Fortune's Lone Star Twins
Auteur
Teri Wilson
Lezers
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Hoofdstukken
15
Harlequin
HarlequinChapter One
“Bless your heart, Tabitha. Do you have any plans for Mother’s Day later this month?”
Tabitha Buckingham bristled as Courtney Riddle blinked her tacky eyelash extensions in her general direction. The other four moms in her weekly moms-of-multiples playgroup immediately followed suit, blessing Tabitha’s pathetic little heart in silent unison.
For the record, her heart wasn’t pathetic, and it most definitely didn’t need to be blessed. Here in Texas, that saying was more often a passive-aggressive insult than an expression of genuine concern. Tabitha had lived in the Lone Star State her entire life. She knew Texas girl snark when she heard it.
Or maybe Tabitha was simply so well acquainted with this specific form of regional vernacular because her heart had been blessed on a daily basis for the past nineteen months straight.
The other playgroup moms meant well. All of the members of the group had met during their pregnancies at a special Lamaze class for moms of multiples. After navigating the ups and downs of their unique pregnancies together, they’d decided to keep the group intact and start visiting once a week for baby playdates. While the moms sat cross-legged in a big circle, the babies and toddlers crawled, pulled up and played with a variety of brightly colored toys in the center of Courtney’s expansive playroom. Tabitha didn’t know what she would’ve done without the other moms—with the obvious exception of today’s host, who never missed a chance to remind Tabitha that she was the only single mother in their ranks.
What, exactly, was Courtney’s point? It wasn’t as if Tabitha could forget.
Hmm, I haven’t seen the father of my children in a while. I wonder where he is...
Oh, that’s right. He died before I could even tell him I was pregnant. Silly me, his brutal murder must have slipped my mind.
She could chalk a lot of mental fog up to baby brain, particularly in the early months just after the twins had been born, but Tabitha had never once forgotten what had become of West Fortune. Bless her heart, sometimes she really wished she could.
“It’s okay, hon. We know that West would do something sweet for you for Mother’s Day if he was still here.” Patsy Mercer, one of Tabitha’s best friends in the playgroup, reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. “God rest his soul.”
Tabitha’s throat went thick at the mention of West’s name. She didn’t care a whit about being pampered on Mother’s Day, though. Courtney had just waxed poetic for five full minutes about how she expected her husband to make her breakfast in bed for the special day. “Real, homemade waffles, not the frozen kind,” she’d been sure to specify with a loaded glance at Tabitha.
On the one-year anniversary of West’s death, Tabitha had broken down crying in the frozen food aisle of GreatStore, the big box store that was the only place in town to buy groceries. Time had been such a blur of round-the-clock feedings and diaper changes that she’d regularly lost track of what day of the week it was, much less the exact calendar date. But then she’d glanced at the expiration date on a box of frozen waffles and somehow, she’d known. Her soul had known, even though she’d done her level best not to dwell on West’s passing. She had twin infants to raise, a home to take care of and a small web design business to run—all by herself. Her former fiancé was gone, and nothing was going to bring him back.
Of course Courtney had stumbled upon Tabitha’s rare moment of weakness in the grocery store and taken the opportunity to remind her that organic, homemade waffles were far healthier for growing babies than processed, frozen alternatives. Tabitha had simply blinked away her tears and pretended to listen while her mind spun with memories of West’s gruff laugh, his deep Texas drawl and the way her heart always turned over in her chest when he glanced up at her from beneath the brim of his black Stetson. Tabitha had always teased him about his black hat. He’d been an attorney—a county prosecutor. Quite literally, one of the good guys.
Black Stetson notwithstanding.
Tabitha had refused to keep listening to Courtney’s lecture about proper nutrition for children while memories of West tugged at her heartstrings. In the end, she’d tossed the box of waffles into her shopping basket with a tad too much force and pushed her cart straight past Courtney, accidentally rolling over the pointy toe of the other mom’s designer shoe in the process. That little mortifying incident had taken place more than six months ago, but the pesky woman obviously wasn’t ready to let it go.
“It’s fine,” Tabitha said around the lump in her throat. “We’re fine. The twins and I have plans with my sisters for Mother’s Day.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Tabitha had no such plans with Lily and Haley...yet. She and her triplet sisters had been separated as infants after their parents were killed in a car accident, but they’d reconnected now as adults. Lily and Haley had even been Tabitha’s birthing coaches. She made a mental note to call them and set something up.
“What are you doing for Mother’s Day, Patsy?” Tabitha cast a beseeching glance at her friend in an effort to steer the conversation away from West’s gaping absence.
Mother’s Day, she could handle. Thinking about West and how different everything would be if he hadn’t been shot and killed by a vengeful ex-con he’d helped put in prison? Not so much.
