The Nanny's Temporary Triplets

by Noelle Marchand

  Her mouth fell open. “Why? Because I’m from the city?”

  “Frankly, yes.”

  “I’m not some delicate orchid who’s going to wilt.”

  She had already done just that on the way back from Oakalla. However, he’d learned his lesson from Matthew’s stumble and kept that point to himself. That didn’t keep her from turning on him. “And don’t say it’s too dangerous. I’ll stay well back from the flames.”

  He shook his head. “We don’t have time to argue about this.”

  “Then don’t argue.” She stormed off toward the barn.

  David sent Matthew a confused glance, lifting his palms in a silent question.

  Matthew shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I’ve never seen her like this. I’ve got to get the others to town. Keep her safe until I meet you at the fire, then I’ll watch over her.”

  “Fine.” He hurried to the barn to find her saddling her own horse. His men were already gone, so he didn’t bother keeping his distance as he reached around her to take over the task. “This is foolhardy. You have no business being at the fire.”

  “I need to go, David.”

  The conviction in her voice made him glance down at her. Her hazel eyes were dewy with unshed tears. He caught her chin in his hand to study her more closely. It didn’t help him understand her any better, so he released her and gave her a leg up. “Stay back from the flames, Caroline. I mean it.”

  He strode out of the barn without waiting for a reply. He mounted his horse and waited for her to join him before they followed the path his men had taken toward the border between the Coleman and Hill properties. After a few minutes’ ride, David spotted silhouettes moving against the bright background of flames and smoke less than a quarter mile away. They headed in that direction as Tug Coleman rode up to meet them. A large man with a full brown beard and a commanding presence even on horseback, Tug didn’t waste time on pleasantries. “Did y’all bring shovels?”

  “Yes, sir,” David said. “I’ve got a couple in a saddle bag. My ranch hands should already be here.”

  “They are. I’ve got them working on the fire line. I’d like you there, too. There isn’t much else we can do about the flames until the fire wagon gets here.” Tug shifted his blue gaze to Caroline and nodded his greeting. “Miss Murray, I’ve got two girls who are eleven and thirteen. They could use some looking after.”

  Caroline sent David a triumphant look. “I’d be happy to help.”

  David eased his horse a bit closer to hers. “She stays near me. I promised her brother that.”

  “I’ll bring the girls by.”

  “And the youngest Hill boy, too, if his mother will allow it.”

  Tug’s eyes narrowed at Caroline. To her credit she didn’t back down from the request that would necessitate the two families interacting. Tug gave a quick nod. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Caroline helped dig the fire line at David’s side without complaint until Tug brought his girls for her to watch. David split his focus between the bite of the shovel in the dirt and the soothing murmur of Caroline’s voice behind him. The fire wagon finally arrived. Its water slowed the fire’s progress somewhat, but wind kept whipping up the flames, sending them marching southwest toward his ranch and the general direction of town.

  The air felt charged as clouds rolled overhead in the moonlit sky. He wasn’t sure who started it first, but a murmur swept through the pastureland and rose in volume as more and more folks began crying out to the Lord, asking Him to let the rain fall. Lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled. One of the Coleman girls started crying. Still no rain. The fire crept closer, got hotter.

  The fire wagon left to be refilled. Ash floated into the sky. Smoke stung his eyes. Tug rode down the line, telling folks to move back. The fire had already jumped the line in the north. Frustration filled David, but he didn’t let up. Just because the fire had jumped the line elsewhere didn’t mean they had to let it jump here. He was too close to joining his ditch to the one Matthew had started to give up now.

  Caroline called his name. He motioned her and the children back and kept digging. The fire was close, but not near enough to make him stop. He dug harder and faster. He was only a foot or so away from completing the line when a rush of wind enveloped him. He glanced up to see a wall of fire. Then it wasn’t a wall. It was a living, breathing inferno, surrounding him and licking at his clothes.

