The Cowboy's Secret Twins

She’d been hoping to spend Christmas someplace where the spirit of the holiday was everywhere. There was no sign of Christmas in the Randolf home and in any case she didn’t belong here.

First thing in the morning she’d be on her way back home to her little apartment and maybe on the way home she’d stop at a discount store and buy one of those little metal trees in celebration of the twins’ first Christmas.

She finally fell asleep and dreamed of that night with Henry in front of the fire he’d built to warm them through the snowy night. The heat of the flames had been nothing compared to the fire in his kisses, the warmth of his hands on her body.

When she woke up bright sunshine drifted through her bedroom window, not the faint light of dawn she was used to, but full sunlight that let her know it was late.

The boys!

She shot up and looked at the playpen. It was empty. She jumped out of bed and yanked on her robe. Henry had gotten her suitcase from the trunk of her car the night before despite her protests that the gunman might still be out there lying in wait for him. She’d held her breath until he was back in the house safe and sound.

Now her breath caught once again in her throat as she raced out of the bedroom and down the grand staircase to the lower level of the house.

She heard voices coming from the formal dining room and headed there, her heart beating frantically as all kinds of irrational fears whirled through her head. She flew into the room and stopped short.

The boys were in their car seats on the polished mahogany wood of the huge table. Henry’s mother, Mary, stood in front of them, shaking a rattle at first one, then at the other as they bubbled with laughter.

“Melissa,” Mary said with a smile that faltered as Melissa sagged against the doorjamb. “Oh, dear, we frightened you, didn’t we?”

“I woke up and they were gone. I wasn’t sure what to think.” Melissa’s heart slowed its frantic pace.

“It was Henry’s idea really,” Mary said. “You looked so tired last night and he thought it would be nice if you got to sleep in a bit this morning. So we sneaked into your room around dawn and grabbed these two little bundles of love and brought them down here. We gave them each a bottle and then I gave them a little sponge bath and changed their clothes. I hope you don’t mind.”

Melissa wanted to be angry that they’d obviously riffled through the diaper bag and taken her boys from their bed. But the look on Mary’s face as she gazed at the twins made it impossible for Melissa to maintain anger. Besides, if she were perfectly honest with herself the extra couple of hours of sleep had been glorious.

“You know, I never thought I’d live to see grandbabies. Henry is quite the confirmed bachelor so I’d resigned myself to the fact that there would probably never be grandchildren.” She smiled at the twins. “But these two are like gifts from heaven.”

Melissa smiled. “You haven’t changed one of their messy diapers yet. That might change your mind about gifts from heaven.”

Mary laughed. “Oh good, you have a sense of humor. I’m so glad. And now if you’ll get dressed I’ll have Etta make you some breakfast. Henry and I have already eaten.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Melissa replied. “I’m not much of a breakfast person and besides, I’d like to get back on the road as soon as possible.” She not only wanted to get back to Amarillo, but she was still determined to stop someplace on the way home and pick up a few things to bring Christmas to her tiny apartment.

At that moment Henry appeared in the opposite doorway. He seemed bigger than life, his presence sucking some of the oxygen out of the air.

He looked like the rugged, handsome cowboy she’d met on the road that night. Clad in a pair of fitted jeans and a flannel shirt that emphasized the width of his broad shoulders, he let his gaze sweep the length of her before he smiled and said good morning. Even though he smiled, his eyes remained shuttered, enigmatic.

Melissa was suddenly aware of the fact that her robe was tatty and frayed and her hair was probably sticking out in every direction. She hadn’t even washed her face before hurrying down the stairs.

“I’m just going to run upstairs and shower. I’ll be right back.”

“When you come back down I’d like to have a talk with you,” Henry said.

She nodded and backed out of the dining room then escaped back up the stairs. There had been an edge in Henry’s tone of voice when he’d said he wanted to talk to her that worried her.

This whole trip had been a nightmare. The unexpected presence of a man she’d never thought she’d see again, bullets splintering a door and now the promise of a conversation she had a feeling she didn’t want to have.

