A Father's Vow Read online

  Isabella Trueblood made history reuniting people torn apart by war and an epidemic. Now, generations later, Lily and Dylan Garrett carry on her work with their agency, Finders Keepers. Circumstances may have changed, but the goal remains the same.

  Lost

  One twin. Ben Mulholland desperately needs a bone marrow donor to save his little girl, Lucy. The brother Ben never knew he had is Lucy’s best, maybe only, chance. If he can just track him down...

  Found

  The miracle of hope. Caroline St. Clair has loved Ben forever and she’ll do whatever it takes to ensure he doesn’t lose his precious daughter. In the process, old wounds are healed and flames of passion reignited. But the future is far from secure.

  Finders Keepers: bringing families together

  “I can’t wait any longer to dance with you,” Ben murmured.

  Carolyn drifted into his arms. Pressing her face against his shoulder, she said, “How many times have you called to check on Lucy?”

  He laughed, and they moved to the music, a seamless union of man and woman. “Only once, thank you. She wants me to bring her a flower from the bride’s bouquet.”

  “I’ll go snatch one before Lily tosses it to the crowd.”

  Ben framed her face with his hands and looked into her eyes. “Don’t go away, Carolyn. I have a confession to make.”

  She stared, lost in his suddenly serious expression. “I’m listening.”

  “The thought occurred to me that this could have been us if we’d gotten married.” He leaned to brush his lips against hers. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, you’ll always be part of my soul.”

  “Ben, don’t,” she said quickly, “because I—I’m—”

  He put his chin against her forehead, holding her close. “Only putting up a brave front?”

  Dear Reader,

  I was immediately intrigued when I was asked to participate in the TRUEBLOOD, TEXAS series, because A Father’s Vow deals with the issue of how much a father is willing to do for his child.

  And isn’t that a central theme that plays through most of our lives? I love the guardian aspect of a father’s role in his child’s life. In this romance we get to see Ben Mulholland’s strengths—and even get a peek at his desperation and fragility—as he takes the role of front-and-center player in his daughter’s life.

  As readers, we love to meet and read about big, strong men who fight so hard for their kids! Ben Mulholland is based on real-life fathers I have seen. There’s the dad who shows up in his suit after work, holding a younger baby in his arms, while he coaches soccer. Or the one who works two jobs so that the bills are paid. The dad who mentors and takes the time to lay his hands across another child’s shoulders to say, “I’m here for you.”

  Hopefully, I’ve captured the meaning that a father has in his child’s life in this book. I hope you enjoy it. Please visit me at www.tinaleonard.com and let me know!

  Love,

  Tina Leonard

  TINA

  LEONARD

  A Father’s Vow

  True Blood Texas

  The Cowboy Wants a Baby Jo Leigh

  His Brother’s Fiancée Jasmine Cresswell

  A Father’s Vow Tina Leonard

  Daddy Wanted Kate Hoffmann

  The Cowboy’s Secret Son Gayle Wilson

  The Best Man in Texas Kelsey Roberts

  Hot on His Trail Karen Hughes

  The Sheriff Gets His Lady Dani Sinclair

  Surprise Package Joanna Wayne

  Rodeo Daddy B.J. Daniels

  The Rancher’s Bride Tara Taylor Quinn

  Dylan’s Destiny Kimberly Raye

  Hero for Hire Jill Shalvis

  Her Protector Liz Ireland

  Lover Under Cover Charlotte Douglas

  A Family at Last Debbi Rawlins

  THE TRUEBLOOD LEGACY

  THE YEAR WAS 1918, and the Great War in Europe still raged, but Esau Porter was heading home to Texas.

  The young sergeant arrived at his parents’ ranch northwest of San Antonio on a Sunday night, only the celebration didn’t go off as planned. Most of the townsfolk of Carmelita had come out to welcome Esau home, but when they saw the sorry condition of the boy, they gave their respects quickly and left.

  The fever got so bad so fast that Mrs. Porter hardly knew what to do. By Monday night, before the doctor from San Antonio made it into town, Esau was dead.

  The Porter family grieved. How could their son have survived the German peril, only to burn up and die in his own bed? It wasn’t much of a surprise when Mrs. Porter took to her bed on Wednesday. But it was a hell of a shock when half the residents of Carmelita came down with the horrible illness. House after house was hit by death, and all the townspeople could do was pray for salvation.

  None came. By the end of the year, over one hundred souls had perished. The influenza virus took those in the prime of life, leaving behind an unprecedented number of orphans. And the virus knew no boundaries. By the time the threat had passed, more than thirty-seven million people had succumbed worldwide.

  But in one house, there was still hope.

  Isabella Trueblood had come to Carmelita in the late 1800s with her father, blacksmith Saul Trueblood, and her mother, Teresa Collier Trueblood. The family had traveled from Indiana, leaving their Quaker roots behind.

  Young Isabella grew up to be an intelligent woman who had a gift for healing and storytelling. Her dreams centered on the boy next door, Foster Carter, the son of Chester and Grace.

