The Rancher Wore Suits
The minute Ty saw Jessica he knew he was in trouble
She beamed a smile at him that reminded him of sunshine and picnics by the lake. He wanted to touch her so badly he had to stuff his hands into the pockets of his designer suit. Her gaze met his and he pulled at the confounded tie, wishing he could take it off.
His brother owned more suits than a clothing store. Ty had intended to choose his own clothes this morning, but he’d taken one look at Dex’s closet and gotten dizzy. He’d pulled out a few ties and shirts and tried to match them up, but Dex’s valet, George, had walked in and taken pity on him.
He wondered what Jessica thought of George’s selection. Even worse, he wondered what she’d think of him in his usual dusty jeans and battered Stetson.
What the hell was he thinking?
She would think he was just a down-on-his-luck rancher. He and Jessica belonged to two different worlds.
Dear Reader,
What a special lineup of love stories Harlequin American Romance has for you this month. Bestselling author Cathy Gillen Thacker continues her family saga, THE DEVERAUX LEGACY, with His Marriage Bonus. A confirmed bachelor ponders a marital merger with his business rival’s daughter, and soon his much-guarded heart is in danger of a romantic takeover!
Next, a young woman attempts to catch the eye of her lifelong crush by undergoing a head-to-toe makeover in Plain Jane’s Plan, the latest book in Kara Lennox’s HOW TO MARRY A HARDISON miniseries. In Courtship, Montana Style by Charlotte Maclay, a sophisticated city slicker arrives on a handsome rancher’s doorstep, seeking refuge with a baby in her arms. The Rancher Wore Suits by Rita Herron is the first book in TRADING PLACES, an exciting duo about identical twin brothers separated at birth who are reunited and decide to switch places to see what their lives might have been like.
Enjoy this month’s offerings, and be sure to return each and every month to Harlequin American Romance!
Happy reading,
Melissa Jeglinski
Associate Senior Editor
Harlequin American Romance
The Rancher Wore Suits
Rita Herron
To Melissa Jeglinski,
for all her enthusiasm over this project!
And to Debra Webb, a great writer and friend who made it
even more fun! Hope we get to do more books together….
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rita Herron is a teacher, workshop leader and storyteller who loves reading, writing and sharing stories with people of all ages. She has published two nonfiction books for adults on working and playing with children, and has won the Golden Heart award for a young adult story. Rita believes that books taught her to dream, and she loves nothing better than sharing that magic with others. She lives with her “dream” husband and three children, two cats and a dog in Norcross, Georgia. Rita loves to hear from readers. You can contact her at www.ritaherron.com or P.O. Box 921225, Norcross, GA, 30092-1225.
Ty Cooper’s Cheat Sheet: How To Be Dex Montgomery
1 Wear fancy suits and darned uncomfortable shoes.
2 Refer to your grandparents as Grandmother and Grandfather Montgomery, not Gran and Pa Cooper.
3 Stop mooning over Dr. Jessica Stovall.
4 Quit looking for a Stetson on your head.
5 Drink Scotch and don’t eat red meat.
6 Use your right hand, not your left.
7 Don’t let your valet, George, guess you’re not Dex!
8 Try not to fantasize about the beautiful Jessica….
Contents
Prologue
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
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Epilogue
Prologue
O’Hare Airport
What else could go wrong?
As if his godawful trip to Chicago hadn’t been bad enough, Ty Cooper glanced at the overhead screen and noticed his flight back to Montana had been delayed. Two hours.
More time to think about the deal that had slipped through his fingers this week.
He might as well settle in, have a drink and try to come up with some ideas to expand his cattle business. The investor he’d met with in Chicago had promised big things for the Coopers’ shrinking cattle market, but all that fancy talk across conference tables hadn’t seemed practical to Ty. Ty and the five generations of Coopers who’d run the Circle C were men who lived off the land, not men who wore suits, talked stock options and thought about marketing strategies. His grandparents had done without the niceties in life, and Ty wanted to give them all the luxuries they had never had. After all, he owed them so much….
