Harlequin Love Inspired March 2021--Box Set 1 of 2

by Marta Perry

“I’ve had a lot of practice.” A thin man in his late thirties with a scruffy brown beard, Chris had a body as tough as beef jerky. He seemed tense. Normally, he chatted about the ranch, cattle, his son or the upcoming rodeo season. Today he’d been quiet.

  “Something on your mind?” Ryder pulled up alongside him.

  “Just making sure we have this pasture locked down. The cows have a knack for finding the weakness in a fence and waving all their girlfriends through.”

  Ryder had seen it firsthand himself. “You’re not wrong.”

  “They must be related to my ex,” Chris muttered.

  “She giving you problems?” Every once in a while, Chris would comment on how unreasonable his ex-wife was about their custody arrangement, but most days the man didn’t say much on the topic.

  “When doesn’t she? She knows my weaknesses and uses them against me, too, just like the cows.” Chris continued to scan the fence as they rode through thick green grass. “I was supposed to take Trevor to the rodeo Friday night, but now she’s claiming they have some family event to attend. This is the fifth time this year she’s done this. If it’s not a cousin’s birthday, it’s a surprise party for her parents’ wedding anniversary. I get every other weekend with Trevor, starting Friday afternoon, and I’m mighty tired of giving up my days for her family.”

  Ryder could see his point. “Can you switch dates with her?”

  “I have. Half the time, she finds an excuse to keep him on the days we switched, too. I’m tired of it. I’ve told Trevor time and again we would be going to the rodeos all summer long. They’re on Friday nights. If she takes my Fridays, I can’t keep my word to my son.” Chris shook his head. “Women aren’t worth it. They trick you into thinking they’re sweet and nice, and then—bam! They mess you up.”

  Uneasiness stirred in Ryder’s gut. What Chris was describing had been his own experience, too. Lily had been sweet and nice when they’d met. He hadn’t been able to believe his good fortune when the amazing, gorgeous, and very famous actress noticed him. They’d had a whirlwind romance, and he’d been smitten.

  “I’m not giving in this time,” Chris said. “She’ll throw a hissy fit, but I don’t care. Smartest thing I ever did was go through the courts to nail down a custody arrangement. I’m picking up my son this Friday no matter what she says. She’ll hear from my lawyer if she gets in my way.”

  “How does your son feel about it?” Ryder thought of Ivy and Harper and the hope shining on their sweet faces every time they thought their mother would call or visit. How many times had their hopes been crushed? Too many to count. Just look at Sunday when he’d left message after message for Lily to call the girls. They’d been so excited to tell her about their kittens. He’d yet to hear back from her.

  “I don’t know.” Chris glanced his way and blew out a frustrated breath. “Stuck in the middle, I suppose.”

  Ryder could relate. He often felt stuck in the middle between Lily and the girls. It made him feel helpless.

  He couldn’t force Lily to care about their daughters’ feelings.

  He couldn’t force her to show up.

  “Working here has been a lifesaver.” Chris’s hazel eyes sharpened as he stared at Ryder. “Rendezvous is close enough for me to be around my son, but far enough away to not be under her family’s judgmental eye. I had to get out of that town.”

  “You’ve been a lifesaver for me, too.” They continued to ride along the fence. “Mason gave me a crash course in ranching on the weekends I could get here, but riding out with you every day is what’s really gotten me up to speed.”

  “You took to it quickly,” Chris said. “Do me a favor, boss. If I ever start talking about dating again, give me a swift boot in the backside, okay?”

  Ryder laughed. “Will do.” He almost asked Chris to do the same for him, but Eden’s face came to mind. Sweet and nice. Unlike Lily, Eden was sweet and nice. But like Lily, she had goals and dreams that didn’t involve him, like getting her degree. She’d already set aside her college plans once. He didn’t want her to set them aside again.

  He saw how she was with the girls—devoted, loving, selfless. Having her around made life so much easier for him. But it didn’t mean he could pursue anything with her.

  When was the last time life had been this smooth?