  Just before the bad times came in 1918, Foster asked Isabella to be his wife, and the future of the Carter spread was secured. It was a happy union, and the future looked bright for the young couple.

  Two years later, not one of their relatives was alive. How the young couple had survived was a miracle. And during the epidemic, Isabella and Foster had taken in more than twenty-two orphaned children from all over the county. They fed them, clothed them, taught them as if they were blood kin.

  Then Isabella became pregnant, but there were complications. Love for her handsome son, Josiah, born in 1920, wasn’t enough to stop her from grow-ing weaker by the day. Knowing she couldn’t leave her husband to tend to all the children if she died, she set out to find families for each one of her orphaned charges.

  And so the Trueblood Foundation was born. Named in memory of Isabella’s parents, it would become famous all over Texas. Some of the orphaned children went to strangers, but many were reunited with their families. After reading notices in newspapers and church bulletins, aunts, uncles, cousins and grand-parents rushed to Carmelita to find the young ones they’d given up for dead.

  Toward the end of Isabella’s life, she’d brought together more than thirty families, and not just her orphans. Many others, old and young, made their way to her doorstep, and Isabella turned no one away.

  At her death, the town’s name was changed to Trueblood, in her honor. For years to come, her simple grave was adorned with flowers on the anniversary of her death, grateful tokens of appreciation from the families she had brought together.

  Isabella’s son, Josiah, grew into a fine rancher and married Rebecca Montgomery in 1938. They had a daughter, Elizabeth Trueblood Carter, in 1940. Elizabeth married her neighbor William Garrett in 1965, and gave birth to twins Lily and Dylan in 1971, and daughter Ashley a few years later. Home was the Double G ranch, about ten miles from Trueblood proper, and the Garrett children grew up listening to stories of their famous gre
at-grandmother, Isabella. Because they were Truebloods, they knew that they, too, had a sacred duty to carry on the tradition passed down to them: finding lost souls and reuniting loved ones.

  Tina Leonard is acknowledged as the author of this work.

  Many thanks to Marsha Zinberg and Susan Sheppard, who helped me make this book the best I could make it.

  Also, my sincere thanks to Peggy Hoffmann (aka Kate Hoffmann), without whom I’m pretty sure I would never have been able to write this story. Thanks, Peggy—it was fun!

  And to my kids, Lisa and Dean, who are patient with their never-Betty-Crocker mom. I love you.

  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

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER ONE

  CAROLYN ST. CLAIR wasn’t having the best day to begin with, but when the doors to Finders Keepers opened to reveal Ben Mulholland—her long-lost love—things went to heck in a handbasket.

  Never mind that her pulse jumped erratically and a thrill set every one of her nerve endings on high alert.

  Ben’s intense hazel eyes settled on her with unyielding focus, and Carolyn managed the most difficult smile she’d ever forced to her face.

  “Hello, Ben,” she said.

  “Carolyn.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his well-worn jeans and stared at her, clearly uncomfortable.

  Time had made strangers of them. She reached for the platitude. “You’re looking well.”

  His eyes flickered. “You are, too.”

  The response was too automatic to be a genuine compliment, so she decided to skip the small talk and say what she really wanted to say, no matter how awkward. “I was sorry to hear about your mom, Ben.” She swallowed, hoping her stilted tone conveyed the sympathy she felt. But was it more sympathy than he’d welcome from an old girlfriend?

  When nodded in appreciation, Carolyn relaxed slightly.

  “Thanks. Mom really liked you.”

  Eileen Mulholland had been certain Carolyn and Ben were perfect for each other. When Carolyn broke off the relationship, Eileen had personally called to tell her how sorry she was, and that she’d hoped Carolyn would one day become her daughter-in-law. Eileen never asked why Carolyn was breaking the engagement. She’d merely expressed her love.

  Carolyn had felt so guilty.

  Another woman had become Eileen’s daughter-in-law, not too many months later. Sadly, she’d also become her ex-daughter-in-law, shortly before Eileen passed away.

  “I saw the pot of daisies in Mom’s hospital room,” Ben said. “She told me you’d been by.” He cleared his throat. “It was nice of you to visit her, Carolyn.”

  How could she not? She’d loved Eileen. She’d loved Ben. They were part of the family to which she had desperately wanted to belong; a family she’d always dreamed of.

  She’d known for some time she would never have that family of her dreams.

  “I hated to see her go, Ben. She had so much love of life.”

  “Thanks, Carolyn.” His lips flattened for a moment, before he said, “Mom told me you were working here. I came by to ask a favor of you.”

  Carolyn’s eyebrows rose. “A favor?”

  “Actually, I’d like to hire Finders Keepers for a personal reason.” He sighed. “I suppose nobody walks in the agency door unless it’s a personal reason.”

  She tried to offer him a reassuring smile. He was obviously on edge, but she didn’t feel it was because of her. On the other hand, she had tensed the moment their eyes met, despite the years since she’d last seen him. Now she needed to call on her professionalism to keep a wedge between the feelings she still had for Ben and the knowledge that those buried emotions would always be doomed to disappointment. “Please sit down.” She gestured to a chair near the desk. “Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? A soda?”

