Twins Under The Tree

Jenna opened the cake box and gave her sister a piece. Shadow sampled the slice set before her. “What’s the best thing now for you? Maybe you should work on that.” She hesitated. “And while we’re in risky territory here, what’s going on with Hadley Smith’s twins?”

“I see them as much as I can—for Amy’s sake.”

“Jenna, if that’s painful, you don’t have to spend time with them. I think Amy would understand. Unless visiting the McMann ranch isn’t just about the babies.”

Jenna said, “I enjoy the twins, but I don’t want to know Hadley any better than I already do.”

Shadow blinked. “Now, that’s interesting.”

Yes, it was. Why had she assumed Shadow meant him? She couldn’t deny he had a certain appeal with that dark hair and those steel-blue eyes. But he didn’t want her around, and she didn’t like to get near him, either. She went to the ranch for the twins, not Hadley. “I’m keeping tabs on him. That’s all.”

“Maybe you won’t have to much longer. I hear Clara’s going to sell her ranch.”

That news surprised Jenna. “Then the problem will solve itself. Hadley won’t stay in town.”

Why hadn’t she heard about Clara putting the ranch on the market? Jenna rose from her chair. Unfortunately, that also meant she’d no longer see the twins, hard as that might be, because Hadley would be out of sight before the sold sign was posted on the ranch. As expected. Jenna didn’t want to examine her mixed emotions about that too closely, so she changed the subject. “I forgot to bring you the quilt you bought for Zach. I’ll drop it off tomorrow. Would that make you happy?”

“Yes,” Shadow said, “but I’d feel even more pleased if you’d help me with the plans for Mom’s wedding.”

Jenna didn’t respond. That would be as hard for her as saying goodbye to the twins.

AFTER HE LEFT the NLS, Hadley had grabbed a quick lunch at the Sundown Café—he wasn’t a big fan of the fancy French food served at the Bon Appetit—then ate his burger on the way to the Circle H.

Begging didn’t come easily to him, but if that’s what it took… Only Logan Hunter, Sawyer’s brother and part owner of the ranch, quickly dashed his hopes. At the moment they were fully staffed.

After their brief conversation, Hadley left his cell number, then climbed back in his truck, disappointed. Still, he had to envy Logan, who didn’t have to worry about his family ever being kicked out of their house.

As he drove back to Clara’s, he tried to appreciate what he had for now.

His mood softened, as usual, the minute 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.

She handed Clara the gift bag. “Wait till you see these,” she said, a soft ache starting in her heart. She stirred milk into her coffee while Clara tore open the first package wrapped in pink kitten paper. To Jenna’s own surprise, it didn’t contain the yellow sundress. “No,” she murmured, “that’s for Luke. Sherry must have gotten the outfits mixed up.”

“Or she doesn’t buy into the notion of pink for girls, blue for boys.”

It didn’t matter, of course. Clara oohed and ahhed over Luke’s pastel playsuit and blue sneakers, then studied the label. “Dear me, this will be too small. Luke outgrew the three-month size. Could you exchange it, Jenna, for the next one up? Even nine months might be better. I hate to inconvenience you—”

“I’d be happy to exchange them.” Why hadn’t she thought of a bigger size? But Jenna had little experience with growing babies, and recently she’d bought mostly toys. “Grace’s present, too,” she said. “You don’t even need to open it.”

Clara did anyway. She took great pleasure in examining the yellow sundress that had been wrapped in blue paper, one finger tracing the satin ribbon trim that wound through the bottom hem. “She’ll look adorable in this. Thank you.” Her eyes grew moist. “I’m so pleased Hadley has decided to stay here with them.”

Jenna straightened. “I heard you were going to sell.”

“I was, but Hadley lost his job at the NLS and decided to get this place going again instead of leaving or finding another job. How could I say no? If he succeeds, I’ll be able to keep my home, and the babies will have one, too. Next week he’ll look into buying our first cows.”

The announcement startled Jenna. Was this good or bad for her? On one hand, the twins would still be here, and Jenna could keep checking on them as well as on Hadley. On the other, she would have to put up with him. And vice versa. His attitude wouldn’t make things easy.

Clara studied her over the rim of her coffee cup, raised halfway to her mouth. “I’ve noticed you and Hadley aren’t exactly friends, but that man doesn’t know what he needs.”

“That doesn’t sound like the Hadley Smith Amy described.”

“You believe everything she told you?”

“That sounds naive, doesn’t it?” But Jenna recalled the evenings she’d spent with Amy, hearing the other woman’s complaints about Hadley, relating their quarrels—which might or might not have happened as she said. Amy’s tears had been real, though, and not simply due to pregnancy hormones. Jenna had witnessed for herself how quickly Hadley’s temper flared. Because of her father, she knew all about how harmful that could be to a young person, and she’d definitely keep her eye on Hadley.