  When Lily was pregnant with the twins…

  They’d hired a decorator to help design the babies’ rooms, taken child-birthing classes, gone out to restaurants, laughed a lot and picked out names. Lily had wrapped up the final season of Courtroom Crimes before they got married and was on a hiatus. They’d decided to start their family right away. That year—the marriage, the pregnancy—had a surreal quality to it. Everything had been like a dream come true.

  Then the twins came. Two beautiful, squawking, healthy girls. Ryder had never felt so much sheer love in his life. Within days, Lily scrapped the idea of being a homemaker, and she hired a nanny. He understood. Two babies were a lot.

  But then things changed, and he’d been trying to keep his head above water ever since.

  “Looks like we’ve got another section down.” Chris slowed where wire dangled between posts. “It’s a good thing we’re checking this before we move the herd in. Nothing worse than having to track down cattle when we could be getting other work done. This will prevent a lot of problems later on.”

  Truer words had not been spoken. Remembering how Lily played him for a fool, how she’d lied to him and acted like the twins were disposable would prevent a lot of problems for Ryder, too.

  He didn’t think he was capable of trusting a woman again the way he’d trusted Lily. He was not getting sucked into a relationship where the woman he loved claimed to want one thing but really wanted something else entirely. Something that didn’t involve him.

  Repairing this fence would keep the cattle in. Repairing the fence around his heart would keep complicated feelings out.

  * * *

  “I want twisty ice cream with sprinkles!” Harper held on to the edge of the counter at Dipping Dream’s take-out window.

  “I want chocolate with sprinkles,” Ivy said.

  Eden hiked Phoebe higher on her hip. They’d just loaded up on books from the library and had walked the two blocks to the ice-cream stand. Harper had skipped the entire way here, while Ivy held Eden’s hand and walked beside her.

  Sunday afternoon, she’d made a to-do list involving ordering her transcripts, setting up a phone call with an adviser and printing out the current requirements to get certified as a teacher in Wyoming. Then, yesterday, while the girls watched a video, she’d called the local elementary principal. Eden had been pleasantly surprised to find out she could do her student teaching there when the time came, and later she could substitute teach as a gateway to full-time employment.

  Phoebe reached a chubby hand toward Harper’s hair. “Oh, no, you don’t.” Eden stopped her from grabbing a fistful of waves. “I’m getting you ice cream, too, Phoebe-kins.”

  “Cwee,” Phoebe said, her eyes lighting up.

  “Yep.”

  “What can I get for you?” the teen behind the window asked.

  Eden sensed Phoebe getting ready to go for Harper’s hair again, so she shifted out of reach. “We’ll take one twisty cone with sprinkles, one chocolate cone with sprinkles, one vanilla cup and a hot fudge sundae.”

  “Coming right up.” He disappeared from view.

  Eden scanned the area for places to sit. A picnic table nearby was free. “Why don’t you girls sit at that table while I wait for the ice cream?”

  She watched as they raced over and sat opposite each other. Shifting shadows from the tree nearby partially shaded it. An employee held two cones with sprinkles out the window. Now what? She had only one hand free.

  “I’ll be right back for the other one.” Eden carefully took the twisty cone to the t
able, where, to her surprise, Misty Sandpiper was taking a seat.

  Harper sat on her knees, leaning in to hear Misty better, and Ivy’s gaze was glued her face. Eden wasn’t exactly friends with Misty. She didn’t dislike her or anything, but they ran in different circles.

  Misty was outgoing and popular and always had a boyfriend. In other words, the exact opposite of Eden.

  “Want me to hold Phoebe for you?” Misty always looked put together and pretty in a natural way with her long light brown hair and carefully applied makeup. She was wearing denim shorts with a low-cut hot-pink T-shirt.

  “Thank you, that would be great.” Eden handed Phoebe to her and hurried back to get the rest of the ice cream. It took two trips, but finally, she was able to sit next to Harper. Then she realized she’d stuck Misty with the baby. “Oh, what am I thinking? Here, I’ll take Phoebe.”

  “I don’t mind feeding her.” She made cute faces at Phoebe, who extended both hands toward the cup of vanilla with her mouth wide-open.

  “Are you sure?” When Misty nodded, Eden rummaged through the diaper bag. “I’ll get her bib. She can be messy.”