Patsy brightened. “We’re having a Mother’s Day brunch with my parents after church on Sunday. Last year Gabe gave Mom and me matching orchid corsages to wear for the day.”
The mom sitting on Patsy’s other side pressed a hand to her heart. “I just love that sweet Southern tradition.”
Tabitha nodded and awwwed along with the rest of the group, even though she’d completely forgotten that Mother’s Day corsages were a thing. Something told her she wouldn’t be getting a flower to pin to her dress this year.
“You know what? This morning has been crazy. The boys didn’t get their regular nap before we came today.” Tabitha stood. She needed to get out of here. This nagging sense of wistfulness was getting to be too much. Because, truth be told, she had no reason whatsoever to expect that things would’ve been different even if West were still alive. “I should get Zach and Zane and put them down for a bit before it gets too close to dinnertime.”
“Are you sure? The boys seem fine,” Patsy said, casting a glance toward the center of the room where the twins were pounding the colorful keys of a musical activity table with their pudgy little hands. One of Courtney’s little girls toddled between them, playing along nicely with Zane and Zach. Thankfully, Courtney’s twins hadn’t seemed to inherit the mean girl gene. Not yet, anyway.
“You know how it is. Kids can be fine one minute and cranky the next,” Tabitha said as she maneuvered the boys into their double stroller. Zane grinned up at her, and for a second, his eyes looked so much like his daddy’s that Tabitha’s smile went wobbly. She swallowed. Hard. “Sorry to cut things short this time.”
Courtney stood to walk Tabitha to the door. Playgroup never met at Tabitha’s house because her tiny two-bedroom home in Chatelaine’s town center was already a tight squeeze with two babies—never mind ten more.
“Don’t you worry a bit about having to go. I just can’t imagine how difficult things must be for you, doing it all on your own.” Courtney batted her ridiculous eyelashes, and Tabitha’s teeth ground together.
Don’t say it. Please don’t... I’m begging you.
“Bless your heart.”
Tabitha made three full loops around Chatelaine in her small SUV before heading to her house near the center of town. Full disclosure: she hadn’t exactly been truthful about the twins missing their morning nap time. The boys had slept like little angels while she’d gotten caught up on a website design project for a new client based in San Antonio.
But after the onslaught of feelings at playgroup, she could use a little quiet time before she jumped back into her workday. Tabitha doubted she’d get much accomplished today, anyway. The high school student who usually helped her out with the twins in the afternoons had recently given her notice because she’d made the cheerleading squad. Tabitha was thrilled for her, of course. In small-town Texas, football and cheerleading were Very Big Deals. Unfortunately, juggling two babies while also working at home wasn’t exactly small potatoes either.
Like most babies, Zach and Zane loved the soothing motion of a moving automobile, so taking the scenic route home seemed like a mighty fine idea. Not that there was much to see in Chatelaine, which by Texas-sized standards, was truly a one-horse town. Aside from GreatStore and the Chatelaine Museum, the only highlights were the collection of grand, arched gates that led to tree-lined paths and sprawling ranches just outside of town. And the mines, of course.
For a while, Chatelaine had attracted prospectors and fortune hunters, convinced the town held an underground treasure trove of gold, silver and copper. That had been years ago—way before Tabitha’s time. The mining operations came to an abrupt end after a terrible tragedy in 1965 when one of the mines collapsed, but tourists and hikers still came to town to explore the abandoned mines. Some of the properties featured guided tours and gift shops. Tabitha’s stomach rumbled as she passed a hand-painted sign advertising homemade fudge at one such establishment.
Nope. She made an abrupt U-turn and guided the car back toward home. Not going there—not today of all days.
The last gift West had given her had been a batch of fudge from that very shop. “Sweets, because I’m sweet on you,” he’d said as he’d handed her the white box, tied with a pink satin ribbon. When she’d opened it, she’d found an engagement ring nestled inside, sparkling like mad among the chocolate. Tabitha still wore the ring on a chain around her neck, tucked beneath her clothes so no one could see. Her little secret.
Which definitely needed to stop. She had no right to wear that diamond solitaire anymore, but after West died, she simply couldn’t bring herself to stop. Even if sometimes it made her feel like the biggest fraud in the world.
“We were broken up,” she whispered.
Tabitha had only uttered those words out loud a handful of times. For months after West’s murder, she hadn’t told a soul. Why would she? West was the love of her life. Breaking off their engagement had been the hardest choice Tabitha had ever made, and when she’d finally done it—once she’d finally managed to tell him that they couldn’t have a future if he didn’t want children—it had all been for nothing. West had been shot and killed the very next morning before anyone found out they were no longer getting married. And irony of ironies, completely unbeknownst to her, Tabitha had already been pregnant with West’s babies.
