by Deb Kastner
“You’re right,” she agreed. “That’s a complication, but we’ll figure it out. We don’t know if they are identical or fraternal twins, but at this point in the game they are unquestionably going to be hard to tell one from the other. We need to look for some kind of defining features, something that sets the two apart.”
He frowned and studied the infant in his arms, who was noisily enjoying her late lunch. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. Let’s compare. They both have the same thick tufts of brown hair.”
Just like their daddy.
“Your baby’s hair seems slightly curlier, but that could change after they’ve had a bath.”
Jax’s face paled and he made a choking sound. “A bath?”
She chuckled at his insecurity. He seemed like a take-charge kind of man, and yet a baby—two babies—left him helpless. It would be kind of cute, were it not so serious.
“With water,” she teased. “Don’t worry, we’ll get there. I’m sure somebody can show you how it’s done. Your mom has probably given babies a bath or two in her time.”
“No doubt,” he said, the corner of his mouth stretching up. “And I imagine my brothers and I were more trouble than these little girls are going to be.”
Faith chuckled, imagining three rough-and-tumble boys in the bathtub. Jax’s mother must have had a stern hand to have kept them in line.
“Maybe one of them has a birthmark,” he suggested, bringing Faith’s mind back to the present.
“How about dimples?” She’d known identical twins in high school, and that was how she’d been able to tell them apart, especially at first.
“Great idea. My baby has them. Both cheeks and a big one on her little chin.”
“There you go, then.” She nodded toward the baby in her arms. “This little sweetheart doesn’t.”
“One problem solved.” Jax groaned. “But being able to tell them apart isn’t going to help me if I don’t know their names. I can’t believe Susie did this to them.”
Faith’s heart swelled into her throat, and she could barely breathe around it. He wasn’t thinking of the inconvenience to himself as much as the well-being of his babies. As for Faith, she couldn’t believe Jax’s ex-wife could do that to him. Maybe it was a good thing this Susie character had decided to leave the sweet little babies with Jax. At least he was mature and responsible. He’d take care of them. A woman who’d just leave her helpless babies on a doorstep in the Texas heat didn’t even deserve to be called a mother.
“Thing One and Thing Two?” She spoke blithely, hoping somehow to lighten his very heavy load.
The other corner of his lips rose like the first, but his expression still looked strained, especially around his scar. “That would be one solution.”
“I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t be making so light of it,” Faith continued. “It’s pretty heavy stuff. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around Susie’s actions. I can’t believe a mother would up and abandon the babies the way she did. You have so little to go on, and it’s not just baby supplies that you’re lacking. You don’t have a clue about what names might be on their birth certificates.”
Jax scowled. “I don’t even know if I’m listed on the birth certificates.”
Probably not.
Given the circumstances, Faith doubted the woman would have officially acknowledged Jax’s paternity until it suited her purposes, but she didn’t tell him so. “You’ll have to investigate that. I’m sure there are legal ways you can establish your paternity, whether your name is listed on the birth certificate or not. But in the meantime, I suggest you come up with nicknames for your daughters. You have to call them something.”
The crease between his eyes deepened. “Like what?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. You could use family names. Maybe your grandmothers’?”
His jaw worked as he thought it over. “I like the idea of naming them after Granny Jane and Grandma Victoria, and if I’d had any say in it—on what went on their birth certificates—I might have suggested just those names. But if I name them Jane and Victoria, don’t you think that might confuse them later when they realize the names on their birth certificates don’t match what I’ve always called them?”
That was true enough. She nodded.
“I can probably explain a nickname as just a pet name I came up with, though that’s not a conversation I ever want to have to have. I can’t believe this. It’s imperative that I speak to Susie again, and the sooner, the better. I’m sure that’s why she’s not picking up her phone. She’s going to avoid me for as long as possible.”
He growled in frustration. The baby he was holding squeaked and flapped her arms in distress, and Jax softened his tone. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Daddy’s here.”
Faith’s heart welled again. Everything Jax did with the babies seemed to have that effect on her.
He cringed and sent her a pleading glance. “Help me out here, Faith. I want to think of something soft and feminine but I’m at a complete loss. Sweetheart and Little Darlin’ just aren’t going to cut it, and I’m just not good at stuff like this.”
This was new territory for Faith as well, but she didn’t say so.
“Flowers?” Faith suggested tentatively. “Or colors?”
“How do you mean?”
“Marigold and you could call her Mary?”
His brow creased. Given the angle of his scar, she couldn’t tell if he was amused or cringing.
“Daffodil and we could call her Daffy?”
A chuckle rumbled through his chest.
It was amusement, then. He was a hard man to read. She’d have to remember what his smile looked like.
She admired someone who could laugh in the face of adversity, and Jax was taking this remarkably well. She suspected most people would have fallen completely apart.
Her, for example. She would have lost it and would have been useless to anyone. She knew she would have. Unlike Jax, who was working through the stress and holding himself together, Faith was more inclined toward outright panic.