  She handed it to Misty, who snapped it over Phoebe’s T-shirt. The sprinkles were already starting to fall off the sides where the ice cream dripped from the twins’ cones.

  “Girls,” Eden said, “lick those drips before they fall onto your hands. Here are some napkins.” She pushed a few napkins to them.

  “What brings you out today?” Eden asked, keeping an eye on each of her charges. Harper had licked one side of her cone, but sprinkles freely dripped onto the back of her hand. Ivy was valiantly circling hers, but it was dripping nonetheless. And Phoebe was smiling and clapping every time Misty gave her another bite from her cup of vanilla ice cream.

  “I have the day off,” Misty said. “I’d just finished my shake when I saw these two sit down.”

  “We got kitties,” Harper said. An ice-cream mustache crested her lip. “Mine is silver and has stripes like a tiger.”

  “What did you name him?” Misty directed her attention to Harper. Phoebe tried to grab the spoon and held her mouth open for another bite. Misty fed her a spoonful of vanilla.

  “She’s a girl. Her name’s Dandy. It’s short for Dandelion, cuz she’s so fluffy. Do you ride ponies? I started to learn. My uncle Mason’s teaching me. Daddy’s helping Ivy cuz she’s scared.” Harper took another long lick.

  “Am not!” Ivy furrowed her eyebrows. “I rode Nugget. Daddy told me I did good.”

  “Well, Uncle Mason says I’m real good at it. Patches can tell.”

  “Stop bragging, Harper.”

  This type of back-and-forth happened several times a day, so Eden quickly changed topics. “Why don’t you tell Misty what you named your kitten, Ivy?”

  “Princess Cutie.” Ivy took another lick from her cone. “She’s white and fluffy and she purrs all the time. I just call her Cutie. It’s easier that way. And she sure is cute.”

  Harper jumped in. “I have a sparkly shirt to wear when I ride Patches. Do you have sparkly shirts when you ride a horse? Mine’s purple and white. I like the baby-blue one I saw in the store, too. Have you seen it?” Harper’s ice cream was beginning to melt down the back of her hand. “Auntie Eden, it’s a river!”

  Eden sopped up the mess with the napkins she had on hand.

  “Cwee, cwee!” Phoebe yelled, slapping her palms on the picnic table.

  Misty’s eyes had the overwhelmed expression Eden often felt when dealing with three young girls. She reached over for the baby. “Let me take her.”

  Misty transferred her to Eden and pushed the ice-cream cup her way, then turned to Harper once more. “I used to have a lot of sparkly outfits. In fact, I competed in rodeos.”

  “Rodeos,” Harper said reverently. “I want to ride in one.”

  “Not me.” Ivy licked the drips around her cone.

  “That’s cuz you’re scared.”

  “Am not!”

  “Girls.” Eden tried to keep her voice even. “Let’s be nice.”

  “I was scared of riding when I was younger,” Misty said. “My mama got so mad at me. She said no self-respecting Wyoming girl didn’t know how to ride a horse.”

  “What did you do?” Ivy watched Misty above her cone.

  “First, I cried a little. I thought she was so mean. Then I toughened up. My daddy took me out and told me he’d be right there next to me and not to worry. So I didn’t.”

  “My daddy told me the same.” Ivy nodded.

  “You’ve got a good daddy.” Misty smiled. “He won’t let you fall. I wouldn’t mind coming out to help if you want.”

  Great. Now Misty would be at the ranch, and Ryder would be dazzled by her bubbly personality and pretty face. Eden spooned the last bite of ice cream into Phoebe’s mouth. “I need to clean her up.”

  “I’ll stay here with the girls.”

  “You don’t mind?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Thanks.”

  Eden grabbed the diaper bag and took Phoebe to the public restroom at the side of the ice-cream stand. The mirror showed white smears on the shoulder of her shirt where Phoebe had placed her sticky hands. Eden’s hair was frizzing near her face, and strands of hair had escaped her ponytail. Needless to say, the swipe of tinted lip gloss she’d applied this morning had worn off hours ago.