Clara cocked her head to listen for a moment. “Ah, Luke’s up. Grace will be, too. That little imp never lets his sister sleep once he’s awake.”

Wondering about her blind acceptance of Amy’s stories, Jenna sat motionless in her chair at the table after Clara had left the room. The older woman returned a few minutes later carrying one twin on each bony hip.

Jenna couldn’t seem to move. This wasn’t the first time she’d become paralyzed at the sight of them, not the first time she’d wanted to pull back inside herself for protection, but Clara was having none of that.

“Here we are!” she said brightly. “Which little angel do you want first?”

Jenna thought of leaving before sorrow threatened to swamp her again. Then she remembered Hadley on the front walk obviously wanting her to go. And oh, how sweet they were! Grace with her fine features and rose-gold hair curling at her nape, Luke who was bigger with a sturdy frame and similar coloring, although his hair seemed to be getting darker. Being of different sexes, they were fraternal, not identical, twins, and so lovable just for being here that her heart turned over.

Her hands twitched with the urge to hold them. When Clara plunked Grace on her lap, Jenna’s mouth went dry.

Grace wriggled in her embrace, then patted one tiny hand to Jenna’s cheek, the baby’s face bright as if she had no doubt she was welcome in Jenna’s arms, and Jenna’s throat closed. “She’s smiling.”

“They’ve been smiling since they were born, if you ask me. People say that’s only gas, but I don’t believe it. They laugh now, too. And you should see how Grace fixates on Hadley as if he’s the one person in the world she can rely on.”

“Amy wasn’t as sure about that,” Jenna murmured, yet she couldn’t deny that since Amy’s death he’d stepped up to the plate. Hadley seemed to work hard and provide for them as best he could—in fact, she heard him hammering something down at the barn—yet the news that he intended to rebuild Clara’s ranch stunned her. If he really meant to stay longer, Jenna’s visits would be enough to fulfill her promise to Amy, yet he’d probably continue to object to Jenna’s very presence.

“I know he’s never been one to settle down,” Clara went on, “but he has more reason now to sink a few roots.” She shifted Luke, who was trying to grab the pan of coffee cake off the table. “Time will tell,” she said with a meaningful look at Jenna.

HADLEY COULDN’T PUT it off any longer. Ever since that tragic day at the hospital he had been meaning to look through Amy’s belongings and tonight seemed good enough. He admitted he’d been avoiding the task. If he and the babies were going to stay on the ranch for a while, he shouldn’t keep stalling. He also wanted to take a look at the standby guardianship application Amy had filed. Even though the court hearing had never taken place, the situation with Jenna was still an issue. He didn’t buy that her only reason for spending time with Luke and Gracie was some promise she’d made to Amy. He’d caught the melting look on her face more than once when she was with them. Now that their mother was gone, could she have some legal claim to his babies? And had she been biding her time, hoping to catch him in some misdeed with the twins?

“Clara, have you seen the bins with Amy’s stuff in them?” he asked after dinner.

“I believe they’re in the attic,” she said.

Being careful not to wake the twins, Hadley went upstairs, then sat cross-legged on the wooden floor of the walk-up area under the roof beams. He forced himself to open the first bin and rummage through Amy’s things. When he’d moved from their apartment, he hadn’t taken time to sort out what to toss and what to keep for Luke and Gracie someday. Disoriented by Amy’s shocking death, by his new obligations, he’d thrown everything into bins for later. From then on, he’d had his hands full just trying to be a good dad when good wasn’t in his nature.

The first item he came across was the bifold program from Amy’s funeral at the local church. It was the same place where, at her insistence, they’d been married, and where she’d sometimes attended services on Sundays. Without him. Hadley had resisted most of her attempts to change him from a bad boy into a solid citizen, something he now regretted, just as he regretted not trying harder to love her. She’d deserved better from him.

With a hard lump in his throat, Hadley skimmed the program, then the small picture of her at the top. “Way too soon,” he murmured, tracing a finger over her image as if he could touch her again. “Never mind all those fights we had. As you told me, there were good times, too, in the beginning. Not sure what would have happened to us if you were still here,” he said, “but we’ll never know, will we?”

Now he was on his own, plowing through her belongings in Clara’s attic.

“Hadley?” Her voice came from the bottom of the stairs.

“I’m here still. Come up if you want.”

To be truthful, he didn’t like doing this alone. Every piece of paper he touched, every sympathy card and article of clothing he’d saved, spoke to him. Amy’s favorite green sweater, which he couldn’t bring himself to touch, the one she’d knitted herself with the too-long sleeves that always made him smile for her effort. The baby books she’d bought because “I don’t know any more about this than you do.” The last birthday gift he’d given her, a certificate for a day at the spa in Farrier that she’d never gotten to use. Like the court order she’d never completed, which he wouldn’t have signed off on. As Jenna well knew.