  He shook his head, drumming his fingers on the desk after he sat. One hand riffled absently through sandy hair that needed a trim. He looked tired Carolyn noted, or perhaps worried. Something other than happiness had etched itself into the sun lines around his eyes; the easy smile he’d once possessed hadn’t surfaced since he’d walked in the door.

  “How can Finders Keepers help you, Ben?”

  “By taking my case.”

  “We’ll certainly review whether our expertise is a match for your needs, but—”

  “It’s important to me that you be the one handling it,” he stressed.

  Startled, she shook her head. “I don’t know if that would be in your best interest, Ben. Dylan and Lily Garrett really hired me to run the office. They’re the experienced—”

  “You haven’t even heard the details,” he reminded her. “Don’t tell me no just yet, Carolyn. Please.”

  He hadn’t missed her reluctance to agree to his request. She shifted in her chair, unable to meet his eyes for a moment. “I’m willing to listen, of course. And Finders Keepers will do the best they can to help you.”

  He frowned, furrowing the skin between his sandy brows. “You’re uncomfortable.”

  She hesitated. “Perhaps a little.”

  Nodding, he said, “I understand that. I wouldn’t be here if this wasn’t a matter of urgency.”

  When he stared at her, those large hazel eyes pleading for her acquiescence, Carolyn wanted to close her own eyes and sigh. The memory of having to say no to him on another matter—marriage—crystallized painfully in her mind. She pushed the memory into a place she wouldn’t let it escape from again today. “Do you mind if I tape you?” she asked. “I’ll take notes, but it’s better if I have a tape to go back over later, just in case I should miss anything.”

  He blinked at her sudden take-charge tone. “Does that mean you’ll handle my case?”

  She extinguished the pleasure she felt at the relief in his voice. “It means I need to get the particulars and discuss them with the Garretts, who run Finders Keepers. It’s Dylan and Lily who do all the investigative work.” She raised a hand to quell his instant protest. “I’ll do my best to underscore your wishes that I handle this for you, Ben. I give you my word.”

  He nodded. “Your word was always good, Carolyn. I’ll take it.”

  She set out a tape recorder on the desk, fitted it with a new cassette. The agency door opened, and a tall, beautiful blonde walked in, her stride graceful, but almost too long for the little girl beside her. Carolyn’s heart stopped in her chest.

  Marissa. Ben’s ex-wife. The woman he’d married very quickly after Carolyn had turned down his marriage proposal. She made herself smile, girding her heart against the pain.

  “This is Marissa,” Ben said, not knowing that Carolyn had devoured the pictures of him and his new bride in the newspaper six years ago. Nor had she been able to keep from looking at the photos of Marissa in magazines over the years. Marissa in swimsuits, evening gowns, lingerie—it had hurt. For some reason, every photo of his glamorous wife had stung, maybe because Carolyn knew that beside Marissa’s bright light, she was a nondescript shadow.

  “Hello, Marissa,” Carolyn said. “I’m Carolyn St. Clair.”

  “I know who you are,” Marissa returned, her tone not warm, but not cool, either. Matter-of-fact. They assessed each other wordlessly, then the little girl Marissa held b
y the hand leaped into Ben’s lap and they broke eye contact.

  Carolyn was dead certain she’d be taking a hiatus from doughnuts with her hot tea from now on. And maybe she’d make an appointment for some highlights, start running on the track at the high school in the evenings…

  “Carolyn,” Ben said, his voice gentle, “this is my daughter, Lucy.”

  And his daughter’s bright smile sent all the misgivings she’d been nursing right out of her head. “Hello, Lucy. You sure are pretty.”

  “I know.” She grinned at Carolyn. “Everyone says I look like Mommy.”

  Carolyn smiled. “You do.”

  “But I’m going to look like my daddy when I grow up.” She turned in her father’s lap to brush the hair from his eyes. Then she kissed him on the nose and patted his cheek with a soft, pudgy hand. “I’m going to marry my daddy when I grow up.”

  Ben’s laugh was quiet and proud. Marissa looked at her designer fingernails. Well, that makes three of us in the same room who have considered marrying Ben Mulholland at one time, Carolyn thought wryly. Lucy’s childish wish was the most impractical, but it was obvious she had every centimeter of Ben’s heart, and was guaranteed to keep it that way.

  “I need a half hour or so,” Ben said over Lucy’s shoulder as he looked up at Marissa.

  “Oh, Daddy!” Lucy protested, clearly unwilling to detach herself from her big, strong father.

  Marissa nodded. Her gaze flicked to Carolyn as she reached to take Lucy’s hand and guide her off her father’s lap. “It was nice meeting you, Carolyn.”

  “You, too.”

  “Ben has a lot of faith in you,” Marissa murmured. “I hope you can help us.”

  Help us. The plural caught Carolyn off guard. This was, then, a family situation that had brought Ben to her. Nothing she needed to fear. The past was not going to jump out at her with painful memories. “I’ll do my best,” she told Marissa sincerely. “Although I have yet to hear the situation, I certainly hope Finders Keepers can resolve it.”