Chapter One

“Ready or not, here I come!” Hunter opened his eyes and immediately spotted his adorable target’s small rainboots sticking out from behind a stack of hay bales. “Hmm…where could Princess Pipsqueak be?” he asked, really playing it up.

His niece, Jenna, chose the same spot inside the barn nine times out of ten, and his heart gave a little kick every time. At eight years old, she knew the names of every horse breed, could recite all fifty states, and had an appreciation for burgers with a fried egg on top. But when it came to hide and seek, she hid about as well as a giraffe in a sandbox.

They played this game after every riding lesson he gave her, the time together the most important of his week.

“Is she in here?” he asked, making exaggerated banging noises as he searched the tack room.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one yellow rainboot tapping anxiously from the side of the haystack, like she was considering making a run for another hiding spot if he got too close. She wore the boots rain or shine, the footwear her favorite for the past couple of years. She did that a lot—stuck to one special thing. And lately, he was happy and proud to say she’d been glued to her uncle Hunter when she got home from school.

He loved her something fierce right back.

Also, he was a total sucker for her big brown eyes.

The smell of this morning’s drizzle hung in the air as he walked past the stalls, making eye contact with each animal. “Or maybe in here…” He pretended to look inside George’s stall. George, their whip-smart mule who loved to play chase with Jenna, stuck his face through the gate for some ear scratches. Hunter obliged, using both his hands to give George a good scratch. “You hiding our girl in here?” he asked.

Jenna giggled. At the sweet sound, George nodded in her direction. No lie. The animal had impressive intelligence that visitors to the ranch found remarkable—and entertaining. Hunter considered himself the most sociable person in the family and among their staff, but George took top honor when it came to bringing smiles to their guests’ faces.

“Uh-oh, did you hear that, George? Princess Pipsqueak is that-a-way.”

George nibbled his arm in affection before stepping back to allow Hunter to continue his search. Total genius-mule move right there.

And as expected, Jenna tried to make a run for it just as he caught sight of her in the middle of the center corridor. Their eyes locked for a split second before she spun around to take off through the open barn door. In their game, he had to physically catch her.

He gave chase at a cool jog, prolonging her lead. They wove through the dozen or so pumpkins they’d picked up from the patch yesterday. Passed the chicken coop. Ran toward the pond and small, white-painted wood bridge. As she finished crossing the bridge to the other side, her yellow boots landing in the soft, bright green grass, he lifted her off her feet and swung her around in a circle.

“Got you!”

“No, I got you!” she said, turning to wrap her arms tightly around his neck.

She had him more than any other female ever had. Well, except for one. But Callie Carmichael barely registered his existence. Which was why he’d finally decided to move on from his longtime crush.

In theory, anyway.

“How about we sneak into the kitchen for a cookie?” he asked, already knowing her answer.

“Follow my lead,” she said, letting go of him and putting her feet on the ground.

They made like bandits, skulking toward the main house and entering the kitchen through the back door. There atop the counter, like they always were, sat a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies. He’d never tell Jenna her grandmother left them there specifically for her to pilfer from.

Jenna raised her eyebrows at him. Can I take two? her expression said.

Like he ever said “no” to her. He nodded, took one for himself, and they hightailed it out of there. They landed at their favorite tree by the rose bushes and took a seat, leaning against the sizable trunk and shaded by the immense canopy of branches and leaves.

The Owens House Inn & Guest Ranch had been in his family for over one hundred years. Four generations of blood, sweat, and hard work to make it a multi–award winning inn in the heart of the “happiest seaside and mountain town in California.”

The people who came to stay on the Northern California property appreciated the rural setting like they’d found a piece of heaven. Hunter loved the ranch and his hometown of Windsong. So much so, he’d applied to be their small town’s first ambassador. He wanted the position badly.

Once he had it, he’d be taken more seriously. He’d be regarded as more than Cole and Maverick’s little brother or the town’s friendliest (and, as many said, most eligible) bachelor. He had it on good authority that the mayor thought his video application outstanding, which meant he had to be her top choice.

“Did you know Baby Gia is the size of a head of lettuce?” Jenna asked after she’d swallowed a bite of cookie. “Rebel could eat her in two bites.”

Hunter choked on his late afternoon snack. Rebel was his horse and Gia was his unborn niece. His oldest brother Cole and sister-in-law, Bethany, were blessedly having the second child they’d struggled for years to have.

He looked at his favorite tiny human to try and assess where her head was at today. She bit into her second cookie, appearing not at all sorry or worried about what she’d said.

Two things were happening here: The first was his niece had expressed her distaste for a sibling many times over and thus the idea of Hunter’s horse eating her baby sister was appealing to her eight-year-old mind. The second was she felt this way because Bethany’s pregnancy hadn’t been an easy one.

