Their Surprise Daddy Read online

  Instant Family

  Cruz Maldonado has vowed to provide for his beloved cousin’s orphans. With his estranged mother’s health failing, they might soon be Cruz’s only family. But the kids’ immigration status brings complications. Mostly “Miss Rory”—their idealistic young teacher—and Cruz’s court-appointed co-guardian. Cruz has the means to give the kids a good home, yet Rory Gallagher wonders whether he has the heart. That is, until she glimpses the sweet small-town boy inside the polished, handsome Wall Street exterior. Soon they both begin to wonder if this temporary partnership could turn into more—a chance to raise the children as husband and wife.

  Cruz didn’t move.

  He sat right there while Rory smooched little Javier and ruffled his hair, and when she was done kissing him, Cruz leaned in and kissed the boy, too. They said one last good-night, then he followed her out, into the hall. Before they were halfway down the stairs, she paused and looked back. “You surprised me in there.”

  “Because I knew prayers?”

  “Not that.” She stayed on the second step and faced him. “You kissed them good-night.”

  “I believe that’s customary with small children, isn’t it?”

  “It is, but you don’t have small children, do you?”

  He shook his head.

  “And I don’t expect you do a lot of babysitting in Manhattan.”

  “No, again.”

  She almost spoke again, then stopped herself. “I just thought it was nice, that’s all. You made them smile.”

  She started back down the stairs to rejoin the others. Five little words made her stop again.

  “That’s why I did it.”

  She turned and looked up, and when she did, her heart did that shuffle-step dance once more.

  Multipublished, bestselling author Ruth Logan Herne loves God, her country, her family, dogs, chocolate and coffee! Married to a very patient man, she lives in an old farmhouse in upstate New York and thinks possums should leave the cat food alone and snakes should always live outside. There are no exceptions to either rule! Visit Ruthy at ruthloganherne.com.

  Books by Ruth Logan Herne

  Love Inspired

  Grace Haven

  An Unexpected Groom

  Her Unexpected Family

  Their Surprise Daddy

  Kirkwood Lake

  The Lawman’s Second Chance

  Falling for the Lawman

  The Lawman’s Holiday Wish

  Loving the Lawman

  Her Holiday Family

  Healing the Lawman’s Heart

  Men of Allegany County

  Small-Town Hearts

  Mended Hearts

  Yuletide Hearts

  A Family to Cherish

  His Mistletoe Family

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  THEIR SURPRISE

  DADDY

  Ruth Logan Herne

  “And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty.

  —2 Corinthians 6:18

  To my dear friend Mia Ross,

  who has shared a delightful number of years

  with me… Thank you for always being

  a shining light of common sense and humor!

  We are so blessed to be able to work together!

  Acknowledgments

  To my sons, Luke and Zach, whose lives in Lower Manhattan help me mold characters from all walks of life, and to my amazing editor, Melissa Endlich, whose keen eye helped hone the lump of coal into a polished gem of a story! Thank you!

  To show respect for our police forces across the USA, all men in the Grace Haven series have been given names of fallen police officers, both local officers here in my upstate area (A. J. Sperr and Daryl Pierson) and from the 2014 fallen-officer list provided on the Downed Officers website. My husband and I have friends and family who wear the uniform with pride and grace, and our respect for them never falters. Cruz Maldonado was named for Deputy Sheriff Steven LaCruz “Cruz” Thomas of California.

  Huge thanks to my beautiful friends Karen and Matt Varricchio of Canandaigua for their help on locations, seasonal workers and life in a Finger Lakes town. We love you guys!

  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

  Epilogue

  Dear Reader

  Excerpt from The Nanny Bargain by Glynna Kaye

  Chapter One

  One minute Cruz Maldonado was a sought-after Manhattan financial investor with a law degree, a force to be reckoned with on Wall Street.

  The next he was the guardian for two children whose existence probably sprang from the jaws of Mexican cartels.

  This couldn’t be happening. And yet, it was.

  Cruz frowned as he drove his pricey rental car toward the Grace Haven town hall. The long midsummer day gave him a good view of the hometown he hadn’t seen in years. At some point he’d greet the mother he hadn’t visited since his father’s funeral, the woman who’d raised him to be just as tough and jaded as she was.

  You need to come home, Cruz, Reverend Steve Gallagher had told him during the unexpected phone call that morning. Two kids, no records, a falsified paper trail and your mother’s dealing with heart disease complicated by type 2 diabetes, seriously compromising her health. It would be wrong of me to make any decisions without you.

  Cruz didn’t just tamp his emotions down. He fought them into submission. For long years he hadn’t heard from his mother. His phone calls went straight to voice mail. His Christmas gifts came back, unopened. By the fifth year, he’d stopped trying and worked to make himself one of New York City’s toughest investment funds managers, respected in international circles, and he’d succeeded.

  And now this.

