A cowboy committed to bachelorhood

…until these little Montana Twins change everything

Thanks to his dysfunctional family, cowboy-to-the-bone Colt Hardin insists marriage and fatherhood aren’t for him. But then his uncle dies, leaving Colt the ranch he’s always wanted—and the herd to his late cousin’s mischievous twin toddlers. Now Colt must find a solution with their pretty mother, Jane Marshall. Can these little cherubs show Jane and Colt what a family can truly be?

PATRICIA JOHNS writes from Alberta, Canada. She has her Hon. BA in English literature and currently writes for Harlequin’s Love Inspired and Heartwarming lines. You can find her at patriciajohnsromance.com.

Also by Patricia Johns

Montana Twins

Her Cowboy’s Twin Blessings

Her Twins’ Cowboy Dad

Comfort Creek Lawmen

Deputy Daddy

The Lawman’s Runaway Bride

The Deputy’s Unexpected Family

His Unexpected Family

The Rancher’s City Girl

A Firefighter’s Promise

The Lawman’s Surprise Family

A Baxter’s Redemption

The Runaway Bride

A Boy’s Christmas Wish

Her Lawman Protector

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Her Twins’ Cowboy Dad

Patricia Johns

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09629-4

HER TWINS’ COWBOY DAD

© 2019 Patricia Johns

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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Was this what other people felt like when they had a family?

The door to the foyer opened and Jane appeared, her gaze landing on Colt with a look of surprise. She was beautiful standing there.

“Micha took off on me,” Colt whispered. “I wasn’t quick enough.”

“She does do that,” Jane whispered back, and she put one twin toddler down on the pew between them before reaching for the other. “Were you being a stinker, Michal Ann?”

Micha looked at her mother innocently as Jane scooped the toddler into her lap.

“I think you were,” Jane whispered, but there was a smile tickling the corners of her lips. “Be nice to him, Micha. He’s not used to this.”

Jane looked over at him and smiled, and he felt that sense of camaraderie again. It felt good coming from her. It wasn’t about pleasing a group or fitting in... It was just a moment between the two of them. Of all the people who had known him for years, Jane probably understood him best.

And that was dangerous ground...

Dear Reader,

Is marriage only a piece of paper? A lot of people argue that, especially if they’ve been hurt. But I believe that marriage is a whole lot more than just a legal arrangement. There’s something about those vows... Before you get married, you love each other deeply and you’d lay down your life for that other person. But after the vows, it’s like a circle closes. It isn’t only about emotion, but something deeper. Some people believe that marriage is a sacrament, and I understand that! Marriage is challenging. It’s beautiful. It’s holy. It deepens and develops us.

In this book, I wanted to look at marriage—not just the wedding day—and what it means to me. I hope you enjoy this story, and if you’d like to connect with me, you can find me online at PatriciaJohnsRomance.com. I’m also on Facebook and Twitter.

Patricia

The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

—Proverbs 21:1

To my husband, whom I love more every day. The years together only make it sweeter.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Colt Hardin stood by a window on the second floor of an office building in downtown Creekside, Montana, cowboy hat under one arm, trying to calm his thoughts as he looked out over the street. The building itself was only three stories, but it was the highest one in that little ranching town. A few pickup trucks slowed to a stop at the streetlight, windows rolled down to let in the warm July breeze. One of the trucks had an old dog in the back, trotting back and forth along the truck bed. The light changed to green, and the trucks rolled forward again. Colt preferred trails and fields, horseback or the rattling old ranch truck. Town was just too busy for his liking.

Colt tapped his hat against his thigh, attempting to quiet that jitter inside him. Uncle Beau passed away a few days ago, and he had been called to the lawyer’s office for the reading of the will. If Uncle Beau hadn’t changed anything, Colt was inheriting it all.

Old Beau had been a complicated guy in life—a good rancher and a neighbor who could be counted on when weather went bad or times got tough. He was gruff, stubborn, often narrow-minded, but with a sensitive side that had surprised Colt more than once. But as kind as he could be to a neighbor, he was unmovable when it came to family. Once his mind was made up about someone, there was no changing it, and that character flaw had torn apart the family. It was only because those relationships were in tatters that Colt was set to inherit everything.

Beau’s marriage to his aunt had shown him that marriage was difficult...and, it turned out, so was keeping any kind of functional relationship with a man’s kids. Josh was an only child—it shouldn’t have been that complicated. And Colt didn’t have his own father in his life, so Beau had been the closest he’d had to a dad. That wasn’t a sweet sentiment, either, because Beau was the main reason he’d been steering clear of getting married and starting a family of his own.

A patter of little shoes came up the stairs, and Colt glanced over as two redheaded toddlers in matching floral-print dresses emerged into the hallway and immediately scampered in opposite directions. A slim woman with dark hair pulled into a messy bun at the back of her head appeared behind them and jogged after the squealing toddler who dashed down the hall, while the other little girl headed in his direction. The woman wore a pink sundress that fluttered behind her in a wave, and he couldn’t help but wonder how she’d catch both children.

The little girls had flaming-red curls that bounced at the sides of their heads in matching pigtails... Some distant relative of Beau Marshall, perhaps? The Marshalls were known for their fiery red hair. Colt was related to Beau through Beau’s wife’s side of the family, so his hair was a dark brown that women made a point of telling him shone auburn in the sunlight.

The woman scooped up the giggling girl and came back down the hall, a bag bouncing against one hip and the toddler secured on the other.

“Michal, come back here...” the woman called to the toddler who’d dashed in his direction, and the tiny girl looked up at Colt for a moment, round brown gaze meeting his soberly. She took a step to the side to head around him and he matched her, eyeing her with a small smile. He could see the mischief in that little face.

“Could you just head her off?” the woman asked, hoisting the other toddler a little higher in her arms as she approached. “She’s quick.”

“I’ll try,” he said. The toddler swerved past him and he shot an arm out, scooping the youngster up as she let out a surprised squeak. She was as light as a barn cat, and those little legs gave a couple of kicks as he spun her around to face her mother, then handed her over.

