Just Kate: His Only Wife (Bestselling Author Collection) Read online

  The Only One

  Ever since Kate Blake’s sister died in a car accident, it’s been just her. Just Kate to keep her family together. Just Kate to live up to her senator father’s expectations and her mother’s idea of perfection. But now, after a painful betrayal by those she loves, she decides it’s time to live for herself and claim what she wants. And what she wants is Sean Harris. The only man she’s ever loved. And her late sister’s husband.

  But years have passed since Abby’s accident, and both Sean and Kate feel it’s time to move on. Still, when Kate meets the rugged Australian on his home turf, she is surprised by what she finds with Sean—a sense of home and belonging that she’s never known. And the one person who loves her for nothing else except being…just Kate.

  BONUS BOOK INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME!

  His Only Wife by Cathy McDavid

  Aubrey Stuart returns home to Blue Ridge, Arizona, only to discover that the boy she’d eloped with and hastily divorced ten years ago has matured. And now Gage Raintree is a man a thousand times more tempting….

  Praise for #1 New York Times bestselling author

  Linda Lael Miller

  “Miller is one of the finest American writers in the genre.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  “Only Linda Lael Miller can write the kind of romance that melts your heart and makes you want to shout Yippee ki-yay!”

  —Single Titles on Creed’s Honor

  “Miller tugs at the heartstrings as few authors can.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  Praise for bestselling author

  Cathy McDavid

  “Here is a story that has not only a happy ending, but also has entertaining characters, an engaging plot and a romance that makes one smile.”

  —The Romance Reader on His Only Wife

  “The spiritual and emotional healing that evolves naturally from McDavid’s beautifully written story touches on the fears and realities of homecoming veterans and the families they leave behind, as it neatly dovetails with a charming romance.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Her Cowboy’s Christmas Wish

  LINDA LAEL MILLER

  The daughter of a town marshal, Linda Lael Miller is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than one hundred historical and contemporary novels, most of which reflect her love of the West. Raised in Northport, Washington, the self-confessed barn goddess now lives in Spokane, Washington. Linda recently hit a career high at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list with all three of her Creed Cowboys books, A Creed in Stone Creek, Creed’s Honor and The Creed Legacy.

  Linda has come a long way since leaving Washington to experience the world. “But growing up in that time and place has served me well,” she allows. “And I’m happy to be back home.” Dedicated to helping others, Linda personally finances her Linda Lael Miller Scholarships for Women, which she awards to those seeking to improve their lot in life through education. More information about Linda and her novels is available at www.lindalaelmiller.com. She also loves to hear from readers by mail at P.O. Box 19461, Spokane, WA 99219.

  CATHY McDAVID

  Cathy makes her home in Scottsdale, Arizona, near the breathtaking McDowell Mountains, where hawks fly overhead, javelina traipse across her front yard and mountain lions occasionally come calling. She embraced the country life at an early age, acquiring her first horse in eighth grade. Dozens of horses followed through the years, along with mules, an obscenely fat donkey, chickens, ducks, goats and a potbellied pig who had her own swimming pool. Nowadays, two spoiled dogs and two spoiled-er cats round out the McDavid pets. Cathy loves contemporary and historical ranch stories and often incorporates her own experiences into her books.

  When not writing, Cathy and her family and friends spend as much time as they can at her cabin in the small town of Young. Of course, she takes her laptop with her on the chance inspiration strikes.

  #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

  JUST KATE

  Table of Contents

  Just Kate

  His Only Wife

  JUST KATE

  #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

  Linda Lael Miller

  Dear Friends,

  It’s wonderful to see the classic stories in these collections coming back to be enjoyed by new readers, as well as some who remember the book fondly and wish to revisit the characters and the setting.

  Just Kate was inspired by a number of things—a trip to New Zealand and Australia, the movie Crocodile Dundee, and a particularly chunky metal purse I’d purchased somewhere. I kept thinking that purse could be used as a weapon of defense and—sure enough—Kate used it in the story to clock a presumed mugger on a dark Seattle street. The beyond-sexy Australian hero, Sean Harris—how I love that accent—will have to do a lot of convincing to get back on Kate’s good side, after all that’s happened.

  So, if you’ve never read Just Kate, welcome. If you have read the story and want an encore, welcome back.

  All best,

  Linda Lael Miller

  For Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush, sisters in crime.

  Remember the four-to-a-room trip to RWA?

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 1

  The exchange was so blatant, so audacious that Kate Blake couldn’t believe she’d seen it. It was intermission and the lobby was crowded. People swirled past her, laughing and talking as they waited for the opera to resume. Kate stood frozen in their midst, fingers curved around her glass of orange juice, her indigo eyes wide, afraid even to blink.

  She hadn’t imagined it. Brad had handed another man a packet of white powder and taken money in return, right there in front of half the population of Seattle.

  Perhaps, she thought desperately, it was all a mistake. Perhaps she had only imagined that the packet contained cocaine, and that Brad, the man she’d meant to marry in less than a month, had just accepted money for it.

