Anything for Her Family Read online

  “What do you expect, Jared?” Natalie asked softly.

  He was quiet for a moment, simply studying her.

  “Never mind,” she finally said with a weary sigh, not giving him a chance to answer. “I can read it in your face. You expect all women to cut and run, don’t you?”

  “I guess, Nat, our expectations are based on our past history. And my past history tells me not to expect much from a woman.”

  “I can understand that. But I think you should understand that I’m unlike any other woman you’ve ever met, or any nanny you’ve ever had. I’m me. And I don’t cut and run if the going gets tough. Not my style. I have no intention of ever leaving the boys, Jared. Not ever.”

  Don’t miss next month’s installment!

  A Family To Be (SR #1586)

  Dear Reader,

  Calling all royal watchers! This month, Silhouette Romance’s Carolyn Zane kicks off our exciting new series, ROYALLY WED: THE MISSING HEIR, with the gem Of Royal Blood. Fans of last year’s ROYALLY WED series will love this thrilling four-book adventure, filled with twists and turns—and of course, plenty of love and romance. Blue bloods and commoners alike will also enjoy Laurey Bright’s newest addition to her VIRGIN BRIDES thematic series, The Heiress Bride, about a woman who agrees to marry to protect the empire that is rightfully hers.

  This month is also filled with earth-shattering secrets! First, award-winning author Sharon De Vita serves up a whopper in her latest SADDLE FALLS title, Anything for Her Family. Natalie McMahon is much more than the twin boys’ nanny—she’s their mother! And in Karen Rose Smith’s A Husband in Her Eyes, the heroine has her eyesight restored, only to have haunting visions of a man and child. Can she bring love and happiness back into their lives?

  Everyone likes surprises, right? Well, in Susan Meier’s Married Right Away, the heroine certainly gives her boss the shock of his life—she’s having his baby! And Love Inspired author Cynthia Rutledge makes her Silhouette Romance debut with her modern-day Cinderella story, Trish’s Not-So-Little Secret, about “Fatty Patty” who comes back to her hometown a beautiful swan—and a single mom with a jaw-dropping secret!

  We hope this month that you feel like a princess and enjoy the royal treats we have for you from Silhouette Romance.

  Happy reading!

  Mary-Theresa Hussey

  Senior Editor

  Anything for Her Family

  SHARON DE VITA

  This one’s for my children—all my children.

  For Wendy and Glen,

  thank you for making me part of the family.

  To Rocco, my newest son-in-law, we love you; welcome.

  For Jeanne, Annie and Joey, you guys continue to amaze me

  and make me proud of the people you’ve become.

  I love you all.

  Mom

  Books by Sharon De Vita

  Silhouette Romance

  Heavenly Match #475

  Lady and the Legend #498

  Kane and Mabel #545

  Baby Makes Three #573

  Sherlock’s Home #593

  Italian Knights #610

  Sweet Adeline #693

  **On Baby Patrol #1276

  **Baby with a Badge #1298

  **Baby and the Officer #1316

  ††The Marriage Badge #1443

  †Anything for Her Family #1580

  Silhouette Special Edition

  Child of Midnight #1013

  *The Lone Ranger #1078

  *The Lady and the Sheriff #1103

  *All It Takes Is Family #1126

  ††The Marriage Basket #1307

  ††The Marriage Promise #1313

  †With Family in Mind #1450

  Silhouette Books

  The Coltons

  I Married a Sheik

  SHARON DE VITA,

  a former adjunct professor of literature and communications, is a USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction. Her first novel won a national writing competition for Best Unpublished Romance Novel of 1985. This award-winning book, Heavenly Match, was subsequently published by Silhouette in 1985. With over two million copies of her novels in print, Sharon’s professional credentials have earned her a place in Who’s Who in American Authors, Editors and Poets as well as in the International Who’s Who of Authors. In 1987 Sharon was the proud recipient of the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Writing.

  A newlywed, Sharon met her husband while doing research for one of her books. The widowed, recently retired military officer was so wonderful, Sharon decided to marry him after she interviewed him! Sharon and her new husband have seven grown children, five grandchildren, and currently reside in Arizona.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  Saddle Falls, Nevada

  Natalie McMahon’s heart was in her throat as she watched the two little boys with a mangy mutt between them trudging slowly down the hill toward her car.

  For a moment, her heart seemed to stop, and she merely stared, unable to believe her eyes.

  Her boys.

  Even after three years, she’d recognize her babies anywhere. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind. None.

  Her heart recognized the twin babies of her womb with the knowledge only a mother had.

  Gasping, she covered her mouth with her hand as tears filled her eyes. The ache that had lived in her heart for the past three years, ever since the day her ex-husband, Raymond, had kidnapped her children, seemed to ease, replaced by the intense joy of overwhelming love.

  “My babies.” The whisper slipped from her lips as tears spilled. Tears of joy, of disbelief, of love.

  Blinking, Natalie feasted her eyes on her babies, going over each one from the top of his glossy black head to the tips of his scruffy sneakers.

