Cowboy's Triplet Trouble. Carla Cassidy
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helped Grace get the girls settled in the high chairs and then they all sat down to eat. The little girls had bowls with a bit of the casserole and green beans. Grace had retrieved their cups from the diaper bag and they dug into their meal with their usual enthusiasm.
“You didn’t mention where you’re from,” Jake said as he passed her the bowl of green beans.
There was something about the directness of his gaze that she found more than a bit unsettling. Kerri was right. Now that Grace had spent a little time with him she couldn’t imagine how she’d initially thought he was the man who had fathered her girls.
The cowboy she’d met at the wedding had been fun and flirty, with a bit of wildness in his blue eyes. Jake looked harder, his eyes a midnight-blue. He definitely looked as if he’d never lose control enough to drink too much, let alone wind up in a bed with a woman he barely knew.
“Wichita,” she replied.
“Nice place,” Jeffrey said as he buttered a slice of bread. “What do you do there?”
“I’m a third-grade teacher.”
Grace was grateful when the conversation changed from her to the ranch and the work being completed on Jeffrey and Kerri’s house. As the meal and talk progressed it became evident to Grace that Bonnie was flirting with Jake.
Her high chair was next to his chair at the table, and she fluttered her long, thick eyelashes as she cast him one toothy grin after another. He didn’t pay attention until she managed to grab his arm, grin and offer him a slightly smooshed green bean.
Kerri laughed. “Looks as though you have a little admirer, Jake.”
He eyed the green bean as if it was something he’d never seen before in his life and was highly suspicious of where it might have come from. Bonnie gibbered to him and pressed the bean closer.
“Uh … thanks,” he said as he finally took the bean from her and placed it gingerly on the edge of his plate.
Bonnie clapped her hands together in happiness, her button nose wrinkling as she smiled, then fluttered her eyes, making her long dark lashes dance.
Jake focused back on his plate and Grace was thankful he wasn’t the father. He obviously had no interest in children and didn’t appear to have any softness inside him. She definitely wanted more than somebody like him to be a part of her girls’ lives.
She wanted a man who would be unable to resist the flutter of Bonnie’s lashes, the sweetness of Casey’s smiles and Abby’s infectious giggles. She wanted a man who would be unable to resist loving them with all his heart.
The food was good and the conversation was light and easy with Kerri filling most of the awkward silences with friendly chatter. Still, Grace decided if Justin hadn’t shown up by the time lunch was over and she helped with the cleanup, she’d go on to the motel and get settled in there for the night.
She’d intruded enough on these people. Granted they were Abby, Bonnie and Casey’s aunt and uncles, but there was no way to know what part they’d play in each other’s lives until she spoke to Justin.
In the best of worlds, no matter what happened with Justin, these people would want to stay involved with the little girls. But Grace was realistic enough to know that life didn’t always work that way. In fact, in her experience life rarely worked out the way it was supposed to.
The meal was just about finished when Grace’s cell phone rang. It was in the opposite pocket from the gun in her blazer. She recognized the number of the caller and excused herself from the table.
“Natalie,” she said as she answered. “I’m so sorry. I forgot to call when I got here.”
“So, what’s happening? Are you at the right place? Is he wearing a dirty undershirt and tighty whities?”
Grace laughed. “Yes and no. Yes, I’m at the right place, but I’m still waiting to meet with Justin.” She quickly explained about the men being triplets and that she was waiting for the father of the girls to show up at the house. Promising to stay in touch, she ended the call and hurried back into the kitchen.
“I’m so sorry,” she said to the others still seated at the table. “That was my younger sister. I’d promised to call her the minute I arrived here and then promptly forgot to do so. She was worried.”
“You only have the one sister?” Kerri asked.
Grace sat back down in her chair. “Thankfully yes,” she said with a touch of humor. “Natalie is twenty-four, almost ten years younger than me, and some days it feels like I have four children instead of three.”
“What about your parents?” Jeffrey asked.
“We were raised by a single mother and she passed away nine months ago,” Grace replied. She was acutely aware of Jake’s gaze on her. Dark and unreadable, the intensity made her slightly uncomfortable.
“Jake, what’s up?” A familiar deep male voice called from the living room.
Grace’s stomach clenched tight as she realized Justin had arrived. Certainly the friendliness toward her and the children by the people around the table had given her hope, and that hope now surged up inside her.
She wasn’t expecting instant happiness from Justin, but what she was hoping for was some sort of acceptance of the situation and the happiness would come later.
He came into the kitchen. In that first instant of seeing Justin again, Grace couldn’t imagine how she’d mistaken Jake for him. Justin looked younger and his hair was longer and slightly wild with curls.
His blue eyes widened at the sight of her, and then he looked at the three girls in the high chairs. “Oh, hell no!” he exclaimed and then turned and ran out of the kitchen.
Jake watched Grace’s lovely face pale as she jumped up from her chair. “Please excuse me,” she said, her voice trembling as she left the kitchen, obviously in pursuit of Justin.
There was a long moment of silence around the table.
“Mama?” Bonnie said, but didn’t seem upset by Grace’s absence.
“She seems really nice,” Kerri said.
“Yeah, she does,” Jake agreed reluctantly. Grace Sinclair was lovely and seemed nice and she was probably in for a world of hurt thanks to Justin.
“Hopefully Justin will step up.” Jeffrey looked at the little girls still in their high chairs happily finishing their meals. “What a mess,” he muttered under his breath.
What a mess, indeed. Jake’s stomach knotted as he thought of the moment of realization on his brother’s face and his ensuing race out of the kitchen.
He shouldn’t be surprised. That’s what Justin did best … make trouble and then run from whatever the consequences. Even though there was only a seventeen-minute difference in their ages, sometimes Jake felt as if his brother was seventeen years younger.
Jake had cleaned up plenty of Justin’s problems in the past, but he wasn’t running to the rescue this time. He couldn’t. Justin was just going to have to suck it up and deal with the fact that he was now the father of three little girls.
“Maybe I should go check on her,” Kerri said and started to get out of her chair.
“No, I’ll go check. You stay here with the kids.” Wearily Jake pulled himself out of his chair.
“Bye-bye,” Bonnie said as Jake started toward the kitchen door.
For a moment he paused and stared at the three consequences of two adults’ carelessness. It had to be difficult for a third-grade teacher to be single-handedly raising three babies. Hell, it would be difficult for any woman alone, no matter what her profession.
Despite her words to the contrary, Jake had no idea if Grace needed financial help or not. Surely just buying diapers and essentials for three