A pretty little waitress smiled at him, and he tipped his Stetson, then laid it on his knee as she approached. He might be in a foul mood but Ty Cooper’s grandma had raised him right—a man always behaved like a gentlemen in the presence of a lady.
“Can I get you a drink, sir?”
“A beer’ll be fine, sugar. Whatever you’ve got on tap.” He winked. “I’m not picky.”
She gave him that funny grin, the same one everyone in Chicago had given him for the past week every time he’d spoken. They probably didn’t see too many real-life cowboys in the windy city. A few seconds later, the waitress left him a full cold mug and he sipped the beer while he studied the report from the investor.
There was no way he could make this deal work, he realized seconds into the reading. He had to face the grim truth; there would be no upgrading at the Circle C this year. Disappointment ballooned in his chest. He’d wanted to hire an extra hand so his grandfather wouldn’t have to work so hard. Pa Cooper was getting on in years. Ty worried he’d wear himself out. He also wanted his grandfather and grandmother to be able to spend more time together, take a trip, enjoy the good life in their golden years. Do things they had never done.
Frustrated, he glanced up, wishing he had a cigarette, but he’d given them up years ago, so he searched for the waitress’s smile again, the only bright spot in a dismal day. Instead, his gaze landed on a man across the room and he froze, his mug lifted halfway to his mouth.
The man looked to be his height, and wore one of those expensive dark suits with a red power tie. The hair on the back of Ty’s neck stood on end. Something about the stranger seemed familiar.
Eerily familiar.
Then the man turned and looked straight at Ty. Shock rode through Ty’s system, as it obviously did the other man. Ty could have been looking in a mirror. What the…? The man looked exactly like him. Same thick dark hair, only cropped a little shorter than Ty’s. Same dark eyes…same square jaw…same…everything.
The man suddenly pushed to his feet, his mouth gaping open momentarily before he snapped it closed. He strode toward Ty, his back ramrod straight. He stopped in front of Ty’s table, shifted his drink to his left hand and extended his right.
“Dex Montgomery.”
His voice even sounded like Ty’s, although he had a slight Southern intonation. Not much though. Judging from the man’s expensive clothes, he came from too much money and education to allow himself a true Southern accent.
Ty closed his work-roughened hand over the man’s smooth one. “Ty Cooper.”
The contact was brief, but something passed between them—energy that felt strange yet oddly familiar. As if they had some connection.
Ridiculous.
“Maybe you’d better sit down,” Ty said, grappling for an explanation.
The stranger tugged at his tie as if it was choking him and sat. “This isn’t possible. I mean…” He shook his head again. “I’m a doctor and even I’m at a loss for an explanation.”
Ty scrubbed his hand over his chin. He had no idea what to say, either. “You’re right, partner. It’s damned weird looking at your reflection in another man’s face. Maybe we’re related somehow?” A nervous laugh escaped Ty. “You know, distantly. Identical cousins or something.”
Dex Montgomery lifted one shoulder, then let it fall. “That’s possible, I suppose.” He hesitated, his eyebrows drawing together in thought. “Did you say Cooper?”
Ty nodded. “Of Rolling Bend, Montana. We have a cattle ranch called the—”
“Rolling Bend, Montana?” The man’s face paled.
“Yeah?” Ty’s stomach knotted. “You know the place?”
Dex’s gaze settled fully onto Ty. “My mother’s name was Tara Cooper. She was born in Rolling Bend.”
It couldn’t be. Ty signaled the passing waitress. “Ma’am, we’re gonna need another round here.”
She glanced at Dex, then started visibly when her gaze landed back on Ty. “Doubles for doubles,” she said with a giggle. “Are you guys twins or something?”
Dex glared at her and she scurried away. Ty almost told him to apologize, but he was too disturbed by this man’s statement. He leaned forward, unable to believe what he was about to say. “Tara Cooper was my mother.”
A choked sound, not quite a laugh, burst from Dex. “But my mother died when I was three months old.”
“My birthdate is May 21, 1970,” Ty countered. “My mother died in an accident with my father when I was three months old.”
