She regarded him with surprise. “Growing up in this area, I thought most folks in ranch country knew each other well, going back generations.”
“We once had to fire a ranch foreman. Do you remember Hal?”
Abby smiled. “I remember his daughter, Chloe. Sweet little girl—she followed your brother Devlin around like a puppy.”
Jess nodded. “Her dad was a nice guy, but then we discovered he had bottles stashed all over and was drinking on the job. I felt bad when we had to let him go, but we just couldn’t risk having him around the farm equipment.”
“Or hauling cattle down the highway.”
“Exactly. That was the last time this ranch will ever skip a background check and references—even for Mary Poppins.”
“Well, no one could argue with you being careful at hiring a nanny. You’re being a good father. Just as you should be.”
“About that...” He took a long slug of coffee and paused, apparently sorting out his thoughts. “The twins aren’t mine. Not yet, anyway. We have no idea what will happen.”
At his dark, pensive expression, Abby waited for him to continue. She’d guessed he was widowed or divorced, and the thought that he’d found someone who was the true love of his life, instead of her, had made her inexplicably sad. But the possibility that those little girls had suffered loss and uncertainty was much worse.
“I got a call from Child Protective Services in California last December,” he continued. “A neighbor reported that young children in the adjacent apartment had been crying all night and into the next day. The girls were only four at the time. The landlord and a CPS social worker found them cowering in a locked closet, scared to death. No one else was there.”
Abby closed her eyes, imagining their terror. “Those poor, sweet babies.”
“They were so traumatized that they couldn’t give any information, but they were hungry and dehydrated. The social worker suspected that they’d been alone for a good twenty-four hours.”
Abby stared at him, feeling more than a little sick.
“Apparently my cousin Lindsey arrived just after the CPS social worker did. She insisted that she’d left the girls with her boyfriend, and he’d never left them alone before. She actually seemed frightened when the social worker tried to pressure her into giving his name.”
Abby had seen more family dramas during her years as an inner-city teacher in Chicago than she’d ever thought possible, but it never failed to break her heart when helpless children suffered. “What a horrible situation.”
“The social worker told her she would be assigned a caseworker and insisted on taking the names of some relatives. She warned Lindsey about the possibility of an emergency removal of the children if things didn’t improve immediately. That’s why we were called—to verify that the girls could be sent here, if necessary.”
“Is that how the girls ended up here in Montana?”
Jess nodded. “Apparently Lindsey got into a fight with her boyfriend when he finally came back. He became violent, and she fled to a friend’s place with the twins. She called Betty and asked if we could take the girls for a month or so. She wanted them out of state, probably worried she’d lose them for good if the CPS got involved again. Personally, I think she was also afraid the boyfriend might hurt them.”
“What about Lindsey’s parents?”
“Her mother—Betty’s daughter—died soon after Lindsey was born. Her dad and new stepmother divorced years ago. Neither wanted anything to do with Lindsey or her kids when I contacted them last winter. And neither of them have ever called to ask how the twins are doing.”
Abby felt her heart wrench. “So you’re the twins’ second cousin?”
“They just call me Uncle Jess.”
“And they call their great-grandmother...”
“Grandma Betty.”
“I’m so glad they had family who could take them in.”
“I keep hoping we’ll get a call from Lindsey so at least we’ll know she’s all right, but it’s been over eleven months with no word. I filed a missing-persons report with the police in Los Angeles long ago and finally hired a private detective. But we still don’t know where she is or if she’s even alive.”
Abby bit her lower lip, her heart aching for the motherless little girls. “It’s all so sad.”
“I’m telling you all of this in strict confidence, so you’ll understand if the girls are moody or difficult sometimes. They haven’t had an easy life.” He sighed heavily. “We think Lindsey and her boyfriend left them alone more often than she would admit. You’ll see that Bella is quite the guardian of her sister, and Sophie depends on her a lot.”
“What if Lindsey does turn up again—or some guy claiming to be the twins’ father—and tries to take them away?”
Jess’s mouth flattened. “That thought keeps me awake at night. I would help her any way I can. But if she refused my help and took off with them, how safe would they be? What if we couldn’t find her again, and she was into drugs, or running with a bad crowd?”
Like that violent boyfriend. Or worse. “I’m going to start adding the girls to my prayers. They’ve been so blessed to end up with you, Jess.”
A brief smile crinkled the corners of his eyes. “I can’t imagine life without them, even if they can be a handful at times.”
The glimpse of his smile made her insides tighten and warmth rise into her cheekbones. Even after all these years, her reaction to him was as strong and instinctive as ever—which was going to make their working relationship even more awkward than she’d guessed.
Hiding her blush, she turned away toward the windows facing the barns and the foothills of the Rockies. “I don’t know how you managed while Betty was gone.”
“Working a hundred miles an hour while the girls were in school.” Jess poured himself another cup of coffee and offered her a refill, but she shook her head. “Most years, cattle could still be on the higher range and stay fat and healthy there for another few weeks. But we got heavy, early snow in mid-October and it hasn’t let up. They can’t paw through it to get enough to eat.”