Which meant a lot of focus and doting had been placed on Bethany, and his energetic and spirited niece felt a little left out. And scared.

“It’s a good thing horses don’t eat humans, then.” He tried his damnedest to let her have her feelings and not undervalue her emotions.

She shrugged.

“How about you and me ride Rebel again tomorrow?”

Her face lit up. “Yes, please.”

“It’s a date,” he said, giving her ponytail a gentle tug and pushing aside the sorry state of his dating life. Between his newly opened Owens Boot Camp, ranch obligations, the ambassador opportunity, and spending time with family, he hadn’t been out with the fairer sex in months. He didn’t miss the drama that tended to follow him when he dated and ran (in a very nice way), but he did miss the intimacy.

Jenna crawled over to the empty pots and gardening equipment Nova had left out. Not a single person matched his sister’s talent with flowers. She spent hours each day keeping the ranch’s colorful blooms healthy and vibrant. It looked like she’d be back to clean up, but in the meantime, something caught Jenna’s eye.

“There’s a spider!” she said, reaching her hand into one of the pots. She held zero fear when it came to the creatures on their property.

“Hang on.” He quickly made his way over to be sure the arachnid was harmless. Black widow spiders were a frequent guest to the ranch.

“It’s okay, Uncle Hunt, I know what I’m doing.”

He loved her confidence, but it was his job to keep her safe, and she tended to look at things hastily. He also knew, now that he was closer, that the spider’s shiny, globe-shaped abdomen belonged to the poisonous black widow even without seeing its red underbelly.

A second before Jenna touched it, he pushed her hand out of the way with his own. The spider, mad at the disturbance, bit him in the fleshy part of the skin between his thumb and pointer finger. He yanked his arm back and pressed his lips together to keep from cursing. Damn, that stung. A second later, Cole came flying out the kitchen door of the inn.

When his older brother saw him and Jenna, he came to an abrupt stop. “Bethany’s water just broke!”

Jenna frowned at her dad. “Is Mommy okay?”

Hunter’s hand burned with pain, but he ignored it. He lifted Jenna up with him as he got to his feet. Looked like his new niece planned to make an entrance three weeks early.

“She’s fine, sweet pea. It just means it’s time to take her to the hospital to have your baby sister.” Cole bent down to his daughter’s eye level. “You remember our plan?”

“Yes.”

Being the awesome parents they were, Cole and Bethany had worked everything out for when this day came.

Jenna stepped closer, took Hunter’s hand—the one the spider had sank her fangs into—and squeezed tightly. The pain intensified, but again, he had no choice but to ignore it. Because this was the plan: stay with Uncle Hunter. Jenna needed him.

“Anything I can do before you guys go?” Hunter asked, gritting his teeth to stave off the sharp sting from the spider bite. He’d been bitten by different animals over the years, and none had been this uncomfortable.

“Cole!”

They turned to see Nova, jogging in place outside the kitchen door, her face flushed and one arm waving furiously for their brother to return inside the inn. “You need to get back here. The baby is coming!”

“What do you mean the baby is coming?” Cole called back.

“I mean like, right now!” Panic turned his younger sister’s normally soft voice to a pitch high enough for dogs in the next town to hear.

Jenna squeezed his hand harder. Glancing down at her, he recognized her worry. Lifting his head to gauge his brother, he recognized his, too. Normally calm and cool, Cole now looked like a deer in headlights, and that was the very last thing his daughter needed to see.

“Your beautiful wife is going to be just fine,” Hunter said. “And so is your baby daughter.” Hunter pulled his phone from his back pocket. “I’ll call Kennedy and tell her what’s happening while you go inside and remind Bethany how amazing she is.”

Hunter managed the phone with one hand so he didn’t have to let go of Jenna’s. Kennedy was his future sister-in-law and the town doctor. She could deliver the baby if need be.

Cole stood there, frozen.

“Bro, you need to walk back into the house like you’ve got this.” Hunter’s heart pounded inside his chest, but babies were born at home all the time, so everything would be fine. He shook off the thought that poison from the black widow was circling the vital organ and that’s why his heart beat faster than normal.

“Daddy?”

Jenna’s sweet voice shook Cole out of his trance. He brought her in for a hug, kissed the top of her head. “You stay with Uncle Hunt and I’ll let you know as soon as your baby sister is here. Don’t forget how much Mommy and I love you.” He cut Hunter a meaningful glance, then jogged back inside the house.

Everything after that happened at warp speed…

Kennedy arrived within minutes.

His brother Maverick, too. Maverick and Kennedy were head over heels in love and planning a Christmas Eve wedding here on the ranch.

Mary Rose Owens—his, Cole, Nova, and Maverick’s awesome mom—had been by Bethany’s side the whole time. No surprise there. She had a sixth sense for surprises, among other things. Their dad, unfortunately, was out of town for a couple of days and would no doubt be disappointed he’d missed all the excitement.

