Colton Cowboy Hideout (The Coltons of Texas, Book 7)

by Carla Cassidy

“Leigh. She’s three minutes older than Lily,” Tanner replied.

  “Leigh,” Lily said and threw her arms around her twin’s neck. The two girls toppled over on their backs.

  “No, Lee-lee,” Leigh protested and struggled to get back to a sitting position.

  “However, Lily is usually the ringleader if there’s any trouble,” Tanner said with an affectionate glance at the little girl in purple.

  “Trouble,” Lily echoed with a delightful grin.

  Josie laughed, a musical sound Tanner found intensely attractive. “She’s a bundle of trouble and she’s proud of it. It’s sweet how they call you ‘Dada-love’ each time they see you.”

  “I didn’t realize how often I said it to them until one day they started saying it to me.” He smiled at the girls. “At some point in time I’m going to have to break it to them that our last name isn’t ‘love.’ But for now they’re my Lily-love and my Leigh-love.” The girls laughed and swatted yet another block tower down to the floor.

  They remained on the living-room floor until just after seven, when Tanner got to his feet. “I’m going to get these two into the bathtub and ready for bed. Feel free to make yourself at home in here or relax in your room.”

  He needed a little distance from Josie. The last hour had been far too pleasant with her company. It almost felt as if they were a normal family and he knew better than to get caught up in that particular silly fantasy.

  He’d learned from Helen that he wasn’t man enough to make a woman happy. He didn’t have what it took to be a life partner. However, even if he were in the market for a woman in his life, he knew with certainty it wouldn’t be the very young, very beautiful Josie Colton.

  By eight o’clock the twins were asleep and he went back into the living room, where Josie was curled up in the chair and staring out the window. Twilight was quickly turning into deepening night.

  She appeared so small and oddly vulnerable as a small frown danced across her forehead.

  “I hope you aren’t thinking any dark thoughts,” he said.

  She turned to look at him and offered a small smile. “It’s difficult not to have a few floating around in my head after the day we’ve had. Eldridge is still missing and someplace out there is a man with a gun who wants my father’s watch.”

  “Everything is going to be okay.” He had no way of knowing that, but he did have the need to reassure her and try to take away some of the darkness that filled her eyes. “In the next couple of days or so we’ll manage to get that watch for you and Troy will release you and you’ll be able to return to your home and family in Granite Gulch.”

  “And Eldridge will be found safe and sound and you’ll hire an amazing new kind and loving nanny for your girls,” she added and then stood. “And I think on that positive note, I’m going to call it a night.”

  “Then good night, Josie. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Good night, Tanner. Sweet dreams.”

  He watched her until she disappeared from view and then he sat in the chair she had vacated and stared out the window. A deep exhaustion swept through him, one that wasn’t physical but rather mental.

  He’d been up most of the night before with Clementine in the barn. And this had been one hell of a long day. It felt like a lifetime ago he had gone into the parlor to tell Whitney a new foal had been born.

  Although he was deeply worried about Eldridge’s welfare, it was the thought of the gunman in the woods that concerned him at the moment.

  How he wished he would have slammed the shovel over the man’s head. If only he’d been six inches closer. If only he’d somehow managed to get to the gun before the man had retrieved it and run away.

  He wanted his words to Josie to be true, that somehow she’d get what she needed without any harm coming to her, and he wanted Eldridge to be found safe.

  As much as he wanted to relax a bit, he couldn’t, not with the troubling thoughts that now filled his head. There was no question that there was the possibility of a murderer being inside the house and that was concerning enough, but now he worried about another one lurking around on the property outside of the house as well.

  His safe, structured world suddenly felt fraught with danger.

  CHAPTER 5

  Josie awakened to the sound of childish gibbering and immediately jumped out of bed. Nanny duty, her brain registered. She quickly pulled on the same clothes she’d worn the day before and then hurried into the nursery.

