The Matchmaking Twins

She’d made it plain that she was indifferent to him, but for some damn reason, anytime he was within a few feet of her, he couldn’t get his mouth to stop yapping.

Not that he was actually interested in Carmen like that. Or in any woman, for that matter. When he’d been active on the team and going to bars with his single buddies, he’d had no problem charming the ladies. But those days were over soon after he’d met Samantha.

After his wife died, it had taken him a while to get his head back on straight, and he wasn’t entirely convinced he’d succeeded yet. He used to think that volunteering for the most dangerous missions and staring his fears in the face would make him feel more in control. Then, after a near-death experience last summer, he realized he couldn’t be so selfish as to put Aiden and Caden at risk of becoming total orphans. So he’d settled down and aimed for the safety net of Sugar Falls.

Now all his charm was exclusively used for smoothing over the trouble his children unintentionally caused. So far, neither his charm nor his commitment to his children had diminished that dangling, out-of-control feeling he still got. To make matters worse, when Carmen Delgado was around, his safety net seemed further away than ever—and he wasn’t sure he could survive another free-fall.

Chapter Two

Carmen had just finished lunch at the Cowgirl Up Café on Snowflake Boulevard and was walking back to the station to do some paperwork before her shift was over when a very pregnant Mia McCormick waved her over from across the street.

“Hey, Officer Delgado, you’re just the person I wanted to talk to,” Mia said as she held open the door to the Sugar Falls Cookie Company to allow Kylie Gregson, the twins’ aunt, to maneuver her double stroller inside. “Do you have a second?”

“Sure.” Carmen followed the women into the little shop that brought so much business to Sugar Falls. She inhaled the scent of vanilla and looked around at the cute displays to see what the flavor of the month was. She’d always been a sucker for fresh baked goods, and even though the turkey sandwich and potato salad she’d finished a few minutes ago threatened to pop open the button on her uniform pants, she might order a couple of cookies and save them for later.

She tried to look anywhere but at the other customers who cooed and made googly eyes at the twin baby girls, talking to Kylie and Mia about feedings and diapers and all the things Carmen would never get to experience.

Carmen had never felt like such an outsider, which was saying something considering she’d been the only female in her MP unit and had had to hoof it clear across the base to take a shower in the women’s head while all of her coworkers got to use the communal locker room.

At least as a Marine and a cop, she had the job in common with her male counterparts. But there was absolutely nothing she could say at that second that would make her fit in with this duo of mommies. And she never would.

When the customers finally left, Mia said, “I’m so behind schedule. I should’ve taken Maxine up on her offer to deliver the cookies to the old Remington Theater for tonight’s dance recital.”

Maxine owned the Sugar Falls Cookie Company and was married to Carmen’s boss. Since Carmen knew Chief Cooper was off duty this afternoon to accompany his wife to an obstetrician appointment, she doubted the pregnant dance teacher would get much help running errands. Maybe that’s what Mia wanted to talk to her about. But before Carmen could remind the woman she was on duty, the other mom spoke up.

“Thank goodness you got the city council to okay you using the old theater for performances,” Kylie said to Mia as she rocked her stroller back and forth. She directed her next comment at Carmen. “Sometimes I worry about my girls growing up in a small city with a limited access to culture, so having a legitimate venue for school plays and band concerts is a total win. Last year, when the community center got double booked, we had to watch the fifth grade’s talent show while the bingo club was shouting out B-39 and O-14 the whole time.”

Carmen smiled politely as the women laughed. She hadn’t been in Sugar Falls very long, so she didn’t share the same memories, but she appreciated these ladies including her in the conversation and not making her feel so out of the loop. Although she was still waiting for them to clue her in on why they wanted to talk to her.

“You’re from Vegas originally, right?” Kylie asked before reaching into the stroller and unstrapping the infant who’d started fussing. Carmen nodded but averted her eyes quickly for fear that if she watched the tender maternal moment too long, she wouldn’t be able to look away. In which case, they’d probably see the hunger and the desperation in her eyes. She planned to avoid that scenario. Sympathy was never easy for her to handle.

