Wanted: a nanny for Christmas

A Rocky Mountain Ranch novel

The only job Abby Halliwell can find in her Montana hometown is temporary nanny to two mischievous little girls. But it’s on her ex-boyfriend Jess Langford’s ranch. Jess needs help raising twins suddenly left in his care, so he and Abby are determined to be professional. But between unexpected holiday happenings and two mischievous matchmakers, will their business arrangement turn into something more?

A USA TODAY bestselling and award-winning author of over thirty-five novels, ROXANNE RUSTAND lives in the country with her husband and a menagerie of pets, including three horses, rescue dogs and cats. She has a master’s in nutrition and is a clinical dietitian. RT Book Reviews nominated her for a Career Achievement Award, two of her books won their annual Reviewers’ Choice Award and two others were nominees.

Also By Roxanne Rustand

Rocky Mountain Ranch

Montana Mistletoe

Aspen Creek Crossroads

Winter Reunion

Second Chance Dad

The Single Dad’s Redemption

An Aspen Creek Christmas

Falling for the Rancher

Rocky Mountain Heirs

The Loner’s Thanksgiving Wish

Big Sky Secrets

Fatal Burn

End Game

Murder at Granite Falls

Duty to Protect

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Montana Mistletoe

Roxanne Rustand

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08639-4

MONTANA MISTLETOE

© 2018 Roxanne Rustand

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

“You keep looking at me and frowning, Jess. Is something wrong?”

Abby shifted in her seat and sent Jess a bemused glance.

You are perfect, Jess thought grimly. And I am in so much trouble.

She flipped the visor back up. “Well?”

“I was just...checking the side mirrors,” he muttered. “A habit from hauling the horse trailer.”

The fabrication was ridiculous and Abby probably saw right through it, but what could he say—that she was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen in his life? And where would that lead?

A resounding shut-down, probably. And as much as he was tempted to tentatively test the waters, this could not be about him.

Betty desperately needed her help right now, and the twins did, too. Without Abby, Jess would be back to working 24/7, barely able to keep the ranch and house going.

Without her, he’d miss the banter.

The memories that kept slipping into his thoughts.

The niggling thought that maybe this time, he and Abby could get things right between them, if only he took it slow...

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for joining me as I begin my Rocky Mountain Ranch series for Love Inspired. I hope you enjoyed Montana Mistletoe.

For those of you who followed my previous Aspen Creek Crossroads series, thank you! If you read the final book, Falling for the Rancher, you may have noticed the mention of that hero in this book. It was such fun adding just a bit of a connection while beginning a new, unrelated series!

My husband and I live on an acreage with horses, some rescued cats and two big rescue dogs who consider themselves lap puppies. I love writing stories set in small towns and ranch country, and also love writing about the complexities and connections of multi-generational families...and how my characters must overcome conflicts, old wounds and challenges to reach a place where they can finally enjoy an abundant, faith-filled life.

I love to hear from readers, and promise to answer.

Snail mail: Roxanne Rustand, Box 2550, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52406

Email: via www.roxannerustand.com.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/roxanne.rustand.

Wishing you every blessing now and in the coming year,

Roxanne Rustand

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

—Philippians 4:6–9

With love and deep appreciation to my husband, Larry, for his never-ending support, and to our children and their spouses, Andy (Jenni), Brian (Julie) and Emily (Matthew), who are such a joy. I love you all beyond measure!

And also to Cheryl Kissling, RN. We were so very blessed by her comfort, support and gentle professionalism in the NICU years ago, when we lost our infant daughter, Christiana Leigh. Larry and I both felt we were held in the arms of an angel during those dark times, and I know that Cheryl’s deep faith strengthened my own at a time when I felt devastated and lost. I now owe her additional thanks for providing medical information for this book.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Emily M. Vasquez, freelance content editor, for her suggestions and advice on developing this manuscript. Any errors are mine alone!

I would like to thank Bobbi Jo Crouse for her wonderful assistance with research questions on this book—and several previous books, as well.

Also, I would like to thank my Facebook friends for the times I’ve asked questions about conflicting research sources, and so many of them came forward with the right professional backgrounds or experiences to help me out.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Jess Langford stopped outside his grandmother’s room at the rehab center and dropped to one knee. “Okay, girls. Do you remember what we talked about in the truck?”

The five-year-old twins bobbed their heads vigorously, their long, curly blond hair bouncing, though even now Sophie was edging toward the door, her bright blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

“We gotta be real quiet, so Gramma gets better and comes home.” Bella wrapped a long strand of her silky hair around a forefinger. She was edging toward the door, too. “And we can’t make her bed jiggly or she might cry. ’Cause she hurts.”

Jess sighed as he stood. Betty wasn’t hooked up to tubes and wires any longer, so those hazards were over, and she was made of much tougher stuff than anyone he knew. But the rambunctious twins had enough energy to wear anyone out—especially a seventy-seven-year-old woman who had been through surgery two weeks ago for a broken hip.

“Remember the rules? No running, no climbing on her bed. Promise? And indoor voices only, or we’ll have to leave.”

The girls raced into the dimly lit room and flung themselves against the side of the bed, chattering excitedly about their day in kindergarten. The pretty new layer of snow outside that looked like the sparkly real diamonds on their favorite Barbie dresses. Their latest adventures with their hay fort in the horse barn...which they currently called their princess castle.

Jess leaned against the door frame and stifled a yawn.

Last week, his only ranch hand had quit without warning, saying he’d had it with Montana’s winters and was going back to South Texas, which left Jess alone to run a horse-and-cattle ranch. Amid all of that, he’d been taking care of the house, laundry, meals and the girls, and getting them off to school. These days, even four hours of sleep was a blessing.

But he hadn’t been able to say no when Betty called at supper time and begged him to bring the girls for a visit tonight because she missed them so much. He owed Betty the moon and stars for all she did to keep the household running, so how could he refuse?

Seeing their joy and the love in Betty’s eyes made the trip worthwhile every single time.

Jess straightened and moved to Betty’s bedside to kiss her cheek. “How’s my favorite grandma?” He teased. “Better since yesterday?”

“Getting better all the time,” she retorted, spunky as ever. “I should be out of here in just a few days.”

“I sure hope so. We all miss you.”

He hadn’t done much praying in years—he and God hadn’t been on the best of speaking terms since his little sister, Heather, died when he was nine and his mom passed a year later, but since Betty’s fall he’d been trying a lot harder. Hoping God was listening, he briefly closed his eyes and sent up yet another silent prayer for Betty’s full recovery.

From the other side of the bed, Bella craned her neck to look at something in the shadowed corner of the room. “Who are you?” she chirped.

Jess looked over his shoulder, expecting to see a nurse or a tech of some kind. A frisson of awareness ran through him when his gaze landed on a woman in jeans and a sweater sitting stiffly on the edge of an upholstered chair, not someone in blue hospital scrubs.

Though he couldn’t make out her features, the woman’s long, honey-gold hair and slender build instantly sent him twelve years back into the past. “Abby?”

She rose slowly and stood there like a startled doe ready to flee, tension radiating from her. “Jess,” she said quietly in the sweet, melodic voice that had haunted his dreams for years.

He blinked and swiveled his gaze to Betty’s smug expression before turning back to the woman he’d once loved with all his heart. The heart she’d ripped out and crushed beneath her dainty Tony Lama boots. “What on earth are you doing here?”

“She’s here because I want you to hire her,” Betty announced. “I asked Norma and Frieda from the senior center to put notices all over town. This young gal saw one and she needs a job. So now you just need to find a new ranch hand and we’ll have the help we need. Isn’t this just perfect?”

Perfect. Not the word he’d use. He blinked again, shell-shocked, as a flood of bittersweet memories tumbled through his thoughts.

She’d tried to stand in the way of his dreams. She hadn’t believed in him. And her unexpected defection had left wounds that took years to heal. And yet here she was, thinking she could waltz back into his life and work at his ranch.

Not in this lifetime.

“I...thought you were married,” he managed after a long, tense silence. “Right after we broke up. Then you moved away. Chicago, right?”