  In the next instant, Brad turned, tucking a folded bill into the pocket of his coat as he moved. His eyes met Kate’s, and it was clear that he knew she’d seen. There was no apology in his gaze, however, only defiance. Then he was looking at his companion again, and Kate might not have existed at all.

  She felt dizzy, and then claustrophobic, and she knew she had to get out into the fresh air fast. She set her cup aside and hurried toward the main door.

  Outside, Kate gripped the stair railings in both hands and dragged in deep, clean breaths until the choking sensation passed. A glance back over one elegantly bared shoulder told her that Brad hadn’t followed. He probably hadn’t even noticed she was gone.

  She looked up at the dark, star-speckled sky aglow with city lights, and her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes. She was torn. One part of her wanted to go back inside, grip Brad by the lapels and demand to know why he’d thrown everything away; another preferred to pretend that nothing had changed.

  Kate inched down the stairs, still grasping the railing with both hands. Brad was the man she’d planned to marry. He was her father’s campaign manager. And she’d just seen him break the law in the most brazen of ways.

  A thousand thoughts whirled through her head. This wasn’t new behavior for Brad; she was certain of that. And yet she hadn’t known. She’d been e
ngaged to him and she hadn’t known what kind of man he was! How could that be?

  There were no cabs lined up in front of the theater, since the opera would run another full hour. Kate looked back again, knowing she should go inside, call for a taxi and wait in the lobby until it arrived. But something within her demanded action. She needed to walk, hard and fast, with the cool, clean night wind blowing against her face. She started out in the general direction of her downtown condominium, chin held high, her grandmother’s antique brass evening bag swinging at her side.

  Hard-eyed street people watched her pass, but there was none of the usual panhandling. Kate supposed that in her present mood she didn’t look approachable.

  Moments later, as she passed a popular department store, her pace slackened. The breeze had dried her tears. Kate’s reflection in the windows regarded her forlornly as she took in her own tall, slender body, the sleek designer gown that had cost the earth, the soft and loose arrangement of her dark hair.

  “So who wanted to marry Bradley Wilshire anyway?” she demanded aloud. As she rounded the corner, Kate was careful not to look at her image in the glass, fearing it might answer, You did.

  Kate pulled her silk shawl around her bare shoulders and shivered. In just a few minutes, she reminded herself, she would be home in her small, elegant condominium overlooking the harbor. She would turn on some classical music, pour herself a glass of low-cal Chablis and spend the rest of the evening soaking in a bubble bath.

  Was it possible that Brad was a pusher?

  Trying to forget what she’d seen would be useless, she knew, but the ramifications were more than she could deal with, too big to take in all at once.

  She was nearly home when she noticed two men standing in front of the cash machine. Kate considered crossing to the other side of the street, but they seemed so engrossed in conversation that they probably wouldn’t notice her, anyway.

  The man facing Kate was tall and well built, familiar in a disturbing sort of way. In the dim light of the cash machine, she could see he was wearing a tuxedo, and his mouth was curved into an ingenuous smile. She sensed he was aware of her presence, though he gave no sign of it.

  “Take it easy now, mate,” he said in a thick Australian accent. “If it’s money you want, you’ll have it, but the machine will only give me so much in a twenty-four hour period.”

  An almost dizzying sensation of mingled despair and excitement filled Kate. The voice, the accent—it couldn’t be!

  It was then that Kate spotted the glint of a switchblade in the second man’s hand.

  She was filled with instant ire. Thanks to Brad, she’d seen her share of crime for the day, and she was fed up. Without considering possible results, she spun her grandmother’s purse on its chain and threw it. When it struck the mugger in the side of the head, he dropped the knife. In the same instant, his knees folded and he sank to the sidewalk in an unlikely position of prayer.

  The tall man collected the knife, recessed the blade with an unsettling expertise and tucked it into his pocket. “Nice work, Katie,” he said, reclaiming a gold credit card from the slot on the cash machine, “but you shouldn’t have taken a chance like that. The bleeder might have turned on you.”

  Kate sank against the rough concrete wall of the bank, not trusting her knees to support her. “Sean,” she whispered.

  His white teeth flashed in the night. The mugger started to rise from the sidewalk, but his would-be victim pushed him back down with a light, deft touch of one foot.

  Kate thought she was going to be sick and put one hand to her mouth.

  “Surprised to see me, are you?” Sean asked.

  Kate lowered her hand. Holding her knees rigid and her backbone straight, she started to walk away. “I’ll call the police,” she said woodenly.

  Sean stopped her by taking a light but inescapable hold on her elbow. “No need of that, love,” he said in a gravelly tone that made sweet chills ripple over Kate’s soul. “They’re here already.”

  Kate glanced toward the street. Sure enough, a patrol car was pulling up to the curb. She considered having herself taken into protective custody until Sean Harris had gone back to Australia, where he undeniably belonged.

  “What’s going on here?” asked the older of two officers.

