“Fine,” Henry said curtly. He knew nothing more could be done tonight and in any case he was having a difficult time thinking about anything but the woman who sat next to his mother.
He walked Jimmy to the door, then closed and locked it and drew a deep breath to steady himself. How had she found him? They’d only exchanged first names on that crazy night they’d shared a little over a year ago and he hadn’t even given her his real first name.
And then there were those babies. Henry had decided he was never going to marry and he’d certainly never planned to be a father, but there was little question in his mind about the paternity of those twins. Now he had to figure out what he was going to do about it.
He returned to the living room, where the two women on the sofa didn’t appear to have moved, although Melissa and the two little boys no longer wore their coats.
His mother had that look on her face she used to get when he was a kid and had done something he knew he shouldn’t do. He definitely had some explaining to do.
She stood and walked over to him and thrust the baby she held into his arms. “I’m retiring to my room. It appears you and Melissa have a lot to talk about.”
The little boy smelled of baby powder and gazed up at him with curious blue eyes. As Henry stared down at him the little boy’s lips curved up in a sweet smile.
“That’s Joey,” Melissa said. “And I have James.” She said the name with forced emphasis and he remembered that the night they’d been together he’d told her his name was James.
That night he hadn’t wanted to be the wealthy Henry James Randolf III. He’d just wanted to be an ordinary cowboy named James. “My name is Henry. Henry James Randolf,” he said.
As he looked at her several things struck him. She was still as pretty as he’d remembered her with her long blond hair and those big blue eyes, but she seemed tired and stressed.
Her cheeks grew pink beneath his scrutiny. “I don’t quite know what to say. I didn’t expect you.”
He frowned and tightened his grip on Joey, who wiggled like a little worm. “What do you mean, you didn’t expect me? You came here. You knocked on my door. Who else would you be expecting?” He sat in a chair across from the sofa as Joey leaned his head against his chest. To Henry’s surprise his heart knocked hard.
“I thought I was coming to spend the holiday with a woman I met last year on the computer.” Once again her cheeks warmed with color. “We met in a chat room for single pregnant women and she’s been a wonderful source of support through my pregnancy and single parenting. She goes by the name of MysteryMom. She gave me this address, e-mailed me directions and told me to come here.”
He eyed her suspiciously. The story certainly didn’t have any ring of truth to it. “And how did she find me?”
Melissa raised a hand that trembled slightly to tuck a strand of shiny hair behind her ear. “I don’t know. When we first got close I told her about the blizzard in Rockport and you coming to my rescue. All I knew about you was that your name was James and that you drove a black pickup with a license plate number that started with tin.”
TIN-MAN, that’s what his plate read. An old girlfriend who had proclaimed that he had no heart had dared him to get the personalized plate, and he never backed down from a dare.
“When I first realized I was pregnant,” she continued, “I went back to Rockport and asked around about you, but nobody had any clue who you might be. Somebody tried to kill you.”
He blinked at the unexpected change of topic. “I think it was a warning, not a real attempt on my life. Our current mayor was diagnosed with cancer and has decided to resign. The city council has called an emergency election to be held in two months. I decided to run for the position and somebody apparently doesn’t like my politics.”
James began to fuss, waving his fists in the air and kicking his legs. “They’re hungry,” Melissa said. “If you could just show me to the kitchen, I’ll fix them bottles, then we’ll be on our way.”
“On your way? You can’t leave now,” he protested. “It’s dark and getting later by the minute and I don’t know if the person who fired that gun earlier is really gone from the area.” He stood with Joey in his arms. “You’ll stay here tonight and we can discuss everything further in the morning.”
She stood and gazed at him with somber eyes. “You haven’t even questioned if they’re yours or not.”
For the first time since he’d opened his door to her, he offered her a smile. “They look just like me. They even have my cleft chin. And I know we used no protection that night.”
“I’m not here to cause you any trouble,” she replied.
Henry nodded, although he wasn’t so sure about that. “Let’s go into the kitchen and get those bottles ready,” he said.
Time would tell if she had really been led to his doorstep by some mystery cyber friend or if she was just another woman who had recognized who he was on the night of the blizzard and had found a way to cash in on the Randolf fortune.
Chapter 2
Melissa snuggled down in the bed in a guest room fit for a princess. The twins were sound asleep in an old playpen that Henry had found in the attic. It had been dusted off and the padding covered with a crisp, clean sheet. The boys were clad in their pajamas and sleeping beneath a cashmere throw that was as soft as a cloud.
She’d called Caitlin just to let her friend know that everything was all right and that it hadn’t been MysteryMom’s home she’d come to, but rather the man who was the father of her boys. She’d promised to let Caitlin know everything that happened when she returned home in the morning.
She was exhausted now, but sleep refused to come. The night had been filled with far too many surprises. The first had certainly been the sight of Henry as he’d opened the door. The second had been the bullets that had come precariously close to both her and her babies.
Even after the trauma of the shooting had passed she hadn’t been able to get a read on Henry. He’d said little as he’d helped her bottle-feed the boys. She knew he had to be as stunned to see her as she’d been to see him.