She nodded, then tilted her head toward the twins and seemed to consider her words carefully. “Honestly, when I inquired about the job, Betty’s phone number was on the flyer, but not her name. And I had no idea that it was at your ranch. I can see this isn’t going to work out, so I’ll just be on my way and—”

“No,” Betty said sharply. “You two just need to get over whatever happened between you, and think of this as business.” Her narrowed gaze swung between Abby and Jess. “I’m being discharged the day after tomorrow, which means I can come home. But I’ll still need to be driven back into town for therapy a couple times a week, and I will not be capable of cooking, laundry, meals and caring for the girls. Not for months. Well into calving and foaling season, Jess, when you’ll need to be outside 24/7. Abby says she’ll gladly work until the summer—”

Abby’s startled expression suggested that Betty’s assumption about that length of time wasn’t quite true, but Betty barreled on regardless.

“—and by then, I’ll be in fine shape.” Betty leveled a stern look at Jess, daring him to contradict her. “But without Abby’s help, I am not going to come back to the ranch and be an even greater burden to you.”

Yes, Jess needed help. But Abby? “I just don’t think—”

The older woman folded her arms over her ample chest. “You haven’t found anyone else to help out, and Abby is in a bit of a pickle. So if you don’t hire her, I’ll be moving to the senior citizens’ home over in Waveland, where I’ll be out of the way. For good.”

“Gramma,” Bella cried, scrambling up the side rails of the bed and curling up against Betty before Jess could stop her. “You hafta come home. Then our puppy can come home, too. Please.”

Sophie’s eyes filled with tears. “We need Gramma. I don’t like it when she’s gone.”

Abby watched the girls for a moment, her expression inexplicably sad, then looked up at Jess. “This is awkward for both of us, but it’s true that I could use a job for a few months, until I go back to graduate school. And it does sound like you need help.”

Right now, caring for the girls and keeping his beloved grandmother out of that run-down senior housing project were more important than anything. And a day didn’t go by that the girls didn’t beg to get their puppy back from the neighbors—who had kindly taken him in when Betty got hurt and life turned upside down at the ranch.

Hiring Abby might be a temporary solution for all of those worries.

Yet, serious questions began piling up in Jess’s mind. Questions that would best be asked away from the twins’ all-too-curious ears. He’d already learned that they often heard things that he wished they hadn’t, then asked awkward questions at exactly the wrong times.

Abby’s father’s ranch was just thirty-five miles away. So why hadn’t he taken her in if she needed help? What had happened to her teaching career—and the man she’d married right after she broke up with Jess?

But more to the point...just what sort of trouble had she gotten herself into?

“Let’s discuss this tomorrow while the girls are in school,” he managed on a long sigh. He pulled a Broken Aspen Ranch business card from his wallet and handed it to Abby. “Maybe at Millie’s Coffee Shop, two o’clock?”

She nodded.

“Just so you know, I always have a background check done on anyone hired at the ranch. No exceptions.” Her eyes widened, and he realized how harsh his words must sound. “My lawyer insists on it.”

He’d known her since first grade. He’d loved her once. Imagining her capable of serious wrongdoing was like imagining the twins’ new puppy guilty of bank robbery.

But the day after their college graduation, Abby dumped him, and he’d learned a hard lesson. He hadn’t truly known her as well as he’d thought.

“What’s your last name now, by the way?”

“Halliday.” Her gaze met his briefly, then she turned to rest a hand on Betty’s arm. “Guess I might be seeing you later?”

“You will.” Betty snorted. “Don’t pay any attention to Jess. He’s had a tough time of it since I got laid up, but he won’t be this grumpy once he catches up on his sleep. I promise you that.”

* * *

Grumpy wasn’t exactly the word she’d use to describe Jess, Abby thought grimly as she carefully followed Betty and her cherry-red walker into the Langfords’ sprawling ranch house two days later. Then she got Betty settled in her room for a little nap.

The trip home had worn Betty out, though she’d staunchly insisted that she would close her eyes for a few minutes and then be rarin’ to go.

Unsure of what might happen job-wise after talking to Jess, Abby left her luggage in the trunk of her SUV; then, at Betty’s suggestion, she explored the house a bit.

From the kitchen, a wide arched doorway led into an open-concept dining room that flowed into a large living room with a massive stone fireplace and leather furniture. Oversize windows filled the living room with natural light.

One hallway off the living room led to Betty’s bedroom, the twins’ room, then several guest rooms and a large bathroom, while another hallway led to a south wing that probably held the ranch office and Jess’s quarters.

Abby glanced at her watch, made a pot of fresh coffee, then sat at the kitchen table with a cup of steaming brew and her ebook reader.

The promised meeting at the café hadn’t worked out yesterday—Jess had cancelled because of some ranch emergency—but said she might as well come on out today since her background check was fine.

What had he thought—that she might’ve been hiding criminal tendencies all the years they’d known each other?

At the sound of heavy boots clomping up the back-porch steps leading into the mudroom off the kitchen, she took a long swallow of coffee.

Maybe this wasn’t the most awful moment in her life, but it was definitely one of the most awkward. She’d never expected to see Jess Langford again. To be here as his potential employee was beyond imagination.

If she’d had any other viable option right now, she would have walked away from his condescending offer. But she’d scoured Pine Bend and the other tiny towns in the area to no avail.

Jess peeled off his heavy winter jacket and toed off his boots, then walked into the kitchen, giving her a brief nod on his way to the coffeepot. His face was somber, as if he, too, was finding this situation stressful and wanted to be anyplace but here.

“You look exhausted,” she said, taking in the weary expression etched on his lean, tanned face and the sag of his broad shoulders.

Even after all the years apart, she felt an unexpected urge to envelop him in a long, comforting embrace. “Hard day?”

He leaned against the counter on one hip. “A long one, and it isn’t over yet. Thanks for bringing Betty home, by the way. I didn’t expect to have a cattle buyer stop by.”

The deep, rich sound of his voice was as compelling now as it had been years ago. “No problem. So my background check was okay, apparently,” she said dryly.

He gave a faint shrug. “Figured as much. But with Betty and the girls here, well...I can’t afford another mistake.”

She regarded him with surprise. “Growing up in this area, I thought most folks in ranch country knew each other well, going back generations.”

“We once had to fire a ranch foreman. Do you remember Hal?”

Abby smiled. “I remember his daughter, Chloe. Sweet little girl—she followed your brother Devlin around like a puppy.”

Jess nodded. “Her dad was a nice guy, but then we discovered he had bottles stashed all over and was drinking on the job. I felt bad when we had to let him go, but we just couldn’t risk having him around the farm equipment.”

“Or hauling cattle down the highway.”

“Exactly. That was the last time this ranch will ever skip a background check and references—even for Mary Poppins.”

“Well, no one could argue with you being careful at hiring a nanny. You’re being a good father. Just as you should be.”

“About that...” He took a long slug of coffee and paused, apparently sorting out his thoughts. “The twins aren’t mine. Not yet, anyway. We have no idea what will happen.”

At his dark, pensive expression, Abby waited for him to continue. She’d guessed he was widowed or divorced, and the thought that he’d found someone who was the true love of his life, instead of her, had made her inexplicably sad. But the possibility that those little girls had suffered loss and uncertainty was much worse.

“I got a call from Child Protective Services in California last December,” he continued. “A neighbor reported that young children in the adjacent apartment had been crying all night and into the next day. The girls were only four at the time. The landlord and a CPS social worker found them cowering in a locked closet, scared to death. No one else was there.”

Abby closed her eyes, imagining their terror. “Those poor, sweet babies.”

“They were so traumatized that they couldn’t give any information, but they were hungry and dehydrated. The social worker suspected that they’d been alone for a good twenty-four hours.”

Abby stared at him, feeling more than a little sick.

“Apparently my cousin Lindsey arrived just after the CPS social worker did. She insisted that she’d left the girls with her boyfriend, and he’d never left them alone before. She actually seemed frightened when the social worker tried to pressure her into giving his name.”

Abby had seen more family dramas during her years as an inner-city teacher in Chicago than she’d ever thought possible, but it never failed to break her heart when helpless children suffered. “What a horrible situation.”

“The social worker told her she would be assigned a caseworker and insisted on taking the names of some relatives. She warned Lindsey about the possibility of an emergency removal of the children if things didn’t improve immediately. That’s why we were called—to verify that the girls could be sent here, if necessary.”

