The Daddy Secret Read online

  USA TODAY bestselling author Judy Duarte kicks off her new miniseries, Return to Brighton Valley, with an unforgettable reunion when a single mom returns to her hometown after ten years—and comes face-to-face with the father of her child!

  When Mallory Dickinson comes home with the son she gave up for adoption at seventeen, she knows she has to face her past. Ten years ago, she fell hard for Rick Martinez. The irresistible Brighton Valley troublemaker with a capital T is now the town’s beloved vet. But is he ready to be a father?

  When Rick finds out Mallory’s planning to raise their child—the son he never met—he knows this is their second chance. But how long can he keep his true identity a secret from his son…when every day brings him closer to Mallory and the boy who looks just like him? It’s time for this rebel with a cause to prove he’s got what it takes to become the family man he’s always wanted to be.

  “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you coming over to talk to him,” Mallory said, her eyes still misty. “It’s not easy relating to a little boy, especially when handling all the day-to-day stuff is still so new to me.”

  “Thanks for calling me,” Rick said. “I have to admit, this sort of thing is a little out of my league, but I tried to remember what it was like to be his age.”

  “Well, your instincts were spot-on. And everything you said to him was perfect.” She reached out her hand, although he wasn’t sure why.

  In appreciation? As a way of extending some sort of parental olive branch?

  Or was she hinting that it was time for him to go?

  Either way, he took her hand in his. But the moment they touched, a jolt of heat shot right through him.

  * * *

  Return to Brighton Valley:

  Who says you can’t go home again?

  Dear Reader,

  I’ve received a lot of letters from those of you who have enjoyed my stories set in Brighton Valley—The Texas Homecoming, Brighton Valley Medical Center and Brighton Valley Babies—asking me if there will be any more. So here we go again! Welcome to a new series, Return to Brighton Valley. In each of the next three books, one of the characters left town years ago, never wanting to look back. Yet events have brought them home to face the past, which means dealing with the memories and heartache they’d hoped to forget.

  In The Daddy Secret, Mallory Dickinson was seventeen, unwed and pregnant when she left Brighton Valley. Her plan was to give up her baby for adoption and to return to town, with very few people the wiser. But when given the opportunity, Mallory chose an open adoption and stayed back East so she could be close to her son and to the wonderful couple who adopted him.

  Still, a lot can happen in ten years. And when she moved home ten years later, bringing her son with her, the last person in the world she expected to run into was Rick Martinez. Granted, Rick isn’t the same hell-bent teenager who’d once stolen her heart and fathered her child, but he’s still just as breathtakingly handsome.

  When Rick sees that Mallory has finally come back to town, his own battered heart soars—until he sees her son, a nine-year-old boy who resembles him. As you can guess, there are all kinds of sparks flying in this story. So kick back and enjoy another visit to Brighton Valley—and see how Rick and Mallory rekindle their star-crossed first love and make it one that will last forever.

  I love hearing from my readers. Feel free to contact me through my website, www.judyduarte.com, and let me know what you thought of this story. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  Wishing you all the best.

  Happy reading!

  Judy

  THE DADDY SECRET

  Judy Duarte

  Books by Judy Duarte

  Harlequin Special Edition

  ¶A Baby Under the Tree #2158

  ¤Mendoza’s Miracle #2173

  ¶The Rancher’s Hired Fiancée #2193

  ¶The Cowboy’s Family Plan #2212

  °Tammy and the Doctor #2249

  ¤¤Marry Me, Mendoza #2253

  ¶¶The Daddy Secret #2318

  Silhouette Special Edition

  *Hailey’s Hero #1659

  *Their Secret Son #1667

  ∆Their Unexpected Family #1676

  *Worth Fighting For #1684

  *The Matchmakers’ Daddy #1689

  His Mother’s Wedding #1731

  Call Me Cowboy #1743

  **The Perfect Wife #1773

  Rock-A-Bye Rancher #1784

  Daddy on Call #1822

  The Cowboy’s Lullaby #1834

  ~Romancing the Cowboy #1888

  §Once Upon a Pregnancy #1891

  ~In Love with the Bronc Rider #1907

  ~Her Best Christmas Ever #1943

  +A Real Live Cowboy #1964

  §§Race to the Altar #1989

  ¤And Babies Make Five #2042

  §§His, Hers and…Theirs? #2061

  §§Under the Mistletoe with John Doe #2080

  ++Healing Dr. Fortune #2096

  Silhouette Books

  Double Destiny

  “Second Chance”

  *Bayside Bachelors

  ∆Montana Mavericks: Gold Rush Grooms

  **Talk of the Neighborhood

  ~The Texas Homecoming

  §The Wilder Family

  +Fortunes of Texas: Return to Red Rock

  ¤The Baby Chase

  §§Brighton Valley Medical Center

  ++The Fortunes of Texas: Lost…and Found

  ¤The Fortunes of Texas: Whirlwind Romance

  °Byrds of a Feather

  ¶Brighton Valley Babies

  ¤¤The Fortunes of Texas: Southern Invasion

  ¶¶Return to Brighton Valley

  Other titles by this author available in ebook format.

