The Rancher's Christmas Princess Read online

  A CHRISTMAS PRESENT.

  FROM THE PAST.

  Arabella Bravo-Calabretti came to Elk Creek, Montana, with a secret to deliver and a job to do. Being a Bravo Royale, she was going to do it right. Before she handed her best friend’s darling son, Ben, over to his unwitting father, they would all spend Christmas together. Only then could she be absolutely sure that rancher Preston McCade was ready to be a dad.

  Or…was that really the reason Belle was hanging around? She and Preston were practically from different planets, yet the attraction was undeniable. Before long, someone was utterly in love with a rancher—and Christmas in Montana was presenting one surprise after another.

  ’Twas just before Christmas, and all over Elk Creek

  Tongues were a-flappin’ with the news of the week

  A princess was visiting, with staff and a child,

  And seeking a rancher. Wasn’t that wild?

  Now Belle (that’s the princess) had a story to tell

  And she wasn’t certain it all would end well

  She had to be sure that her friend’s child, a boy

  Would be raised by his father with love and with joy.

  So Belle and her bodyguard, companion and babe

  Moved in with the ranchers, the Misters McCade

  And as Montana, and Christmas, and love worked their charms

  Guess who fell passionately into whose arms?

  Dear Reader,

  It is the season of giving. And Arabella Bravo-Calabretti, Princess of Montedoro, has come to the small Montana town of Elk Creek bearing a gift beyond price. He’s eighteen months old and his name is Benjamin.

  Horse rancher Preston McCade has a good life, a solid, stable, productive life. It’s a life he’s just fine with, though deep in his heart he has that nagging feeling that the most important things have passed him by. Once, he planned on marriage and a family. It didn’t work out. He hasn’t tried again.

  But then he meets Princess Arabella and soon enough, the child named Ben. And all of a sudden, Christmas is more than just a day in December. Preston’s life is full of promise again and more than one miracle is within his grasp. He just needs to be brave enough to reach out and claim the love that’s waiting for him.

  Happy holidays, everyone! May this blessed season bring you the most important gifts—the ones of love and family.

  Yours always,

  Christine

  The Rancher’s Christmas Princess

  Christine Rimmer

  Books by Christine Rimmer

  Harlequin Special Edition

  ¶¶Resisting Mr. Tall, Dark & Texan #2125

  §A Bravo Homecoming #2150

  §The Return of Bowie Bravo #2168

  ¤The Last Single Maverick #2197

  °°The Prince’s Secret Baby #2180

  °°The Prince She Had to Marry #2221

  °°The Rancher’s Christmas Princess #2229

  Silhouette Special Edition

  †The Millionaire She Married #1322

  †The M.D. She Had to Marry #1345

  The Tycoon’s Instant Daughter #1369

  †The Marriage Agreement #1412

  †The Marriage Conspiracy #1423

  **His Executive Sweetheart #1485

  **Mercury Rising #1496

  **Scrooge and the Single Girl #1509

  ††The Reluctant Princess #1537

  ††Prince and Future…Dad? #1556

  ††The Marriage Medallion #1567

  §Fifty Ways to Say I’m Pregnant #1615

  §Marrying Molly #1639

  §§Stranded with the Groom #1657

  §Lori’s Little Secret #1683

  §The Bravo Family Way #1741

  ‡The Reluctant Cinderella #1765

  §Married in Haste #1777

  §From Here to Paternity #1825

  ‡‡The Man Who Had Everything #1837

  §A Bravo Christmas Reunion #1868

  §Valentine’s Secret Child #1879

  °In Bed with the Boss #1909

  §Having Tanner Bravo’s Baby #1927

  §The Stranger and Tessa Jones #1945

  §The Bravo Bachelor #1963

  §A Bravo’s Honor #1975

  §Christmas at Bravo Ridge #2012

  §Valentine Bride #2023

  §A Bride for Jericho Bravo #2029

  ¶McFarlane’s Perfect Bride #2053

  §Expecting the Boss’s Baby #2077

  §Donovan’s Child #2095

  §Marriage, Bravo Style! #2101

  Harlequin Desire

  Temporary Temptress #602

  Hard Luck Lady #640

  Midsummer Madness #729

  Counterfeit Bride #812

  Cat’s Cradle #940

  The Midnight Rider Takes a Bride #1101

  Silhouette Books

  Fortune’s Children

  Wife Wanted

  *The Taming of Billy Jones

  †The Bravo Billionaire

  Montana Mavericks: Big Sky Brides

  “Suzanna”