He was probably going to tell her to take her babies and leave, that being a dad didn’t fit into his lavish single lifestyle. And even though that was fine with her, it made her heart hurt just a little bit for her sons.

She knew what it was like to grow up without a father. She remembered the empty ache his absence had created inside her and she certainly hadn’t consciously chosen that for her boys.

Minutes later, as she stood under a hot spray of water she found herself again wondering what MysteryMom had hoped to accomplish by leading her here. Of course it would be nice for the boys to have a father in their lives. She wanted that for them. But she wasn’t in control of Henry’s reaction to instant parenthood.

Mary had said he was a confirmed bachelor. It was definitely possible a bachelor wouldn’t want to be saddled with two little boys who required a lot of time and attention.

By the time she’d finished her shower and dressed, nervous energy bounced around in her stomach. She certainly didn’t know Henry well enough to second-guess what he might want to discuss with her, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that it had something to do with Joey and James.

Despite the night of desire they’d shared, since the moment she’d arrived at this mansion Henry frightened her more than a little bit. Oh, she wasn’t physically frightened of him. What scared her most was the fear of him rejecting his sons, sons that he’d never wanted and had never asked for.

When she returned downstairs Mary had the boys on their tummies on a blanket in the living room. She smiled at Melissa. “That James, he’s a feisty one, isn’t he? He reminds me of Henry when he was a baby. Demanding and impatient, there’s going to be no holding him back when he starts to walk.”

James arched his back, raised himself up and grinned at Melissa, as if relishing the very idea of being independent and mobile. Meanwhile, Joey rolled over onto his back, perfectly content to play with his fingers.

“It must be hard, being a single parent to twins,” Mary said.

“I manage okay,” Melissa replied with a touch of defensiveness.

“I’m sure you do, dear. Henry is waiting for you in the study,” Mary said. “It’s down the hall and the first door on your right.”

Melissa nodded and with one last look at her contented boys, she went down the hall to the study. The door was closed and she knocked on it with a gentle tap.

She heard him tell her to come in and she opened the door. Henry sat behind a massive mahogany desk and although he smiled at her as she stepped into the room, it did nothing to alleviate her nervousness.

The study was as beautifully appointed as the other rooms in the house. A stone fireplace took up one wall and floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled another. “Melissa, please have a seat.” He gestured to the chair in front of the desk. She sank down and tried not to be intimidated by the surroundings, by him.

“Mom said you were eager to get on the road and head home, but I wanted to talk to you about the possibility of you staying through Christmas,” he said.

“Oh, I’m not sure …” She paused as he held up a hand to stop whatever she was about to say.

“We’re forever linked now by those boys and despite the fact that we had that night together, I don’t know anything about you.”

Oh, but he did, she thought. He knew she liked to be kissed just below her ear, that if he stroked her breasts she moaned deep in the back of her throat. A whisper of longing swept through her as she remembered that night and him. She forced herself to focus on what he was saying.

“We stopped having anything to celebrate at Christmastime three years ago when my father unexpectedly died of a heart attack on Christmas Day. Since then Christmas each year has slid by with little celebration in this house. But this year we have something to celebrate. The twins. I’d like to give them a terrific first Christmas, so please tell me you’ll stay.”

Her first instinct was relief, that he wasn’t casting the boys out and that he apparently wanted to get to know them better. Still, there was one thing that made her relief short-lived. “I have to be honest. I haven’t forgotten those bullets that flew when I arrived here,” she said. “I don’t want to put Joey and James in harm’s way.” She fought against a shiver as she thought of the bullets that had come far too close to them the night before.

“I feel more comfortable with you here rather than going back outside,” he replied. “Somebody is being a nuisance, obviously attempting to make me rethink my position in running for mayor, but I won’t let any harm come to you or the children.”

She considered his words thoughtfully and believed him. There was something solid about him, a strength in his eyes that let her know he wouldn’t allow danger to come to her or her babies.