  The urge to jump from the car, scoop them into her arms and run as fast and as far as possible was nearly overwhelming. But she knew she could never do that.

  It was far too dangerous.

  Raymond’s rein of terror hadn’t ended once he’d abducted the boys. No, once the twins were gone, he’d contacted her and told her that if she ever tried to find her children, if she ever made any attempt to locate them, he’d make the twins pay, and pay dearly.

  A trickle of fear slid over her, chilling her, but Natalie forced it away, clenching her fists in determination. Never again would she allow Raymond to hurt or terrorize her children.

  In spite of the emotions churning through her, and the need to just hold her sons to her aching, lonely heart, Natalie knew she had to remain in firm control of herself and her emotions.

  It was the only way to protect her sons from their father.

  She’d been in Saddle Falls, Nevada, since yesterday. The moment she’d received the call from Harry Powers, the investigator who’d been working her case almost from the moment the boys had disappeared, she’d flown from her home in Chicago to Saddle Falls.

  She’d known full well it could be just another wild-goose chase—there’d been many over the past three years—yet she still had to come. Something about this time seemed different, perhaps because for the first time everything Harry had discovered added up.

  He’d spotted a picture of the boys in an article about the Ryan family in the Saddle Falls News. Every year since the boys disappeared, Harry had had their photos digitally age-enhanced so that he’d recognize the boys if he ran across them. O
nce he saw the recently published picture, he’d traveled to Saddle Falls. His suspicions were confirmed when he checked school records, learned the boys’ new names and then went to the county to check their fingerprints on their birth certificates. When a child was adopted, a new birth certificate was issued, but fingerprints never changed.

  Perhaps because Harry had been so certain this time, Natalie had decided to come to Saddle Falls, too. She wanted—no, needed—to see for herself if these were truly her babies.

  And more importantly, she needed to know everything about Jared Ryan, the man who had adopted her precious sons.

  Adopted.

  Natalie shook her head, still unable to believe that Raymond had stolen her children and then fraudulently put them up for adoption. He’d done it for revenge, to strike back at her because she wouldn’t ask her father to drop the criminal charges against him.

  Raymond had worked for her father for almost ten years, and all that time he’d apparently been embezzling money from her father’s firm. Once her father had discovered the embezzlement, he’d asked Raymond to return the money. When Raymond refused, her father had no choice but to file criminal charges against him.

  By that time, Natalie and Raymond’s marriage was all but over. Shortly after the twins were born, she’d realized that the man she’d married was both a liar and a cheat, and more importantly, that Raymond was coldly indifferent to the babies she adored.

  When she’d finally realized her husband’s true nature, she’d filed for divorce. Shortly thereafter, her father had told her about the embezzlement. She’d been both horrified and ashamed, but not really surprised—not by that time.

  After the criminal charges were filed, Raymond had been arrested. While out on bond, he’d come to Natalie and tried to intimidate her into having her father drop the charges against him. She’d adamantly refused, even though Raymond had warned that if she didn’t, she’d live to regret it.

  She’d never expected he would steal the boys to get back at her. But he had, thus beginning a three-year nightmare as she tried to locate her children—a nightmare that had ended with her arrival in Saddle Falls yesterday.

  Located about ninety miles from busy, bustling Las Vegas, Saddle Falls was a small, prosperous ranching community populated by second, third and even fourth generations of ranchers. It had pretty scenery, with the top of Mt. Charleston gleaming in the distance. It also had a charming small town feel to it. Not that much different from small towns everywhere.

  She’d learned that Tommy Ryan, patriarch of the Ryan clan, had also been one of the founding fathers of Saddle Falls. The Ryan ranch was a sprawling five thousand acre working ranch with a main ranch house fronting the property, and numerous other buildings and bunk houses to house some of the rest of the Ryan family as well as the ranch hands. There was also a large tree house, she’d been told, that had been on the Ryan ranch for two generations now.

  Everything she’d learned about the Ryans since she’d arrived in town had both eased her mind and troubled it. They were the most prominent family in the area, well thought of and certainly well respected.

  Although horrified at the thought of someone else raising her children, Natalie knew that, if she was ever going to get her children back, if she was ever going to ensure their safety, she would need to know what kind of man Jared Ryan was and if he knew the children he’d adopted had been kidnapped.

  Yesterday, she’d also learned that Jared Ryan had been advertising for a nanny for the twins. Natalie had promptly decided on a plan for easing her way back into the boys’ life: she would apply for the job.

  The irony of applying to become a nanny to her own children was not lost on her. But she wasn’t even certain the boys would remember her. They’d been with Jared Ryan longer than they’d been with her, she thought sadly, and because of that, she couldn’t simply walk in and claim them, not without frightening them, and shaking their foundation of stability and security.

  Becoming a part of their daily life in order to get close to them, and letting them get to know her and feel comfortable with her so she could once again claim them seemed the only solution.

