Caroline gasped as frigid water splashed onto her blouse, pulling her from her reverie. Some of the water must have landed on the triplets, too. They screamed in delight, then rolled with laughter on the picnic blanket beside her. Maggie gasped from where she waded in the knee-high water of the creek. “Oh, Miss Caroline, I’m sorry! I didn’t know it would splash that far.”
Caroline laughed even as she shook the water off her arm. “It’s fine, Maggie. The boys seemed to enjoy it. Truth be told, so did I. Think you can do it again?”
Maggie grinned and tried her best. The next few minutes were full of baby giggles and screams. Even Caroline let out a few when Maggie got particularly enthusiastic. Still, the cold creek water was a blessed relief from the heat that continued to blaze even in the shade of the oak and willow canopy that stretched along the banks. She couldn’t help gazing longingly at the creek, wishing she could join Maggie and wade for a while. She couldn’t figure out how to manage with the triplets, so she contented herself with being splashed.
Maggie was beginning to tire out when Caroline’s sister-in-law stepped through the trees with another young lady Caroline hadn’t met before. Emma waved at them. “Fancy meeting you folks here. We were just on our way to visit y’all.”
Maggie waved back but didn’t move from the creek. “Hello, Miss Emma and Miss Annie.”
The ladies returned her greeting as Caroline hurried over to give Emma a hug. “What a wonderful surprise!”
“I wanted to see how you were settling in, and Annie was just dying to see the triplets, so we decided to walk on over. I don’t suppose you’ve met Annie Hill?”
Caroline shook her head, surveying the cheerful-looking blonde in a homespun blue dress who looked to be around eighteen. “I’m glad to have the pleasure. I’m Caroline Murray.”
Annie grinned as she fanned herself with the magazine she carried. “Oh, I know who you are. Emma told me all about you.”
“Good things, I hope.”
“As if there is anything else to tell,” Emma chided, then nodded to Annie. “I’m so glad y’all are finally able to meet. I’ve known Annie as long as Matthew and I have lived out here. She and her family are our northern neighbors.”
Annie’s blue eyes sparkled with laughter. “Honestly, Emma, the way you say it always makes us sound like we’re Yankees or something. My family has lived in this area for generations. My ma does own the spread just north of Matthew’s, though.”
“Which makes you our northern neighbors.” Emma winked, then grabbed up Jasper, who’d decided now was a good time to go exploring. He stared up at Emma and reached out to touch her face with his damp fingers.
“A spread?” Caroline lifted Eli onto her hip as she glanced over at Maggie. She tried to hide her grin when she saw the girl was now sitting in the creek with her toes wiggling toward the sky. “Does that mean your mother is a ranch owner?”
Theo was reaching for Annie. Expectation and a hint of impatience furrowed his brow, which surprised Caroline to no end, since he was the shyest. He seemed quite content in Annie’s arms. Annie smiled down at him. “She sure does. She’s got plenty of helping hands with me and my siblings.”
Emma nodded. “There are four of them.”
For some reason, Caroline’s gaze instinctively went to Emma’s belly.
Emma immediately covered it with her hand. “Don’t look at me like that, Caroline. I’m only having one.”
Annie shrugged. “Oh, you never really know for sure until the day comes. It seems like this town is full of multiples. We’ve got the Stillwater twins, Bo and Brandon. Then these triplets showed up out of nowhere. Well, I guess that’s only two sets.”
“That’s more than enough,” Emma said rather enthusiastically.
Maggie yelled from the creek. “Excuse me, Miss Caroline? May I swim a little?”
Caroline couldn’t hold back her laughter another second. The girl was drenched from head to foot. It wasn’t as though she could get any wetter than she already was. “Go right ahead. Just stay close to the bank and where I can see you.”
Maggie let out a whoop. Emma stared at the creek with what seemed like the same longing Caroline had felt a few minutes ago. The three women exchanged a glance. Seconds later, they were all kicking off their boots, tying up their skirts and wading into the water with the babies in tow.