  “Good morning, Lily and Leigh,” she said in greeting to the twins, who stood in their cribs and bounced with happiness at the sight of her.

  She stepped up to Lily’s crib. “I’ll bet you two need a diaper change,” she said and looked around for where the clean diapers might be kept.

  “I thought I heard the chatter of little girls.” Tanner appeared in the doorway clad in jeans and a navy T-shirt and smelling like minty soap, shaving cream and a faint hint of woodsy cologne.

  The morning sun that danced through the room’s window loved him, glinting in the golden strands of his hair and emphasizing the lean, sculptured lines of his face. Josie fought the impulse to reach up and rake her fingers through her own bed-head hair.

  “I was just looking for the clean diapers,” she said.

  He walked over to the chest of drawers and opened the lower drawer. “Bottom drawer diapers, second from bottom is pajamas and the top two drawers are play clothes.” He grabbed two of the disposable diapers and tossed her one.

  “Did you sleep well?” he asked as he changed Leigh and she took care of Lily.

  “I slept great. I was afraid my little nap yesterday would keep me awake all night, but I went right to sleep and I’m ready to face a new day with these two sweet munchkins.” She picked up Lily in her arms and at the same time he finished diapering Leigh and grabbed her from her crib.

  “I figured you’d already be gone by now,” she said a moment later as she buckled Lily into her high chair. Coffee was already made in a pot on the countertop, letting her know he’d been awake for some time.

  “I figured I could head out of here a little later today with it being your first day on the job. I thought I’d hang out to help you through breakfast and then I’ll take off for work. Help yourself to the coffee.”

  “Thanks, and how about you pour yourself a cup and sit and relax while I show you I can do breakfast just fine on my own,” she replied. “Right, girls? We can do this all by ourselves, can’t we?” The twins grinned at her.

  “Okay, if you insist,” he replied.

  “Eat!” Lily said and banged her palms on the high-chair tray.

  “That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Josie replied. As Tanner poured himself a cup of coffee and then settled on a stool at the small island, she quickly toasted a piece of bread, buttered it and then cut it in half and gave each child a piece.

  With them happily munching on the toast, she rummaged around in the cabinets and found a small skillet. It took her only another few minutes to gather what she needed from the refrigerator to make scrambled eggs with cheese.

  “I’m assuming they don’t have any allergies I need to worry about,” she said, acutely aware of Tanner’s gaze tracking her every movement.

  “None that I’m aware of,” he replied. “I’m already confident that I’m leaving them in good hands.”

  She turned to look at him and he offered her a warm smile. “And why is that?” she asked.

  “First of all, you knew to put something in their hands immediately, and secondly, they have completely taken to you. I’ve always believed children and animals have an innate ability to recognize good people.”

  She turned back to the counter and began to whip the eggs and milk together. For years she’d been told she was a bad girl with a killer’s blood running through her veins. “How did they act when the mean nanny was in control?”

  “They fussed and cried more than usual. I thought maybe they were getting sick, but they were definite
ly reacting to the nanny. They are normally very happy girls and rarely cry without a good reason.”

  His deep love was evident in the softness of his tone. Josie couldn’t help but wonder how different her own life might have been if she’d been raised by a doting, loving father and if her mother had lived.

  She and her siblings would have all been raised together under one roof. Sure, there probably would have been fussing and fighting, but there also would have been a strong, familial bond between all of them.

  What would it have been like if maybe her father would have taken her for an ice-cream cone or sat in the audience of a school play? What would it have felt like to see him beam with pride as she graduated from high school?

  Lily and Leigh would know what it was like. There was no question in Josie’s mind that Tanner would be there for all the big and small events in their lives. He was that kind of a man. He was that kind of a father.

  It didn’t take long for breakfast to be cooked and served up to the girls. Besides the cheesy scrambled eggs, she sliced up some strawberries and peeled an orange for them to share. Only when the girls were eating did she pour herself a cup of coffee and join Tanner at the island.