“Thanks.” The woman’s face broke into a smile as she gathered the second toddler in her arms. “I thought it was hard to carry around two car seats. I had no idea how bad it would be once they were walking.”

“I can only imagine,” he said with a short laugh. “Michael—that’s an odd name for a girl.”

“I liked it.” She gave him a tired smile. “It’s Biblical. David’s first wife.”

“Oh, right.” Yeah, he vaguely remembered that. Not Michael, but Michal.

She looked over at the lawyer’s office door, then down at a scrap of paper in one hand that she could just see past the toddler. Colt noticed the building address written in cursive, followed by the office number.

“Are you here to see Mr. Davis?” Colt asked.

She nodded. “You, too?”

“Yeah. I’m Colt Hardin. And you are...?”

The color drained from her face and she licked her lips. Did she recognize his name? “Jane Marshall. Pleasure.”

“So you’re...a relative of Beau’s?” he asked, and his stomach sank. There weren’t too many Marshalls left—at least not in name. It seemed like every Marshall family had girl after girl, and after they married and took their husbands’ names there was yet another branch of the family tree without the Marshall name. Beau had complained about it to no end.

“My husband was Josh Marshall,” she replied. “He died, but Beau Marshall was his father.”

Josh—his cousin. Colt’s heart stuttered, then hammered to catch up. So this was the wife—but he didn’t even know that Josh had had kids. None of the family had ever seen pictures of his wife—Josh had only announced his marriage and then gone silent. This woman was slim, with dark hair and pale skin. She was pretty, but rumpled. Her pink sundress tugged up at one hip where she held Michal, and the other toddler was pulling at a loose thread at her shoulder.

“You’re Josh’s wife?” Colt repeated. His voice sounded choked in his own ears.

She nodded. “I am. And you’re his cousin. Josh told me about you.”

That was almost more than he could say. When Josh took off for the city, he’d cut contact with all of them except for an email once every few years with some pertinent information, like when he joined the army and when he got married. And the army had told them when Josh was killed... So Colt had heard absolutely nothing about her besides the fact that she’d married into the family.

“What was your name, again?” he asked.

“Jane Marshall,” she replied. “This is Susanna and Michal, or Suzie and Micha for short.”

“They have the Marshall look,” he said. The fiery red hair that hung in curls around those identical, chubby faces, for one. “But Josh died, what, three years ago?”

“They are Marshalls,” she replied, her tone hardening just a touch. “Josh never got to meet them. He...” She swallowed. “He died before they were born.”

“He never told us—” he said.

“Yes, he did. He told his father I was pregnant,” she cut him off. “Beau contacted me once after they were born.”

“Really.” Beau had never mentioned it to him, and they’d worked together daily for twenty years. Beau had complained often enough about his ungrateful son.

So there had been granddaughters that Beau had never made reference to. That was just like the man—keep Colt working like a horse and never tell him anything that might interfere with his dedication to the ranch. Because Josh wasn’t any help at all having left for the city, and Colt had been the one to shoulder the responsibility of keeping this ranch running all these years. Beau’s health had only been getting worse, and he’d been handing off more and more of the daily running of the place until Colt was doing just about everything. Beau had promised Colt ten years ago that he’d leave him the ranch, keep it in the family. In fact, that was what pushed Josh away to begin with, when Beau told him that if he wasn’t going to take ranching seriously, he’d cut him out of the will. Not a single acre would go to Josh, Beau had vowed, but now that Josh’s widow was here for the reading of the will, he had to wonder if Beau had been stringing him along all these years.

Anything was possible with Beau.

The office door opened and Steve Davis, a portly older gentlemen, poked his head out. Colt knew the lawyer relatively well. There weren’t too many lawyers in Creekside, and he attended the same church that Colt did. Steve had been at the funeral.

“Colt, again, I’m so sorry for your loss,” he said, holding out his hand.

“Thank you.” Colt stepped forward and shook Steve’s hand. “I appreciate it.”

“And you must be Jane?” Steve asked turning to the woman beside him.

“Yes, that’s me.” She hitched a toddler higher on her hip. “I hope bringing the girls with me wasn’t a problem.”

“No, of course not,” Steve said. “Let’s go into my office.”

Colt stood back as Jane passed into the office first. Micha stared at him with those big brown eyes as she passed, while Suzie seemed more interested in trying to squirm out of her mother’s arms. He stepped into the office after Jane, then pulled the door shut behind him. Jane took a seat in front of Steve’s wide desk and dug in her shoulder bag, emerging with a ziplock bag of crackers.

Colt eased into the seat next to her, and he watched as she doled out crackers into the toddlers’ hands. They sat down on the floor, two crackers each, and set to munching on them.

“You were the only people mentioned in Beau Marshall’s will,” Steve began. “Colt, you were named, as well as his grandchildren. After Josh’s death, Beau updated his will so that their mother would be conservator of their inheritance if he were to die while they were still minors.”

“He knew about them,” Colt said woodenly.

“Yes,” Steve confirmed. “He did. He spoke to me about them after they were born.”

“Josh told him about my pregnancy,” Jane said. “Josh died when I was about six months pregnant and he was deployed. Anyway, I emailed Beau with a couple of pictures once they were born. I think Josh would have wanted that.”

“Did anyone else know?” Colt asked, still trying to make sense of all of this in his head. How much had his uncle been hiding from him?

“Not that I know of,” Steve replied. “Beau was a man who kept his own counsel. I think you know that.” Steve opened a file folder and looked between Colt and Jane.

“A conservator—what does that mean?” Jane asked.

“It means that you will be able to manage your daughters’ inheritance as you see fit and split the remainder of it between them when they turn eighteen.”

“Oh...”

“Let’s get started, shall we?” Steve said.

Colt looked over at Jane, and she glanced toward him at the same time. She looked nervous—her lips were pale and she was fidgeting with that plastic bag of crackers. He knew what Beau had promised him, but he also knew exactly how far Beau could be trusted. Somehow, after Josh left because of this will and all the pain the family went through surrounding it, Colt hadn’t considered the idea that Beau might change the will completely. But it was possible.