“Is that how the girls ended up here in Montana?”

Jess nodded. “Apparently Lindsey got into a fight with her boyfriend when he finally came back. He became violent, and she fled to a friend’s place with the twins. She called Betty and asked if we could take the girls for a month or so. She wanted them out of state, probably worried she’d lose them for good if the CPS got involved again. Personally, I think she was also afraid the boyfriend might hurt them.”

“What about Lindsey’s parents?”

“Her mother—Betty’s daughter—died soon after Lindsey was born. Her dad and new stepmother divorced years ago. Neither wanted anything to do with Lindsey or her kids when I contacted them last winter. And neither of them have ever called to ask how the twins are doing.”

Abby felt her heart wrench. “So you’re the twins’ second cousin?”

“They just call me Uncle Jess.”

“And they call their great-grandmother...”

“Grandma Betty.”

“I’m so glad they had family who could take them in.”

“I keep hoping we’ll get a call from Lindsey so at least we’ll know she’s all right, but it’s been over eleven months with no word. I filed a missing-persons report with the police in Los Angeles long ago and finally hired a private detective. But we still don’t know where she is or if she’s even alive.”

Abby bit her lower lip, her heart aching for the motherless little girls. “It’s all so sad.”

“I’m telling you all of this in strict confidence, so you’ll understand if the girls are moody or difficult sometimes. They haven’t had an easy life.” He sighed heavily. “We think Lindsey and her boyfriend left them alone more often than she would admit. You’ll see that Bella is quite the guardian of her sister, and Sophie depends on her a lot.”

“What if Lindsey does turn up again—or some guy claiming to be the twins’ father—and tries to take them away?”

Jess’s mouth flattened. “That thought keeps me awake at night. I would help her any way I can. But if she refused my help and took off with them, how safe would they be? What if we couldn’t find her again, and she was into drugs, or running with a bad crowd?”

Like that violent boyfriend. Or worse. “I’m going to start adding the girls to my prayers. They’ve been so blessed to end up with you, Jess.”

A brief smile crinkled the corners of his eyes. “I can’t imagine life without them, even if they can be a handful at times.”

The glimpse of his smile made her insides tighten and warmth rise into her cheekbones. Even after all these years, her reaction to him was as strong and instinctive as ever—which was going to make their working relationship even more awkward than she’d guessed.

Hiding her blush, she turned away toward the windows facing the barns and the foothills of the Rockies. “I don’t know how you managed while Betty was gone.”

“Working a hundred miles an hour while the girls were in school.” Jess poured himself another cup of coffee and offered her a refill, but she shook her head. “Most years, cattle could still be on the higher range and stay fat and healthy there for another few weeks. But we got heavy, early snow in mid-October and it hasn’t let up. They can’t paw through it to get enough to eat.”

“So you’re already hauling hay to them?”

“Yep.” He studied the contents of his coffee cup for a moment, then raised his gaze to hers. “Which adds hours to each day, but now the snow is too deep to reach them. As soon as I can, I need to drive that last herd down closer to the barns, where it’s easier to keep them on hay. The rest of the cattle were already moved.”

“Any leads for another ranch hand?”

“Not yet.”

“No wonder you need help.”

Jess settled into a chair opposite hers at the round, claw-foot oak table and wearily ran a hand through his thick, wavy black hair. “Even after Betty is back on her feet, I don’t want her fussing over the cooking and housework. I’d like her to take it easy for the rest of her life.”

“Good luck with that, because from what I remember of her, she never liked to sit still.”

“True. But at least it would be her choice.”

Again, a corner of his mouth kicked up into a grin, and once again her foolish heart skipped a beat.

She pressed her lips into a firm line, reining in the impulse to smile right back. She was pretty sure that the quickest way to lose this job would be to look like she was going to follow him around like a lovesick teenager, and she most definitely wasn’t planning to do that.

He cleared his throat. “There’s something else we need to discuss before we decide whether or not this will work out.”

His piercing, silver-blue eyes focused on hers, until she suspected he could see into her deepest thoughts. She shifted uneasily in her chair.

“Betty hinted that you’re in some sort of trouble.”

“Not in any legal sense.” And certainly nothing she wanted to discuss with Jess, of all people. “Just...a bit of financial stress. Not uncommon, these days.”

He sat, quietly waiting.

The silence lengthened between them until she finally caved. “Alan—my ex-husband—had mild MS when we married, but it hasn’t progressed much. He’s an accountant and still perfectly capable of working, but he hasn’t held a job for a long time. I worked whenever I could as a substitute teacher, so I could be available on the days he needed help.”

“And then you finally left him?”

The hint of censure in Jess’s voice set her teeth on edge. “No, Alan decided he loved his longtime physical therapist more than me and he filed for divorce in June. It wasn’t too complicated, with no kids and few assets to divide. Living expenses and his health costs always took most of my income.”

Jess frowned. “So now you’re headed back to school?”

She regarded him sadly. There’d been a time when her greatest dream had been to stay right here and become Jess’s wife. To spend the rest of her life with him. She’d never wanted to do anything else.

Breaking up with him had nearly destroyed her. Then Alan, a college friend, had caught her on the rebound while she still felt shattered and alone. She’d mistaken comfort and kindness for love, and had ended up in almost twelve years of marriage that cured her of all her remaining foolish hopes of happily-ever-afters.

She would never again pin her hopes of happiness on some guy. Now she dreamed of doing something more.

“I want to devote the rest of my career to autism research, so I’ve applied to a number of PhD programs in Special Ed. I hope to start school either spring or fall semester.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m impressed.”

“Well, don’t be,” she said with a laugh. “I haven’t been accepted yet. In the meantime, halfway through a school year isn’t the best time to try to find a full-time teaching position, so I’ve been trying to pick up enough substitute-teaching jobs to make ends meet. I finally decided to ask my dad if I could help out on his ranch and stay with him for a few months.”

Jess gave her a curious look. “But that didn’t work out, apparently.”

“He sent a very brief email saying I was welcome to come, so I showed up at his ranch a couple days ago. He hadn’t bothered to tell me about his whirlwind romance with a woman only a few years older than me. Or that they’d raced off for a Las Vegas wedding and a honeymoon in Florida for two weeks. Apparently they’d just come home when I arrived. Dad was out hauling cattle, but his wife was there and she was not very friendly.”

She realized she was starting to babble, but couldn’t seem to stop.

The whole weird deal with Dad and his new wife had been ricocheting through her head since that brief, awkward visit. What would a pretty young thing like Darla want with an old duffer like Dad? His money? He dressed like a grizzled old cowboy with a few dollars in his pocket, but he’d built his Shy Creek Ranch into a successful Angus-breeding operation, and West Coast investors had driven up the price of ranch land in recent years. He ought to be financially secure into old age unless something went terribly wrong.

“It was very apparent that his bride doesn’t want me around, interrupting her marital bliss.”

Jess’s lips twitched. “I suppose that would be a problem, with his adult daughter hanging around.”

The touch of amusement in his voice gave her hope. “I obviously can’t stay there now that Dad has remarried. But I’d like to be in the area for a while so I can at least check up on—I mean, visit him. Without a job, I’ll need to leave and try to find work somewhere else.”

Jess took another swallow of coffee. At the troubled emotions playing across his handsome face, she reached for her car keys on the table and started to rise. “I understand this is a difficult situation. You can tell Betty that I changed my mind about the job so she doesn’t blame you.”

She was almost to the door when he called out her name.

She turned back to him with mixed feelings of relief and dread. Given their past, it would be so much easier to just walk away. Maybe she could find a waitress job in Billings or Laramie or Denver if she couldn’t find enough substitute teaching days there...

“This is probably a mistake, but we both know it’s nothing personal—just a business arrangement between two adults. Right?”

Relief started to bubble through her. “Of course.”

He handed her a piece of paper. “Here’s the advertisement I’ve been running in the Montana newspapers and a cattleman’s magazine, listing the expected duties and qualifications.”

She picked up the document and scanned the list. “This seems reasonable enough. I’m not a gourmet cook, but no one will starve. As for the rest, no problem.”