“So you’re already hauling hay to them?”
“Yep.” He studied the contents of his coffee cup for a moment, then raised his gaze to hers. “Which adds hours to each day, but now the snow is too deep to reach them. As soon as I can, I need to drive that last herd down closer to the barns, where it’s easier to keep them on hay. The rest of the cattle were already moved.”
“Any leads for another ranch hand?”
“Not yet.”
“No wonder you need help.”
Jess settled into a chair opposite hers at the round, claw-foot oak table and wearily ran a hand through his thick, wavy black hair. “Even after Betty is back on her feet, I don’t want her fussing over the cooking and housework. I’d like her to take it easy for the rest of her life.”
“Good luck with that, because from what I remember of her, she never liked to sit still.”
“True. But at least it would be her choice.”
Again, a corner of his mouth kicked up into a grin, and once again her foolish heart skipped a beat.
She pressed her lips into a firm line, reining in the impulse to smile right back. She was pretty sure that the quickest way to lose this job would be to look like she was going to follow him around like a lovesick teenager, and she most definitely wasn’t planning to do that.
He cleared his throat. “There’s something else we need to discuss before we decide whether or not this will work out.”
His piercing, silver-blue eyes focused on hers, until she suspected he could see into her deepest thoughts. She shifted uneasily in her chair.
“Betty hinted that you’re in some sort of trouble.”
“Not in any legal sense.” And certainly nothing she wanted to discuss with Jess, of all people. “
Just...a bit of financial stress. Not uncommon, these days.”
He sat, quietly waiting.
The silence lengthened between them until she finally caved. “Alan—my ex-husband—had mild MS when we married, but it hasn’t progressed much. He’s an accountant and still perfectly capable of working, but he hasn’t held a job for a long time. I worked whenever I could as a substitute teacher, so I could be available on the days he needed help.”
“And then you finally left him?”
The hint of censure in Jess’s voice set her teeth on edge. “No, Alan decided he loved his longtime physical therapist more than me and he filed for divorce in June. It wasn’t too complicated, with no kids and few assets to divide. Living expenses and his health costs always took most of my income.”
Jess frowned. “So now you’re headed back to school?”
She regarded him sadly. There’d been a time when her greatest dream had been to stay right here and become Jess’s wife. To spend the rest of her life with him. She’d never wanted to do anything else.
Breaking up with him had nearly destroyed her. Then Alan, a college friend, had caught her on the rebound while she still felt shattered and alone. She’d mistaken comfort and kindness for love, and had ended up in almost twelve years of marriage that cured her of all her remaining foolish hopes of happily-ever-afters.
She would never again pin her hopes of happiness on some guy. Now she dreamed of doing something more.
“I want to devote the rest of my career to autism research, so I’ve applied to a number of PhD programs in Special Ed. I hope to start school either spring or fall semester.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m impressed.”
“Well, don’t be,” she said with a laugh. “I haven’t been accepted yet. In the meantime, halfway through a school year isn’t the best time to try to find a full-time teaching position, so I’ve been trying to pick up enough substitute-teaching jobs to make ends meet. I finally decided to ask my dad if I could help out on his ranch and stay with him for a few months.”
Jess gave her a curious look. “But that didn’t work out, apparently.”
“He sent a very brief email saying I was welcome to come, so I showed up at his ranch a couple days ago. He hadn’t bothered to tell me about his whirlwind romance with a woman only a few years older than me. Or that they’d raced off for a Las Vegas wedding and a honeymoon in Florida for two weeks. Apparently they’d just come home when I arrived. Dad was out hauling cattle, but his wife was there and she was not very friendly.”
She realized she was starting to babble, but couldn’t seem to stop.
The whole weird deal with Dad and his new wife had been ricocheting through her head since that brief, awkward visit. What would a pretty young thing like Darla want with an old duffer like Dad? His money? He dressed like a grizzled old cowboy with a few dollars in his pocket, but he’d built his Shy Creek Ranch into a successful Angus-breeding operation, and West Coast investors had driven up the price of ranch land in recent years. He ought to be financially secure into old age unless something went terribly wrong.
“It was very apparent that his bride doesn’t want me around, interrupting her marital bliss.”
Jess’s lips twitched. “I suppose that would be a problem, with his adult daughter hanging around.”
The touch of amusement in his voice gave her hope. “I obviously can’t stay there now that Dad has remarried. But I’d like to be in the area for a while so I can at least check up on—I mean, visit him. Without a job, I’ll need to leave and try to find work somewhere else.”
Jess took another swallow of coffee. At the troubled emotions playing across his handsome face, she reached for her car keys on the table and started to rise. “I understand this is a difficult situation. You can tell Betty that I changed my mind about the job so she doesn’t blame you.”
She was almost to the door when he called out her name.
She turned back to him with mixed feelings of relief and dread. Given their past, it would be so much easier to just walk away. Maybe she could find a waitress job in Billings or Laramie or Denver if she couldn’t find enough substitute teaching days there...