“To Colt Hardin, my nephew, I leave the ranch,” Steve read, his voice calm and quiet, and Colt felt a wave of relief. “I leave him all of the land, the buildings and the debt that has accrued over the years. Of anyone, Colt will be able to make something of it. I’m pleased to keep this ranch in the family.”

The ranch. Thank You, God. He knew the land was mortgaged to the hilt, but if everything just continued as it was, he could work his way out of debt. The ranch was his. Uncle Beau had done as he’d promised, and Colt could go on running this ranch like he’d hoped.

Steve turned toward Jane. “And to my grandchildren, the children of my only son, Joshua Marshall, I leave the herd to be split between them equally.”

The lawyer’s words hung in the air, and Colt felt like his breath had been knocked out of his chest. Beau had left Colt the land, but he’d given his toddler granddaughters the cattle? How on earth was he supposed to run a floundering ranch when he didn’t own the actual animals? Beau had kept his promise, all right. Colt had the land. But without that herd, without the income at market time, Colt could lose it all.

* * *

Jane stared at the lawyer as the moment seemed to slow down and stretch out in front of her. She’d had no idea what Josh’s dad had left to her girls, but the fact that he’d named them in his will had felt like an answer to prayer when she’d gotten the call. Jane didn’t know what she’d been hoping for, besides some family connection for her daughters. She had some death benefits from the military, but most of that had been soaked up in paying off debt. Josh had been a spender—when he got home, he didn’t want to worry about “bills and stuff.” He just wanted to enjoy the American Dream. So now she was proudly debt free, but very little was left over besides the monthly payments that came to her. And twins were expensive to raise. She had to find a way to provide for her daughters because her job with a maid service had just ended. But cattle?

“What does that mean, exactly?” Jane asked hesitantly. “He gave my daughters cows?”

The lawyer nodded. “Yes.”

“How many cows are in the herd, exactly?” she asked.

The lawyer smiled indulgently. “Currently, it consists of four hundred and eighty cows.”

“What am I supposed to do with them?” she asked feebly.

Micha put a sodden cracker into Jane’s hand, and she instinctively closed her fingers around it.

“That’s where you have some decisions to make,” Mr. Davis replied. “You have a few options. Once the paperwork is finalized, of course.”

“Of course...” she breathed. “But what options?”

“You could sell the herd back to Colt here, for one,” Mr. Davis replied. “Or you could move the herd to another ranch, if you own one.”

“I don’t,” she murmured.

“Or you could work out some other deal with Colt.”

Jane looked over at Colt, but his expression was granite. He was staring at a spot on the carpet between his boots. Right now, she didn’t even know where she was going to stay. She was homeless with two little girls and nothing but the hope of an inheritance to sustain her. She could feel the tears rising up inside her.

“First things first, though,” Mr. Davis said cheerily. “It’s going to take a week before all of this becomes finalized. Then you can both talk to your banks and decide upon a course of action.”

“The inheritance is for my girls, though,” Jane said. “You said I’m allowed to sell the cattle?”

“Beau has his will set up in such a way that you, as their mother, can manage their inheritance—the cattle or the money gotten from the sale of them—until they are eighteen. At which point, whatever is left will be divided between them. He wanted to make sure that you could provide for them in their formative years.”

“Okay...” That was particularly kind of her late father-in-law. Jane didn’t want to deprive her girls of their rightful inheritance from their grandfather, but she did need to care for the girls in the meantime. At least there was some ability for her to do that.

“Why did he do this?” Colt broke in.

“That’s a good question,” Jane agreed. “We’re going to have cattle and nowhere to put them, and Colt is going to have a ranch and no cattle!”

“I think that’s the point, isn’t it?” Mr. Davis asked. “An earlier version of the will had the cattle going to Josh, not the girls. Beau was hoping that when he passed on, Josh might...come home.”

“And we’d work together,” Colt concluded.

“Yes,” Mr. Davis said with a nod. “That was his hope.”

Colt grunted, and Jane glanced over at him again. If this had been a plan to reunite the cousins, it was too late for that.

“So why leave the cattle to my daughters after my husband died?” Jane asked.

“The ranch was remortgaged,” Mr. Davis said. “There was a lot of debt, and he didn’t want to cut his grandchildren out of his will. He didn’t have any cash to leave to them, and quite honestly, he was hoping that after a few years, he’d have built up a little more wealth, gotten past the rough patch. Then he could have reworked his will again. He didn’t get the chance, unfortunately. This was his worst-case scenario, I’m afraid, but he still hoped that his granddaughters would have a connection with the family again.”

“He wanted my girls to know their family,” she breathed.

“That’s what he told me.” Mr. Davis smiled gently. “But that’s no pressure on you, okay? We all have a certain number of years in our lifetimes in order to make up for our mistakes. Beau ran out of time, as sad as that is. But that doesn’t mean that you owe him anything.”

No, she didn’t owe Beau anything—he’d done nothing more than send her a couple of emails after the girls were born, neither of which had been terribly warm. She could see where her husband’s emotional distance had come from. She’d loved Josh dearly, but being his wife hadn’t been easy. If nothing else, by her brief communication with Beau, she’d understood why her husband had been so unwilling to reconnect with his father. But still, her daughters had family out here—and that would mean something to them one day. Their cantankerous grandfather was dead, but there were other family members that the girls might want to know. Perhaps even their “uncle” Colt. He was a relative, at least, and being considerably older than them, she wasn’t sure what else to call him.