“Hey, I thought I saw my nieces being wheeled in here,” a masculine voice said from the doorway. Carmen didn’t have to turn around to recognize the speaker. Her stomach’s telltale reaction to his voice already alerted her.

She told herself it was due to the big lunch she’d just consumed, not his unexpected arrival. Just like it was the sudden crisp spring air rushing in from the open door that caused the shiver to race from inside her starched collar all the way down her spine—not Luke Gregson, himself.

Maybe if she repeated that lame excuse eight more times, she might actually believe it.

The tall man was dressed in his blue battle dress uniform, looking like he’d spent all morning modeling in a photo shoot for some Navy recruitment poster. She would think that seeing him in his military uniform would trick her mind into believing that he was just like every other guy she’d worked with over the past ten years.

But judging from the second shiver making its way down her back, it wasn’t her mind doing the thinking.

A sudden wail jerked Carmen’s attention from the muscular male legs tucked into shiny black boots and toward the small bundle of pink still strapped in the stroller.

“Oh, no.” The pitch in Luke’s normally deep voice raised a few octaves as he reached for his other niece, talking to her. “Did your mean ol’ mama pick up your sister and leave you behind all alone in this big contraption?”

“Luke Gregson.” Kylie stood up even taller than her five-foot-ten height as she faced her brother-in-law. “If you call me or my fashionable stroller ‘old’ one more time, I will drive straight to the school and tell your sons that you promised to take them and five of their best friends camping this weekend.”

“Aw, come on, Kylie.” Luke’s voice sounded just like his sons last week when Carmen had told them they had to practice their spelling words before she took them to Noodie’s Ice Cream Shoppe. “That’s not cool. It’s supposed to rain this weekend, and you know what happened last time I let them invite a friend—one friend—for a sleepover at the cabin. I still have mustard and toilet paper stuck to the living room ceiling.”

Carmen laughed. It didn’t take much to imagine how Aiden and Caden had managed that.

“Hey, Officer Delgado.” Luke finally turned his warm gaze to her. Seeing him holding that precious baby made her stomach drop to her knees, which was the only explanation for why her legs felt so unsteady. “I didn’t expect to see you in here chitchatting the afternoon away with these two.”

Didn’t he? If he saw his sister-in-law and nieces enter the cookie shop, then he had to have seen Carmen come in right behind them. More than likely, he was probably surprised to see her socializing with other women. Not that she wasn’t a little surprised herself.

“First, you call me old and now you suggest we’re all just wasting our time talking about important town business?” Kylie tried to sound stern. “Give me my daughter, Luke. She can’t wait to surprise her cousins at school with the news of their fun-filled weekend.”

Luke maneuvered himself and the pink bundle nestled on his shoulder behind Carmen, as though she were the barrier that would protect him from his brother’s wife, who was clearly only feigning her annoyance. His dimpled smile struck again.

“Now, now, Kylie. You couldn’t ever get mad at me. That’s just the hormones talking.” When his sister-in-law chuckled, Luke finally moved back into the line of fire. “I remember when Samantha had just given birth to the boys and she called my commanding officer in the middle of the night, reading him the riot act because I was still on deployment and she was out of baby wipes and didn’t have any clothes not covered in spit-up that she could wear to the store.”

“Your wife was a saint for putting up with you gone on all that secret assignment mumbo jumbo. I couldn’t even imagine what I’d do if Drew got deployed before the girls go off to graduate school.”

Luke rocked back on his heels but didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. The sadness in his blue eyes and the steeliness of his jaw did the talking for him.

“Oh, my gosh, Luke.” Kylie must’ve seen the same hurt expression cross his face because she tenderly stroked his arm. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It’s okay, Kylie. I know what you meant. And you’re right. Samantha did put up with a lot.”

If Carmen had felt mildly awkward before, she was downright uncomfortable at being a witness to his heartache. What was she doing here, anyway? Should she even be listening to them reminisce about his deceased wife, a woman who obviously deserved the pedestal they’d all placed her on?