They did a little splashing, then settled down enough to lower the triplets into the shallows. Jasper hit the water with his hands, making himself and Theo laugh. Eli seemed content to watch his toes move beneath the clear surface of the water, stirring up little clouds of dirt. The water came up to his chubby thighs, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he barely seemed to need Caroline’s grasp for balance, though she held on plenty tight enough to keep him safe. Theo’s legs went limp as noodles until Annie moved him to even shallower water where he could sit down and wave his arms in the water. He cooed in delight as though that had been his aim all along.
Caroline shook her head at the baby and his current caretaker. “I’m amazed at how well y’all get along. Theo tends to be the shyest of the three, but he seems so comfortable with you.”
“Actually, Theo and I know each other pretty well. Before David took the triplets in, Louisa Clark and her father, Dr. Clark, cared for them at their house in town. Louisa is the midwife, and I work as her assistant whenever she needs me. Those few weeks with these cute little fellows gave me a soft spot where they’re concerned.”
“I’m experiencing that firsthand, too.” The sun shifted through the trees, calling Caroline’s attention to the patch of sky overhead. The sun wasn’t wasting any time and neither should they if they wanted to be home in time for the visitor David had scheduled as a surprise for his daughter. “Maggie, find a patch of sunlight and try to dry out a little. We’ll be heading home soon.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Maggie dunked herself under the water one last time before swimming for the banks.
Emma’s curious gaze landed on Caroline. “Home?”
“Maggie’s home. Not mine. My home is still in Austin.”
Emma shrugged as though it made no difference to her. “Home is wherever you decide it should be.”
“And whomever you decide it should be with?” Annie asked with a hint of something more than idle curiosity.
“Maybe. Ida told me something the other day that stuck with me. I don’t even remember how it came up, but she said something about how in our lives we have two families. One of them we’re born into. The other we create for ourselves.”
Emma smiled. “That’s beautiful.”
Annie looked more than a little perplexed. “What did she mean, Caroline? How do you create one for yourself? Does she mean the children you have?”
“Yes, and the choice of whom you marry, whom you let close to you, whom your friends are.”
Emma nodded. “That can shape your life just as much if not more than the family you grow up with. I think that’s particularly true for women. I know the Bible says for the man to ‘leave and cleave.’ These days, or at least in these parts, it’s more often the man who stays right where he is and the woman who leaves everything she knows to cleave to something unknown.”
“That’s why it’s so important to choose a good man—a man of character,” Caroline added as if she had any experience doing that. Then again, why shouldn’t she? At the very least, what she’d been through ought to qualify her to give advice on what not to do. She’d learned her lesson. No more rushing into things. Maybe even no more falling in love if she could help it.
“My mother told me something I’ll never forget,” Emma began with a wistful smile. “She said, ‘Emma, don’t even think about marrying a man unless you’d be proud to have a son exactly like him.’ Now that I am going to have a son or daughter, I feel as though I understand the importance of that
at an even deeper level.”
Caroline frowned. “Yes, but what if that man seems to be everything a woman dreams of, then he turns out to be something else entirely?”
Emma reached over to touch Caroline’s arm and offered a reassuring smile. “Then we thank the Good Lord that He revealed it to us before it’s too late.”
Annie looked back and forth between Emma and Caroline as though trying to read between the lines. Apparently unable to find the answer, she frowned. “How does God reveal it to us?”
Caroline lowered her gaze to the clear creek water. “Sometimes it becomes too obvious to ignore.”
“Otherwise,” Emma added, “a woman has to make a careful study of a man’s character, reputation and values. Get to know him real well. See how he reacts in different situations and around different people. Don’t ignore that little niggling sensation in your gut that tells you something isn’t right no matter how tempting it is—or he is.”
Caroline felt her cheeks warming at the idea of letting a man’s looks sway her better judgment. Had that contributed to what happened with Nico? If so, it wouldn’t happen again. Not that there was anyone in her life at the moment who could make that happen. After all, David certainly didn’t count, even though he was handsome and...