Jess lifted a brow but apparently decided she had to be kidding about her cooking, because he quoted a salary that was more than generous.

She felt an inward sigh of relief. Now she had a place to live and an income to keep up with her bills.

Best of all, she’d be close enough to visit Dad’s ranch now and then. He’d always been the strong, silent, reclusive type, and maybe this would be a chance to finally grow closer...and also make sure he hadn’t fallen for a woman planning to make off with his money.

But this temporary job would be nothing more than that. Temporary. She had no illusions about it becoming anything more.

Seeing the depth of Jess’s love for his grandmother and those little girls, she knew he’d matured into a wonderful guy. His family was blessed to have someone like him in their lives.

But she already knew how little she’d mattered to him.

He’d broken her heart beyond healing years ago, when he adamantly decided to pursue a dangerous rodeo career despite her pleas to stay home and be safe. Her own brother, a bull rider, had been paralyzed for life while competing just the year before, and Abby had been terrified for Jess. But he still hadn’t listened.

After the biggest argument they’d ever had, he’d chosen rodeo over her. Then he’d turned his back and walked away.

Chapter Two

Jess felt a surge of deep relief as he pulled to a stop on the highway and waited for the twins’ school bus.

He’d been stunned at seeing Abby again, and more than a little hesitant to hire her, but in retrospect her unexpected arrival had been a godsend. After today, she’d be able to handle the bus-stop run and most everything else involving the house, the girls and Betty’s needs during the day.

At least until he finally found the right permanent employee.

When Abby had stepped out of the shadows in Betty’s hospital room, he’d been nearly overwhelmed by his attraction to her, the clench of his heart and a cascade of memories that came out of nowhere, threatening his equilibrium.

But seeing her had also catapulted him back to the last time they’d seen each other. The ultimatum she’d delivered. The wrenching pain he’d felt when she insisted that he give up his lifelong dream of a rodeo career that could help him finance vet school.

Dad had already said that more college was a waste of time and that he belonged back at the ranch—promising that he wouldn’t get a penny for school. Vet school loans would have saddled Jess with crushing debt.

If Abby had really loved him, how could she have tried to force him to give up what he wanted so badly? After his state championships in high school and college rodeo, she should have known that he had a good chance of making his dreams come true.

They’d broken up.

He’d done what he wanted.

Yet just a year later, the irony of his decision bit deep. Dad got sick, and Jess had had to give up those dreams. Out of deep sense of responsibility and duty to family, he’d ended up back at the ranch anyway. And Abby was long gone.

The bright orange school bus appeared around the bend and pulled to a stop in front of his pickup, discharged the twins and then rumbled on down the road.

Clad in identical puffy pink winter jackets, with matching pink woolen caps and mittens, at this distance their only obvious differences were their snow boots...or lack thereof.

Jess leaned down for hugs. “I’m so happy to see you,” he exclaimed as he stepped back, giving each a playful tap on the nose with a forefinger. He dropped his gaze to Bella’s purple boots, then to Sophie’s tennis shoes, which were nearly invisible in the ankle-deep snow. “But where are your boots?”

“She forgot them at school,” Bella announced. “Again.”

At Sophie’s worried expression, he cracked a smile as he swept her up into his arms to brush the snow from her shoes, then put her in her booster seat, then hoisted Bella in. “Seat belts, ladies.”

Once they were fastened in, he settled behind the steering wheel and looked up at them in the rearview mirror. “I’ve got a surprise for you back at the house, girls.”

Sophie’s eyes opened wide. “Presents?” she breathed. “Like Christmas?”

“No, not like Christmas. Sorry. Christmas is still how many weeks away?”

“Seven,” Bella said glumly. “It’s too far.”

They’d become so impatient that he’d started looking at the calendar with them every evening before bedtime, counting down the days until the holiday. Despite their mother’s troubled life, she must have managed some happy Christmas memories with the girls.

“You’re right. Seven whole weeks, and Thanksgiving has to come first. But who’s been away for almost a month?”

“Gramma!” The twins squealed in unison.

“Right. She’s home now, but remember—she’s weak and tired, and we can’t be too exuberant.”

“Zoober mint?”

“Exuberant. I mean that we don’t want to act too excited. So just like at the rehab center, we can’t climb all over her lap, or bump her and make her fall. Then she’d have to go back to the hospital again.”

Chastened, the girls fell back against their seats.

“But there’s someone else at the house to see you,” he continued, glancing at the rearview mirror again.

The twins sat frozen, their eyes big and round.

“Mommy?” Bella whispered, her voice rising with heartbreaking hope and excitement. “Did our mommy come back?”

Jess chastised himself for such a blunder. “No, not yet. Do you remember the pretty lady you met in Grandma’s room a couple nights ago? She had blond hair like yours and she was really nice.”

Silence.

“Her name is Abby, and she’s staying with us for a while. She’s going to help Grandma with the house and the cooking and with you girls, too. Won’t that be great?”

When he looked up in the rearview mirror, he could see silent tears tracing down Sophie’s winter-pink cheeks.

Bella’s head was bowed. “When will Mommy come back?” she whispered. “She said she would come back. We don’t want a different mommy.”

No worries on that score.

He’d been too busy with the twins and the ranch to even think about dating.

And as far as Abby was concerned, that was a no-brainer. They’d had a long relationship but it had ended long ago. The sooner he found a permanent housekeeper the better, because then she could be on her way.

Yet he couldn’t deny that it was a relief having someone to temporarily help watch over the twins and keep them safe.

He’d loved them from the day they showed up in Montana, so scared and lost and innocent, but they’d also made him face the biggest fear in his life, and he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since they arrived.

He knew all too well how impetuous little ones could be. How tragedies could strike in an instant.

And how devastating it was when the fault was his.

* * *

Eager to get dinner started, Abby sorted through the kitchen cupboards and walk-in pantry, then mentally cataloged the contents of the refrigerator. She’d already gone through the chest freezer in the basement and found plenty of beef—which was no surprise on a cattle ranch.

Betty hadn’t emerged from her long nap yet. And Jess had been outside in the barns all afternoon, only popping in to say he was heading out to pick up the twins.

The days were shorter now, in these first few days of November, and daylight was already fading, sending long shadows across the kitchen floor. She turned on the lights, then glanced at the clock on the stove.

She pulled a roast from the bottom freezer drawer and put it in the fridge for the following night, then tossed a couple pounds of ground beef into the microwave on Defrost.

She suddenly heard footsteps come up the stairs to the back porch and she turned to find Jess ushering the twins though the door.

She offered them a warm smile. “I’m so happy to see you girls again. How was school today?”

They silently stamped the snow from their feet and shrugged off their coats, hanging them up on a set of lower pegs in the entryway, and left their hats and mittens on a shelf above the pegs. Neither of them glanced her way.

“Hmm. I wonder if I have your names right.” She looked at Bella and playfully tilted her head. “You must be...Sophie.”

Instead of smiling, Bella turned away.

“And...you must be Bella,” she said to Sophie. “Am I right?”

With an almost imperceptible shake of her head, Sophie pulled off her sodden tennis shoes and trudged across the floor, her socks leaving a trail of wet footprints. Bella followed her, giving Abby a wide berth.

“Go put on dry socks or your slippers, Sophie,” Jess called after her as he hung up his own coat. “I’m afraid they were hoping their mom had arrived, after I told them someone new was here at the ranch.”

Abby could only imagine how hard it must have been for them to find their mother wasn’t here after all. “I’m afraid I’m an awfully big letdown.”

“They’ll come around. Suppers have been really basic since Betty fell, so I’m sure they’ll be happy to see something besides spaghetti, hamburgers and frozen dinners.”

Abby mentally readjusted her plans for dinner from spaghetti to meatloaf and baked potatoes, and lowered her voice. “Is there any chance you could adopt the twins?”

“From what I’ve read on the internet, they could be considered abandoned after no personal contact with their mother for six months. Now it’s been almost a year.”

“Is that what you’d like to do?”

Jess sighed. “I just want what’s best for them and for Lindsey—if only I knew what that was. If she’s still making a lot of bad decisions, they’re better off with me. But what if she’s in trouble somewhere? Injured? I want to help her, not break her heart.”

