LITMIR.BIZ

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he stepped into the kitchen at the house. When he lifted his girl from her baby seat, Gracie reached out her arms to him and giggled. Both twins had recently learned to laugh, which lit him up inside like a candle in a pumpkin. Trying to forget the past few hours, he scooped up Luke, too, but on his way in he’d ignored the stack of mail on the hall table—including a notice from the hospital, probably. “This wasn’t exactly my day,” he told Clara. “I’m not going to complain except to say that I almost got fired.”

      The last word made his stomach burn. For most of his life Hadley had been a loner, certainly since he was ten years old, the last time he’d seen his brother. And here he was with two tiny beings who depended on him for everything. Had he been out of his mind to quit his job at the NLS? Any severance pay was off the table now, because in the end, leaving had been his choice. Hadley had always believed he knew when it was time to go, but now he had second thoughts. He guessed he was getting his comeuppance. In the end his temper had gotten the best of him.

      “Oh, Hadley. Fired. Why?”

      “Being late for work, and instead I quit. But I’ll find something else.” He explained his brief visit with Logan, who’d been sympathetic, though in the end, he couldn’t offer a job.

      Maybe he should go back to the NLS tomorrow where he’d done some begging before the twins were born, see if Cooper might settle up after all.

      Clara didn’t look at him, but she kissed his cheek on her way to turn off the stove where the twins’ bottles were heating in a pan of water.

      When she faced him, he could see his story had affected her, too. And he remembered she was also facing a challenging and painful situation.

      “You’re sorry to be leaving here, aren’t you?” he asked Clara, taking one of the bottles from her. Her skin felt cool under his warmer hand.

      “Yes,” she said. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to sort through all the things Cliff and I accumulated in forty years. Well, me at least.” Her husband had been gone almost a decade, years after Hadley left, and Hadley had never had a chance to say goodbye to the man who’d had such an influence on him. “Cliff and I never had children of our own, but my memories of the girls and boys we fostered—” Clara glanced at Hadley “—are in every nook and cranny of this house. When you left us, and you were the last, Cliff told me I’d made a shrine of your room.”

      A wave of loss ran through Hadley. That room for now was the twins’ nursery. The McMann ranch was the closest he’d ever come to a home and a family in many years, until the twins were born. Clara sat at the table, and Hadley stood beside her.

      He hadn’t found another place in town that might suit him and the babies, and he recalled again Clara’s entreaty to buy the ranch.

      “I know what you asked me, Clara,” he said, passing Luke to her. The baby latched onto the bottle, noisily sucking. Hadley sat down, too, and teased the other nipple into Gracie’s mouth. Clara’s challenge had been between them ever since. And here he was, out of a job… “If I could, I’d buy this ranch. Then you could stay right where you are. But I can’t,” he finished, hating to let her down all over again as he had his brother Dallas in a different way.

      “Stay, you mean?” she asked.

      “No, I mean I don’t have the money to buy you out.”

      “If you could, though, would you stay? With the babies?” Her gaze fixed on Luke nestled against her chest. “And before you say another word, I’m more than fine with that.”

      Hadley didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t afford the ranch, but maybe there was another option… “What if you didn’t have to sell?” he asked Clara. “What if you kept the ranch—”

      “It’s not making any money. You’re aware of that.” She glanced out the kitchen window at the dry fields, the empty barn. “And I know, even when I’ve practically begged you to stay, that you’re determined to leave again…” She trailed off.

      Hadley gazed at the same outside view. “What if I didn’t?”

      Her gaze jerked up to meet his. And he swallowed hard. Four months ago he’d come here to her ranch for the twins. He’d been antsy for a change ever since, yet he realized his babies were too young for such a drastic upheaval, even the short move he’d planned from here to town. Just as important, where would Clara go?

      “I understand things are tight, but if we could put enough money together, even borrow some to buy a few cattle, start a new herd for you—”

      “Oh, Hadley,” she said as she had before, one hand pressed to Luke’s hair, the other to her heart.

      “I’m a good foreman. I think I could get this ranch going again.” Of course, if he stayed, he’d continue to have to deal with Jenna Moran nosing around in his business, making her weekly drive-bys. Still… Once Clara’s place was making a profit, and the twins were old enough, Hadley could move on as he’d planned and get away from Jenna for good. Her eagle eye over his care of the twins made him nervous. In the meantime, whatever he had to do, he might be able to make this happen.

      “I can’t afford much, either,” Clara said, and for an instant Hadley was mentally packing his bags, yet her tone had sounded hopeful. If he and Clara did this, he wouldn’t need another job as anyone’s cowhand; he’d be his own boss again, his decisions, of course, subject to Clara’s approval.

      A streak of excitement zinged along his veins. Hadley almost didn’t recognize the feeling. “We’ll manage. Heck, I’d rather work for you than for anybody else.”

       CHAPTER FOUR

      THE NEXT MORNING Jenna drove out to the McMann ranch. If that’s painful, you don’t have to spend time with them, Shadow had said, and keeping her commitment to Amy was harder each time she saw the twins. She’d had a near panic attack on the way out here and had to pull over until her pulse settled. The bittersweet sorrow she felt whenever she held Amy’s babies—part grief for her friend who would never see them grow up, part grief for herself that these sweet babies weren’t hers—was something she had to manage. But these visits also filled her heart.

      She was surprised to find Hadley at the ranch. On a weekday he should be working at the NLS. Too bad she hadn’t driven by the ranch this time to check if his truck was there.

      Jenna took a deep breath. She imagined he wasn’t any happier to see her than she was to see him. Taking the bag from Sherry’s shop off the seat, she got out of her car with a growing sense of dread, then started toward the house. She’d hoped he wouldn’t follow, but Hadley fell into step beside her.

      “I can take that,” he said. “Luke and Gracie are napping.”

      “I’ll wait for them to wake up. Maybe Clara has time for a cup of coffee. I like to watch her open my gifts for the twins.”

      “Maybe on your next visit,” Hadley said. “If you turn around now, head back to town, I’ll tell Clara you dropped off the presents.”

      Jenna groaned. First, he’d wanted to bring the package home from the store. Now he hoped to send her on her way without seeing the twins. But she was saved from having to respond. Clara appeared in the doorway with a broad smile and waved at her. “I have pecan coffee cake and a fresh pot. Hadley?” she said. “Will you join us?”

      He stopped. “Thanks, but I was about to start cleaning out the barn. After that I’ll mend the corral gate. Should keep me busy most of the day.”

      Jenna guessed he was helping Clara get ready to sell the ranch. She climbed the steps and went into the house, leaving him there on the walk. The door shut behind her, and Jenna followed Clara into the kitchen. The smells of brown sugar and butter and rich, dark coffee invited her in, and as Clara poured coffee, then set cream and sugar on the table beside the fragrant cake, Jenna cocked an ear for any sound from upstairs.

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