Triple Trouble / A Real Live Cowboy. Judy Duarte

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      And he was thirty-seven. Too old for her.

      Unfortunately, his libido didn’t appear to be paying attention to the math.

      He’d reached the office while he’d been preoccupied with the situation at home, and swung the Porsche into a parking slot. He left the car and headed for his office, determined to put thoughts of the curvy redhead at home, busy with his new instant family, out of his mind.

      He quickly scanned the pink message slips the receptionist had handed him and tossed the stack on his desktop. He rang his brother Darr while he plugged in his laptop and arranged to meet him for lunch at their favorite diner, SusieMae’s. Then he closed his office door and tackled an inbox filled with documents and files.

      Nick gave the waitress his and Darr’s usual lunch order and she bustled off. SusieMae’s Café was crowded, but he had a clear view of the door, and saw his brother enter.

      Darr swept the comfortable interior with a quick glance, nodding at acquaintances as he crossed the room and slid into the booth across from Nick.

      “Where have you been?” he demanded without preamble. “I left two messages on your machine. You never called back.”

      “You didn’t say it was an emergency.” Nick shrugged out of his jacket and eyed his brother across the width of the scarred tabletop. “Was it?”

      “Not exactly. I wanted to know if you’d talked to Dad or J.R. lately.”

      “I haven’t.” Nick took a drink of water. “Why?”

      “Because I called and neither one answered. Come to think of it,” Darr frowned at Nick, “none of you called me back.”

      Nick grinned. “Probably because we all assumed you were too busy with Bethany to care if we called you or not.”

      “Huh,” Darr grumbled.

      Nick noticed his younger brother didn’t deny the charge.

      “How’s Bethany doing?” he asked. He felt distinctly protective toward the petite, pregnant blonde, especially since Darr was in love with her. When the two married, she’d become Nick’s sister-in-law. As far as he was concerned, Bethany Burdett was a welcome addition to their all-male family.

      “Good.” Darr leaned back to let their waitress set plates and coffee mugs on the tabletop in front of them. “She’s good.”

      Nick didn’t miss the softening of his brother’s face. He was glad Darr had found a good woman. Bethany made him happy, and he seemed content in a way Nick hadn’t seen before.

      “You didn’t answer my question, where have you been?”

      Nick waited until the waitress left before he spoke. “I made a trip to Amarillo. I’ve been pretty busy since I got back.”

      “Yeah? What were you doing in Amarillo?” Darr took a bite of his sandwich, eyeing Nick over the top of a double-decker bacon-and-tomato on wheat.

      “I picked up Stan’s kids.” Nick saw Darr’s eyes widen. “Three of them,” he added, smiling slightly at the shock on his brother’s face. “They’re all girls—only a year old. Triplets.”

      Darr choked, set down his sandwich, grabbed his coffee and washed down the bite in record time. “What the hell? Why? What happened?”

      Nick lost any amusement he’d felt at his brother’s dumfounded expression. “He and Amy were in a car accident—neither one of them made it out alive.” Saying the words aloud didn’t make the truth any less surreal.

      The shock on Darr’s face made it clear he was just as stunned as Nick had been at first hearing the news.

      “Both of them?” He shook his head in disbelief when Nick nodded. “They were so young. You and Stan are the same age, right?”

      Again, Nick nodded. “And Amy was a year younger.”

      “And you have custody of their babies?” Darr queried,

      “Yeah.”

      “Why?”

      “Because Stan’s will named me guardian if Amy’s sister Lana couldn’t take them.” Nick took a drink of coffee, hoping to erase the lump of emotion in his throat. He still hadn’t come to terms with the abruptness with which Stan and Amy had disappeared from the world. “So they’re with me until the attorney locates Lana.”

      “Where is she?”

      “No one knows.” Nick stared broodingly at his plate, holding a sandwich and chips. “She and her husband work in Africa and Amy seems to have lost track of them a few months ago.”

      “Damn.” Darr eyed him. “Who’s taking care of the kids while you work?”

      “I hired a nanny,” Nick replied. “And Melissa’s working longer hours while I’m at the Foundation during the day.”

      Darr stared at him. Nick took a bite of his sandwich.

      “And?” Darr prompted when Nick didn’t elaborate.

      “And what?”

      “Don’t give me that. You’re stalling. What else aren’t you telling me?”

      “The nanny I hired works full-time. Her name is Charlene. She’s a redhead and she’s great with the triplets.”

      Darr lowered his coffee mug to the table without taking his gaze from Nick’s face. “She’s a babe, isn’t she.”

      It wasn’t a question. Darr knew him too well to be fooled.

      “Yeah. She is.” Nick shoved another bite of sandwich into his mouth.

      “Full-time,” Darr said consideringly. “What hours does she work?”

      “She’s pretty much on call twenty-four hours a day.”

      “So…he’s living at your house?”

      “Yeah.”

      “Sleeping down the hall from you?”

      Nick nodded, saw the glint appear in Darr’s eyes and bristled. “Yes, down the hall. She has her own bedroom. What the hell did you think, that she was sharing mine?”

      Darr shrugged. “It did cross my mind. Face it, Nick, you’ve never been slow with the ladies. You said she’s pretty—and she’s living in your house…” He spread his hands. “Sounds like a no-brainer to me.”

      “Well, it’s not,” Nick snarled, restraining an urge to wrap his hands around his brother’s neck and choke that grin off his face. “She works for me. Have you heard of sexual harassment? She’s off-limits.”

      “Too bad.” Darr lifted his coffee mug and drank. “So,” he said, setting the mug down and picking up his sandwich, “just how good-looking is Charlene?”

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