A Fortune's Children's Christmas Read Free

and sure, not as quick as the quarter horses, but steady. “Come on, Ulysses,” Chase said, snagging a bridle from its nail on the wall, “it looks like you and I have work to do.” He flung a blanket and saddle over the beast’s broad back, then led Ulysses outside where the wind lashed. “You stay,” he ordered Rambo, but the dog ignored himand as Ulysses forged through the frigid powder, the old hound was at his heels, half jumping to keep up. All in all, it was a disaster.
    Still the horn blasted, sounding louder as Ulysses plunged along the lane to the main road. Chase knew where they were by the position of trees that lined the drive of this broken-down ranch. Kate Fortune hadn’t been kidding. It would take a miracle for him to turn the place around in a year.
    Ulysses snorted as the shape of a dark rig appeared in the otherwise white landscape. What kind of idiot had decided to go out Sunday driving in this mess, Chase wondered as he recognized the shape of a sports utility vehicle that had slid off the road and tipped into the ditch, mired deep to its axle.
    Snow covered the windows. He climbed off the horse and pounded on the car with a gloved fist. The horn stopped.
    “Is someone there?” A woman’s voice. It figured.
    “Yeah.” He yanked on the passenger door and it opened with a groan. The interior light flashed on, and he was staring at a woman of considerable bulk crammed behind the steering wheel.
    “Thank God,” she said, green eyes bright and grateful, cheeks rosy and lips thin with concern. “I was afraid, I mean…oh-h.” Closing her eyes, she grabbed hold of the steering wheel so hard her knuckles showed white, and despite the subfreezing temperature, sweat trickled down the side of her face. She let out her breath in a long stream. “Thank goodness Sarah is with me.”
    “Sarah?” Chase peered into the dark interior. As far as he could tell this woman was alone. There was a sack of groceries and an overnight bag but no other person. “Who’s Sarah and where is she?”
    “Here. At least she was.”
    “You’re the only one in the Jeep.”
    “But she was here. I think, no, I’m sure she’s my guardian angel.”
    “Oh, right,” he said sarcastically. The woman was obviously pulling his leg. Or hallucinating big-time.
    “She brought you to me.”
    Was she serious? No way. Unless she was a bona-fide nutcase. “Only if she laid on the horn.”
    “No—” the woman shook her head and even in the darkness, the strands showed a fiery red “—that was me.” Finely arched dark brows pulled together in confusion. “At least I thought so…” She was definitely disoriented.
    “Don’t worry about it. Let’s get you out of here.”
    “But Sarah was here. With me.” The woman worried her lower lip as if concerned about her own state of mind. “I mean, I think so…oh, maybe not…”
    “You’d better get out of there—”
    She started breathing hard. Panting. As if she were about to—For the love of Pete, she was pregnant! And from the looks of it, about to deliver. His heart shut down, and memories as vivid as if they’d been yesterday flashed in painful technicolor through his mind. Emily, his wife, had once been the love of his life. His jaw grew so hard it ached.
    “Wait…just wait a minute….”
    Chase was jarred back to the present. Again the woman gripped the wheel, and Chase thought that if there was a damned guardian angel this would be as good a time as any for her to appear. The contractions were way too close together. “I’m sorry,” she finally said as the labor pain subsided. She wiped a shaking hand over her lips and tried to look brave. “I was on my way to the hospital, the baby’s decided to come a few weeks early, and the storm got worse and a deer bounded onto the road. I slammed on my brakes and then…I don’t remember—”
    “It doesn’t matter. I’ll get you out of here and back to the house.” He stared directly into her frightened