“It’s so ironic,” Abby said wistfully. “You’ve taken in these sweet girls, and care so much for them. I wanted kids but my husband didn’t. Alan was adamantly against it.”

She’d always loved kids. They were the reason she’d gone into teaching, and she’d never regretted it. But years of longing for a child of her own had left a scarred, empty place in her heart that had grown with every passing year.

At the sound of small footsteps approaching, Abby turned toward the sound of a child coming through the arched doorway into the kitchen.

Bella and Sophie paused in the entryway, as if hesitating about what to say.

“Can we see Gramma now?” Belle said finally. “We’ll be real good. Promise.”

He glanced at the clock. “You can go down and peek in her room. If she’s awakened from her nap, you can ask if you can come in. Okay? But don’t wake her up.”

The girls scampered away. “Gramma! You’re home,” they shouted as they ran down the hall.

Abby stifled a low laugh. “So much for Grandma’s nap.”

“I’d better get down there to referee.” He glanced around the kitchen, taking in the spotless countertops and the floor Abby had swept and mopped while he was gone picking up the girls. “I’ll always appreciate anything you do while you’re here, but remember that what I care about most are the twins and Betty. They are my number one priority. Always.” A flash of worry—or was it fear?—darted across his expression. “It takes only a blink of an eye for an accident to happen.”

Why was he so worried? But maybe this was what it was like, when you were a parent with kids who could move almost fast as you could.

Betty would be good company and no problem at all; Abby was sure of that—unless the feisty lady started trying to do too much and Abby had to gently rein her in. But the girls were a different story.

She’d seen their wariness and resentment toward her and glimpsed the pain in their eyes. Those wounds were deep.

Now she knew there were just three things she needed to accomplish here. She needed to reconnect with her father and make sure he was all right. Bella and Sophie were going to feel happy and secure by the time she left.

And she needed to guard her heart against the cascade of memories and old dreams that kept tumbling into her thoughts. Of Jess, this ranch and all that might have been.

* * *

By nine o’clock that night, Abby had finished loading the dishwasher, wiped down the counters and leaned one hip against the stove to survey the kitchen.

The day could have been worse, though not by much. The twins had refused to touch the meatloaf, baked potatoes and glazed carrots she’d cooked. They’d even refused the cherry pie and ice cream, despite Betty’s urging and the fact that Jess had wolfed down everything on his plate and asked for seconds.

They’d finally accepted the sandwiches Betty made before she limped back to her bedroom to turn in early.

And bath time wasn’t a success either. They refused Abby’s help entirely and Betty obviously couldn’t kneel by the tub to help them. So Abby finally just sat by the tub, gave them washcloths and bars of soap, and wrapped each of them in fluffy towels when they were done.

Right now, Jess was in their room reading them bedtime stories, probably wishing he hadn’t bothered hiring her.

She turned at the sound of heavy footsteps that could only be Jess’s. She took in the weary set of his shoulders and his jaw darkened by a five o’clock shadow as he entered the kitchen and headed for the coffeepot. “Are they all tucked in?”

He nodded. “I had a talk with them. They seem to understand that we need you here so I can get back to work and so Betty can get better.”

As kindergartners, they were old enough to understand, though she wasn’t going to expect full cooperation just yet. Not after the scowls and pouts she’d seen today. “We’ll be fine. Promise.”

At his doubtful expression, she smothered a laugh. “You forget—I worked as a substitute teacher for years. Often in middle schools, and we all know how tough kids that age can be with a sub. Do you remember those days?”

A flicker of a smile briefly touched his lean face, deepening the dimple in one cheek. Once upon a time, that smile had made her stomach flutter. It still hadn’t lost its power.

He poured a cup of coffee, pulled his cell phone from his pocket and tapped the screen. “I asked a neighbor to come over in the morning to help me drive the cattle home. Fred says he can get here around nine, though I’ve been tracking the local weather on my phone and it sounds like we might be getting some ice and snow again.”

“I saw that, too. Starting midmorning, if the forecasters are right. The local schools have already cancelled.” She tilted her head. “Maybe you should start without him.”

“There’s almost two hundred head of cattle up there.” He shot an impatient look at her over the rim of his coffee cup. “If I could do it on my own, I would’ve gone after them last week.”

“I could help.”

“And leave Betty alone with the girls?”

“Betty would be here in the house with them, and she could call our cell phones if there were any problems. How late do the girls sleep if there’s no school?”

He frowned. “Eight or nine. Maybe. But I still think—”

“They’re almost six years old, and they’ll listen to Betty. She wouldn’t need to do much—maybe give them cereal and toast.” Abby shrugged. “And how long would it take to go after the cattle?”

“Over six miles round trip—though rounding them up and moving such a large herd will make the return trip take a lot longer.”

“If we leave early enough we might even get back before the weather hits.”

He finished the last of his coffee. “Do you still know how to ride a horse?”

“If I’ve forgotten that, I don’t deserve to own a pair of boots,” she shot back with a grin as he headed out of the kitchen.

True, it had been a long time. But at the thought of saddling up and bringing in a herd of cattle tomorrow, she couldn’t contain her smile.

It would be just like the old days, a little voice whispered in her head. Her and Jess, moving cattle and working calves on the Langfords’ ranch, or back at her dad’s place. Trail riding up into the mountains. Heading off to the local horse shows. Sharing kisses and laughter in the moonlight during long rides after dark...

But it wouldn’t really be like the old days. Not at all. Because this was just a business arrangement, and nothing more.

Chapter Three

The house was dark and still when Jess got up at 5:00 a.m. and looked out the back door.

No snow yet. But the weather app on his cell phone promised sleet, then ten to twelve inches of snow followed by forty-mile-an-hour winds gusting to fifty and temps plunging into the minus-teens.

Just what he needed right now.

Blizzards could drive the cattle to seek a windbreak. They could end up crowded into a tight mass in a corner of the fence, tails to the wind, unable to move any farther. A lot of them might die from the extreme weather and crowding.

It had happened several years ago, and his livestock losses had been heavy.

He walked to the mudroom and started pulling on his down parka. At a sound behind him, he turned in surprise to find Abby behind him with a big grin on her face.

Suddenly, the years fell away and it felt as if they’ve never been apart. Except back then, he would have pulled her into an embrace. Dropped kisses on her cheeks and the tip of her freckled nose. And the teasing and laughter would have been nonstop.

“I was just going outside to saddle up.”

“Good. Did you talk to Betty last night about caring for the girls?” she asked as she reached for her own heavy down jacket.

He nodded as he pulled on his insulated boots, jammed heavy gloves into his pockets and donned his black Resistol. “I also texted Fred and said to check with me before he came over. I told him we were getting an earlier start, but if things didn’t go well, I might still need him later.”

“Blizzard coming. Two hundred cattle. What could possibly go wrong?” A brief, mischievous twinkle lit her eyes.

He’d discouraged Abby from helping him move the cattle this morning, but now he was relieved that she was this willing and ready to go.

“I didn’t think you’d actually want to do this,” he said ruefully. “It’s not what you signed up for.”

She swiftly pulled on her boots and gathered her gloves, scarf and hat. “This isn’t my first blizzard, you know. And just think. If you’d hired some city-girl housekeeper, you’d have to do this all on your own.”

She lifted a small, insulated duffel bag from a hook by the coats and grabbed two thermoses plus a stack of sandwiches in plastic bags from the counter behind her.

Surprised, he lifted a brow.

“Hot coffee and something to eat,” she said as she placed the food in the duffle. “Just in case we run into trouble. Now, if you’re ready, we’d better move. I have a feeling that weather is coming faster than we thought.”

They were going out in bad weather after a large and possibly unpredictable herd of cattle. Under any other circumstances it would have been the antithesis of fun. Yet he couldn’t help but love her take-charge attitude. Catch her sense of adventure. This was Abby, after all—the girl who had never backed down from a challenge and who had always been ready to try anything new.

For years, he had missed her. She’d carved such an empty place from his heart when she left. How was he ever going to keep from falling in love with her all over again—since he already knew she was going to leave?

* * *

The first faint blush of dawn had yet to edge above the eastern horizon as Jess and Abby jogged their horses through the knee-deep snow in one of the pastures behind the barns.

