The Twin Bargain. Lisa Carter

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      Aghast, Amber stared at ErmaJean. “You want me to leave my girls with Ethan?”

      The older lady sat in a wheelchair beside the hospital bed, awaiting a physical therapy evaluation. She’d texted Amber late that morning, asking her to visit the hospital before collecting the girls from school.

      Ethan had not only installed a new battery into her car, but also managed to leave it parked at the Mason Jar, ready for her once she finished her shift.

      “Don’t look at me as if you think I’m crazy.” Clad in a loose, baby-blue velour jogging suit, ErmaJean’s neon pink leg cast stuck out from the foot piece. “It would be entirely under my supervision, of course. And I think there would be lots of advantages to this short-term arrangement.”

      Amber shook her head. “Ethan Green? We’re talking about your grandson?”

      His grandmother rested her hands on the armrests. “You must finish nursing training, and I promised to take care of the girls.”

      Amber threw out her hands. “I don’t expect you to take care of the girls after you broke your leg.”

      “I keep my promises, Amber.”

      “But, Miss ErmaJean—”

      “How will you finish your studies if someone doesn’t take care of the girls for you?”

      She wouldn’t be able to finish. In her mind, she’d already composed the email, tendering her withdrawal from the program.

      ErmaJean folded her hands in her lap. “Do you have anyone else to take care of the girls?”

      Spring was the big season for Callie’s fledgling photography career. She wouldn’t derail her best friend’s dreams.

      Biting her lip, Amber looked out the window over the parking lot. “No.”

      “Are you concerned that Ethan would harm or allow harm to come to the girls?”

      Her gaze snapped to ErmaJean. “Of course not. Ethan would never hurt the girls.”

      Ethan Green might be terminally charming and perennially rootless, but she’d spent enough time with her brother’s best friend to know he had a good heart.

      “So you think he’s just not responsible enough to be entrusted with their care?”

      “No offense, Miss ErmaJean, but your grandson isn’t exactly the poster boy for stick-to-it-iveness.”

      “I’m praying he’ll rise as the occasion demands. I’ve always believed there were unplumbed depths to him.” ErmaJean squared her shoulders. “But I would never hazard Lucy’s and Stella’s well-being if you’re opposed to Ethan twin-sitting them. A mother’s instincts must always be heeded.”

      Problem was—it wasn’t so much Amber’s motherly instincts that gave her pause as it was the younger Amber who lived somewhere still inside her heart. The one who’d followed her brother and Ethan everywhere. The girl who believed Ethan hung the moon and then some.

      Though after his father deserted him, the sweet boy she’d known had morphed into a cocky heartbreaker. In high school, he’d gone through a string of girlfriends. Then Mr. Love ’Em and Leave ’Em had walked away from Truelove as soon as he’d turned eighteen.

      She sighed. “It’s not Ethan I distrust.”

      ErmaJean’s eyes flickered. “What was that, Amber dear?”

      “Nothing.” Amber raised her chin. “I don’t object to Ethan looking after my girls. But Ethan told me you would be finishing your convalescence in Wilmington.”

      “I prevailed upon Ethan to reconsider. That I would recover best at home. He agreed to stay in Truelove for a while.”

      Ethan staying in Truelove? The idea sent a funny little pang into her heart. Biting her lip, she reminded herself Miss ErmaJean had said “a while.” A while meant only a temporary stay.

      “So you won’t be moving to the beach?”

      ErmaJean’s gaze dropped. “If my recovery goes as well as I hope, I’m believing relocating won’t be necessary.”

      Amber exhaled. “You have no idea how thrilled I am to hear you’re not leaving.” She clasped the woman’s hand. “I’d feel so lost without you—I mean, the girls would miss having you in their lives.”

      “It’s okay to need people, honey.”

      She looked away. “That hasn’t worked out so well for me, Miss ErmaJean.”

      “You and Ethan are more alike than you know.”

      “I never understood what Ethan has against Truelove. Sure, it’s a sleepy, laid-back kind of town. But that’s part of its charm.”

      ErmaJean brushed her hand across the shiny grain of the velour jacket. “He connects Truelove with his father’s abandonment. A place of broken endings. He and my daughter are still in touch, but after her remarriage, he never felt welcome in her new life. He associates Truelove with his feelings of being cast aside.”

      Perhaps she and Ethan were more alike than she’d realized. She was still working through the feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt Tony’s casting aside triggered within her.

      “Why, then, would Ethan even consider staying on and twin-sitting?”

      ErmaJean pursed her lips. “Perhaps in his heart, he’s looking for a second chance.”

      “At what?”

      “Redemption. For a new beginning.” ErmaJean folded her hands. “There’s another advantage to this arrangement. For the girls.”

      “What possible advantage to Ethan’s care could there be for Lucy and Stella?”

      ErmaJean fixed her gaze on Amber. “The girls don’t spend much time with men, Amber.”

      She stiffened. “They spend time with Maisie’s dad, Jake.”

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