Twins On The Doorstep

She’d only been gone from Forever a little over eight months. He certainly didn’t waste any time, did he?

Or had he been seeing someone else the entire time he had been seeing her?

Disappointment washed over her like a giant tidal wave. She needed to get out of there, needed to get some air because she could hardly breathe.

Turning on her heel, Stacy was about to push open the door she’d just entered when Miss Joan called out to her.

“Welcome back, Stacy. I was sorry to hear about your aunt.”

Stacy froze.

It wasn’t her nature not to be polite, no matter how much she wanted to flee. And Miss Joan had just said something nice about Aunt Kate. Stacy couldn’t just ignore the woman.

She forced herself to turn around and look at Miss Joan.

How did the woman know? she wondered. No one knew about her aunt except for Olivia, and she was certain that Olivia wouldn’t have said anything. Olivia was a lawyer and prided herself on being discreet.

“Thank you,” Stacy finally murmured.

“Park yourself on a stool,” Miss Joan instructed. There was no room for argument. “I think Cole here might need some help getting these two little ones over to the clinic.”

Cole felt all but numb, seeing Stacy walking into the diner. He’d envisioned this scene a dozen different ways in the last eight months.

More.

Envisioned seeing Stacy walking toward him, tears in her eyes, saying she’d made a mistake leaving. And each and every time, he forgave her. Forgave her because he didn’t want to dwell on what had been but rather what could be.

Forgave her because he wanted her in his life.

And now, here she was, back. Back the same day that he had found babies on his doorstep. He looked down at the infants, then up at Stacy.

This couldn’t be a coincidence—could it?

Could the babies be hers? And if they were, did that mean...?

Oh, lord, he thought, that would explain so much. Explained why she’d left without a word. Guilt had made her come back, he realized. Guilt because these babies were not only hers, but his, as well.

The thought created elation and panic, and they both vied for equal space within him.

Slowly, the last thing that Miss Joan had just said penetrated the fog around his brain. She was recruiting Stacy to help him take the babies to the clinic.

“The clinic?” he repeated, looking at the woman. “You think they need to be seen by a doctor?”

“You said you found them on your doorstep, right?” Miss Joan reminded him. “It wouldn’t hurt to have them checked out—just in case.” Miss Joan turned toward Stacy. “Don’t you think so?”

“Um, sure.” Stacy felt as if she was trying to talk with a tongue that had suddenly grown two sizes. “I don’t have any experience with babies and all,” Stacy said, pausing uncomfortably between each word. “But that makes sense. I guess.”

“Glad that you agree,” Miss Joan said in a tone that indicated there was no other path open to either of them except to agree with her. “Why don’t you go with Cole and help him?” Again, there was no room for argument. “He certainly can’t manage those babies by himself.” Before either of them could protest or even comment, Miss Joan asked Cole, “How did you get them over here?”

That he could answer, he thought, relieved. “In my truck.”

Miss Joan gave him a withering look. “I realize that. How did you get them over in the truck?”

Cole thought for a second. Miss Joan’s interrogation had been known to make many a person’s mind go blank. “I secured the basket with ropes and looped them around the passenger seat.”

Miss Joan’s eyes shifted toward Stacy, the expression on her face indicating that her point had just been made. “Keep an eye on those babies for me,” she instructed Stacy.

“I can help,” Eva volunteered, stepping forward.

Miss Joan obviously had other ideas about the transport. “Too many cooks spoil the broth,” she told the young waitress before looking at Cole and Stacy. “I’m sure these two can manage, working as a team—the way they used to,” she added significantly.

Stacy took back her earlier assessment. Hotel or no hotel, nothing had changed in Forever.

The hotel, she suddenly remembered. “I can’t go to the clinic.”

Miss Joan’s expression darkened. “And just why’s that?”

“Rebecca just hired me a few minutes ago to work the reception desk,” she said quickly, then blurted, “Elsie just found out she’s been accepted to college.”

Miss Joan looked unconvinced. “College is not for another eleven months,” she pointed out.

Stacy shook her head. She could feel Miss Joan beginning to run right over her. “No, she’s going in January.”

Miss Joan’s expression remained unchanged. “Still got time.”

Determined, Stacy pushed on. “I know, but she was all excited and took off, quitting right then and there. I told Rebecca I’d take the job.”

Cole looked at her in surprise. “You need a job?”

Stacy really didn’t feel comfortable discussing anything personal in front of Cole. Not after the way things had gone between them. But with everyone—especially Miss Joan—looking on, she had no choice. She couldn’t exactly ignore him.

“It kind of came up,” she finally said. “My house burned down, so I’m staying at the hotel.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask, “Why didn’t you come to me?” but in a way he had a feeling that she had, looking at the infants. “If you need a place to stay...” he began.

