Home to Sparrow Lake (Harlequin Heartwarming)

by Lynn Patrick

  Addison glanced up to see her and jumped to her feet. “Aunt Kristen!” she yelled, grabbing Kristen’s legs.

  “Hi, sweetie.” She hugged and kissed her little niece, thinking it was getting easier to tell the two apart—Addison’s face was rounder and her blond hair a little shorter than her sister’s.

  “Aunt Kristen!” shouted Taylor, following suit. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m going to stay with you tonight. We’ll have fun.”

  “Fun!” yelled Addison. Then she seemed to realize she had a redheaded doll in her hand. The doll was wearing only a pair of shoes and a crown. “This is Scarlet, the princess.”

  “Scarlet isn’t a princess. Throw her back in the box,” declared Taylor.

  “Is too a princess! And I want to play with her!”

  “You got plenty of dolls for your side already.”

  Sides? Sheesh, maybe they were playing war, Kristen thought.

  Taylor flopped back down on the rug. “I have the most horses.”

  “I have the most dolls,” Addison came back.

  “You’ve both got a lot,” agreed Kristen, trying to mediate before the war between the twins became real.

  “Mostly gifts from the host of loving relatives who thought they needed all this stuff. Now, girls, you don’t have to make it a contest,” Heather told the twins. “Play together peacefully. And that also means doing what your aunt tells you tonight. Play nice and then go to bed.”

  “Bed? Not now,” said Addison, pouting. “It’s too early! And the dolls need a bath.”

  “The horses need a bath, too.” Taylor showed her mom and aunt a palomino with a long, sparkly tail.

  “Ugh, those horses have cooties!” Addison made a face.

  “Do not!” answered Taylor, pushing Addison. “Your dolls have cooties.”

  Addison pushed back. “Do not!”

  “Stop it, girls!” Heather said firmly. “Nobody has cooties.” Aside, she whispered to Kristen, “I’m sorry I ever brought up the term with them.” She ran her hand through Addison’s hair. “Hmm, a little greasy. It looks like some humans could use a bath here.”

  “They need a bath?” Kristen asked.

  Heather sighed. “Well, I didn’t get around to it. We just had supper.” She narrowed her eyes, looking the twins over. “They get sweaty and dusty at camp.”

  “I can give them a bath.”

  “Would you mind?”

  “What can be so hard about bathing five-year-olds?” They weren’t babies. “They’ll get in the water by themselves, right?”

  Heather laughed. “They certainly will, and you don’t have to stand there and shower them or anything. Just supervise and adjust the temperature.” She cautioned, “You’ll have to help them wash their hair, to make sure they get all the soap out. We have ‘no tears’ shampoo, of course.”

  The bathroom of the cottage had both a large built-in soaker tub and a separate shower. “Do they like showers or baths?”

  “Either.”

  Addison piped up. “I want a bubble bath.”

  Taylor agreed. “Bubbles.”

  “Okay, bubbles it is. And I’ll read them to sleep,” Kristen assured her sister.

  “If they get too hyper or act up, give them a timeout.”

  “I’m not going to be bad,” asserted Taylor.

  “Me, either,” chirped Addison.

  “Good girls,” Heather said. “But you’re tired…and dirty. Now do what Aunt Kristen says, okay, sweethearts?” She leaned down to hug and kiss both twins.

  Kristen followed her sister out to the living room where her book bag and purse lay on the couch. “Don’t worry about anything.”

  “I won’t. Thanks again.” Heather hugged her. “See you around nine-thirty.”

  Kristen returned to the bedroom to watch the twins play.

  “See this lady?” Addison held up a blonde fashion doll with a long ponytail. “This is you! And this is that nice policeman.” She grabbed a boy doll and put the two dolls’ faces together to make kissy noises. “Ooh, I love you, Aunt Kristen, I love you!”

  Oh, for goodness sakes! Was everyone on the romance bandwagon? Kristen sat down on the tallest bed and picked up Scarlet, who was lying at her feet. “This princess has a crown, but she doesn’t have a dress.” She looked around but only spotted a pair of tiny shorts and a cape of some sort. “Doesn’t she have a nice princess gown? Doesn’t anyone have clothes to wear?”

