Twins for the Rancher

by Trish Milburn

  Thankfully she was in a position to provide whatever her daughters needed. She felt angry on behalf of all the women who weren’t as financially stable as she was and still had to deal with deadbeat dads.

  Two little boys, each with a handful of game tickets, barreled past Lauren, bringing her back to the present in time to lift her cake up to a safe height. Behind her, Violet squealed and nearly dropped the raspberry strudel she’d made. Her sister had the ability to bake some tasty treats herself when she put her mind to it.

  “I feel as if I’m on one of those obstacle-course shows,” Violet said.

  “Almost there.” Ahead she spied the rather elaborately decorated cakewalk area crowned with, no joke, a curved sign that said Battle of the Bakers over the entrance to the cordoned-off, numbered-spaces area for the walkers. She also spotted Mandy, India Parrish, who owned the Yesterwear Boutique, and Keri Teague chatting next to the table already filling up with cakes.

  “Hey!” Mandy said and waved when she spotted Lauren. “Glad you made it. I’ve had probably three dozen people ask me if your cake was here yet.” She glanced at Keri. “Inquiries have been neck and neck for you two.”

  “I’m sure it has nothing to do with the ‘Battle of the Bakers’ sign,” Lauren said.

  Mandy smiled. “Remember, it’s a good cause.”

  “Well, here’s my contribution to the cause, then.” Lauren extended her cake.

  “Great, what kind is it?”

  “Seven-layer spice with cream-cheese icing.”

  “Mmm, sounds delicious. Going to be a hard call between this and Keri’s gorgeous red velvet cake.” Mandy nodded toward what was, indeed, a cake so pretty you wouldn’t want to make the first cut.

  “Well, I’m only famous adjacent, but here’s a raspberry strudel.”

  “This is my sister, Violet,” Lauren said.

  Mandy accepted the strudel and extended her hand. “Very nice to meet you.”

  Lauren made all the introductions as more cakes arrived and attendees made inquiries about when the cakewalk was going to begin.

  “In about five minutes,” Mandy said. “We have the cakes divided into different rounds.”

  When the people inquiring left, Mandy turned back toward Lauren and the rest of their little group. “We decided to put your cakes in the last round to build up the suspense.” She smiled. “Feel free to take your time showing the twins around the carnival until then.”

  “Where are those beautiful babies of yours?” Keri asked.

  “Our grandfather has them in the stroller out in the lobby. Hard to make it quickly across a crowd this size when everyone wants to admire not one but two babies.”

  True to her word, Mandy started the cakewalk five minutes later. Lauren got drawn into talking to fans of her show and signing autographs. Even though her cake wasn’t up for a prize in the earlier rounds, she convinced several people to go ahead and take part because there were a lot of yummy-looking cakes available. And it was true. Not one of the cakes spread out along the tables looked unappetizing. Even the two store-bought cakes looked good. Granted, she was hungry, but they did look moist and very, very chocolatey, a good combination in her opinion.

  It was a good fifteen to twenty minutes before Papa Ed made it to the cakewalk area. Bethany was batting at a yellow helium balloon while Harper examined her little pink terry-cloth bunny as if she’d never seen it before. Some kids had security blankets. Harper had a security bunny.

  “There are my girls,” Lauren said as she crouched in front of them and played with their little sock-clad toes.

  “They’ve sure been a hit,” Papa Ed said, obviously proud to have been able to show them off.

  “So has their mom,” Violet said. “We may have a cake riot before the night is out.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Lauren shook her head. Sure, the people she’d met seemed enthusiastic and she never minded talking to fans, but there was still a part of her that was uncomfortable with being put on any kind of pedestal, even imaginary. She probably always would be. She had to admit that part of her was jealous of Keri, who enjoyed the accolades for her baking and owned a successful business, but who wasn’t so exposed. Her relationships and betrayals weren’t played out before the public eye.

  Though no one had mentioned anything about Phil tonight, had they? Another point in the favor of the residents of Blue Falls.

  The music for the cakewalk ended and Mandy called out the winning number. The woman who’d won went immediately to Violet’s strudel, which made Violet smile and do a little dance. Lauren couldn’t help but laugh at her sister’s antics.

  “Watch out, sis,” Violet called out. “I’m hot on your heels.”

  As the evening progressed, Lauren saw several more members of the Hartley family. All except the one she hoped to see. Maybe his absence was a sign from the universe, one she should have the good sense to heed. One she shouldn’t need in the first place.

  Then why did she feel so disheartened?

  It was just the season. Christmas was always a tough time of year when you didn’t have, or had lost, a significant other. She’d already been through one such holiday season since her breakup with Phil. How quickly she forgot.

  “So I hear this is where the action is.”

  Lauren’s pulse jumped at the sound of Adam’s voice. It was thrilling and scary at the same time that she could recognize his voice without seeing him. She’d swear it vibrated something within her that she’d feared had been torched to nonexistence by how Phil had treated her.

  “It is indeed,” Lauren said as she turned to face him.

  Mandy called out that the final grouping of cakes was now up for grabs. Several people who’d been lingering around waiting for this moment surged forward onto the numbered spaces.