They hadn’t spoken much, just attended to the boys’ needs, then he’d shown her to her room for the night with the promise that they’d talk further in the morning.
She didn’t know what would happen. She had no idea what to expect from him, if he intended to be part of the boys’ lives or not.
She’d resigned herself at the time of their birth to the fact that Joey and James wouldn’t know their real father. At least now she wouldn’t have to tell them the humiliating story of how she’d gotten pregnant by a stranger in a vacant farmhouse during the middle of a snowstorm.
MysteryMom must have somehow traced him with the partial license plate letters Melissa had mentioned. She obviously had resources Melissa didn’t have. If MysteryMom had hoped for some kind of happy ending for Melissa, she was functioning in the world of make-believe.
Despite the intimate night they’d shared, Melissa and Henry didn’t know each other at all. He hadn’t even given her his real name that night.
Certainly he was in a social position to date all kinds of sophisticated, successful women. And the last thing Melissa was looking for was a man in her life.
Tom’s betrayal still burned bright in her heart and if that wasn’t enough, she had two little boys to raise. She didn’t want a man. She didn’t want anything from Henry, except for him to be a father for her boys.
She’d been hoping to spend Christmas someplace where the spirit of the holiday was everywhere. There was no sign of Christmas in the Randolf home and in any case she didn’t belong here.
First thing in the morning she’d be on her way back home to her little apartment and maybe on the way home she’d stop at a discount store and buy one of those little metal trees in celebration of the twins’ first Christmas.
She finally fell asleep and dreamed of that night with Henry in front of the fire he’d built to warm them through the snowy night. T
he heat of the flames had been nothing compared to the fire in his kisses, the warmth of his hands on her body.
When she woke up bright sunshine drifted through her bedroom window, not the faint light of dawn she was used to, but full sunlight that let her know it was late.
The boys!
She shot up and looked at the playpen. It was empty. She jumped out of bed and yanked on her robe. Henry had gotten her suitcase from the trunk of her car the night before despite her protests that the gunman might still be out there lying in wait for him. She’d held her breath until he was back in the house safe and sound.
Now her breath caught once again in her throat as she raced out of the bedroom and down the grand staircase to the lower level of the house.
She heard voices coming from the formal dining room and headed there, her heart beating frantically as all kinds of irrational fears whirled through her head. She flew into the room and stopped short.
The boys were in their car seats on the polished mahogany wood of the huge table. Henry’s mother, Mary, stood in front of them, shaking a rattle at first one, then at the other as they bubbled with laughter.
“Melissa,” Mary said with a smile that faltered as Melissa sagged against the doorjamb. “Oh, dear, we frightened you, didn’t we?”
“I woke up and they were gone. I wasn’t sure what to think.” Melissa’s heart slowed its frantic pace.
“It was Henry’s idea really,” Mary said. “You looked so tired last night and he thought it would be nice if you got to sleep in a bit this morning. So we sneaked into your room around dawn and grabbed these two little bundles of love and brought them down here. We gave them each a bottle and then I gave them a little sponge bath and changed their clothes. I hope you don’t mind.”
Melissa wanted to be angry that they’d obviously riffled through the diaper bag and taken her boys from their bed. But the look on Mary’s face as she gazed at the twins made it impossible for Melissa to maintain anger. Besides, if she were perfectly honest with herself the extra couple of hours of sleep had been glorious.
“You know, I never thought I’d live to see grandbabies. Henry is quite the confirmed bachelor so I’d resigned myself to the fact that there would probably never be grandchildren.” She smiled at the twins. “But these two are like gifts from heaven.”
Melissa smiled. “You haven’t changed one of their messy diapers yet. That might change your mind about gifts from heaven.”
Mary laughed. “Oh good, you have a sense of humor. I’m so glad. And now if you’ll get dressed I’ll have Etta make you some breakfast. Henry and I have already eaten.”
“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Melissa replied. “I’m not much of a breakfast person and besides, I’d like to get back on the road as soon as possible.” She not only wanted to get back to Amarillo, but she was still determined to stop someplace on the way home and pick up a few things to bring Christmas to her tiny apartment.
At that moment Henry appeared in the opposite doorway. He seemed bigger than life, his presence sucking some of the oxygen out of the air.
He looked like the rugged, handsome cowboy she’d met on the road that night. Clad in a pair of fitted jeans and a flannel shirt that emphasized the width of his broad shoulders, he let his gaze sweep the length of her before he smiled and said good morning. Even though he smiled, his eyes remained shuttered, enigmatic.
Melissa was suddenly aware of the fact that her robe was tatty and frayed and her hair was probably sticking out in every direction. She hadn’t even washed her face before hurrying down the stairs.
“I’m just going to run upstairs and shower. I’ll be right back.”
“When you come back down I’d like to have a talk with you,” Henry said.
She nodded and backed out of the dining room then escaped back up the stairs. There had been an edge in Henry’s tone of voice when he’d said he wanted to talk to her that worried her.
