Cowboys & Babies Volume 1 From Harlequin: The Texas Ranger's TwinsA Baby in the BunkhouseA Cowgirl's Secret

by Tina Leonard

  “You’ll get it all figured out one day, Dane. The right answer will come to you. In the meantime, let’s get you that popcorn and water for the girls.”

  He blinked, following her quite a bit more docilely than she’d expected. “They can’t have popcorn?”

  “I’ve got animal crackers in my purse I’m going to give them.”

  He stopped her again. “Why did you come with me?”

  Because I wanted to. I wanted to know why your face was frozen with unhappiness. Now I know—but I wish I didn’t.

  When she didn’t reply, a loose, slow grin spread over his face. “You like me, Suzy Winterstone,” he said with a wink, “even if you deny it.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I won’t deny it, I won’t admit it, I don’t even care what you think. You are just what your father said—an arrogant ass.”

  Dane tugged her blond hair gently and grinned. Suzy’s breath caught as the sexy man touched her, then she pushed her darkest secret deeper inside her.

  She might like him, but there would never be anything between them.

  “WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH YOU two out there?” Pete demanded. “You took forever, so I came to see what the holdup was before the girls started crying for their mother, and you and Suzy were standing out there whispering like naughty children.”

  Dane scooted in next to his brother, noticing that the suddenly silent Priscilla and the stone-quiet Cricket were seated in front of them with Suzy’s children. He felt as if he wasn’t part of the girls’ club, and he sort of wished he was. He wondered if Suzy would tell her friends about his proposal—he hoped she would so that they could convince her that marrying him was a great idea. “We had some things to settle. Remember, she is the housekeeper.”

  “Oh. So did you tell her how shiny you want the toaster to be? Did you explain what kind of potpourri you prefer in the house?” Dane stared at him. “Don’t kid me. The two of you were jabbering away like your lives depended upon it.”

  “So?” Dane stuffed some popcorn into his mouth and glanced around to make sure everyone had their treats. “Truth is, I asked her to marry me.”

  “Yeah, right,” Pete said. “Don’t think so, bro. She’d have taken your head off.”

  “You think?” She hadn’t, and Dane felt strangely warmed by that.

  “Yup. ’Cause she’s got a thing for me.”

  Dane turned to peer at Pete suspiciously. “She might have a thing, but I doubt it’s for you.”

  Pete shrugged. “It’s true.”

  Dane ate some more popcorn, considering whether his brother was a liar or a great con man or just plain dumb to think Dane would believe such a tale. Why were all of his brothers so ornery?

  He didn’t have to ponder that hard; it was in the family tree. “Well, even if that’s true, you’ll just have to forget about her and pick someone else to fantasize about, like Priscilla or Cricket.” He said their names softly so the ladies wouldn’t overhear—odds were pretty good they wouldn’t appreciate being discussed like ponies.

  “Cricket’s too good. I suspect Priscilla may be high-maintenance,” Pete whispered.

  “Your spy senses are all working today,” Dane said, enjoying getting a dig in. “Pop assigned me to Suzy so you’ll have to butt out.”

  “You’re sounding pretty possessive for a guy who wants to reside in Mexico.”

  “You’re sounding pretty weird for a spy who’s probably got to be in Russia or the Congo next month.”

  “Actually,” Pete said, “I do have to leave soon. Could be any day.”

  Dane blinked, annoyed by the sadness that hit him.

  Putting his popcorn down on the seat beside him, he couldn’t make himself look at Pete. “Work?”

  “Something like that.”

  Great. He couldn’t ask for details—it was all top secret. Classified. Pete’s leaving seemed somehow like a desertion. He didn’t understand feeling that way, because if it were true that Pete liked Suzy, Dane should be relieved to have her all to himself. Shocked, he realized that the old man had gotten to him. It had snuck under his skin when he wasn’t looking—the desire to spend time with his brothers again. A real family, just like Pop wanted. He supposed he should be grateful that he’d seen his brothers at all, but Jack didn’t count, he hadn’t even gotten to say hi to him. Dane had only visited a moment with Gabriel, just long enough to snag some cookies. And now Pete was off, back to Spyland where anything could happen. “Dang,” Dane said, “guess I should be happy that you won’t be around to annoy me.”