  Caroline screamed his name. Jolted from his shock, he turned and jumped through the flames toward her voice. He kept running once he was free of them. She yelled something about his shirt. He was already ripping it off. His panicked strength was too much for the few buttons he hadn’t already undone. They went flying an instant before he tossed the flaming garment to the ground. He fell to the ground and rolled to smother out any other flames.

  Caroline slid to her knees beside him. “It’s out. It’s out. Are you hurt? David—”

  “Can you stand?” Matthew appeared next to her. “We need to look at your back.”

  David grabbed the hand Matthew extended to him and let the man help him to his feet. He saw Bo Stillwater stomping out the flames from his shirt a few yards away. The rancher joined Matthew and Caroline as they carefully lifted David’s undershirt to examine the skin on his back. Some of Bo’s wife’s nursing skills must have rubbed off on the rancher for he said, “It’s hard to tell in the dark, but the skin looks a little red. How does it feel?”

  “It burns some. Nothing I haven’t felt from accidentally touching my mother’s hot teakettle. I don’t think it’s too serious.”

  David didn’t notice the satchel strapped to Bo’s back until the man removed it. “My father-in-law is out here somewhere with his doctor’s bag. Louisa sent me with some supplies of her own. Aloe, bandages and the like. They should help.”

  Tug rode over to them. “What’s happening here? Are you hurt, David?”

  “Nothing too bad.”

  “Didn’t you hear me say to move back?” When David couldn’t find an answer to that, Tug frowned. “Miss Murray, if you’ll take care of him, I’d like the other men to come with me. We need a new strategy. My girls can come, too. I’m sending them to town.”

  Caroline accepted the supplies from Bo as the men and children walked off. Her hands shook as she tried to open the jar of aloe. David took it from her and opened it before handing it back. He would have taken the time to comfort her, but a swath of skin on his back was really starting to burn. The cool gel relieved it some. Noticing she’d yet to speak after learning he was all right, he asked, “How long was I in the flames?”

  “Only a second or two.”

  It had seemed like an eternity. It could have easily turned into eternity. If he hadn’t heard Caroline’s voice, who knew how long it would have taken him to recover from the shock of the flames. Worse yet, he’d been disoriented. He might not have known which way to go to get out of the fire. At the very least, he would have hesitated longer.

  Life could be over in an instant. He’d seen it happen with his father and again with Laura. It had almost happened to him. And what would he have left behind? A daughter. No. Maggie wouldn’t be anyone’s daughter. She’d be an orphan like him, like the triplets, like the Satler siblings. Of course, she’d have Ida to take care of her. But Ida was getting older. Running after an eight-year-old and raising a girl into a woman at a time when Ida should be slowing down wasn’t fair to her.

  David needed a wife. Not to take care of the triplets, though that would be helpful. He needed her for Maggie. That would give his daughter a better chance of having at least one parent around long enough to raise her. Thankfully, he was already courting, albeit secretly, a woman perfect for the task. It was time to stop playing it safe. He needed to put aside his fears and hesitancy. It was time to tell her how he felt and give her a real reason to stay.

&nb
sp; Chapter Fourteen

  “I can’t believe you almost got yourself killed.” Caroline kept an eye on the approaching fire as she bathed David’s burn using a cloth and some of the drinking water that the Coleman girls had left behind. She gave a little huff, remembering her panic at the sight of David disappearing behind a wall of flames. Her heart had frozen in her chest for those few seconds only to race back to life at the sight of him on fire. “And you called me foolhardy.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing you came, after all, seeing as you saved my life.”

  She stilled, then dipped the bandage in water again. “I don’t know about that.”

  “I do.”

  She’d like to say she’d had some sort of divine warning or directive that she would be needed here. Truthfully, she’d come simply because she’d wanted to be needed here. She’d wanted to feel as though she was a part of this close-knit community. She’d wanted to fight alongside them, especially Matthew and David, against the destruction of their homes and livelihood. It didn’t make much sense for her to be this invested in the lives and fortunes of people she’d known for such a short amount of time, but something about this town and the ranches she was visiting made her feel like she had roots that extended beyond her disinterested parents. How could she not want to protect that?