“Oh yeah? Well, so did mine. But I don’t have any siblings,” Dex argued.
“Neither do I,” Ty retorted. “Well, except for two adopted brothers. Actually they’re my grandmother’s sister’s boys. She died when they were little and Gran took them in.”
And Ty had had a twin who had died at birth. At least he’d been told he had. What if…what if they’d lied to him? An empty hollowness clawed at him. But why?
Dex gestured vaguely. “Maybe there were two Tara Coopers in Rolling Bend.”
Ty moved his head slowly from side to side. “We’re the only Cooper clan in that neck of the woods.”
“I’m certain there’s some reasonable explanation,” Dex suggested.
Ty’s heart thundered. He had a sinking feeling he knew what had happened. But he didn’t like it. And judging from the shock on Dex Montgomery’s face, he wasn’t going to be happy about it, either.
“There is an explanation,” Ty said, his chest growing tight. “We’ve been had.”
THREE HOURS LATER and too many drinks to remember, they’d each learned a lot about their respective families. Ty lived on a sprawling ranch with a big close-knit family while Dex was a doctor who managed a huge medical conglomerate with his grandfather.
Finally, Ty convinced Dex of the only reasonable explanation. Dex Montgomery was not only his brother, but his identical twin. They’d both missed their flights home, but neither cared. Dex had phoned his financial advisor to brief her on his change of plans, and Ty had phoned his family, then his neighbor Leanne who’d planned to pick him up.
The stories of their parents’ whirlwind courtship, marriage and tragic deaths matched down to the dates. Dex was told, as Ty had been, that he had no other family. Ty could just imagine his grandparents’ reaction when his mother had married a banker’s son. Dex had been told nothing about their mother, Ty had been told zilch about his father.
“What I want to know,” Ty said, his tongue thick in his mouth, “is how the hell they decided who would take whom.”
For one long moment they simply stared at each other. Ty couldn’t believe his loving family had lied to him. An image of his twin nephews surfaced. They seemed to have a special bond; he couldn’t imagine anyone separating them. Yet that was exactly what his family had done to him and Dex. His family had pounded into his head ever since he could remember the importance of family and togetherness. He’d always felt a part of himself was missing, yet they had torn him away from his identical twin and told him he’d died.
Would he and Dex have had a special bond if they had been raised together?
On the heels of that disappointment, he wondered what his life would have been like if the other grandparents had chosen him? Would he be a different man today? Would he wear suits and make his living crunching numbers, sitting in countless boring meetings like those he’d had to endure the past three days?
He shuddered at the thought.
Dex cleared his throat. “My grandfather—”
“Our grandfather,” Ty corrected.
Dex frowned. “Yes, our grandfather Montgomery will go ballistic when he finds out we met. He likes control.”
“You think he was behind the separation?” Ty asked.
Dex nodded. “One-for-me, one-for-you—that sounds like his kind of scheme.”
“So what do we do now?”
Dex drained his glass. “We should show up together and stage a confrontation.”
Ty grinned. Both their families deserved to be shaken up. “You may have something there. I say we give ’em a taste of their own medicine.”
A flash of concern darkened Dex’s Scotch-hazy eyes. “What do you have in mind?”
Ty motioned to the waitress and then pointed to their empty glasses once more. “I’m talking about trading places, brother. For just a little while,” he added quickly. “Just long enough to teach our families a lesson. And we’d get to meet the other side of the family.” Ty had to admit he was curious about the Montgomerys. And his father. Maybe meeting them would help him feel closer to his dad.
Dex hesitated at first, but finally a smile slid onto his face. “Yes, that’s good. All we have to do is bring each other up to speed on how to act and what to do.” He flared his hands and inclined his head in a gesture of nonchalance. “It’s simple on my end. You leave the business decisions to the old man. I have a secretary and a financial advisor who take care of things at the office. They’ll keep you straight on the day-to-day schedule.” Dex paused. “If a problem does come up and you need to make a financial decision on your own, just use your own discretion. After all, technically you are a Montgomery, too.”