She shook her head, realizing her mind was headed down a dangerous path. A quick glance at Annie proved the girl looked just as uncomfortable as she felt about the current line of conversation. Caroline wasn’t surprised when after a small, thoughtful nod, Annie drifted over to talk with Maggie. Of course, that left Caroline with nowhere to hide from Emma’s concerned look and quiet voice. “How are you handling things, Caroline?”
“Better. So much better. The children have been a perfect distraction.” She watched Maggie and Annie, with Theo on her hip, walk over to the picnic blanket before meeting Emma’s gaze once more. “You don’t have to worry about me, Emma. I’m putting it behind me. You can tell Matthew that, too.”
Emma grinned. “Good. I’ll tell him. Whether that will be enough to stop his worrying, we’ll have to see.”
Caroline barely had time to shake her head in exasperation when a deep, unfamiliar voice called out from the woods. “Hello the camp!”
Eyes widening, Caroline kept hold of Eli while using the other hand to unknot her full skirt enough for the fabric to plunge into the creek. A tall young man stepped onto the creek bed a good distance away. He waved a hand, while the puppy tucked against his chest yipped in greeting. Maggie gasped and ran toward the pair with a happy cry of “Duke!”
That meant the young man was probably Jamie Coleman. David had told Caroline and Ida that the nineteen-year-old would be stopping by soon to train the dog for Maggie. She watched as he surrendered the puppy to Maggie’s care. Emma muttered something that sounded like “Uh-oh.”
Caroline sent her a questioning glance, then lifted Eli onto her hip before reaching out to shake Jamie’s hand. “Hello, you must be Jamie.”
“Yes, ma’am. Sorry to sneak up on y’all like that. I went by the house first. Miss Ida told me I should come by and let y’all know I was here.”
“You were perfectly right to do so. We were planning on heading back to the house soon anyway. We just stopped to cool off a little first. Emma and Annie, you’ll come back to the house with us, won’t you? I’m sure we’ll be able to visit a little more.”
Concern furrowed Emma’s brow as she looked to her companion. “What do you think, Annie? I don’t want to cause any trouble between your families.”
Now it was Caroline’s turn to try to read between the lines. Why would her invitation cause trouble and between whose families? None of this made any sense. Annie didn’t seem to be of a mind to explain. In fact, an awkward silence enveloped the group. Emma finally cleared her throat. “Annie, do you need to go home now?”
“I—um. Well...” Annie stole a glance at Jamie, who was staring at his shoes. “No. No. It’s fine. I’ll just stay a few minutes.”
Jamie ducked his head, but Caroline was almost certain she caught a glimpse of him smiling. Emma frowned. Caroline glanced back and forth between everyone for some sort of context for the interaction and came up empty. Maggie rushed over with the puppy still in her arms. “Are we going back to the house to train Duke now?”
“Yes,” Caroline said. “As soon as we clean up our picnic.”
With everyone helping, they were on their way back to the house in no time at all. A still-soggy Maggie led the way, wrapped in the picnic blanket they’d used to dry off the triplets’ legs. Jamie carried the basket, and Annie walked beside him carrying Theo.
Caroline waited until they were out of hearing range before edging closer to Emma. “I know I’m being nosy, but I can’t help asking. What was that all about?”
Emma gave a soft laugh. “I’ll indulge your nosiness because I don’t want you to accidentally get caught up in the middle of the feud.”
“There’s a feud?”
“Unfortunately.” Emma released a tired sigh and shifted Jasper on her hip. “Jamie is a Coleman. Annie is a Hill. Their families have been feuding for...oh, I don’t know how long it’s been now. Too long. That’s for sure.”
“Why are they feuding?”
Emma shrugged. “Something about a diamond ring, I think. Each family thinks it’s rightfully theirs. It escalated from there. Jamie and Annie’s brother Peter got into a fistfight about it at the county fair last month.”
