The Texas Valentine Twins. Cathy Thacker Gillen

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      Casually, Wyatt related, “We hooked up a while ago, at a wedding, when Adelaide thought she was already pregnant via artificial insemination, and long story short—” he couldn’t quite suppress a triumphant grin “—we just found out the twins are mine. Ours.”

      A second really shocked silence reverberated around the table.

      Glad to see this, too, was happy news, Adelaide added, with an outer confidence she couldn’t begin to feel, “Naturally, we want to do what is best for everyone. So Wyatt and I have decided to join forces and move in together at his ranch, until such a time as we can figure out a way to be a family without being married or living under one roof.”

      Chance and Garrett exchanged looks. “How long do you expect this to take?” Chance asked.

      Adelaide had no clue. The only thing she knew for sure was that she was in no rush to let the twins out of her sight for more than a few hours every day. Given how quickly he was stepping up to the plate, she assumed Wyatt would soon feel the same.

      “A year. Maybe more,” Wyatt said.

      “However long it takes us to consciously uncouple,” Adelaide agreed.

      Sage tilted her head, looking every bit as happy as her mother, Molly and Hope. “Well, if it works for the Hollywood stars, why shouldn’t it work for the two of you?”

      Chance and Garrett both guffawed.

      “This is serious.” Lucille frowned. “Under the circumstances, I think you should both forget about ever getting divorced. And have a proper wedding, here on the ranch, as soon as possible, with all your friends and family present.”

      The pressure of that kind of public hoopla made Adelaide reel. “Not going to happen, Mom,” Wyatt said. A little too quickly for Adelaide’s taste.

      Was the thought of doing what was best for the twins in the conventional sense really so distasteful to him? Did he hate her that much?

      On the other hand, she knew he was certainly being practical in wanting to go into the arrangement with their eyes wide open.

      “We should at least have a party to officially welcome Adelaide and the twins into the family,” Lucille insisted.

      “Once the dust settles on the news, that is probably a good idea,” Hope concurred, her considerable expertise as a crisis manager and public relations expert coming into play.

      “How do we get the word out?” Sage asked.

      Hope smiled. “The usual way—via announcement.”

      The women promptly went to work. Fifteen minutes later, they had a rough draft of the whimsical announcement. There was a border of hearts, with a stork across the top, carrying two babies, one in pink, one in blue. Followed by the words:

      And just when you think you’ve heard it all...

      Nearly ten years ago, on Valentine’s Day, at the tender age of eighteen, Adelaide Smythe and Wyatt Lockhart eloped.

      They soon got cold feet. And had it annulled. Until fate intervened, and they met up again on another starry romantic night.

      Twin babies and a surprisingly still legal marriage were the result!

      Please join us on the Circle H Ranch, on Saturday March 1, at 4:00 p.m., to welcome Adelaide and the twins, Jake and Jenny, into the Lockhart family, and celebrate the unconventional events that brought them all together. And brought all of us such happiness and love.

      “It can be a combination belated wedding reception slash baby shower,” Lucille decreed.

      Wyatt and Adelaide exchanged worried looks. Adelaide was willing to go along to get along, to a point. Not add more deception to the mix. “I think we might want to add something about our plans to eventually amicably divorce,” she said. “Otherwise, we will just face even more scandal down the road.”

      “Nonsense,” Lucille huffed. “If you two want to consciously uncouple, that is your business and can be done privately until such time as you are actually ready to divorce. Right now, the emphasis has to be on the twins. They deserve the kind of fairy-tale entry all children merit as they enter this world. When they look back on these events, as they certainly will someday, I want them to see an unconventional beginning brimming with love and joy.”

      As much as Adelaide wanted to, she could not argue that.

       Chapter Four

      “Why are they crying?” Wyatt asked in alarm several hours later. He and Adelaide carried both twins in the front door and set the carriers on the sofa.

      Adelaide eased Jake out of the straps and hooded jacket and blanket confining him, and handed him to Wyatt to hold. “A lot of reasons.” Tossing her own coat aside, she bent to retrieve Jenny from her carrier, too. “They saw a lot of new faces tonight.”

      No kidding, Wyatt thought. After the news had set in, everyone in the family had wanted to congratulate them and cuddle the twins. His mom had persuaded them to stay for an impromptu family dinner. He’d agreed as readily as Adelaide. Mostly because he hadn’t figured out how to be alone with her yet, under the startling new circumstances.

      He wished he had one-thousandth of Adelaide’s ease as a parent.

      Horses, he knew. Kids, not so much. He’d never had the golden touch with them. Well, except for his nephews Max and Braden. Those little tykes had taken right to him. Maybe because he bore a resemblance to their own daddies...

      “Do you think they’re still hungry?” He and Jake edged closer to Adelaide and Jenny. His daughter hadn’t lessened her wailing, either. “Because they were fed and burped right before we left the ranch.” Less than thirty minutes ago. “Their diapers changed, too.”

      Adelaide inclined her head, indicating he should follow suit. She carried Jenny up the stairs. “I think they’re just wound up and overtired.” They moved into the nursery. “Nothing a little walking the floor with them won’t cure. Unless...” Adelaide squinted at him thoughtfully. The crying was so loud now she had to practically shout to be heard. “You’d like to go on home now?”

      Wyatt shook his head. He had responsibilities now. “I’ll stay until they are asleep,” he vowed firmly.

      She pressed a kiss onto the top of Jenny’s head. He did the same with Jake.

      “Your horses...?” she asked.

      “Troy and Flint, my hired hands, have already taken care of them.”

      Briefly, Adelaide looked disappointed. As if she’d been counting on his work to take him away from them. Heaven knew it wasn’t the first time she’d used an excuse to put distance between them. It stung, just the same.

      He told himself her reaction was understandable. Had it not been for the babies they now shared, he would have been out the door hours ago, new dissolution papers filed.

      Instead, he was here with the three of them, trying to make sense of what had happened. СКАЧАТЬ