Surely her dad would grow to appreciate not having to deal with working in the snow once he got used to California. Humans were resistant to change, but often came to enjoy what they initially resisted.
She and Maya talked a bit longer before her friend said she had to go conduct an interview at the school about a custodian who had an impressive collection of coins he’d found on school grounds over the past twenty years. Sunny had to smile because while that might not be breaking national news, it was 100 percent a Jade Valley sort of story. The guy would probably be the front-page feature if nothing earth-shattering happened before Maya sent the next weekly issue to press.
After checking on the still-sleeping twins, Sunny accompanied Maya outside.
“Take care, old man,” Maya said with a salute to Sunny’s dad.
“Don’t forget this cast won’t be on forever and I know where you live.”
Maya laughed. “You don’t scare me.”
After Maya left with a wave of her arm out her window, Sunny’s dad shook his head and chuckled.
“That girl has more sass than one person should.”
“But you love her like your own.”
“That I do.”
Sunny sank onto the edge of the porch with her feet on the front steps. She stared out at a view that was as familiar as the reflection of her own face in the mirror each morning.
“So, baking a cake for Dean, huh?”
She nodded as if it was no big deal. “Seemed the least I could do.”
Her dad nodded. “He’s a good man.”
He didn’t have to elaborate for Sunny to know that. Dean would probably never truly comprehend how thankful she was to him for being there for her dad when she couldn’t be. Dean deserved more than a cake, and that’s why she hoped that their plan worked out so that everyone was happy in the end. Including Dean.
She looked up at the wide blue sky and thought that her mom and Jason would be happy that the land that was a part of their blood would be staying with someone who loved it. They might not approve of her methods, but hopefully they could see that she only wanted to do what was best for everyone.
* * *
DEAN SWORE HE could hear the minutes ticking down to lunchtime as if each second was being marked by a mallet to a large church bell. He’d started his morning by checking a stretch of fencing at the far southern part of the ranch, then gone into town for a new tire for the utility vehicle they used to haul equipment around the ranch and check on cattle when they didn’t ride horses. Now he was waiting for chatty Dr. Parsons, the local vet, to finish up with a round of vaccinations in the barn.
Even though the picnic with Sunny wasn’t a real date, he didn’t want to keep her waiting. He tried to convince himself it had nothing to do with wanting to see her again. He sighed. If he couldn’t even fool himself, how was he supposed to fool others? He wasn’t an actor, after all.
But shouldn’t pretending that he was falling for Sunny be the easiest acting job ever?
The moment Dr. Parsons stepped out of the stall, Dean knew if he didn’t send the man on his way he’d launch into another of the seemingly endless stories he always had at the ready.
“Thanks for coming out, Doc.”
“No problem.”
“If you want to stay and visit with Jonathon for a while, head on over to the house.”
“Maybe next time. I best make my way over to the Stevens place.”
Dean didn’t even wait until Doc was in his truck before he jumped in his own and headed for his house. Sure, this wasn’t a real date and he wasn’t going to dress up for a picnic, but he didn’t want to show up sweaty and dirty either.
One quick shower and a change of clothes later, and he was headed back up the road to the spot where he was supposed to meet Sunny and the twins. When he arrived, he saw her trying to carry picnic supplies while also holding firmly to Lily’s and Liam’s hands as they toddled along beside her.
He parked in the gravel pull off and hurried to help her. He scooped up Liam and relieved her of the wicker picnic basket, which was heavier than he’d anticipated.
“Thanks,” she said, picking up Lily. “This would have been easier if there was a stroller path from the house down to here.”
“Probably best that it’s not easily accessible to them as they become better at walking.”
When he saw Sunny’s eyes widen at the idea of the twins managing to reach the river alone, he felt like smacking himself.
“Forget I said that.”
“Another reason to sell the ranch.”
“Every place has its hazards.” He didn’t point out that the crime rate in LA was astronomical compared to Jade Valley’s. He was supposed to be helping her, not scaring her even more. “But we can’t live our lives being afraid of what might happen. You don’t think about that every time you get on a plane or go adventuring in some other country, do you?”
“Well, no. Not often anyway.”
“And isn’t life way more fun when you’re not worrying than when you are?”
Sunny stopped and stared at him.
“When did you become a positive-thinking guru?”
“Oh, you didn’t know? I even go on speaking tours.”
She huffed a laugh, causing Lily to giggle.
“A tour of the pasture talking to the cows, I bet.”
“Ouch. You make me sound pitiful.”
“Hey, there’s something to be said for an audience that can’t talk back.”
When they reached a flat grassy spot, Sunny carefully checked the area to make sure it was free of snakes before setting Lily down and spreading out the blanket she’d brought.
“What did you put in here anyway?” Dean asked as he placed the picnic basket on one corner of the blanket. “It feels like you included several rocks along with lunch.”
