The Cowboy's Secret Twins

by Carla Cassidy

  He wasn’t going to mention the carriage house solution to her again. He recognized that over the past two days he’d become a bore and bordered on becoming a bully in trying to get her to do what he wanted.

  Whatever she decided, they’d make it work because it had to work. Even though they weren’t married, he knew they’d do whatever was in the best interest of the twins.

  At the moment Melissa and his mother and the twins were all in the kitchen. It was Etta’s day off and they were in the process of making dinner.

  As he’d walked to his study he’d heard the sound of laughter and merriment coming from the kitchen. The house would feel empty once Melissa and the boys were gone.

  Actually, the house had felt empty for a long time. And if he thought about it long enough he’d admit that his life had been fairly empty for a very long time. He frowned, irritated with the direction his thoughts were taking. Maybe it was a good thing Melissa was leaving soon. She was messing with his mind in a way that was distinctly uncomfortable.

  He turned away from the window as a knock fell on his door. The door opened and Jimmy poked his head in. “Your mom told me to come on in,” he said.

  Henry motioned him inside. “How are the roads?” he asked as he gestured his friend into the chair in front of the desk.

  “A little nasty but not too bad. The road crews are out working so if we don’t get any more accumulation we should have everything under control.” He eased into the chair. “You got any of that good scotch hidden away in here?”

  Henry walked to the minibar in the corner and poured himself and Jimmy a drink, then handed Jimmy his and sat at the desk with his own.

  Jimmy took a deep swallow and sighed. “I don’t know if Willie told you or not, but he found the bullet that shot out your tire still in the rubber that was left on the truck. It was a .22 caliber. I know it wasn’t Hank. At the time your truck was fired on, Hank was down at Lazy Ed’s, completely sauced.”

  Lazy Ed’s was a popular tavern for the ranch hands in the area. “I’m not surprised. His drinking is what caused him to get fired in the first place,” Henry said.

  “Before we get into all this, I want to know about those twin boys that your mother introduced me to in the kitchen. They sure do have the Randolf chin. You been holding out on me about your love life?”

  Henry smiled and knew in an instant he wasn’t about to tell Jimmy the truth about how the twins were conceived. Although Henry certainly wasn’t a prude, he didn’t want to give anyone in town a reason to think less of Melissa.

  “Melissa is a friend from Amarillo. She’s a terrific woman and we’ve been close for some time. When she got pregnant we agreed that we’d share the parenting of the boys and remain friends.”

  “I never even knew you wanted kids,” Jimmy said.

  Henry smiled. “I didn’t know I wanted them until they were here. I got to tell you, Jimmy. They change your life. They make you want to be a better man. That’s why it’s so important we get this mess cleaned up, these attacks that are happening on me. I can’t have them around if it’s not safe.”

  Henry leaned back in his chair. “You know who is at the top of my suspect list.”

  Jimmy nodded. “Tom Burke. You scare him, Henry.”

  “He should be scared,” Henry said with a scowl. “You and I both know he’s a criminal.”

  Jimmy nodded. “I’ve been in contact with the FBI and I’m hoping they’re going to look into his actions as city manager. The problem is we both know he’s a likely suspect. What we don’t have is any proof.”

  “Did you question him about his whereabouts at the time my tire was shot out?”

  Jimmy nodded. “According to his wife, he was at home with her.”

  Once again Henry frowned. “You know damn good and well she’d lie for him.”

  Jimmy nodded. “I’ve put a couple of my men on Tom. Full-time surveillance as long as I have the manpower. If he tries anything we’ll be on top of him. It’s the best I can do, Henry.”

  Henry nodded. He knew Jimmy was as frustrated as he was by what had been happening. He took a drink of his scotch.

  “If this had all started the night that Melissa showed up here with those babies, I would ask you if you thought Hilary might be playing a woman scorned,” Jimmy said.