“This is probably a mistake, but we both know it’s nothing personal—just a business arrangement between two adults. Right?”
Relief started to bubble through her. “Of course.”
He handed her a piece of paper. “Here’s the advertisement I’ve been running in the Montana newspapers and a cattleman’s magazine, listing the expected duties and qualifications.”
She picked up the document and scanned the list. “This seems reasonable enough. I’m not a gourmet cook, but no one will starve. As for the rest, no problem.”
Jess lifted a brow but apparently decided she had to be kidding about her cooking, because he quoted a salary that was more than generous.
She felt an inward sigh of relief. Now she had a place to live and an income to keep up with her bills.
Best of all, she’d be close enough to visit Dad’s ranch now and then. He’d always been the strong, silent, reclusive type, and maybe this would be a chance to finally grow closer...and also make sure he hadn’t fallen for a woman planning to make off with his money.
But this temporary job would be nothing more than that. Temporary. She had no illusions about it becoming anything more.
Seeing the depth of Jess’s love for his grandmother and those little girls, she knew he’d matured into a wonderful guy. His family was blessed to have someone like him in their lives.
But she already knew how little she’d mattered to him.
He’d broken her heart beyond healing years ago, when he adamantly decided to pursue a dangerous rodeo career despite her pleas to stay home and be safe. Her own brother, a bull rider, had been paralyzed for life while competing just the year before, and Abby had been terrified for Jess. But he still hadn’t listened.
After the biggest argument they’d ever had, he’d chosen rodeo over her. Then he’d turned his back and walked away.
Chapter Two
Jess felt a surge of deep relief as he pulled to a stop on the highway and waited for the twins’ school bus.
He’d been stunned at seeing Abby again, and more than a little hesitant to hire her, but in retrospect her unexpected arrival had been a godsend. After today, she’d be able to handle the bus-stop run and most everything else involving the house, the girls and Betty’s needs during the day.
At least until he finally found the right permanent employee.
When Abby had stepped out of the shadows in Betty’s hospital room, he’d been nearly overwhelmed by his attraction to her, the clench of his heart and a cascade of memories that came out of nowhere, threatening his equilibrium.
But seeing her had also catapulted him back to the last time they’d seen each other. The ultimatum she’d delivered. The wrenching pain he’d felt when she insisted that he give up his lifelong dream of a rodeo career that could help him finance vet school.
Dad had already said that more college was a waste of time and that he belonged back at the ranch—promising that he wouldn’t get a penny for school. Vet school loans would have saddled Jess with crushing debt.
If Abby had really loved him, how could she have tried to force him to give up what he wanted so badly? After his state championships in high school and college rodeo, she should have known that he had a good chance of making his dreams come true.
They’d broken up.
He’d done what he wanted.
Yet just a year later, the irony of his decision bit deep. Dad got sick, and Jess had had to give up those dreams. Out of deep sense of responsibility and duty to family, he’d ended up back at the ranch anyway. And Abby was long gone.
The bright orange school bus appeared around the bend and pulled to a stop in front of his pickup, discharged the tw
ins and then rumbled on down the road.
Clad in identical puffy pink winter jackets, with matching pink woolen caps and mittens, at this distance their only obvious differences were their snow boots...or lack thereof.
Jess leaned down for hugs. “I’m so happy to see you,” he exclaimed as he stepped back, giving each a playful tap on the nose with a forefinger. He dropped his gaze to Bella’s purple boots, then to Sophie’s tennis shoes, which were nearly invisible in the ankle-deep snow. “But where are your boots?”
“She forgot them at school,” Bella announced. “Again.”
At Sophie’s worried expression, he cracked a smile as he swept her up into his arms to brush the snow from her shoes, then put her in her booster seat, then hoisted Bella in. “Seat belts, ladies.”
Once they were fastened in, he settled behind the steering wheel and looked up at them in the rearview mirror. “I’ve got a surprise for you back at the house, girls.”
Sophie’s eyes opened wide. “Presents?” she breathed. “Like Christmas?”
“No, not like Christmas. Sorry. Christmas is still how many weeks away?”
“Seven,” Bella said glumly. “It’s too far.”
They’d become so impatient that he’d started looking at the calendar with them every evening before bedtime, counting down the days until the holiday. Despite their mother’s troubled life, she must have managed some happy Christmas memories with the girls.
“You’re right. Seven whole weeks, and Thanksgiving has to come first. But who’s been away for almost a month?”
“Gramma!” The twins squealed in unison.
“Right. She’s home now, but remember—she’s weak and tired, and we can’t be too exuberant.”
“Zoober mint?”
“Exuberant. I mean that we don’t want to act too excited. So just like at the rehab center, we can’t climb all over her lap, or bump her and make her fall. Then she’d have to go back to the hospital again.”
Chastened, the girls fell back against their seats.
“But there’s someone else at the house to see you,” he continued, glancing at the rearview mirror again.
Montana Mistletoe Page 2