Even though she hadn’t known him for more than a handful of hours, she already perceived that the infants were blessed to have a father like Jax. It was clear he’d take good care of them. They were so sweet and delicate, and oh so vulnerable, but they had someone to protect them.
Jax.
And he was right. They did deserve graceful names that befitted how precious and lovely they already were to him.
Suddenly an idea came to her. “Hey, I know. How about Rose and Violet?”
“Great idea. I like it.” He sat back in the chair, and Faith could almost palpably feel relief rolling off his broad shoulders. “Flowers and colors. Really clever, Faith.”
They shared a few minutes of silence, both attending to the needs of the twin in their arms. Faith’s mind was spinning, organizing and prioritizing many of the details she was sure Jax had yet to consider. She didn’t want to burden him further, but she couldn’t even think about leaving until he’d made a few more decisions, and night was rapidly closing in.
“Do you have someone you can call to help you out tonight? A sister? Your mother?”
“No sisters, unfortunately. Only my two big-lug brothers. I do have a sister-in-law, Slade’s wife, Laney, whom I could call in a pinch, I imagine. But I hate to burden her with this. She has a toddler of her own to care for, not to mention being about ready to pop with her next kid. Due in a couple of weeks, I think.”
Faith chuckled. “Then you’re right. Laney probably needs all the sleep she can get—though she might be able to stock you up on some baby supplies, if she’s already got her nursery ready. And your mom?”
“Yes, maybe,” he said, but he didn’t sound too sure of himself. “She lives in the big ranch house we passed on ou
r way in. She’s all alone up there, and she definitely knows everything there is to know about baby care. It’s just that—” He paused and shook his head.
Faith transferred her baby—little Rose—to her shoulder and gently patted the bubbles out while she waited for Jax to finish his sentence.
“My dad died about a year ago and she hasn’t been the same since.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I’m so sorry for your loss. How long were they together?”
“Forty-eight years.”
Faith’s breath escaped in a low gasp. “I can’t imagine how difficult that must be for her.”
Jax nodded. “She used to be bubbly and upbeat, the first in line at social events.” Mimicking Faith’s movements, he brought Violet to his shoulder and tapped lightly on her back. “But since Dad passed away, she’s mostly just kept to herself. I hate to burden her with—”
“Her granddaughters?” Faith finished for him. Excitement welled in her chest as the idea expanded. “Jax, this might be a blessing in disguise. I—I mean, more than just that you’ve discovered you have two lovely infants,” she stammered. “That’s a blessing in itself, of course. But these precious babies might be just what your mother needs—a reason to hope and a way to feel like she matters again.”
“She matters to my brothers and me.”
“Yes, but you’re grown men now with lives of your own. You don’t need her the ways a baby would. Much less two babies.”
“You know what? I see your point. She brightens up every time she holds her little grandson, Brody. I’ll call her and see what she thinks.”
Not having anywhere else to put her, Faith laid the now-sleeping Rose back into her car seat and took Violet from Jax’s arms. “I’ll rock Violet to sleep. You call your mom.”
He flashed her a grateful half smile and reached for his phone. From what Faith gleaned from Jax’s side of the conversation, his mother was in turn angry and then exhilarated. Pretty much the emotions they’d all experienced today.
“She’s on her way,” he said after he ended the call. “I haven’t heard that kind of energy in her voice since—well, it’s been a long time. I think you’re right about this being a blessing for her. I’ll tell you one thing, though. I sure wouldn’t want to be Susie if my mom gets a hold of her. I’ve never heard her so angry.”
“I imagine she’ll have to stand in line where Susie is concerned.”
“Isn’t that the truth?”
Faith was glad for Jax that he had people who loved him enough to defend him, but it made her ache with loneliness. Mostly she was fine on her own, but there were moments where being alone segued into being lonely, and that was not the same thing at all.
This was one of those moments.
“I’m sorry I didn’t have the chance to show you my horses today. That was the whole reason you came over, and then you got pulled into this drama. I really apologize for this. I was looking forward to showing off some of my training methods.”
“It’s not necessary to apologize. I’m glad I could be here for you. And I can see your horses and your training methods another time,” she assured him. “You have far more important things to do right now than worry about my interests. That said, since your mom is on her way, I think I’ll just skip out for now.”
“But I drove you here.”
“The community green isn’t that far away, and I don’t mind the walk.”
“I’d really like to introduce you to my mother.”
“I’d enjoy that, as well. But not today, I don’t think. Grandma is going to want to focus all her attention on loving up your babies. I’d just be in the way.”
Jax started to protest but Faith held up her hand.
It was time for her to make her exit, to let the new family adjust to being together.
And Faith? She would go home to an empty house.
Chapter Three
Jax was still marveling at the way his mother’s countenance had sparked upon seeing her grandbabies. Faith had been right on every count. His mom had burst on the scene in a flurry of motion and energy the likes of which he hadn’t seen in the past year, and had promptly taken over, calling a family meeting to inform everyone about the afternoon’s events.