  He checked his watch. Whatever was going on, whatever mess his mother had gotten herself into, he had every intention of returning to the city the next morning. By afternoon he’d hand in the keys of the upscale rental car and return to his desk overlooking the Hudson. Tomorrow afternoon couldn’t get here soon enough.

  He parked the car and strode inside, legally and mentally prepared to put an end to the nonsense. He rounded the corner of the quaint town hall, then thrust out his arms to keep from barreling into a young woman carrying a small child. “Whoa.”

  “Whoa?” The little boy placed tiny hands over his mouth and giggled out loud. “He finks you’re a horse, Miss Wory.”

  “Does he now?” The woman—the beautiful woman—raised her eyes to his while his grip kept her from slipping to the floor.

  “No. He doesn’t.” Cruz held her gaze and her attention as he quickly corrected the boy’s assertion. He arched his right brow, nice and slow. “He doesn’t think you’re a horse at all. In fact, that would be about the last thing he’d think while looking at you.”

&nbs
p; “’Cause she’s not, siwwy.” The child giggled again, a happy sound, about as unfamiliar to Cruz now as it had been when he was growing up in Grace Haven. “She’s my teacher!”

  Cruz made sure she was steady before releasing her arms, then acknowledged the boy’s statement with a frank glance of appreciation. “I lived here for eighteen years. I never had a teacher that looked like this.” She had gorgeous eyes, a mix of caramel and gold that matched her long tawny hair.

  She started to reply, but then the boy turned her way, plainly worried. “Huwwy, Miss Wory! Huwwy.”

  She hustled the child to the restrooms down the hall while Cruz entered the small courtroom marked “Judge Murdoch” on the door.

  “Cruz.” Reverend Steve Gallagher saw him come through the door and quickly moved forward extending his hand. “Welcome home.” Steve oversaw a local church and the antiquated abbey abutting Casa Blanca, the picturesque vineyard and event center where Cruz grew up.

  This wasn’t home, and it hadn’t really been home when he lived there, but he wasn’t going to argue with the cleric. Steve Gallagher was a fine man and a great neighbor. Cruz gripped his hand. “It’s good to see you, Reverend Gallagher.”

  “Good to see you, too, son, but we’re all grown up. Steve works just fine.” The reverend clasped his hand in a firm, friendly grip. He motioned to the man standing nearby. “This is Judge Murdoch. Your mother’s case was brought to his attention.”

  As Cruz reached out to shake the other man’s hand, Steve added, “Thanks for getting here so quickly.”

  Cruz turned his attention back to Steve. “You left me little choice, and I’m fairly certain you knew the summons was out of left field and issued it, anyway.”

  “Because you and your mother haven’t spoken in years.” Direct and honest, two qualities Cruz had always liked about Steve.

  “My father played intermediary. Once he was gone, well...” Cruz shrugged. “My mother made it plain I wasn’t needed or welcome here.”

  “You’re needed now.”

  Cruz was needed, but not in this full-of-itself, old-fashioned town. He was needed right where he’d been up until five and a half hours ago, tucked in Lower Manhattan, making more money than most men see in a lifetime. “Reverend, I—”

  “Ah, Rory, perfect.” The reverend smiled beyond him, as if he’d said nothing. “I’m glad you’re back.”

  “It seems I’m not the only one being offered limited options,” she told Steve. Cruz had to hand it to her. Dissing clergy wasn’t a skill that got practiced much, even in Manhattan.

  Steve Gallagher laughed, unaffronted. “True enough. Cruz, meet my niece, Aurora Gallagher. She’s the summertime pre-K teacher here in Grace Haven. And this—” he reached out and palmed the little guy’s head “—is Javier. He’s the youngest of your new responsibilities.”

  Cruz stared from the cute kid to the minister. “Reverend Gallagher—Steve,” he corrected himself. “You’ve got this all wrong. There’s no way I can—”

  “I found a toad, Reverend Steve!” A little girl sporting twin ponytails bounded through the door. Her presence hiked the room’s energy level as she slid to a stop near Steve’s legs.

  “A lively one at that,” Steve replied. The gray-green toad bounded to the floor from her tiny fingers. “Cruz.” His tone changed. Softened. “This is Liliana.”

  The girl didn’t peek up at him like her brother had done. She lifted her gaze as if excited by all life had to offer, brows raised, brown eyes sparkling, and grinned.

  Elina.

  The child was the absolute image of her mother, his beloved cousin, playmate and childhood best friend. Through all the turbulence of his parents’ marriage, Elina had looked after him, played with him and sheltered him. He owed her. He owed her so much, and yet he’d let time and space separate them long ago, and never looked back.

  He swallowed hard, facing Elina’s daughter, and knew what he had to do, but hated having to do it because the last place Cruz wanted to be was in Grace Haven, New York.

