetheart, Mandy Brown—but he doesn’t know he’s a father. Working alongside each other stirs up feelings both thought long gone. But now that the truth’s out, Drew’s still not sure he’s father material. Can he open his heart to young Ella and forgive Mandy for keeping secrets?
Frolic-Exclusive Excerpt
“Happy Mother’s Day.”
“Thanks.” Mandy gulped as she accepted the gigantic bouquet from Drew, who stood on her doorstep. She wasn’t exactly sure how to deal with him these days. On one hand, she liked that they weren’t arguing as much anymore. It was far too busy for that.
On the other hand, she worried.
Drew seemed to go out of his way to spend more time with Ella, and from what her daughter let slip, some of their time together was spent discussing Ella’s early childhood. Mandy wasn’t happy about that, fearing Drew would ask her to fill in the blanks.
The last thing she wanted to do was go back, to feel the overwhelming guilt billow once more, to let him know she’d cost him much more than he knew.
“Can I catch a ride to church again?” Drew asked, one eyebrow arched. “Bonnie’s car is at the garage. New tires.”
“Oh.” Mandy swallowed. “Yes, sure. We’ll be ready in half an hour or so.”
“It’s potluck day again, isn’t it? Mother’s Day luncheon?” There was an odd gleam of anticipation in those dark eyes that suggested Drew might even be looking forward to going to church. “Are you planning on staying?”
“Yes. I couldn’t talk Ella out of it.” Only after she’d said it did Mandy realize how unhappy she sounded. “I was hoping to see Aunt Bonnie today, do something special for her.”
“We could still go.” He paused for a moment, thinking it over. “What if we took a cake along and had Mother’s Day tea with Bonnie and Ben? Ella would love it. She’s always up for a tea party. Ma would like it, too.”
“Sure. That sounds nice.” Was this the same Drew of the flowers-and-a-card-delivered-by-someone-else-but-never-in-person, who was planning something special for Bonnie on Mother’s Day?
“Close your mouth, Manda Panda,” he teased in a low, amused voice. “It’s not that unheard of.”
Yes, it was. For Drew. But Mandy didn’t say that because she didn’t want to cause the big grin stretched across his face to disappear. His smile was something to be cherished.
“I don’t have a cake,” she murmured.
“I made one last week and froze it.” He shrugged off her stare. “Every once in a while I like to bake. I also picked up some party stuff.”
“Sounds great.” A momentary image of Drew as he might have looked if they’d married, if he’d been there for Ella’s birth, filled Mandy’s head.
Would he have made a special Mother’s Day cake for her?
Like a thunderstorm, other memories of that day swept in and erased her fairy-tale notions. She was glad he hadn’t been there, glad he didn’t know what she’d done, what a terrible mother she’d been.
“Mandy?” Drew was staring at her. “You’ve gone white. Is something wrong?”
“I’m fine,” she said quickly, clinging to the door so her knees wouldn’t give out. “See you in half an hour. And thanks for the flowers.”
“Sure.” He frowned at her, unmoving even as she closed the door on him.
Mandy thrust the beautiful bouquet in a jug of water. Ella emerged from her room and demanded to know where they’d come from. That engendered unanswerable questions, like when would Drew want to be a daddy and was Mandy ever going to get Ella her very own daddy?
Exasperated and on edge, Mandy finally ordered her daughter to get ready for church. Ella’s face crumpled and tears rolled down her cheeks as she turned away.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry.” Mandy gathered her precious daughter in her arms and held her close. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“I didn’t try to do bad, Mama,” Ella sobbed.
“You didn’t do anything bad, sweetheart.” How could she have let her guilt overwhelm her enough to cause Ella pain? Mandy pressed her lips against her daughter’s wet cheek. “You didn’t do anything wrong. And you made me the most beautiful card. That was so sweet.”
“Drew helped me. He said I have the bestest mama so she should have the bestest card.” Ella smiled, her sad face gone. “He buyed that pink ribbon for me to use on it ’cause he said you always usta like pink. He tol’ me you were really good friends.”
“Yes, we were.” Mandy tried to think of a way to avoid the questions she knew were coming but couldn’t.
“An’ you don’t argue no more ’cause you’re really good friends now, right?” Ella asked, eyes sparkling. “Drew’s helpin’ you while Auntie Bonnie and Uncle Ben get better.”
“Yes.” Mandy smoothed her hair. “And he’s coming with us to church today so we’d better get ready. Because you know what today is.”
“Uh-uh.” Ella frowned, her forehead pleated. “Mother’s Day?”
“Yes, but it’s also your favorite.” Mandy’s heart brimmed with love for this sweet child. At least God hadn’t punished her by taking Ella.
“Potluck day! Again?” Ella whooped for joy at Mandy’s nod. Then she stopped and looked at her mother very seriously. “Are we takin’ sumthin’, Mama? Everybody but us always brings sumthin’,” she reminded. “We never stay.”
“Today we’re staying. And we’re bringing a pasta salad and a whole watermelon.”
“Yummy.” Ella rushed off to get ready.
Mandy poured herself another coffee and then walked outside to sit on the step while she mulled over her latest problem.