The Cowboy's Twins. Deb Kastner

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      He was busy formulating a reasonable explanation for the mess inside when Faith’s eyes widened and her mouth made a perfect O. And she hadn’t even seen his dirty laundry yet.

      “Jax?” She whispered his name like a question, her voice sounding like sandpaper, not at all the sweet, high, smooth timbre she’d used earlier in the day.

      The warning in her tone sent a ripple of apprehension down his spine. Slowly he turned, afraid to see what had so obviously shaken her. He wouldn’t put anything past Susie at this point.

      Oh, dear Lord, no.

      His gut clenched as he gasped for air and a proverbial sideswipe to his jaw sent him reeling.

      No. It couldn’t be. It could. Not. Be.

      Jax blinked and scrubbed a hand down his face.

      Were his eyes deceiving him?

      Impossible.

      Even if he was blind as a bat, and even though his hearing was half what it used to be, there was no mistaking the sound of distinctive, distraught mewling coming from two tiny swaddled infants, bundled into their car seats and blocking the front door of his cabin.

      Babies?

      He took the steps two at a time and crouched before the baby on his left, gently adjusting the pink blanket covering her and making what he hoped were calming shushing noises. His expertise was horses. He knew zero about babies.

      She was incredibly tiny next to his large palm. So vulnerable. So defenseless. He swallowed hard.

      How long had they been here, alone, where any number of ills could befall them?

      The—babies.

      Fury roared and blazed like a wildfire in his chest. Susie had left two helpless infants on his front porch? She was going to answer for this. She’d always been irresponsible and often acted with poor judgment, but this went far beyond the pale even for her.

      “Jax?” Faith asked again, her voice faltering. She knelt before the other baby, presumably also a girl, given the identical pink blanket tucked around her, and gently rocked the seat to calm the infant. “Are these...?”

      “I don’t—I’m not—” Jax stammered, his head spinning. He considered himself calm and rational. His emotions rarely got the better of him. But right now he was fighting with every ounce of his courage against succumbing to the conflicting feelings pelting him—a lone unarmed man against an army of men with razor-sharp swords and blistering bows and arrows.

      Shock. Surprise. Anger. Betrayal. Guilt. Pain.

      Wonder.

      Were these...? Could it be that these precious little pieces of humanity were...?

      His heart welled and tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. He couldn’t lose it now. He just couldn’t.

      He stood abruptly, and the baby at his feet protested with a wail. She had a nice, healthy pair of lungs on her, and Jax winced, then crouched back down and rocked the car seat as Faith was doing.

      Where was Susie? How could she possibly have just left these babies behind without an explanation? He had a million questions to ask her, and he wanted to tell her exactly what he thought of her inconceivably selfish behavior. He’d never actually throttle a woman, even Susie, but the thought did cross his mind, to shake a little sense into her.

      How could she?

      How could she keep such an enormous secret from him? If these were, in fact, his daughters...

      She’d kept his children from him, kept him from knowing they even existed. They were probably no more than a month old—not that he could guess with any accuracy. She should have told him she was pregnant as soon as she knew she was pregnant. He should have been there when the babies were born.

      He was their father. He had rights. Responsibilities. Privileges.

      How dare she?

      He fished out his phone and punched Susie’s number again, but not surprisingly, it went straight to voice mail. Again. She was avoiding him, as well she might, considering what she’d just done. Was she seriously just dumping a couple of babies on his doorstep and running away?

      No. Not just a couple of babies.

      His babies.

      He didn’t know how he knew they were his children. Given Susie’s actions during the past year, their paternity might well be called into question, but his heart and his gut were telling him there was no doubt that he was the babies’ father. And not just because Susie had dumped them on his doorstep.

      Overcoming every other emotion he was feeling, even the most heated ones, amazement and wonder and love warmed his chest, swirling and curling around and filling his heart full to the brim.

      He was astounded by how instantly those feelings appeared and how strong they were. He’d woken up this morning a man who had been living practically like a hermit, deliberately isolating himself, mucking through the mire of his own despair.

      Alone.

      And now—

      Now he was a father.

      “Should we take them inside, do you think?” Faith asked hesitantly.

      “What? Yes.” He’d nearly forgotten Faith was there, but he was grateful she was. He wasn’t even remotely capable of dealing with this crisis on his own, and her question proved it. He didn’t know what to do with one baby, never mind two.

      Of course he needed to take the infants inside the cabin, and then...

      What next?

      He didn’t know the first thing about infants. Not what they ate, though presumably it was milk of some kind. Not how to get them to sleep, or even where they should sleep. It wasn’t as if he had a crib in his spare room. He didn’t even know how to change a diaper.

      Faith stood and touched his shoulder. “You look lost.”

      And frightened.

      She didn’t say it, but they both knew it.

      He met her empathetic hazel eyes and groaned. “I feel lost. Like on-another-planet lost. I don’t have a clue what I should do next. This is so beyond my realm of experience—almost beyond reality, actually.”

      She nodded. “I can’t even imagine what you’re going through. It’s not every day a man learns he’s a father when his babies show up at his door. Let’s get these two little darlings in out of the heat and tend to their immediate needs, and then we can make a plan.”

      She’d said we as if it were just a given that she’d be part of—whatever this was. Her voice teemed with compassion and confidence. He was grateful that she’d come to Serendipity and chosen it to be her home. He was glad he’d met her. It was no accident that she’d bid on him today.

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