All Cowboy and Charm: The Brothers of Dove Grey, #1

By Rhonda Lee Carver

One cowboy's tragedy leads to a second chance for another…an unexpected baby.

 

Successful author Melanie Jane decided after a very public divorce that she would prove to the world, especially her critiques, that she didn't need a man to make her dreams come true. So, she wrote a best seller and used a fertility clinic to get pregnant. An accidental switch-a-roo left Melanie curious…who was the father of her baby?

 

Coop Dawson was still grieving the loss of his twin brother when some lady showed up at the family ranch and announced that she was pregnant by Cade, impossible since he'd been gone for over a year. Coop didn't have the patience for scam artists. He told her exactly how he felt then made her hit the road. Yet, after reading a letter from a fertility clinic, he realized she'd been telling the truth. Now he needed to turn things around fast before he lost the chance at knowing Cade's child.

 

Sometimes tragedy can bring a family closer…and bring unexpected gifts. Coop needed to step up for the first time in his life and do the right thing for everyone. He promised his brother in a late-night prayer that he'd take care of the child—but what Coop didn't realize he was already falling for Melanie and he couldn't imagine life without her. Will she learn to trust him? Or will he screw up every chance he'd been given? 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rhonda Lee Carver
• Release date: Jan 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201943387

Book preview

All Cowboy and Charm

(Book 1, The Brothers of Dove Grey Series)

Rhonda Lee Carver

ALL COWBOY AND CHARM

One cowboy’s tragedy leads to a second chance for another...an unexpected baby.

Successful author Melanie Jane decided after a very public divorce that she would prove to the world, especially her critiques, that she didn’t need a man to make her dreams come true. So, she wrote a best seller and used a fertility clinic to get pregnant. An accidental switch-a-roo left Melanie curious...who was the father of her baby?

Coop Dawson was still grieving the loss of his twin brother when some lady showed up at the family ranch and announced that she was pregnant by Cade, impossible since he’d been gone for over a year. Coop didn’t have the patience for scam artists. He told her exactly how he felt then made her hit the road. Yet, after reading a letter from a fertility clinic, he realized she’d been telling the truth. Now he needed to turn things around fast before he lost the chance at knowing Cade’s child.

Sometimes tragedy can bring a family closer...and bring unexpected gifts. Coop needed to step up for the first time in his life and do the right thing for everyone. He promised his brother in a late-night prayer that he’d take care of the child—but what Coop didn’t realize he was already falling for Melanie and he couldn’t imagine life without her. Will she learn to trust him? Or will he screw up every chance he’d been given? 

All Cowboy and Charm

Copyright Rhonda Lee Carver 2020

Ebook Edition

Electronic book publication 2020

All rights reserved.

Dedicated to those who are no longer with me but forever in my heart.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter

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

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Sneak Peak – Cowboy Creed (Book 1)

Backmatter

Chapter One

MELANIE JANE STARED at the letter she held in her shaking hands then dropped it onto the counter. Inhaling a long breath, she looked at her best friend, Steven, in utter disbelief. Since she’d received the mind-perplexing news two days ago, she’d been wandering around in an uneasy cloud.

Sniffing back another round of tears, she slipped off the barstool in her kitchen, needing to do something with all her restless energy.  Grabbing one of the wine bottles from the selection on the metal rack, she felt Steven’s curious gaze on her. Don’t worry. I’m not opening this for me, she said. At a time like this, it seems that one of us should indulge. She popped the cork and poured him a glass.

His groomed brows scrunched. Are you going to be alright, sweetie?

Once the shock fades...yes. Maybe. This wasn’t how things were supposed to happen. You’ve known me for eight years. I like having things in order. As her editor, he’d not only helped her become a bestseller, but he’d been her best friend too. I can always rely on you to be honest, in writing and in life, even when it hurts. This time is no different. I need your opinion.

Look, honey— He gulped down half the wine in the glass and stretched the collar of his shirt. You wanted a baby and you got one. It went exactly as you paid good money for it to happen. He pushed his trendy blue frames further up the bridge of his thin nose.

Grabbing a tissue, she blotted at the moisture on her cheeks. How does something like this happen? I poured over hundreds of donor profiles and found the perfect match. Now the clinic is telling me I was inseminated with some random man’s sperm. How am I supposed to handle this? Saying the words made her throat tighten.

"If you would have simply taken my sperm from the beginning this could have been prevented. Are my genes not good enough? Believe it or not I’m a distant relative to JFK." He gave a dramatic fluff of his longish hair.

