Reunited In The Rockies

A fresh start...and an old love reignited?

A Rocky Mountain Heroes romance

For widow Kayla Bradshaw, restoring a historic Colorado hotel means a better life for her and her soon-to-arrive baby. But she needs construction help from Jude Stephens, the love she lost through a misunderstanding. Working with Kayla, the police officer finds himself forgiving her—and longing to rebuild her shattered confidence. But can they trust each other enough to forge a future together?

It took MINDY OBENHAUS forty years to figure out what she wanted to do when she grew up. But once God called her to write, she never looked back. She’s passionate about touching readers with biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. Mindy lives in Texas with her husband and kids. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Find more at mindyobenhaus.com.

Also By Mindy Obenhaus

Rocky Mountain Heroes

Their Ranch Reunion

The Deputy’s Holiday Family

Her Colorado Cowboy

Reunited in the Rockies

The Doctor’s Family Reunion

Rescuing the Texan’s Heart

A Father’s Second Chance

Falling for the Hometown Hero

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Reunited in the Rockies

Mindy Obenhaus

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09732-1

REUNITED IN THE ROCKIES

© 2019 Melinda Obenhaus

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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“Kayla? Are you okay?”

Jude quickly moved to her side. Had her passing out done something to the baby?

She faced him, her chestnut eyes suddenly alight. “I think I just felt the baby move.” She placed her other hand beside the first, her smile growing wide. “There it is again.”

Kayla reached for Jude’s hand and pressed it against her protruding belly. “Do you feel it?”

He hesitated at first, wanting to pull away, but not wanting to hurt her feelings. Then he felt it. The slightest kick beneath his fingers.

His own eyes widened. “You might have a punter in there.”

She set her hand next to his. “Or a soccer player.”

Looking into Kayla’s eyes, Jude wasn’t sure he’d ever experienced a more precious moment in his life. And as he watched her, one thing became perfectly clear.

He would do everything in his power to protect Kayla and her baby.

Dear Reader,

As I contemplated Jude, the fourth brother in my Rocky Mountain Heroes series, I knew he’d had his heart broken by a lost love and that he still carried a torch for that woman. But imagine coming face-to-face with that person again, only to discover that she’s pregnant! And thus began Jude’s journey.

The power of love as God intended it—patient, kind, protective, trusting, hopeful and persevering—is hard to resist. Having been wounded both emotionally and physically in the name of love, Kayla had to rediscover love the way God meant it to be. And Jude was more than happy to show her.

I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did. I like watching people fall in love, but there was something special about this couple. Perhaps it was the desire to see Kayla find her way home to the kind of love she so deserved.

The next and final story in this series belongs to Daniel. And I have a feeling the youngest Stephens brother’s tale is going to pack the biggest punch yet.

Until then, I would love to hear from you. You can contact me via my website, mindyobenhaus.com, or you can snail-mail me c/o Love Inspired Books, 195 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10007.

See you next time,

Mindy

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

—1 Corinthians 13:7

For Your glory, Lord.

Acknowledgments

To Cheryl Leyendecker, thank you for your friendship and enduring countless questions about cattle ranching.

To Betty Wolfe, thanks for putting up with me.

To Richard, the best support system a girl could ask for.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

Acknowledgments

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

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Twenty-four hours ago, Jude Stephens had his life figured out.

Then his father started talking about retirement, and he clearly viewed Jude as the heir apparent to the business he’d spent decades building.

Hands clutched around the steering wheel of his police SUV, Jude made another pass down Ouray, Colorado’s Main Street, looking for anything out of place among the rows of quaint Victorian-era buildings. He was honored that his father thought so highly of him that he was willing to entrust him with the business he’d started with nothing more than a dream and a small patch of land. Problem was, Jude did not want to be a cattle rancher.

Clouds obscured the sun, spoiling what should have been a beautiful October day. Helping his father out was one thing; he’d done it all his life. But the man had four other sons. Why not turn the business over to one of them?

Jude drummed his fingers on the dash. Because he was the one Dad counted on while his brothers were out chasing their dreams.

