by Judy Duarte
Clay couldn’t hear what the guy had to say, but he was able to watch Rickie’s expression and hear her side of the conversation.
Rickie’s eyes grew wide, and she tightened her grip on the phone. “That’s amazing. Where is she?”
She listened for a while, then asked, “Where is that?”
A couple of beats later, she said, “Just a minute.” Then she looked at Clay’s mother. “Sandra, can you please get me a pen and paper?”
His mom jumped right on it. She hurried to open a kitchen drawer, pulled out a pad and pencil then handed them to her. Moments later, Rickie took note of something the investigator said.
Clay continued to listen as Rickie made several oohs and aahs.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this, Darren. How much do I owe you?” Rickie glanced at Clay and grinned. “He did, huh? That was very sweet of him.”
Clay shrugged. He’d told Poncho to tell the PI that he’d take care of expenses. At the time, he’d wanted to see Rickie happy. Hell, he still did. But he also had another motive. If her sister came around, that meant she wouldn’t need him or his mother to be her support system, right? At least, that’s what he’d told himself.
Once Rickie ended the call, she burst into a bubbly laugh, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. The happy variety, he assumed.
“Lainie is definitely alive and doing well. In fact, she’s married now, and her new husband hired a different PI to look for me. But because of the closed adoption, he ran into a dead end.”
“So where is your sister now?” Mom asked. “Do you have a phone number?”
“She and her husband are on a Disney cruise with their three little boys. Can you believe it? She has her own family now.”
“Goodness,” Mom said. “She’s been awfully busy. Did she have triplets?”
Rickie laughed. “I don’t have too many details, but according to the PI, Lainie and her husband met while she worked at a ranch. The two of them took in three young brothers as foster kids. Then once they got married, they proceeded to adopt them. It was final last week, so they took the kids on that cruise to celebrate.”
“She sounds like a wonderful, loving woman,” Mom said. “I like her already and can’t wait to meet her. When will she get back?”
“I don’t know. About a week. So I’ll have to wait to talk to her after she gets home.”
“Where’s home?” Clay asked.
“In Brighton Valley. Can you believe it? She’s not too far from here. And neither is the place where she used to live. It’s a home for retired cowboys called the Rocking Chair Ranch, and she still spends a lot of time there. Do you know where it is?”
“I’ve heard of it,” Clay said. “My buddy Matt, the guy we call Duck, rides bulls on the circuit. The last time I talked to him, he mentioned that he’s going to take part in the Rocking Chair Rodeo, a local event that will promote the ranch, as well as a group home for abused and neglected children.”
“This is amazing,” Rickie said. “My sister has done pretty well for herself—a husband and a family. That’s all she and I ever wanted when we were kids. Well, that and being together.”
“I know how you feel.” His mother gave Rickie an affectionate hug. “I’m so happy for you.”
Actually, so was Clay. And he was glad he’d played a small part in it.
Rickie stepped away from his mom, her eyes sparkling. “You know what? I think I’ll drive out to that ranch tomorrow after I finish working at the clinic. My sister won’t be there, but at least I can see a place that’s important to her. And I can meet some of the people she cares about. That will make me feel close to her.”
For some reason, that made sense to Clay. Rickie had believed that her twin sister had died sixteen years ago. And now that she’d learned the truth, she had to be eager to reconnect.
And wasn’t that good news for him?
“A home for retired cowboys sounds like a really cool place,” Rickie said. “I’m looking forward to seeing it.”
Actually, Clay had thought the idea was pretty cool when Duck had mentioned it. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll meet you at the clinic. Then we can drive together so you don’t have to go on your own.”
Those glistening, honey-brown eyes and that bright smile damn near turned him inside out.
“You’d do that for me?” she asked.
“Yeah.” He’d actually been doing a lot for her in the past two weeks. He wasn’t the least bit sorry, but he wished he knew why he felt compelled to keep offering.
Just minutes ago he’d convinced himself to take a step back. But for some crazy reason, he’d done the opposite once again.
He hoped he hadn’t unwittingly stepped into a mire of emotional quicksand, but it was too late to backpedal now.
* * *
True to his word, Clay showed up at the clinic at twenty minutes after four. Rickie had already asked if she could take off a half hour early, and Glory had agreed.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“Yes, but will you come with me for a minute?”
“Sure.”
She led him to the back office so she could introduce him to her boss. Moments later, she found Glory seated at the desk in her office. “Dr. Davidson, this is my...friend Clay Masters.”
Clay extended his hand in greeting. “It’s nice to meet you, Doctor. Rickie speaks highly of you.”
The doctor took Clay’s hand and smiled. “Please, call me Glory. I’ve heard some nice things about you, too.”
They made small talk for a moment or two. Then Rickie said, “If we want to get to the ranch before the dinner hour, we’d better go.”
Five minutes later, they’d climbed into Clay’s pickup and were on their way.
“I have a question,” Rickie said.
“Shoot.”
“I know that Poncho is actually Detective Adam Santiago. And you mentioned that Duck’s name is Matt. How’d he get that nickname?”