He was their father and all he was asking was for her to remain a couple more days. Surely there was no harm in that, in giving him and his mother the first Christmas with the boys.

“Okay,” she finally replied. “We’ll stay through the holiday.” She had no idea if it were the right thing to do or if it was possible she was making a terrible mistake.

A wave of satisfaction swept through Henry at her reply. From the moment she’d stepped into the study he’d smelled her, a familiar scent of fresh flowers with a hint of vanilla. It was the same fragrance she’d worn the night they’d been snowbound together and it stirred all kinds of crazy memories inside him.

As she stood and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear he remembered how soft, how silky her hair had been beneath his touch. That wasn’t all he remembered. There was the taste of her mouth open to his, the spill of her warm, full breasts into his palms and the moans that had escaped her at his every touch. Desire slammed into his stomach, hot and wild and completely unexpected.

He had no idea if he trusted her, hadn’t spent enough time with her to know if he even liked her, but that didn’t stop him from wanting a repeat of what they’d shared on that snowy night.

“Good. We’ll make it a Christmas to remember,” he said and stood.

She backed toward the doorway, as if eager to escape him. “I’m going to take the boys upstairs for their morning naps. I’ll see you later.”

“Melissa,” he said, stopping her before she could disappear from the room. “I don’t even know your last name.”

She smiled, the first real smile he’d seen from her, and the gesture lit her up from the inside out. “Monroe. Melissa Monroe.”

The minute Melissa left the study Henry leaned back in his chair and gazed thoughtfully out the window. From this vantage point he could see the carriage house in the distance. It was a two-bedroom self-contained cottage that was occasionally used as guest quarters.

Henry had been living there before his father’s death. His heart constricted as he thought about his dad. Not a day went by that Henry didn’t miss him. Big Henry, as he’d been called, had not only been father, but he’d also been friend and mentor to his only son. The two of them had worked side by side running Randolf Enterprises, which was comprised of not only the ranch but also oil wells and enormous financial holdings.

There were people in town who were threatened not only by the financial power Henry possessed, but also by his decision to run for the position of mayor and clean up the corruption he knew ran rife through the city offices of Dalhart.

He had a couple suspicions of who might have taken those shots at him, but suspicions didn’t work for an arrest. He also suspected that whoever had shot at him hadn’t really tried to kill him but rather was just warning him, hoping he’d decide not to run for mayor.

Those gunshots didn’t scare him half as much as the idea that Melissa might not allow him to be as big a part of the boys’ lives as he wanted.

“Henry?” His mother entered the study, her features worried. “Is she going to stay?” She sat in front of him in the chair that Melissa had vacated.

“She didn’t tell you?”

“I was in the kitchen speaking with Etta about dinner. Melissa took the babies and went upstairs before I got a chance to ask her.”

“She’s staying until after Christmas.” He leaned forward. “I don’t quite know what to make of her. The story she told me about some cyber friend giving her directions here sounded more than a little bit shady.”

“You think she’s after money?”

“It certainly looks like she could use it.” He frowned as he thought of the rusted old car out front, the frayed robe that had hugged her curves that morning.

Mary leaned back in her chair and folded her hands in her lap. “You want to tell me how this happened?”

Henry grinned at her. “You need a lesson in biology?”

She scowled at him. “You know what I mean, Henry. I’ve never heard you mention this woman’s name before and yet she shows up here with two babies who are obviously yours.”

“Remember the blizzard we had at the beginning of December last year? The night I couldn’t get home from Hilary’s because of the whiteout conditions?”

“That was the night you broke up with that woman.”

Henry nodded. “I was on my way home when the conditions got impossible to drive in. As I pulled over to the side of the road I saw another car there and Melissa was inside. I had no idea how bad the weather was going to get and I’d just passed the old Miller place and knew it was vacant, so I got her out of her car and we holed up there for the night.”

Mary raised a hand. “That’s all I need to know about the particulars. Is it possible she knew who you were?”

