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But he’d quickly learned Sandra wasn’t wife material for him or any man. Her career consumed the bigger part of her time, and since Wyatt had started talking about bringing the twins home to live with him, he could see that motherhood was not her forte either. Thank goodness, he and Sandra were no more than good friends now.
“I know babies require a lot of care, Sandra. But I have the money to provide them with a good nanny, and later on a college education. I can give them most anything they’ll need to have a relatively good life. And I think I owe them that much.”
“I can’t see that you owe them anything, Wyatt. Sure, they’re your sister’s kids, but that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your life for them.”
His brows drew together at her insensitive comment. The idea that all women were born with maternal instincts was a bunch of malarkey. Sandra had just proven it. And then there was his mother, whom he hadn’t heard a word from in the past twenty-six years. Dear Lord, had Belinda been just as uncaring of her twins? No, he didn’t believe it for a minute.
“I’d hardly call it a sacrifice, Sandra. I happen to like babies and children. I’ve always wanted some of my own.”
Sandra chuckled. “That’s hard to believe, Wyatt. You’ve never even talked about wanting to be a husband, much less a father.”
“That doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about it. I just haven’t found the right woman.”
She laughed again. “I guess that means I was never in the running.”
He grimaced. “You and I both know you’d make an awful wife and mother, Sandra.”
She groaned with good humor. “You’re right. I’m a career woman. Period. But what about this Chloe Murdoch? You haven’t said that much about her. Does she seem like the mothering sort?”
Instead of the mountains, Wyatt was suddenly seeing Chloe’s pale golden skin and deep red hair, the fierce look in her green eyes when he’d talked about taking the twins home with him. Yes, she was a mother at heart. It was the very thing about her that bothered him the most.
Later that evening, when Rose arrived at the Bar M to help Chloe with the evening chores, her thirteen-year-old stepdaughter, Emily, was with her.
The moment the girl stepped down from the pickup truck, Chloe gave her a tight, affectionate hug. “Don’t tell me your mother is making you work this evening,” Chloe teased. “You know, if you let her, she can be a real slave driver.”
Emily cast Rose a loving smile. “No, she never makes me do anything. She always asks. But I volunteered this evening. I wanted to see for myself how Martin was doing.
Chloe waved a hand toward the calf’s pen. “He’s getting fat and slick and sassy. If you want to give him his supper, his bottle is in the feed room.”
“I would!”
Emily hurried away, leaving the two sisters standing on the worn foot-path leading to the stable.
“Aunt Kitty called and told me all about Mr. Sanders,” Rose said gravely. “Does Justine know?”
Chloe nodded. “I saw her this afternoon. She’s going to have Roy run a check on him.”
“What do you think she’ll find?”
Ever since Chloe had left Justine’s house, she’d been asking herself the very same thing. “I’m afraid Roy won’t find anything out of order.”
“So the guy seems respectable.”
Respectable? Chloe could think of a dozen other ways to describe the man. Cool, slick, insensitive and arrogant.
“On the surface,” she told Rose. “But who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll turn out to be a piece of trash.”
“Chloe!” Rose gently scolded. “That’s an awful thing to say.”
Chloe started walking in the direction of the stable. Rose followed, her long legs easily keeping up with Chloe’s shorter, quicker strides.
“Chloe, have you stopped to think that Adam and Anna are his relatives, too? It can’t be easy for the man having his sister die a drug-related death. And in a facility for the criminally insane, to boot.”
Chloe rolled her eyes at her sister. Like Justine, Rose was a beautiful woman. Tall and slender with long, wavy chestnut hair, she had a quiet gracefulness about her that Chloe had always admired. She was smart and strong and steady and Chloe had been thrilled a few months ago when she’d finally fallen in love and married. Yet there were times Chloe wanted to shake Rose’s composure.
“Rose, surely you haven’t forgotten the woman nearly killed you and Harlan!”
