Twin Temptation

“Smart decision,” Maddie said.

“I agree, but the other Wares didn’t.”

Maddie grinned suddenly.

“What?”

“What you called them—the other Wares. I’d already started thinking of them that way.”

Smart, Jordan thought. Her twin was perceptive. That could work in her favor. Tucking her feet underneath her, she leaned back. “As a sort of peace offering, Mom agreed to let Uncle Carleton, Aunt Dorothy and Adam live in Ware House. She got to use the place for business parties, and she agreed to attend any social gatherings that had to do with Ware Bank.”

Maddie sipped her wine. “You said the friction’s gotten worse since you went to work for Eva Ware Designs.”

“Because before that, Adam thought he had a clear shot at taking over the business one day. He’d been there for three years before I joined the company. He’s a brilliant designer. Mom was very aware of that. His parents were disappointed with him because he didn’t go into banking, so I think he feels he has to succeed. Aunt Dorothy certainly does. Plus, he has a temper.”

“I noticed. He may be a fine designer, but he doesn’t have your background in business.”

Jordan studied her for a moment. “How do you know that?”

“I looked you up on the Internet. A bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School, an MBA from Harvard. Very impressive.”

Slowly, Jordan smiled. “Touché. I visited your Web site. It needs some work, by the way. But the jewelry doesn’t. What I saw was beautiful.”

Setting her glass down, Jordan leaned closer and fingered one of the earrings Maddie was wearing. The silver had been configured into fragile lace surrounding a clear turquoise stone. “This is quite lovely. Mom was always looking for turquoise of this quality.”

“She should have come to New Mexico.”

Jordan met her sister’s eyes and saw a hint of pain that she totally understood. “She was in New Mexico when she gave birth to us. I badgered Fitzwalter until he showed me our birth certificates. We were born in Santa Fe.”

“She was at the ranch?”

“I don’t know about that, but she was definitely in Santa Fe.”

“She should have come back.”

“Yes, she should have. And our father should have come here. I’m not sure we’ll ever find out why they didn’t. Or why they separated us.”

“Why does she want us to switch places?” Maddie asked. “You said you had a theory about that?”

“I do. I got it the moment I searched your name. I think she wants you to get an in-depth experience at Eva Ware Designs because she wants you here.”

“No. That’s impossible.”

“I know her. She was a very focused woman. I’m sure she was keeping track of your career, and if and when something happened to her, she wanted you to see what she’d created—to know that you could share in it.”

“But why didn’t she contact me? Why put it in her will?”

Jordan rose and began to pace. “I’ve asked myself those questions over and over. She could have been afraid to contact you after all these years. The other thing about her is that designing jewelry was her driving passion.” Jordan waved a hand. “She gets—used to get—totally lost in her work. Other things got pushed to the back burner.”

“Why three weeks?”

“She probably thought twenty-one straight days would do it.” Jordan’s smile was wry. “When she first started at her gym, her trainer told her that doing something every day for three weeks was what it took to build a habit.”

“But that’s…crazy. And it’s not fair to you.”

“It’s not crazy if you knew Mom. Eva Ware Designs meant everything to her.” Jordan paced to one of the windows before she turned back. “That’s why we have to talk about the will.”

Maddie rose also. “Yes, we do. I want you to know that—”

Jordan held up a hand. “Stop right there. Since I’m the oldest, I get to go first.”

Maddie’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know you’re the oldest?”

Not a pushover either, Jordan thought. “I told you I’d seen the birth certificates. I beat you into the world by almost four minutes.” Impulsively, she strode over and grabbed Maddie’s hands. “I want you to please hear me out before you say a word.”

Maddie nodded.

Jordan dropped her sister’s hands, whirling away. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to say this in a way that will convince you.”

“You don’t have to.”

Jordan glared at her and pointed a finger. “You said you’d hear me out.”

“Okay. Okay.” Maddie threw both hands up and sat back down on the love seat. Watching her sister made her think of her father. That glare Jordan had just given her had been pure Mike Farrell and her father had always paced when he was trying to talk her into something. But she’d just wanted to make it easy for Jordan. The money, the house, Eva Ware Designs—none of it belonged to her. It should have all gone to Jordan. How could her sister want her to take it?

