Twins Under The Tree. Leigh Riker

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СКАЧАТЬ no. Hadley I-don’t-need-your-involvement Smith.

      She’d actually run into him only a few times since that day in the hospital. Once she’d spotted him on the street here in town pushing a double stroller through the winter slush on the sidewalk. The twins had been bundled in adorable matching snowsuits covered with hoods so Jenna couldn’t clearly see their faces. Instead of approaching, she’d hurried into Olivia McCord Antiques, telling herself she was late for work and couldn’t stop even to coo over the babies.

      Jenna shot a look at the storeroom, but Sherry didn’t reappear from behind the curtain with its colorful pattern of sailboats and sand pails.

      “Sherry here?” he asked.

      “In the back. She’ll be out in a minute.” Now would be even better. “I don’t work here,” she added in case he’d thought she did.

      “I know. You help at the store down the block.”

      “I used to manage it,” she corrected him, surprised to think he’d been keeping tabs on her. Her friend and now former employer Olivia had two shops, one in Barren and the other in Farrier, the next town over in the county.

      Jenna had enjoyed the job, but it wasn’t what she wanted long-term. Having just completed her studies to become an interior designer, she’d served her notice to Olivia a couple of weeks ago and was starting her own business—Fantastic Designs—or trying to this first week. She had to support herself now. But she saw no need to share that with Hadley.

      “Don’t have much use for old furniture,” he said, running a hand over the nape of his neck, “or new, for that matter.”

      Jenna didn’t respond. She still missed her upscale house in Shawnee Mission, an affluent suburb of Kansas City, where she’d lived with her ex-husband. Her apartment now in Barren was crammed with treasures she’d brought with her, although she and David still had a few things left to decide on.

      “You waiting for something?” Hadley said.

      She shrugged. “A quilt with sewn-on activities and noisemakers. For my sister’s baby.” Which was none of his business.

      Hadley scowled. “I wasn’t home the other day, but Clara says you came by.”

      Which sounded to Jenna like a challenge. When she did drive out to the McMann ranch to see the twins, she tried to schedule her visits so that Hadley would be at work. Sometimes she even passed by the NLS to make sure his truck was there. Silly, she supposed, but he made her uncomfortable. And she guessed, from the way he kept shifting from one foot to the other, she made him uneasy, too.

      “I hope you don’t have a problem with that,” she said, although she knew he did.

      His gaze lifted. “Amy may not have trusted me to see to the twins’ welfare, but she was wrong.”

      “I’m not concerned about your relationship with Amy.” Although she’d certainly heard an earful from her friend, Jenna knew better than to interfere. She’d done so once with her sister Shadow, and she wouldn’t make that mistake again. “My only interest now is in the twins.”

      Hadley stared at her. “Clara tells me when you’ve been to the house. I’ve noticed the presents you brought. Gracie looks cute in those pink pajamas with the sheep on them.” His tone was grudging. “And Luke looks ready to play football in the blue ones with the helmets all over.”

      “I couldn’t resist,” she admitted.

      Sherry chose that moment to sweep through the curtain with the box Shadow had ordered, and Jenna could have kissed her for her perfect timing.

      On impulse Jenna turned, plucked the yellow sundress and the multihued pastel playsuit she’d admired from the nearest table, then added the navy sneakers. Her cheeks flaming, she paid for them and made small talk with Sherry while she wrapped the gifts. The whole time Jenna could sense Hadley, still in the center of the room, staring at her back. Then, feeling too onstage with him watching, she carried her parcels toward the door.

      Jenna had her hand on the latch when Hadley reached around her. The bell jingled as he opened the door for her. “Want me to take the presents home?”

      How did he know they were for Luke and Grace? Oh, yes, why else would she buy double gifts in the same size? For a boy and girl? “Thank you, but I’ll take them next time I visit the twins.”

      He’d been polite—at least he had manners—but Jenna didn’t welcome his help any more than Hadley welcomed hers. Not that he would consider it help.

      ON HIS WAY to the NLS the next morning, bleary-eyed after a sleepless night, Hadley still felt shaken by his encounter with Jenna. And then he was startled by a different kind of encounter. As he drove through town, he braked hard at the only stoplight in Barren, certain that the dark-haired guy walking along the opposite side of the street might be the lone remnant of the broken family he’d been born into. But it couldn’t be his brother, the one Hadley had betrayed. He hadn’t seen him in years. Not that Dallas would want to see Hadley.

      When he finally reached the ranch, the foreman was waiting at the barn, his eyes the color of flint.

      “You’re late,” Cooper Ransom said.

      Hadley recognized the hard tone of voice. He climbed out of his truck. Once he’d have been ready for a fight, but he couldn’t afford to lose his temper. He was a father now, and he and Cooper, who was married to the owner’s granddaughter, had already shared some nasty moments. Still, he had the other man to thank for Hadley moving in with Amy last spring. He would never regret Cooper’s advice to treat her more kindly. He hoped he’d given Amy a few happy moments—in between their quarrels—when she’d had so few of them left.

      Hadley’s mouth tightened. “My boy’s got his days and nights mixed up,” he told Cooper. “When he finally went to sleep, I crashed myself.” Clara hadn’t wakened him this morning. Either she’d thought he needed the rest, or she wasn’t speaking to him. After their talk the other night, she’d made it plain he was welcome in her home until the ranch sold, but how could she show the place with toys and stacks of diapers scattered everywhere? “I got here as soon as I could.”

      “I appreciate that. I know it’s hard to keep a schedule with two babies at once. But you left early yesterday. You were late once last week. Ranch work can’t wait for you to show up.”

      He’d expected a stern lecture, but… “I’m being fired?” Again? He’d lost his job as foreman to Cooper last year.

      The ranch owner, Ned, had always been good to Hadley and had rehired him, but as a ranch hand. Now he earned half of what he used to make as foreman.

      He thought again about Clara’s question. He’d give everything he had to run his own ranch, to be in full control of his life, but even buying a horse wasn’t possible right now. Amy’s outstanding hospital charges were eating him up, and the next payment was due. While he was glad her doctors had done everything humanly possible to save her, the ongoing expense was drowning Hadley. He needed this job.

      “Listen,” he said before Cooper could deliver the final blow. “I’m a hard worker. With calves being born every day here, you need me now,” Hadley insisted.

      Cooper СКАЧАТЬ