Stevie, you know I love you, but we talked about this. You’re my best friend and a great one at that. I didn’t want anything to be awkward between us. She capped the wine bottle. Since the pregnancy test had come back positive two weeks ago, she’d been on a hormonal roller coaster. Getting pregnant had been what she wanted so maybe Steven was right. Did it really matter who the father was if her baby was healthy? And yet, honestly, it did matter.

Hearing her friend’s sigh, she flicked her gaze to him. What is it?

"A mental image of all those test tubes of seeds sitting on some lab counter makes me shudder. Did the tech play a game of eenie meenie miney mo trying to decide which specimen was due to be loaded into the turkey baster?" He chuckled.

I told you, they didn’t use a turkey baster and making random choices of specimens isn’t part of the process. She trudged into the adjoining living room and dropped onto the couch.

He twirled on the stool. They were cleaning out their refrigerator, destroying old semen and somehow they got the tubes switched? That sounds like something you’d write in one of your horror novels. He rolled his eyes. Honey, you were inseminated with semen past its sell-by date.

Specimens can last for fifteen years. We’ll never know exactly how the switch happened, or who my child’s biological father is, so I should just somehow move forward. But moving forward required some answers. After all, this wasn’t a bag of lettuce she could simply toss out because it was expired. This was a child she loved already, a lifetime commitment. What if a chronic disease was genetically passed down? Wouldn’t she want—need—to know? Maybe once the donor receives the letter regarding the switch he’ll reach out to me.

Steven cleared his throat and drummed his manicured fingers, looking like he was ready to explode in anticipation.

Spit it out.

Just saying, you’re going to owe me big time. A grin crept over his lips. The next time you take a trip to one of those exotic, all-inclusive islands you just keep in mind who has your back. He slipped off the stool and came to sit down next to her. Remember the cute lab technician we met at the book release party last year? The one with flowing hair and swoon-worthy green eyes? Anyway, you’ll never guess where he works when he isn’t modeling.

At the fertility clinic?

No.

Okay. Where?

"I thought I remembered him saying his dirty day job was at a lab and don’t all techs network? Anyway, I called him, and it just so happens he dated a worker at your fertility clinic who owed him a huge favor. With a little persuasion, and a promise to read a book he wrote, I managed to talk wolf-eyes out of a little four-one-one." He reached into his designer jacket and withdrew a plain white envelope.

Steven? Is that what I think it is? She started to grab it, but he held it just out of her reach. What are you doing?

In this is the name of your baby daddy. That’s serious. Do you really want to know who knocked you up? He tapped the envelope. I feel like I’m on a Jerry Springer show ready for a paternity test reveal. Who do you think it’ll be? Test tube A or test tube B? He wagged his brows.

She climbed up on her knees, but he tucked the envelope under his bottom. No playing. I want it. She narrowed her gaze on him.

"Tsk. Tsk. Anxiety isn’t good for the baby—baby as in me, he said in an accent rich with his Texas ancestry. Or the expensive jacket that you’re wrinkling." He smoothed his hands over the sleeves of his tailored sports jacket.

Steven, I’m going to wring your neck.

Fine. He pulled the envelope out from under him and placed it on the coffee table. I want you to think about this carefully. The information could change everything. Once you have the knowledge you won’t be able to unsee it.

That’s the idea. To see it.

Sure, but I know you. You won’t stop at simply stalking his social media like most normal people. You’ll want to take it a step further and see him. Have you thought about how this could disrupt your life? His life? He’s probably married with a family by now. I just don’t want you to do anything stupid.

He made a few valid points. She had a hard time stopping the ball once it started rolling. The fertility clinic made the switch by accident, not this mysterious donor who’d made his deposit and moved on. Okay. You’re right. I don’t need to know who the donor is. She inhaled air into her lungs and exhaled slowly to cleanse the idea from her brain.

That’s a brave girl. Steven patted her shoulder. You don’t need more details other than he had amazing sperm and knocked you up on the first try. He’s practically a superhero. He ripped the envelope in half.

What are you doing? She watched in horror.

I’m getting rid of the evidence. You said I was right, remember? I certainly will remind you later if you forget.

But...but wait.

Have you change your mind?

Realizing how ridiculous she was being, she shook her head. Go ahead and destroy it. I don’t need it. It’s not only unethical, but probably illegal too.

Tearing the envelope a few more times, he got up and tossed the paper scraps into the wastebasket next to her desk. There. He swiped his hands together as if wiping away the entire event. All gone. Don’t you feel better now?

Yes, actually I do. She gave her friend a forced smile. Thank you for being here for me. Standing, she kissed his smooth jaw.

"Now that I’ve solved your problem, I need to call my mother. She’s in knots over what she’s going to make for the festival cook