Twins for the Rodeo Star Read online

  From rodeo star to daddy...

  twice over!

  Every cowboy makes mistakes, and champion bull rider Josh McKeon is no exception. But gorgeous Montana rancher Kelly Beaumont isn’t quite ready to forgive Josh for breaking her heart. Especially when she’s been hiding a secret—he’s the father of her twin boys! Now this rodeo star has one last chance to convince Kelly that they belong together...as a family. Only this time, he’s not letting go.

  What was it about Kelly?

  Kelly was a fascinating combination of rancher, mother and desirable woman. Letting her go may have been the worst mistake of Josh’s life.

  “What’s going on in that head of yours?” Kelly whispered.

  “The past and the present.”

  “The boys?”

  “Partly.”

  Her eyelids flickered and she moved backward, almost imperceptibly. “I shouldn’t have asked,” she said. “This isn’t the time.”

  Josh glanced at his sleeping sons. However much he wanted them to know he was their father, he didn’t want it to happen by accident. “Mostly I’m hoping the rodeo will be as successful as everyone thinks it’ll be. It helps the town, which means it helps Casey and Marc. As for the rest? Being a celebrity isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.”

  “You used to enjoy the attention.”

  “Maybe I’ve grown up since then.”

  He wished he could tell if she believed him.

  Dear Reader,

  Once upon a time, I thought I’d never write a story that had anything to do with rodeos, then I moved to a town that has an annual rodeo. The excitement in the community, the events leading up to the rodeo and the competition itself were too rich with possibilities to ignore. Very quickly, Kelly Beaumont and Josh McKeon came knocking at my mental door, demanding that I tell their story. In Twins for the Rodeo Star (the first book in my new Hearts of Big Sky series), Josh is Canadian and, unbeknownst to him, is the father of Kelly’s sons. Both Kelly and Josh are strong individuals and they need a lot of growing, learning and compromising to work things out between them.

  Rodeos are amazing to watch, but contestants risk injury, particularly in bronco and bull riding. Classic Movie Alert: Pure Country, with George Strait. I haven’t seen this film in years, but I still remember the sweet, romantic ending.

  I enjoy hearing from readers and can be contacted on my Facebook page at Facebook.com/julianna.morris.author. If you prefer writing a letter, please use: c/o Harlequin Books, 22 Adelaide Street West, 40th Floor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 4E3.

  Best wishes,

  Julianna

  Twins for the Rodeo Star

  Julianna Morris

  Julianna Morris still remembers being read to by her mother in a rocking chair, wrapped in a patchwork quilt. She learned to read by herself at an early age and remains a voracious book consumer on everything from history and biographies to most fiction genres.

  Julianna has been a park ranger, program analyst and systems analyst in information technology. She loves animals, travel, gardening, hiking, taking photographs, making patchwork quilts and doing a few dozen other things. Her biggest complaint is not having enough hours in the day.

  Books by Julianna Morris

  Harlequin Superromance

  Bachelor Protector

  Christmas with Carlie

  Undercover in Glimmer Creek

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  To Burt and Emily, who first introduced me to cows. Lots of them.

  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

  EXCERPT FROM HER SURPRISE ENGAGEMENT BY CARI LYNN WEBB

  CHAPTER ONE

  KELLY BEAUMONT REINED in her horse and looked down the small Montana valley where her mother’s Irish family had settled in the 1800s. Once the Flannigans had dreamed of owning the kind of vast cattle empire they’d heard about in Texas, but it hadn’t happened.

  Kindred Ranch was enough, though, and she loved it...the way her father never had. Of course, he hadn’t been born here, he’d married into the Flannigan clan, but his lack of devotion was mostly because his first love was competing in rodeos. Everything else came a distant second.

  Her mouth tightened and she urged Lightfoot into a trot. Usually she tried not to get annoyed with Harry Beaumont, he was what he was, but he’d arranged for one of his rodeo buddies to stay at the ranch for a few days.

  Kelly didn’t like it.

  Her twin sons were already thrilled by their grandfather’s stories about the professional rodeo circuit, and the last thing she needed was another beat-up bronco rider telling them tall tales of his glory days. It wasn’t that she had anything against rodeos—they were exciting and she admired the courage and skill of the contestants—but it wasn’t the life or career she wanted for her boys.

  She rode into the ranch center and saw a late-model truck parked near the main barn, bearing an Alberta, Canada, license plate. At least this pal of Harry’s wasn’t entirely broke, and she’d have time to check him out before the twins got home from their after-school soccer practice. She could also ask that he keep his stories to himself.

  A tall man moved in the shadow of the barn door and Lightfoot half reared, snorting with anger. The stallion didn’t take well to strangers.

  “Whoa, boy,” urged a vaguely familiar voice. Kelly was busy keeping the Appaloosa under control and didn’t look up, but she spotted the newcomer’s hand reaching for Lightfoot’s head.

  “Don’t touch him,” she ordered.

  “Just trying to help. I breed and raise horses now.”