“I don’t know that she was intentionally trying to kill us,” Rose said thoughtfully. “There wasn’t any way she could have known we were riding fence when she started that fire. I think her plans were simply to kill our cattle and destroy our pasture-land. Not murder us.”
“You’ve too generous a heart, Rose,” Chloe said with a groan.
Rose shrugged. “The woman is gone, Chloe. I guess I can afford to be a little forgiving.”
Chloe’s lips compressed to a grim line. “Well, her brother isn’t gone,” she said. “And I have a feeling he’s going to be a much more formidable foe than Belinda Waller ever was.”
Beneath the brim of her battered felt hat, Rose’s pale green eyes grew wide with concern. “Why do you say that? Is the man deranged?”
“No. Wyatt Sanders isn’t deranged. He’s determined.” And Chloe desperately dreaded the moment she would see him again.
The next afternoon, Chloe decided to give Kitty a break from baby-sitting and herself a chance to spend a bit of time with the twins away from the ranch. After spending all night and the bigger part of the morning worrying and wondering about Wyatt Sanders and his threat to take the twins, she hoped a drive into town would cheer her dismal thoughts.
The day was sunny and very warm for early September, just the sort of weather that made her want to forget about work and simply stare up at the blue New Mexican sky. Something Chloe rarely got to do these days.
Before her father, Tomas, had died, there had been at least five wranglers to help work the ranch. Now there were only herself and Rose and Rose’s husband, Harlan, to see that everything got done.
Many nights Chloe lay awake too tired to sleep. During those times, she’d often thought about her father and how things had changed so drastically since his death. He’d not only left Chloe and her sisters with a pair of siblings, he’d left them very nearly broke. Chloe figured she should hate him for what he’d done, but she couldn’t. Good or bad, he was her father and she’d loved him fiercely.
Was that how Wyatt Sanders felt about his sister? Chloe wondered as she drove herself and the twins west toward Ruidoso. Was he blind to Belinda’s evil doings because she’d been his sister, or did he simply not know all the fear and damage she’d caused?
Whatever the case, Chloe wished she could be more forgiving, like Rose. She knew it wasn’t healthy to hold on to her anger. But she feared if she ever let herself weaken toward Wyatt Sanders, he’d find her soft spot, then batter it until she finally surrendered.
No, the best way to handle Wyatt Sanders, she decided, was to be cool and steadfast.
Wyatt was in his car, traveling down Mechem Drive, when he spotted the redheaded woman pushing a doubleseated baby stroller across the parking lot
Even though she was wearing a skirt and her hair was pulled neatly to the back of her head, he could tell it was her. She had that quick, snappy walk that made her curves jiggle in a most feminine, distracting way.
Glancing in the rearview mirror, he jammed on the brakes and flipped on the turn signal. Chloe Murdock obviously hadn’t come to town to see him, but she was going to, whether she liked it or not.
By the time Wyatt turned off the highway and parked the car, she was very nearly to the entrance of the grocery market. He called her name and she glanced over her shoulder. The moment she saw it was him she lifted her chin defensively.
“What do you want?” she asked as he drew within a few steps of her.
Wyatt shouldn’t have been surprised by her blunt question. After all, yesterday he hadn’t been all that congenial to her. But her coolness still managed to stop him in his tracks.
“I was driving down the street and happened to see you. I thought we might talk.”
“I’m busy.”
“I have a feeling you’re always busy,” he said, his eyes making a quick search of her face. She had a touch of makeup on today, the soft pink color on her lips matched the color of her sweater. She looked so enchanting he found it difficult to remember she was the enemy.
“Your feeling is right.”
Wyatt stepped to the front of the stroller for a better look at the twins. They were each dressed in bright printed T-shirts and denim overalls. The boy was wearing a baseball cap and the girl a floppy bonnet with a daisy pinned to the brim. Both children were mesmerized by the activity in the parking lot and paid little attention to him.
