The Rancher's Unexpected Twins--A Clean Romance

by Trish Milburn

  Was he ever going to be able to step into his home again without thinking of her? The only room she hadn’t been in was his old bedroom, which was little more than storage now. It didn’t even have a bed he could use to escape the memories.

  Needing to get away from everything that reminded him of Sunny and how he wasn’t willing to be selfish when it came to her, he turned and walked right back out the front door. With no destination in mind, he got into his truck and took off. Maybe if he drove long and far enough, he could finally break free of the love he held for a woman he couldn’t have.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  SUNNY’S NERVOUSNESS THAT had accompanied her on her flight back to Wyoming didn’t wane any as she drove from Casper toward Jade Valley. In fact, it was increasing to the point where she felt as if she was vibrating. She’d always had a plan before she did anything, so winging it based on nothing more than the hope that Dean wouldn’t be averse to making their relationship real felt more foreign than any country she’d visited.

  What if he didn’t feel the same despite the kisses? What if they’d been nothing more than the hormones of a man who lived alone suddenly having a woman under the same roof with him?

  She shook her head. That didn’t feel like the Dean she knew at all. And yet, how could she know what was real when their entire marriage started as a lie? He’d done it because he wanted to take the ranch to the next level and to help out a friend. But was there any possibility it was more than that?

  Did the answer to that question lie in those last kisses they’d shared? She had to believe those came from genuine feelings.

  The inky blackness of the Wyoming night stretched out in all directions outside the illumination of her rental car’s headlights. She could have stayed at her apartment and flown out in the morning, or gotten a room in Casper and driven to Jade Valley in the daylight, but she wasn’t going to be able to sleep until she had some answers. She hadn’t given Dean a heads-up that she was returning tonight, and she knew if he was asleep she was going to have to wake him up.

  But when she arrived at Dean’s house, she found it empty. Surely he wasn’t working this late, but who knew with Dean? The man had gone back to work the day after almost drowning. Maybe he’d gone to visit his parents.

  She drew the line at hauling him out of his parents’ house to have an honest conversation about their relationship. She’d waited all the way from LA, so she could wait awhile longer.

  But as the minutes ticked by and she alternated between pacing, fixing then trying to eat a sandwich and flipping channels, only to start pacing again, she thought she might go crazy with the waiting. It was as if once she finally admitted the truth to herself, a burning need to see Dean had burst to life inside her. See him, hope he felt the same and kiss him again—this time with all the feelings she’d been confused about or outright denying before.

  She stared at the front door as if doing so might make Dean materialize.

  Where was he?

  All her travel and lack of sleep finally caught up to her, and even her nervousness couldn’t fight fatigue off any longer. She stretched out on the couch and let her eyes drift closed. What felt like only a few moments later, the sound of a truck engine outside jolted her awake. She sat up and rubbed her face, then smacked her cheeks to wake up more fully. The next few minutes were important, perhaps the most important of her life, and she had to be fully alert.

  Unable to sit still, she stood and barely resisted the urge to jerk open the front door and run out to meet Dean. Only remembering that she wasn’t sure how he felt about her kept her from doing so. The moments stretched until she wondered if Dean had fallen asleep out there. Or was he avoiding her?

  When she finally heard his truck door shut, she took a deep breath to try to get her nerves under control. Her husband was going to step through that doorway in a few seconds, and she still didn’t know how she was going to start the conversation. She only knew that she wanted him to be her husband for real, to stay together, and hoped he’d at least be open to the idea of giving it a try.

  It was quite possible she looked like either a fool or an eager puppy when Dean finally entered the house because he appeared startled to see her despite her rental car sitting outside in plain view.

  “You’re back late,” she said.

  “I thought you were still in LA.”

  Her stomach tightened because she was not imagining the new distance in his eyes, in his expression and posture. Even more than had been there before she’d flown to California.

  “Is something wrong?”

  He shook his head. “No. Why?”

  “I don’t know. You seem different.”

  “Just tired. You probably are too. We should go to sleep.”

  As he took a step, presumably toward the bathroom, she took a couple of her own.

  “Wait. I...I was hoping we could talk.”

  He was quiet as he visibly inhaled then exhaled a deep breath.

  “I guess we should.”

  Sunny couldn’t help the flicker of worry when Dean didn’t move to sit, instead leaning against the back of the living room chair and crossing his arms.

  “So, how do you want to handle things? I suppose we don’t actually have to be in the same state to do all the paperwork. And you don’t have to worry about me. I’ve decided to withdraw my interest in the ranch, get my own place. Start small and build up gradually. That makes more sense anyway.” He looked as if he wanted to say something else but stopped himself.

  That tightness in Sunny’s stomach moved to her chest. Had she been wrong about what she’d thought she’d seen in his eyes each time he kissed her?