  Henry laughed at the very idea of Hilary hiding out in the woods with a gun. “No way. I’ll grant you she wasn’t too happy to discover I had two babies, but Hilary knew the score where I was concerned. Besides, she’d never risk breaking a nail to do anything like this.”

  “And the first attack happened to you before Melissa arrived on the scene,” Jimmy said.

  Henry nodded. “I’m telling you it’s Tom Burke or it’s somebody he’s hired. He’s the only person who has a hell of a lot to lose if I become mayor.”

  Jimmy tilted his glass up for another drink of the scotch. “I just wanted to come out here and tell you that I’m doing the best I can.”

  “What about a ballistics test on the bullet Willie dug out of my tire?” Henry asked.

  “Unfortunately the bullet hit your rim and was pretty mangled. Besides, in order to do a ballistics test you have to have a weapon to compare it to and Tom Burke insists he doesn’t have a rifle.”

  Henry snorted in disbelief. “I don’t know a man in this entire county who doesn’t own a rifle. This is Texas, for God’s sake.”

  “You’re preaching to the choir, Henry.”

  For the next thirty minutes the men spoke about other potential suspects. There were only two that Henry could think of, both council members and friends of Tom Burke.

  “You definitely have the support of the people,” Jimmy said. “People like you, they admire your integrity and they trust you. If you can stay alive until February there is no doubt in my mind that you’ll be voted in as mayor.”

  “That’s nice to hear,” Henry replied.

  Jimmy glanced toward the window. “I’ve got to head back into town.” He stood.

  “I appreciate you coming out on such a crummy day.” Henry stood as well.

  “I swear I’m going to get to the bottom of this, Henry,” Jimmy said as they left the study.

  “I just hope you do before this mysterious shooter gets lucky,” Henry said dryly.

  The two men walked to the front door, where they said their goodbyes. The snow had begun to fall again and as Henry closed the door he realized that he was more worried now about whoever was trying to hurt him than he’d been before Melissa had arrived in the house.

  Before, he’d just been irritated by the whole thing. But now all he could think about was if anything happened to him the boys wouldn’t have their father. He had every reason in the world to want to stay alive…for them and for Melissa.

  The laughter coming from the kitchen pulled him away from the front door and to the source of the sound. Once there he found his mother and Melissa finishing up dinner preparations.

  As he walked into the room, the twins flashed him smiles that as always filled him with warmth. “Something smells wonderful,” he said.

  “Melissa can cook,” Mary exclaimed.

  “It’s just spaghetti with meat sauce,” Melissa replied as she took a pot of boiling pasta off the stove top.

  Henry took a seat at the table and watched as she dumped the spaghetti noodles into an awaiting colander. “You don’t understand. Mom would think you were amazing if you could just boil an egg. She’s the worst cook in the entire state of Texas.”

  Melissa shot a quick glance to Mary. “Don’t worry,” Mary said with a laugh. “He’s quite right. It’s one of the reasons Big Henry hired Etta. He knew if we tried to live on my cooking we’d all starve. Henry, why don’t you set the table and I’ll get the salad.”

  As always, dinner was a pleasant time. They chatted about favorite foods and Mary regaled Melissa with some of her war stories at the stove. The boys kept up their end of the conversation by babbling and cooing.

  At
one point James blew a raspberry. He looked startled and as they all laughed, he grinned and blew another one.

  Henry smiled at Melissa. “You might have gotten his very first smile, but at least I didn’t miss out on his very first raspberry.”

  After they’d finished eating Mary took the boys into the living room while Henry and Melissa cleaned up. “Dinner was terrific,” he said as he stacked the dishes she rinsed into the dishwasher. “Do you like to cook?”

  She nodded. “I do, but most of the time it seems like a lot of trouble to cook for one. When my mother was alive I did a lot of cooking, but not so much since she passed.”

  “You miss her.”

  She smiled with a touch of sadness. “Every day. Unfortunately diabetes is a ruthless disease and I think she was tired of fighting. It’s some comfort to know she’s not in pain anymore.”