“Thank you,” she said stiffly, cutting him off. “But I just said I have a place to stay. The hotel,” she stressed. And then she remembered that she’d only popped over for a quick bite. She needed to be getting back. “Speaking of which—”

There were those who insisted that Miss Joan was part mind reader. Stacy had a tendency to agree.

“Don’t worry about it,” Miss Joan said, cutting in. “I’ll send Rachel over to the hotel to explain what happened. This is September,” she reminded the young woman. “Not exactly the busy season for the hotel, so Rebecca should be okay with you not being there for an hour. Or so,” she added significantly.

Stacy felt as if things were snowballing out of her control.

“But—” she began to protest.

As if on cue, the babies began to fuss in earnest, each growing progressively louder than the other, as if it was some sort of a pint-sized competition.

Miss Joan nodded toward the infants. “I guess you have your marching orders,” she told Cole and Stacy. “Now go. And I don’t want to hear anything about you using a rope,” she told Cole. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Miss Joan,” he replied.

It was easier that way than getting into an argument with the diner owner. Legend had it that no one had ever won an argument with Miss Joan, and that included her husband, Cash’s grandfather. But then, Henry Taylor had doted on Miss Joan, which, it turned out, was exactly the right way to get along with the woman.

* * *

“YOU REALLY FOUND these babies on your doorstep?” Stacy asked several minutes later.

She had gotten into the back seat of his truck and he had handed her the wicker basket with the babies. The infants were dozing and the silence in the truck felt overwhelming. Stacy couldn’t think of anything else to say, and every other topic would set them off on a course she had no desire to travel.

“Yes, I did,” he answered, getting into the driver’s seat. He glanced at her over his shoulder.

As if she didn’t know where he found the babies, he thought.

He was staring at her, Stacy realized, and it took everything she had not to squirm in her seat. This was a totally bad idea, going with Cole to the clinic like this. But no one said no to Miss Joan and Stacy wasn’t about to be the first. She had no desire to have her head handed to her.

“Do you have any idea who the mother might be?” Stacy asked him.

Okay, Cole thought, he’d play along. “There might be a few possibilities,” he responded vaguely. “But that’s why I came with them to Miss Joan. She’s always on top of everything and I figure that she’d be the first to know whose babies they were.”

“Miss Joan doesn’t know everything,” Stacy insisted.

“Maybe,” he agreed. “But right now, I figured she was my best shot.”

Why are we playing these games, Stacy? Tell me the truth. Are these babies mine?

For one moment, he wrestled with an overwhelming desire to ask the woman in the back seat just that. It would explain why she’d left town so abruptly. But he knew asking her was pointless. He knew her. She wouldn’t answer him. In all likelihood, she’d just walk out on him the way she had the last time.

And, angry as he was about her leaving him, he didn’t want that happening again. Not until he’d had a chance to talk with her—really talk.

Desperate for something to say, he fell back on what Miss Joan had said when she’d first greeted Stacy.

“I’m sorry to hear about your Aunt Kate,” he told her. “What happened?”

“She died,” Stacy said stoically.

Why are you acting as if you care? We both know you don’t. You don’t care anything about me or about Aunt Kate, so stop pretending.

“I realize that,” he said, doing his best to be patient. “That’s why I said I was sorry to hear about her.” Getting his temper under control, he asked, “Did it happen while you were in Europe?”

She looked out the window on her left. “Yes.”

He felt pity stirring within him. “That must have been awful for you, having her die and having no one to turn to.”

She blew out a breath. She didn’t want his sympathy. She didn’t want anything from him. Still looking out the side window, she said, “I managed.”

“We’re here,” he announced, and just like that, the topic was closed.

For now.

Chapter Four

Rounding the truck’s hood, Cole came to the rear passenger door and opened it before Stacy could. Bending down, he got a firm grip on the wicker basket and drew it out of the truck. The babies were just beginning to wake up again.

“I’ll get the door,” Stacy volunteered, sliding down off her seat as soon as he had the basket. Before she hurried to the clinic’s front door, she paused to look at the babies. One of them was beginning to squirm just enough to throw the basket’s weight off while Cole was carrying it. “You want help with that—um, with them?” she corrected.

Was it his imagination, or was she trying too hard to appear unaffected by the sight of the twins? For now, Cole dismissed the thought, but it continued to hover in the back of his mind.

“Just get the door,” he told Stacy. “I’ve got the basket.”

For the briefest of moments, Stacy allowed herself a fleeting smile.

“Yes, you do,” she said, adding, “You surprise me.” When he raised an eyebrow in silent query, she explained, “I didn’t think you’d be any good with babies.”

