Home on the Ranch--The Colorado Cowboy's Triplets

by Laura Marie Altom

  “Good. I’m glad there’s a plan in place.” He shook their hands, reiterated how it had been nice to meet them and that the nurse would be in to administer the vaccines, and then he was gone.

  “Why did Emily do this?” Jed asked when they were alone. “Did she find something in me lacking?”

  “Did you ever think that, first off, she never planned on dying only weeks after the girls were born? And second, all you’ve ever wanted was to be in the navy. It seems fairly logical to me that she wouldn’t want to saddle you with this kind of responsibility.”

  “I guess. Still...” He sighed. “It stings.”

  “I’m sure.” She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t harbored fantasies about the two of them raising the triplets together these past weeks. She’d be an aunt, but the girls would consider her their real mom. It wasn’t that Camille ever wanted to replace Emily in their hearts, but daughters needed their mother. Part of her felt ready to assume that role. Her time with Jed and her grandfather and the babies had been the perfect medicine to take her mind off what she’d been through in Miami.

  Even a month ago, she’d have never believed the peace now residing in her soul, but with Jed and their new little family, life was looking better than it ever had.

  At least until all three girls shrieked in horror from receiving shot after shot.

  Jed held them during the procedures.

  Camille comforted and cooed once it was over.

  In the SUV, all three tenors continued wailing until Camille connected her phone to the stereo, blasting George Strait.

  “Thank God for George,” Jed said, while navigating the crowded medical plaza parking lot.

  The girls were already quieting.

  “Amen.”

  “Where should we go for ice cream?”

  She covered a yawn. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m good. At this point, I’d rather have a nap.”

  And time. More than anything, she needed more time with the girls. And most especially, with Jed.

  Chapter 13

  Another week passed, and though Jed would never admit it, he was in no hurry for his mom to get back. She’d borrowed a SAT phone and explained that flash floods had washed out a few vital bridges. They were too far out of range for helicopters and there were no landing strips for bush planes. He told her to take her time. He and Camille had settled into a routine and were managing just fine.

  Well... Better than fine.

  Which was why he was up at the crack of dawn checking on Lucy and Ethel and the goats and demon chickens, because he had a special surprise planned for his girls. Make no mistake, at some point in the past month, Camille and his nieces had become an integral part of his life.

  One day soon his mom would ride in to the rescue, taking over in her oh-so-capable way. But until then, he was following Camille’s advice and living every moment to the fullest. He was enjoying the girls’ every burp and coo, and the way they’d started grinning when he blew raspberries on their chubby bellies. They were growing right before his eyes, as were his feelings for Camille.

  He knew that when it was time to head back to base the pain stemming from leaving them would be inevitable, but at least he’d have his memories.

  That would be enough, right?

  The sudden pain in his stomach hit like a punch. He ignored it. He’d deal with the downside of this arrangement when the time came. Until then, today was about fun.

  Entering through the back door, he found Camille at the stove, flipping eggs. A platter of bacon sat on the table, along with juice. All three babies wiggled in their carriers and Camille’s grandfather occupied the booth.

  “Hey, Ollie.” Jed removed his cowboy hat, setting it on the counter along with the basket of eggs he’d gathered. “I didn’t know you were here. Where’s Earl?”

  “Parked him out front,” the older man said. “Noticed your yard could use a trim. That’s the one downside of this warmer weather—damn lawns.”

  Jed laughed.

  “How’s the barn crew?” Camille asked. “And do you gentlemen want one egg or two?”

  “I’ll take three, please.” Jed sat across from Ollie. “Those damn chickens will be the death of me. Two escaped and I had to chase them back into the pen.”

  “If he’s having three eggs,” Ollie said, “I’ll need four. Mining takes a lot more effort than gathering a few eggs.”

  “Hey—those hens are dangerous.”

  “Whatever.”

  Camille added more eggs and butter to the frying pan after removing the three that were already done. She put them on a plate that she delivered along with a fork and napkin to Jed. “Gramps, yours are cooking.”

  “But he gets served before me?” Ollie scowled. “What happened to age before beauty?”

  “Thanks, Ollie.” Jed snagged a few pieces of bacon. “Good to know you find me attractive.”

  The old man huffed.

  “Ready for your surprise?” he asked Camille.

  “I was ready about an hour ago.”

  “Sorry—those damned chickens are always causing more trouble than they’re worth.”

  “When I was your age,” Ollie said, “I could tackle morning chores in under fifteen minutes before the sun even came up. I’d be to the mine before six—all year round. Think a little snow stopped me or Bonkers?” He snorted. “You’d be wrong.”

  “Gramps, you are such a fibber.” Camille set his plate, napkin and fork in front of him. “Grandma told me that when it snowed, you pretended to go to the mine, but you and Bonkers hung out in the nice and toasty tack room, watching your VCR collection of old Westerns and war movies. She said you even had a stash of junk food and bourbon out there.”

  “I would never call my beautiful wife—God bless her soul—a liar, but not a lick of that is true.” He dug into his eggs but aimed a wink in Jed’s direction.

  “While I always appreciate having history rewritten,” she said, “Jed, what’s my surprise?”