  “Tara, can you take the kids down the hall to see the aquarium? Cruz, you remember my daughter, Tara, don’t you?”

  Cruz smiled and extended a hand in greeting. “I believe you had pigtails and braces when we last met.”

  “An awkward stage only recently corrected,” Tara replied, laughing. She shook his hand, then took the little fellow from her cousin. “I’ll keep these guys busy for a few minutes while you make plans.”

  The only plan Cruz intended to make involved a checkbook and an escape route.

  “Our church is part of the ICM,” Steve told him.

  Cruz had no idea what that meant. He folded his arms over his chest because just the thought of Grace Haven made him feel defensive. The reality of being here magnified the emotion. “Which is what?”

  “The International Children’s Ministry is a nationally certified group that maintains legal jurisdiction for foreign children in times of crisis. We have the power to place children in foster care by approved members of the church and/or the community, along with the laws of a given locality. Dual guardianship is required in all cases.”

  “So you are actually authorized to place these children into care in light of my mother’s health problems, despite the shaky legalities?”

  “I have the legal right, and the moral obligation that goes along with it,” Steve told him. He swept Cruz and the honey-haired young woman a troubled look. “I’m sure this was nothing either of you expected to be thrust into today, but if there’s one thing that can be said about life, it’s that things are guaranteed to change when you least expect it.”

  “Or when people fail to follow legal procedures with little regard to who’s affected.” The teacher directed a frank gaze to her uncle.

  “Rosa’s been ill...”

  The young woman held up a hand. “I understand that better than most, but the welfare of a child should always come first. And leaving these two precious little ones in legal limbo could mean a quick ticket back to Mexico, when a fairly simple process would have at least made them American citizens. Right now I’m wishing their mother or great-aunt had taken the steps to do the right thing.”

  Who did she think she was?

  A burr prickled beneath Cruz’s collar, because no matter how attractive this woman might be, she didn’t have the right to attack his family. Even when they were wrong. “You have a law degree, miss?”

  “Of course not.”

  “And you’ve spent exactly how much of your life being a Latina immigrant?”

  His attempt to make her feel bad backfired. “Not being an immigrant doesn’t make me the bad guy here. There are a lot of folks in the Finger Lakes area who have worked exclusively with the migrant and immigrant communities, and I happen to be one of them, so save your breath. I do have respect for the law, and as a lawyer, I’m a little surprised you take it so casually. But then, maybe things are different in the big city. Maybe breaking the laws for one’s personal convenience is more common in Manhattan. You would know that better than I, of course.”

  Touché.

  Steve grimaced. “While we can’t change what’s happened to put us in this predicament, we might be able to solve the problem, working together.”

  Working together was not going to happen. Cruz knew it, but he listened out of respect for a good man, while biting back the urge to look at his watch.

  “As I was saying,” Steve continued, facing his niece, “the kids know you. You’ve known them through your friendship with Rosa, and you’ve been Lily’s summertime teacher for two years, and Javier’s since last month. They trust you. They need you, even if the timing is less than perfect because I know you’ve been hard at work on your upcoming project. And while I hate messing up your plans, I really need you on board for this.”

  She sta
red up at him, then drew a deep breath, but before Cruz could shrug the whole thing off and get back in his car, the reverend nailed him with a firm look. “This doesn’t let you off the hook. I’m naming you as the second guardian, Cruz. It’s your family, after all. As an attorney it will be your job to make recommendations to the court about where the kids should go once all this is said and done. Your mother’s compromised health adds a complicating factor to an already convoluted legal situation.”

  “What?” He stepped back, hands up. What was Steve thinking? Didn’t their family history speak for itself? Raising children had never ranked high on the list and the children’s current situation highlighted that. “I have no vested interest in this, or anything else here. I am not taking on the care or guardianship of two children, and I actually have a job over five hours away. You need to find someone else to step in if you need two guardians to fulfill the obligation. Someone local.”

  “We don’t need a second person,” the young woman said smoothly. “I am totally capable of caring for Lily and Javier myself.”

  “The rules require dual caretakers,” the judge reminded them. “Steve and I are bound by that.”

  “When innocent children are caught in legal battles, someone has to put them first,” Steve added. “Hence the dual guardianship.” Steve turned to face Cruz more directly. “If you’re really too busy to stay and help out for a few weeks, my only recourse is to send the children out of the area to a place where the rules will be followed.” Steve held Cruz’s gaze. “Just so you know, if I do that, it will crush your mother.”

  So now he was suddenly supposed to care about his mother?

  Not gonna happen.

  He turned and faced the young woman. “You don’t have a husband or significant other that can sign on for the duration? Because one of us has a job to do.”

  She held his gaze for long, slow beats, then shifted her attention to her uncle. “We live in one of the best little towns in America.” There was no stopping the guilt that crept up his spine as she went on. “I expect we’ve got at least one good person who will step up to the plate to oversee the children with me.”