  JUDY DUARTE

  always knew there was a book inside her, but since English was her least favorite subject in school, she never considered herself a writer. An avid reader who enjoys a happy ending, Judy couldn’t shake the dream of creating a book of her own.

  Her dream became a reality in March 2002, when Silhouette Special Edition released her first book, Cowboy Courage. Since then she has published more than twenty novels. Her stories have touched the hearts of readers around the world. And in July 2005 Judy won a prestigious Readers’ Choice Award for The Rich Man’s Son.

  Judy makes her home near the beach in Southern California. When she’s not cooped up in her writing cave, she’s spending time with her somewhat enormous but delightfully close family.

  To my mother, Betty Astleford, who was my biggest fan, even before I uttered a single word, let alone formed them into sentences and put them to paper. I love you, Mom!

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  Mallory Dickinson had vowed years ago that she’d never return to Brighton Valley. But here she was, back in town, listening to the empty moving van pull away from the curb of her newly rented home on a quiet, tree-lined street. One nice thing about the neighborhood was that it wasn�
�t far from the Brighton Valley Medical Center, where her grandfather, a recently retired minister, was hospitalized.

  Alice Reilly, who worked part-time at the church, lived across the street. As luck would have it, the kindhearted woman had been the one to find her grandfather unconscious and to call paramedics. She’d also contacted Mallory and let her know how seriously ill he was. And then, last week, when Alice had learned that the house in her neighborhood was available for rent, she’d called both Mallory and the landlord, setting her cross-country move into motion.

  As Mallory studied the small living room, thinking of all the unpacking she had to do, a bark sounded behind her, followed by a couple of bumps, a thump and a swoosh.

  She turned to the front door, which apparently the movers had failed to shut tightly when they left, just as a big dog with muddy feet rushed into the house and skidded to a stop in front of her.

  “Hey!” she said. “You don’t belong in here.”

  The goofy mutt looked friendly enough, so she reached for its blue collar in an attempt to take it outside before it could track any more mud across the hardwood floor. But she’d no more than skimmed her fingers along the fur on its neck when the mutt jerked to the left, bumping a table with its rump and knocking over her grandmother’s antique crystal vase filled with the yellow roses Alice had brought over as a welcome gift an hour earlier.

  She winced at the shattered glass, the scattered flowers and the puddle of water on the hardwood floor, as well as the smeared muddy paw prints.

  The vase, along with several other valuables and breakables, had been packed in a box marked Priority. She’d opened it immediately upon the van’s arrival to make sure the movers hadn’t broken any of the contents.

  They hadn’t, of course. And when Alice had brought the flowers...

  But she quickly shut out her reason for setting out something so precious, so valuable, so soon, and shifted her focus to the dog that now headed toward the stairway.

  Before she could protest or curse the negligent pet owner who’d let the animal run loose, especially after a spring rain had dumped nearly an inch of water overnight, the critter took off upstairs, its dirty feet undoubtedly tracking up the new beige carpet.

  “No!” she yelled. “Don’t go up there. You come back here. Now!”

  Before she could dash after the darn mutt, a man’s voice sounded behind her. “Excuse me, but did a dog just run in here?”

  Mallory spun around, ready to give the dog’s owner a piece of her mind—and to tell him that he owed her the cost of cleaning the carpet—until her gaze met a familiar face.

  Rick Martinez?

  Her breath caught, and her jaw must have dropped clear to the floor. She wasn’t sure what surprised her more—the fact that the notorious Brighton Valley High School bad boy, a sinfully gorgeous adult version, was standing in her doorway. Or that she still had the same breath-stealing reaction to a pair of dazzling blue eyes she’d never expected to see again.

  “Mallory?” he asked, clearly just as astonished to see her.

  She had to close her mouth before she could respond, yet even as her lips pressed together, then parted again to allow her to speak, the words only wadded up in her throat.

  She finally managed a nod.

  He glanced at the broken vase, at the muddy paw prints on the floor. “Oh, no. Did Buddy do that? I’m so sorry. I’ll pay for the damages. Where did he go?”

  She pointed upstairs.

  Rick whistled, then called, “Buddy!”

  A bark sounded, and the dog came bounding down the stairs to its master, its tongue dangling from its mouth.

  When it plopped down on its haunches, its muddy tail swooshing across the hardwood floor like a dirty dust mop, Rick slipped his hand under the collar and snapped on the leash. Then he straightened and scanned the cardboard-box-filled room. “Did you just move in?”

  At that, she finally found the words to go along with her nod. “Yes.”

  “That’s a surprise.”

  Wasn’t it, though!

  She’d loved Rick once, with all her heart. But things had changed.