  It might not be the perfect solution, but for now it was the only option she had available. Becoming the boys’ nanny would also help conceal from Jared Ryan who she really was. Until she knew for certain that he had not been connected with Raymond in any way, she felt safer keeping her identity to herself. The boys’ safety was her number one priority.

  Carefully, Natalie pushed her sunglasses atop her head and took a deep breath, suddenly wondering why the boys were wandering around outside alone.

  As if sensing her stress, Ditka, the dog she’d bought the boys for their second birthday and had brought along with her, hoping the boys might remember him, raised his head from the back seat where he’d been sleeping, and turned to stare out the window. The dog gave a plaintive wail, as if he recognized the boys, then went wild, jumping and barking, pawing frantically at the closed window in an effort to get out.

  “All right, boy. All right.” Natalie reached over and opened the back door before Ditka went right through the window in his excitement. “Go. Go to the boys.”

  Barking wildly, he bounded around the car toward the twins, who stopped and grinned, pointing and laughing as the large dog raced around them, then rolled on his back like a drunken lunatic.

  The mangy mutt with the boys went wild, too, jumping and barking, but one of the twins had a firm grip on his collar, holding on for dear life, lest the dog get loose.

  Watching the scene, Natalie felt emotions clog her throat, and she had to swallow hard, forcing herself to behave nonchalantly, as if this was no more important than a lazy afternoon walk.

  But her heart knew differently. It felt as if it would burst out of her chest, and she wasn’t entirely sure she could control the tears of joy and relief as she slowly slid out of the car and walked toward her long-lost children.

  The boys were gone.

  Frowning behind his mirrored sunglasses, Jared Ryan tried to bank the panic that clenched his gut as he stood on the long, winding drive of the main ranch house and glanced around, looking for his sons.

  He’d been out back, replacing some stones in the patio, while Timmy and Terry played in their playhouse. It was a quick job, something to occupy him, and more importantly, the boys, while Mrs. Taylor, their cook and housekeeper, finished dinner.

  Mrs. Taylor had been with them forever, but was getting on in years. Although she dearly loved the twins, it was hard to cook with them underfoot, or in Terry’s case, continually asking questions. So keeping the boys occupied at dinnertime had become a daily event.

  After a day that had started way before sunrise in order to get all the ranch chores done, Jared would have much preferred a cold beer and a soft chair by now. But the twins came first—always.

  He’d decided to come around the side of the house to check on the boys simply because they’d been quiet—too quiet. Silence was always dangerous where his sons were concerned.

  Good thing he had, he decided with a worried frown, as he started walking down the driveway. The boys knew they weren’t allowed off the ranch, at least not without an adult. It was one of Jared’s few cardinal rules.

  Admittedly, he was perhaps a bit paranoid about the boys’ safety and security, but he had good reason to be. Twenty years ago his youngest brother, Jesse, had mysteriously disappeared from this very house. Never to be seen again, Jared recalled with a heavy sigh.

  He hated to admit that his brother’s disappearance was the first thing that ran through his mind when he came around the front of the house and found the boys gone, or why he felt so panicky.

  The memory of what had happened to his little brother had left a deep-seated fear in him that he’d never been able to shake. That fear had merely magnified now that he had children of his own, which was why he was so strict about the boys never being out alone or leaving the ranch.

  He’d been ver
y explicit about it—repeatedly. So for the twins to directly disobey him, something they’d never, ever done before… Jared shook his head. Something was up.

  Something big.

  Which was nothing unusual, he thought as he continued down the driveway, calling their names. Whenever the twins were up to something, it usually meant trouble.

  Big trouble.

  The kind that could give grown men gray hairs.

  In spite of the fact that his beloved boys got into more mischief, more trouble, more misadventures than Jared and his own brothers ever had, his love was total and unconditional.

  But he had to admit not everyone appreciated his twins’ exuberance for life. Especially the nannies he’d hired, he thought with a wince. Picking up his pace, he searched both sides of the road, sweeping his gaze back and forth in an effort to spot the boys. He’d gone through ten nannies in ten months, which he figured was probably a record somewhere.

  It was also why he’d been advertising in the Saddle Falls News, without much success, for a new nanny for the past six weeks.

  Ever since his wife had left him, barely six months after they’d adopted the twins, he’d been both mother and father to the boys. However, with all his other responsibilities, he worried that the boys were suffering, missing the quality attention they deserved. That they’d miss out on anything was a possibility he couldn’t tolerate.

  Marrying again was out, not even a consideration, he thought, unaware of how his jaw and fists clenched at the mere thought. He’d learned his lesson the first time when his wife, Kathryn, up and left him and the boys simply because she didn’t think she was cut out for motherhood.

  Too bad she hadn’t figured that out before they’d adopted the boys, Jared thought with a scowl. But he was not a man to lament a mistake, and Kathryn had been a big mistake, one he never intended to repeat. Never again would he trust a woman.

  When he’d tried to explain to the toddlers that their mother was gone, the look of pain, fear and confusion on their faces had been tattooed on his heart, and he’d vowed to never, ever let another woman close enough to hurt any of them.