  “Looks as if I’m just in time,” Adam said as he held up one red ticket.

  “Yes, Keri’s red velvet cake looks delicious.”

  Adam smiled as he stepped onto the last available space. “It’s not her cake I intend to win.”

  There was something new in Adam’s eyes tonight, some mixture of determination and... She didn’t dare name what else she thought she might see, afraid if she did she’d want it more than she should.

  They broke eye contact when the music started.

  “I see now why you talk about him so much,” Violet said as she came to stand next to Lauren and bumped her shoulder with her own. “He’s capital H-O-T.”

  Yes, he was. And she was afraid she wanted him to win her cake more than she had wanted anything in a very long time.

  Chapter Nine

  Adam still wasn’t sure his decision to make known his interest in Lauren the person, and not just Lauren the business owner, was the right one. He was making a big gamble, in more ways than one. But his conversation with Arden had stuck with him, making him look at the situation from a different angle. He still wasn’t going to push Lauren or give her any reason to doubt him, but he couldn’t ignore that he thought about her way more than a passing acquaintance would warrant.

  And he trusted Arden. She’d been through a type of hell he’d never wish on anyone, and she’d come back to Blue Falls a broken version of herself. But Neil’s friendship and support, based partly on his own experience with trauma, had helped her regain her strength—both physically and mentally—and their friendship had grown into love.

  He didn’t know if that’s what lay ahead for him and Lauren, but he wanted to find out. Arden had suggested he go slowly but to be honest at the same time.

  And so he was here feeling admittedly a little silly trying to win her cake. He had to land on the winning number because there was no doubt in his mind that whoever did was going to choose the cake by the famous Brazos Baker.

  He glanced over to where she stood with another woman, who looked a good deal like her.
Must be her sister, Violet.

  The music stopped so suddenly that he nearly bumped into the woman in front of him.

  “Number eleven is the lucky winner,” Mandy called out.

  He looked down and saw that he stood on number seven. Damn. Maybe he should have bribed his sister-in-law to allow him to win.

  The kid standing on the winning spot hurried to the table and chose a tray of cupcakes decorated with superheroes. Unbelievably Adam had another chance. But his excitement dimmed when none other than Tim Wainwright stepped onto the spot vacated by the winner.

  Adam’s jaw clenched. Tim couldn’t win Lauren’s cake. The man already had enough going for him, and the memory of seeing him dancing with Lauren raked across Adam’s nerves like coarse sandpaper.

  “Good luck, everyone,” Mandy called out as she started the music again. She looked at Adam, and he could see in her eyes that she was pulling for him. Especially considering one part of his competition.

  He made eye contact with Lauren as he walked the circle. She offered a small smile, and he liked to think that maybe she was rooting for him, as well. Of course, it wouldn’t matter if the entire gym full of people were on his side, it would all come down to the luck of the draw.

  The music seemed to go on forever. When it finally stopped and Mandy identified five as the winner, Adam pressed his lips together to keep from cursing. Wainwright stood on the winning number. And he went right to Lauren’s cake.

  Feeling like a fool, Adam started to step out of the circle. But before he could, Violet stepped up next to him.

  “Give me one of your tickets,” she said.

  “What?”

  “Hurry, before the music starts again.”

  He did as requested then watched as Violet strode back to where Tim was talking to Lauren, probably trying to convince her that his winning her cake was some sort of sign she should have dinner with him. Adam damn near growled like a bear about to charge. Violet wrapped her arm around her sister’s, said something brief and led Lauren toward the circle. Lauren looked startled by her sister’s actions, but the disappointed look on Tim’s face made Adam’s day.

  As soon as Lauren stepped onto her spot, Mandy started the music. This time, the round seemed to go quickly, but then Adam spent the entire time watching Lauren up ahead of him while trying to appear as if he wasn’t.

  When the music stopped yet again and Mandy announced the winning number, Adam glanced down to find he’d finally landed on the right spot. Maybe this was still salvageable. He crossed to the table and spotted Keri’s red velvet cake. Though Lauren might be the more famous baker, Keri’s talent was a known quantity. He couldn’t go wrong with anything she’d made.

  “Excellent choice,” Keri said from the opposite side of the table as she extended a plastic knife and two forks.

  He hadn’t seen anyone else offered utensils.

  “Which one did you choose?” Violet asked as she once again ushered her older sister where Violet evidently wanted her to go.

  He lifted his prize. “Keri’s red velvet.”

  “It looks delicious,” Lauren said and smiled at Keri.

  “I’m sure Adam can’t eat the entire thing,” Keri said. “Why don’t you help him out?”

  Adam suddenly felt as if he’d been sucked into one of Verona Charles’s master matchmaking plans. And for once in his life he didn’t mind.

  “She’s right,” he said. “But if I take this home, I’ll likely not get more than a single slice.”

  Lauren looked uncertain. “I need to tend to the girls.”

  “Two little babies don’t need three people to take care of them,” Violet said. “Papa Ed and I will be fine. We’ll check out what else this lovely carnival has to offer.”

