The Cowboy's Twin Surprise

by Cathy McDavid

  “Eww.” Paige wrinkled her nose.

  “What’s wrong?” Spence drained his orange juice.

  “I don’t like him. He colored on my backpack.”

  “That’s Nathan?” The boy from her preschool. The one she’d liked until he’d committed the unforgivable. How could Spence have forgotten? “You can play with his sister.”

  “She’s a baby.”

  “Babies can’t play?”

  Spence looked to Frankie for assistance and got absolutely none. Shrugging with a kids-will-be-kids attitude, she dropped pancakes onto plates.

  Slow start aside, breakfast went well. Spence offered to wash the dishes while Frankie got the girls dressed and the food containers ready for transporting the brisket. He finished first and knew he should hit the road. Lucas was waiting for him. Except he stayed, killing time by repacking his gym bag and checking e-mails on his phone. Finally, Frankie emerged from the girls’ bedroom.

  “I have an appointment in Florence,” he said. “I’ll be back before noon.”

  “What?” She stopped to frown at him. “That’s an hour drive each way. It’s almost eight now. I have to be at work in four hours.”

  “That gives me plenty of time.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me this last night?”

  “Because Lucas didn’t call me until this morning.”

  She huffed with obvious annoyance. “I’ll find someone else to babysit.”

  “No, Frankie.”

  “We talked last night about you putting the girls first.”

  “This appointment’s important and directly relates to my ability to provide for the girls. Lucas has a young colt he’d possibly like me to train. I need a job—I don’t want to live off my savings. He’s willing to pay me a salary plus a percentage of the colt’s winnings.”

  “In Florence? Are you planning on moving?”

  Spence held his temper. She was overreacting. “My only plan is to look at the colt and talk to Lucas. But, for the sake of argument, if I accept the job, commuting is an option. Lots of people drive an hour each way to and from work. There are also closer places where the colt could be stabled and trained. Nothing’s been decided.”

  “Won’t you have to go on the road when this colt races?”

  “Yes. But if he wins, I’ll have the chance to earn good money, of which a portion will go toward the girls. Might be enough so you can quit the café and build your catering business.”

  “And if he doesn’t win?”

  “I’d still be paid my salary.”

  “You just returned, and now it feels like you’re leaving again.”

  “I’m not leaving, Frankie. I’m simply exploring an opportunity. I have kids to support now, and horse trainer jobs don’t grow on trees. I may need to cast a larger net, one that extends beyond Mustang Valley.”

  She relented, but she didn’t look happy. “I leave for work at eleven forty. On the dot.”

  “I won’t be late. You can count on me.”

  Spence departed after a quick goodbye to the twins. Frankie escorted him to the door, her “Have a safe trip” sounding more perfunctory than sincere. All in all, quite a bit different from their previous partings.

  The trip to Florence passed quickly. While boasting a rich Western history and plenty of tourist attractions, the town was still mostly known for its state prison.

  Frankie probably hadn’t liked the idea of Spence working in Florence for just that reason. Which was ridiculous, in his opinion. Lucas’s property was located on the opposite side of town, closer to the golf course and upscale housing communities. If Spence ever brought the girls to visit, they wouldn’t be anywhere near the prison.

  His and Lucas’s meeting went well. Spence liked the looks of the colt and was impressed with his speed and agility when the exercise rider took him for a spin on the practice track. They discussed terms over coffee. Lucas, whom Spence had met often during his years at Cottonwood Farms, was a straight shooter. He was also opinionated, and Spence worried they might disagree on training methods.

  In the end, they shook hands and parted, agreeing to a two-week-long trial period to determine if Spence was a good fit, and if he and the colt took to each other.

  While traffic had cooperated earlier, a freeway accident on the drive home caused a twenty-minute delay. Spence was already cutting it close, and prepared himself for another of Frankie’s lectures.

  All right, maybe he shouldn’t have dallied over that second cup of coffee with Lucas. But, damn, he’d needed the caffeine boost after his lack of sleep.

  At precisely 11:46, Spence arrived at Frankie’s, pretty pleased with himself. If not for discovering an unexpected shortcut, he might have been considerably later.

  She stood in front of the open garage, the girls’ car seats on the ground by her, impatiently tapping her toe, her phone pressed to her ear. Glaring at him, she said something into the phone, probably telling her plan B that he’d arrived.

  He shut off the truck and climbed out. By then, Paige and Sienna had wandered out from the garage. Waving as if he wasn’t late and hadn’t committed one or two driving violations during the last ten miles, he strode toward them.

  Frankie cut him zero slack. “Clocking in late doesn’t help my already strained relationship with the new manager. He made it clear when he started that there would be personnel changes. I could be fired.”

  “Then you’d better hurry.”

  The café was a ten-minute drive. She could make it by the skin of her teeth if she left right that second.

  “I shouldn’t have to, Spence.”

  “Point taken. But arguing with me won’t get you there faster.”

  “Call me every hour,” she said, repeating her number one priority.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “They’ll need a nap soon. No later than two or they won’t sleep tonight.”

  “We won’t stay for the whole meeting.”