  “Now, explain to me how dinner is going to work. You mentioned the girls usually ate here in the suite. Does that mean I should prepare dinner for us, too?”

  “I obviously didn’t think things through well enough when I told you their normal schedule. Usually Brianna fed the girls here and I went down to the staff dining room alone. When I came back here to the suite, Brianna left to go home.”

  “Then there’s no reason we can’t keep that same schedule. I’ll eat dinner here with the girls and you can still go down to the staff dining room,” she replied.

  He shook his head. “No, we’ll all eat dinner together in the dining room while you’re here.”

  “I really don’t mind doing it the way Brianna did it,” she protested. “We can keep the same routine.”

  “I mind. Despite our little arrangement, you are supposed to be a guest here. Besides, I never wanted to eat with Brianna, but I’d like to have my evening meals with you and the girls.”

  To her surprise his cheeks grew a faint red and he quickly picked up his cup and stood.

  “Then I’ll fix lunch for the girls here in the suite,” she replied.

  “That sounds perfect. You probably saw the refrigerator is fully stocked and the pantry has plenty of canned goods. If you need anything at all you can talk to Bettina and she’ll see that you have it. And now I’d better get to work.” He placed his cup in the sink and then walked over and kissed each of the girls on their foreheads. “Bye-bye. Daddy has to go to work now.”

  Lily and Leigh echoed his goodbye and waved with egg-covered fingers, and then he was gone. Josie refilled her coffee cup and returned to her stool at the island.

  It was as if when he left more oxygen filled the room. Something about Tanner Grange definitely made her feel more than just a little bit breathless.

  Breakfast and cleanup went off without a hitch. She dressed the girls for the day and then played with them on the floor in the nursery until they both showed signs of being ready for their morning naps.

  Once they were asleep, she took a quick shower and then dressed in a pair of clean jean shorts and a red T-shirt advertising the café in Granite Gulch.

  She tried to keep her mind empty but it didn’t take long, as she sat in the chair in the living room with the silence surrounding her, for her head to fill with a hundred different thoughts.

  It would be so easy to allow the twins to dig deep into her heart. Lily was a bundle of energy and more demanding than her shy sister, but both girls were wonderfully affectionate.

  I’d like to have my evening meals with you and the girls.

  Tanner’s words teased in her mind. He’d been friendly and kind to her, but he certainly hadn’t indicated to her that he felt the wild, crazy heart flutters around her that she felt whenever he was near.

  You’re a temporary nanny. You’re here to unearth a buried watch and when that’s done you’ll be gone from here, she reminded herself. Her future, whatever that might be, was in Granite Gulch with the brothers and sister she was only now getting to know.

  This wasn’t the time to get involved with any man, whether it was a temporary fling or something more meaningful. She smiled inwardly. Still, there was no doubt if she was going to pick a man to have a hot fling with, Tanner would be at the top of the list.

  At least with Tanner and the girls filling her thoughts she wasn’t thinking about the armed man in the woods who had shot her in the arm.

  Thankfully the wound didn’t hurt so much today. She figured within another day or two she’d be able to take off the bandage. It could have been so much worse, she reminded herself.

  A soft knock on the door sounded and she jumped out of the chair. Maybe it was Peggy checking in to make sure things were going all right. It had been obvious Peggy doted on the twins.

  She opened the door to a woman she’d never seen before. Long blond hair framed an attractive face with pixie-like features. Sharp blue eyes gazed at Josie with open speculation.

  “Hi, I’m Marceline Colton.” She offered Josie a friendly smile. “I heard there was a new family member on the property and I thought I’d come by and introduce myself since we didn’t get to meet yesterday. Is this a bad time?”

  “The girls are down for a nap,” Josie replied.

  “Then my timing is perfect,” Marceline said and swept past Josie and into the suite. She was clad in a pair of designer jeans that probably cost more than Josie’s entire wardrobe and a pale blue blouse that hugged her slender waist. The scent of expensive perfume trailed behind her.