Henry pulled a hand down his lower jaw. “I don’t know. I suppose anything is possible. I’ve always been so careful. I’ve always recognized how vulnerable I was to gold diggers.”

Mary arched an eyebrow upward. “Need we mention Hilary’s name?”

Henry smiled as he thought of the woman he’d been dating and had broken up with the afternoon of the blizzard that had brought him and Melissa together.

“Hilary might be a gold digger, but she never kept that fact a secret,” he replied. Since the day of their breakup the attractive brunette hadn’t stopped waging her battle to become Mrs. Henry Randolf III. She called him or came by at least once a week in an attempt to seduce him back into her arms.

Mary straightened her back and sniffed indignantly. “That woman couldn’t wait to marry you and have me shut up in a nursing home someplace. The evil witch.”

And that had been the very reason Henry had broken up with Hilary. It was at the moment she mentioned that she thought it would be uncomfortable living with Mary and that Hilary had been searching for a nice nursing home for the older woman when Henry had recognized there would never be a future with her and certainly not a marriage.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” he said to his mother. Once again he leaned back in his chair and cast his gaze out the window.

“I never really thought about having kids,” he said softly. “But now that they exist I want them here with me. I want them to grow up here on the ranch and learn the family business. I want to teach them like Dad taught me.”

“Aren’t you forgetting one little thing? Melissa might not want to move here. She might have a perfectly fine life, perhaps with a boyfriend or family of her own.”

Henry frowned thoughtfully. “I find that hard to believe. I mean, according to her story she took off from her home to meet some cyber friend and spend Christmas with her. If Melissa has family or a boyfriend, why didn’t she stay home to spend Christmas with them?”

“I’m sure I don’t know. You know her better than I do. But, Henry, you have to remember that just because you want something doesn’t mean you can have it. You’re talking about a woman here, not a business deal.”

Mary stood. “All I know is that I intend to enjoy each and every minute of having those babies in this house. And now I’m going to go make a shopping list. There’s only two shopping days left before Christmas and suddenly I’m in the mood to shop.”

She practically floated out of the study. Henry hadn’t seen his mother this happy since his father had been alive.

Even though he’d had the entire night to process the fact that he was now a father, he still wasn’t sure how this was all going to work. The first thing he would have to do was get to know Melissa, find out if she’d come here looking for easy street or if the story she’d told him was true.

But before he could do that he had some phone calls to make. He’d promised Melissa a Christmas to remember and Henry never broke a promise.

His mother was wrong about one thing—this was a business deal. Melissa had what Henry wanted and all Henry had to figure out was what price he’d have to pay to get it.

Chapter 3

Melissa stood at the window and watched as a car pulled up out front and Mary got into the car’s passenger side. When the vehicle pulled away Melissa wondered if she should be doing the same thing—driving out the main gates and heading for home.

Behind her in the playpen the two boys had just fallen asleep. They usually napped for about an hour in the morning and the same amount of time in the afternoon.

Restless energy coursed through Melissa and she moved to the window on the opposite side of the room to gaze out at the pastures, corrals and outbuildings on the land. In the distance she could see what appeared to be a carriage house.

The dusting of snow that had fallen the evening before had melted beneath the warmth of the sunshine. It was a beautiful day, cold but clear.

A whisper of noise whirled her around and she saw Henry standing just outside the room in the hallway. He motioned to her and she left the room. “I thought maybe while the boys napped you might want to have a cup of coffee with me. I’d like to get to know you, Melissa.”

Once again nervous energy fluttered in her chest. Of course he wanted to know her better. She was the mother of his children. “And I’d like to get to know you better,” she agreed. “Coffee sounds wonderful.”

She checked on the boys to make sure they were still asleep, then followed him down the staircase to the dining room where Etta, the Randolf cook, carried in a tray laden with two cups of coffee, cream and sugar and two small plates with slices of cinnamon coffee cake.

Henry introduced the older woman to Melissa. “Etta has been keeping the Randolf family well fed for the past twenty years.”

“And it’s been a pleasure,” Etta replied. Then with a friendly smile at Melissa she turned and left the dining room.