  “You didn’t raise this one.” She leaned over and scolded Lightfoot in his ear. “Stop that, you big lug. You are not a watchdog.You’re a horse.”

  The stallion let out another snort, but stood quietly as she got off and walked him into the barn. It wasn’t until Kelly had tied him to a post that she turned around and the breath was knocked out of her lungs.

  Josh McKeon.

  The most handsome and talented rodeo competitor she’d ever seen, the subject of her youthful romantic dreams...and though he didn’t know it, the father of her six-year-old sons.

  “Hello, Josh. What are you doing at Kindred Ranch?” Kelly asked, proud there wasn’t the faintest quaver in her voice.

  “A long time ago you invited me here.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “The invitation was revoked when I found you kissing another woman.”

  “Still upset about that?”

  “Not in the least. It was a lucky escape and taught me a lesson I’ll never forget.” Kelly removed Lightfoot’s saddle and put it on a rack in the tack room. She’d been up since before dawn, working in the barns, then riding and repairing fences. She didn’t have the energy to go over old territory with an ex-boyfriend. Still, she knew Josh well enough to realize that if she immediately ordered him off the ranch, he’d wonder why she was in such a hurry.

  “What lesson?” he asked.

  “That Canadian cowboys can’t be faithful any better than cowboys from somewhere else.”

  His jaw jutted, the way i t used to look before he got on one of the broncos he was such an expert at riding. “It was simply an enthusiastic kiss from a fan, but you were looking for a reason to break up with me when you came back from the hospital. I wish I could have stayed while your mother was being treated, but it was the final round. I won a nice amount of money that day.”

  “And I’m sure the blonde helped you spend it,” Kelly returned smoothly. “You married her not long afterward, didn’t you? But you’re wrong that I was upset about you competing instead of being with me at the hospital. I was upset that Harry didn’t stay while Mom was having emergency surgery. He’d been eliminated, but he still left to watch the finals. I’ll never forget the look in her eyes when she woke up asking for him, only to hear he wasn’t there.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Kelly shrugged, determined not to reveal how much it had hurt. Sweet, gentle Kathleen Beaumont still believed that someday she’d become a priority in her husband’s life, but Harry was addicted to the adrenaline rush of competition. While he rarely won any longer, he kept trying, and sooner or later his obsession would likely kill him. The fees and travel costs had been sucking Kindred Ranch dry until Kelly had put an end to it after taking over management of the ranch.

  Yet, in a way, Josh was right.

  That day had reminded Kelly of the life she’d have if she stayed with a man who was so similar to her father. It had seemed romantic and exciting to fall in love with a rising professional rodeo star. But in reality it meant being dragged from one venue to another, no real home for months on end...and eventually watching him lose far more than he won, while he got thrown, kicked, stomped on, gored or even killed. And with a guy as attractive as Josh, there would have been no end of women competing for his attention.

  Kelly had grown up in that life, but at least she’d had Kindred Ranch and her grandparents as a stable foundation during the school year. She’d only travel with her parents during part of each summer, particularly when they were closer to Montana.

  “So, why are you here?” she asked, plying a currycomb over Lightfoot in firm, even strokes. Unlike some horses, he enjoyed all aspects of grooming. She would do a quick job now to make him comfortable, and return to finish...after Josh was gone. In the meantime, it allowed her to focus on something besides her unwelcome visitor.

  “Your dad and I still see each other at rodeos and professional bull-riding events,” Josh explained. “He asked me to come for a visit, saying his health is bad and it’s time to begin making amends for the past. He never did anything that needed amends, but he was a big help to me when I started and I want to find out what’s bothering him.”

  Kelly gritted her teeth.

  Josh McKeon was the “old rodeo pal” her father had invited? She rested her forehead against Lightfoot’s neck for an instant. His warmth and scent filled her senses and she wondered how she could love one kind of horse so much and want nothing to do with the ones that were bred to buck men to the ground in a few seconds.

  “Harry’s health isn’t bad,” she said finally. “He was diagnosed with slightly elevated cholesterol and mild angina a few weeks ago. That’s all.”

  “I don’t know much about health privacy laws in the United States, but it’s possible you don’t know everything the doctor told him.”

  Kelly took out a hoof pick and leaned into Lightfoot’s left shoulder. He obligingly shifted his weight off the leg so she could lift his forefoot to clean it.

  “In case you haven’t noticed, Harry is a hypochondriac. He’ll ride a bull with three cracked ribs and a separated shoulder, but one sneeze and he’s convinced it’s bubonic plague. Mom overreacts, so I’m the one who takes him to all of his medical appointments. Mostly Dr. Wycoff wants him to stop eating fried foods and fatty meats, which is exactly the advice he’s been getting for the past twelve years—advice Harry hasn’t followed, at least when he’s on the road.”

  She glanced toward the barn door, gauging the time of day by the length of the shadows. By her calculations, she had less than an hour to convince Josh to leave for Canada. Otherwise, when the boys returned home he’d come face-to-face with fatherhood; it was something she’d rather avoid. While she felt guilty for not telling him about the twins, his knowing would have complicated life for all of them.