There was a heavy dampness in the air indicating that snow was heading their way, and his mare, Lucy, seemed to sense it, restlessly tossing her head and repeatedly breaking into an impatient sideways jog. Twice she tried to spin back toward the barn, but he corrected her and kept pushing on.

He’d put Abby on Bart, a solid cattle horse with years of experience, but the dropping barometer and bite in the air had Bart unsettled as well, and he’d thrown in a few feisty crowhops when they first left the barn.

He realized again just how much he’d missed her when Abby laughed and sat her bucking horse like he was an old easy chair, proof of her life growing up on a ranch.

She glanced over at him, her cheeks rosy, then nudged Bart into a slow lope, his hooves kicking up clouds of light snow, and Jess followed suit.

When the terrain grew more uneven and the pasture gate appeared up ahead, she slowed back to a jog. Twisting in her saddle, she braced a hand on the top of Bart’s rump and grinned. “It has been way too long since I’ve been on a horse. Thanks, Jess.”

He laughed. “Don’t be thanking me just yet. We’ve got a long, long ways to go.”

* * *

The wind started to pick up and light sleet was falling as they left the pasture and started down a mile of country road. Yesterday, the wind had sculpted monster snow drifts here, making it impossible to bring more hay out to the cattle.

Now the drifts had been blown about again, leveling off the highest mounds and leaving knee-high snow for the horses to trudge through. What this would be like once a heavy sheet of ice crusted the landscape and heavy snow followed on top of that, he could well imagine. If they didn’t succeed at bringing the cattle back today, he’d have to arrange for a helicopter to drop hay to them—an expensive proposition that might not even be possible if the winds stayed high.

“You doing all right?” he called out to Abby.

Her face muffled by a long woolen scarf wrapped around her neck, she nodded and gave him a thumbs-up.

She had to be getting cold. He was getting cold, with sleet coating his jeans and slithering down the collar of his parka. But the horses were laboring enough as it was to break through the snow. He wouldn’t push them to go faster.

Cloud-filtered daylight finally seeped across the landscape, turning the world into endless, blinding white, and he almost missed seeing the gate leading into the hayfield.

Abby rode up close to Lucy. “How far now?”

“About an hour to where the cattle are.” He lifted a hand to brush away the slushy sleet on her jacket. “I’m hoping they’re by the gate, waiting for their next hay delivery.”

Abby patted the saddlebags tied behind the cantle of her saddle, where she’d stowed the duffel. “Hungry? Thirsty?”

“I just want to get this done and get home before the weather gets any worse. You?”

“Agree.”

Jess moved his horse into a jog and then into a lope, and Abby followed in the trail he’d broken through the snow until they were through the hayfield and the terrain began to change, the land interrupted by stands of timber, with fallen trees to navigate and snow-mounded boulders strewn along the base of the rising hills.

Here the horses were cautious, heads low as they picked their way through the hazards.

Jess pulled to a stop and waited for Abby to come alongside him. “Still doing okay?”

“Fine.” She leaned forward to scrape some of the icy slush from Bart’s mane. “I’m just glad the temperature hasn’t started dropping yet. We should be fine.”

“The herd up here has been brought home for several spring calving seasons. Unless the changing weather has them nervous, they shouldn’t be much of a challenge for you.”

“Challenge? How quickly you forget,” she said dryly. “I’ve been moving cattle since grade school. Let’s get moving.”

He hadn’t forgotten. He’d just wanted to tease her and see if she’d smile.

Their similar backgrounds had attracted them to each other from the first day they’d met.

She’d started riding ponies bareback when she was three, and moved up to team penning and reining horses by the time she hit high school.

He’d once thought she was his perfect match. But how wrong he’d been.

By the time they neared the final gate, the wet, sloppy sleet was changing over to a thick blanket of snow and the temperature was dropping.

With the worsening weather and over six hundred acres of rough terrain to search, trying to round all the cows up would be nearly impossible if they were scattered.

God hadn’t ever listened to his own prayers much, but he sure hoped Abby had been saying some prayers about finding those cattle.

“Do you see anything?” Abby shouted into the rising wind.

Just then, a curtain of snow swirled and lifted, and a huddle of cattle blanketed in white came into view. Bawling at the appearance of the horses, they pushed forward against the metal pipe gate, agitated, impatient and hungry for the hay they expected—but wouldn’t get until they reached home.

Jess rode along the fence line in one direction and then the other, standing in his stirrups as he counted. “I’m guessing at least a hundred are here—but I can’t see beyond the rise. I’ll get a better count as they come through the gate.”

Abby nodded. “I’ll keep them together out here till you know for sure.”

The cattle milled around and jostled each other as they poured through the gate.

According to Jess’s count, three were missing. And those three could be anywhere. The chance of finding them was growing more slim by the minute.

With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Jess rode into the pasture and made ever widening loops as he hunted for the stragglers.

Nothing. Just snow and pine trees and absolute silence except for the wind keening through the branches overhead. Please, Lord... Help me out, here. They could easily die in the coming blizzard.

He needed to move the ones he already had down to safety. That made sense. The dollar value of a few, weighed against the value of the entire herd, wasn’t nearly enough reason to delay, given the worsening storm. And yet, like the parable of the lost sheep, he just couldn’t leave the last three out here to die if the blizzard grew worse and he couldn’t get hay to them.

He pivoted Lucy back toward the gate.

“I’m going to look one last time,” he called out to Abby.

She stood in her stirrups to look over his shoulder, then pointed. “Look.”

Sure enough, a haphazard line of three head of cattle were just coming into view, trudging slowly toward the gate.

Agitated by the changing weather, the herd needed no encouragement to head toward home, where trees and the walls of the valley provided some protection. There, too, they’d find long loafing sheds angled to protect them from the prevailing winter winds and large round bales of hay waiting in the circular feeders.

After driving the cattle through the final gate, they rode to the main horse barn, dismounted and led the horses inside and down the wide cement aisle. The warmth of the barn and the bright overhead lights felt like a warm and welcome embrace.

“I’m glad to be back,” he muttered. “How about you?”

“I’m just glad I got to go along. Thanks!”

Jess’s jacket was weatherproof, but his jeans were frozen stiff and his feet were numb.

Abby, however, pulled off her stocking cap and strode merrily down the aisle ahead of him with Bart, her ponytail swinging against the back of her red jacket as if she were still seventeen and ready for another adventure.

Just watching her made him feel like he’d stepped into the past.

She stopped in front of the tack-room door and looked over her shoulder. “Can I cross tie Bart here?”

“Yep.” He stopped his mare at the previous set of cross ties. “The halters are just inside the door.”

Except for where their saddles covered their backs, the horses were blanketed in snow, and their manes and tails were clumped with ice. Steam began rising from their thick winter coats in the warmth of the barn.

Abby slipped off Bart’s bridle, put on his halter and hooked the two ropes hanging at either side of the aisle to it, then brought Jess a halter with a hopeful smile. “I can stick around for chores.”

“Just go on to the house. But thanks. I couldn’t have done it alone.”

“No problem.” Her expression crestfallen, she turned away. “Any time I can help with chores, I’d be glad to.”

She disappeared through the door, leaving him feeling oddly unsettled.

Which made no sense.

Riding up into the hills with her today, facing the worsening elements, had reminded him of things he hadn’t thought about for many years. The camaraderie that he’d never felt with anyone else. Their shared sense of adventure and determination.

And this morning, he’d felt that little thrill of anticipation that he’d always felt when he knew he’d be seeing her again soon.

It would have been far better to wait for Fred’s help rather than to have awakened old emotions he had no business exploring, he realized with chagrin.

He’d have to be more careful in the future.

Chapter Four

She’d been running on pure adrenaline this morning while going after the cattle with Jess. The joy of being on horseback for the first time since she’d graduated from college, braving the elements and slipping back into her rancher’s-daughter role had been exhilarating.

Working alongside Jess with real purpose once again had triggered memories of being twelve years younger with nothing but a bright future rolling out in front of her like a red carpet.

No disappointments...yet.

No misunderstandings or heartbreaks, or abrupt, wrenching changes in her life to catapult her in directions she’d never imagined. Her whole life had seemed as bright and new as that of a newborn foal back then, as limitless as the stars strewn across the sky.