“Busy or not, Ms. Murdock, we’re going to have to talk at some point in time.” He lifted his gaze from the twins to look at her. “I’m a working man myself. I can’t stay away from my office indefinitely.” But he would stay as long as he could. As long as it took to make this woman see that the twins belonged in Houston where he could give them everything they needed.
“I’m glad to hear that,” she said, then silently thanked God Rose wasn’t here. Her sister hated it when Chloe was smart mouthed to anyone. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
To Chloe’s surprise, he smiled and as she took in the sexy curve of his lips, the white glint of his teeth and the crinkles at the corners of his gray eyes, she couldn’t help but wonder what sort of man he might be under more normal circumstances.
“No, you shouldn’t have,” he agreed. “But then I said a lot to. you yesterday that I probably shouldn’t have, either. So we’ll call things a draw.”
Even though Chloe had a short temper fuse at times, she normally liked people and got on with them quite well. Maybe if she could put her anger aside for a while, she might be able to reason with this man. That was the first course Rose and Justine thought she should take. And what could simply talking to the man really hurt?
“I had planned to take the twins for ice cream after I finished buying groceries. If you’d like to meet us at Fred’s in,” she glanced at her wrist watch, “about twenty minutes from now, I could talk then.”
It was much more than Wyatt expected to get from her and he wondered what had brought on the sudden change of heart. A moment ago, he could have sworn she was going to tell him to get lost or go talk to her lawyer.
“I’ll be there. Where is it?”
“Just stay on this main thoroughfare.” She inclined her head toward the street behind his shoulder. “Go down the mountain about three or four blocks toward the older part of town. Fred’s is a small place on the left.”
“Thank you, Ms. Murdock.”
The sincerity in his voice and on his face took her by complete surprise and for a moment she didn’t know what to say.
“No one calls me Ms. Murdock,” she told him. “Please call me Chloe.”
He smiled again and she felt her heart give a foolish little lurch.
“Okay, Chloe. I’ll see you in twenty minutes.”
She nodded in agreement, then pushed the stroller on toward the entrance of the grocery market. But for some crazy, unexplainable reason, it was a struggle for Chloe not to look over her shoulder and watch him walk back to his car.
Chapter Four
When Chloe entered Fred’s a half hour later, Wyatt Sanders was already seated at a window booth which overlooked the encroaching woods at the back of the building.
As she and the twins approached the booth, he stood and said, “I see you made it. Thank you for coming.”
He was smiling again, and that bothered Chloe. Mainly because it seemed so genuine and she wasn’t quite ready to believe in this man’s sincerity. “My shopping took a little longer than I anticipated. I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”
The smile deepened and Chloe felt an urgent need to draw a deeper breath.
“I have nothing else to do,” he said, then looked down at the twins. “Where are the babies going to sit?”
Chloe glanced over her shoulder to a spot where the high chairs were usually stored. She was thankful there were two empty ones. “If you’ll be kind enough to get a couple of those high chairs, we’ll put them at the end of the table.”
Wyatt fetched the chairs and Chloe quickly strapped each baby inside. Both children seemed to know they were in store for a treat. They each squealed with excitement and pounded the trays across their laps with chubby hands.
Chloe had just taken a seat across from Wyatt when a waitress arrived. Chloe quickly ordered a hot fudge sundae for herself and a bowl of vanilla ice cream for the twins. Wyatt simply wanted coffee.
After the woman had left, Wyatt said, “I really do appreciate your meeting me like this. I know it’s not something you particularly wanted to do.”
No. Meeting Wyatt Sanders for any reason wasn’t on her list of want-to-dos. But had she really had a choice in the matter?
“Whatever you might think, I’m not insensitive to the fact that the twins are your niece and nephew.”
His dark brows rose with faint surprise. “Well, whatever you might think, the fact that I’m their uncle means a lot to me.”
Her eyes connected with his and she felt a jolt rock her all the way down to her toes. “Your being here proves that to me,” she said, then deliberately turned her attention to the twins, who were still making a loud but happy ruckus.
Wyatt was trying hard not to stare at the soft profile of her face, when she turned back to him and asked, “Have you ever been to this part of the state before?”