  “We. Can’t. Find. Them,” Taylor told her, enunciating each word separately as if Kristen might not understand. “Besides, everybody’s gettin’ ready for a bath.”

  Right, the bath. The twins wanted bubbles. Kristen left for the bathroom. The tub was a nice big one, set in a tiled enclosure that formed at least a two inch rim on three sides. She turned on the water until it got warm enough, then set the stopper.

  As she went back to the twins’ room, her cell phone rang. She felt a little thrill, thinking it might be Alex, and answered without glancing at the caller ID. But it was no one she knew and the man chattered away in Spanish. “Wrong number,” she told him. “Numero incorrecto.”

  Addison glanced up. “Can you teach us Spanish, Aunt Kristen?”

  “I don’t know enough Spanish to teach it, but I’m impressed you recognize some words.”

  “We’re learning counting in Spanish at camp,” said Taylor. “Uno, dos, tres…” She made a horse gallop over the rug. “Uno horsies, dos horsies, tres…”

  Addison grasped Kristen’s hand to look at her phone. “Can I see it?”

  “Okay, but don’t call anyone.”

  “I know how to work it,” said the little girl, and hit Menu. “Here are the phone numbers.” Her small fingers seemed pretty adept.

  “You’re good. Are they teaching you about phones at camp?”

  “No, but Mommy lets us use her phone sometimes.”

  “She lets us call Gramma,” put in Taylor. “And Aunt Mar-grit.”

  It was unbelievable how the young took to technology, Kristen thought. Most kids knew far more about it than adults. She slipped the phone into her pocket. “Let’s put that away for now and get ready for our bath.”

  “I’m not done playing.” Taylor frowned.

  “You can play after your bath,” said Kristen. “Then you can put all your horsies to bed.”

  “Or the horses can take a bath, too,” Addison said. “They’re stinky.”

  “You better wash your dolls,” Taylor told her. “They’re wa-ay stinkier.”

  Addison stiffened, probably spoiling for a fight, but Kristen interrupted, “Don’t you have a dolly bathtub when they get ready to bathe? They’d like that better.” She gestured to the door. “Now be good girls and go in the bathroom and get undressed. I’ll add the bubble bath.”

  “Bubbles, yay!” squealed Addison, obviously forgetting any tension.

  There was a box of bubble bath right by the tub. Kristen poured about half a cup under the stream from the faucet. Bubbles frothed and spread around the tub.

  “Yay!” Addison squealed again, taking off her bright green T-shirt. She threw it up in the air, followed by her shorts and underwear. Two of the garments landed half-in and half-out of the tub.

  “Oops, we’re making a mess,” said Kristen, taking out the wet garments and placing them in the sink. “Where’s Taylor?”

  “I dunno. Back in the bedroom, I guess.” Addison plopped herself in the tub, accidentally but thoroughly splashing Kristen. “Ooh, nice and warm!”

  Kristen went into the hall. “Taylor? Your bath is ready.”

  In her bedroom, the little girl was gathering up her horses.

  “Leave them on the floor, honey,” Kristen told her. “You can pick them up later.”

  “Yay!” came Addison’s squeal, followed by more splashing.

  Taylor told Kristen, “You can pick up the dolls. I’ll do the horses.” She guessed that would be all right and leaned over to pile the dolls up. “Okay.”<
br />
  Taylor took off, running by her. Returning to the bathroom, Kristen met Addison running out, soaking wet. They collided.

  “Oof! Where are you going? I haven’t washed your hair.”

  “I’ll be back,” the little girl said, leaving sopping footprints behind her.

  Meanwhile, Kristen saw that Taylor had shed her clothes and left them on the wet floor. She and all the horses she’d been carrying were in the bathtub. Whether she liked it or not, the toys were getting a bath, too.

  “Yay!” Addison shrieked, back with an armload of dolls. She threw them in the bathtub with multiple splashes that made Taylor screech and duck, then climbed in herself.

  Water sloshed over the edge. If the clothes on the floor weren’t wet before, they were soaked now. So were the bath mat and a couple of the towels, not to mention Kristen. She figured she was going to have to do at least one load of laundry. Suddenly remembering her cell phone, not wanting to expose it to any more dampness than she could help, she took it out of her pocket to set it on a shelf several feet from the bathtub. The twins splashed and shrieked and sang.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourselves.” She reached over to turn off the water. They already had plenty.