  No. In that moment, as she stared at the way he was holding himself, at the invisible wall he appeared to have erected, she became certain she wasn’t the only one with deeper feelings.

  “Is that really what you want?”

  A momentary flicker of confusion on his face was quickly replaced by a head nod.

  “Yeah. I’ve thought about it a lot, and this ranch is too big. With only me at the beginning, it makes more sense to start small and only expand if the initial venture does well. If not, then I’ll just run a small herd of cattle since I know how to do that.”

  He was trying so hard to convince her, but it wasn’t working.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “What?” This time he couldn’t hide his surprise.

  “I don’t think that’s what you want at all.”

  Please, please let me be right about this and not about to make a complete and utter fool of myself.

  He sighed. “The charade isn’t going to work. Your dad told me today that he’s known from the beginning that we were faking the relationship.”

  “What!”

  “I know. I was surprised too.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “You’ll have to ask him to answer that. What I’m saying is that nothing I do now will help you get what you want, and I’m sorry about that. I’ll stay on until your dad hires a new foreman. Hopefully he’ll choose Carlos since he has experience here. I’ll also make sure that he hires someone to help him with the twins.”

  “That won’t be necessary.”

  “I don’t mind—”

  “I’m not going back to California.”

  “Are they going to let you continue to work remotely?”

  Was that a hint of hope she heard in his voice?

  “No, I didn’t get the position.”

  “How is that possible?”

  She smiled at his indignation on her behalf.

  “You don’t even know what I proposed. It could have been total garbage.”

  “I don’t believe that for a minute.”

  “Well, the powers-that-be didn’t agree with you. So I quit.”

  Dean uncrossed his
arms and placed his palms against the back of the chair.

  “You did what? You love working there, traveling the world.”

  “There are things I love more, some of which I didn’t realize until I was back in LA.”

  “You missed your family even more than before?”

  She nodded. “I did. I missed the twins’ grins and giggles, even Dad’s complaining about his cast and running commentary on those hunting and fishing shows. I missed how beautiful the valley is at sunrise, how peaceful and quiet.” She paused right at the edge of the cliff she was about to jump off. “And most of all I missed my husband.”

  Dean stared at her without moving, almost without blinking. What was going on in that head of his?

  “What do you mean by that?” he finally asked.

  With her heart thumping hard, she took a step toward him. “What do you want it to mean?”

  For a long moment, he seemed to not breathe.

  “I don’t want you to leave,” he said, his voice quieter than normal, almost as if saying the words out loud would make her do the opposite.

  A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She’d been right.

  “Good. Because I’m staying.”

  “With your dad?”

  She shook her head slowly. “Here, with you, if you’re not opposed to that.”

  “Sunny...”

  She could almost see the gears working in his head as he tried to figure out what to say next.

  “I want our marriage to be real because I’ve fallen in love with you. Don’t feel you have—”

  Dean pushed away from the chair and closed the space between them before she could finish whatever it was she’d been about to say. The moment he wrapped her in his arms, pulled her close and brought his mouth to hers, she forgot everything but the feel and taste of him.

  When they finally stopped kissing long enough to breathe, Sunny chuckled.

  “I take it that means you’re okay with making the temporary situation permanent?”

  “It means that I love you. I’ve loved you since we were in high school.”

  Sunny leaned back so she could see his face more fully.

  “Are you serious?”

  “Completely.”

  “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

  “Because I knew you had big plans for your life, ones that would take you far away from Jade Valley and this ranch.”

  “So...all this time you kept your feelings to yourself?”

  He nodded once.

  “Oh, Dean. You were going to let me go a second time.” Her heart broke at his selflessness. And how oblivious she’d been.

  “You’ve lost a lot in your life. You deserve to accomplish every goal you set for yourself, go to all the places you want to visit. As the saying goes, live your best life. Be happy.”

  “You make me happy.”

  “What about your career? Your world travels?”

  “I’m going to take the idea I pitched to the company that they belittled, and I’m going to do it myself. I’m going to make it so successful that they’re going to have a Pretty Woman store clerk ‘big mistake’ moment.”

  Dean smiled. “I have no doubt you will.”

  “I’ll also have plenty to do helping you implement all these awesome ideas on the ranch.”

  “Your dad will have to agree first, though I have a feeling he might be more willing now that he’s getting what he wanted.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You to come back home for good.”

  “He never said that.”

  “He did to me. It’s why he went along with our marriage even though he knew we were trying to maneuver him.”

  “So you’re saying he maneuvered me instead?”

  “Yep. And you’re not alone. He’s known how I felt about you all along, since high school.”

  “When did my dad get so smart and crafty?”

  “No idea.” Dean ran a thumb across her cheek, making her skin tingle. “Won’t you miss the world travel?”

  “Who said I’m giving up traveling? After all, we haven’t had a honeymoon.”