“No. I’ve done a lot of traveling in the past few years, some of it overseas, but I must admit I’ve never been here before.”
The waitress appeared with their orders. After she’d placed them on the table and left, Wyatt went on, “Until I was notified of her death, I really had no idea my sister was in New Mexico. The last time I spoke to her, she told me she was in Vail, Colorado, and that she was planning on taking an extended vacation to Europe. That was over a year ago. Since then I tried contacting her at several of her old addresses, but I never heard a word.”
Like judging good horseflesh, Chloe could usually tell when a person was lying outright. In this case, she believed Wyatt was being entirely truthful.
Picking up a plastic spoon, she offered Anna a bite of the ice cream. Once the little girl had downed it, she did the same for Adam.
“Didn’t that worry you?” she asked Wyatt. “Not hearing from Belinda at all?”
Shrugging, Wyatt sipped his coffee, then said, “I wasn’t particularly uneasy about it. You should understand that my sister was…well, you might say she was a free spirit of sorts.”
“You didn’t see her often?”
He lowered his coffee cup onto the tabletop. “Not after she divorced. She moved away from Houston and traveled from place to place. I think that helped her get over the break from her husband. At least that’s what she implied.”
Chloe couldn’t help but be intrigued by this man and the woman who had turned her father’s head. “But Vail and Europe? How could she live like that? I know my father was sending her money. But not that sort of money!”
It didn’t take Wyatt but a moment to see what a chore it was to feed two babies at once. He motioned his head toward the bowl of ice cream.
“You’re never going to get to take a bite of your sundae. Why don’t you let me feed Adam?”
Him feed a baby? She shot him a skeptical look. “Do you know how to feed a baby?”
His tanned face took on a ruddy tinge. “Well, I haven’t ever actually fed one, but it doesn’t look that complicated. Just stick the spoon up to his mouth and let him do the rest.”
It was on the tip of Chloe’s tongue to turn down his offer. But for some reason, the idea struck her that it might do him good to see what caring for a baby, even in this small way, would be like.
Deliberately, she tucked more napkins around the neck of Adam’s T-shirt and overall bib, then handed Wyatt another spoon. “Okay, you’re welcome to give it a try,” she told him.
Eager, but tentative, Wyatt scooped up a spoonful of ice cream and stuck it up to Adam’s lips. At first the boy was so intrigued by the idea of being fed by a stranger, he merely stared, mouth closed, at Wyatt.
“What’s the matter with him? He was eating fine for you.”
Chloe kept a smug smile to herself. “He doesn’t know you. Would you let a stranger poke something into your mouth?”
Wyatt frowned as he watched little Anna open her lips and smack the ice cream from Chloe’s spoon.
“Okay, young man,” he said to the cherub-faced little boy. “I’m your Uncle Wyatt. I’m not a stranger. It’s perfectly safe to eat what I give you.”
Adam cocked his head to one side, looked at his sister and Chloe, then burst out with a string of coos and giggles.
Wyatt lowered the spoon. “He thinks I’m funny.”
Chloe chuckled softly. “He thinks you’re different.”
He glanced across the table at her. She was feeding herself now, digging the thick fudge off the bottom of the plastic bowl. Even though she ate daintily, he could see she was relishing every bite. It was a refreshing sight for Wyatt. Most of the women he knew considered picking at a plate of lettuce and bean sprouts to be eating a meal.
“Are the twins not used to being around men?” he asked.
“My brothers-in-law, Harlan and Roy, see the twins most everyday,” she assured him, then motioned her head toward the spoon of melting ice cream in his hand. “Offer it to him again. He’s had time to think about you now.”
“All right, little buddy,” he said to Adam. “Here it is. Don’t just look at it. Eat it.”
Adam complied this time and Wyatt breathed a sigh of relief. He was a grown man and he’d been assuring this woman the twins would be better off in his care. It wouldn’t look good if he couldn’t even manage to feed the baby a spoonful of ice cream.