  Misty always looked impossibly fresh and nice. No wonder she always had a date while Eden sat home. And Eden couldn’t even hate the girl. She’d been really nice and helpful today.

  She wet a paper towel and washed Phoebe’s hands and face with it as the child did everything in her power to avoid getting wiped. In the end, Phoebe let out a few high-pitched shrieks before Eden was confident she’d eliminated all the stickiness.

  Back outside, her stomach dropped at the sight of Ivy and Harper hanging on Misty’s words and laughing at something she said. Eden had been around Rendezvous enough to see the writing on the wall. She’d had Ryder to herself since he’d moved to town, but that would be changing.

  She didn’t want Ryder to fall for pretty, flirty Misty Sandpiper. She wanted him to fall for her.

  And that wasn’t going to happen.

  * * *

  Friday afternoon, Ryder took a seat in the ranch office and glanced at the whiteboard listing all the projects he needed to get done this summer. The day was warm and sunny. He and Chris had started moving the cattle to their new pasture. Everything was going well for the moment. The kittens had distracted Ivy from her constant questions about when her mother was coming, and Harper hadn’t stopped begging to ride Patches again. Both girls were getting another horseback-riding lesson tomorrow when Mason was free to help him.

  His cell phone rang, and he glanced at it. Lily’s name appeared. A copper taste coated his tongue.

  “What’s up?” He kept his tone friendly, crisp.

  “Hi, Ryder.” Her silky voice slid through the line. “How are the girls?”

  “They’re fantastic.” His grip on the phone tightened. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her she’d know how they were if she’d ever get around to seeing them.

  “Good. I have a break in my schedule. I’m making arrangements to visit.”

  He’d believe it when she appeared on his doorstep. Not one second sooner.

  “Good.” He drummed his fingertips on the desk. “My offer still stands if you want to stay here at the ranch.”

  “I’ve actually had Mandy rent a cabin for me.”

  A cabin implied rustic. What she really meant was she’d rented a luxury log home. But what did he care? Cabin, mansion—at least she was coming.

  Maybe.

  “When do you arrive?”

  “Next Friday. I plan on staying a week.”

  That gave him a week to get ready. No problem. “They
will be very happy. They want to see you. By the way, I bought them kittens. Maybe you could FaceTime the girls later so they can show them to you. And you can let them know you’re coming.”

  “Yes, absolutely,” she said brightly. “Oh, gotta run. I’ll have Mandy send you the information.” And she hung up.

  He stared at the phone in his hand and shook his head. Would she keep her word? And if she did come, would she spend an entire week with the girls?

  He wasn’t counting on it. Couldn’t count on her. Maybe he could ask Eden to be on call that week. Leaning back, he sighed.

  Harper’s and Ivy’s faces came to mind with all their innocent questions about their mother coming to see them.

  Lily had better not let them down this time.

  At least if she didn’t show up, Eden would be around to help him pick up the pieces.

  But what would he do when summer ended? He’d be on his own again, doing his best to raise the twins by himself. They needed their mother, too, and he couldn’t force her to be involved in their lives.

  He wouldn’t think about it now. He had a ranch to run.

  * * *

  “No, Dandy, don’t hide under there.” Harper crouched down on all fours and peeked under the couch. Then she scrambled to her feet. “Auntie Eden, Dandy doesn’t like me!”

  Eden calmly went over to where Harper stood. “What’s the problem?”

  “She’s under the couch, and I told her not to. Bad kitty!” Harper stamped her little bare foot on the hardwood floor and pouted.

  “Cutie is being bad, too.” Ivy carried the wiggly kitten over from where she’d plucked her off the curtains. “Her claw scratched me, and Daddy said she can’t climb the curtains.”

  “Why don’t you both leave the kittens alone for a while, and we’ll have some cookies outside. Your daddy will be home soon.”

  Late afternoon could be cagey with the twins, even on a beautiful, sunny summer Friday. At least Phoebe had been happy all day. Gabby had picked her up an hour ago, leaving Eden alone with the twins.

  “Okay.” Ivy set the kitten on the couch, but it promptly leaped off and raced to the curtains. “Auntie Eden! She’s doing it again!”