This whole trip had been a nightmare. The unexpected presence of a man she’d never thought she’d see again, bullets splintering a door and now the promise of a conversation she had a feeling she didn’t want to have.
He was probably going to tell her to take her babies and leave, that being a dad didn’t fit into his lavish single lifestyle. And even though that was fine with her, it made her heart hurt just a little bit for her sons.
She knew what it was like to grow up without a father. She remembered the empty ache his absence had created inside her and she certainly hadn’t consciously chosen that for her boys.
Minutes later, as she stood under a hot spray of water she found herself again wondering what MysteryMom had hoped to accomplish by leading her here. Of course it would be nice for the boys to have a father in their lives. She wanted that for them. But she wasn’t in control of Henry’s reaction to instant parenthood.
Mary had said he was a confirmed bachelor. It was definitely possible a bachelor wouldn’t want to be saddled with two little boys who required a lot of time and attention.
By the time she’d finished her shower and dressed, nervous energy bounced around in her stomach. She certainly didn’t know Henry well enough to second-guess what he might want to discuss with her, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that it had something to do with Joey and James.
Despite the night of desire they’d shared, since the moment she’d arrived at this mansion Henry frightened her more than a little bit. Oh, she wasn’t physically frightened of him. What scared her most was the fear of him rejecting his sons, sons that he’d never wanted and had never asked for.
When she returned downstairs Mary had the boys on their tummies on a blanket in the living room. She smiled at Melissa. “That James, he’s a feisty one, isn’t he? He reminds me of Henry when he was a baby. Demanding and impatient, there’s going to be no holding him back when he starts to walk.”
James arched his back, raised himself up and grinned at Melissa, as if relishing the very idea of being independent and mobile. Meanwhile, Joey rolled over onto his back, perfectly content to play with his fingers.
“It must be hard, being a single parent to twins,” Mary said.
“I manage okay,” Melissa replied with a touch of defensiveness.
“I’m sure you do, dear. Henry is waiting for you in the study,” Mary said. “It’s down the hall and the first door on your right.”
Melissa nodded and with one last look at her contented boys, she went down the hall to the study. The door was closed and she knocked on it with a gentle tap.
She heard him tell her to come in and she opened the door. Henry sat behind a massive mahogany desk and although he smiled at her as she stepped into the room, it did nothing to alleviate her nervousness.
The study was as beautifully appointed as the other rooms in the house. A stone fireplace took up one wall and floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled another. “Melissa, please have a seat.” He gestured to the chair in front of the desk. She sank down and tried not to be intimidated by the surroundings, by him.
“Mom said you were eager to get on the road and head home, but I wanted to talk to you about the possibility of you staying through Christmas,” he said.
“Oh, I’m not sure…” She paused as he held up a hand to stop whatever she was about to say.
“We’re forever linked now by those boys and despite the fact that we had that night together, I don’t know anything about you.”
Oh, but he did, she thought. He knew she liked to be kissed just below her ear, that if he stroked her breasts she moaned deep in the back of her throat. A whisper of longing swept through her as she remembered that night and him. She forced herself to focus on what he was saying.
“We stopped having anything to celebrate at Christmastime three years ago when my father unexpectedly died of a heart attack on Christmas Day. Since then Christmas each year has slid by with little celebration in this house. But this year we have something to celebrate. The twins. I’d like to give them a terrific first C
hristmas, so please tell me you’ll stay.”
Her first instinct was relief, that he wasn’t casting the boys out and that he apparently wanted to get to know them better. Still, there was one thing that made her relief short-lived. “I have to be honest. I haven’t forgotten those bullets that flew when I arrived here,” she said. “I don’t want to put Joey and James in harm’s way.” She fought against a shiver as she thought of the bullets that had come far too close to them the night before.
“I feel more comfortable with you here rather than going back outside,” he replied. “Somebody is being a nuisance, obviously attempting to make me rethink my position in running for mayor, but I won’t let any harm come to you or the children.”
She considered his words thoughtfully and believed him. There was something solid about him, a strength in his eyes that let her know he wouldn’t allow danger to come to her or her babies.
He was their father and all he was asking was for her to remain a couple more days. Surely there was no harm in that, in giving him and his mother the first Christmas with the boys.
“Okay,” she finally replied. “We’ll stay through the holiday.” She had no idea if it were the right thing to do or if it was possible she was making a terrible mistake.
A wave of satisfaction swept through Henry at her reply. From the moment she’d stepped into the study he’d smelled her, a familiar scent of fresh flowers with a hint of vanilla. It was the same fragrance she’d worn the night they’d been snowbound together and it stirred all kinds of crazy memories inside him.
As she stood and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear he remembered how soft, how silky her hair had been beneath his touch. That wasn’t all he remembered. There was the taste of her mouth open to his, the spill of her warm, full breasts into his palms and the moans that had escaped her at his every touch. Desire slammed into his stomach, hot and wild and completely unexpected.
The Cowboy's Secret Twins Page 2