  “Guess so,” Pete said.

  He felt a lump in his throat. For some reason, Suzy turned around to look at him, and he couldn’t swallow past the lump as she searched his face with her quick gaze. Then she turned back around to point out the next rider coming out of the chute for Sandra and Nicole. The girls got all excited, but Dane just felt sad. Maybe Pete had been right; the rodeo was a bad idea. It was a carnival of life he simply couldn’t enjoy at the moment. “Remember when you sneaked into my house in Watauga and sat down at the breakfast table?”

  “Yep.” Pete grinned. “The expression on your face was priceless.”

  “Drop in at the ranch any time,” Dane said, managing to keep his tone airy. “I’m better prepared for surprises these days.”

  Pete chuckled. “Good man.”

  “Of course, you could also just call to let me know you’re coming,” he said, but Pete shook his head.

  “It would take all the fun out of it,” Pete said.

  There was more to life than fun. “I want Jack to drop in one day,” he said. “I’d give my million just to see him for five minutes, talk to him like the old days.”

  Pete nodded. “Now that would be a surprise.”

  “Do you think Pop knew that his scheme of being the prodigal father with the great plan was doomed?” Dane asked. “There’s just no way his dream would ever happen.”

  “I think,” Pete said, “that hope springs eternal in the human breast. Let’s just remember to be better fathers if we ever get the chance.”

  Dane blinked. He watched as Pete’s gaze slid to Sandra and Nicole, and then Suzy. Dane’s hackles rose, chasing off all the warmth he’d been feeling about his brother just moments before.

  There it was, that strange, territorial emotion again, something telling him that those little girls needed him to be their father in the worst way.

  Convincing Suzy would be difficult, but he had a lot of experience with difficult.

  “On the other hand,” Pete said slowly, “I think I’ll hang around just a little longer.”

  WHEN THEY LEFT THE RODEO a few hours later, the little girls were worn out. Pete carried Sandra, and Dane carried Nicole, and as they thanked Priscilla for sharing her box, a funny thing happened.

  “You should let us return your kindness, Priscilla,” Suzy said. “Come out and stay with Cricket and me at the ranch for a few days.”

  Dane blinked, caught by surprise. The house was certainly filling up. He glanced at Suzy, wondering if she was deliberately inviting roadblocks because of his business proposal to her. She wouldn’t look at him, and he knew that the nurse was definitely meting out his medicine. He’d kissed her, he’d proposed to her and now he was going to get slipped into the psych ward.

  “I’d love to!” Priscilla exclaimed. “And I happen to have some time off this week.”

  “What do you do?” Dane asked, curious, since Pete seemed frozen to the ground and lacking manners.

  “I’m a manners coach,” Priscilla said brightly. “An etiquette consultant.”

  Pete’s jaw dropped. Dane held in a snicker. He could just see Pete telling Priscilla that he held a dangerous job that involved spying—not polite, probably—stealing—not socially acceptable and possibly even the odd assassin’s role—not done in the best circles. “Great,” Dane said, “come on out. The more the merrier.”

  He didn’t really mean it, he’d like to have Suzy to himself, but if Suzy wanted t
o put space between him and her, he had three hundred sixty-three days to change her mind. One week of Pete and he’d probably look great by comparison. As Priscilla accepted the invitation with a smile, Dane saw Pete’s rather glazed eyes light on Priscilla’s lips and then move lower for just a fraction of a second.

  Ah. Miss Manners and the Cold-Hearted Spy. Life was about to get interesting.

  LIFE WAS SO BORING ONCE Priscilla came to stay at the ranch that Dane thought he was going to go mad. He and Pete had both moved to sleeping at the foreman’s quarters far away from the fun. They’d offered to do so for the comfort of the ladies, and frankly, they didn’t need to be in on every hen session, but he’d been hoping for one or two. Pete was behaving like a restless bear, and Dane hadn’t seen the little girls in over twenty-four hours so he was starting to feel weird. As if he missed them. He missed the action, the constant motion of small feet.