  After giving him a spare house key, Frankie kissed each girl, admonishing them to be good. She didn’t add, “For you father,” not that Spence had expected it.

  He held the girls’ hands and stood to the side while Frankie backed out of the garage and drove—very slowly, in Spence’s opinion—away.

  “How about we meet your grandparents?” he asked, taking the girls inside. “Make that video call we talked about yesterday.”

  Sitting between them on the living room couch, Spence opened the app on his phone. Before he could place the call, the girls started fighting over who got to hold the phone first. Spence decided to flip a coin. They were both so fascinated by the coin-tossing process, Paige didn’t even mind that Sienna won.

  As he’d anticipated, they were initially shy. Sienna tucked her head into Spence’s side and had to be coaxed to look at the screen. Paige’s exclaiming, “I can see myself,” finally did the trick.

  He smoothed the way as best he could with introductions.

  “You are both so beautiful.” Spence’s mom wiped her damp eyes with a tissue when she talked, and didn’t appear to mind that neither girl held the phone steady.

  Even Spence’s normally stoic dad was emotional and needed to clear his throat several times. “I can’t wait to meet you on Wednesday.”

  With their anniversary sale in full swing, Spence’s parents reluctantly ended the call after thirty minutes.

  “I promise to bring you a surprise when we see you,” his mom said.

  “What kind of surprise?” Paige asked eagerly.

  “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” She blew a kiss, which the girls returned.

  Spence sat still for a moment, absorbing the enormity of what had just happened. He’d introduced his parents to his daughters. That was huge. Life-altering. He breathed deeply
, feeling a tightness in his chest.

  “Do you have Teddy Bear Playground on your phone?”

  Paige’s questions worked like a loud gong, breaking into his thoughts. “What’s that?”

  “A game, silly.”

  “I don’t play games on my phone.” He pressed a fingertip to her nose.

  The twins’ disappointment couldn’t have been greater. Sienna covered her face with her hands, while Paige threw herself back onto the couch cushion and groaned in agony. Spence was determined not to fail this first big test.

  “Can we download it?” He opened the store app on his phone and clicked the search bar.

  Once the game was installed, the twins showed Spence how to play. Sad to say, he didn’t catch on right away.

  “Teddy Bear Playground is harder than it looks,” he proclaimed after his third loss.

  When he laughed good-naturedly, both Paige and Sienna grabbed his arms, pretending to pull him in different directions. Not exactly a hug, but close, and enough to cause his heart to swell with love. The kind of love that would only grow stronger and more powerful with each day.

  How could Frankie worry for one second that he’d leave Mustang Valley? Even if he had to go on the road with Lucas’s colt or any one of his own, he wouldn’t be gone long and would always return.

  “Hey, be careful,” he teased. “I’ll break in half.” Their uproarious giggles said they didn’t believe him. Unable to let that pass, he tickled each of the twins’ necks before getting up. “Anyone hungry?”

  “Yes!” Paige popped off the couch.

  Sienna did, too. “We want ramen noodles.”

  Great. Something Spence actually knew how to prepare, and that didn’t take long.

  With the girls’ help, he found the noodle packages in the pantry and a pan in the lower cupboard. A search of the refrigerator yielded the addition of carrot sticks, string cheese and milk to round out the meal. After lunch, they headed out for his meeting at The Small Change.

  Something quite baffling happened to the girls between the time they left the house and arrived at the ranch house. Spence had no clue what triggered their one-hundred-eighty-degree mood swing, but suddenly, they were whiney and irritable and fussing.

  He lifted Sienna out first. The very next second, his phone went off. Frankie’s name appeared on the display.

  “Hi. We’re fine,” he said. “Just got to The Small Change.”

  “You didn’t call.”

  He held the phone out to check the time while opening the passenger door on his truck. “It’s ten after one.”

  “You’re supposed to call every hour.”

  “Sorry. Didn’t realize it was supposed to be on the hour.”

  Paige suddenly screamed, evidently mad at Sienna for some reason.

  “What’s wrong?” Frankie demanded.

  “Nothing.” Spence unbuckled Paige’s seat belt. “Just a minor disagreement.”

  He handed the phone to Sienna so that she could chat with her mother while he helped Paige out. As soon as he had, she ran around the truck and grabbed the phone away from her sister despite Spence’s warning to wait her turn.

  “I wanna talk to Mommy.”

  In the mild fracas that ensued, Spence’s phone was dropped. He reached for it just as the girls burst into tears.

  “I don’t know what happened,” he said to Frankie. “They were getting along fine, and the next second, they weren’t.”

  “They’re tired. They should nap.”

  “We won’t stay long. Once the committee’s firmed up the details on the race, we’ll leave.”

  “That’s probably for the best.” She offered no other words of wisdom.

  Spence walked the girls to the front door, flipping a coin to see who got to ring the bell. His trick didn’t work as well as the last time. And once inside, things only got worse.

  Chapter Ten

  Frankie entered the house through the garage door. Juggling her purse and a half-dozen to-go boxes from the café, she navigated the laundry room and the short hallway leading to the kitchen.