That naive, youthful sense of being destined for great adventures had certainly faded over time, yet here she was in Montana once again, single and free to go wherever her dreams led her.

After a long, hot shower, she felt as if her bones had dissolved to molten honey, but at the sound of the twins squabbling over something in the living room, she quickly pulled on her jeans and an old red sweatshirt and shuffled down the hall to the living room.

Betty sat in an upholstered chair, her eyes closed and her walker at her side. The girls were arguing over a Candy Land board game on the floor, with the colorful game pieces flung far and wide.

“Girls,” Abby whispered, dropping to the floor next to them with a smile. “You need to be quiet. Your grandma is sleeping.”

Both of them edged away from the game board, then got up and disappeared into their bedroom. Apparently neither of them had listened to Jess’s remonstration last night.

“I’m just resting my eyes,” Betty murmured. “It’s all right.”

“Thanks for staying out here while I took a shower. I can take over now if you’d like to go lie down.”

Betty opened one eye and peered at her. “After the morning you had, you’re the one who ought to go take a nap.”

Abby smiled. “I doubt Jess is snoozing, so I don’t need to either. Did he ever come up to the house after we got back?”

“Just for a quick sandwich. He won’t be back in till dinner. Have you looked outside lately?”

Abby looked toward the wall of windows, bisected with a set of French doors, that faced the covered porch. Only a faint outline of the nearest pine tree was visible through the driving snow, and its branches were whipping in the wind. “Wow.”

“Looks like we’re getting everything the weatherman said and more. I set out some kerosene lanterns and candles in the kitchen in case our electricity goes. We’ve also got a couple cords of split firewood on the porch, so that always helps.”

“What would you like me to do?”

“Get the fireplace going. I can’t bend down to put the logs in, and it always feels so cozy in here with a fire crackling.”

“Gladly.” Abby rose and headed for the French doors. To the right, she could see a stack of firewood covered with a tarp. “What else?”

“Fill as many pitchers with water as you can find, in case the power goes out. While you were gone, I put a roast, potatoes, carrots and onions in the slow cooker, so at least that should be done for dinner.” Her eyes twinkled. “Unless, of course, we lose our power.”

“It already smells wonderful. But I really hope you didn’t try to do too much while we were gone.”

Betty waved a dismissive hand at her. “Only what I could. Maybe you and the girls can make biscuits and a dessert.”

“Gladly.” Abby retrieved an armload of firewood and knelt in front of the fireplace.

In a few minutes, cheery flames were dancing up through the fragrant wood, but she could hear the wind howling outside and just the sound made her shiver.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to take a nice nap before dinner?” Abby offered her a hand.

“I’ll catch a few winks right here.” She settled deeper in her chair. “It’s easier to stay right where I am.”

Down the hall, Abby paused at the doorway to the girls’ room. They’d pushed the door nearly shut, but left a sliver of it open. She knocked lightly. “Girls?”

They were talking and didn’t hear her.

“I don’t like her.”

“Me neither,” the other girl said glumly. “I heard Gramma talking on the phone. Abby used to be his girlfriend.”

“What if she’s like the lady with the black hair? Gramma said that one wants to marry Uncle Jess. Eeeuw. She always says we look like vegetables.”

There was a long, painful silence.

“But if mommy comes, she can marry Uncle Jess and we can stay here forever. I don’t want to leave.”

Abby knocked louder, and pushed the door open a little wider. “Would anyone like to help me make biscuits?”

They fell silent. Bella traced the swirls of the carpet with her forefinger. Sophie picked at a loose thread on the hem of her jeans.

“Chocolate-chip cookies? Or a cake? When I was your age, I loved to help because then I got to lick the beaters afterward.” Abby gave a blissful sigh. “And that was always sooo good.”

Neither responded.

“But maybe you two don’t like cake or cookies,” she added thoughtfully. “I could make...sauerkraut pudding. Or asparagus pie instead.”

They looked up at her in horror, though when Abby couldn’t quite contain a smile, Bella caught on and scowled up at her. “We don’t wanna help.”

“Your uncle Jess explained why I’m here, right?”

Bella looked away.

“’Cause Gramma’s sick,” Sophie whispered. “But we can take care of her. We’re good helpers.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’re the very best,” Abby agreed, opening the door a little wider. “If she asks you to do something, I’m sure you do it right away.”

The girls exchanged guilty looks.

“But when you’re in school, there’s no one here to help her,” Abby said sadly. “And making dinner can be awfully hard, with those heavy pots and pans. Right? And then there’s laundry to do and beds to make. Grandma Betty is too weak to do all of that and Uncle Jess doesn’t want you girls working that hard.”

“But we could. We’re big girls,” Bella insisted.

“Yes, that’s true. But he hired me to be here for a couple months, which isn’t very long. While I’m here, do you think we could be friends?”

They didn’t answer.

“Well, you girls have fun in here. I’m going to go make my very favorite cookies. If you want some, they’ll be on the kitchen counter.” Abby looked out their bedroom window at the deepening snow. “If you really want a special treat, we could even make snow ice cream.”

Smiling at the puzzled looks on their faces, Abby headed for the kitchen.

They hadn’t been impressed with her explanations, probably hadn’t trusted that she would really leave, and with Betty as their grandmother, cookies were surely not a rare treat.

But she’d seen the curiosity and flicker of excitement over the possibility of snow ice cream, and perhaps that would be too enticing to miss.

* * *

At five o’clock Jess stamped the snow from his boots and came in the back door of the house. The scent of chocolate-chip cookies and the aroma of something wonderful emanating from the slow cooker made him even hungrier.

But the scene at the kitchen counter was far more captivating.

In a scene of domestic bliss, Abby stood at the counter in an apron, her blond hair in two neat braids trailing down her back, with the twins standing on chairs beside her. A heaping bowl of what looked like snow sat in front of them and the electric mixer was running on slow as Abby scooped in more of it.

“Is it working?” Bella exclaimed. “Is it ice cream now?”

Sophie tugged at Abby’s apron. “Can we try it? Please?”

“It’s getting a lot thicker, so it’s almost done.” Abby chuckled. “And yes, of course you can try it. Then we’ll save the rest in the freezer for after dinner, and you can tell your grandma and Uncle Jess about how you made it.”

Shucking off his boots and coat, Jess joined them at the counter. “What are you ladies up to?”

“It’s a secret,” Bella announced. “Don’t look.”

He held up both hands and backed away with a smile. “Okay—I’m not peeking. Will you show me later?”

Sophie nodded vigorously.

Abby glanced over her shoulder. “When would you like to eat dinner?”

“We usually eat at six, but it doesn’t matter. I’d like to clean up first, though. It’s been a long day.”

“No problem.” She scooped up two small bowls of the snow ice cream and watched the girls as they savored their first bite.

When she handed Jess a bowl, his hand grazed hers and he felt the warmth of her touch, which went straight through him.

She must have felt the same, because she abruptly turned away and he saw the tips of her ears turn pink.

“So, what do you girls think?” she asked, her voice a little shaky.

Enraptured, they finished their ice cream and eyed the big mixing bowl hopefully, but Abby just smiled. “No more right now—you can have some more after dinner.”

They scampered off to the living room. Abby covered the bowl in foil and jockeyed it into the freezer.

“I haven’t had snow ice cream since my mom died,” Jess said as he tried a spoonful. “She always said a heavy, fresh snowfall was a blessing and we should never waste it. There was never a winter when she didn’t keep plenty of cream and vanilla on hand—and the sugar, of course.”

“It does look good. Out here, with no pollution—not even any neighbors—the snow is perfect. Even so, it has to be really deep, and I would never use it the next day.”

“No problem there. I think we’re up to fifteen inches already and it’s still falling.”

“Are we drifted in?”

“Definitely, until the snow stops and I get out the big John Deere. But I hear the wind is going to be high all night, so there’s no point until tomorrow.”

He snagged one of the chocolate-chip cookies from a plate on the counter. “Did you get them to help you with cookies, too?”

“No... We haven’t quite made our peace, but the prospect of the mysterious snow ice cream drew them in.”

“I’m glad the girls are doing better.”

Abby suddenly lowered her voice. “You do know why they were upset, right?”

