by Meg Maxwell
The butler opened French doors and said, “Mr. Colt Asher and Ms. Anna Miller, plus masters Noah and Nathaniel.”
“Lars, no need to be so formal,” Sarah Mack Ford said with a smile as she rushed over. She took Colt’s hand in both of hers, then did the same to Anna. “Welcome to our home. We have the family room all set up for the babies to crawl around. Lars’s wife, Leanna, our cook and housekeeper, has asked to be on babysitting duty while we eat. She misses babies.”
A butler and a housekeeper. Such things didn’t exist back home. You cleaned your house yourself. You cooked your own meals. If a friend or neighbor fell ill, you cooked and cleaned for them, as well.
Edmund greeted them, as well, and after a few minutes of conversation, Sarah and Edmund led the way to the family room, where a couple sat close together on a sofa. The man, who looked remarkably like Colt, was holding an infant in his arms.
“Jake and Emma,” Sarah said, “Colt and Anna are here with Colt’s baby nephews.”
After so many people remarked earlier that Colt must be related to Jake Morrow, Anna could now see why there was no mistaking the relation. Colt and his twin looked almost identical, but Colt’s features were more intense, more angular. Both had the same thick dark hair and green eyes. Both were tall and muscular.
The couple stood and walked over. Jake carefully gave his wife the baby, and then extended his hand to Colt. “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been looking forward to this for months.”
“I wasn’t planning on bringing company,” Colt said, grinning at the baby in his arms and gesturing at the other in Anna’s. “But my sister’s sitter had to cancel right before she and her husband were leaving for a weeklong cruise. So I stepped in.”
“They’re beautiful,” Emma said. “I’m so glad to meet you, Jake. And you, Anna. This is our baby daughter, Violet.”
Anna peered over at the breathtaking infant, her eyes closed, silky blond wisps on her head. Between the twins and Violet, Anna was socked with an overpowering desire for her own baby, a baby to raise, love, cherish. Her arms suddenly ached just as her aunt always said would accompany the feeling. When Anna would try to explain to Aenti Kate that she couldn’t marry this man or that because she didn’t feel enough, Kate would say that one day, Anna’s arms would ache for a baby and perhaps then she’d be ready to accept a proposal. But Anna knew it wasn’t wanting a baby that would lead her to marry. It was the particular man who’d make her happy to say yes. And then her arms would ache.
She froze, wondering what this meant. Maybe her fantasies about Colt Asher had gone a tad too far. When his sister and brother-in-law returned from the cruise, Colt would bury himself in research on the new case, then be off in the field. And yes, he might be attracted to her, but that didn’t mean it went any deeper. She’d have to be more careful about her feelings for Colt. But could you be careful with your feelings?
As Jake and Edmund made a fuss over Noah and Nathaniel, and Anna chatted with Emma—it turned out they both grew up on farms, though Emma’s was strictly crops—she noticed Colt going outside into the backyard with his birth mother and they began walking along the manicured path. She could see by the set of his shoulders, the tightness in his face, that he wasn’t exactly comfortable, though his expression was perfectly pleasant. He was trying very hard, she supposed. But Anna sensed that Colt was counting down the days until his sister returned and he could go off on his own.
* * *
Over dinner, which was perfectly cooked steaks, roasted potatoes and asparagus, Colt listened to the crazy story of how Sarah and her husband had found each other. A fortune-teller had told widowed Edmund Ford that his second great love was a hairstylist named Sarah with green eyes. Edmund’s son, Carson, a private investigator, insisted on finding the woman for his starry-eyed father, but only to prove that the fortune was a scam and a lie. But the green-eyed hairstylist had proved difficult to find until Carson got the fortune-teller’s daughter, Olivia, involved. The mystery woman turned out to be Olivia’s estranged aunt, Sarah. And one fortune had brought together an aunt and a niece and two couples—Sarah and Edmund, and Carson and Olivia.