Clara laid a hand on his shoulder. “If this is too difficult for you, maybe I could find what you’re looking for.”

“No,” he said, “I did my grieving.” Hadley had cried himself to sleep that first horrid night, something he’d never admit to anyone. Until then he hadn’t shed a tear since the first time his parents had dumped him and Dallas on child services and, later, when he’d watched his brother be taken away because of him. He’d cried about Amy, whose short life had been cut off so abruptly before she even saw their babies, cried for the mess he’d made of their relationship and for the twins he’d been left to care for—he, who would probably be the worst father any kid ever had, though he hadn’t been able to leave them with anyone else. Including Jenna Moran. “One of the worst parts,” he told Clara, “is Amy never knowing Luke and Gracie. Not watching them grow up, graduate from school, get married…”

“But you will, Hadley. For her. I’m sure wherever she is she appreciates that.”

His voice sounded hoarse. “At least they have the names she chose for them.”

Clara’s hand gently stroked his shoulder, and he guessed she had trouble speaking, too.

“I need to find some papers,” he told her. When Amy had mentioned the application for guardianship, Hadley had paid little attention except to give her a flat no. He wouldn’t agree to that. Now he wished he’d read everything. “I don’t understand all the double-talk legalese about standby guardianship, but I have to work out what all that means.”

Clara hadn’t responded before his fingers closed over the manila file in which he remembered Amy putting some papers. Then she’d shut the file away in a drawer. When Hadley had packed up after she was gone, he hadn’t looked at it. Her death had still been too raw for him to face his own failure in that regard. He peered into the file now. It contained a few documents like their marriage license. “The guardianship stuff isn’t here.”

Clara examined the papers in the file, too, but also came up empty. “Maybe Amy had a safe-deposit box somewhere.”

Was that possible? Then why not store all the important papers there? He supposed there might be layers to Amy that he knew nothing about. As a minor example, Hadley could never reconcile their bank and credit card statements with the purchases she’d made, and whenever he questioned her she’d told him not to worry.

Hadley rose, his knees popping from sitting too long. “I’ll check with Barney Caldwell at the bank tomorrow.”

Hadley needed to find out what he was up against.

WAS IT JENNA’S bad luck, or some kind of weird karma? The very next morning when she walked up to the main entrance of the Barren Cattlemen’s Bank, Hadley reached around her to open the door. Without glancing up, Jenna coolly thanked him. “Have a good day,” she added, then went straight for Barney Caldwell’s office. As vice president, he had a window that looked onto Main Street, and more than once she’d glimpsed him peering out to see what was going on in town and with whom.

Hadley was right behind her—again.

“You seeing Barney, too?” he asked, not taking a chair in the waiting area.

“I’m applying for a loan,” she said, “to invest in Fantastic Designs.” Jenna still had no clients. She needed capital to jump-start her business. And because of that, she would have to deal with Barney. Some women in town called him creepy, and he’d recently sent her several cryptic messages she’d never answered. What was Hadley saying…?

“That’s not a bad idea. Clara and I should try that.”

Which wasn’t why he was here now then. Jenna tamped down her curiosity. Her only interest, she reminded herself, was in the twins. Remembering how she’d held them in her arms yesterday, she felt quivery and soft inside as she had all the way home.

Barney, who’d been at his desk poring over some papers, came to his doorway. “Who’s first?”

“Go ahead,” Hadley said with a motion toward Jenna. “I can wait.”

“No, please. I’ll probably have to fill out a dozen forms.” And she wasn’t eager to be alone with Barney. In school he’d had a crush on her, the memory of which still embarrassed Jenna.

“Well, I shouldn’t be long,” Hadley said. “Just have a question.”

Barney, his short-cut hair the color of hazelnuts, clapped a hand on Hadley’s shoulder, a gesture that seemed to make Hadley tense. “Have a seat. Ask away.” The door shut behind them.

Jenna tried not to observe their interaction, but it wasn’t long before Hadley’s dark brows drew together over his piercing blue eyes. He juggled a brass paperweight from Barney’s desk, then set it down again. They exchanged a few more words. Then Hadley abruptly rose from his slouch in the small barrel-shaped chair and stalked to the door. He jerked it open. “You’d better hear this,” he said to her.

Following him into the office, Jenna took the chair Hadley had vacated. He stood next to her while Barney straightened the papers he’d been reading earlier. He studied her with his too-small eyes. “Hadley has asked me about his wife’s relationship with this bank. It appears he didn’t know she had an account—in addition to their joint checking—in her name alone.”