  Josh probably wouldn’t have believed her, regardless.

  And he’d repeatedly said he didn’t want children until he could buy his own ranch. From everything she’d heard, he had won big over the years, yet he was still competing. Her father would periodically mention the winners at various events, and inevitably, Josh McKeon’s name would come up. He’d gotten top honors at the Pro Canada Series final multiple times over the past seven years, along with being the All-Around Cowboy champion on the National Rodeo Circuit. Curiously, she and Harry had never discussed Josh being the twins’ father and whether he should be told.

  Was that the “amends” Harry hoped to make? She seriously hoped not.

  It wasn’t Harry Beaumont’s secret to tell.

  * * *

  JOSH WATCHED KELLY working with the Appaloosa, automatically noting the animal’s strong, clean lines. The stallion was a beauty, mostly black, with a nice pattern of blurred white spots on his rump. He was large for a woman of Kelly’s petite size, but Josh knew she had a special love for the breed. They were popular with rodeo contestants, as well.

  He’d first met Kelly when she was a gangly fifteen-year-old kid, all knees and elbows. Over the next four years she’d blossomed into a beauty, but it wasn’t until she turned nineteen that he’d really noticed. She’d come up from Montana to watch her father compete at Leduc, and one look from her intense blue eyes had taken his breath away.

  Her flat chest had become sweetly rounded, her hips shapely, and her chestnut hair, like a flame in the sun, had drawn his attention, wherever she was sitting in the stands. The relationship had progressed from flirting and a few dates the first summer, to love the next. At least he’d thought it was love.

  “So, how are you doing on your ranch plans?” Kelly asked, picking up a body brush and running it over Lightfoot’s coat.

  The stallion nickered, plainly loving the contact.

  “Actually, I bought a spread south of Edmonton three years ago. It’s called McKeon’s Choice. We raise cattle and have a small horse breeding program.”

  “But you still compete.” It was a flat statement, rather than a question.

  “Sure. Mostly in the Pro Rodeo Canada series. Some in the United States as well, especially the larger venues. The money is good and I like saving against a rainy day.”

  “I’m sure the thrill of winning has nothing to do with it.”

  Josh frowned at Kelly’s cynical tone. “I enjoy competing. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “Except sooner or later you’ll start losing more often and the money won’t be so good. You’ll decide it’s just a bad year and the next one will be better. After a while it will cost a whole lot more to compete than you’re actually winning, but it won’t matter. You’ll keep going.”

  “That’s my concern, isn’t it?” Josh asked, though he knew plenty of men and women like that, Kelly’s father included. Harry was a nice guy, and while he’d never become a top champion, he’d been one of the better-known names. Now he encouraged young competitors and accepted losing with grace.

  “You’re right—it’s entirely your concern. But since I’ve assured you about Harry, why don’t you head back to Alberta?” Kelly suggested. “I’m sure McKeon’s Choice would benefit from your presence. Not to mention the daily training you need for your next rodeo.”

  “Kelly, that’s no way to treat a guest,” Harry Beaumont scolded as he walked into the barn.

  A strained look passed between father and daughter.

  “I don’t have time for guests, Harry. Maybe the two of you could head for Canada together. Y ou talked about going to Grande Prairie for the Pro Wrangler event.”

  “That’s all right. I may give it a pass this year.”

  “You never give it a pass. Besides, you haven’t gone up to the Bucking B for months. Doesn’t your foreman want to see you once in a while?”

  “Forgot to mention—I sold the Bucking B to Rory and his son this winter. It was too much to handle, what with me being away so much, and they’ve always wanted it.”

  Another unfathomable look passed between Harry and Kelly. She was far more closed and wary than she’d been at twenty, though it was inevitable that she’d changed. She wasn’t a kid any longer and had responsibilities. Harry didn’t say much about the family, but he’d mentioned that she ran Kindred Ranch for her grandparents. Josh hadn’t asked why Harry wasn’t in charge—much as he liked the older man, he wouldn’t have put him in charge, either.

  “Then where are you going to do your bull and bronco training?” Kelly asked crisply. Obviously she didn’t expect it to be on Kindred Ranch.

  “Bill Fenton has offered to let me practice with his training barrel. You’ve met Bill. He has that big spread near Medicine Hat. We stayed there a few times.”

  “I remember. By the way, Josh is under the impression you have serious health issues.”

  “The doc said my heart was bad. You heard him.”

  “Dr. Wycoff said you have very mild angina and some cholesterol issues, that’s all. You’re supposed to eat smarter, take low-dose aspirin every day and carry those little pills in case you get pain in your chest.”

  “Yeah, for my bum ticker,” Harry insisted. “And I got that rash on my arm again, the one that looks like poison ivy. Except I haven’t been near the stuff.”

  Plainly it was a discussion they’d had more than once and Josh didn’t want to get in the middle. Until Kelly had mentioned it, he hadn’t thought of Harry as being overly concerned about his health, but it was true. Harry Beaumont had endured some of the worst injuries a rodeo competitor could face, yet he worried about everything from hangnails to the state of his stomach.