It Had to Be You

Multnomah Publishers

Chapter One

Rancher Dan Jarrett handed the pretty stewardess the emptycup along with a generous tip. "Thanks, I appreciated the suggestionon the lemon."

The young woman smiled and dropped the empty cup into thetrash bag. Dan could imagine she was thinking he was a hick fromcattle country. It grated him to pay for water in a bottle to start with,but the tap water in these public places would gag a catfish. Whenthe name-brand water tasted like the plastic it was bottled in toboot, he'd made the mistake of making a face. Instantly, the flightattendant had supplied him with a lemon slice to improve it.

"You're welcome, Mr. Jarrett. Enjoy your trip in the Caribbeanparadise. Wish I was going."

He swallowed the better-you-than-me reply that popped intohis mind and mustered a regretful smile as she moved on to thehostess station. Over the speaker, one of her coworkers announcedfrom the open doorway that the passengers could now deplane.

Paradise ... He slumped down in the seat as the plane came tolife with activity. Paradise was the last place this cowboy wanted tobe. Like the plane, the water, and his new jeans, it was going to bemiserable.

He drew in his elbow as the passengers, who'd shared his flightfrom Houston to Miami, began threading their way off the planethrough the narrow aisle next to his seat. They looked like a gailybedecked herd of cattle. Uneasy in crowds, Dan waited, but notwith the lazy patience the worn Stetson pulled down over his faceimplied. Unlike his clearly happy, vacation-bound fellow travelers,he felt he was on his way to one very hot place-and he didn'tmean the series of Caribbean ports listed on the brochure.

The cruise his family booked was not his idea of how to spenda holiday, but then he was for skipping Thanksgiving altogether thisyear. As if that would change the way his life had suddenly beenthrown into anarchy by his widowed mother's sudden marriage. Itwas bad enough his new stepfather was so desperate for a womanthat he'd signed on the cruise his mother had taken with herseniors group a few months ago as a social host, but now ...

Well, now he was changing tradition.

Besides, Dan's mom just hadn't been herself since this whirlwindromance. She'd moved out of the family home, dispersing thehousehold she'd kept all those years to Dan and his sister as if itmeant nothing to her. Love at first sight. Love boats. Hah! She wastotally bamboozled, like some love-struck schoolgirl.

Dan shifted his feet beneath the plane seat in front of him,spurred by a twinge of guilt. If he'd gone on the first cruise with hismom as she'd asked him to, this wouldn't have happened. But atrip with the Sunshine Club seemed ideal for her, not him. Besides,how much trouble could a bunch of church ladies get into playingbridge on a cruise ship?

Dan clenched his teeth. How much trouble? Obviously a wholelot more than he'd imagined. And now this senior lothario wasspending mom's savings right and left, and there wasn't a blessedthing Dan could do about it-at least until the investigation he'dinitiated was complete.

To date, all Dan knew was that Meyers was using his mother'scredit cards instead of his own. The investigators confirmedthat in their first report-the one Dan had waited for, forcinghim to delay his departure with the family and catch a laterflight. Meyers' bad credit rating only increased the young man'scertainty that his mother had made a terrible mistake and wasgoing to pay dearly ... with something far more important thanher money.

With her heart.

"Oh my gosh!"

Instinctively, Daniel cringed as his hat flew to the floor,knocked askew by a giant straw bag and snapping him back to thedeplaning frenzy of the present.

"I'm sorry I woke you."

"No problem, ma'am," Dan drawled. Sleep was the last thinghe'd been able to do of late. He cocked his head to examine thesource of the ruckus.

A slight, fair-haired young woman stared at him with wide-eyeddismay. She struggled with a hat as wide brimmed as hisStetson. Her more feminine version had a large sunflower attachedto a checkered band and was perched atop a short, no muss, nofuss hairdo. Like her matching bag, it looked too big for her.Another tourist ready to part with good money.

"I need four arms." She laughed, trying to hoist the strap of herbag up to a slim shoulder with the hand carrying a cosmetic case.In the process, she nearly knocked the sunglasses off the gentlemanbehind her. His evasive jerk backwards had a domino effect on theline behind him.

Four arms! Daniel had to agree, but not for the reason she madethe remark. For a female, traveling alone was the perfect prey forsome no-good slimeball with less-than-chivalrous intentions. Inaddition to the woman's purse and carry-on, she was hauling asmall Styrofoam cooler, which squeaked and creaked as she tried tobalance it between her body and one of the seats. It was sealed withenough duct tape to finish up the air and heating system in thehouse he was modernizing.