“Whoa. They’re pretty serious about this, then.” She eyed Jamie in the distance. “That’s so strange to me. Jamie doesn’t seem like the type to get into a fight. David speaks well of him, too.”
“That’s because Jamie is a good man. So is Peter. The same goes for both of their families, but when you put the two factions together...” She shook her head. “It’s like a powder keg and kerosene. All it takes is one little flame, and suddenly everything is exploding. I hate seeing them like that. The Colemans live on a spread north of David, so all four of us are neighbors in a way. We should be helping each other out, not fighting. Especially the Colemans and the Hills. I’ve tried talking to Dorothy about it, but does anyone listen to me about these things? No, of course not.”
Caroline frowned. “Dorothy?”
“Annie’s mother. She’s a widow. Matthew has tried talking to Jamie’s father, Tug. That didn’t help, either. Tug is a widower, or I would have spoken to his wife, too.” Emma paused in the yard while the others went into the house. “I’ve learned the best thing to do is leave it to God. We also try to keep the families as separate as possible. It’s odd, but they all seem drawn to each other. I guess some people like having a good fight.”
Caroline glanced toward the barn, where David had disappeared to first thing this morning before heading out with his men. “Speaking of confrontations, I was hoping you might be able to give me some advice.”
Emma’s gray eyes refocused on her. “About what?”
“Well, I’m a little concerned about Maggie. She doesn’t get very much attention from her father. He always seems to be in a hurry to leave the house or locked up in his study. She finally cajoled him into singing with us the other night, but that’s the first time I’ve seen them spend more than a few minutes together. I thought after—”
Emma held up a hand. “Wait. You sang together? You, David and Maggie?”
“Well, technically, I sang a duet with each of them. By the way, did you know he plays the guitar? Not to mention that his voice was incredible, and why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re concerned but excited and I don’t know what else.”
“No reason. It’s only that...” Emma bit her lip, then shrugged. “It’s so soon after Nico.”
“What does Nico have to do with—” Suddenly realizing where this was going, Caro
line felt heat rise on her cheeks. “Listen, just because I happen to have a weakness for men who make music doesn’t mean I’ll fall in love with every man I sing with.”
Even if she had felt for a moment during the song that—
“I know. I know. I just want you to be careful. That’s all.”
“I will be. Don’t you worry about that.” She eagerly brushed aside the subject with a wave of her hand. “What I was trying to say is I’ve been considering speaking up about Maggie to David. I’ve never been a nanny before, so I’m not entirely sure that it’s my place to do so, but Ida doesn’t seem to think anything is amiss.”
Emma tilted her head. “Do you think he’d listen to you?”
“He listened about the triplets.” At Emma’s questioning look, Caroline smiled. “I know you don’t know what that means, but the short answer is yes. I think there is a good chance he’d listen.”
“I don’t think it’s wrong for you to bring up your concerns to him. He did hire you to see to the well-being of the children.” Emma shrugged. “Trust your own judgment, Caroline. I’m sure you’ll do the right thing.”
Caroline nearly laughed out loud at that but somehow managed to hold it in so as not to offend Emma. Trust her own judgment? That seemed like a great idea. It wasn’t as if Caroline hadn’t almost ruined her whole life by doing that very thing. No. It was far better to trust logic. Logic said that if she didn’t speak up, no one else would. Eventually Maggie would be the one to suffer for it. It was decided, then. She’d try to talk to David. She just had to catch him first.
Chapter Eight
Walking into the Lone Star Cowboy League meeting, David was confident that his plans for the children’s home would be approved. That didn’t stop his palms from sweating as it got closer to his turn to speak. He mumbled a soft prayer under his breath, earning himself a curious look from his brother Edmund, who sat beside him. Edmund’s wife, Lula May, stood at the front of the church. She’d served as chairwoman of the LSCL almost from the very first meeting. The strawberry blonde’s large blue eyes met David’s. “That’s it for old business. I’ve been told David has some new business he’d like to discuss. David, the floor is yours.”
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