He shook his head. Just because he was the only brother who had never left Ouray didn’t mean he didn’t have dreams, too. If only his father would recognize his woodworking for the viable business it was instead of just a hobby. Jude was passionate about the work he was doing, and his custom and reproduction millwork was already providing him with more income than his job as a police officer. He’d even talked with the chief about his desire to resign. He was simply waiting until they hired another officer. Then he’d be free to focus on his business and take it to the next level.

But first he’d have to find a way to tell Clint Stephens he wanted no part of his cattle operation. And with the man getting older, that wasn’t going to be easy. That bout of pneumonia he’d had last year had everyone concerned.

Passing the hot springs pool, he roughed a hand over his face. Couldn’t his father just sell off the cows and leave Jude to follow his own path? Dad knew all about dreams, after all. He’d chased his own all those years ago when he and Mama first started Abundant Blessings Ranch. Now, Jude’s oldest brother, Noah, had built a successful rodeo school on the land, and Jude longed to do the same with his business. All he needed was a bigger shop. Something he was more than capable of paying for.

So when are you planning to tell the man?

Good question. He should have said something about his plans to resign after talking to the chief. But he hadn’t. Now he was faced with the very real threat of disappointing his dad. And just the thought of that nearly killed him. The last thing he wanted was to destroy the good relationship they had.

He straightened in his seat. Lately he’d been doing a fair amount of work for a builder in Telluride. Maybe that would help his father understand. Unfortunately, the majority of his sales were done online, and that was something his father couldn’t comprehend, no matter how many times a week that big brown shipping truck came rolling up the drive.

He wound past the sparsely populated RV park that had been bursting at the seams only a couple of months ago. Perhaps Noah would have some advice. Despite their eleven-year age difference, he and his eldest brother were quite close. Close enough that Noah had asked him to be his best man.

Jamming his fingers through his hair, Jude released a frustrated sigh. He was going to drive himself crazy if he kept dwelling on his father. He needed to think about something else. Like the meeting with his soon-to-be sister-in-law, Lily. He didn’t have a clue as to why she’d asked him to meet her at the old Congress Hotel after work. The historic building had been closed for years and fallen into disrepair. Was Lily thinking about buying it? Restoring it, perhaps? If anyone could afford to do that, it was her. And in the right hands, the once grand structure definitely had the potential to be magnificent yet again.

He eased into Rotary Park to make his usual turnaround, noting a blue pickup truck near the ice rink. Not out of the ordinary. However, the woman standing beside the vehicle, staring at a flat tire, was a call to action.

Her back was to him as he pulled up beside her. Silky dark brown hair fell to her waist, reminding him of someone he once knew. Someone he’d never forget.

Killing the engine, he continued to watch her. Even her stance was familiar. The way she stood with her hands perched on the backside of her hips.

His heart raced. What if it was her?

You wish.

He reached for the door handle. His mind was all kinds of messed up today. As if Kayla would suddenly show up in Ouray after seven years.

The woman glanced over her shoulder as he stepped onto the gravel, though not long enough to give him a good look.

“I see you’re having a problem.” He rounded the front end of his vehicle, glimpsing her pancaked back tire. “May I assist you?”

Slowly she turned, and his world shifted as though he’d been transported back in time to the best summer of his life. The summer he fell in love for the first and only time.

“Hello, Jude.” The sweetness of her voice washed over him, along with more memories and regrets than he cared to count.

“Kayla?” He visually traced the face that still lived in his mind. All these years, he’d wondered what had happened. He only knew that one day they were talking about seeing each other again, and then the next there was nothing. She had never even returned his calls or texts. “What are you doing here?”

She hesitated a moment, seemingly transfixed on the tire. “My friend is getting married.” Her chestnut eyes finally met his. Gorgeous eyes he’d lost himself in thousands of times. “I’m Lily’s matron of honor.”

“Lily?” Wait, Noah’s Lily? Shifting his weight from one booted foot to the other, he scratched his head. “Lily Davis?”

A breeze hissed through the towering conifers.