Once she found out she was pregnant, she’d confided in her sisters about the breakup. Recently, she’d also shared the truth with Bea Fortune, West’s cousin. Bea had been over visiting the twins and blurted out that she’d recently discovered she was pregnant. Entrusted with Bea’s news, Tabitha had shared her secret truth, as well. But they were the only three people who knew.
Tabitha’s memories of the night before West’s murder felt so surreal now, almost like a fever dream, and she couldn’t force herself to face them. When snippets of their breakup came back to her during the funeral, she’d nearly vomited in the church pew. Later that afternoon, after she’d watched the two little lines appear on an at-home pregnancy test, she’d taken her engagement ring out of her nightstand drawer and slid it onto the delicate chain West had given her the previous Christmas. Both the necklace and the ring were crafted from gold from a mine owned by the Fortune family out in West Texas—not the Chatelaine mine, but another one that held hidden treasures deep underground. In the beginning, Tabitha had loved wearing something with such a meaningful family connection. But now, after the split and West’s shocking death, it seemed like a bad omen—as if her engagement ring had been cursed by the same twist of fate that had brought down the mine in Chatelaine all those years ago.
“We were broken up,” she said again, louder this time. Maybe if she repeated it enough times, she’d finally internalize the truth and those fleeting, what-could-have-been fantasies would stop invading her thoughts in her most vulnerable moments.
One of the twins stirred at the sound of her voice, and Tabitha stole a glance at the rearview mirror. Zach’s tiny rosebud mouth puckered and he let out a whimper.
“It’s okay,” she soothed. “Don’t cry, sweetie. Everything’s okay. We’re all okay.”
Because they were okay. She and her babies were just fine on their own. Tabitha had experienced another silly moment of weakness, that’s all.
Still, she tugged the chain from beneath the collar of her blouse and wrapped her fingers around her engagement ring, squeezing it tight. The metal was warm from resting in the secret place against her heart. She held it for a beat, savoring her good memories of West—clinging to them while once again pushing their breakup to the back of her mind, one last time.
Zach settled back into a quiet sleep as the car crawled through tiny downtown Chatelaine, and Tabitha let out a sigh as she turned onto her street. She was happy to be home—away from the wistfulness that had come over her at playgroup and back to her normal life with her boys. All she’d ever wanted was to be a mom. She knew she was lucky to have been adopted after her parents’ accident, even if it meant being separated from her sisters. But her adoptive parents had always held her at arm’s length, and Tabitha had yearned to feel like part of a real family for as long as she could remember.
And now she was. The twins were everything to her. What more could she possibly want?
She shifted the SUV into Park and gathered her purse, phone and diaper bag before climbing out of the car. It always took three separate trips to unload everyone and everything after an outing, so she left the windows unrolled. The twins slept soundly while a spring breeze ruffled their soft, downy hair.
Tabitha had just finished fiddling with her key ring and grabbing hold of the house key when she looked up and saw a man sitting on her front steps.
“Oh.” She stopped dead in her tracks.
Was she seeing things? Why was there a stranger on her porch? And why was he wearing a black Stetson pulled down low to cover his face?
Tabitha’s heart thudded so hard and fast that she couldn’t breathe. The diaper bag slid from her shoulder and fell to the ground with a thud.
West.
No. It couldn’t be. That was impossible. Lots of men wore cowboy hats around here. This was Texas, after all.
She blinked hard, squared her shoulders and marched forward. But her hands trembled so badly that her keys jangled like church bells.
“Can I help you?” she managed to sputter.
That hat...that sculpted jawline...those impossibly broad shoulders. They were all so familiar that Tabitha wanted to drop everything, sprint toward the stranger and throw herself into his arms.
Thankfully, she still had enough sense to realize she shouldn’t. Couldn’t. Dead ex-fiancés just didn’t appear from thin air and pop up out of nowhere. She hadn’t somehow conjured the father of her children simply because she’d been thinking about him. Tabitha didn’t know what was going on, exactly, but one thing was certain. Whoever this man was, he wasn’t West Fortune.
But then he lifted his head and aimed his attention squarely at her. His eyes were covered with sunglasses. Aviators, like West had always worn. And even though Tabitha couldn’t see past the dark lenses, she could feel his stare. It burned into her with the heat of a thousand Texas summers.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the man stood and walked toward her. Tabitha felt like she was looking at him through a long, dark tunnel. Her head went fuzzy, and she couldn’t hear anything but her pulse throbbing in her ears. Thump, thump, thump. Then he removed the sunglasses, his gaze collided with hers and Tabitha’s knees turned to water.
“Hi there, darlin’.” His voice was quiet. Tender. And his expression bore only a ghost of a smile.
It was him.
How?
Why?
What was happening?
“West?” she breathed, and then the whole world tilted sideways as she slunk to the pavement.