  “I miss my father, too. He and I weren’t just father and son, we were friends.” Henry smiled at thoughts of his dad. “He was bigger than life, one of those colorful characters that people didn’t forget after meeting him.”

  Melissa handed him the last plate. “And he taught you everything you need to know about being a wonderful father.”

  Henry smiled. “Yeah, I hadn’t thought about it before, but he was a wonderful role model.” He took the towel she offered him and dried his hands.

  “It worried me that I was all alone,” she said, her expression somber. “I worried about what would happen to the boys if I got hit by a car or had a sudden heart attack. Now I don’t have to worry anymore. I know if anything happens to me you’ll love them and take care of them.”

  “Nothing is going to happen to you,” he assured her. “You and I are going to parent those boys until they’re hulking adults and we’re old and gray.”

  She smiled. “I like that plan, and speaking of the boys, I think it’s probably time for a diaper change.”

  The rest of the evening passed and by nine o’clock it was time to put the boys down for the night. Mary said her good-night and retired to her wing of the house while Melissa carried Joey and Henry carried James up the stairs to their room.

  Once the boys were settled into their beds, Melissa motioned Henry into her room. “Do you think I’m going to be able to head home tomorrow?” she asked.

  Henry walked over to her window and peered outside. A light snow was still falling. He turned to look at her. “Why don’t you make a decision in the morning? It’s snowing now but maybe it will stop before too long. I can call Jimmy in the morning and ask him about the condition of the roads.”

  What he really wanted to do was have a repeat of the night before. But something in the way she stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest made him think she wouldn’t be open to the idea.

  “You want to go back down and have a glass of wine or something?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No, I think I’ll just call it a night now. I really am hoping that we’ll be able to travel in the morning. Besides, it’s been a long day and I’m exhausted.”

  He realized she was already distancing herself, preparing for the goodbye. He was surprised at the edge of sadness that took hold of him. It wasn’t like it was going to be goodbye forever, he told himself. Most likely one way or another he’d be seeing her every weekend. If she didn’t want to drive here, then he’d drive to Amarillo. But somehow he knew that once she left here things would never be the same between them again.

  “Then I guess I’ll just say good night,” he said. He couldn’t help himself. He stepped closer to her with the intention to deliver a kiss to her forehead, but instead found his mouth claiming hers.

  The minute their lips connected the window where Henry had stood moments before shattered. As Henry saw the device that lay on the floor in the bedroom fear screamed inside him.

  He shoved Melissa toward the door and they fell into the hallway as the bomb went off.

  Chapter 10

  One moment Henry had been kissing her and the next Melissa found herself on the hallway floor with Henry on top of her. The back of her head had connected hard with the floor in the fall and she was dazed and confused.

  The loud explosion still rang in Melissa’s ears, making her momentarily deaf. As Henry got off her, her hearing began to return. Above the din of the house alarm ringing she could hear the cries of her babies and her heart slammed into her chest with enough force to steal what little breath she had left.

  “Check on the boys,” Henry yelled as he pulled her up off the floor. He raced back into the bedroom and tore down the curtains that had caught on fire. As he stamped out the flames, she ran across the hall to the boys’ room. They were safe, but scared by the noise.

  She took them into her arms, and her heart beat so fast it felt as if it were trying to burst out of her chest. She stood in the center of the room, afraid to move, unsure what might happen next. She tried to calm the boys but with the alarm ringing discordantly it was impossible. Tears raced down Melissa’s cheeks as she tried to still her own fear.

  Somebody had thrown a bomb of some kind into the window of the bedroom where she’d slept, at the window where Henry had been standing only moments earlier. Her head couldn’t wrap around it.

  The blast could have killed him. It could have killed her. Had Henry not reacted as quickly as he had, they both could have been seriously hurt or worse.

  She hugged the boys even closer to her chest and breathed a sigh of relief as the alarm suddenly stopped ringing. Now what? Had the danger passed? Was there more to come? Too afraid to move, she remained in the center of the room.