Melissa pulled a coffee cup before her and wrapped her fingers around it. As Henry watched her she felt ill at ease and wasn’t sure what to say, where to begin.

“This is awkward, isn’t it?” he finally said.

She flashed him a grateful smile. At least he felt it, too. “Terribly awkward,” she agreed. “I know you have no reason to believe me, but it’s important to me that you know that I don’t just fall into bed with strangers I meet.”

She couldn’t hold his gaze and instead looked down at her coffee as she continued. “That morning the man I’d been dating for two years, the man I thought I was going to marry, let me know that he had found a new girlfriend, somebody sexier than me.” She felt her cheeks warm with her confession. “That night I just … It all went more than a little crazy.”

He laughed, a low chuckle that was both pleasant and surprising. She looked up at him sharply, wondering if he were laughing at her.

“It seems fate had a hand in our meeting that night. I was coming home after ending a relationship with a woman I’d been dating for over a year. Maybe we were both a little reckless that night.”

“But that’s not who I am,” she replied. “I’m usually not reckless.”

He took a sip of his coffee, eyeing her over the rim of his cup. “And yet you took off with an address to an unknown place given to you by a woman you’ve never met before.”

“A calculated risk,” she replied. “If I didn’t like the looks of the place when I arrived, I wasn’t going to stop.” She tugged on a strand of her hair in frustration. “Okay, it wasn’t the brightest thing in the world to do,” she conceded.

She wasn’t about to tell him that it was an aching loneliness that had driven her to meet MysteryMom. Although she loved her boys more than anything else on the face of the earth, she’d been hungry for adult conversation. The idea of spending the holiday alone had depressed her.

She reached for one of the plates and a fork. Whenever she was nervous she wanted to eat and it was impossible to ignore the heavenly scent of the cinnamon that wafted from the coffee cake.

“Okay, let’s start with the basics,” he said. “Henry James Randolf, thirty-five years old, rancher and oilman. I’m a Taurus. I like my steak rare and sunrise rides on my horse. I’ve been told that I’m stubborn but I don’t necessarily see that as a fault. I’m not a big drinker but I do like a glass of scotch or brandy in the evenings. Now, your turn.”

“Melissa Sue Monroe, thirty years old. I’m a Libra and I like my steak well-done. Before I got pregnant I was working to build my own interior design business. I’ve never been on a horse and my drink of choice is an occasional glass of wine. Oh, and I’ve been told I have a bit of a stubborn streak, too.”

He smiled, although she noticed that the gesture didn’t quite warm the blue of his eyes. “What about family?” he asked.

She shook her head and paused to take a bite of the cake. “I don’t have any. My father left when I was five, told my mother he wasn’t cut out for family life. I never saw him again. My mother passed away two years ago and since then it’s just been me … and of course, the boys.”

“You have friends who give you emotional support?”

“My best friend lives in Oklahoma, so I don’t see her very often. As far as other friends, to be honest the birth of the twins has pretty much put an end to any social life for me.”

“How’s your interior design business?”

She considered lying. She thought about telling him that she was wildly successful, but he was obviously an intelligent man. He only had to take a glance at her car and note the worn condition of her clothing to know that the money wasn’t rolling into her household.

“Nonexistent,” she finally said. “The pregnancy was difficult and for the last three months of it, I couldn’t work. Since then it’s been just as difficult. The boys have required all my time and energy.” She raised her chin. “But after the holidays I’m going to try to get back to work.”

She took a sip of her coffee and wished he didn’t smell exactly like she remembered from that snowy night, a scent of clean male and wintry air and a faint whisper of spicy cologne. It was a fragrance that stirred her with memories of warm hands and hot kisses.

“How have you been supporting yourself?” he asked.

“I had a small inheritance from my mother.” She shifted positions beneath the intensity of his stare and took another bite of her coffee cake.

“You have a boyfriend? Somebody significant in your life?”

A small laugh burst from her. “Definitely not. The only males in my life wear diapers and drool.”