  Taylor splashed Addison in the face and Addison splashed back.

  “Hey, let’s settle down.” Kristen was looking for the shampoo.

  Taylor pulled a bedraggled doll up from the water by its dripping long red hair. Then she dunked it. “Oh, oh, I’m drowning!”

  “No, you can’t drowned Scarlet! Stop it!” cried Addison.

  “Taylor!” Kristen frowned at the little girl.

  Taylor assumed an innocent expression. “It’s just a doll.”

  “But Addison cares about her,” said Kristen.

  Taylor brought the palomino with the sparkly tail, long and wet now, up and over the water. “Okay, here comes Rainbow, the flying horse, to save her. Whee!”

  More water splashed and bubbles spilled out onto the floor. Kristen could hear water pouring down the overflow drain. “It’s still too full. We should let a little water out.” How could half a cup of bubble bath produce so many bubbles? They seemed to be a foot high. From the corner of her eye, she saw the box of bubble bath…which was empty. Somebody’s little hands had been busy. “You used all of the bubble bath?”

  “We need lots and lots of bubbles!” yelled Addison.

  Well, there was nothing to do now. Parting the sea of bubbles, she found the shampoo. “Let’s get your hair clean.” Kristen reached for the nearest twin. She squirted a generous amount of shampoo into her hand and rubbed it into Taylor’s wet head. The little girl wriggled, still playing with horses.

  Suddenly, Taylor stiffened, then screamed. “Owww, it hurts!”

  Kristen jumped, scared. “What hurts?”

  “Ow, ow, my eyes!” Taylor screamed louder, thrashing.

  Addison pointed at the bottle in Kristen’s hand. “You used Mommy’s shampoo.”

  Oh, no, she hadn’t paid enough attention and snatched up Heather’s shampoo! Before Kristen could say or do anything else, Taylor clambered out of the bath, still shrieking.

  “Taylor, stop!”

  “Eeeeek! It hurts.” The little girl sped out of the room. Outside, there was the sound of something falling. And more shrieking, even louder.

  Kristen stumbled to her feet and grabbed a big towel from the linen shelves. “Come back, I’ll wash it out, Taylor!”

  She was horrified when Taylor ran away from her, still screeching. “You hurt me!”

  A lamp tumbled to the floor with the sound of glass breaking.

  “I didn’t mean to! Taylor!” Kristen pleaded, just about in tears herself. “Please come back here! I’ll make it better!”

  With another shriek, Taylor ran into her bedroom and slammed the door.

  Kristen pounded. “Taylor, let me in!” There was no lock, so Kristen pushed inside.

  “No!” Taylor shouted as Kristen tried to wrap the big towel around her niece. But the little girl jerked away to run out into the hall.

  “Taylor!” yelled Kristen, in fast pursuit. They circled the living room several times before she finally caught the child. “Hold on, honey.” She swabbed at Taylor’s eyes.

  “No, no!”

  “Taylor, please!” With subliminal awareness, she heard a thudding sound.

  “Hurts!”

  The thudding sound got louder and Kristen suddenly realized that someone was pounding on the front door of the cottage.

  “Police! Open up!”

  Police? What on earth?

  *

  OUTSIDE THE COTTAGE, nothing had seemed to be wrong when Alex drove up and parked. He knew the place belonged to Heather Clarke. He had checked when the County Emergency Operator told him where the 911 call originated. Inside, he heard more high-pitched shrieking.

  “Open up! Police!” he shouted again, pounding on the thick wood.

  This time the door gaped inward and, to his surprise, a bedraggled Kristen stood there with a screaming child bundled in a towel. Kristen’s hair was plastered around her face, her eye makeup smeared, her clothing soaked, and her expression desperate. She didn’t say a word.

  Instinct told Alex not to laugh. Besides, he still didn’t know if anyone was hurt. “What’s going on?”

  “Soap,” croaked Kristen, nodding at the shrieking Taylor. Or Addison. Alex couldn’t be sure. “In her eyes.”

  “Soap in the eyes, huh?” Alex quickly gathered up the twin, pulling the towel tight around her. He strode inside, heading for the kitchen. “Come on.”

