Cinderella Nanny (Book One of The Connor's Series) Read online

  Cinderella Nanny

  (Book One of the "Connor's)

  By Rita Hestand

  Cinderella Nanny

  (Book One of "The Connor's" Series)

  By Rita Hestand

  Copyright 2015 Rita Hestand

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN # 978-1310834714

  Cover by Big Stock Photos

  License Note

  This book (Cinderella Nanny) is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or

  given away to other people. Please purchase additional copy for each person you share with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation to anyone bearing the same name or names. Any resemblance to individuals known or unknown to the author are purely coincidental.

  More Books from this Series to Come

  The Sensual Books from the Connor Series:

  Guarding Red Riding Hood

  Awakening Sleeping Beauty

  Goldie Locks and the Bear

  A Beauty and a Beast

  ~Dedication~

  The Connor Series is a sensual plunge into romance with a Fairy Tale to tell. I dedicate Cinderella Nanny to all those who have fallen in love perhaps too quickly and too deeply. May the flames

  Of love stay ever bright for you and yours!

  Blessings

  Rita Hestand

  Table of 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

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  About the Author

  Rita's Other Books

  Chapter One

  "Excuse me sir, but you do have a son." Niles McFarlane announced. The words stilled the room into a new silence. "A rightful heir to the Connor Industries."

  There was only the two of them in the room, and Mitch was thankful for that, but what Niles announced had to be some mistake. Mitch had hired Niles five years ago and they had prospered, so what Niles had to say was important, as Mitch knew him as a straight shooter.

  "What the heck are you talking about Niles?" Mitch Connor boomed as he turned his entire wrath on the financial advisor. He had known Niles for years, and there was no one he trusted more, not even his brothers.

  "I am sorry sir. However, it's true. You do have a son." Niles repeated, looking away from him as though to hide his scarlet blush.

  "Niles, you've been with me for God knows how long and now you hit me, when I'm at my lowest with something like this? With dad dying just days ago, with the funeral still fresh in my mind. I think if I had a son, I'd know it." Mitch boomed.

  "Very well." Niles turned to leave the room, his expression dark and brooding.

  Mitch had an uneasy feeling down deep. His mind scattered over the past few years for a plausible answer to Niles outburst. Niles was not the type to blurt out untruths. In fact, Mitch knew Niles was the kind of man that didn't spout rumors, nor harbor gossip.

  "Wait! I want you to explain that comment. You don’t just announce I have a son and walk away. Where did you get such an asinine idea as that?"

  Niles colored visibly for a moment. He adjusted the collar of his shirt. He fumbled for words. Mitch witnessed his discomfort.

  Niles cleared his throat. The right words, he needed the right words now. An articulate man, being unprepared was definitely not his style and it made Mitch uncomfortable too.

  He didn't mean to make his best friend squirm, but the news was just too astounding to be believed.

  "I spoke out of turn. I shouldn't have." Niles said glancing hastily at his long time business friend. "Perhaps it is best left alone."

  "Niles, when you say something that captivating, you have to have a reason. Naturally, I've wanted children since I've been grown, but I can't imagine how you arrived at such a conclusion. I mean, I should be the first to know if I have a son. Don't you think? Now, granted, I've dated Claire for a number of years and I assure you, she has never bore a child from our relationship." Mitch insisted. "In fact…we never…."

  "I wasn't speaking of Miss Claire." Niles murmured his expression tight with constraint...

  "For heaven's sake, if you have something to say, spit it out." Mitch insisted. "We've never kept secrets Niles. And I have faith in you that you would never blurt something so important like that, without some facts behind it. Please explain, perhaps you are mistaken, and I can rectify it."

  Niles sat down, his face a mirror of wading frowns and smiles mixed.

  "If you will recall," he began, giving Mitch his undivided attention. "Six years ago, roundabout, you took a sabbatical to Arizona. You stopped off at Flagstaff and spent the weekend. You were accosted on the street at the time, robbed of everything in your pockets, which was a tidy sum. That's when you met Maria Montoya and her family."

  Mitch went back in time to that one weekend in his life when he forgot who he was, what he was, and became a regular working cowboy. It had been hidden in his heart for so long, that conjuring it, was difficult, and painful. But not Maria. No, he could never forget her. The dark eyed beauty of the Montoya's. She was such a challenge, and her eyes sparkled with life when she looked at him. He had impressed her when he broke a troublesome horse for her. She had impressed him with her sincere feelings for him. Yet their relationship was doomed from the beginning and they both knew it.

  "Y-yes, I remember." He muttered, wondering where this conversation would lead. The only person in the world that he confided in about Maria was Niles.

  "Miss Montoya's family took you in. She nursed you to health once more and sent you on your way. It appears you were a little more grateful than you expected."