  Sean explained, and the moaning mugger was hauled unceremoniously to his feet. Kate listened numbly as his rights were read, her teeth sinking into her lower lip. Sean’s grasp on her arm never slackened.

  “You and the lady will need to come to the station and swear out a complaint,” said the younger officer.

  “And if we don’t?” Sean asked, arching one dark eyebrow.

  “They’ll have to let him go,” Kate answered.

  “Can’t have that,” Sean replied lightly. “My car’s just up the street—we’ll follow you.”

  Both policemen touched the brims of their hats in a deferential fashion before hustling the prisoner into the back of the squad car. Sean fairly hurled Kate into the passenger seat of a late-model sports car parked half a block away.

  “Well,” he said, when they were following the police, “fancy meeting you here, Katie-did.”

  Kate folded her arms. First Brad’s drug deal, then the mugging and now this. Boy, had her horoscope been off target this morning. “My parents would have appreciated a telephone call,” she said stiffly, doing her best to ignore her former brother-in-law. “They worry about Gil, you know.”

  The reference to his young son did not visibly move Sean. At least Kate didn’t catch him reacting, though she was watching him out of the corner of her eye.

  “They know where we live,” he replied, and this time his voice was as cold as a Blue Mountain snowfall.

  Kate unfolded her arms and tried to relax. It was almost incomprehensibly bad luck that, of all the muggings she might have stumbled upon, it had to be Sean’s. She hadn’t seen him since Abby’s funeral, and she’d hoped that she would never lay eyes on him again.

  She drew in a deep breath and let it out again slowly. “Did you bring Gil with you?” she asked.

  “Now why would I drag the poor little nipper from one hemisphere to the other like that?” he countered.

  Kate suppressed an urge to wind up her purse again and let Sean have it. “Maybe because his grandparents would like to see him,” she said.

  “Because they’d like to take him away, you mean,” Sean answered, “and turn him into a proper little Yank.”

  “He’s half-American,” Kate pointed out, daring at last to turn in the car seat and look directly at Sean. His profile was rugged, like the outback he loved so much. “What’s wrong with that?”

  They had reached the police station, and Sean was spared having to answer—for the moment.

  The next hour was consumed by the dubious process of pressing charges against the mugger. Kate seriously considered turning Brad in for pushing drugs while she was there, but she knew she couldn’t do that without consulting her father. An unforeseen scandal might ruin his chances for reelection to the Senate; Kate had to give him time to prepare.

  She went to the telephone when she was through issuing her statement and dialed the familiar number.

  Her mother answered; it was late enough that the staff was off duty. “Blake residence.”

  Kate braced herself. “Mother, it’s Kate. I’m at the police station and—”

  “The police station!” The horror in Irene Blake’s voice was unmistakable. “Good heavens, what’s happened? She’s at the police station, dear!”

  At this, the senator himself came on the line. Kate winced, just as if she’d been there to see him wrench the receiver out of her mother’s hand. “What’s this business about the police? So help me, Katherine, if you’ve been arrested, I’ll fire you in an instant.”

  Kate made an effort to control her temper. “Of course I haven’t been arrested, Daddy,” she whispered into the phone, embarrassed. “I happened to witness a mugging, that’s all.”
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br />   “Are you all right?” the senator boomed. Now that he knew his career was safe, he could afford to be concerned about his daughter. Kate had never had any illusions about his priorities.

  “I’m fine,” she answered. “Daddy, the reason I’m calling is that—well—I ran into Sean.”

  “Sean who?” demanded the senator.

  Kate felt a sweet, shivery sensation from head to foot, and looking to one side, she found that the handsome Australian was standing mere inches away. She reminded herself that he’d been Abby’s husband, that he was a liar and a womanizer, but the tremulous, taut-bow feeling didn’t subside. “Sean Harris,” she finally managed to reply, her cheeks burning.

  Sean’s green eyes danced as he watched her color rise. Apparently he heard her father’s question, for he took the receiver from Kate and spoke into it, his tone flippant and cool. “You know, Senator. That no-gooder from down under—the one that married your elder daughter.”

  Kate squeezed her eyes shut as she heard a burst of profanity explode on her father’s end of the line. After a moment’s recovery, she jerked the receiver out of Sean’s hand and sputtered, “Daddy, remember your heart!”

  The senator went right on swearing. He finally hung up with a crash, but not before blurting out a nonsensical sentence that ended in, “…bring that bastard here no matter what you have to do!”

  Sean had heard that, too. He rocked back on his heels, his wonderful eyes full of laughter. “There’s a welcome for you,” he said.

  Kate had a headache. She sighed and opened her purse, but there was no sign of the little metal box of aspirin she usually carried. All she found were her keys and a credit card. “He wants to talk to you about Gil,” she said wearily. “That’s all.”

  Sean didn’t look at all convinced of that, but he offered Kate his arm and inclined his head to one side. “All right, Katie-did,” he said, “I’ll face the lion in his den. But I’m only doing it for you.”

 
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