  Holding the child between them, Alex turned on the sink and put the little head beneath the stream of water. He rinsed her hair and her face thoroughly. The shrieks turned into sobs. She merely whimpered when they set her down and dried her hair and face with a kitchen towel.

  “Better?”

  Her eyes were red but he didn’t know if that was from soap or crying. “It hurts.”

  “But not so bad, right, sweetheart? It’ll get better. A little soap won’t kill you.” He rubbed her back soothingly and glanced at Kristen. “Is this Taylor or Addison?”

  “Taylor.” She explained, “I was trying to wash her hair and I picked up the wrong shampoo.” She leaned over to check Taylor’s eyes. “I’m so sorry, sweetie.”

  “Mkay,” murmured Taylor.

  “We’ll put some soothing drops in your eyes.” Then she glanced around, searching. “Addison? Are you still in the bathroom?

  “Auntie Kristen!” came a little sing-song cry from down the hall. “Washing the dolls! Washing the horsies!”

  Kristen sighed, obviously relieved. “Thank goodness she’s not drowned. That would be about par for the course tonight.”

  “Bathing twins can definitely be a two person job.” He added, “Though you didn’t really need to call 911 for help. We take that seriously.”

  “Nine-one-one?”

  He smiled. “Next time just call the station and ask for me personally.”

  *

  KRISTEN RECOGNIZED THAT snarky expression Alex didn’t even try to hide. “This isn’t funny.” And she couldn’t believe he thought so.

  The smile disappeared. “Dialing 911 isn’t funny. I agree.”

  “I did not dial 911.” And she was outraged that he would think she did so just to get his attention.

  “Well, somebody called. From this location.”

  “I wouldn’t call 911 for a nonemergency.”

  “How about one of the twins?”

  Kristen looked at Taylor.

  The little girl shook her head. “Not me.”

  “Addison?” called Kristen, heading toward the bathroom. Her niece was happily playing with bubbles, dolls, still singing. The floor was wet, the rug soaked, and damp towels lay about. “Addison, honey, did you dial 911?”

  Addison quieted, looking up. “It was a ’mergency. Taylor was hurt.” Her eyes grew big as she looked at Alex. “You said
to call 911 if someone needs help.”

  Kristen remembered the conversation at the ice cream shop. “You did.”

  “I did,” Alex admitted somberly. “I guess I didn’t explain well enough what an emergency entails. Is this your cell?” He picked up the phone from the floor. “It’s a little wet, too.”

  “Covered with little fingerprints, I’m sure.” But the phone wasn’t ruined, Kristen noted, glancing at its screen. She turned back to Addison. “You used Aunt Kristen’s cell phone.”

  Addison looked upset. “Don’t be mad!”

  “We’re not mad,” Alex told the little girl. “We just wanted to know how this happened.”

  “Finish your bath,” Kristen told Addison calmly, though she felt thoroughly embarrassed. “I had no idea,” she muttered while walking with Alex back to the living room.

  He explained, “Out here, 911 calls go to a county operator. That person notifies the local law. At county they heard a lot of shrieking and couldn’t understand much except the word help. They called me.”

  “Unbelievable.” She once again felt near tears. She tried to get angry to fight against them. “I’m sure you charge someone for a bogus 911 call, right?”

  “We charge pranksters, yes.”

  “Well, then, lock me up,” she said, holding out her wrists. “Or whatever. I’m responsible, since I’m supposed to be watching these children.”

  Alex looked surprised. “I’m not going to lock you up.”

  Taylor rushed to grab her legs. “No, no! My eyes are okay. Aunt Kristen didn’t mean to!”

  Alex clasped Kristen’s outstretched hands, but his expression was comforting. “Calm down. Nobody’s getting arrested.”

  If he embraced her, she knew she would break down.

  She slid her hands away to pat Taylor’s wet head. “We weren’t trying to pull a prank.”

  He shrugged. “Children can be a little too helpful sometimes.”

  “I feel awful about it. Embarrassed.”

  “Well…stuff happens.” Alex glanced around. “This place is certainly a disaster.” Stepping back out into the hallway, he cautioned, “Watch your bare feet, Taylor. Don’t step on the broken lamp.” Then he smiled at Kristen. “How about I help you clean up?”