“I know it’s crazy.” Jordan sat back down on the love seat. “The thing is, we have to agree to the terms of the will.”

Maddie simply stared at her. “How can you possibly want that? It’s not fair.”

Jordan ran her hands through her hair. “I know it’s not. It’s horribly unfair. Switching places will be complicated, to say the least. But I don’t see what else we can do. I saw on your Web site that you have a jewelry show in Santa Fe in four days.”

Maddie did, and in all the turmoil of the last few days it had entirely slipped her mind. “I can’t miss it. I’ve worked for months on those designs, and it’s essential that I be there to make contact with new buyers.”

“No worries. I should be able to handle the show. I’ve done several with my mother. Marketing the product is the part of the business I’m good at.”

“But there are other things—problems at the ranch,” Maddie said.

“What kind of problems?”

Maddie raised her hands and dropped them. “I’m just not the best rancher in the world, and I’ve been struggling to fill my father’s shoes and at the same time grow my jewelry business. My neighbor, Cash Landry, has been helping me, but I can’t let that go on forever. And there’s this real estate agent, Daniel Pearson, who wants to sell the ranch for me.”

Jordan moved back to the couch. “You can’t be seriously thinking of selling?”

“No.” But Maddie felt a stab of guilt. Wasn’t that exactly what she was thinking of doing? After all, she hadn’t given Daniel Pearson a flat-out no. And here her sister was, arguing that they keep her mother’s business going. How could she even think of doing less for her father?

A gleam of interest leapt into her sister’s eyes. “Maybe I can help.”

“How?”

“Three weeks will give me a chance to get a feel for what the problems are. Not that I’m a rancher—but I do have those business degrees. Plus I’ll bring a fresh perspective. How many people did you tell about flying east for the reading of the will?”

“No one. My foreman Mac and Cash were both away, driving my cattle to market, then meeting with future buyers in Albuquerque. They’re not due back for a few days yet. Cash’s foreman comes over to tend the horses and check on things when Cash is gone. But I didn’t even have a chance to tell him I was leaving.”

Jordan took a thoughtful sip of her wine. “I’ll bet I could pretend to be you at the jewelry show without anyone knowing the difference.”

“Pretend to be me? You’re serious about this.”

“Very.” Rising, Jordan began to pace again. “I know buyers prefer to talk to the designer, and I’ve learned enough at Eva Ware Designs to masquerade as you. If the ranch is deserted right now, I’d only have to pretend when I go into Santa Fe. You won’t be able to pass yourself off as me, of course. The other Wares already know who you are, and so does Cho Li. I’ll let everyone else at the Madison Avenue store know. You’ll just have to do my job for three weeks.”

“But I have no idea what you do for a job.”

“My schedule is on my laptop. And Cho Li will fill you in. He’s been working with Mom for as long as I can remember. Is there someone who can fill me in at the ranch?”

“Wait. You’re going too fast.” Maddie felt as if all her objections were being picked off like ducks in a shooting gallery. “I haven’t told you all the problems at the ranch. It might not be safe for you there.”

“Why not?”

“There’ve been some incidents of vandalism lately. Minor ones at first—cut fences, graffiti on the bunkhouse. Cash was pretty sure it was the Trainer twins. Joey, the older one, had a sort of a crush on me. But lately, the incidents have gotten more serious. Due to a cut fence, some of my cattle strayed, and we couldn’t round them up in time to drive them to market. And a couple of weeks ago someone doctored the feed in my stables and I nearly lost my horse.”

“You called the police?”

“They couldn’t do much except file a report.”

Jordan joined Maddie on the couch. “I’ll be careful. Besides, it’ll be as safe for me there as it would be for you.”

“I can handle myself.”

Jordan’s eyebrows shot up. “So can I. After all, I’ve been raised in New York City. But there’s something you should know about the store. A month ago Eva Ware Designs was robbed. Someone broke through the security codes and took approximately one hundred thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry from the main salon. The police are still looking into it. But in the meantime, the security codes have been changed. And it happened after hours, so you should be fine.”