Then an ambulance and paramedics showed up, siren blaring and lights swirling. It’s just a precaution, he assured Jenna.

While they waited for news on the baby, the two of them moved to the porch on the main level of the inn. Jenna lay on her stomach on the planked white wood coloring a picture for her mom and dad. She had earbuds in her ears and listened to a playlist of Disney music he’d created on his phone just for her. While watching her make the drawing, he googled “black widow spider bite” on his phone, tracking the basics since his discomfort made it difficult to concentrate on a deep dive. Biggest takeaway: bites could be fatal to young children. Thank God he’d pushed Jenna’s hand out of the way.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed, maybe thirty minutes, when he excused himself for a quick minute to go puke in the bathroom. He tended to do that when worried. The million-dollar question was what had him worried more—Bethany or spider bites.

He returned to the cushioned bench on the porch and nonchalantly examined his hand. He now knew that in most cases black widow spider bites weren’t life-threatening to adults, but they did cause pain along with some swelling and redness. Check, check, and check. And look at that: two small fang marks.

If not for the commotion inside the inn, he’d probably be more focused on the other symptoms from Google making an appearance: a muscle cramp in his hand that made it difficult to move his thumb, a killer headache, stomach pain, and chills.

He grabbed a blanket off the nearby rocking chair and covered himself just as Bethany let out a blood-curdling scream that sounded like an alien had invaded her body. She followed that with curse words for her husband, which was a riot because she never cussed.

He watched Jenna to be sure she wasn’t hearing any of it. This was the only occasion when he would not ask her to turn down the volume to protect her hearing. He should probably offer all the guests on the property a pair of headphones, but strangely, he couldn’t muster up the strength to even sit up taller. Very inconvenient given the feeling of nausea telling his brain to find a toilet again.

Jenna smiled up at him, and he remembered his duty, his love for her and his family. He straightened his back, willed the queasiness to go away, and smiled at her. At least he hoped it was a smile. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure he had control over any muscles in his body. He tried to take a deep breath. That didn’t work so well, either.

Sweat trickled down the side of his face. He managed to wipe it away with his good hand.

He wiggled his toes inside his boots. They still worked, but his legs felt heavy. Being poisoned was worse than the time Brett Porter punched him in the face and broke his nose. (Hunter had kissed Brett’s on-again/off-again girlfriend, Janey, so he deserved the blow, even though the kiss had been orchestrated by her to make Brett jealous.) What a blood bath that was, not to mention mind-numbingly painful. Brett had become a good friend since then and helped him run the bootcamp now, so things ended well there, and they’d end well here, too.

One tiny little spider had nothing on Hunter’s six-foot frame.

A baby’s cries pierced the air, pulling his thoughts back to his family. Joy overwhelmed him, thankfully interrupting the uncomfortable feeling of poison circulating through his bloodstream.

A minute later, Maverick stepped out the front door. At seeing her second-favorite uncle, Jenna pulled her earbuds out and jumped to her feet. “Gia is here and everyone is doing great,” Maverick said.

Jenna flew into Maverick’s arms for a hug.

Hunter watched his niece move with ease and wished he could do the same.

“Let’s have you meet your sister and see your mom.” He kissed the top of Jenna’s head, then looked down at him, eyebrows raised. You coming?

“I’ll be right there.” No way was Hunter ruining Jenna’s first moment with her baby sister or causing anyone undue worry by walking inside like a drunken sailor who’d also eaten bad sushi.

“You okay?” Maverick asked.

“Fine.”

Maverick didn’t look convinced, but he and Jenna disappeared inside the inn anyway, leaving him alone to figure out what the hell to do. He should probably wash the bite area more thoroughly with soap and water. Take a couple of pain relievers. Text Kennedy to come outside and check him out. Flag down one of the EMTs.

And he would. Just as soon as the joy and excitement of Gia’s arrival calmed down. He hated to think of his sickly state taking precedence over the miracle and happiness of bringing a human being into the world.

A few minutes later, the paramedics came out with Bethany on a stretcher, Gia snuggled against her chest. Cole had his hand on Bethany’s shoulder and Jenna tucked at his side.

“What’s going on?” Hunter asked.

“We’re going to the hospital to get Mom and Baby properly checked out,” Cole said with a mix of relief and joy.

“They’re both doing great,” Kennedy assured from the head of the stretcher. She winked at Jenna. “But they’ll get a thorough examination at the hospital.”

Everyone followed Bethany and Gia down the stairs toward the ambulance to see them off. Halfway down the steps, Kennedy stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. It was unlike him to keep his distance, and someone finally noticed.

Having the keen eyesight of a doctor—not to mention being a great friend—she must have also suspected there was something not quite right, because she jogged back up the steps to sit beside him. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I think I’m dying,” he said, right before everything went black.