  Lone Star Country Club

  Stroke of Fortune

  Lone Star Country Club: The Debutantes

  “Reinventing Mary”

  *The Jones Gang

  †Conveniently Yours

  **The Sons of Caitlin Bravo

  ††Viking Brides

  §Bravo Family Ties

  §§Montana Mavericks: Gold Rush Grooms

  ‡Talk of the Neighborhood

  ‡‡Montana Mavericks: Striking It Rich

  °Back in Business

  ¶Montana Mavericks: Thunder Canyon Cowboys

  ¶¶Montana Mavericks: The Texans Are Coming!

  °°The Bravo Royales

  ¤Montana Mavericks: Back in the Saddle

  Other titles by this author available in ebook format

  CHRISTINE RIMMER

  came to her profession the long way around. Before settling down to write about the magic of romance, she’d been everything from an actress to a salesclerk to a waitress. Now that she’s finally found work that suits her perfectly, she insists she never had a problem keeping a job—she was merely gaining “life experience” for her future as a novelist. Christine is grateful not only for the joy she finds in writing, but for what waits when the day’s work is through: a man she loves who loves her right back, and the privilege of watching their children grow and change day to day. She lives with her family in Oregon. Visit Christine at www.christinerimmer.com.

  For MSR

  Always

  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

  Epilogue

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  News traveled fast in Elk Creek, Montana.

  And the presence of a real, live princess in town? That definitely qualified as news.

  Her Highness’s name was Arabella. Arabella Bravo-Calabretti. And her mother ruled some tiny, rich country in the Mediterranean Sea. Princess Arabella had taken three side-by-side rooms at the Drop On Inn on Main Street. Word was she had a baby in tow. She’d also brought along a big-eyed middle-aged lady and a bodyguard as well.

  In Elk Creek, where things tended to get pretty quiet during the long, snowy winter, visiting royalty was big news indeed.

  As a rule, horse rancher Preston McCade would have given no thought and l
ess attention to any princess, in Elk Creek or otherwise. However, Her Highness Arabella had been asking questions—about him. She’d arrived in town on a Sunday in early December. Preston got a call that very evening informing him that the princess wanted to get in touch with him.

  And on Monday morning bright and early, when he stopped in at Colson’s Feed and Seed to check on an order, Betsy Colson beamed him the biggest smile he’d seen on her freckled face in all the years he’d known her.

  “Pres.” Betsy slid out from behind the counter. “You heard there’s a princess in town?”

  “Good morning to you, too, Betsy.”

  “I heard it from Dee Everhart who got it straight from RaeNell.” RaeNell and Larry Seabuck owned and managed the Drop On Inn. “She’s from Montedoro, this princess. You ever heard of Montedoro? It’s on the coast of France. They say it’s beautiful there. Palm trees. Casinos. Balmy beaches, the sun shining practically year-round.”

  Pres removed his hat and tapped it against his thigh to knock off the snow. “Speaking of weather, it’s supposed to snow on and off all day. Tomorrow, too.”

  Betsy, who’d been trying to push him around since way back when she was two years ahead of him at Elk Creek Elementary, braced her fists on her narrow hips. “Did you hear what I just told you?”

  “I heard yesterday. RaeNell called me out at the ranch to tell me some princess was looking for me.”

  Betsy widened her eyes—and lowered her voice. “Dee said that RaeNell says that the princess wants to speak with you, Pres.”