Only in blood, Ty thought. He had nothing in common with those ritzy people. Family meant everything to him. Money meant nothing, except it was a necessary evil, he reminded himself, if he was going to help his grandfather.
“What about the Coopers?”
“You shouldn’t have any problems either,” Ty assured him. “Between Chad and Court and the ranch hands, they can handle things at the Circle C. It’ll be good for both of us. We can get to know the other side of the family.”
Dex nodded. “All right, then. I guess I could use a little rest and relaxation in the country. Kick back and get away from the grindstone.”
Ty chuckled. He thought ranching would be restful? Hell, his brothers would probably wear him out. “Yeah, and I’ll enjoy sitting on my butt in the air conditioning for a change.”
Dex laughed. “We have ninety minutes before the next flights leave for home,” Dex said. “Let’s do it.”
Ty folded his arms across his chest. “You go first. I have a feeling your folks are a lot more complicated than mine.”
Dex ordered another round of drinks. “All right. Here’s everything you need to know in order to be Dex Montgomery.”
Chapter One
Jessica Stovall had cold feet.
Not in bed, as her ex-husband had once said, but cold feet about meeting Dex Montgomery. She was seriously considering turning her car around and heading as far away from the Atlanta airport as possible.
Had she actually volunteered—no insisted—she’d pick up Dr. Montgomery from the airport?
She must be a glutton for punishment.
Her 1985 VW Bug hit the curb as she parked in the short-term parking area, and she coasted backward, wincing when the gears ground together. She parked on a slight incline, then removed the rock from the floorboard and placed it behind the front wheel to keep the car from rolling. Someday, she had to get that emergency brake fixed. Her ex-husband had wanted her to sell the car a long time ago. But Nellie had been with her forever.
Just as she’d once thought her husband would be.
Only, Nellie hadn’t let her down the way he had. A hollow emptiness pulled at her, the old pain re-surfacing. He had left her when she’d needed him most. She kept Nellie because she needed to know something was constant in her life, that she wouldn’t lose everything.
She hopped out, crossed the busy crosswalk, dodged a taxi and stumbled into the baggage claim area where Dr. Montgomery’s financial advisor had told her to meet him. This morning she’d knocked on his office door, hoping to beg him to reconsider his decision about funding the new children’s wing at the hospital, but the doctor’s gorgeous assistant, Bridget Holmes, had greeted her with a cool smile instead. Bridget was supposed to pick up Dex, but she planned to call a limo service for him. Jessica had jumped at the chance to give him a ride. Since she’d gone out of her way to make a trip to drive him home, he’d have to feel indebted to her and listen to her spiel.
At least she hoped he’d listen.
Dex Montgomery, doctor turned entrepreneur, was a shrewd businessman and seemed to have a heart for nothing but stock dividends and flow charts.
Jessica was the opposite. She loved her patients, the children at the hospital who needed tender loving care along with medical treatment. And she intended to see that they received the best of both. After all, the kids were her family now. The only one she would ever have.
She couldn’t let them down.
According to Dr. Epstein, she only had two weeks to get the money, too, or the plans for the children’s wing would be cut off completely. Besides, there were a few children who desperately needed money for treatment now.
Gathering her composure, she straightened her suit jacket and searched the crowd flooding the baggage-claim area for Dr. Montgomery. She was a respected pediatrician, a woman who’d risen from poverty to make a good life for herself by caring for others and keeping them from suffering. She refused to let Dex Montgomery intimidate her or reduce her to a jittery female.
His six-foot-plus, Armani-clad self would appear any second. All she had to do was play nice, dig deep enough to unearth his compassionate side, and ask him for money.
Piece of cake.
Yeah, right.
Facing a firing squad might be easier than getting money from a Montgomery.
A DEEP SENSE of panic mushroomed inside Ty as the plane coasted to the runway. Two hours and a few drinks ago, this trading places idea had sounded like fun.
But now his beer-induced bravado had worn off and reality had hit with the force of a two-by-four.
This charade was a mistake.
He should get off the plane and book a return trip to Bozeman. And fast.