“Not quite.” Sunny started pulling out sandwiches, chips, containers of pickles, olives, cherry tomatoes. Next came cold sodas and bright plastic containers that obviously contained the twins’ lunch.
“Does that basket not have a bottom?”
“How did you know? It’s the infinite picnic basic.”
“Patent that and you won’t ever have to work again. Maybe I’ll marry you for real and live a life of leisure.” He leaned back on his arms and stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankle.
“Yeah, right. You’re the type who would get bored of a life of leisure in less than a day.”
“You’re probably right about that.”
“I know I am. Even on summer vacation from school, you were still up and working alongside your dad every day.”
“That’s how I started saving up the money to one day have my own place.”
“You knew even back then what you wanted?”
“Didn’t you?”
“I knew I liked learning and wanted to go to college. And after studying abroad, I knew I wanted to travel more. But I was probably halfway through school before I started getting an idea of what kind of career I wanted.”
“How does one decide on business consultant? I mean, it’s not one of the careers school counselors try to guide you toward like doctor, lawyer, engineer.”
“We had a project in one of my business classes where we had to look at a failing company and figure out ways to turn it around. I got really into it, and my professor told me that I had a natural talent for seeing issues and innovative ways of fixing them.”
He let Liam grab his finger and wave his hand up and down.
“Your dad may not believe this whole relationship thing just because it makes no sense for someone as smart and successful as you to fall for someone like me.”
“What does that mean, someone like you?”
“I’m not well educated or well traveled. I don’t even own my own home.”
“Well, neither do I. My apartment is pretty small, so I’ll have to move to a house if this all works out.”
He tried to ignore the part of him that wanted to say there were two homes on this ranch and thus plenty of room here.
They spent the next few minutes feeding the twins while munching on their own food, laughing when both Lily and Liam ended up wearing more of their lunch than eating it.
“It’s a good thing you two are cute,” Sunny said as she wiped their faces, which for some reason they thought was hilarious.
Dean smiled. There was no bad mood that baby laughter couldn’t cure.
“You should have a couple of these to help fill up all this space out here when we leave,” Sunny said, pointing at the twins.
He had a flash of having those children with her, their own kids in addition to Lily and Liam. He forcefully shoved that thought deep into a vault where he couldn’t think about it, especially not when he was sitting this close to Sunny.
“I think having a wife should come first. And I don’t even have a girlfriend, thus why I’m able to pretend to be wooing you.”
“Wooing?” Sunny laughed a little. “Sometimes you sound very old-fashioned, Dean Wheeler.”
If he thought she’d welcome real advances from him, he’d pull out all the chivalry and wooing he could muster. But what they’d be sharing over the next however long was merely an act for their mutual benefit. He shouldn’t have to keep reminding himself of that.
“What can I say? I’m a classic catch.”
When Liam tried to crawl off the blanket, Dean quickly picked him up and pointed him in the opposite direction. Sunny was right about the twins being a handful. Now that he thought about it, he was surprised that Jonathon had managed them even before his fall.
“So, you mentioned before, you’d floated ideas for changing things around here to my dad without success. Tell me about what you’d like to do.”
He plucked a blade of grass and fiddled with it.
“Just an occasional idea of how we could diversify so that all of the ranch’s income doesn’t depend on animals and weather.”
“Such as?”
He glanced up at her. Did she really want to hear about his ideas when she wouldn’t be around to see whether any of them panned out?
“My thoughts are kind of all over the place. Whenever I think of something I write it down in a notebook and sometimes mention one or two to your dad. Everything from greenhouses to cabins along the river.”
“The cabins make sense. Lots of people who vacation out here like to stay in places that have better views than the hotels. A more authentic Western experience.”
“I know there’s lots of competition, but there should be ways to differentiate from the others. And there’s good money to be made. I’ve seen the rental rates on some of these places.”
“If you want, we could go over your ideas sometime. I could maybe offer some unique angles from other places I’ve seen in my travels that you could apply here.”
“I feel like this is where I should toss out something about not putting the cart before the horse. There’s no guarantee this whole crazy act is going to work.”
“Well, not with that attitude, it won’t,” she said as she swatted him on the arm.
Dean stretched out on the blanket, one arm behind his head, and using the brim of his hat to shade his eyes from the sun—but not so much that he couldn’t still see Sunny.
“So, exactly how do you want things to progress? Because we can’t go from zero to married without your dad calling foul. It’s going to take longer than you probably have off work.”
He tried not to think about how he wouldn’t mind stretching out and spending time with her as long as possible. Or how he’d lain in bed the night before wondering if there was any possibility that her dad might not be the one to change his mind.