Suzie clutched at Jane’s dress and she absently reached down to pick the toddler up. She’d come to the town of Creekside on faith. Josh’s death had been difficult to deal with. Those vows had tied them together on a deep level, and while being married to Josh had been hard, she couldn’t just walk away from him when it got tough, either. He’d never been an easily affectionate man, but she’d known how much he loved her. The stuff he saw in the army had left wounds that never healed, and she had only wanted to support him, let him know that she’d love him no matter what. Jane hadn’t realized how much of herself she’d lost as she struggled to maintain her marriage until she was forced to look at life without her husband in it. Coming out to Creekside was both an act of faith and a desperate leap. She’d take anything God provided. She’d come all the way from Minneapolis with her toddlers in the back of a ten-year-old sedan to see what God had in store.

And right now, she had to wonder if that had been a mistake. Maybe she should have stayed in Minneapolis and put her energy into finding an apartment instead of driving out here on a wish and a prayer. But what did she have to stay for? The house was gone. She’d been laid off from her job. She could have afforded to rent a tiny apartment while she tried to sort out her future... But that phone call from the polite Montana lawyer had sparked some hope inside her. He wouldn’t say what the girls had been left, but he’d said it was part of the ranch, and he called it significant, and definitely worth coming out. Her husband had told her that his dad had cut him out of the will, so this was completely unexpected, and she’d had nothing at all to lose.

“I realize that you both have a lot of thinking to do, plans to make,” Mr. Davis said, standing up. “For my part, I’ll get these papers submitted and that will put the land into your name, Colt, and the cattle into yours, Jane. Unless you have any other questions, I believe that takes care of our business today.”

They were being dismissed. Jane smoothed a hand over Suzie’s soft curls, and her heart sank inside her. She had enough money for a few nights in a cheap hotel, and then she was out of cash. She had an emergency credit card, but she was afraid to start using it. She knew firsthand just how easy it was to slide back into debt. What she needed was a job that would allow her to care for her daughters at the same time. That was a tall order...especially out here in Creekside, Montana, where she knew absolutely no one.

“Thank you,” Jane said, reaching out to shake hands with the lawyer.

“Thanks, Steve.” Colt did the same.

Jane picked up her bag and rooted out sippy cups of juice for the girls. Sometimes keeping their hands full helped them to cooperate a little better. Jane guided the girls toward the door. Colt got there before her, and he opened it and let her pass through first.

In the hallway, the girls clambered toward the window that overlooked the street. They weren’t tall enough to look out, but someone had left a magazine there, and they squatted down next to it, playing with the glossy pages. Even though Jane couldn’t see it from where she stood, she knew that her car was parked just outside that window, packed to the gills with everything she owned.

“Did you know what was coming?” Colt asked as he pulled the door shut behind them. He was a handsome man, but not in the same way her husband had been. Josh had been full of laughter and jokes, while Colt looked more serious. Josh’s hair had been the same bright red as his daughters’.

“No, I had no idea,” she replied, tearing her gaze away from him. “Although, I think you expected to get the ranch.”

Colt didn’t say anything, but those dark eyes drilled into hers. She sighed. What was she going to do—pick up her late husband’s fight with his family? Beau could leave that land to anyone he chose, and he hadn’t chosen Josh.

“Your uncle was an interesting man, wasn’t he?” she said after a moment.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Colt growled.

“Losing the cattle isn’t good for you, is it?” she asked.

“No,” he admitted. “I know your husband was cut from the will, but I worked my tail off on that land. I don’t have much else, either. So cutting the herd out from under me isn’t good for me at all.”

“I’m sorry about that.” And she was. “I suppose you could sell, too, if you needed to.”

“Not a chance,” he retorted. “I’ve worked that land with Beau for twenty years. I’ve invested too much into the ranch, and I’m finding a way to hold on to it. Beau wanted that land in family hands.”

“Yes, Josh told me about that.” She could sense some bitterness there when Colt mentioned Josh. She’d known there had been a lot of family tension, but she hadn’t been sure what she’d walk into, exactly.

“It was Beau’s choice, not mine,” Colt said.

“I know...” She sighed. “What do we do? I’m serious. I have no idea how to even start. I mean—”

“We wait,” he interrupted. “We have to get everything in our names first.”

“Yes, but then what?” she pressed. “I assume you’ll want your cattle back.”

“Yeah, that would be good,” he said, and a wry smile turned up one corner of his lips. “I’ll have to talk to the bank and see if I can get a loan...and buy you out.”

“How much are four hundred and eighty head of cattle worth?” she asked.

“A fair bit.”

“Oh...” Jane’s gaze moved over to where her daughters were playing, their sippy cups on the floor next to them. It was a relief to know that her daughters would be provided for. She felt guilty enough using the death benefits to pay off all the debt. There was nothing left to put aside for them. Josh would have wanted them to have something.

“Where are you staying?” Colt asked.

“I don’t know yet,” she replied, and she felt her chin tremble and tears well in her eyes. She looked away, trying to hide the rise of emotion.

“Are you okay?” Colt asked, his tone dropping.

“I’m—” She swallowed hard. “I’ll figure it out.”

“I saw a car out the window—packed full of everything but the kitchen sink,” he said. “That yours?”

Jane managed to blink back the tears and she nodded. “That’s mine.”

“Are you moving out to Montana? Is this just a short trip? I’m just wondering how things stand.”

“I’m not sure yet,” she said honestly. “It’s been really hard since Josh died. We’d just bought a house that needed a lot of work, and I couldn’t make the payments alone. Josh’s death benefits helped me to get out of debt, but I had to sell the house. So... I haven’t decided where is best to land right now. I know that the way your uncle split this isn’t good for you, but him remembering my girls—it’s going to help a lot.”

“Hmm.” Colt nodded slowly. “Look, I’m not thrilled that my uncle did it this way, but this doesn’t have to be the end of the world for me. We’ll just have to iron it out. Are you willing to let me buy the herd back from you?”

“Yes, definitely. I have no use for cattle.”

“I’d really like to get this taken care of as quickly as possible. I have some cows ready for market, and keeping this ranch afloat relies on that income. So the sooner I can get this sorted out with you, the better. Can you afford to stay in town for a couple of weeks?”

Jane sighed and looked away. “Not comfortably.”

“Do you need to get back?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. “Because I have an idea. I don’t want to overstep, but if you want a place to stay until it’s resolved, you are welcome to stay at the ranch.”