  Josie’s mind raced as she closed the door after the pretty young woman. Marceline was one of Whitney’s daughters from a previous marriage and she was the one who had refused to answer any of Sheriff Watkins’s questions the day before. According to the staff gossip, Marceline hated Eldridge. Josie thought she had it all straight in her head.

  Marceline sat in the chair and Josie sank down on the edge of the sofa and eyed her warily, wondering what the woman was doing here.

  “Don’t look so worried. I’m not going to call you horrid names like my mother did. I know you’re stuck here for the time being and I just thought you might need a friend while you’re here.” She smiled with what appeared to be genuine friendliness.

  “How do you know about your mother calling me names?” Josie asked. “As I remember, you weren’t there when it happened.”

  Marceline laughed. “Honey, if you cough in this house, by the time the staff and other family members finish reporting it to each other you’ll hear that you have a deadly case of pneumonia or tuberculosis.”

  Josie couldn’t help but smile.

  “Ah, good, you have a sense of humor. That makes me like you already,” Marceline said. “We’re about the same size except you’re shorter than me. If you need to borrow some clothes while you’re stuck here, don’t hesitate to ask. I’d be glad to help you out.”

  “Thanks. That’s very kind of you,” Josie replied.

  “You’re hurt. What happened?” Marceline asked and pointed to the bandage on Josie’s arm.

  “Oh, it’s nothing. I’m a bit of a klutz and I ran into the side of the counter and somehow cut myself.” It was lame, and Josie could only hope that nobody in the house knew what had really happened in the woods. The last thing she wanted was for her situation to add to the gossip.

  “So, tell me about Josie Colton.” Marceline leaned back in the chair. “Are you married? Do you have a boyfriend?”

  “No, and no,” Josie replied. “What about you?”

  “No, and no,” Marceline repeated with a grin.

  For the next fifteen minutes the two women got to know each other a little better. Josie talked about her siblings and about being in foster care for years and Marceline confessed she didn’t get along w
ell with her siblings, especially her stepsister Alanna.

  “Daddy Eldridge totally spoiled her,” Marceline said. “She’s always acted like she was better than all of us.”

  Josie heard the touch of jealousy in Marceline’s voice as she continued to explain all the reasons she didn’t like Alanna and half her other siblings.

  Josie thought she heard the plaintive cry of a woman who felt largely ignored or disenfranchised by the rest of the family. Something about Marceline struck a chord of loneliness that Josie recognized well.

  Their conversation was interrupted when the twins awakened and Marceline left so Josie could take care of her charges. As the girls ate a lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup, Josie thought about the attractive woman who had come to visit.

  She’d seemed nice enough, and even though they hadn’t spent much time together, Josie had gotten the distinct feeling that Marceline was the one who might need a friend.

  Josie wouldn’t mind having a female friend while she was stuck here at the ranch. The fact that rumors swirled around Marceline and her relationship with Eldridge didn’t particularly concern Josie.

  After all, Josie knew better than most what it was like to have a finger of guilt pointed at her when she was completely innocent. Rumors meant nothing—only cold, hard facts were important.

  The rest of the afternoon passed quickly as she enjoyed playing with the girls and eating an afternoon snack of crackers and fruit.

  At just a little after four thirty she was seated on the floor in the nursery with a twin on either side of her and a picture book open on her lap.

  “Ball,” she said and pointed to the bright red ball on one page.

  “Ball,” Lily replied and stabbed her chubby finger on the page.

  “Leigh, can you say ‘ball’?”

  “Ball,” Leigh echoed and smiled shyly and then leaned closer against Josie’s side.

  “Bunny,” Josie said and pointed to the picture on the next page. The girls each repeated after her.

  “Cat,” Josie said.

  “Cat,” Tanner’s deep voice replied.