  A drop of water landed on her arm. It prompted her to blink away the tears in her eyes, though whether they were born from emotion, smoke or wind was anyone’s guess. Another drop landed on her hair. Now, that couldn’t have been a tear. She tilted her head back to stare up at the night sky. She hoped that what she felt was more than her imagination and more than a single errant raindrop. David must have felt something, because he stiffened, as well.

  “Please, Lord,” she whispered, then smiled as the sky let loose a steady drizzle.

  She heard David murmur, “Come on. Rain harder. Rain harder.”

  A few exclamations of surprise and praise across the field was all the warning they had before the skies opened, and a drenching rain fell. David let out a shout of relief, pumped a hand in the air and would have taken off at a run to do who knows what if she hadn’t dug in her heels. “Hold still. Let me finish.”

  Laughing as he fidgeted, she swiped a good portion of aloe on his burn, then let him go. He rushed toward the flames to watch them sizzling and dying away. He stomped a dying ember as though getting back at the fire for trying to maim him or kill him, whatever its intent might have been, before throwing his head back to let out another yell. Throughout the pasture, similar celebrations took place. She could hear them even though she couldn’t see them in the darkness that grew with every flame the rain extinguished.

  She watched David fall to his knees in a prayer of gratefulness and found herself doing the same. A funny thing happened while she was thanking God for His mercy concerning people whom, besides her brother and Emma, she hadn’t even known a few weeks ago. She realized it had been a really long time since she’d humbled herself before her Father like this. Oh, she’d worshipped on the hillside with Maggie that moonlit night when she’d discovered David’s talent with a guitar, but this was different.

  The darkness, the rawness of nature, that delicate line between life and death all came crashing down on her at once. God had saved the day in His own way at His own time. He’d done the same for her at that altar in Austin. That salvation didn’t mean that she wouldn’t experience loss. The Hills and the Colemans had tonight, as well. It did mean that she could trust Him to see her through that loss, to make something good come from it even when she didn’t see how. So what good would come of her botched wedding?

  Obviously, being saved from whatever ill intent Nico might have had for her was a large part of it, but what about her future? Where was she supposed to go from here? She knew that she’d been putting off making decisions for too long. She needed to move forward in life. Unfortunately, she had no idea what that meant. “Please, show me what to do.”

  She spoke so quietly that the thrumming of the rain would have drowned out the words to anyone but the One it was meant for. No immediate answer presented itself. Frustration threatened to steal the joy of this moment, but she refused to let it.

  Dampness seeped through her skirt to her legs. She was now kneeling in mud instead of dry dirt. Unable to stop a grin, she grabbed a handful of it, then smeared it between her palms with gusto. She stood and threw her arms open to the sky, letting the rain wash her hands clean of the mud. It was relentless and cold and absolutely energizing.

  Somehow she felt David coming before she peeked an eye open to see his form moving toward her. Even so she let out a squeak of surprise as he wrapped his arm around her waist, lifted her off her feet and spun with her through the rain. She closed her eyes tight and clung to his shoulders as her laughter mingled with his. He set her down and they both swayed dizzily for a moment. While the world was still spinning, he kissed her.

  At first it was little more than a natural progression of their previous exuberance. Then they both seemed to realize what was happening, what they were doing. They stepped apart. David searched her face. “Caroline...”

  He hesitated, but she knew the words he didn’t say. They filled the space between them with warmth. The rest of the world faded away behind a curtain of rain and smoke and a darkness that grew thicker with every dying flame. His touch erased even that as he wiped away the mud she hadn’t realized was clinging to her cheek. His green eyes darkened with something much deeper than affection. “Caroline, I—”

  She shushed him. She couldn’t let him name it. Not yet. A kiss was by far the safest choice. Passion was an easy cover to hide behind. Yet when she eased closer and their lips met again, it wasn’t passion that demanded expression. It was love. Pure, sweet, reverent love. That was what was in his kiss and in her response. How could that be? They’d known each other such a short time and...