  “Well, then I’m sure she’ll be calling me. I told RaeNell to give her my number.”

  Betsy’s pale brows drew together over her pointy nose. “What do you think a princess wants with you?”

  “Not a clue. Any news on those supplements I ordered?”

  “They’ll be in by Wednesday, guaranteed.”

  “All right, then.” He turned for the door.

  Betsy called after him. “She’s staying at the Drop On Inn, you know. You could just stop in there, find out what she’s after....”

  “See you Wednesday, Betsy.” He put his hat back on and pulled open the door. Ducking under the mistletoe tacked to the door frame, he got out of there before Betsy could tell him more things he could be doing.

  The snow had let up. And the Drop On Inn was down at the end of Main Street. He went ahead and walked over there before stopping in at Safeway to pick up a few groceries. He was kind of curious. Might as well find out what business this princess thought she had with him.

  Larry Seabuck, slim and stooped with thinning gray hair, stood behind the check-in desk when Pres entered the motel’s pine-paneled lobby. “Preston, how’s the world treating you?”

  “Can’t complain. I heard you had a visitor who’s looking for me.”

  “The princess.” Larry said it reverently and just a tad possessively, too.

  “What room is she in?” Pres took off his hat again.

  Larry frowned. “RaeNell said she called you—and when you said it was all right, she gave Her Highness your phone number.”

  “Could you buzz the lady’s room? Tell her I’m here and willing to talk to her.”

  “Ahem. Well. She isn’t in just now.”

  Pres rested an elbow on the check-in counter, which had fake Christmas garland tacked in loops all around the rim and a small tree decked with blinking lights down at the far end. “You’re looking a little squirrelly, Larry. Why don’t you just say what’s on your mind?”

  Larry’s wire-rimmed glasses had slid down his nose. He eased them back up. “Well, a woman of quality. An aristocrat. And she’s our guest. We’ve had two calls from reporters, asking if she’s staying here. She’s asked us to say she has no comment and doesn’t wish to be disturbed. We want to respect her privacy.”

  Pres, who in recent years hadn’t found a whole lot to laugh about in life, suddenly realized he was suppressing a chuckle. “She good lookin’, this princess?”

  “Uh. Well. Very attractive. Of course. Ahem. Yes.”

  “Larry, I believe you are smitten. You better watch out. Someone will tell RaeNell.”

  “Oh, now, Preston. It’s nothing like that.” Larry blinked several times in succession. “No, not at all.”

  “Just tell me where I can find her. I promise to be on my best behavior.”

  Larry pressed his thin lips together. “You don’t even know how to talk to a princess.”

  “Suppose you clue me in, Larry?”

  “Ahem. Don’t sit in her presence unless she invites you to. Call her ‘Your Highness’ the first time you address her. After that, call her ‘ma’am.’”

  “She told you all this?”

  Larry sniffed. “Of course not. I looked it up. On Wikipedia.”

  “Well, all right. So where do I find her?”

  Larry gave in at last. “Oh, have it your way. Breakfast. She’s at breakfast.” He threw out a pale, skinny hand in the general direction of the Sweet Stop Diner across the street.

  “Thanks, Larry. You have a fine day.”

  * * *

  Belle saw him coming. He was tall and ruggedly handsome. He marched right up to the booth where she sat alone, removed his cowboy hat and addressed her politely. “Your Highness, I’m Preston McCade. I heard you’ve been looking for me.”

  Her bodyguard, Marcus, who stood near the diner’s front door, watched her for a sign that he should intervene. Belle met Marcus’s waiting eyes and gave a quick shake of her head. Then she granted the large rancher a cool, pleasant smile. “Yes, I have been hoping to meet you, Mr. McCade.” She indicated the empty seat across from her. “Please, join me.”