  "So…most men have a few encounters in life. "Mitch defended himself.

  "True…but you have a five year old son from that union in Flagstaff." Niles announced.

  If Niles had hit him with a brick, it couldn't have been more paralyzing. When he regained his dignity, he stared at Niles. Niles was obviously as uncomfortable with the news as he was.

  "And how, as a business partner would you know of such a thing?" Mitch boomed, unhinging the furry of the accusation. "I mean, yes, I confided that I had a marvelous weekend, with the most attractive woman, but nothing more."

  Niles shuffled his feet, and then moved toward Mitch, who stared at him with confusion.

  "Miss Montoya came to me, on your behalf. She was very careful not to intrude into your life. She was aware of your relationship with Miss Claire. She wanted nothing from you. She said you had talked about me as being the only man you really trusted. I don't have any idea how she would have remembered my name, but she did. Therefore, she took the trouble to look me up. She felt it important to tell someone who could eventually tell you, of the child. The child would have been about three at the time o
f contact. The marriage was pre-arranged. She did not want to deceive you in any way, nor deprive you of your baby. However, she also knew who you were, the family you came from. Such a scandal could ruin you and she did not wish to do so. But, she wanted a promise from me."

  "What promise?" Mitch's eyes widened. His thoughts drifting to the woman buried in his memory.

  "If anything happened to her, she wanted you to raise her son. To give him the life he so deserved. If at all possible, and if not, she designated her sister, Sarah to raise him."

  Rage and hurt battled against each other as Mitch listened to the painful truth. Yet calm overtook him that made him reconsider. "I was only there a weekend. We only…once…" He raced for words to erase the memory of the flashing eyed beauty that had filled his weekend with a love he could not find ever again.

  "I'm told once is enough…" Niles raised a brow.

  Mitch reddened.

  "How could I ever be sure…it is my son?" Mitch murmured.

  Niles expression changed dramatically as he stared keen eyed at the man he thought he knew. "A simple DNA test would prove it."

  "Do you believe this story?"

  "First of all, let me say this, my friend. And I am speaking only as a friend now. I believe you to be a man of great integrity. A man who choses wisely the kind of women he wants to associate with. Maria Montoya was a very classy woman. Yes…and I'm afraid, Miss Montoya," he looked at Mitch and his face mirrored a silent agony. "Miss Montoya has died in an accident just recently in fact." Niles looked down as though the death of this woman affected him too.

  "Died!" Mitch's mind raced now to conjure her in his mind. Her lovely face, her flashing eyes, her love of music and of horses, these were the things that made her special.

  "My God Niles!" He flopped down in his chair now, as the pain of this news hit him closer than he could ever imagine. "How did she…die…?" He asked, sighing with such deep emotion, even Niles was moved.

  Mitch needed to remove himself from this conversation. He needed time, to grasp what had happened. He needed time to mourn her death. The shock was debilitating. He felt the blood drain from his face, the tremble in his hands, and the beat of his heart seemed to stop.

  For a split second, time stood still, nothing moved.

  Niles saw the pain in his face and chose his words carefully, and thoughtfully. Wishing to ease the pain, he knew he had to tell him everything. Mitch needed to know.

  "It seems….She was riding a stallion, not well trained for such feats, she jumped an obstacle in the road and was thrown, her head hitting a rock, and she was dead before anyone got to her." Niles said with great sadness as he watched his longtime friend almost bend into with emotion.

  Mitch turned away for a moment, trying to control the rioting emotions.

  "And the child…?" Mitch faced him now, his face screwed up into pain.

  "Lives with her sister." Niles replied. "She lives here in Texas. In a small town, Pecos, I believe."

  Mitch paced the room. Putting aside his hurt, he had to concentrate on the other news.

  He had a child. He had lost the love of his life. Maria never knew how much he loved her. He never went back, never saw her again, and his regret grew with each passing year. However, at the time building the Connor Industries was more important. He had made special efforts to please his father, when he took over the company himself and built it up. Being a dutiful son had been more important than a once in a lifetime love.

  "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Mitch pleaded for some answers.

  "Many reasons really. Your engagement to Miss Claire had a great deal to do with it at the time of Miss Montoya's visit. Her one wish was not to interrupt your life. Your father was sick, and it was not the right time. She made it very clear she didn't want your life disrupted. She said she was aware at the time it was only one weekend in your life, and she did not wish to make it more. She said you had been honest with her as to your future as she had been with her own, and she understood."

  "If the child was really mine, I would have married her…of course." Mitch reasoned.

  "Of course…" Niles nodded. "But she married before the baby was born and the man she married claimed him as his, although, I'm told he never cared for the child."

