Chapter Two

      Noah had spent the majority of his afternoon getting to know Ramblewood while attempting to plan his next move. The town wasn’t much different from his hometown of Aurora, Oregon. It was quaint and tidy. The kind of small town where everyone knew everyone else and children grew up, married and had children of their own. He still hadn’t decided what he would do if Cheyenne and Charlotte were his children. Take them back to Aurora and raise them? Or allow them to stay in Ramblewood with Hannah, if she was their guardian? He didn’t know for certain.

      Being a helicopter-logging pilot made him a very methodical man, so he began with what he already knew. He steadied his nerves and drove to the ranch turnoff Hannah had taken that morning. As he approached the entrance, he stepped on the accelerator, speeding past it. Why was he so nervous? If he was correct, he had a legal right to his children. At least he thought he did.

      He checked the rearview mirror and slowed down to make a U-turn so he could head back toward Hannah’s...if she even lived down that road. She could have been visiting someone. It could lead to another road, too.

      As soon as he drove off the blacktop, clouds of dust engulfed the car. Within seconds, he spotted her truck in the front yard. Relief eased the tension from his neck and shoulders only to be replaced with a bout of nerves bigger than the state of Texas. He pulled in behind the pickup, stepped from the car and looked up at the two-story white clapboard farmhouse.

      Noah assumed the home had been beautiful in its day. Now large sheets of paint were peeling from the siding as if trying to escape. The bare wood rail running the entire length of the expansive front porch along with the recently stripped and sanded floorboards told him it was a work in progress. Despite the repair, the house needed serious help.

      The front screen door swung wide and Hannah appeared. Her coppery waves were twisted into a casual bun. Paint had splattered her faded jeans and gray T-shirt. “Can I help you?”

      “I hope so.” Noah jammed his hands in his pockets.

      Hannah walked to the top of the stairs, shielding the sun from her eyes. “Oh, my God. It’s you.”

      Noah didn’t know if he should be thankful or scared that she recognized him. He opened his mouth to respond when two tiny faces appeared in the front door. Leaning to the right, he attempted to look past Hannah. She quickly glanced over her shoulder and shooed the girls inside.

      “I thought you two were asleep on the sunporch.” The screen door bounced against the door frame behind her. “I need to talk to this man for a minute and it’s your naptime. You had a busy morning at Nanny’s. When you wake up, we’ll play.” Hannah disappeared, leaving Noah to wonder who Nanny was. It was his understanding he was the twins’ only living relative.

      Hannah reappeared a few minutes later. “I didn’t want them to hear our conversation. They should sleep for a good hour or two.” She eased the door open cautiously. “How did you find us?”

      “I was in College Station and saw Lauren’s obituary.” Noah stood at the bottom of the porch stairs, gazing up at her. “I’m truly sorry for your loss.”

      “Thank you.” She nibbled nervously on her bottom lip. “She tried to find you.”

      “I think that answers my next question.” Noah swallowed hard. He gripped the car keys so tight they dug into his palm. “Am I their—”

      Hannah stepped outside but remained within listening distance of the doorway. “Yes, you are.”

      And there it was. The answer had come much easier and faster than he’d imagined and he didn’t know what to do with the information.

      “I’m their father.” The full impact of the words hit him once he said them aloud. He thought his legs would give out. He turned and sat on the steps, attempting to maintain steady breaths.

      Hannah sat down beside him. “I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re feeling, but the girls have been through a lot. I will answer any questions you have, but I’m begging you, don’t push this issue with them right now. Give them a chance to get to know you before announcing who you are.”

      Noah shifted on the stairs to face her. “Can I see them?”

      Hannah nodded. Her eyes were glassy, but she didn’t shed a tear. “Lauren would have loved to have seen this day.” She rose and motioned for him to follow her inside. “I’m sure this is a surprise, but if it’s any consolation, she did try to find you.”

      “I wish she hadn’t run out on me the way she did. I would have liked to have gotten to know her better.” As set as he was in bachelor life, there had been something special about Lauren. He’d been disappointed she hadn’t left behind a phone number. And he’d searched the room, too, probably harder than he should have after such a brief encounter. At first, he thought a scrap of paper could have fallen off the dresser or the table, then possibly behind the bed. He’d searched until checkout time, and then he had no choice but to leave Lauren and their night together behind.

      “She was embarrassed.” Her hand lightly rested on his forearm. “Instantly falling in bed with someone wasn’t Lauren’s style. She was the ‘sweet tea on the front porch, date a few times before a first kiss’ kind of girl. Then you happened. Her life was just beginning and she didn’t want anything serious. She regretted her decision.”

      Noah appreciated Hannah’s honesty. Inside the house, he followed her through rooms in various stages of disrepair. “Pardon the mess. I’m in the middle of renovating.”

      He appreciated a work in progress, but practically every area was under construction. And he wasn’t sure how that made him feel. Were his daughters safe here? The baby gates gave him some sense of security, but this uneasiness was unfamiliar to him. When they reached the sunroom on the back of the house, Hannah blocked his way forward.

      “I’m sure you’re anxious to get to know them, but I’m serious when I say I don’t want them to know who you are yet.” She kept her voice low. “They’re still looking for Lauren. They know she’s gone, but they also know she’s in town and keep asking to see her at the cemetery. I’ve tried to explain it to them. So has my mom and Abby—she’s my sister-in-law. The social worker in Boston explained it will take a while for them to adjust.”

      Noah adored the way Hannah protected his children. His children. That was going to take some getting used to.

      Hannah stared up at him, as if trying to read his mind. He was all too aware of their physical closeness. At six foot three, he stood a solid eight inches taller, if not slightly more. Her crystal-blue eyes were the clearest he’d ever seen of any eye color.

      She was pretty, even with messy hair and paint-splattered clothes.

      She inhaled deeply, sadness replacing her curious expression. She climbed over the baby gate into the large sunroom. It was spotless, freshly painted sunny yellow. Crisp white