  Everyone in the diner was watching them. Belle could feel their breath-held regard. It was so quiet that a person could have heard a feather whisper its way to the floor as the rancher shrugged out of his sheepskin jacket and hung it up on the hook beside the booth along with his hat. Beneath the jacket, he wore a plain cotton shirt that was the same pale, cool blue as his eyes. His jeans were worn and his rawhide Western boots looked lived-in.

  Blue eyes, she thought. A lovely light blue just like Ben’s....

  “The usual, Pres?” the waitress called out from over behind the long counter.

  “Sounds good, Selma.” He slid into the booth.

  The waitress stuck an order on the metal wheel in the window to the kitchen. Then she picked up a coffeepot and sauntered over to the booth. Preston McCade turned his mug up and she filled it. She topped off Belle’s cup, too.

  The rancher sipped and set down the mug. By then the waitress had left them. “Planning on being in town long, ma’am?”

  “Please.” She spoke softly. “Call me Belle. My visit here is...open-ended.”

  They regarded each other. His gaze was level and steady. He had strong, broad shoulders and a square jaw with a nice, manly cleft in it. She could see how Anne might have found him attractive. Any woman would.

  And not only was he attractive, but there was also something steady about him. Something thoughtful and dignified and reserved. Her instinctive response was that he would be someone a person could depend on. She felt that it wouldn’t be difficult at all to come to like him, to respect him. She was glad for that. She’d been worried about what she would do if she didn’t like him.

  She’d been worried about a lot of things. She was still worried, if the truth were known, just tied up in knots over this whole situation.

  And her heart ached. For her lost friend. For sweet little Ben...

  Oh, dear Lord. How could she do this? How could Anne have asked this of her? She shouldn’t have to do this....

  “You okay, ma’am—I mean, Belle?” McCade spoke low, with what really did sound like honest concern. He was leaning toward her a little.

  Suddenly, she couldn’t bear to meet his eyes. She looked down at his hands bracketing the heavy coffee mug. They were strong hands, big hands. Capable. Calloused. Hardworking hands.

  Was his
life...difficult? Harsh? How harsh?

  So very many things she needed to know. Too many, really. Obligation dragged on her like chains.

  She composed her expression and then made herself raise her head again. “Yes, I’m all right. Thank you.” She glanced out the window. “It’s snowing again.”

  He nodded. “You’d best not make your visit too open-ended. Stick around another week or so, you won’t be getting out of Montana until the spring thaw.”

  “I think I shall have to take my chances as far as the weather goes, Mr. McCade.”

  “Preston.”

  She felt a smile blooming. Almost. “Preston.”

  He nodded at her nearly full plate. “Eat. Your food will get cold.”

  She wasn’t hungry. Not anymore. At the sight of him striding so purposefully toward her, her appetite had fled. Still, she picked up her fork again.

  * * *

  Pres sipped his coffee and tried not to stare at the princess across from him.

  She was good-looking, all right. With all that shiny brown hair and those fine, almond-shaped whiskey-colored eyes. Her skin had a glow to it. He bet it was soft as velvet to a man’s touch. And she was classy, too. Polite. Soft-voiced. No wonder Larry had a crush on her.

  His food came—a thick steak, four eggs, home fries, toast and a generous slice of hot apple pie on the side. He tucked into the meal, thinking that he liked the direct, no-nonsense way she’d met his gaze. She seemed kind of serious, though. Kind of sad. Like something was weighing on her mind.

  Then again, he was pretty damn serious himself as a rule. After all, life was tough. Then you died.

  “Have you lived here in Montana all your life, Preston?”

  “Except for four years of college in Utah. I live at the family ranch. The McCade Ranch. It’s a ways out of town. We breed and train horses. Quarter horses, mostly, for ranch work.”

  “The quarter horse. That most American of breeds. Great sprinters. So agile. Perfectly suited to work on a ranch.”

  His opinion of her went up another notch. “You know horses.”

  “My father was raised on a ranch,” she said. “In Texas. Near San Antonio. I have a cousin, Luke, who lives on that ranch now. Luke raises quarter horses, too, as a matter of fact.”