Though Jax was close to his brothers, it wouldn’t have occurred to him to bring his whole family up to speed on the situation on the very first night. He trusted that his mom knew exactly what she was doing, and she had.
Not only that, she knew everything that the babies needed, and the when and how and why. She’d mentioned something about a schedule but Jax didn’t see any real pattern to the babies’ activities. Jax was picturing spreadsheets, but he was fairly certain he was off on that point.
His mother had sent Slade to fetch a bassinet from her spare room—the same one she’d used with Jax and his brothers when they were infants. He was grateful beyond all measure that Mom was too sentimental to throw those old baby things away, or he might have been in real trouble trying to find the twins a place to sleep.
Not that they slept much. Jax spent the weekend at his mother’s house so she could share in caring for the infants, but he still felt as if he spent most of his time pacing up and down the hallway trying to comfort one baby or the other.
Monday morning he and his mother visited Emerson’s Hardware and Sam’s Grocery for infant paraphernalia. Jax was quickly learning that babies required a lot of stuff.
Cribs, a stroller, a changing table and a little plastic tub that fit in the kitchen sink so he could give his children baths. Then there were the clothes—the part about which his mother was most excited. Pink, pink and more pink. Ruffles and bows galore.
And as if that weren’t enough, there were the recurring needs—diapers, wipes and formula. Baby powder and baby shampoo. Jax’s pocketbook was taking almost as much of a hit as his heart was.
But he’d been visited by several friends and neighbors who’d heard about his dilemma through Jo. He was grateful for their donations of baby items and even more for their emotional and spiritual support.
There was still no word from Susie, despite the fact that he’d left her countless messages. He was beginning to wonder if she was even more unstable than he’d originally believed her to be. Even before she’d abandoned her own children, her lifestyle had been less than stellar, which concerned Jax in regard to the health of his girls. One of his first stops on Monday had been to Dr. Delia. Thankfully, the twins appeared to be well and thriving.
If Susie had disappeared for good, Jax was legally at ground zero. He didn’t even know where the babies had been born, never mind what hospital. It would take him some serious digging to find what he needed to lay claim to his children.
Even with the added hassle, he was beginning to believe it was just as well that Susie was gone. The fact that she had clearly abandoned the girls would help him in court, if it came to that. Now that he knew about his little darlin’s, there was no way he would give up his custody of them, even if he had to fight Susie tooth and nail every step of the way. His daughters needed the kind of love and stability Susie clearly couldn’t offer them right now. Even feeling as queasy-in-the-stomach overwhelmed as he did right now, he knew that with his family’s help, he could provide everything his children needed.
Somehow, Lord help him, he would.
After setting up the cribs in his spare room that had been hastily converted into a nursery, his mom offered—no, insisted—that he take a break and go visit Faith. Jax and his mom had used caring for the babies together to mend some of the emotional stitching that had unraveled when his father had died and then when he’d had his accident.
They’d grown apart and Jax hadn’t even realized it. It was only when they were speaking again that he realized how much he’d missed talking to his mom.
He’d told her h
ow much he’d enjoyed the picnic with Faith, and a mischievous gleam immediately appeared in her eyes. And then she’d practically pushed him out the door, assuring him she had everything under control and he should get out and enjoy the sunshine.
Right. The sunshine.
Nothing would come of her overt attempt at matchmaking, but it was nice to see her smiling again. Besides, he owed Faith his time and labor. She had purchased him at the auction, after all, and for far more money than he was worth.
Jax knew the Dennys’ spread hadn’t been kept up over the past couple of years, but he never imagined the sorry state of the ranch he encountered as he drove up and parked in front of Faith’s new home. Rotted shutters hung half off the hinges, and the screens covering the windows were torn through. It looked as though some animal or another had made use of the ranch house while the Dennys were elsewhere. The house needed a fresh coat of paint and new shingles on the roof. The wraparound deck was weatherworn and needed varnishing, and the flower beds in front were overgrown with weeds.
And that was to say nothing of the outbuildings and land around the house. He guessed the barn must have been red once, but now it was a muted orange color. The fences that were supposed to contain the corral and what he could see of the pasture land were in dire need of repair. The hay field was so overgrown it would take a season, maybe two, to set it right, and that was assuming Faith owned the appropriate farm equipment, which he highly doubted.
He wasn’t even sure she had the right shoes.
It took him less than a minute of perusal before he knew that, on his own, his labor wouldn’t be nearly enough for Faith to get this place into shape as quickly as she wanted. A community workday might be in order, and soon. She’d soon find her neighbors in Serendipity were generous with their time and talents.
One thing was certain—the property was in no way ready to host horses, especially wild ones.
He approached the front door, careful to avoid the rickety step, and rang the bell. When that yielded nothing, he knocked twice. When she still didn’t answer, he decided to have a better look around the place. Faith’s enormous, beat-up black SUV was parked in front of the house, so presumably she was around here somewhere. Searching for her was the perfect excuse—er—opportunity to take a closer look at the barn and surrounding countryside.