The plane screeched to a halt, rolled to the gate, and when the seat belt sign dinged, impatient passengers flooded the aisles, obviously anxious to return to their lives.
His stomach twisted. He should be getting back to his life—in Montana. Mending fences and herding cattle. Trying to figure out a way to improve things.
Not playing dress-up in this uncomfortable suit and choking tie. How did Dex stand it?
Because he’d never known anything else.
An ache, soul-deep, settled in Ty’s chest. Somewhere in midair, he had contemplated what his family had done to him and to Dex, and his shock had dwindled, turning into anger and hurt. His loving grandparents, the ones who’d drilled into him his entire value system, had lied to him, had denied him knowledge of his own brother and his other grandparents.
He wasn’t sure if he could forgive them.
Not only had they denied him knowledge about his father, but they’d robbed him of knowing his identical twin brother. What would his parents have thought if they’d known their boys had been split up after their deaths?
Maybe he would find out when he arrived, and maybe he’d learn a little about the man who’d fathered him.
And about why the Montgomerys had wanted nothing to do with him.
People rushed down the aisle, and Ty finally stood, reaching overhead for his beat-up duffel. Instead, his hand brushed over the soft leather garment bag Dex had shoved in his hands. He couldn’t forget that damn briefcase, either. Dex had gotten so riled when Ty had almost left it in the bathroom after they’d exchanged clothes, a vein had bulged in his forehead. Apparently, Dex guarded the hunk of leather, along with his cell phone, as if they were his life. Ty scoffed. The bag alone cost more than he paid his ranch hands in a day. He wiggled his cramped toes inside the custom-made Italian shoes and almost tripped. The stupid shoes gave no support to his ankles. He certainly couldn’t ride with them.
Of course, Dex didn’t need a horse; he had cars and limos and taxis.
No, Dex had money. The kind that could have helped the Coopers.
But Ty didn’t want their money. He simply wanted some answers about his past. The Montgomerys had given him up without batting an eye, and they’d written off Ty’s sweet, loving mother because she was a rancher’s daughter. Apparently they’d thought the Coopers weren’t good enough. Just as Paula had thought he wasn’t good enough for her.
The old pain haunted him.
I could never live on a ranch, she had said.
And he couldn’t live anywhere else.
Besides, Dex seemed to have some strange ideas about his wealth himself. What was the last thing Dex had told him? Be wary of everyone, especially the women. They all want me for my money.
Ty could only imagine. No one had ever wanted him for his money. But he had certainly been exploited by a woman. Again, he thought of Paula. Just the sound of her name brought back bad memories.
Yes, he’d better be on his toes.
The ones that were now pinched and aching inside Dex’s stiff Italian loafers. He slowly made his way out of the plane towards the gate. Thank goodness Dex’s financial advisor planned to meet him in baggage claim. He’d follow her lead and let her show him the ropes. And when he met his other grandparents, maybe he would understand how they could keep one grandson and throw away the other.
JESSICA WRUNG HER HANDS together, trying to calm her nerves as she saw Dex Montgomery’s tall, commanding presence rise above the crowd. The man was so darned good-looking he would stand out anywhere. His dark sexy gaze caught hers and a twitch of a smile actually pulled at the corner of his mouth, then he scanned the crowd without speaking.
Her stomach quivered, her pulse clamored and perspiration beaded her forehead.
She assured herself it was simply nerves.
She had too much riding on this project.
His chin lifted, and he strode right past her as if he didn’t even know her.
Sure, he expected Bridget, but did he have to pretend she didn’t exist? She called his name, fighting irritation, “Dr. Montgomery.”
He continued looking across the crowd, oblivious.
She threaded her way between an overweight man and some teenagers until she stood behind him. “Dr. Montgomery.”
He still didn’t respond, so she gently caught his arm. “Dr. Montgomery, I’m here to pick you up.”
His startled gaze swung back to her, a moment of heat splintering through her as he stared into her eyes. His ruggedly handsome face sent a flutter through her stomach, and his eyes were so dark they reminded her of chocolate kisses. She loved chocolate.