  They separated to take a breath, but his hands were already at her waist, pulling her closer. Cradling his jaw, she let him deepen the kiss. A voice yelled her name in the distance. It demanded her attention. “Caroline! Caroline, where are you?”

  Matthew. She pushed away from David’s chest and spun toward her brother’s voice. Her mouth opened and closed without admitting a sound. David finally yelled, “Over here.”

  She turned away from them both to search the ground for the jar of aloe that Bo had given her. It was impossible to see anything in the dark. David’s hand settled on her arm. “Don’t get lost now.”

  She glanced up at his shadowy features as Matthew neared, holding a fiery branch as a torch. In its light, she spotted the jar and the sodden bandages. She scooped them up. The men were talking about the damage the fire had done. Apparently, the Hills and Colemans had both lost fencing and outbuildings, but nothing else. She found her voice to seek some much-needed reassurance. “The rain will put the fire out, won’t it?”

  Matthew led them in the direction the others had gone before the rain had started. “Maybe not entirely, but it should keep the fire from spreading and make it easier for the fire wagon to do its job.”

  She lifted her skirts from the mud, though that didn’t do much to keep them from tangling around her legs. David caught hold of her arm to keep her from stumbling. He didn’t immediately let go. She saw Matthew’s gaze linger there, so she rushed on. “No one else was hurt? Besides David, I mean.”

  “Not that I know of.” Matthew lifted an eyebrow.

  Caroline had no intention of answering her brother’s unspoken questions. She couldn’t even answer her own.

  David heaved out a sigh. “Uh-oh.”

  Matthew chimed in with his own groan.

  Caroline frowned. “What is it?”

  David shook his head. “The Hills and the Colemans are at it again. Listen. You can hear them yelling from here.”

  The sound o
f arguing grew louder and louder as they neared the gathering of ranchers, ranch hands and townsfolk who had come to help. A lamp on a nearby wagon illuminated the scene enough for Caroline to spot the two youngest Coleman girls. They were glaring at the two youngest Hill boys, but at least the girls were safe beside their father. For the first time since arriving at the fire, Caroline caught sight of Annie just in time to see her friend give a nod to Jamie.

  He took a deep breath and yelled loud enough to drown out their parents’ fussing. “Annie and I are engaged!”

  Shock rendered both families silent. None of the bystanders dared move or even breathe. He held out a hand to Annie, who immediately took it. United, they faced their families. “We love each other, and we’re going to get married.”

  Dorothy Hill, Annie’s mother, broke the silence with a sputter. “Over my dead and bleeding body!”

  “Have you lost your mind?” Tug yelled at his son.

  Annie lifted her chin. “We’re going to be family. That means this fighting has to stop.”

  It didn’t stop. It got physical. Annie’s older brother Peter went after Jamie with his fists. Jamie must have anticipated it for he dodged and tripped his adversary. Peter dragged him into the mud on the way down. As they grappled, the children started throwing mud pies at one another with gleeful battle cries. Dorothy started shoving Tug, who ignored her to lecture Annie and Jamie. Annie was too busy yelling at Peter and trying to pull him away from Jamie to notice. Having had enough of being pushed, Tug stepped to the side as Dorothy tried to shove him, then used her momentum to pull her to his chest, where she was too close to do any damage. Caroline didn’t have to hear his growling voice to read the warning on his lips. “Shove me one more time.”

  Dorothy froze. Caroline waited for Tug to release the widow, but he just stood there as Dorothy glanced up at him from beneath her lashes. Tug’s countenance changed to something more vulnerable. Distracted as he was, he never saw the littlest Hill boy creep up behind him and kick his knee. Tug let out a howl of pain and released Dorothy.