“Are you sure you want us underfoot?” she asked. “We’re strangers.”

“I want to buy back my cattle,” he replied. “And if having you underfoot makes that happen faster, I’m happy with it.” He shot her a wry smile. “I don’t bite. Technically, I’m family.”

Family—Josh’s family, at least. She’d never met these people in her three years of marriage to Josh, or in the three years since his death. They were just a jumble of stories she’d heard. Beau might have wanted some sort of family reconciliation, but that didn’t mean the rest of the Marshalls did.

“I don’t want to stay for free,” she countered.

“If you really wanted to pitch in, we need to clean out Beau’s house. If you’d help me with that, I’d be grateful. Beau’s sister is staying with me for a few weeks while we clean it out, but she has a few health issues, and I’m not sure how much she can get done on her own...”

“That might be a bit personal. I didn’t know Beau,” she said. “Are you comfortable with me going through his things? Would his sister be okay with that?”

“She’ll be fine with it. She wasn’t really eager to do the job, either. She and Beau had a falling out some years ago. She’s willing to help me, personally, but...” He sighed. “Look, maybe you’ll find some stuff that pertains to Josh. As for me, I don’t have time to do it all myself, and as Peg can tell you, Beau wasn’t real close to that many people. Everyone who wanted a keepsake from Beau has already taken something. The rest just needs to be boxed up for Goodwill.”

“Well...” She paused for a moment to consider. Maybe there would be some hints about Josh’s childhood, or pictures that might be nice to keep for the girls. Who knew? This was her chance to connect with her late husband’s family, for better or for worse. And with Peg on the scene, she wouldn’t be alone on a ranch with this uncomfortably handsome Colt.

“Where would I stay?” she asked.

“There’s an in-law suite in the basement of the house,” he said. “It’s got a whole separate entrance and everything, and that’s where I live. So you and the girls can stay with Peg upstairs in Beau’s place. What do you say?” he asked, fixing her with his dark gaze.

What choice did she have?

“I’d be happy to.”

Chapter Two

Colt led the way back to the Marshall ranch, Jane driving in her little silver sedan behind his red Chevy. Maybe it would be known as the Hardin ranch from now on, and he could take down the sign and put up a new one. He wasn’t ready for that yet, though. This still felt like Beau’s land, and he still felt like the nephew who should be grateful. And he was—he always had been. Maybe a little guilty, too, because he’d known all along that his uncle was making a mistake in his fight with his son. Both Beau and Josh had been stubborn idiots. And now Jane was in the middle of it all, and he felt a little sorry for her. This family’s problems had nothing to do with her, and he really hoped that he hadn’t reacted too badly... Had he? He couldn’t help but wonder how she was feeling about all of this.

The pasture on either side of the highway rolled out in low, green hills. Cattle grazed, tails flicking, and Colt’s practiced gaze estimated that the calves were already triple in size from when they were born. As he drove, he kept an eye on the strip of barbed wire fencing, looking for holes or weak areas. He’d always done this, but today, it felt like an honor instead of just the smart thing to do. This was his land now. He was still wrapping his mind around that.

Colt glanced back at her car in the rearview mirror. Jane was still there, pacing him as they sped down the cracked highway. He’d wanted this—not his uncle’s death, but definitely a chance at running his own ranch. Beau had promised to leave him the ranch for years—reiterating it every time he ranted about his son’s life choices—but Colt had always imagined butting heads with the old guy for a good many years longer than this. Beau’s fatal stroke had taken everyone by surprise. Colt might have worked this land, but Beau had built it up from a few scrubby acres into the viable ranch it was today. Viable, and underwater with a second mortgage. His uncle had been open with him about the financial situation, at least, if not about his plans for his will. Hopefully Beau hadn’t been hiding anything else.

Strange to think that Beau had put so much thought into reconciling him and Josh, though. Why not reconnect with his son himself? But Colt could appreciate that Josh’s daughters would benefit by the will. It might complicate Colt’s life right now, but it had been the right thing to do.

The Marshall ranch was about half an hour’s drive outside Creekside. He had driven a little slower than usual to make sure that Jane could keep up with him, and as the turn came up for the ranch, he slowed and signaled.

The drive wound around a copse of trees and led to the single-story ranch house. It was painted white, with a traditional wraparound veranda. There was a strip of basement windows showing—and those were the windows that let some light into Colt’s part of the house. He parked in his regular spot beside Beau’s black truck, and Jane pulled up next to him. As he hopped out of the truck, Jane’s car door opened, too, and she got out of the car and looked around herself.

“Wow,” she breathed. “This is gorgeous.”

He followed her gaze. The front yard had a couple of ancient birch trees towering overhead, providing sun-dappled shade in the July sunlight, and beyond were the fields that stretched out in undulating hills, warmed by the summer sunshine. A sheet of sparrows flapped up from a copse of trees in the distance, billowed, then landed again.

“It’s a beautiful area,” he agreed.

Jane opened the back door of her car and disappeared inside as she unbuckled the toddlers. Some local ladies had dropped off some casseroles for him, so he had food to feed her, at least. He wasn’t sure how much tuna casserole a toddler would consume, but he’d leave the problem up to Jane. She was best equipped to handle it anyway.

The side door to the house opened and Aunt Peg, as she preferred to be called, poked her curly iron-gray head out.

“You’re back. And you brought company, I see,” Peg said. She always sounded no-nonsense, and it was hard to tell if she was approving or not, much like her brother had been.

“Yep, this is Josh’s wife, Jane,” Colt said. “And his little girls.”

Peg blinked at him, straightened and then stepped outside, letting the screen door bang shut behind her.

“Josh’s family?” Peg said, her voice tight. “Really?”

Peg wore a flour-powdered apron over a ’70s-style housedress, and she came closer, peering into the car until Jane emerged with one of the toddlers. She put the girl down and shot Peg a smile.

“Hi, I’m Jane.”

“Pleasure.” Peg have her a nod.