  Adam didn’t miss the “you’re going to pay for this later” look that Lauren shot her sister. But when she turned toward him, Lauren offered a smile.

  “Looks like I get to enjoy some dessert. Been eyeing that cake all night.”

  Adam nodded toward the bleachers on the top level of the gym. “We can watch all the action from up there.”

  “Sounds good.”

  He led the way up the stairs, all the way to the top, where they could lean against the wall. Once they were seated, he handed her a fork then sliced two generous helpings. The moment Lauren took her first bite she closed her eyes and made an “mmm” of appreciation. Adam had to focus his attention on his own slice to keep from thinking about how that sound affected him.

  “It’s a good thing I’m opening a barbecue restaurant instead of a bakery here,” Lauren said. “The two things I’ve had that Keri made have been to die for.”

  “I’m sure your cake was delicious, too.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he was fully aware of how annoyed he sounded.

  “You don’t like Tim, do you?”

  He shrugged. “Friendly rivalry is all.”

  Lauren laughed in that way that said she didn’t believe him. “I’m not sure friendly is how I’d describe it.”

  “Would you believe not openly hostile?”

  “Yeah, barely.”

  “I hope that doesn’t make you think worse of me.”

  “No, I understand. He’s a bit full of himself. He tried to convince me that since he’d won dessert, we should go out to dinner first.”

  “I knew it.” Adam shoved another bite of cake in his mouth.

  “I wasn’t going to go. He’s not my type.”

  He looked over at her and decided not to hold in the question that surged to the front of his mind. “What is your type?”

  “Honestly, I’m not sure. I thought I knew once, but that didn’t turn out so well.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

  “No, it’s okay. I can’t let what happened rule the rest of my life.” As soon as she said the words, she looked surprised. As if she hadn’t meant to say them out loud or perhaps that she hadn’t had the realization before that moment.

  It was the closest thing to an opening as he was likely to get.

  “If I was to ask you out, would you think I’m no better than Wainwright?”

  “I know you’re not the same as him, but I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

  “No pressure but we seem to get along well, and the truth is I really like you. Would it be easier if we started with a coffee?”

  Lauren didn’t answer. Instead, she cut off another bite of cake with her fork. As she ate it, she looked out over all the activity down on the gym floor. He followed her gaze and spotted her sister pushing the double stroller toward the ladies room.

  “Poop happens,” Lauren said.

  “What?”

  She pointed toward the bathroom. “Chances are either they’ve both gone doody in their diapers or one has and the other one will about the time Violet starts out of the bathroom.”

  “Oh. For a minute there I thought you were equating a date with me with poop.”

  “No, of course not.”

  He took encouragement from how strong her response was, how she seemed horrified he’d thought such a thing.

  “Is that a yes, then?”

  He noticed the death grip she had on her fork and wondered if she was imagining it was her ex’s throat.

  “Coffee and Danish at the bakery?” She sounded hesitant, as if she wasn’t sure she was doing the right thing.

  “Sounds great.”

  They settled on meeting the next morning before Lauren said she needed to get back to the hotel room and her family.

  “I’ve been up since the crack of dawn, so I’m hitting the wall.”

  He covered the remainder of the cake and accompanied Lauren back down to the floor.

  “Thanks for the cake,” she said.

  “You’re welcome. Still curious what yours ta
stes like.”

  “Maybe you’ll get the chance to find out sometime.” The tentative smile that accompanied her words gave him hope that maybe their coffee date was just the beginning.

  * * *

  HAD SHE JUST agreed to go on a date with Adam, a man she truly didn’t know all that well? By the smile he wore, she’d guess the answer was yes. She knew she should be more concerned, but oddly she wasn’t. Like he said, no pressure. Just coffee and a Danish. It wasn’t the same level of date seriousness as dinner, and since they were meeting at the bakery she could leave anytime she wanted.

  Though would she really want to?

  “See you tomorrow morning.” Adam looked as if he wanted to hug her goodbye, maybe even plant a kiss on her cheek, but she wasn’t ready for that—especially not in the midst of such a large crowd.

  A crowd that included her sister, who’d taken one look at Adam and proceeded to push Lauren toward him. It was as if Violet had taken leave of her senses, developed sudden-onset amnesia regarding the past year and a half.

  And yet Lauren had enjoyed sharing Adam’s cake with him high above the carnival activity.

  After Adam disappeared into the crowd that was beginning to thin a little, Lauren couldn’t look away like she should have. Adam Hartley looked almost as good walking away as he did facing her.

  “See anything interesting?” Violet’s voice was full of the kind of teasing that had filled their teenage years.

  Instead of answering her sister’s question, Lauren turned toward Violet. “What was that?”

  “What?” Violet did her best impersonation of innocence.

  “You know what. You also know how I feel about getting involved with anyone else.”

  Then why did you agree to the breakfast date?

  “Phil was the king of the asses, but he was only one guy. The best way to stick it to him is to be happy.”

  “I am happy.”

  “To a point. But you’re young, beautiful and have a lot of love inside you to give.”

  “I give it every day to my daughters, you, Mom, Papa Ed.”