“So, Mia,” Carmen said, trying to verbally tiptoe her way out of the emotional land mine. “What was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Oh, that’s right. Sorry, I have pregnancy brain and can barely hold on to a passing thought.”

Carmen, knowing she would never be able to personally relate to such a symptom, had no response to that statement. Instead, she forced a smile toward the sweet woman.

“You know how we do group exercise classes at the dance studio?” Mia asked but didn’t wait for a response. “Well, I normally teach a yoga class on Monday mornings, but with the baby due soon, I’m trying to find some substitute instructors while I’m on leave.”

“But I’ve never taught yoga.”

“Delgado’s a Marine,” Luke said, apparently listening in on their conversation. Kylie must’ve decided to distract him from his grief because now he was holding both babies, one nestled against each thick bicep. Whoa.

“She’s a devil dog,” he continued. “They don’t do sissy yoga. Right, Delgado?”

She cringed slightly at the Marine nickname and his inaccurate assessment of her.

“Easy there, skipper,” Carmen said, throwing a naval moniker right back at him. His use of her last name was all the proof she needed that she’d been placed in the Friendzone. It was also a good reminder that she shouldn’t be lusting over him. “You just got out of trouble with Kylie and now you’re trying to pick a fight with Mia, as well? I think you’re underestimating your battle odds.”

Mia’s hand shot between them like a white flag of surrender. “That’s not what I meant. I was actually moving yoga to a different day, which leaves Mondays open. So, I was thinking that maybe you could lead some sort of kickboxing type class or teach self-defense. You know, that type of thing?”

“Oh,” Carmen said, at a loss for words. She hadn’t been expecting the request. She was flattered that the dance instructor thought her capable of teaching, and a little pleased that the small community was beginning to welcome her into their folds. But still. Would other ladies in town even be interested in such a class?

“Give it some thought.” Mia, probably sensing her hesitation, quickly added, “I have the recital tonight, and then the girls and I normally get together on Thursdays for dinner. Why don’t you meet with us tomorrow and we can discuss things more?”

“And by discuss things,” Kylie added, “she means maybe we can help her talk you into it.”

“Uh-oh, Delgado.” Luke smiled showing a single dimple. “These women are trying to get you to come over to the dark side with them. I’m sure you’d rather hang out with us tomorrow at poker night.”

And there she had it. She knew he was part of the group of men who got together with Chief Cooper once a week to play cards. Which meant Luke Gregson definitely thought of her as one of the guys.

It should feel good that both groups wanted her presence at their Thursday night rituals. But there was still the underlying reminder that the man she couldn’t stop thinking about didn’t reciprocate her feelings—and probably never would, considering the loving way he spoke of his late wife. It was enough to dash all hope of her ever finding a man who would accept a damaged woman.

In the past ten years, Carmen had had her share of poker nights and locker-room jokes and testosterone-fueled bragging. A night out with the girls actually sounded like a nice change of pace.

So she looked at the two women and, for the first time, stepped over the invisible line she believed had been drawn in the sand. “What time should I be there, ladies?”

* * *

Could Officer Delgado try any harder to avoid him?

As Luke stood outside the bakery, he had to wonder what he’d done to annoy the beautiful cop. Sure, he enjoyed his sassy sister-in-law and her group of friends. But Carmen didn’t seem like the type of woman to hang out with a bunch of former cheerleaders turned moms.

She had way more in common with him, and he’d simply been trying to point that out. Okay, so maybe he sounded like an arrogant tool with all that ooh rah Marine business. He wasn’t trying to be a chauvinist or imply that she wasn’t capable of teaching yoga. From what he’d seen of her with the twins, and from what he’d heard of her reputation with the MPs, she was one tough cookie.

So then why did she always act like he was a melted chocolate chip stuck to the bottom of her black utility boot?

He would’ve asked Kylie if he’d done anything to offend Carmen, but she’d sat down to nurse one of the girls and Luke had gotten the heck out of Dodge. Not that he was uncomfortable with seeing a woman breast-feed. At least, he doubted he would be. He’d been on a classified mission when his own boys were born, and by the time he’d come home, Samantha had decided that formula was much easier for her. And who was he to object? He couldn’t be there all the time and he still felt immeasurable guilt that his wife had had to do everything on her own.