No doubt about it. This woman was a perfect target for a pickpocketor purse-snatcher.

"Here, let me help."

Carefully he raised the carry-on's strap back to her shoulder.For a moment, he was tempted to rip off a piece of duct tape andsecure it, but he refrained. It would take more than tape to hold thisloony bird together. His watch snagged on the material of her knittop as he drew his hand back.

"Oh, m'gosh!" The young woman's face turned scarlet as heinadvertently bared a smooth, golden-tanned shoulder.

"No problem. I can get it."

Daniel grimaced as he untangled the yarn from the pin on hiswatchband. Self-conscious, he smoothed the material out as he'dseen his sister do under similar circumstances.

"I don't think it'll show."

Instead of moving, the woman continued to stare at him, her lipspursed as if to speak. Daniel wondered if he should know her butquickly dismissed the notion. He'd never seen her in his life. He'dhave remembered blue eyes like that. They were the color of a springsky, the invigorating kind that made humans and animals alike wantto kick up their heels and frolic after a long winter's seclusion.

"You best get going, miss, before the line runs you over." Hisgaze darted to the impatient passengers shuffling behind her.

"Oh yeah ... sorry." With a comic grin that reminded him ofGoldie Hawn, she shifted the cooler in her arms and moved to thefront of the plane, squeaking like chalk on slate all the way.Fortunately for them, the passengers in the front seats had alreadydisembarked. Shaking his head, Daniel stood and retrieved a duffelbag from the overhead compartment.

That gal needs a keeper. But Dan had his hands full of his ownproblems right now.

It suited him to be the last one off. He hated being rushed andwas in no hurry to get in that pert, walking disaster's way. As it was,he didn't even have to search for his duffle bag. It was the only oneleft in the overhead compartment. He hauled it down and ontoshoulders broadened by hard work. The role of gentleman squiredidn't suit his personality.

"Have a nice time on your cruise," the stewardess told him ashe passed through the exit. "And don't forget the lemon slices."

"Sure thing. Appreciate it."

He forced a smile back, preoccupied with his quandary ratherthan flirtation. The thought of his mother being hurt and deceivedchurned in his chest till it hurt. Just let anyone mess with his lovedones, and he'd make a junkyard dog look like a friendly pup.

Tugging the brim of his Stetson down, he turned and strode upthe long, carpeted ramp to the terminal, where he was supposed tomeet a representative of the cruise line. He sure hoped his luggagemade it aboard the ship like Sis said it would. It was bad enoughgoing on this jaunt at all, but having to hold back the suspicions hehad about Meyers-at least until they were confirmed-was tryinghis patience to the limit.

Since he did have to wait, he'd just as soon do it with a changeof clothes. Unlike these flower-shirted tourists, he worked out in thesun every day-being cooped up on a ship in the middle of the tropicswas the last place he wanted to pay hard-earned money to go.

"Aunt Sunny!"

"Hey, Jason."

Sunny Elders stood on tiptoe next to her haphazard hill of possessionsand waved excitedly at her approaching nine-year-oldnephew, knocking the large sunflower on her hat askew in theprocess. Keeping up with the hat was becoming a full-time occupation,but if she'd put it in her case it would have come out like agiant straw tortilla. As she adjusted it, she spied her niece Allison,who was a far more demure sixteen, following in her brother's wake.

"Hi, Allis-"

Before Sunny could finish her niece's name, Jason tackled heraround the waist in a bear hug and tried to lift her off the floor witha macho show of strength.

"My, but you're getting to be such a man."

Rocked by her nephew's enthusiasm, Sunny reached too late tosteady her hat. She barely kept her footing. "Now, don't hurt yourback before we even get to the ship."

Oh yes, she was definitely going to have a good time with thesetwo ... if she survived Jason's roughhousing. He was getting too bigfor Sunny to handle. Not that Sunny really minded. She enjoyedhis boisterous energy. In fact, her sister, Melinda, always teased thatshe acted like she was one of the kids, rather than their aunt.

Turning to fetch the runaway hat, Sunny came face to face withthe tall and lanky cowboy she'd whacked on the head earlier.Clearly a bit wary of her, he silently picked up the hat and handedit over.

"Thank you again." The scorch of embarrassment fired hercheeks. "At least I have reinforcements to help me now."