Jess frowned. “They were expecting their mom, but you were the new arrival instead.”

“Partly. They really do love you, Jess, and they want to stay here. But they want their mom to come back and marry you so that can happen.”

Jess felt his jaw drop. “Marry Lindsey? She’s my cousin. And not only is she way younger, she’s pretty immature for her age.”

Abby tilted her head in agreement. “They’re worried that I might get in the way of their plans. They’re also worried about some lady with black hair who seems to want to marry you, too. Apparently they overheard something Grandma Betty said about that, and they don’t like this woman much. I believe they take offense to her calling them vegetables.”

Aghast, he stared down at her. “I don’t have any idea who they’re talking about.”

“My only guess is that she might have said something like they’re two peas in a pod.”

He rolled his eyes. “Must be Maura. She’s an old friend who lives in town. We usually see her at church.”

“Apparently you see her often enough that the girls are afraid wedding bells aren’t far off,” Abby teased. “Just thought you’d like to know.”

“It’s true that we dated now and then over the years. But when the twins arrived she said she wanted nothing to do with ever being a secondhand mom and that was the end of it as far as I’m concerned.”

“No wedding bells, then.”

“No. A few months ago she said she’d had second thoughts, but she’d already shown her true colors. Those girls deserve better.”

He’d forgotten how easy it was to talk to Abby. Back when they were dating, they’d ridden together for hours and had never been at a loss for conversation. They’d talked for hours up in the hayloft at the ranch or her dad’s.

Lost in thought, he absently took a bite of the cookie in his hand. Still-warm chocolate chips, white-chocolate chunks, toasted walnuts and pecans, all magically held together in a buttery-crisp cookie, melted in his mouth.

He slid her gaze over to her in awe. “Did you make these back when we were dating? If so, how could I have forgotten?”

Her smug smile made him laugh out loud.

“No. I spent years on a search for the most perfect chocolate-chip cookie ever and finally started combining recipes and tweaking ingredients on my own. What do you think?”

“If these aren’t perfect, I don’t know what is.” He eyed her speculatively. “Sooo...do you share recipes? Say, like this one?”

“Only with my very best friends. So I’ll have to do some very serious thinking on where you stand. But in the meantime, I’ll make them whenever you want while I’m here.”

He thought for a moment. “I seem to remember you warning me that you weren’t a good cook. During our interview.”

“I think I said I wasn’t really a gourmet cook, but hoped no one would starve. There’s a difference.”

He found himself feeling at peace for the first time in way too long, and realized it was because Abby was here again, in this kitchen—with her sparkling eyes and delicious cookies and silvery laugh, her warmth and compassion and all of the things that hadn’t been in his life for a long time.

He dragged a tired hand down his face as a sudden weariness settled over him like a heavy mantle.

“You look like you’re going to fall asleep on your feet, Jess.” She rested her small hand on his arm. “Go. Clean up and rest awhile. Dinner will be ready in an hour.”

He hesitated, feeling there was something important he needed to say, but the words just didn’t come.

Then he stumbled off to bed to close his eyes for just a few minutes before dinner...

Until a terrified scream awakened him at three in the morning.

Chapter Five

Startled by a scream, Abby jumped out of bed, threw on her robe and flew out into the hall, belatedly realizing she’d forgotten slippers. The floor was cold.

The house was dark. Totally dark. No glow of moonlight filtered through the blinds. Not even the night-light in the hallway was on. And the wind was even stronger now, battering the house with unrelenting force, rattling the shutters and scraping branches against the windows. It sounded as if some unknown creature was trying to break in.

The faint beam of a flashlight bobbed through the living room, and then Jess appeared in the hallway in a faded T-shirt and jeans, his haggard face a mask of concern.

A low, keening cry came from the twins’ room.

“It’s Sophie,” he said in a hushed voice. “The power just went out and she’s terrified of the dark.”

It was no wonder, with what the poor child had been through back in California when she and Bella were left alone overnight.

He pressed his fingertips against the door to the girls’ room. “Sweetheart, it’s me,” he whispered. “Uncle Jess. Can I come in?”

“It’s dark,” she wailed. “I need my light.”

Abby waited at the open door while he set the flashlight on the bedside table so it illuminated the ceiling and softly lit the room. Bella stirred sleepily under her blankets, then rolled away from the light.

Jess picked up Sophie and sat on the edge of her bed, smoothing back her tousled hair. “Everything is fine. We’ve just got a snowy night and the power will be out for a while.”

“Can’t you fix it?” She turned her tear-streaked face up to look at him. “Please?”

“I just called the power company and they said it might be a couple hours.”

“But Gramma has lights we can use. She said so.”

“I don’t feel safe using her candles or kerosene lamps when we’re asleep, honey. Would you like to keep my flashlight?”

Her lower lip trembled. “I want you to stay. And I want our puppy back. Can you get him?”

He considered it for a moment. “Now that Abby is here to help us and Grandma’s home, I’ll go get him as soon as I can.”

“Tonight? He could sleep on my bed.”

“Tonight is too cold and snowy, but maybe tomorrow. It was nice of the neighbors to keep him for a while, wasn’t it?”

She rubbed her eyes and yawned, then snuggled deeper into his arms.

Struck by the sweet intimacy of the moment, Abby felt her breath catch and a deep sense of longing wrapped around her heart.

Jess had been all she’d ever wished for back in high school and college. Fun. Daring. Smart. Someone who shared her love of horses and ranch life, dancing, and skiing on weekends. He seemed to excel at everything he ever tried, and she’d been proud to be with him.

But what she’d loved about him then had been superficial compared to what she was learning about him now. Seeing his warmth and gentleness with this distraught child made her imagine falling in love with him all over again, if she wasn’t careful.

“What would you think about all of us going out by the fireplace for the rest of the night?” he continued. “With the furnace off it might be chilly by morning. We’ll be warm and cozy out there.”

Sophie nodded. “Bella, too?”

“Absolutely.” He stood with her still in his arms and grabbed the quilts on her bed. “I’ll come back to get her in a minute.”

“I’ll bring her,” Abby offered. She leaned over Bella and touched her shoulder. “We’re all going out to sleep by the fireplace. Would you like to join your sister and Jess?”

The child shifted and mumbled something in her sleep, then her eyes fluttered open. “I wanna go, too.”

“Of course you do.” Abby snagged her quilts and draped them over her shoulder, then scooped Bella into her arms. “Would you like to bring the pink sparkly bear on your bed?”

Bella nodded. “That’s my best bear.”

“Perfect. Let’s go.”

In the middle of the living room, two extra-long leather sofas faced each other in front of the fireplace; a third faced the fire. A couple of matching recliners and an upholstered rocking chair filled the room, while numerous wildlife prints and an elk-horn chandelier hung from the walls.

It was a warm and welcoming room, and much more upscale than how she remembered it years ago.

Abby helped Jess get the girls on the sofas, both snuggling with the extra quilts. The warm, flickering glow and gentle crackling of the fire lulled them back to sleep in minutes.

Jess hunkered in front of the fire and pushed some of the logs around, then added a few more. The flames highlighted the angles and planes of his face and limned his lean body with golden light, making her wish she had a camera to catch the perfect moment.

“What about your grandma? Do you think we should bring her out here, too, in case her room starts getting too cold?”

“She has the bedroom closest to the fireplace, so I think I’ll just go open her door wide and cover her with another blanket. I hate to wake her, but if she stirs, I’ll bring her out here.”

He disappeared down the bedroom hallway for a few minutes, then returned and eyed the two empty sofas. He settled into one of the leather recliners. “This furniture is soft as marshmallows. I’m not sure it would be much support for her broken hip.”

Abby curled up with an afghan on the sofa nearest his chair and surveyed the room. “It’s a beautiful room, Jess. Just like out of a magazine. Did you do all of this decorating?”

A corner of his mouth briefly kicked up. “Nope. I know even less about decorating than I know about heart surgery.”

“Your dad did it?” She remembered him as being tightfisted and short-tempered.

“Maura.”

Abby tried to smother a grin. “Ahhh. Sounds like the twins might have reason to worry after all if the vegetable lady comes to call and decorates while she’s here.”

“That’s her career. Her husband died young, and she needed income. So she started a decorating business in town.”

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