“The cheerleaders used to tell Matt that he had a sexy stride. Poncho and I didn’t want him to get too full of himself, so we told him we thought he walked like a duck. And the name stuck.”
Rickie laughed. “I would have liked knowing you guys as teenagers.”
At that, Clay laughed, too. “I don’t know about that. You might not have liked us. We were pretty rowdy back then.”
The pickup slowed, and Clay turned into the entrance to the Rocking C. They followed a long driveway to the ranch house, where a couple of elderly men sat in rockers on the big wraparound porch.
As they got out of the car and headed to the house, one of the old guys scrunched his brow and hollered out to Rickie. “I thought you went on a cruise, Lainie. What’d you do with Drew and the kids?”
“I’m not Lainie,” she said. “I’m her twin sister, Erica.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” The balding old man wearing worn jeans and bedroom slippers got to his feet, reached for his cane and made his way toward her. After giving her a closer look, he chuckled. “You look exactly like her.”
Before Rickie could respond, an older woman wearing an apron stepped out onto the porch. The moment she spotted Rickie, her lips parted. “Lainie... What happened? You’re not supposed to...” She paused and scanned Rickie’s length. Apparently, she noted the baby bump, because she laughed and said, “You must be Lainie’s twin sister.”
“That’s right. I’m Erica Campbell.”
“I’m so happy to finally meet you.” The older woman, whose hair was a pretty shade of red, probably dyed, stepped off the porch and closed the gap between them. “Your sister told me all about you, and I’d been hoping and praying that she’d find you. I’m Joy Darnell, the ranch cook. My husband, Sam, is the foreman.”
Rickie again introduced Clay as her friend, hoping he’d correct her, but he didn’t.
“Lainie will be so sorry she missed you,” Joy said.
“I knew she wouldn’t be here. I was just so eager to connec
t with her that I wanted a chance to see where she used to live and to talk someone who knows her.”
“Well, I’m glad you did. We love Lainie here, so it’s a special treat to meet you. Would you like to stay for dinner? There’s plenty for both of you.”
“No, but thank you. We only stopped by for a minute. And to leave my phone number with you. Please let my sister know I was here, and if one of you will call me as soon as she gets home, I’ll come back to the ranch to see her.”
“Of course I will. It’ll be my pleasure.”
After saying their goodbyes, Rickie and Clay returned to his pickup and headed back to the clinic, where she’d left her car.
“Did it help you to visit the Rocking C?” Clay asked.
“Yes, it did. Thanks for taking me.”
“No problem.”
Rickie inhaled softly and slowly let it out, releasing the memories of past hurts and disappointment. Instead, she would focus on her many recent blessings. She seemed to be acquiring a long list of them.
“Now at Thanksgiving,” she said, “when we sit around the table eating turkey and stuffing, I’ll have one more thing to be thankful for.”
Clay merely nodded and continued to drive.
Life was certainly coming together for her, and she had Clay to thank for that. Sandra, too. The woman had been more than kind. She’d welcomed Rickie into her home and her heart with open arms.
“I don’t know if your mother told you,” Rickie said, “but she invited me to stay at the Bar M after the babies come. That way she can babysit while I work. I told her I’d have to talk to you first.”
“Seriously?” he asked.
The surprise in his tone was laced with irritation, which took her aback. “Is there a problem?”
“Not really. It’s just that...” He sucked in a deep breath, then blew it out in an exaggerated huff. “My mom should have run that idea past me before talking to you.”
Rickie flinched, and her heart crumpled. If Clay was upset that his mother issued the invitation to stay at the ranch, it was because he wouldn’t have made the offer on his own. She probably should wait it out and let him explain, but that wasn’t necessary.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I won’t take your mother up on the offer. That’s why I told her that I’d talk it over with you first. But you’ve made it clear, once again, that you want to keep me at arm’s distance.”
Clay clicked his tongue and shot a glance across the seat at her. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Oh, no? I keep getting flashbacks of the other times you withdrew from me, starting when I visited you at Tripler. You practically ordered me from your hospital room.”
“I was in pain. And I’d just received bad news.”
She nodded. “I know. And at the time, I convinced myself that was the reason you were so rude and unfeeling. But now I know differently.”
His brow furrowed and he cut another glance her way. “What are you talking about?”
She crossed her arms, resting them on her belly. “It’s what you always do, Clay. Remember that day at the ranch, when I came to tell you about the babies? You were a jerk then, too.”
“Oh, come on, Rickie. The news blindsided me.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s what you said when you apologized, and I bought your explanation then.”
“It was the truth,” he said.
“Only partially. But there’s more to it than that. I gave you the benefit of the doubt before, but I’m not going to do that anymore. You don’t deal very well with your emotions, and you pull away from anything or anyone who might force you to face what you’re really feeling.”
He gawked at her as if she’d blindsided him once again. But these days she needed someone who loved her, someone who would stick by her no matter what life threw their way. And a guy who skated around his emotions wasn’t going to fit the bill.
Yet while she’d come to that easy conclusion and realized she needed to cut her losses, his harsh reaction, his rejection, still hurt something fierce, making it almost difficult to breathe.