  “Hey. Where is everyone?”

  “Mommy!”

  Paige burst into the kitchen, Sienna a heartbeat behind her. Frankie dumped her purse and the boxes on the counter a microsecond before being bombarded. Miss Muffet circled them and barked with excitement, while Bozo wagged his tail and panted.

  Accepting a hug and kiss from each girl, Frankie straightened. “Where’s, um, your dad?”

  At that moment, Spence stumbled from the direction of the bedroom. Frankie stared, blinked and then stared more.

  “What happened to you?”

  “Things got a little hectic. But not out of control. I should warn you, though, the house is kind of a mess.”

  He ran a hand over his disheveled hair. Several stubborn tufts refused to lie flat. One side of his cowboy shirt had come untucked, and there was a stain down the front, possibly fruit juice. Or blood? He appeared frazzled, disconcerted and winded, as though he’d run a marathon through a complicated maze.

  “Welcome to parenthood,” she said.

  “I’ll do better next time.”

  “I’m not sure you did bad.” She started opening the food containers. “Everyone’s alive and in one piece.”

  “You’re being kind.”

  Her first inclination had been to read him the riot act. That way, he’d try harder in the future. Except then she’d looked at him and remembered how difficult it had been for her in the beginning, taking care of two babies. Some days, most days, she still struggled with balancing her children, her job, her family, her home, her catering side business and her personal life, which received the least attention.

  “Let’s eat.” She handed each twin a box. “Set these on the table.” Plates and flatware came next. “Sit down, everyone.”

  “I should get going,” Spence said.

  “Stay. There’s plenty of food.”

  “You sure?” He eyed the table hungrily.

  “Miss lunch today?”

  “I guess I did. The girls had ramen noodles, and snacks at the ranch.”

  “Happens a lot. Forgetting to eat, that is.”

  The dinner, fried chicken with all the fixings, was consumed with gusto. Frankie was treated to a complete account of the afternoon, from Paige and Sienna. Spence needed all his energy to simply shovel food into his mouth.

  “Nathan pulled Sienna’s hair,” Paige reported, properly indignant. “And Kimberly stole my cookie on purpose.”

  “Then she threw up on Paige.” Sienna squealed with laughter. “She had to wear one of Nathan’s shirts.”

  “How humiliating.” When Spence stopped halfway through his meal, Frankie told him, “Eat. You need to keep up your strength.”

  He bit into a chicken leg.

  “What time did they nap?”

  “Don’t be mad. Three thirty. But not for long. The doorbell rang and woke them. Someone running for the school board. I left the flyer on the coffee table.”

  “We talked to our nana and papa,” Paige announced.

  “My parents,” Spence clarified. “A video call.”

  “They have a surprise for us.”

  That topic lasted until the end of dinner. Any other night, Frankie would have insisted the girls take a bath. Instead, she gave them permission to play in their room while she and Spence cleaned up. When she checked on them a short while later, they were both fast asleep on top of their bedcovers.

  Not bothering with pajamas, Frankie slipped off their shoes and socks and put them to bed. One night without bathing or brushing their teeth wouldn’t ruin them for life.

  “Everything all right?” Spence asked when she returned.

  “F
ine. They were both sleeping. Guess you tuckered them out.”

  “I can say the same about myself.”

  “I don’t suppose you’re interested in a cup of coffee.”

  One side of his mouth tilted in a smile. “Well, since you’re twisting my arm.”

  Rather than hand him a mug, she carried both to the living room, where they could be more comfortable. Sitting with him evoked memories from their kiss the other night, and Frankie was careful to hug her side of the couch.

  “Thanks. This hits the spot.” He took a sip, his expression thoughtful. “I owe you an apology.”

  “For what?”

  “There’s a lot more to being a parent than I thought. Makes me realize just what an incredible job you’ve done with Paige and Sienna.”

  “I appreciate that.” She blew on her coffee. “And while we’re in the mood, I apologize, too. I was rough on you today. Unnecessarily so. And a nag.”

  “I am new at this.”

  “But you’re a natural. Like I always suspected you’d be.”

  “I have a lot to learn.”

  “You do,” she agreed, “and you will. There’s more to good parenting than being entertaining and winning your daughters’ affection.”

  “Like disciplining them and setting rules?”

  “You saw for yourself today how trying it can be when the girls squabble and misbehave. Just wait until you’re up all night tending a sick, crying child who refuses to be consoled. That’s a real test of patience.”

  “Like I said, my admiration for you continues to grow.” He sat back, absently kneading the back of his neck as if it ached.

  In the past, Frankie would have offered a massage. Not tonight.

  “I was wrong about something else,” she admitted. “I did lead you on. Gave you reason to have expectations. Then, yesterday, I abruptly changed gears.”

  “Yeah, well, I see now we need to take a break. Figure things out first. I downplayed the girls’ ability to adapt to change because I wanted them to immediately accept me as their dad and for us all to be one big happy family.”

  She nodded. And though there was more they could—and probably should—discuss, she changed the subject. “How did the meeting go? Kimberly throwing up on Paige notwithstanding.”