Maddie was more worried about Jordan than she was about herself. But Cash was due back from the cattle drive in another few days, she told herself. She could call him and tell him to look out for Jordan.

Suddenly, nerves tightened in her stomach. Was she really thinking of switching places with her sister?

“Is there anyone at the ranch who can fill me in on what I have to do?”

“Cash and my foreman can when they get back from the cattle drive.”

Jordan narrowed her gaze on her sister. “This Cash—are you and he…seeing each other?”

Maddie shook her head. “No. We grew up together. He runs the ranch next to mine. My father and his father had this idea that someday we might fall in love and join the two ranches. But it hasn’t happened. Cash and I are just friends.”

“Good. Do you think I could fool him into thinking I’m you if he shows up at the ranch?”

Maddie studied Jordan. “You’re really getting into the idea of masquerading as me.”

“It’s a practical approach. I won’t have to explain to everyone about the will and switching places. Do you think your cowboy neighbor will buy it?”

Maddie considered, then shook her head. “He’s pretty astute.”

Jordan grinned at her. “Really? I love a challenge. We’ll have to write things up for each other, and we’ll keep in touch by phone. That’s what the girls did in The Parent Trap, and they were only half our age.”

“You saw that movie?”

“Only about fifteen times. When I was little I remember watching it with Mom.”

“There’s one big difference between us and The Parent Trap girls. They switched so that they could get to know the parent they were separated from. We’re not going to be able to do that.”

“No.” Jordan sat down next to Maddie again and took her hands. “We’re not. I wish with all my heart that there was a way for you to meet our mother.”

The understanding she saw in her sister’s eyes helped ease the tightness in Maddie’s throat. “Same goes about our father.”

“Maybe switching places is the only way we have left to get to know them. We can do this.”

Maddie searched her sister’s face. “I don’t understand. Why do you want to? And why would you want to share your inheritance with me?”

Jordan stared at her. “Because you’re my sister, and because our mother wanted it this way. However late it is, she must have had some regrets about separating us, and this is her way of making sure we get to know one another.”

“There are other ways for us to get to know one another.”

“Maddie, you heard the terms of the will. If we don’t change places for three weeks, Eva Ware Designs will be sold. I can’t stand by and let that happen. Our mother worked her whole life to create it, and I can’t let it be destroyed. I want her legacy to live on. No matter what it takes, we have to fulfill the terms of the will. Please say you’ll do it.”

Maddie wasn’t an impulsive person—at least she didn’t think of herself that way. But she could sympathize with what Jordan was trying to do. It was the same thing that made her want to hold on to the ranch and keep it going so that her father’s legacy would live on.

And Jordan was right. If she did switch places and step into Jordan’s job at Eva Ware Designs, it would provide her with the only opportunity she might ever have to learn more about the woman she so admired. The woman she’d never met. And it was just possible that she could find out why their parents had decided to separate them. Hadn’t that been one of the primary questions on her mind since she’d accepted the truth of what Edward Fitzwalter III had told her during that phone call?

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

“You will?”

Maddie nodded.

“Thanks.” Jordan gave her sister a quick hug. “Okay. Now for the practical matters. You can live in my apartment, of course. I have a roommate, Jase Campbell. He was a few years ahead of me in college and we shared an apartment there. He moved into my place when he came to New York and started up his security firm. The arrangement has become sort of permanent.”

“Are the two of you involved?”

“No, we’re strictly pals. He’s like a big brother to me. But you probably won’t even run into him. He’s off on some mysterious job in South America. I can’t even reach him by cell. I haven’t been able to even tell him about…”

When Jordan suddenly stopped talking, Maddie took her hands.

“I don’t think it’s totally sunk in yet that she’s gone,” Jordan said.

Maddie handed Jordan her wine. “How could it? You had to identify the body.” Fitzwalter had told her about that. “Then there were the funeral arrangements and to top it off you find out you have a sister you never knew about.”

Jordan met her sister’s eyes. “When you lost your father, how long did it take for you to accept it?”

Maddie sighed. “I think I’m still trying to adjust.” She raised a hand to her sister’s cheek. “But I think that visiting the ranch may help you. There’s a kind of serenity there.”