“How romantic!” Anna said. “And it gives me hope. My cousin Mara estranged herself from my family years ago and I’m hoping to find her while—while I’m in a different part of Texas.”
“I was estranged from my niece Olivia for five years,” Sarah said. “And I hated every moment of it. I do hope you find your cousin. I’m sure Colt can help. And Edmund’s son, Carson, the private investigator, can help, too.”
“What if she doesn’t want to be found, though?” Anna asked, putting her fork down.
“I didn’t want to be found,” Sarah said. “Until I was. And then it was the happiest day of my life. Finding me brought a lot of people together. So you go get that cousin of yours.”
Colt watched Anna’s face brighten. If it was the last thing he did, he’d reunite her with her cousin. It would be a good Christmas present.
“This entire table is about family being brought together,” Jake said. “In many different ways.” He put his hand on his wife’s, and she beamed up at him.
Colt glanced at his twin. He liked the guy, liked his wife. But he wasn’t all that sure he belonged here. Would there be another dinner, another get-together? For what purpose? Colt was fine with meeting Jake Morrow—especially after that heartfelt email he’d received from Jake’s younger brother. And Colt was relieved he’d finally met his birth mother, who seemed like a lovely person, as was her husband. But Colt wasn’t interested in getting to know these people better. He had a family—his sister. His nephews. He wasn’t looking to add to his family. These people were part of him, sure, but now that he’d met them, spent a little time with them, he was ready to move on. He was sure they’d understand. They were really just strangers, though Jake and Sarah seemed to have developed a nice relationship.
As dinner ended, everyone got up to clear the table since the butler and housekeeper had made a quiet dinner possible by babysitting in the family room.
“Men clearing the table,” Anna said, her driftwood-colored eyes wide. “Of all the new things I’ve experienced, I’ll never get over the novelty of watching a man stack dirty plates and carry them into the kitchen.”
Everyone froze and gaped at Anna.
“Come from a very traditional family?” Emma asked, eyebrow raised.
Anna bit her lip, and Colt realized she’d just given herself away. He knew she wanted to pass as an Englisher.
“Very,” Anna said. “I’m Amish. Colt and I met while he was on business in my village and we chatted a bit about how I never got the chance to take my rumspringa, when Amish teens experience life in the English world. Since I have experience babysitting and he needed a nanny, he hired me for the week. I’m seeing a lot of things for the first time.”
“Edmund and I drove down to Grass Creek to shop in the Amish market for a baby crib for Violet,” Sarah said. “Are you from the Amish community near there?”
Anna picked up two empty platters from the table. “Yes. I spent quite a lot of time at the market at my family’s stall. I paint the furniture my family builds.”
“What happens after a rumspringa?” Jake asked, leading the way across the hall into the large kitchen with a stack of plates in his hands. “Do some Amish people prefer life outside the community and choose not to return?”
Anna set the platter down on the counter. “Yes. But it’s rare. Especially in my village.”
“So your cousin—she chose not to return?” Emma asked, opening the dishwasher.
“Actually, as far I know, she wasn’t even interested in having a rumspringa. Something happened and she left. There were lots of rumors—that she got pregnant and was ashamed, so she fled. Or that she fell madly in love with an Englisher and just never looked back. But to just up and l
eave your family and never look back? It’s been almost twenty-five years.”
Colt reached for Anna’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Between Edmund’s son and me, we’ll get you two reunited. You can count on it.”
Anna’s worried expression faded. “Thank you, Colt. That means a lot.”
“Check on the babies?” Jake asked Colt, and the two headed into the family room while everyone else got the coffee and tea going and started bringing out dessert to the dining room.
In the huge family room, Colt’s nephews were crawling around inside a big fenced area, full of foam blocks and musical toys. Leanna was sitting on a rocker, baby Violet fast asleep in her arms while her husband, Lars, sat near the play area, encouraging a baby crawl race.
“Thanks for watching the boys,” Colt said. “We’ll take over. Go on and have a drink and some of that delicious pie I saw in the kitchen.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Lars said.
