Chapter Four

      When Chloe entered Fred’s a half hour later, Wyatt Sanders was already seated at a window booth which overlooked the encroaching woods at the back of the building.

      As she and the twins approached the booth, he stood and said, “I see you made it. Thank you for coming.”

      He was smiling again, and that bothered Chloe. Mainly because it seemed so genuine and she wasn’t quite ready to believe in this man’s sincerity. “My shopping took a little longer than I anticipated. I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”

      The smile deepened and Chloe felt an urgent need to draw a deeper breath.

      “I have nothing else to do,” he said, then looked down at the twins. “Where are the babies going to sit?”

      Chloe glanced over her shoulder to a spot where the high chairs were usually stored. She was thankful there were two empty ones. “If you’ll be kind enough to get a couple of those high chairs, we’ll put them at the end of the table.”

      Wyatt fetched the chairs and Chloe quickly strapped each baby inside. Both children seemed to know they were in store for a treat. They each squealed with excitement and pounded the trays across their laps with chubby hands.

      Chloe had just taken a seat across from Wyatt when a waitress arrived. Chloe quickly ordered a hot fudge sundae for herself and a bowl of vanilla ice cream for the twins. Wyatt simply wanted coffee.

      After the woman had left, Wyatt said, “I really do appreciate your meeting me like this. I know it’s not something you particularly wanted to do.”

      No. Meeting Wyatt Sanders for any reason wasn’t on her list of want-to-dos. But had she really had a choice in the matter?

      “Whatever you might think, I’m not insensitive to the fact that the twins are your niece and nephew.”

      His dark brows rose with faint surprise. “Well, whatever you might think, the fact that I’m their uncle means a lot to me.”

      Her eyes connected with his and she felt a jolt rock her all the way down to her toes. “Your being here proves that to me,” she said, then deliberately turned her attention to the twins, who were still making a loud but happy ruckus.

      Wyatt was trying hard not to stare at the soft profile of her face, when she turned back to him and asked, “Have you ever been to this part of the state before?”

      “No. I’ve done a lot of traveling in the past few years, some of it overseas, but I must admit I’ve never been here before.”

      The waitress appeared with their orders. After she’d placed them on the table and left, Wyatt went on, “Until I was notified of her death, I really had no idea my sister was in New Mexico. The last time I spoke to her, she told me she was in Vail, Colorado, and that she was planning on taking an extended vacation to Europe. That was over a year ago. Since then I tried contacting her at several of her old addresses, but I never heard a word.”

      Like judging good horseflesh, Chloe could usually tell when a person was lying outright. In this case, she believed Wyatt was being entirely truthful.

      Picking up a plastic spoon, she offered Anna a bite of the ice cream. Once the little girl had downed it, she did the same for Adam.

      “Didn’t that worry you?” she asked Wyatt. “Not hearing from Belinda at all?”

      Shrugging, Wyatt sipped his coffee, then said, “I wasn’t particularly uneasy about it. You should understand that my sister was…well, you might say she was a free spirit of sorts.”

      “You didn’t see her often?”

      He lowered his coffee cup onto the tabletop. “Not after she divorced. She moved away from Houston and traveled from place to place. I think that helped her get over the break from her husband. At least that’s what she implied.”

      Chloe couldn’t help but be intrigued by this man and the woman who had turned her father’s head. “But Vail and Europe? How could she live like that? I know my father was sending her money. But not that sort of money!”

      It didn’t take Wyatt but a moment to see what a chore it was to feed two babies at once. He motioned his head toward the bowl of ice cream.

      “You’re never going to get to take a bite of your sundae. Why don’t you let me feed Adam?”

      Him feed a baby? She shot him a skeptical look. “Do you know how to feed a baby?”

      His tanned face took on a ruddy tinge. “Well, I haven’t ever actually fed one, but it doesn’t look that complicated. Just stick the spoon up to his mouth and let him do the rest.”

      It was on the tip of Chloe’s tongue to turn down his offer. But for some reason, the idea struck her that it might do him good to see what caring for a baby, even in this small way, would be like.

      Deliberately, she tucked more napkins around the neck of Adam’s T-shirt and overall bib, then handed Wyatt another spoon. “Okay, you’re welcome to give it a try,” she told him.

      Eager, but tentative, Wyatt scooped up a spoonful of ice cream and stuck it up to Adam’s lips. At first the boy was so intrigued by the idea of being fed by a stranger, he merely stared, mouth closed, at Wyatt.

      “What’s the matter with him? He was eating fine for you.”

      Chloe kept a smug smile to herself. “He doesn’t know you. Would you let a stranger poke something into your mouth?”

      Wyatt frowned as he watched little Anna open her lips and smack the ice cream from Chloe’s spoon.

      “Okay, young man,” he said to the cherub-faced little boy. “I’m your Uncle Wyatt. I’m not a stranger. It’s perfectly safe to eat what I give you.”

      Adam cocked his head to one side, looked at his sister and Chloe, then burst out with a string of coos and giggles.

      Wyatt lowered the spoon. “He thinks I’m funny.”

      Chloe chuckled softly. “He thinks you’re different.”

      He glanced across the table at her. She was feeding herself now, digging the thick fudge off the bottom of the plastic bowl. Even though she ate daintily, he could see she was relishing every bite. It was a refreshing sight for Wyatt. Most of the women he knew considered picking at a plate of lettuce and bean sprouts to be eating a meal.

      “Are the twins not used to being around men?” he asked.

      “My brothers-in-law, Harlan and Roy, see the twins most everyday,” she assured him, then motioned her head toward the spoon of melting ice cream in his hand. “Offer it to him again. He’s had time to think about you now.”

      “All right, little buddy,” he said to Adam. “Here it is. Don’t just look at it. Eat it.”

      Adam complied this time and Wyatt breathed a sigh of relief. He was a grown man and he’d been assuring this woman the twins would be better off in his care. It wouldn’t look good if he couldn’t even manage to feed the baby a spoonful of ice cream.

      “You were wondering about Belinda’s finances,” he began, as Adam continued to eat the ice cream from the spoon. “Well, at one time my sister had enough money to go to Europe or wherever she wanted.”

      “You say she had the money at one time. When was that?” she asked as she continued to feed