  But then he remembered how quickly and gratefully Suzy had accepted the men’s offer to sleep in the guest quarters and was sorry he’d had the gentlemanly urge. “You’re driving me mad,” he said to Pete.

  “It was a dumb idea you had, sticking us out here, a good half mile from the ladies,” Pete replied.

  “You said it was a great idea!”

  “Well, it was dumb.”

  “How was I to know we’d never get invited up there?” Dane asked, stung. “I thought they’d be so happy we gave up the house that they’d invite us to dinner, maybe for a hay ride—”

  “Right. I think that went out the window with your marriage proposal,” Pete observed. “It feels sort of awkward around here.”

  Dane flung himself onto a sofa. “I don’t care. I’m still ticking off days, so my goals are being met.”

  “Yeah?” Pete lounged across from him. “Still don’t understand why I never got an assignment.”

  “Pop must have run out of eligible females with children.”

  Pete sat up. “You’re right.”

  Dane shrugged. “So what if I am?”

  “It means Pop’s not matchmaking for me.”

  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing, in your calculation?”

  Pete grinned. “It means the field is wide-open.”

  Dane didn’t like the sound of that. “So?”

  “Suzy turned you down.”

  “So?” Dane repeated, glaring. “She might not next time.”

  “And she might not turn me down at all,” Pete told him.

  “Oh, yes, I see. The spy and the little mother, who will be so happy that her husband is away on dangerous assignments all the time, where he can’t be reached and is no help in raising Sandra and Nicole. Don’t think so.”

  “You’re not exactly going to be available from Mexico,” Pete pointed out. “I’m going up there.”

  “Going up where?” Dane asked.

  “To the house.” His brother rose and tucked his shirt into his jeans.

  “We haven’t been invited,” Dane said. “Shouldn’t we be invited?”

  “You can sit around all day waiting for an engraved letter,” Pete told him. “I prefer to storm the fortress.”

  Dane didn’t want Suzy’s battlements breached. “Hey,” he said, hurrying after his brother. “Maybe we—”

  Slowing, he examined his actions. He was acting possessive—it had been a business proposal, right? Not a marriage proposal of love and romance and lifelong dreams. He could offer the same proposal to Priscilla or Cricket, or any other woman. Further, Suzy was a grown woman. She was capable of making her own decisions and, likely, those decisions would not include him. She’d said she wasn’t interested. Maybe she was interested in Pete—and if she was, it didn’t mean anything to Dane.

  It shouldn’t, anyway.

  “You coming?” Pete demanded over his shoulder.

  “You go on,” Dane said. “Think I’ll go find some trouble.”

  Chapter Eight

  There were some who would say that Dane was the more silent of the brothers. Gabriel was the youngest, so of course he had more personality. Raised by older brothers, he’d been pretty much left to his own devices. Plus he liked peace and harmony when he could get it.

  Dane wasn’t sure there was much peace and harmony to be had at the Morgan ranch.

  Pete was the second son, the attention-seeker. He wanted attention, he craved action. Not much of a dedicated student, military life had been great for his sense of adventure. He couldn’t wait to get away from home, and when he did, he traveled all over the world.

  Like Pop.

  Dane was pretty sure one could say that life at the Morgan ranch was pretty dreary for a second son seeking action.

  Jack was the eldest son and, therefore, the most driven. Also the most hardheaded. He and Pop had always butted heads. Jack was going to make his own path, and he didn’t care who agreed with it.

  The Morgan ranch was no place for a man like Jack to twiddle his thumbs.

  As the third son, Dane fell somewhere in the middle of the family hodgepodge. Happy most of the time, daring a lot of the time, independent all of the time. He could also admit to himself that he didn’t like where he was in life; didn’t like that he’d been ripped off by a friend, didn’t like that he was turning out like Pop.

  The instant he realized that, he knew exactly why he’d proposed to Suzy. He’d been looking for the easy way out of a hard dilemma. There were other ways to improve his life, make important changes.

  He got into his truck and headed up the road toward Lonely Hearts Station, home of the nearby rodeo and the last place he’d seen Jack Morgan.