Not that she’d totally been on her own, he’d found out after the fact. Still, it had been a hell of a lot more than he’d done.

When Aiden and Caden were babies and toddlers, Luke was usually only home for a couple of months at a time. He and his late wife didn’t necessarily share the same parenting philosophy, but they also didn’t share the same workload when it came to the kids, so he took a backseat to her softer approach. Then, after her accident, he’d stayed home long enough to help the boys get through the initial grief before his parents convinced him they could help out. Luke had told himself that the three-year-olds needed a mother figure more than they needed him—after all, it was Samantha who had done most of the work so far.

So when Aiden and Caden were staying with different family members and babysitters and he was still out of the country half the time, the boys lost even more structure.

His cell phone rang, and when he saw the number for the elementary school on the display screen, Luke wished for the thousandth time that he’d been more on top of their discipline. He loved his children more than anything, but man, were they magnets for trouble.

“Captain Gregson, here,” he answered.

“Hello, Captain. This is Mrs. Dunn, the nurse over here at Sugar Falls Elementary.”

Thank God, it was the nurse this time, and not the principal. Wow, that was a really bad thought. “Are my sons okay?” he asked.

“Yes, everyone is fine. Now. Caden had a little incident on the tetherball court and Aiden tried to help him get untangled and, well, the rope got caught. Anyway, I think it’s just a bad sprain, but you should probably get some X-rays just in case.”

“Which one?”

“The left one.”

“I mean, which of my children got injured.”

“Aiden has the actual sprain, but from the way Caden is carrying on, you’d think he was the one hurt.”

It was a twin thing. Luke and Drew had experienced the similar phenomenon growing up. And even as adults.

“I’m coming right now. Is his arm in a sling?”

“Uh, no. Why would it be?”

Luke only had basic medic training to assist in emergencies until a corpsmen got to the scene, but it would seem to him like the nurse would at least want to take pressure off the injured body part. “I just thought that maybe it would help stabilize his arm.”

“Oh, sorry, Captain Gregson. I should’ve been clearer. The sprain is to Aiden’s ankle.”

“How in the world did he sprain his ankle with a tetherball rope?”

“That’s a great question, Captain. And as soon as he gets his brother to relax, maybe Aiden can tell us. I had to snatch some pudding cups out of the school cafeteria to help in the calming-down process.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Luke disconnected the call, got into his nana’s brown Oldsmobile and drove less than a mile from downtown to the school. He’d grown up in Boise, but his parents owned a cabin here and he had spent most of his summers in Sugar Falls before joining the Navy. While the town setting was familiar, he was still getting used to the slower pace of life.

He would’ve preferred to drive around in the yellow Jeep his family kept at the cabin, but when his brother, Drew, had stepped in to care for the boys last summer during Luke’s last deployment, his overly cautious and analytical brother had insisted that the thirty-year-old sedan was safer for shuttling children than the fun and masculine four-by-four.

At least the Oldsmobile was in good shape. Before she’d passed away ten years ago, his grandmother had only driven the thing three times a week—to the grocery store, to the beauty shop and to the casino out on the reservation—so it had low mileage and only some minor dings in the right front fender. Nana never could make the tight turn into her carport at the mobile home park.

He kept meaning to buy a more functional and fuel-efficient car, especially since he was making the hour-long commute into Boise four times a week. But, contrary to what Drew and their sister, Hannah, thought, he’d always been Nana’s favorite grandkid and he missed the old gal.

Growing up, Luke had been the naughty twin—the proverbial pastor’s son who drove his mother to distraction. Nana would come pick him up to give his mom a break, calling him her wild child and having him light her menthol cigarettes for her so she could keep both hands on the steering wheel.

He took a deep breath, still able to smell the Benson & Hedges along with the lingering scent of her Shalimar perfume. His parents were fair and loved him, but Nana had been his island—his place to escape. Driving this brown beast made him feel closer to her.