“I’m glad I have you, Maddie Farrell.”

“Ditto.”

“Well.” Jordan drew in a deep breath and let it out. “We only have about seventy hours left. We’d better get started.”

Maddie blinked as Jordan rose, strode to a desk and pulled out her laptop.

“There’s a lot we have to learn before we switch lives.”

Chapter Two

IT WAS nearly midnight when Jase Campbell descended the steps of a small private jet at LaGuardia Airport. After nearly a month in the bowels of the steamy Amazon jungle, he welcomed the stiff breeze that had made their landing a little rough. New York City’s humidity level couldn’t even begin to compete with what he’d been experiencing.

The Cessna was the third plane he’d been on in the last twenty-four hours and the only one that had provided any amenities. Thanks to Federman Corporation, the company that had hired him as a consultant in their efforts to free three hostages, he’d been able to shower, shave and even change his clothes—luxuries that he’d sorely missed.

The one thing he hadn’t been able to do was catch much sleep. The last days of the mission were still too fresh in his mind. It had only been partially successful—one of the men hadn’t made it out of the jungle. Each time he closed his eyes, his mind would run through the other options he might have used, other tacks he might have taken with the captors.

He needed sleep, Jase told himself as he strode up the steps of the terminal building. Thank heavens his apartment was only a thirty-minute cab ride. And at this hour of the night, Jordan would be sound asleep. That would save him from being cross-examined on what he’d been doing for the last three and a half weeks.

Jordan and he had been friends since they’d been undergraduates together at Wharton. His lips curved as he recalled exactly how they’d met. He’d been a senior and she a freshman. Off-campus housing had been at a premium, and they’d arrived to view an apartment at the same time. They’d each wanted to sign a lease, so the landlord had suggested they flip a coin. Jordan had flatly refused, claiming that her luck was abominable. Instead, she’d suggested that they share the place and split expenses.

For Jase it had been an ideal solution. Unlike a lot of the trust-fund students, he’d come to Wharton on a scholarship. Jordan had drawn up a set of rules to follow so that they kept out of each other’s way. The list with its bullets and highlighted passages had been Jase’s introduction to the highly organized world of Jordan Ware.

And though she was a very attractive woman, their relationship had never progressed down a more intimate path. Instead, she’d become like a sister to him, competing against him for grades, nagging him when he’d gotten so wrapped up in a project that he’d forgotten to keep in touch with his family and even criticizing his selection of dates. In Jordan’s opinion, Jase had a tendency to attract what she’d termed “psycho babes.”

Jase’s lips curved at the memory. The first thing he’d done when he’d left the navy and decided to set up a security business in New York City was to call Jordan. His goal had been to enlist her help in finding an apartment. Instead, she’d suggested he move in with her. If it didn’t work out, he’d at least have more time to find a place of his own. That had been a year ago, and so far everything had gone very smoothly. Jordan, who’d worked for her mother’s jewelry design studio since she’d gotten her master’s degree, had put him in touch with a few clients, and he’d even done some work for Eva Ware Designs. In fact, there was a job he’d left hanging when he’d taken on the hostage-negotiation project.

Once he entered the terminal, Jase glanced around, spotted a secluded niche and headed toward it. Before he caught a cab, he needed some privacy to check in at his office. He’d been out of contact for far too long, and his patchwork of odd flights home hadn’t allowed any calls. Even at this hour, there’d be someone at Campbell and Angelis Security picking up the phone. With any luck, it might even be Dino Angelis, his partner of six months.

Sure enough, someone answered on the second ring.

“Campbell and Angelis Security.”

Jase frowned as he tried to place the familiar voice. Not Dino. His partner’s voice was much deeper and he didn’t speak with a drawl. But it couldn’t be who he thought it was. His brother D.C. was currently serving with the military police on a second tour of duty in Baghdad.

“D.C.?” Jase asked.

“At your service. Where are you? Dino and I were getting worried.”

“I’m at La Guardia. What are you doing in my office?”

“Since I got here two days ago, I’ve been holding down the fort and helping Dino out. Got my leg busted up a little, and the army decided that I should take some leave time while I got it back in shape.”