“She’s here for a week or so while we iron out an inheritance issue,” Colt said. “She’ll stay upstairs with you, if you don’t mind.”

“We’ll work something out.” Peg pressed her lips together into a thin line. “What’s the issue with the will?”

“Beau left me the land, and he left the cattle to Jane’s daughters,” Colt said. “So Jane is going to stay with us while we get that ironed out. I need to buy the cattle back.”

A smile of amusement tickled the corners of Peg’s lips. “You’d almost think he was trying to get you married off, wouldn’t you?”

To his cousin’s widow? Not likely. Josh’s estrangement from the family had been an endless source of upset around here, and Colt highly doubted that his uncle would have wanted that. It might not have been logical because Josh got married a few years after he left home, but Beau blamed “the wife” as much as anyone else for his son’s refusal to talk to him. Anything but admit it was his own fault.

“It had a whole lot less to do with me, and more to do with wanting to fix things with Josh,” Colt replied. Besides, Colt wasn’t interested in marriage, and Beau had known why.

Jane emerged from the car with the second toddler, and she slammed the door shut.

“Well...these would be my great-nieces, then,” Peg said, softening immediately. “Do they ever look like their father.”

They did, and if Josh hadn’t been killed, he would have loved being a dad. He’d always had that gentle-giant quality about him, and with his jovial sense of humor, Colt could see him sliding easily into being a family man.

Aunt Peg scooped up one of the toddlers in her arms, looking the girl over from head to toes.

“That’s Micha,” Jane said. “This here is Suzie.”

“We might as well go inside,” Peg said. “I cleaned up the kitchen, Colt. You’re welcome.”

Colt had started to expand a little bit in the house—and he’d made his breakfast upstairs in Beau’s place. He’d left some oatmeal out for Peg. Maybe it would be best to keep to his own space until Peg went back home.

“Sorry about that,” he said with a short laugh. He hadn’t left it in a mess or anything.

Colt followed the women into the house, letting the screen door bang shut behind him. The house felt different with Beau gone. The kitchen was as it always had been—just the way Beau’s late wife, Sandra, had kept it. She’d been a good cook, unlike Peg, who never did get the touch.

“Aunt Peg, I asked Jane if she’d give you a hand with emptying out the house,” Colt said.

“Did you think of asking me what I thought of that?” Peg retorted. She put down the toddler, who beelined back to Jane.

“It’s my house now, Peg,” he said, but he sent his aunt a tired smile to show her he wasn’t taking it to heart. “I figured it might help. If you’d rather do it alone, I mean—”

“No, no,” Peg said, sadness filling her eyes. She pulled a dish of what appeared to be apple crisp off the counter and deposited it onto the table along with a serving spoon. “I don’t want to do it alone. Besides...” She looked down at the toddlers. “There’s family to get acquainted with, isn’t there?”

“I didn’t know Beau,” Jane said quietly. “But he did remember my girls in his will, and I’m grateful for that.”

“Did Josh talk about us?” Peg asked.

“A little,” Jane replied.

“Did he mention why he left and never wanted to come back?” Peg asked, and Colt felt his chest constrict. Did they have to do this—with a relative stranger? He, for one, didn’t want to talk about it.

Color rose in Jane’s cheeks, but she didn’t answer.

“Ah, so he did,” Peg went on, then sighed. “Beau wasn’t as bad as he seemed, my dear. We’re all just human.”

Colt couldn’t help but feel like he’d been the one to chase off his cousin. Josh and Beau had been at odds for years. Josh wanted to join the army and his father had wanted him to stay home and work the land. For most families that wouldn’t be relationship ending, but for the stubborn Marshalls it snowballed into a bigger and bigger issue, picking up the detritus of every single disagreement they’d ever had. Josh wasn’t the kind of son Beau wanted. Beau wanted a son to take over the ranch. Well, Colt wanted a chance at that life, and Beau was more than happy to teach him the ropes.

Was it wrong of Colt to take advantage of that? Probably. While Josh’s father was alive, someone had to run this place, and Josh hadn’t been interested. But Beau told his son that when he died, the land wouldn’t be sold so that Josh could use the money for his own goals—Josh wouldn’t inherit at all. When it came right down to it, Beau could leave the ranch to anyone he chose, but the cost of that had been a splintered family. Standing here in his newly inherited kitchen, it didn’t feel quite so satisfying as Colt had imagined it would. This was all his, and he couldn’t help but feel like a cheat.

He was glad Jane was here, and that her daughters would get something. It would even the score a little bit. Make it right.

* * *

“It really isn’t my business,” Jane said and she dropped her gaze. Josh had gone on and on about that inheritance, and she’d simply put it out of her mind. There was money tied up in land that would never come to them. Wasn’t a life together worth more than cash? But it had hurt her husband deeply because it meant that his father didn’t respect his goals in life and didn’t love him enough to leave him anything. For Josh it was about the money and his father’s respect, and for his dad it was about the land. Period. Josh never made his peace with it.

Jane bent down to dig out that zippered bag of crackers again, mostly as an excuse not to look at them. There was so much sadness and frustration in this home that she could actually feel it in the air, and she shivered.

“We missed Josh,” Peg said, her voice trembling a little. “There was a hole here—it never filled in. My brother might have had his faults, but he did love his son something fierce. If Josh looked to punish him for his sins, he sure succeeded.”

And maybe Josh had been trying to punish his family. He hadn’t wanted Jane anywhere near them. That hadn’t been her choice, though. She’d wanted family, and she’d wanted to know his, too, even if there was tension and bickering. People didn’t hatch from eggs, and she’d felt certain that she would have understood her husband better if she could have met the family that raised him. Maybe their marriage could have been a little bit easier, if she did. Here was her chance, apparently. A little late, but still a chance to understand the man she’d married.

Colt cleared his throat, and an awkward silence filled the kitchen. Jane gave the girls each another cracker to munch on, and she wondered if she’d made a mistake in coming here. This family had baggage and they’d be sorting through it now that Beau had passed away. She didn’t belong in the middle of this mess. Josh was gone, after all.