When he pulled into the school lot, he gunned the eight-cylinder engine, just like she used to do, before pulling into a parking spot. He also overestimated his turn radius and the right bumper knocked into the custom sign that read Principal Parking Only.

Yep, just like Nana.

He walked inside and waved at the school secretary, who, after the third week of school, had programmed Luke’s cell number into her phone’s speed dial.

He let out a little sigh of relief when he turned left to go to the nurse’s office instead of heading straight down the hall toward the principal’s. He’d spent plenty of time sitting outside doors just like that one when he was growing up. And, since history seemed to be repeating itself, his children had a tendency to do the same.

Karma was definitely on the upswing with his genetics. Luke’s parents often referred to it as God’s sense of humor.

When he entered the room, he saw Aiden, the injured twin, sitting behind Mrs. Dunn’s desk and showing her how to play a computer game. Caden, the uninjured one, was propped on the cot and eating a chocolate pudding cup. His left foot was elevated on several pillows with an ice pack balanced precariously on top.

Even Luke’s brother, Drew, a well-respected Navy psychologist, couldn’t explain twin telepathy. But both he and Luke had experienced it firsthand and he didn’t doubt for a second that Caden could legitimately feel his brother’s pain.

Although, from the way Aiden was swinging around in the nurse’s chair and yelling commands at the woman on how to fight the Creepers on her computer, it seemed nobody was really the worse for wear.

“Dad? Oh, good. You’re finally here,” Caden said as he sat up and reached for his backpack. “We need to get Aiden to the hospital for some X-rays. Let me see your phone.”

Luke patted his pocket, ensuring his cell was far out of reach from his dramatic and impulsive son. “Who were you planning to call?”

“Officer Carmen. I’m gonna tell her we need a police escort with lights and sirens and the works.”

Luke raised his blond eyebrow at Aiden, who had just high-fived Mrs. Dunn for reaching the next level on his favorite game. “I think your brother will be fine on the way there. We can forgo the Code Three routine.”

Besides, he was pretty sure Carmen was off duty by now. Wait. How had he known that? Had she mentioned her schedule to him when he’d seen her at the cookie shop earlier?

Considering she hadn’t said more than two words to him, he doubted it. So why did he know what her shift was? Because today was Wednesday. And she always worked the afternoon shift on Sundays and Mondays, then the morning shifts on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

He tapped his toe against the linoleum. Yep, the ground was still solid. So then maybe he could stomp out some of this useless information he was carrying around about a woman who would just as soon do fifty pull-ups than say hello to him.

Of course he would know her schedule because Tuesdays were the days she always picked up the boys after school, right after putting in a ten-hour day. He had to give the woman credit for that. She was an absolute sweetheart with the twins and had the patience of Job. Aiden and Caden couldn’t stop talking about her or singing her praises, which was probably why she kept popping up in Luke’s head so often—just like his renewed knowledge of Star Wars sequels, now that he’d shown the DVDs to the boys.

“Sorry to have to bother you at work, Captain,” Mrs. Dunn, the fiftysomething-year-old former Ski Potato Queen, said. He knew she had been on the homecoming court and had earned her crown at the annual ski festival the same decade his grandmother had bought her Oldsmobile because the woman kept the framed pictures and newspaper articles displayed on a shelf right above the bandages and antiseptic wipes.

“Actually, we had a presentation at one of the high schools this morning so I was off early today.”

“Being a recruiter must be so exciting. Helping all those young people find their careers.” When the nurse smiled at him, he noticed some of her coral lipstick had smeared onto her front two teeth, but he didn’t have the heart to point it out to the former beauty queen. When it came to those holding any sort of authority position over his children, he found it best to keep them locked in as allies.

“That’s sweet of you to say. It really makes me appreciate all you school employees do to help shape the minds of our next generation.” Which was true. Luke loved his own boys, but he didn’t think he could deal with so many students and their high-energy personalities on a daily basis. He gave the woman his best get-out-of-trouble smile.

Her mascara-clumped eyelashes fluttered as best they could and he knew he’d hit his mark. She smiled back and said, “I bet the high schoolers just adore having a hotshot hero like you come speak to them.”