“Yes.” Kayla casually tucked her hair behind her ear, the reappearing sun highlighting the gold band on her left hand.

His gut tightened as unwanted disappointment stole through him. After all these years, he shouldn’t care that Kayla was married. Not when she was the one who’d decided to end their relationship without even bothering to let him know. No, he shouldn’t care.

Unfortunately, he did. A fact that annoyed him more than he cared to admit.

Her hand fell to her stomach. Only then did he notice the bump beneath her fitted T-shirt.

Great. The woman who still haunted his dreams was not only married but pregnant. And she was his future sister-in-law’s best friend. The one he’d be forced to spend who knows how much time with in the coming days before walking her down the aisle a week from tomorrow.

He should have stayed in bed this morning. “You and Lily are friends?”

“Yes. We met back in Denver a few years ago.”

“You live in Denver?” When he’d known her, she’d been enjoying a nomadic lifestyle with her parents. Always roaming about the country, never staying put for more than six months. They were headed to Denver the last time he and Kayla spoke. Had she been there all this time?

“After my father died, I decided it was time to settle down.”

She couldn’t have done that in Ouray? “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Nodding, she took a step back. “Look, I’m sorry for creating such an awkward situation. I knew Noah was your brother, yet I never said anything to Lily about you and me. If I had, she could have at least prepared you.”

True. And he could have relegated his best man duties to one of his brothers while he hightailed it out of town. “No big deal.” He shrugged. “I’m just kind of surprised you’re here so early. I mean, the wedding isn’t for another week.”

“I wanted to be here to help Lily with some of the preparations.” Her hands went to her hips again as her gaze traveled from the redstone cliffs that hugged the back of the park to Mount Hayden’s peak at the opposite end of town. “That and I needed a change of scenery.”

“Well, we’ve got plenty of that around here.” Though he had no business doing it, he found himself staring again. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Yet while the hair and eyes were the same, something was different about Kayla. She seemed...troubled. Maybe it was just the awkwardness of the moment.

Shaking off the notion, he added, “But then, you already know that.”

She peered up at him through long lashes, sending his heart slamming into his ribs. “I wasn’t sure if you were still in Ouray.”

Wasn’t sure? Kayla knew better than anyone that this was where he belonged. “It’s my home. Where my roots are.” And while that was the exact reason he could never leave, it was also what had prevented him from asking her to stay. Kayla needed to roam, meaning their relationship would have been doomed from the start and he would have ended up brokenhearted anyway.

Looking for an escape, he turned his attention to her tire. “I’ll get this taken care of so you can be on your way.”

“You always were the chivalrous one.” Her smile did strange things to him. Had him feeling things he had no business feeling for a married woman. Things that were going to make this next week excruciatingly long.

* * *

Kayla Bradshaw had known that agreeing to be in Lily’s wedding could mean coming face-to-face with the first man she ever loved. Something that seemed relatively benign, until now.

Jude still had that slightly dangerous look about him. Those piercing dark eyes that seemed to see right through her. To read her thoughts and know her heart. His dark hair had a military cut with close-cropped sides and the longer top brushed to one side. But, oh, that smile...

Pulling out of the park with a fresh tire, she gave herself a stern shake. It wasn’t like her to be so affected. Then again, a lot of things were different with her lately. Chalk it up to pregnancy. Or stress. After all, when her husband died five months ago in a single-car rollover, she hadn’t even known she was pregnant.

She continued into the old mining town, eyeing the mountains that enveloped Ouray. She hoped God forgave her for the relief she felt following Shane’s death.

If only she’d known he was an alcoholic before they married. He was a different man when he drank.

After his death, she’d wanted nothing more than a do-over. A fresh start for her and her baby. And while she had yet to find that perfect place to begin anew, Lily had done her best to fill in the gap.

When Kayla decided to sell the house she’d shared with Shane, Lily had encouraged her to move into her place and house-sit while she and her kids spent the summer in Ouray. Four months later, she was still there.

Kayla puffed out a laugh. She never would have imagined that her friend would decide to stay in Ouray, let alone fall in love with the brother of the man who’d captured Kayla’s heart seven years ago and given her a glimpse of how good life could really be.