  He’d changed.

  She’d changed.

  They stood there for a moment, caught up in some kind of weird time warp, where nothing made sense. The air grew thick, making it hard to breathe.

  Rick seemed to gather his wits first, as he took another glance at the mess his dog had made. “I’m really sorry about this, Mallory. Buddy has the heart of a puppy and still has a lot to learn. I’m afraid he jumped the fence and was exploring the neighborhood. I’ll walk him back to my place, then I’ll come back and help you clean up.”

  His place? Did that mean Rick Martinez was one of her neighbors?

  If she’d known that, she never would have agreed to take this house, no matter how cute it was. In fact, she’d assumed that he’d moved away from here years ago, like the teenage drifter he’d claimed to be when she’d first met him, when he’d had to move from his uncle’s home to foster care.

  Well, apparently her assumption had been wrong.

  But there was no way she could accept his offer of help. No way at all.

  “You don’t need to do that,” Mallory said. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “I can’t leave you with the mess.”

  Why couldn’t he? She’d cleaned up the mess they’d made of their young lives years ago all on her own, hadn’t she?

  “So you’re back in town,” he said again, as if finding it difficult to believe. But then again, why wouldn’t he be surprised? After the first few months, she’d never expected to come back, either.

  “My grandfather is having some health issues,” she said. “I need to be close to him.”

  Rick nodded as if that all made sense. And while his family hadn’t been close, he should understand. Mallory’s grandparents had raised her after her parents had died. Gram was gone now, too, and Grandpa was all she had left.

  Grandpa and Lucas.

  Oh, no. Lucas.

  Please don’t let Alice bring him home now. Not until I’ve had time to think things through, to decide what to say to who—and when.

  Things were complicated. And it would be tough to explain, especially when it was sometimes hard for her to believe how it had all come to be.

  “Well,” Rick said, “I’d better take Buddy home. But I meant what I said about helping you clean up. I’ll also pay for any damages the dog might have caused you. Like the broken vase and the cost of the carpet cleaning.”

  “Don’t give it another thought,” Mallory said, eager to see him go, to begin the cleanup, to put her home and her life back to right again.

  As Rick turned and walked his dog outside, Mallory followed him to the porch and waited until he started down the sidewalk. When he finally reached the street, she reentered the house and closed the door. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

  Of course, she wasn’t foolish enough to think that the relief would last very long. If Rick lived nearby, which he apparently did, eventually they’d run into each other again. And one of these days he’d undoubtedly cross paths with Lucas.

  She had no idea what Rick would think, what he’d say, how he’d react when she finally told him about the amazing chain of events that had occurred since she’d left Brighton Valley—if she actually said anything to him about them at all.

  She might be older and wiser, but for the second time in ten years, Mallory feared what the future would bring.

  * * *

  It wasn’t every day that a guy ran into the girl who’d broken his heart as a teenager, so to say that Rick had been surprised to see that Mallory Dickinson was back in Brighton Valley and living just down the street was a no-brainer.

  He’d been sucker punched by the sight of her, by
the shoulder-length blond hair that was just as glossy as he remembered, by the big green eyes that had grown even more expressive over the years, by the knockout shape that was far more womanly than when she’d been an innocent teenage girl and he’d been an angry, rebellious teenager on a fast track to nowhere.

  Back then, he’d had a chip on his shoulder a mile wide—due in large part to all the times he’d had to change schools. He’d just transferred to Brighton Valley High at the end of his junior year, and he’d been tempted to drop out. But when he met Mallory in the high school cafeteria, he’d been slammed with a classic case of puppy love for a real-life good girl who attended church, even when it wasn’t Sunday.

  The beautiful college-bound blonde and a full-blown zap of adolescent hormones had done what the teachers, guidance counselors and school psychologist had never been able to do—get him to knuckle down and study. And before he knew it, he was getting his homework done, acing tests and avoiding detention.

  He might have complained to his friends about the fact that Mallory had him toeing the line, but he really hadn’t minded. For once in his life, someone really cared about him and what his future held.

  But then again, things weren’t always what they seemed. Whatever he’d felt for Mallory had blown up in his face, leaving him hurt beyond measure and once again shut out by someone he’d thought he loved, someone who’d claimed to have loved him.

  Buddy tugged at the leash, and Rick held him steady. “What am I going to do with you, boy? You have to stop jumping the fence and digging out of the yard.”

  Across the street, coming out of Alice Reilly’s house, a dark-haired boy trotted down the porch steps. Rick hadn’t noticed him in the neighborhood before. But Alice was always taking in strays of one kind or another—just like Rick did, only hers had two legs instead of four.

  “Hey,” the boy called out to him. “Nice dog. What’s his name?”

  “Buddy.”

  “Can I pet him?”

  “Sure.” Rick held the dog steady while the boy jogged to the gate, then let himself out of Alice’s picket-fenced yard.