He closed his eyes while telling himself he was nine kinds of a fool. If Sunny thought moving back to Jade Valley was the better option, she would do it. Instead, she was going to great lengths to gather her family together in Los Angeles instead. And it wasn’t because she was selfish. He could tell she truly believed it was the best option, so he’d be the selfish one for trying to stop her. So here he was discussing how best to trick a man who’d been like a second father to him.
Yeah, sometimes the world made zero sense.
CHAPTER SIX
SUNNY LOOKED THROUGH the photos she’d taken during her picnic with Dean and the twins, trying to choose one for a new phone lock-screen image. If she didn’t know better, she’d believe they were a young family on an outing together. A strange warmth filled her at that thought.
She’d been so busy with work and its associated travel over the past few years that she didn’t have much time to even casually date let alone think about settling down and having a family of her own. That was another area where she and Jason had differed. He’d married his high school sweetheart and gotten down to the business of being a husband and father. That his life had ended so soon, when he had other lives depending on him, was a cosmic injustice. Sunny owed it to her brother to make sure his children never wanted for anything, that they were always safe and knew they were loved.
Another swipe of her images brought up one of Dean taking a huge bite of the cake she’d baked for him. She smiled at how he’d nearly shot cake out of his nose in the next moment when Lily had grabbed a fistful of cake in her little hand. Sunny had barely stopped Liam from imitating his sister and leaving the cake totally mangled.
“What’s so amusing?”
Sunny looked up to see her dad standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She’d been so focused on the photos that she hadn’t even heard his distinctive approach.
Time to plant some more seeds.
“Your grandchildren attacking a cake. Want to see?”
“Of course.” He used his crutches to maneuver himself into the chair next to her. Then he swiped through all the pictures she’d taken during the picnic, chuckling at the ones of the twins with the cake, first on their hands and then all over their faces. She noticed when he paused a little longer on the one of her with Dean, each of them with a twin on their lap.
“This is a good picture.”
“It is, isn’t it? I think I’m going to make it my lock-screen image.” She took the phone back from him and set the image as her lock screen as if there was absolutely nothing strange about it. She pretended not to realize they totally looked like a husband, wife and two kids.
She sensed her dad was staring at her, but she pretended she wasn’t aware of that fact.
Her phone rang right as she finished setting the image.
“It’s my boss.”
When she answered, Mike didn’t waste any time getting straight to the point.
“We landed the account with Romtech, so we need you to be in Brussels the day after tomorrow.”
They’d been trying to convince Romtech to go with PTG Consulting’s services for a couple of months, so this was great news for the company. The timeline, however, did not work for her.
“Mike, you know I’m on vacation, back home in Wyoming. Someone else will have to make the trip.”
“Can’t you finish up your vacation after this trip?”
“Considering my dad can’t unbreak his leg long enough for me to jet to and from Brussels, no.”
She had logged a lot of long hours before leaving LA so that no one was put in a bind by her absence. Mike was a decent guy, but he didn’t have much of a life outside work and didn’t seem to comprehend why others did.
After she finally agreed to at least look over the account again and send back some notes about how to conduct the consultation, Mike finally hung up.
“Your boss seems demanding,” her dad said.
“He is, but it’s how he’s helped to build such
a successful branch of the company. He needs to get out more though. Pick up a hobby. Maybe go on a date or something.”
“What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”
The more-curious-than-normal tone of her dad’s voice told her that the seeds she’d been planting with the cake and the picnic might be beginning to sprout. So she tried to imagine herself blushing and not meeting his gaze as she shook her head.
“As you could probably tell from that call, I don’t have a lot of free time.”
“Then you should enjoy your days off while you’re here. You don’t have to babysit me.”
“I’m not. I’m babysitting the actual babies.”
“But you should visit with Maya more. And your other friends.”
She suspected that last friends meant one friend in particular.
“I’m actually having lunch with Maya tomorrow. I’ll take the twins and you can relax, guilt-free.”
“You don’t have to take Lily and Liam.” A tinge of annoyance in his voice told her he didn’t like being seen as unable to take care of himself and anything else that needed doing.
“Are you kidding? If I show up without them, Maya will disown me. Give her half a chance and she will spoil them absolutely rotten.”
“That’s because she can give them back when she’s done playing with them.”
“Don’t try to fool me, old man. I know you do your fair share of spoiling them too.”
Sunny knew that was the way of grandparents with their grandchildren, but she also suspected it had more to do with her dad missing Jason and holding on to his babies with all his might. She couldn’t blame him for either being protective or spoiling them. Her own freaked-out trip to the hospital with Lily proved she was even more overprotective than her dad. And the way she’d overdone the Christmas presents for two kids who didn’t know what Christmas was spoke to years of auntie spoiling ahead.
The Rancher's Unexpected Twins--A Clean Romance Page 6