There was always that reserve credit card if she decided to stay in a cheap hotel.

Peg sighed. “I’m going to go set up one of the guest bedrooms. Can the girls sleep with you in a double bed?”

“This seems like a sensitive time for the family,” Jane said. “I can easily stay in town. Colt was kind enough to offer, but I can see that—”

“You think this is tense?” Peg asked with an abrupt laugh.

“A little...” Jane murmured.

“Jane, you’re the only connection we’ve got to Josh now. And maybe you’ll be able to give us some insights, too. You’re family. You’re very welcome here. I come across a bit harshly, or so I’ve been told. Is that it?”

“No, not at all...” Jane said. Now was not the time to admit to that.

“Now, about the sleeping arrangement for the little ones,” Peg said.

“Yes, I could have them sleep with me,” she conceded. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Not at all.”

That prim, downturned mouth never changed expression as Peg headed out of the kitchen, leaving Jane and Colt alone with the little girls.

“I really did try to get Beau to call his son,” Colt said. “It was never my intention to get between them.”

“But you managed to,” she replied, raising her gaze. “I don’t want to get in the middle of this, and I have no interest in this ranch...but Josh felt completely abandoned by both of you. You ganged up on him.”

“Not the case,” Colt said, and his voice softened a little. “Josh hated ranching. He thought it was boring. He wanted excitement, and that wasn’t here with the cattle. He didn’t want this life, and ranching was in Beau’s blood.”

“And yours, it would seem,” she said.

“I’m not going to apologize for that,” he replied with a shake of his head. “I’m a cowboy to the bone. I love the early mornings, the physical work, the cattle, the smell, the rhythms of the seasons. This is the life I’ve always wanted, and I’m not going to pretend it means less to me than it does.”

“Josh didn’t like that stuff,” she admitted. “I know that. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to pick a fight with you.”

“For Beau it was about the ranching legacy,” Colt said.

“Josh was his son,” Jane said quietly. “He wanted to be his father’s legacy. Not some land.”

Colt met her gaze for a moment, then nodded. “I know. You’re right. Like I said, I never meant to get between them. Beau and I might have had the ranching in common, but we butted heads about everything else. He was a stubborn man.”

“Peg joked about Beau trying to get you married, though,” Jane said. “It sounds like you two were pretty close, in spite of it all.”

“Getting me married,” Colt said with a short laugh. “That would be ironic. I’m not the marrying kind, and Beau knew that. From what I can see, marriage is a piece of paper—nothing more.”

Jane looked at him, curious, but afraid to ask. Where Colt stood on the idea of marriage really wasn’t her business.

“Look, this family has its own set of problems,” Colt went on. “My aunt died in a swimming accident when Josh and I were teenagers, but Sandra and Beau were never happy. They fought constantly, and my family hated Beau for obvious reasons.”

“Obvious?” she said.

“He was a jerk to her, and everyone knew it. But Sandra gave as good as she got. Those two could barely stand each other.” He sighed. “I can’t point out too many happy couples in this family.”

Colt was bitter—that much was obvious. But she didn’t agree with him. “Marriage is more than a piece of paper. I’ve been married. I know what those vows mean.”

“No offense, but I don’t see it.”

“Commitment matters,” Jane countered with a shake of her head. “There is a difference between staying together for a lifetime because you chose it at the beginning, and staying together because you just didn’t break up yet. To be able to promise to stand by each other, no matter what—”

“People can promise that without the ceremony. Do you think a piece of paper makes those promises any stronger?” he retorted.

“Maybe not the paper, but the vow before God should,” she said. “In my experience there’s a vast difference between a boyfriend and a husband.”

Jane had stood by her husband. If it weren’t for those vows, she might not have had the strength. Vows mattered.

Colt eyed her for a moment, then sighed. “I’m not saying that good marriages are impossible. I just don’t think they’re guaranteed, and too many go down in the dust for my comfort.”

It wasn’t like she was interested in getting married again, either, so she didn’t know why she felt so compelled to argue about this. She had her own reasons for not wanting to take those vows again.

“Fair enough, I guess,” she said.

Colt’s phone blipped, and he pulled it out of his back pocket and looked down at the screen. “It’s the ranch cook. He needs to talk to me about something.”

“Should I get Peg to show me where to start with cleaning things out, then?”

“Yeah, that would be the best,” he said. “If you want me to carry anything in for you—”

“I’ll be fine.” She waved off his offer. “Go on and get back to work.”

Colt headed toward the door, and Micha toddled after him, so Jane boosted up her toddler and kissed her plump cheek.

“You’re staying with me,” she said with a low laugh, but she watched as the door shut behind Colt, then looked around at the silent kitchen.

She had no idea what was waiting for her here in Creekside. She was among family, but they were the people her late husband hadn’t trusted.

She pulled her hair out of her face and heaved a sigh.

Father, guide me... She didn’t know what else to ask.

* * *

As Colt headed outside, the hot, grass-scented wind enveloped him and he felt the tension start to fade away.

Lord, keep me focused on my job, he prayed silently. I don’t know what Beau was thinking. If he was going to leave me the ranch, why complicate it on me? But she’s Josh’s wife, and I have no problem with sharing this with her... I just need Your help holding the ranch together. You know where the finances stand! The sooner this is resolved and Jane is on her way back to her life, the better. So smooth the road for that, Lord. And give me some grace in the meantime.

There was a lot of work to get done that day, and he’d already used up a good chunk of it there at the lawyer’s office. Beau hadn’t been doing a lot of the day-to-day managing of the ranch anymore before he died, so the ranch hands already looked to Colt as the one to answer to. But he wasn’t just the ranch manager now, he was owner. He’d have to hold a meeting when he told everyone together at the same time. If rumor didn’t reach them first.