Leanna stood, carefully transferring Violet to Jake, who cradled the baby girl in his arms.
As Lars and Leanna left, Jake walked over to where Colt stood, watching his nephews. “She feels like my own flesh and blood,” Jake said. “Sometimes I forget she’s not my biological daughter.”
Colt looked at the sleeping newborn in Jake’s arms. “She’s a lucky one to have you as a father, then.”
Jake smiled. “Thanks for coming tonight. I know you said you’d come back but I wasn’t really sure you would. I don’t know why I got that impression.”
“Maybe because I knocked on your door back in May and only stayed for five minutes,” Colt said. “I guess I’m not sure how to feel about any of this. Suddenly having family ties I didn’t have six months ago. Meaning you—of course, I knew I had a birth mother. I had no intention of finding her, though.”
“No curiosity?” Jake asked. “I had a great childhood, terrific parents. But I always wondered about my biological mother and father, what they looked like, what my story was, what their story was.”
“I never thought much about it. My parents were a bit on the distant side. They took good care of us, my sister and me, but I guess I was always too busy chasing after my father’s respect to wonder about parents who I never knew.”
“Is your dad also in law enforcement?” Jake asked.
“He was FBI also. A thug after payback stalked him and my mother as they were heading out to dinner one night. I was twenty-two, my sister twenty.” Why the hell was he saying any of this? He hadn’t meant to talk about that. Colt could feel Jake’s eyes on him.
“I’m very sorry,” his twin said.
“I never talk about it. I’m not sure why I did just now. Way to kill the mood, huh?”
“I’m just glad to know you, Colt,” Jake said. “I’d much rather skip the surface and small talk and go straight to the real stuff.”
Colt nodded. His twin was great. But he wanted—needed—to get the hell out of here, where the walls, despite being mansion-feet away, were closing in on him. Maybe this was just too much, all at once. His birth mother. His twin. Sharing the hardest time of his life when he’d kept that night, his parents’ anniversary, bottled up. He and his sister lit two candles every February 9 and shared a moment—hell, an hour, at least—of silence every year, but they rarely spoke of that night.
“Dessert’s on,” Leanna said, coming back into the family room. “You two go fill up on pie and cake and coffee. I’ll watch the three little ones.”
Jake pressed a kiss to his daughter’s forehead and stared down at her, the tenderness on his face something to behold. Colt could tell Jake didn’t really want to give up the infant in his arms. From his expression, his body language, the look in Jake’s eyes, Colt could see the man felt very much at home with fatherhood.
Colt couldn’t imagine ever feeling that way.
Chapter Seven
“Well,” Colt said, “we’d better get these little guys home to bed.”
Anna glanced up from where she sat on the family room floor with Noah and Nathaniel, the boys banging on a soft piano toy that Edmund had said was a favorite of his two-year-old-nephew, Danny. She didn’t want to leave. Though part of her wanted to have some time with Colt, another part could stay here forever, listening to these people talk about their lives and what was going on in the world and who they ran into yesterday and where to get the best pizza in Blue Gulch. The conversation moved at a slightly dizzying pace, and Anna loved every minute. Get-togethers in her village focused on which families could use a little help, which pieces of furniture sold the best at the market and what new ones they might try, and anything that might need addressing by the bishop at the next church service. From naughty children to those who weren’t pulling their weight, the bishop would work the gist of the issue into his sermon and that usually took care of that.
She’d lived in the English world for twenty-four hours and already felt at home here. Her heart had always been leading her outside of her community, so it wasn’t a surprise. But then again, she’d been here one day. A week from now, maybe she’d discover she’d had enough, that simple and plain were something to treasure, that life without electricity and cell phones and zippers and beaded sweaters was just fine. She was also cocooned right now, she knew. She had a job. A very tall, strong law-enforcement officer for a boss, by her side 24/7. A lovely room at an inn. Being on her own would be quite different.