  SUZY HAD SPENT HOURS PONDERING Dane’s unorthodox proposal, and she still didn’t know what to make of it. Part of her knew that he was operating out of a sense of duty to his father. Taking the easy way out, she supposed.

  Part of her wished she could just give in and life could be that easy.

  “So,” Priscilla said, “this is a great place to live, with some minor modifications.”

  Cricket nodded. “It’s much quieter without the Morgan men.”

  They laughed about that.

  “And yet they’re so cute, in their own ways,” Cricket said. She shivered, then grabbed an afghan to wrap around herself. “Let’s bake cookies. When the girls wake up, we can let them decorate.”

  “Oh, that will be some decorating,” Suzy said. “They won’t be pretty, but they’ll be delicious.” She glanced over at Priscilla. “Did I notice you staring at a certain bull-riding cowboy, Cricket?”

  “I looked at all of them,” Cricket said. “What girl in her right mind wouldn’t?”

  “I don’t want a cowboy,” Priscilla said, taking some flour and sugar out of the cupboard. “When I meet Mr. Right, I hope he’s a very rich businessman. Or he definitely won’t be Mr. Right. I was born to give big parties.”

  Suzy nodded and grabbed baking powder and vanilla from a cupboard. “I don’t know what Mr. Right would be for me, but I did receive a marriage proposal this afternoon.” She hadn’t exactly meant to confess that, hugging the secret to her, not sure what to make of it—but it seemed safe now to share it.

  “From Pete?” Cricket asked.

  “Or Dane?” Priscilla asked.

  Pete walked in the room. “Did I hear my name mentioned?” he asked with a grin.

  The three women jumped, their gazes sliding to Suzy. Suzy shook her head at him. “If you stand around eavesdropping, you’ll hear things about yourself you don’t want to hear.”

  Pete grinned. “Like what?”

  “Who knows?” Cricket shrugged at him. “If you didn’t hear it, we’re not sharing.”

  “Well,” he said, his grin mischievous, “I think someone wondered if I’d asked Suzy to marry me.”

  The three women groaned.

  “Very, very impolite,” Priscilla said. “You should be ashamed.”

  “Why? Dane already told me. It wasn’t a newsflash. Anyway, that was about him, not me. Let’s talk about me.” He sat i
n a chair, lounging, his hat pulled low, his smile wide and pleased. “Go ahead,” he prompted. “Continue the conversation. Or I’ll get bored and have to ask Suzy to marry me.”

  Suzy slapped the measuring cups onto the kitchen table. “I think I’ve had just enough talk about Suzy and marriage. Thank you.”

  “Aw,” Pete said. “What else are we going to do out here in the middle of January? Play strip poker?”

  Cricket shook her head. “Cowboy, maybe you better head into Union Junction for the kind of fun you’re obviously hunting.”

  “We could play spin the bottle.” Pete picked up the bottle of vanilla, giving it a spin on the table. “Must be fate. It’s pointing at you, Cricket.”

  “Not me,” Cricket said. “I have no use for wild men in my life.”

  Pete moved the bottle with his finger. “Ah. You, Priscilla?”

  The other ladies giggled, getting drawn into his mischievousness.

  “Not me,” Priscilla said, “I don’t kiss anybody I’m not marrying.”

  “Yikes,” Pete said, swiftly pointing the bottle at Suzy. “Maybe Suzy.”

  Suzy put her hands on her hips. “I’ve already been kissed by your brother. I think that disqualifies me from the game.”

  The room went silent.

  “Dane never told me that,” Pete said.

  “Would you expect him to?” Suzy asked.

  “No,” Pete said. “Is that why you turned him down? He’s not a good kisser? Doesn’t make your heart go pitter-patter? He could probably be trained, you know.”

  Suzy shook her head and grabbed the vanilla from him. “I turned down his proposal because it was dumb and he didn’t mean it. He doesn’t want to cheat his father. He wants to be an honest man.”

  “He wants that, or you do?” Pete asked, and Priscilla snapped at him with a dish towel.

  “Hey, Miss Manners!” Pete exclaimed.

  “You’re being nosy. Go find something to do, cowboy,” Priscilla said.