Jase frowned. “How bad is the leg?”

“Nothing that can’t be fixed.”

“Does Mom know?”

“I spent a week in Baltimore and let her pamper me. I gained at least five pounds while I checked out Darcy’s latest boyfriend.” Some of Jase’s tension eased. If his brother had the time and energy to torment their kid sister, then he must be on the mend.

“Are you going to tell me how bad the leg is?”

“You’re as bad as Mom. It’s going to be fine. With any luck I’ll be back in Iraq by Christmas.”

Jase didn’t see that as lucky. But he knew he’d gotten as much out of D.C. on the subject of his injury as he was going to. “Let’s go back to my first question. What exactly are you doing in my office? And where’s Dino?”

“I came to pay you a surprise visit and Dino offered me a temporary job. Right now I believe he’s at his fiancée’s apartment.”

It was thanks to Dino’s pretty fiancée Cat McGuire that Jase had been able to persuade Dino, his old navy buddy, to become his partner last December.

“Where are you staying?”

“Dino fixed me up temporarily with an empty apartment in their building. Not that I get to spend much time there.”

“Business is good, I take it?” Jase asked.

“So good that you’ve been missed, bro.”

More of Jase’s tension eased. If Campbell and Angelis had to take on some extra help, Dino couldn’t have found a more perfect person than D.C. His brother had a sharp and inventive mind and the kind of intuition that made for an excellent cop. Unable to stop himself, he yawned hugely. What he needed even more than a good night’s sleep was work. One lesson he’d learned when he’d been working special ops was that the best way to dim the images from the previous operation was to immerse yourself totally in a new one.

“By the way, your roommate, Jordan Ware, has been trying to contact you. Mom told me that the two of you are sharing an apartment again.”

“When? What did she want?”

“About a week ago. She talked to Dino and asked him to pass on a message to contact her if you called in.”

Once again, Jase frowned. Jordan never called him at work. Then he pushed the small worry aside. No doubt she’d called the office because his cell phone had been worthless where he’d been for the last few weeks. At any rate, he’d see her sometime tomorrow.

“Hold down the fort. If Dino calls in, tell him I’ll be in the office tomorrow afternoon.” Once Dino brought him up to speed on all their active files, he knew exactly which case he would start on. He’d promised Eva Ware that he’d look further into that break-in and robbery at her Madison Avenue jewelry store. In his opinion, it had to have been an inside job, and that worried him a bit.

“Right now, my aim is to crash for at least twelve hours,” Jase said, then added, “Thanks for covering.”

“I live to serve.”

A BIT DIZZY from sleep deprivation and jet lag, Maddie let herself into Jordan’s Soho apartment. During the last few days, she’d managed to lose all sense of time. The only reason she knew that it was shortly after midnight was because she’d asked the cab driver who’d driven her from JFK.

According to her estimate, she’d spent nearly eighteen of the last forty-eight hours on an airplane. Severe thunderstorms in the midwest had delayed her flights both to and back from Santa Fe. She’d barely been at the ranch long enough to pack what she thought she’d need for a three-week stay in New York. Jordan, the lucky girl, had only had to make one flight.

In the very short time they’d spent together before Jordan had insisted she immediately fly back to the ranch and set things in order for the switch, Maddie had learned that her sister was a ruthlessly organized woman who gathered data, made lists, assembled files and was quite used to having her “suggestions” followed. Had Eva Ware been like that? Maddie wondered. Would she ever know? She hoped that Jordan was right and that by switching lives each of them would come to know the other parent better. But she was beginning to feel a sense of loss that she would never have a chance to talk to Eva about her design process.

And Jordan would never hear Mike Farrell’s laugh.

Not that her sister wouldn’t discover as much as she could about the ranch and their father. The woman was meticulous. She couldn’t think of one thing that had escaped Jordan’s attention. Jordan had even suggested that since Maddie possessed very few outfits appropriate for the city and Jordan experienced the same lack of wardrobe for ranch life, they could borrow clothes from one another and cut down on what they needed to pack. Maddie figured that was Jordan’s subtle way of letting her know not to appear at Eva Ware Designs in her jeans and boots.