Grinning like the Cheshire cat from Alice's wonderland, shemotioned to Jason and Allison to move out. It wasn't as if she hadn'tmet handsome men before, and heaven knew, having been bornand raised outside of Houston, she'd heard her share of Texasdrawls. So why was she staring at the man as if he'd grown horns?Funny. She needed to think of something funny to say instead ofstanding on her tongue.

"Hey, you're going with us."

Jason's exclamation diverted the cowboy's gaze from her face.

"What?"

"You're going with us." Jason repeated, fingering the tag on theman's duffle bag. "We're all going on the Love Ahoy." The freckledboy looked beyond Daniel with a frown. "Got any kids my age?"

"No."

Sensing, more than seeing, the stranger's irritation, Sunnyhanded Jason the cooler. "I'm sure there'll be others your age on theship. Holiday cruises are great for whole families."

"Well, all my friends are staying home and having a party onSaturday, which I can't go to because of family," Allison complained,snatching up the cosmetic case.

Sunny pulled her niece under her arm, trying to ignore theretreating figure of the stiffly polite cowboy in the crowd ahead. "Begrateful for your family, Alli," she told the girl fiercely. "They're tooprecious to take for granted."

A cloud lighted briefly on Sunny's heart. She prayed Alli wouldnot know the terrible loss Sunny and Melinda were facing. Hadbeen facing for years. She supposed it was youth that allowed herniece to take the deaths in stride and move on so quickly. Allisonwas so wrapped up in figuring out who she was in the midst ofpuberty's changes, that little else held her attention too long-unlike her mother, Melinda.

Shaking off the gloom, Sunny smiled. "I have a wonderful sister,a gorgeous brother-in-law, a beautiful niece, and an ornerynephew to spend the holidays with. What more could I ask?"Sunny squeezed her niece's slim shoulders, determined to focus onthe upside of this trip, rather than the down. She hoped Melindaand Alan would do the same. "We are going to have such a goodtime."

"All passengers for the Love Ahoy, please follow me. Stay together."

The amplified voice of the cruise representative drew theprospective passengers together in a straggling line behind the signhe held high over his head. It was emblazoned with the name of thecruise line.

"You heard the man." Sunny glanced around. "By the way,where are your mom and dad?"

At first Melinda had said that she didn't feel like going, butfinally agreed that she and Alan needed this trip. Toward the end ofher parents' illness and after, Melinda had drawn into a shell, awayfrom Alan. It was telling on their marriage. Sunny had volunteeredto watch over the kids on the cruise so Melinda and Alan wouldhave some time together without distraction to work things out.

"At the bus. They said we could meet your plane and come withyou." Allison spoke with pained indifference, and Sunny grinned.Life was such a bore at the girl's ripe old age. At least the kids seemedto be clueless to the undercurrents between their parents.

To the unknowing eye, the entire trip was a waste of time for herniece, but Sunny knew Allison was as excited as the energetic boywho raced ahead of them through a group of seniors. According toMelinda, Allison had discussed in detail over the phone with all herfriends every outfit she'd packed, while visions of exotic places andromance danced behind her ho-hum demeanor.

The tourist menagerie was made up of men in bright floralshirts and women in comfortable knit ensembles, some of whichwere a nautical red, white, and blue, and some dashed with glitteror studded with silver or gold. Sunny's hat was one among manybobbing along in the hubbub.

"This looks like it's going to be a real blast." Allison had notmissed the significant show of white- and gray-haired individuals."I'll bet the highlight of the day is bingo."

"Only if the boys who pass out the cards are cute." Sunny gaveher niece a wink. "I'll bet it will be all I can do to beat the youngmen away with a stick when they see you."

"Aunt Sunny." Allison produced a metallic smile, forgetting herbraces for a moment and blushing like the schoolgirl she was.

"Although I wouldn't mind keeping one or two for myself."

"Aunt Sunny, puh-leeze."

"After all, I should get something for rooming with you guys soyour mom and dad can have some private time."

"You're awful."

"And I've always taught you to share."

"You're crazy."

Sunny stopped in her tracks as if shot. "I beg your pardon?" shesaid in her most offended voice.

Allison burst into giggles. "Come on, Aunt Sunny. We're goingto be late."



Continues...
Excerpted from It Had to Be Youby Linda Windsor Copyright © 2006 by Linda Windsor. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.