Anna got up and handed a twin to Colt before picking up the other. “Sarah, at dinner you mentioned that you’re a hairstylist. Do you work in a salon?”
Sarah nodded. “I opened my own salon right here in town.”
“I’d love to get my hair cut,” Anna said, touching the bun she’d wrapped her waist-length hair into.
“I have a full day tomorrow but I’d be happy to take care of you before I open. Can you be at the salon at nine? It’s called Hair by Sarah and it’s just about a half mile down from where we met at lunch today. Next to the bookstore.”
Anna bit her lip. She couldn’t just leave the twins for an hour while she pampered herself. Perhaps Sarah would come to the inn and cut her hair in her room? Or was that crazy to ask? She was about to suggest it.
“I’ll watch the twins while you’re gone,” Colt said.
Anna was touched. “Thank you, Colt. If they wake at five the way they did this morning, they may be ready for their nap at nine, so that’ll work out great.”
“If they’re awake and raring to play,” Jake said, “bring them over to the ranch.”
“I might just do that,” Colt said with a nod.
Anna turned to Sarah. “Well, then, Sarah, I’ll definitely see you tomorrow at nine.” Yes! She was finally getting her hair professionally cut.
The group walked Colt and Anna to the door and said their goodbyes, and they headed back to the car.
“I had a wonderful time,” Anna said. “They’re lovely people.”
“They do seem to be.”
Anna glanced at him as he loaded Noah in his car seat. “Seem? As in they might not be?”
“Well, it’s the second time I met either of them,” Colt said. “So ‘seem’ seems appropriate.”
She frowned and walked around to the other side of the car to settle Nathaniel in his seat. “Is it your job that forces you to be distrusting?”
He looked at her as though she had five heads. “Well, I am in the bad-guy business. But life has made me distrusting, Anna. Nothing wrong with erring on the side of caution in all things.”
“You hired me as your baby twin nephews’ nanny after knowing me for all of ten minutes.”
“Touché,” he said. “But I made up my mind about you.”
“In ten minutes?”
“Yes. I saw how you responded to me when I first approached. Did you pretend you didn’t know a g
irl with red pigtails? Did you try to get me to leave? Or did you lead me right to the pint-sized perpetrator? And did you make your cousin get in huge trouble with her parents? Or did you teach her that sometimes kids make mistakes and a valuable lesson can be found in understanding motivation and acting accordingly?”
“I suppose it was a packed ten minutes,” she said.
He smiled. “I listen, Anna. Closely. The way you handled Sadie. The conversation we had afterward. My gut told me you were kind and trustworthy. That and the fact that you were looking for a way to experience your rumspringa, and I knew we could help each other out.”
“But didn’t the entire evening we just spent with Sarah and Jake tell you what you needed to know about them? They’re both wonderful.”
“I’m not hiring them to be my nanny for a week, though,” Colt said.
“Meaning you’re okay with temporary relationships only?”
“I told you, Anna. I’m a lone wolf. I work alone—with backup as needed, but alone. I live alone. I’m not looking to fill my world with people.” He opened the passenger door for her and she slid into the seat.
She gaped at him, unable to understand how he could feel the way he did. “I am.” She buckled her seat belt, grateful for the feeling of being tethered to something at the moment.
“We’re very different,” he said as he shut the door.
“Then why do you feel like a kindred spirit?” she whispered and then hoped she hadn’t said it aloud. But dang it, she had.
If he’d heard her, he didn’t say anything. He’d closed her car door just as the words had tumbled out of her mouth.
Unsettled, she turned toward the window and peered out at the night, the lights inside the welcoming mansion breaking the darkness.
Don’t you fall in love with this man, she warned herself.
But as he got inside the driver’s side, she was aware, again, of how close he was, how gorgeous his strong profile was, the way his hand rested on the steering wheel. And suddenly she was remembering their kiss, the one he’d said was a mistake and shouldn’t happen again, and she knew she was halfway in love with him already.