  “Voilà!” He took folded sheets of paper from his Wranglers’ back pocket and handed them to her. “We’re taking a mini-road trip.”

  She unfolded the paper to find directions to the Denver Zoo. Excitement swelled in her chest. “You remembered. I haven’t been to a zoo since—”

  “We used to go together?”

  She clapped, then kissed his cheek. “Thank you. Gramps? You want to tag along with me, Jed and the girls?”

  Ollie made a face. “Appreciate the invite, but me and Earl have a full schedule.” He ate faster. “I’ve got a good feeling about the motherlode...”

  * * *

  “Aww... Look at the girls looking at the giraffe. Have you ever seen a more adorable sight?” She took a half-dozen more pics on her iPhone. At the rate she was going, she’d run out of memory before they made it even halfway around the zoo.

  The temperature was spring perfection in the high seventies, and everywhere she looked leaves were budding and tulips showed off in brilliant swatches of red, yellow and orange.

  “Want ice cream?” Jed asked.

  “We just had hot dogs.”

  “And?”

  She laughed. “Absolutely. I would love ice cream. Chocolate, please.”

  “Excellent answer.” He steered the stroller toward the Kamalá Café. “I’ve been dying to see the girls’ reaction to trying flavors besides formula.”

  “Is that safe?” She hustled behind him.

  “I’m not talking about giving them their own cones—just licks.”

  “In that case, sounds fun.” The day had been sublime. She’d dressed the girls in matching sun suits—color-coded so they knew who was who. And judging by the crowd reaction to identical triplets, you’d have thought they were movie stars. There had been lots of pointing and staring and even requests for selfies.

 
; Jed gobbled up the attention.

  The eatery’s air-conditioning felt wonderful, as the day had grown warmer than she’d thought. She lifted her long hair, fanning her neck. Why hadn’t she packed a scrunchie?

  “Keep exposing your neck like that,” Jed whispered, “and we’re going to have trouble.”

  “Oh?” The past few nights she’d grown intimately acquainted with his brand of trouble and she liked it. She teased, “And what do you plan on doing with your nieces during this trouble?”

  “Let me think on it. I haven’t gotten that far into my plan.” He kissed the nape of her neck, making her shiver. She hadn’t dreamed it was possible to want a man to this degree—at least not until reuniting with Jed. Which was great, but what did that say about the rest of her life?

  Ignoring the question for which she had no answer, she moved with Jed up a few feet in the line.

  “Are those triplets?” a pigtailed girl asked. Camille guessed she was around six or seven.

  “They sure are.” Did Jed realize his chest puffed out each time someone asked? “They’re awesome, huh?”

  “Super cool!” the girl said with a big nod. “Can I take a selfie with them?”

  “I don’t mind,” he said, “but you should probably ask their mom.” Leaning in, he whispered to Camille, “Go with it.”

  “Sure,” she replied, not certain why Jed wanted her to play along. “Take all the selfies you want.”

  “Cool! Thanks!” The girl, wearing a Cinderella T-shirt and plastic crown, whipped her phone from her pink skirt’s pocket, then leaned in for a few different poses. “I have to get the best one for my Snapchat!”

  Once she’d gone, Jed noted, “When we were that age, we didn’t even have phones, let alone social media.”

  “I know, right? I’m suddenly feeling old.”

  “For the record,” he was back to whispering in her ear, “you’re the sexiest old lady I’ve ever seen.”

  “Thank you.” Considering the G-rated crowd, she kissed his cheek. “I think?”

  When their turn finally arrived, they carried the cones to a shaded picnic table.

  “This is gonna be great.” Jed held his cone to Allie, touching it to her tongue. She froze for a moment, as if unsure what to think, then her adorable face broke into a grin. “I’ll take that as a sign she likes it?”

  “Absolutely.” Camille held her cone to Sallie and earned the same positive reaction.

  Jed gave Callie a turn, but she didn’t seem at all sure that she was a fan. Her face puckered as if she’d eaten a lemon.

  “Every party has a pooper.” Jed wiped the melting mini-blob of ice cream mixed with drool from her chin. He repeated the action with the other two girls, then tickled all their tummies.

  Camille couldn’t get enough of this version of Jed, the ultimate family man. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt more at ease. At peace with her world. Not only had he and the girls done that for her, but this place had. She’d always loved Colorado and especially the Denver Zoo. It had changed so much over the years as to hardly be recognizable from the one they’d visited as kids, but the spirit was the same. It was the way the world was supposed to be. Fun and safe and a happy place for couples and families and friends.

  The fact that Jed brought her here meant so much. It meant he’d remembered her fears and knew this was one place where they could enjoy their day without threat of violence.

  Her old life seemed a million miles away.

  Exactly where she wanted it.

  Even when Jed returned to the navy, as much as she’d miss him, it was good to know she and Barbara and maybe even Ollie could bring the babies here for safe outings off the mountain.

  They spent another four hours showing the tenors elephants and tigers and lions and monkeys. They made it through a feeding and diaper changes like seasoned pros, and honestly, Camille did feel like the girls’ mom.