He supposed he could see her point. She hadn’t been there to see him with either Devon’s baby or the one Cassidy rescued. “I guess we never know what we’re capable of until we’re confronted with the situation.”

“I guess not,” she agreed.

It hurt, Cole thought, talking to Stacy like this. The only thing that would hurt more would be not being able to talk to her. When she’d suddenly taken off the way she had, he’d thought he would never see her again. He hadn’t understood just what hell he’d been in these last eight months until just a few minutes ago, when he saw her walking into Miss Joan’s.

Lord, but he’d missed her.

Cole cleared his throat. “Just get the door,” he told her gruffly.

Stacy squared her shoulders as she pulled open the front door, then stepped to the side as far as she could, clearing the space for him. The basket was obviously unwieldy, despite his efforts to hold it steady, and she didn’t want Cole dropping the babies.

The second they walked in, they became the center of attention.

As usual, the clinic was full. It was the only available medical facility within a fifty-mile radius, so everyone who had a complaint of some sort, or found themselves in need of a checkup, came here. These days there were two doctors on the premises, as well as two nurses. Even so, the clinic was open from around eight, sometimes earlier, until eight, sometimes later. The doors were never officially locked until every patient in the waiting room had been seen.

Initially, the din in the clinic today was a little louder than usual, with fragments of conversations crisscrossing through the air. All that came to an abrupt, startled halt when Cole walked into the reception area carrying the wicker basket with the two babies in it. The fact that Stacy, his former girlfriend, came in right behind him was missed by no one.

Jackson’s wife, Debi White Eagle, was behind the desk when they walked in. She immediately rose to her feet, ready to help Cole with the infants he had in the basket.

“Cole, what have you got there?” Debi asked, even though she was actually looking at Stacy when she asked the question.

Cole appeared almost sheepish as he explained, “They were on the doorstep when I left the bunkhouse this morning. I really could have used you,” he added, looking at Debi.

Debi had crossed the reception area and was beside him now, getting a closer look at the babies.

“Well, you seem to be doing all right with them,” she told Cole with approval. “Whose babies are they?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Cole admitted.

His response had a room full of patients murmuring to one another.

“There was no note?” Debi asked, looking from Cole to Stacy.

Cole shook his head. “Nothing,” he answered.

Stacy merely shrugged. “I wasn’t there.”

“If you ask me, I’d say it’s finders keepers.” Ted Reynolds, an old ranch hand, chuckled.

“The poor darlings,” Amanda Rice, the grandmother of three, cooed as she came over to join the widening circle of people admiring the babies. “Where’s your mama, darlings?” She raised her eyes to look at Stacy. “And when did you come back into town, Stacy?” she asked warmly. “You’ve been missed,” the older woman told her.

“Did you bring the babies in for one of the doctors to examine?” Debi asked, wanting to take control of the situation before things got out of hand.

“Well, yes,” Cole confessed, “but I didn’t think that there’d be this many people here already.” He looked at Debi apologetically. “I’ve got to get back to my family’s ranch—”

“Well, if it helps, you can go ahead of me,” Ted Reynolds volunteered. “I’ve got no real plans for today. Nothing that can’t wait, anyway.”

“And me,” Amanda said. “You can go ahead of me,” she told Cole. “At my age, the best part of coming in to see the doctor is socializing with whoever’s waiting on him, too.”

Several other voices chimed in.

“I can wait,” another patient spoke up.

“So can I.”

“Me, too. This is the first break from work I’ve had in over a month,” Jeremy Jones said to no one in particular.

Debi held up her hand before anyone else gave up their place to the babies. There were a lot of people in the waiting area and if they all spoke up one by one, this could take a while.

She looked around at the seated people. “Can I assume that it’s all right with all of you if I just let Cole go on ahead and bring the babies in to see the doctor?”

A cacophony of voices rose in response to her question. The gist was that the patients in the reception area were all in agreement about letting Cole go in first.

Debi turned toward him. “All right, Cole, you heard them. The people have spoken,” she told him cheerfully. “I guess that’s why I love living in this town. Everyone’s so bighearted.

“Let’s get these little darlings checked out. Boys or girls?” she asked, leading the way into the back where the exam rooms were located.

“One of each,” Cole answered. As he started to follow the nurse, he looked back over his shoulder toward Stacy. “You coming?”

She was about to beg off, saying something to the effect that it seemed as if he and Debi had the situation covered. But that wasn’t strictly true. She knew that Debi had to return to the front desk and even though the other nurse, Holly, was somewhere in the clinic, that still left Cole on his own to cope with two babies. One was probably hard enough for him.

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