  Dean chuckled. “I guess I better apply for a passport.”

  “Yes, sir. But first, how about you kiss me again?”

  “I think I can handle that.”

  And he did, so well that Sunny felt as if she was flying.

  EPILOGUE

  AFTER WHAT FELT like half an hour of trying to attract their attention, Sunny was finally successful in getting both of the twins to look her way at the same time with grins on their faces.

  “Quick, take the picture!” She swatted Dean’s back, perhaps a bit harder than necessary, for emphasis.

  Instead of being annoyed, however, he chuckled as he snapped several pictures of Lily and Liam sitting atop the hay bale, surrounded by pumpkins, various other types of gourds, cornstalks and more hay bales. They wore matching jeans, little tan work boots and sweatshirts sporting cartoon pumpkins and ghosts. Thankfully, festival day had turned out pleasant and sunny, and the various photo spots her committee had set up around town had proven popular with families with young children, groups of teens and couples of all ages.

  “You two go over and hold them and I’ll take some family photos,” a lady she didn’t recognize said.

  She must be one of the many out-of-towners who’d flocked to Jade Valley, helping to make the rejuvenated festival even more successful than she’d hoped. Trudy had informed her when they’d stopped by that she’d even had to hurry up and bake more pies because at the pace they were going they were going to sell out halfway through the afternoon.

  “If you don’t mind, that would be wonderful,” Sunny said, handing over her phone to the smiling woman.

  Sunny picked up Liam, and Lily went to her favorite person in the whole world. Each with a toddler on their lap, they scooted close to each other. Dean reached over and took her hand, threading his fingers with hers. Now that he’d finally admitted his long-held feelings, he had no problem expressing them often. She wondered if her heart would ever get used to his open affection and not beat a little faster when he held her hand, smiled at her, when he held her close and kissed her until her entire body tingled.

  She’d honestly never thought a whole lot about being in love, but she’d come to the conclusion that Maya had been right. Without even realizing it, she’d kept herself from feeling too much for anyone for fear of losing them. She still sometimes struggled with worry about Dean’s health and safety, same as she did for the twins, her dad, Maya, Trudy and everyone else in town she was getting to know again. But she supposed that was true of anyone, and she did her best to not let those concerns get the better of her.

  She was the happiest she’d ever been, and she firmly believed her mom, brother and sister-in-law were happy for her. Happy that she had taken the role of mother that Amanda could no longer fill, that Dean had stepped into the role of fatherhood as if he’d been born to be a dad.

  She squeezed Dean’s hand in return, gave him a smile she hoped reflected how very much she loved him and then turned that smile toward the camera.

  “You have a lovely family,” the woman said when she handed the phone back to Sunny.

  “Thank you.”

  After putting Lily and Liam back in their double stroller, Sunny walked hand in hand with Dean around the business district of Jade Valley. They chatted with neighbors; she checked in with the various merchants to see how business and the mystery game were going and stopped at the booth selling chocolate-covered pretzels.

  “No, you’re too little for this,” she told Liam when he reached for a pretzel.

  He did not like her answer but his attention was quickly diverted by the start of the pet parade.

  “We should get them a puppy,” Dean said.

&nb
sp; “They already have cats to play with.”

  “Okay, maybe I want a pup and I’m using the kids as an excuse.”

  “Well, you are awfully cute, so I guess you deserve a puppy.”

  “Yes!”

  Sunny laughed then planted a peck on his cheek, not caring who saw.

  Ever since she’d decided that she really, truly wanted to make Jade Valley her permanent home, a surprising inner peace had blossomed within her. Though she was starting small, her business was off to a good start. She already had clients as far away as Cheyenne and West Yellowstone, Montana, and only two days before she’d begun discussions with a former coworker who had also left the company about her coming on board to cover the small towns in Southern California.

  “What are you thinking about?” Dean asked as they headed to the main stage where the winners of various contests would be announced soon, including the mystery game.

  Even Sunny didn’t know the identity of the “killer,” though she was intensely curious.

  “About how happy I am,” she said in answer to Dean’s question.

  “To have the festival almost behind you?”

  She shook her head. “No, that ended up being fun to work on, even if it was a lot to do in a short amount of time.” She stopped and turned to face him. “I knew when I came back from LA and told you how I felt that I was doing the right thing, but I underestimated how incredibly happy I would be back here. My job feels right—my family feels right.” She ran her thumb across the back of his tanned hand. “Being with you feels so right that I often feel stupid for not realizing sooner that this is how it should be.”

  “You’re not. Maybe it had to be the right time for everything to fall into place for us.”

  “Maybe. I’m really glad that it did.”

  “Me too.” He dropped a light kiss on her forehead.

  “How many times are you two going to kiss right out here for God and everyone to see?” Trudy teased from her perch on the end of the bleachers set up facing the stage.