The main house was on the crest of a hill, and the dirt road that led toward the ranch hands’ bunkhouse and canteen wound around the hill and toward the west where a patch of forest served as a backdrop for the low wooden buildings. The trees melted into some scrubby grassland beyond that served well in winter, giving the cattle the shelter of trees in the coldest weather, and some iron feeders and water troughs that were filled daily once the snow came. Now that it was summer, the cattle were enjoying the lush pasture farther east. Even in the summer months, Colt’s mind skipped ahead to the next season. The work never eased up; it just changed form. That was ranch life.

His truck bounced over a pothole, and his vehicle rattled. The canteen and the bunkhouse weren’t too far from the main house. When he arrived, he parked out front in his usual spot. A couple of work trucks were parked along the side, and he could hear the buzz of some male voice filtering out through the propped-open door. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his mom’s number in Wyoming. She’d moved out there five years ago, and it still felt strange to have her so far away. The Marshalls seemed to chase off anyone without a real good reason to stick around.

“Colt? That you, honey?” his mother said, picking up.

“Yeah. Hi, Mom.”

“How’s it going over there?” she asked. “Don’t you have the reading of the will today?”

“Yeah. I just got back from it.”

“And?” She sounded slightly breathless.

“And Beau came through. The ranch is mine.”

“Yes!” His mother heaved a deep sigh. “I’m so glad. I was praying for this. You deserve that land, son.”

Wasn’t that the way...everyone praying for their own stake in something that didn’t belong to them to begin with. It still felt wrong.

“There’s a bit of a wrinkle, though,” he said. “Josh’s widow is here. Beau left her kids the cattle.”

“He left them the—” his mother began. “What kids?”

“Josh had twins. He died before they were born. Two girls. And Beau left them the cattle.”

“Josh had kids?” His mother paused for a couple of beats. “That egotistical jerk!”

“Josh?” Colt asked wryly.

“No, your uncle. Obviously. Even from the grave, he wants to ruin other people’s happiness! He could have just left the ranch to you free and clear. Would that have been so hard? He didn’t bother making up with Josh, so he was going to try and make up for that after the fact?”

“It was the right thing to do,” he countered. “These are Josh’s daughters, Mom. They look just like him.”

“So give them something else. The cattle?” She was only getting started, he could tell.

“Mom, it’s done,” Colt said irritably. “And Beau’s dead. There’s no one left to be mad at.”

“So Josh’s widow is there?” his mother clarified.

“Yep. She’s here. Just for a week or two while we sort out the paperwork and I get a loan to buy my cattle back.”

“Your cattle. I like the sound of that. This was a long time coming, son, but I’m glad. I know you’re a bit guilty right now, but trust me on this—you have nothing to feel guilty about.”

He wished he felt as certain about that as his mother did.

“I just wanted to let you know what happened,” he said. “I’ve got some stuff to take care of here, so I’d better let you go.”

“All right. Back to work. I love you, son.”

“Love you, too, Mom. Bye.”

He hung up the phone and heaved a sigh. The family turmoil surrounding this inheritance wasn’t quite so easy for him to dismiss. His mother was Sandra’s sister, and she’d hated Beau. Beau had been the “idiot husband” who made her sister miserable. There hadn’t been a lot of love lost between the two of them. But work called, and Colt didn’t have the luxury of sitting around and beating himself up.

As Colt headed inside the canteen, his eyes took a moment to adjust after the bright sunlight.

“Hey, boss,” a couple of cowboys said as he passed by a table where they were eating some wrapped sandwiches.

“Morning,” he said, continuing on by.

Shawn, the ranch cook, was in the kitchen, wrapping up some hoagies in plastic wrap, and he turned when Colt came in, the door swinging shut behind him.

“You texted?” Colt said.

“Yeah.” Shawn finished wrapping the sandwich in his hand and put it on the pile. “I know the timing isn’t great, what with Mr. Marshall’s passing, but I’ve got to give my notice.”

“What?” Colt froze. “Don’t tell me someone is paying you more—”

“Nah, my brother was in a bad accident in the city, and he’s going to need my help running his drywalling business while he recovers. I said I’d come out, and I have no idea how long that’ll take. Weeks? Months? No clue.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Colt said, his mind spinning ahead to job postings and interviews. “So...how much time will you give me?”

“I’ve got to leave in the morning,” Shawn said.

“That soon!” Colt choked. “I don’t have anyone to fill in. Are you sure you can’t give me a few more days?”

“My brother has a big contract he has to complete, and his leg has been broken in two places. If I don’t come, he’ll have to break his contract and that will be costly. So I’ve got to get out there and lend a hand. I said that I would. I’m sorry, Colt. Ordinarily I’d give more notice. You know that. I’m not the kind of guy to just leave a place hanging.”

“Yeah, I know that,” Colt said with a sigh. “I’ll figure it out. You’ve been loyal and reliable the last three years, and I’m glad to have worked with you. All the best to your brother on his recovery.”

“Thanks.”

“So...what do I need to know to keep this kitchen running?”

“I’m doing some wrapped sandwiches to stick in the fridge to get you through for a bit. I’ve got some frozen lasagnas ready to thaw and stick in the oven, and there’s the burger fixings, too. That’ll get you through a couple of dinners. The sandwiches are for pack lunches, and if you can cover breakfast—” He paused.

There would be meals to be served while Colt put out an ad for a cook. He was on a skeleton crew as it was... That had been Beau’s way—and maybe that was just the way it had to be to keep this place above water. But there was one extra person on the ranch right now, and if she’d agree to pitch in for a day or two in the kitchen, and if Peg would watch the twins in the meantime, this might go a bit smoother. But whatever happened, he couldn’t let Peg anywhere near that kitchen. She meant well, but her cooking was terrible and the men would mutiny.

“That would be great,” Colt said. “I’ll figure out the rest. If you’d be so kind to stash as many sandwiches in the fridge as possible, I’ll get your check cut for your last payout. I appreciate the time you’ve given us, Shawn. If you ever want to come back and work this ranch, the door is open.”

They shook hands and Colt pushed down that rising anxiety as he headed for the door. He was the boss now—his work had only just begun.

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