  A moment later both Henry and Mary rushed into the room.

  “You okay?” Henry asked her, his features taut with tension.

  “We’re fine,” she said and felt a new press of tears as Mary put an arm around her shoulder.

  “Jimmy is on his way,” Henry said as he took Joey from her arms. “Let’s go downstairs to wait for him.”

  By the time they got down the stairs several of Henry’s ranch hands were at the front door. Henry opened the door to allow them inside and they all gathered in the living room.

  “We heard the explosion,” Charlie said, his features grim. “Then we saw the fire at the window. I’m just glad to see you’re all okay.”

  “You didn’t see anyone?” Henry asked as he shifted Joey from one arm to the other.

  Both Charlie and Randy shook their heads. “Didn’t hear a car, didn’t see a soul,” Charlie said. “Dammit, it’s like it’s a phantom.”

  “It wasn’t a phantom that threw a bomb through the window,” Henry said, his anger rife in his voice. He handed Joey to his mother. “I want to go out and take a look around. With the snow there should be some footprints that can be tracked.”

  Charlie frowned. “Unfortunately, Randy and I might have messed up any prints,” he admitted. “When we heard the blast we both ran to that side of the house. I didn’t even think about footprints.”

  “There still might be some prints that don’t belong to the two of you,” Henry said.

  “Please, Henry, wait for Jimmy before you go out,” Melissa said. She had no idea what other danger might await him if he ventured outside and she couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to him.

  “Yes, Henry,” Mary spoke up, her voice filled with a mother’s worry. “Please wait for Jimmy. I don’t want you out there.”

  Melissa could tell by Henry’s expression that he was chomping at the bit, needing to do something, anything that might find the guilty party.

  “If you want, Randy and I can go back out and take another look around,” Charlie offered.

  “Trust me, if there’s anyone around I’d be happy to tie him up and beat his ass until Jimmy shows up,” Randy exclaimed.

  Henry clapped him on the back. “I appreciate the sentiment, Randy, but the last thing I want is for anyone to get hurt. Why don’t we all sit tight until Jimmy gets here?”

  Charlie and Randy sat on
the two chairs while Melissa and Mary sat on the sofa with the twins. Henry paced the room, looking like he wanted nothing more than to punch something or someone.

  There was no question that somehow, someway, Melissa had to leave here as soon as possible. She couldn’t place her children at risk. The idea that the pipe bomb could have easily been thrown through the window of the bedroom where the twins slept filled her with a kind of terror she’d never felt before.

  “Randy, what I’d like you to do is see if you can find a piece of plywood in the shed to put over the broken window after Jimmy takes a look around.” Henry turned to look at Melissa and his eyes were dark as midnight. “Melissa, I want you to pack a bag for you and the boys.”

  She looked at him in surprise. “But where are we going?” She knew the roads were snow-packed and her tires weren’t in the best shape. There was no way she’d take off at this time of night for home.

  “I’m going to have Charlie check you in to a motel until the roads are safe enough for you to travel home.” Henry looked at his mother. “You might want to pack a bag, too.”

  “Nonsense,” Mary scoffed. “I agree with you that Melissa should take the twins and go but nobody is chasing me out of my home.”

  Henry nodded, as if unsurprised by his mother’s decision to stay put. He returned his attention to Melissa. “The latest weather report I heard said that the snow is going to stick around for at least another twenty-four to forty-eight hours, so pack enough things to last you and the boys for a couple of days.”

  “But what about you?” Melissa asked. She wanted him to come with them, to leave this place of danger and hide out with her someplace where she knew he’d be safe.

  “I’ll be fine as long as I know you and the twins are safe.” He took James from her arms. “Come on, I’ll go up and help you get your things together.”

  “I’m going to head out to the shed,” Randy said. “It’s been long enough now I imagine whoever threw that bomb is long gone.”

  “And I’ll wait here with Mrs. Randolf,” Charlie added.