  The room became very quiet for a moment as Mitch soaked in all the information and tried to make sense of it. The pain inside ebbed with a fury as he tried desperately to squash it. He stared over the manicured lawns of the yard, not seeing anything but Maria's face.

  "You have doubts?" Niles questioned.

  Mitch shook his head.

  "No…no doubts. She wouldn't lie. She wasn't the kind of person to lie. She wouldn't come all the way up here to speak to me about it, if it were not true."

  Niles nodded. "She did not strike me as such either."

  "And her final wishes?" Mitch asked lowly.

  "That you take your child and raise him. If you wanted him." Niles said lowly. "There is however a problem. Miss Montoya married, a Howard Satterfield. Taking the child would require a praternity testing, he insists on that. Once you've established that, he will not withhold your son."

  "Is that all he insists on?"

  "I'm not sure…I know little of him. He did contact me as my number was in her phone book. He seemed anxious to conclude this and put it from him."

  "Why would he even consider giving the child up?" Mitch asked bewildered by all that had happened. He banged his fist against his hand. "If she never told him of me, didn't he grow fond of the child in time?"

  "It was an arranged marriage, a custom of her people. She gave birth a month after the wedding. Satterfield knows the child is not his, but I am afraid everyone else assumed it. The Montoya family does not know. There could be a problem with that."

  "I see…" Mitch murmured, not seeing at all. It was too much to grasp at first. To think he had a child with Maria, the only woman he had ever cared for. A weekend of loving that left an imprint on his memory and heart forever. Now this…

  Mitch sat down once more, as though someone knocked him down and sighed heavily. His thoughts raced to the child that he had never claimed. He had a son. Pride filled him, and a new feeling of love entered his heart. He had a son!

  Already he was celebrating in his mind.

  "Arrange for the testing," Mitch muttered a few minutes later as he gathered his thoughts together. "And get an address at which I can contact this sister. Let Satterfield know of the results and that I will claim my son as soon as possible. I don't remember meeting Maria's sister. She must have been in school or something; I only met a couple of brothers."

  "Alright, I'll be in touch. I'll take care of it, right away."

  "Niles…?" Mitch turned to look at his friend. Realizing what a contribution Niles had been at the time. Mitch could only be thankful. However, regret mingled among other things on this news. "Thank you…for helping her in any way."

  "Of course…she was a remarkable woman. Even the short time I spoke with her, I could tell she had such breeding. I don't blame you for falling for her, she was beautiful."

  Mitch flopped back into his leather chair a sense of deep despair hovering about him. Until Niles was about to walk out of the room the news of her death had not quite reached his brain. The sorrow he felt for not letting Maria know how much that one weekend had meant to him, soured on his mind. She'd never know how many times he held her in regard.

  "I’m sorry Mitch. For your loss…" Niles commented as he turned the knob of the door to go. Niles shook his head noting how Mitch seemed so stunned at this news.

  "Yes…thank you Niles…for everything. And thank you again. If it hadn't been for you, I might never have known I have a son."

  Chapter Two

  It was August, one of the hottest months of the year, and Mitch felt sweat trickle down his back as he checked the address in his hand. He'd worn jeans, a chambray shirt, and his favorite old straw hat. He wanted to be comfortable for a change. A cowboy, that
's what he'd always been. Even though he dressed out of character for the Connor Industries, he felt he was for once being himself again, as he had been with Maria.

  He tried to imagine Maria in his mind as he drove toward Pecos that day. However, conjuring her in his mind was hard now, that disturbed him.

  He was excited about meeting his son, and a little nervous. He'd never been a parent before.

  This Sarah Montoya was a complete stranger and he wasn't at all sure how to approach her. In fact, despite his determination to take charge of his son, his stomach was churning with butterflies. He hadn't been this timid since he was in kindergarten and he had to ask Heather Brooks to be his partner in a race. Of course, he had too; Heather was the best runner in the class.

  He got directions at a gas station on the street address and drove to the address. The house was a little two or three bedroom stucco. There was a lovely porch in front and toys lined the walkway.

  He dodged several toy trucks and finally got to the door.

  He knocked, and waited.

  When a beautiful raven-haired woman, with curls floating around her shoulders and down her back answered the door, he looked stunned at first. Her hair blew against the wind as she opened the screen and smiled at him. Her midriff was bare. Her waist was small and her hips flared with her cut off jean shorts, beautifully tanned legs carried his gaze to her bare feet. His eyes flew to her face immediately, feeling somewhat guilty for gawking at her.

  "Come in, come in, I've been expecting you. The drain is stopped up in the bathtub. You can fix it, right?" She asked blinking at the tall cowboy whose smile twitched as she let him in.

  Mitch was taken aback, at first by her beauty, and then by her question. She thought he was there to fix the pipes.

  This was too good not to play out!