“Like I told you before,” she said, “I don’t need you and I don’t want anything from you. Whatever we had is over.”
“Slow down, Rickie. You’re getting all riled up. I never suggested ending things. At least, not completely.”
There he went again, withdrawing. Building walls between them.
“No, Clay,” she said. “It’s better this way. I can’t take the emotional roller coaster. But for the record, I plan to maintain a friendship with your mom. She’ll be the grandmother to my kids, the only one they’ll have. So I’m going to nurture a relationship that will benefit my children.”
As Clay pulled into the clinic parking lot, he said, “You took my comment the wrong way.”
“Did I?” She all but rolled her eyes and slowly shook her head. “I told you before. I can parent the twins on my own—and I can support them, too.”
He swore under his breath. “You’re letting your hormones get away from you.”
“The hell I am. Don’t minimize my feelings. At least I can face mine.”
Clay parked next to her car and let his engine idle. “Let’s talk about this when we get back to the ranch.”
As emotion balled up in her throat, and tears filled her eyes, she turned away from him, unwilling to let him see how badly he’d hurt her. Without another word, she reached for her purse, got out and closed the passenger door. He didn’t drive away. Instead, he waited for her to slide behind the wheel of her sedan and start the ignition. Only then did he put his truck in gear.
But instead of driving back to the Bar M, as he’d assumed she would, Rickie headed home, tears streaming down her face, her chest aching as if her heart had cracked right down the middle.
She meant what she’d said when she told Clay she could live without him in her life. And she would.
Only trouble was, she’d fallen in love with him. And it hurt something awful to realize her dreams of a loving relationship with her babies’ father had been dashed.
Rickie continued to cry and grumble all the way to Jeffersville. When she got within a mile of city limits, a flatbed truck loaded down with hay pulled out in front of her and made a turn to the right. The bales hadn’t been tied down properly, so they shifted. Several tumbled onto the street.
Rickie swerved to avoid them, but the car spun out of control, swirling her around like a carnival ride until she slammed into a light pole.
Dazed, she tried to think, to react. But her head hurt. When she reached up and fingered her brow, she felt the sticky flow of blood. She blinked a couple of times, trying to clear her thoughts.
A sharp cramp struck low in her belly, tightening. She adjusted the seat belt, hoping that would help it ease up.
Someone—his face was a blur—opened the driver’s door. “Lady, are you okay?”
She nodded, but apparently he didn’t believe her. He whipped out his cell phone and called 911.
Minutes later, another pain sliced low in her belly. A contraction? Something was terribly wrong.
Fear gripped her like never before. God help her. If she was going to lose the babies, she needed a hand to hold. Clay probably wouldn’t approve, but she didn’t give a rip about that. She’d grown close to his mother, who’d become a friend—and the only one she had, it seemed. So she fumbled in her purse and pulled out her cell phone, then called Sandra.
By the time she answered, Rickie heard sirens in the distance. “I’ve been in a car accident. I’m going to be taken to the hospital in Jeffersville. Will you please come?”
“Oh my God. Are you okay?”
“I...don’t know. I think so.”
“I’ll be right there, sweetie. Does Clay know? If not, I’ll call him on his cell.”
“Please don’t. We had a big fight, and I’d rather he didn’t know anything about this.”
Sandra paused. “Don’t worry. You have enough to worry about, so I won’t.
I’m just grabbing my keys and leaving now.”
“Thank you, Sandra. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Everything will be fine. I’m sure of it.”
Maybe so, but right now, with fear of losing the babies gripping her, she had every reason to doubt that things would ever be okay again.
Chapter Twelve
After ordering a large cup of black coffee and a chocolate éclair at Poncho’s favorite doughnut shop, Clay took a seat across the white Formica table from his old high school friend. They sat in silence for a moment or two until Poncho finally asked, “So what was it you wanted to talk about?”
Clay blew out a weary sigh. “Rickie and I got into an argument earlier today. I tried to apologize—or explain—but she didn’t want to hear it.”
Poncho took a sip of coffee. “So you’re looking for a voice of reason?”
“Pretty much.” Clay needed to vent to someone he trusted.
“So what upset her?”
“To begin with, my mom and Rickie have become best friends, which doesn’t sit well with me.”
Poncho eyed Clay the way a highway patrolman assessed the driver of a speeding car. “Why would that bother you? I’d think it would make your life a lot easier.”
“Maybe it will.” Clay reached for his heat-resistant paper cup, yet he didn’t take a drink. “But for some crazy reason, it feels like they’re plotting something behind my back.”
Poncho leaned forward. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. Nothing yet. But it won’t take long. They’ll team up against me one of these days.” Clay raked his hand through his hair. “Now me? I can handle whatever comes my way. But what about the twins? Those two women are going to try and put the kibosh on everything those kids want to do.”
Poncho sat back, a wry grin tickling his lips. “You managed to rebel and do your own thing.”
“Yeah, but it was always an uphill battle.” Clay took a bite of his éclair, but the chocolaty treat did little to soften or sweeten his mood. “When Rickie told me that my mother had invited her to live at the ranch after the babies were born, that really sent me over the edge.”