  They were in the SUV with Jed at the wheel and the girls asleep in their backseat carriers when Camille asked, “When we were at the restaurant, why did you have me tell that girl the babies were mine? Ours?”

  “Easy.” He took her hand, gliding his fingers between hers. “It was my selfish way of maintaining the illusion that we’re a real family.” He brought her hand to his mouth, kissing the back, then turning it over to kiss her palm. “This plan of yours—for us to be a couple till Mom gets here—was the most genius idea ever.”

  “Glad you approve.” She leaned her head against the headrest, turning her face for the awe-inspiring view. Had there ever been a more handsome man? His strong profile made her pulse quicken. And the thought of what they’d probably end up doing after feeding and bath time made her heart pound even faster.

  She hoped Barbara showed up soon, because Camille was starting to have a very real fear that if she kept up this temporary relationship much longer, she’d have a tough time letting go.

  “I want to top off the tank.” Before veering onto the highway, Jed pulled up to a convenience store gas pump. “Mind running in to grab me a coffee and a Slim Jim—one of those extra spicy ones?”

  “With coffee?” She made a face. “Want me to also buy a roll of Tums?”

  “No, thanks.” He patted his T-shirt’s chest pocket. “Got ’em right here.”

  “You’re crazier than Gramps.”

  “A lot better looking, too.”

  Laughing, she fished her purse out from under the front seat, checked to make sure the babies were still sleeping, then jogged into the store.

  She found Jed’s spicy meat, then aimed for the coffee stand, also fixing one for herself. Jed preferred black, but she liked cream and lots of sugar.

  Passing the candy aisle, she grabbed a handful of green apple Laffy Taffy and a Snickers, then stood in line at the checkout behind an elderly couple and two teens.

  Air Supply blared over the store intercom, but she’d have sworn she heard one of the teens tell the clerk to hand over the cash register’s money.

  No way.

  Her imagination was getting the better of her.

  “Hand it over, you little pussy!” One of the skinhead teens whipped a 9mm from his hoodie pocket, waving it at the teen clerk.

  Though bile rose in Camille’s throat, the cop in her switched to autopilot.

  The elderly couple backed far enough away to allow Camille to get closer to the perps.

  “Give me the money,” the taller of the two said, “or I’ll shoot you for the fun of it.”

  “I already told you—” the clerk held up his trembling hands “—there’s hardly anything in the register. All the big bills are in the safe and I can’t open it.”

  “Liar.” The thug again waved the gun.

  “Give us whatever you got.” The gunman’s pimple-faced friend pulled out a buck knife.

  Camille’s every instinct screamed for her to run, but her training said the opposite.

  Standing next to a counter, she soundlessly dropped the candy and Slim Jim to remove the lids from the two coffees.

  “Stop staring and hand over the friggin’ money!”

  “Excuse me...” Summoning her every ounce of nerve, Camille cleared her throat.

  Both teens turned to her.

  The one with the gun asked, “What the hell do you want, bitch?”

  Without thinking, Camille flung the hot coffees into the teens’ eyes.

  The kid with the gun popped off a couple rounds at the ceiling before dropping to the floor, writhing in pain.

  His buddy soon followed. “My eyes! You whore! I’m blind!”

  “Got any duct tape or twine?” Camille asked the clerk. “Anything I can use to tie these guys’ hands till help arrives?”

  The clerk, evidently in shock, stared at her as if she’d sprouted three heads.

  “Cam?”
The store’s entry burst open and Jed ran inside. “You okay?”

  “Fine. Help me find something to bind these idiots’ hands.”

  “D-duct tape,” the clerk finally said. “A-aisle five. On the bottom next to the motor oil.”

  “Thanks,” Jed took off in that direction.

  “Who’s with the babies?” Camille called after him.

  “The lady who was using the pump behind me. She’s an ER nurse on her way to her shift. She already called 9-1-1.”

  By the time Jed tied both teens’ hands behind their backs, leaving them prone on the floor, police arrived to take over.

  They asked Camille far too many questions for her liking, when all she wanted to do was curl into a fetal position with Jed holding her tight. Why had this happened? Just when she’d started to feel safe. Just when she’d seen a glimpse of hope for a brighter future, she now knew it had all been an illusion.

  She was no safer here than she had been in Miami. And neither were Emily and Chase’s babies or Jed.

  More than anything, she’d wanted to believe there was good in the world.

  Boy, had she been wrong.

  * * *

  An hour later, police gave Jed and an eerily silent Camille their blessing to leave. They’d taken both their cell numbers in the event they had further questions or needed them to serve as court witnesses.

  Thankfully, no one was injured, but the teen gang members’ paramedics said they’d suffered minor burns to their eyes.

  They’d heal.

  It was Camille’s inner wounds Jed worried about.

  Had this mess opened old scars she’d finally believed healed?

  The whole ride home, the babies miraculously slept, but Camille didn’t. She stared out the window, never saying a word.

  Once he’d reached the turnoff to the ranch’s dirt road, he said, “You’re awfully quiet. Want to talk anything out?”

  “No, thank you.”

  “You were a hero back there. If you hadn’t intervened, there’s no telling how many people may have been hurt.”