“You were wondering about Belinda’s finances,” he began, as Adam continued to eat the ice cream from the spoon. “Well, at one time my sister had enough money to go to Europe or wherever she wanted.”
“You say she had the money at one time. When was that?” she asked as she continued to feed Anna.
Chloe’s question caused his features to tighten, but then Adam smacked his lips, and Wyatt looked at the baby and smiled.
“My father was an executive for a big petroleum firm in Houston. When he died, my sister and I inherited money and stocks. Enough to leave us both quite secure. I never worried or wondered if Belinda was squandering her part. When we talked, she always assured me her finances were doing fine. That she was doing fine. But now…” He let out a rueful sigh. “I don’t know what happened. If she left any of the money or stock certificates somewhere in a bank, I can’t find it.”
“From what Roy—you remember I told you the sheriff is my brother-in-law?” Wyatt nodded and Chloe went on, “Well, Roy said it appeared to him that Belinda was barely scraping by. The last few places she’d lived in were… rattraps.”
Wyatt shook his head. “I don’t disbelieve your brother-in-law. I’m not going to dispute what he apparently saw firsthand. I just find it…incredible to think Belinda was broke. I realize she liked to travel and entertain. And she was never stingy when it came to her friends, but she wasn’t stupid. I can’t imagine her wasting all that money. It was her security.”
When Chloe had first agreed to meet with Wyatt, she hadn’t necessarily expected to be discussing Belinda. She’d figured the only thing this man wanted to say to her was that he wanted the twins and meant to get them at any cost. But now, as she looked across the table and watched him awkwardly spooning ice cream into Adam’s mouth, she could see a sadness in his eyes that told her he was a man alone. And that touched her more than anything he could have said.
“I wish there was something I could tell you,” she said to him. “But you see, our father…well, we didn’t know anything about Belinda. What little we do know about her is what she told the authorities. She said she met Daddy at the racetrack here at Ruidoso Downs.”
His lips twisted with wry fondness. “That sounds true enough. Belinda liked to play the horses.”
“So did Daddy.” She absently dipped into her sundae as memories of Tomas welled up inside her. He’d been a big burly man full of humor and a zest for life. She hadn’t known any other man who had loved horses as much as her father. Nor would she ever find a man who would love her as much as he had. The ache of missing him was still like a knife blade in her heart.
Glancing up at Wyatt, she asked, “Do you have a mother?”
Adam appeared to be full of ice cream. Wyatt put the spoon down and gently wiped the boy’s mouth with the corner of a napkin.
“My mother left when I was very young.”
“Left? You mean she passed away?”
His handsome mouth twisted as though her question had left acid on his tongue. “No. I mean she left. Literally. Walked out and never came back.”
Even though Chloe had no reason to be embarrassed, she was. Splotches of red heat filled her cheeks.
“I shouldn’t have asked. But since the twins’ grandparents are gone on my side I was curious.” She dipped her spoon into the melting sundae. “I guess not having grandparents isn’t the end of the world.” But having a mother desert you would be, Chloe thought sadly.
He sighed. “I suppose there might be ways of tracing my mother, but that could take years. And what would be the point? She didn’t want me or Belinda. She certainly wouldn’t be interested in grandchildren.”
Dear God, were there really women in this world like that? Of course she’d heard stories on the news, but still it was so difficult for her to imagine any woman turning away from her own children.
“So it’s been just you and Belinda? You don’t have any other family?”
He shook his head. “My father was an only child. We never knew any of our mother’s family.”
She kept her eyes on the tabletop. “You’re…uh, not married?”
He didn’t answer immediately. Chloe glanced up to see a faint frown marring his forehead. “What’s the matter? You’re divorced?”
“No. I’ve never been married.” He picked up his coffee cup. “I was just wondering why you asked.”
Chloe shifted on the padded bench and wondered why her heart was behaving as if she’d just run a mile. “Because I…wondered if perhaps you had a wife back home who wanted the babies.”
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