She was surprised, if not a little disappointed, to see that Jude was a police officer, though. With his woodworking talents and love for historic buildings, she’d thought for sure he’d follow his passion.

Slowing her speed as she entered town, she tried to ignore the question that had been plaguing her brain. But like a nasty mosquito bite, it refused to be ignored. Was Jude married?

Not that it mattered. Their time together was water under the bridge. He’d made that clear during their last phone conversation. He’d said he was done. Then he’d hung up. And she never had the opportunity to talk to him again.

She had no doubt Jude assumed she was married, though. The way his gaze moved from her left hand to her baby bump.

Taking in Ouray’s Main Street, she was happy to see not all that much had changed. Sure, the names on some of the businesses were different, the paint colors may have been altered, but the essence of the town remained the same. Warm, inviting... The kind of place she’d longed for her entire life. A place she could not only call home, but where she felt at home.

Looking back, she wished she’d had the guts to tell her parents to leave Ouray without her. But she’d been too immature.

In Denver, though, she’d finally put her foot down, thinking that staying there would satisfy her desire. No more traveling around the country in an RV. Then she’d married and Shane owned a house. Something she’d never had. Yet her longing was far from fulfilled, and her dream turned into a nightmare.

If only she’d made better choices. If only—

“Would you stop thinking about Jude already?” Pounding her fist against the steering wheel, she made a left turn onto one of the side streets. “You’re here for Lily, not to relive seven-year-old might-have-beens.” She wasn’t that carefree young woman Jude had once known. Her two years with Shane had changed her. Made her more cautious and unable to trust her own judgment.

A right turn one block later had her searching for the bed-and-breakfast where she would be staying. According to Lily, Granger House Inn was a historic home owned by another of Jude’s four brothers and his wife. Fortunately, she’d never met this brother, so there’d be no need for explanations. Yet.

She eased her truck to a stop in front of an impressive sea-foam-green Victorian home with loads of intricate millwork and a gracious front porch. Since Lily’s SUV was parked in the drive, this had to be the place.

Kayla turned off the ignition, stepped out of her vehicle and stretched as she drew in a deep breath of mountain air. The clouds had disappeared, leaving a beautiful autumn day in their wake.

She moved up the walk, onto the porch and rang the bell.

A few moments later, Lily swung the antique-oak-and-leaded-glass door wide. Her long reddish-blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her smile was wide. “Kayla!” She hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me, too.” It did her heart good to see her friend so happy. In recent years, Lily had endured some tough times. Yet, through it all, she’d clung to her faith. And now she’d found a man who shared that faith and recognized Lily for the special woman she was.

Kayla could only hope to be so fortunate.

Lily released her. “Where’s your stuff?”

“In the truck.”

“Well, let’s get you unpacked because I have something I can’t wait to show you.”

“Such as?” Kayla watched her friend as they started off the porch.

“You’ll have to wait and see.”

When they returned with her things, another woman stood just inside the door, holding a tiny baby.

“Look who’s finally awake.” Lily grinned at the child, setting Kayla’s suitcase on the wooden floor. “Kayla, this is Carly, my soon-to-be sister-in-law.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Kayla.” The woman had blond curls and smiled warmly, her countenance one of contentment.

“And this little guy here—” Lily reached for the babe’s fisted hand “—is Lucas.”

Moving closer, Kayla couldn’t stop staring. From his downy dark hair to his barely there nose and slow-motion movements... “He’s so little. How old is he?”

“Five weeks tomorrow,” said Carly.

Kayla could hardly believe that in only four short months, she’d be holding her own baby.

“When are you due?” Carly noted her belly.

“February.”

“Do you know what you’re having?”

“No, she does not.” Lily frowned. “And the suspense is killing me.”

Clearing her throat, Kayla regarded her friend. “As a very wise person recently said to me, you’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Fine.” Lily rolled her green eyes and reached for the suitcase. “Come on, I’ll show you your room.” She started for the stairs that swept up one side of the parlor.