Judy Duarte - Triple Trouble / A Real Live Cowboy

“I’ve done my share of tailgating at football games, but this is a new experience,” Nick commented as Charlene pulled down Jessie’s knit pants and snapped the leg openings closed.

“You’re in a whole new world, Nick.” She lifted the little girl into her arms, tickling her. Jessie chortled and Charlene laughed. They both looked up to grin at him.

Nick shook his head. Crazy as it seemed, he could swear their faces held identical expressions of feminine wisdom and mystery. “I’m not sure I’m ready for a new world,” he murmured as he took the diaper bag from Charlene and returned it to the storage area in the back of the SUV. “I’m getting some coffee,” he said, louder this time, so Charlene could hear him. “Want some?”

“Yes, please, I’d love a cup.”

Nick crossed the patch of grass between the curb where he’d parked the SUV and the concrete apron surrounding the low-roofed building housing the restrooms. Volunteers manned a small kiosk on one side and offered weary travelers coffee and cookies.

By the time he slid behind the steering wheel again, Charlene had Jessie fastened into her car seat and was buckling her own safety belt. She took the foam cup he held out to her and sipped.

“How bad is it?” he asked, unable to look away from the sight of the pink tip of her tongue as she licked a tiny drop of coffee from the corner of her mouth.

“Not too bad.”

He lifted an eyebrow but didn’t comment.

“Okay, so it’s not Starbucks,” she conceded with a chuckle. “But it’s coffee and I need the caffeine. I was awake late last night and up early this morning. I really, really need the jolt.”

Nick glanced at his watch as they drove away from the rest stop. “The attorney told me the girls are in bed and asleep by seven every night. You’re the expert, but I’m guessing it might be a good idea to find a motel earlier rather than later so we can keep them on schedule, if possible.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea.” She glanced over her shoulder at the triplets’ drowsy faces. “If we stop earlier, we’ll have time to feed them, give them baths, and let them play for a little while before tucking them in for the night.”

The motel Nick pulled into was just off the highway. Behind the motel, the tree-lined streets of a small town were laid out in neat blocks, and fairgrounds with an empty grandstand were visible a dozen or so blocks away. Nick was familiar with the motel chain and, as he’d hoped, the staff assured him they could accommodate the needs of three babies.

With quick calculation, he asked for two connecting rooms—one for the girls and Charlene, and one for him. He hoped the babies would sleep through the night.

Not for the first time, he thanked God Charlene had agreed to be the girls’ nanny. If he could manage to ignore the fact that she was a beautiful woman, she made the perfect employee.

“If we both carry the girls in first, I can transfer the luggage while you keep an eye on them in the room,” he told Charlene when he returned to the SUV. “We’re on the ground floor, just inside the lobby and down the hall.”

He handed her a key card. “Why don’t you carry Jessie, I’ll take Jackie and Jenny.”

After unhooking the girls and handing Jenny to Nick while he held Jackie, Charlotte lifted Jessie and followed Nick into the motel.

“Our rooms are through there.” He led the way toward the hallway on the far side of the lobby.

Distracted by her view of his back, Charlene forgot to reply. Beneath the battered brown leather jacket, powerful shoulder muscles flexed as Jackie and Jenny squirmed in his hold. The jacket ended at his waist and faded Levis fit snugly over his taut backside and down the long length of his legs.

Get a grip, she told herself firmly. Stop ogling the man’s rear and focus on the job—and the babies.

“Have you got the key?”

Nick’s question startled her and she realized he’d halted outside a room.

Feeling her cheeks heat and hoping he hadn’t caught her staring at his backside, she quickly slid the key card through the lock slot and opened the door.

“After you.” Nick held the door while she carried Jessie inside.

“Nice. Very nice.” She halted at the foot of the queen-size bed and glanced around, taking in a round table with three chairs tucked into one corner near the draped window.

Nick swept the room with a quick, assessing gaze. “Yeah, not bad. The connecting room is ours too.” He bent and carefully set Jackie on the carpeted floor, then Jenny. Straightening, he took another key card from his back pocket and crossed the room to open the door to the room on the side. “They’re exactly the same,” he said after briefly looking. He returned and halted next to Jackie, bending to remove a handful of bedspread from her mouth. “Hey,” he said gently. “I’m not sure you should be chewing on that.”

“She’s probably hungry.” Charlene set Jessie on her diaper-padded bottom next to Jackie, and handed both girls a small stuffed bear each. Both beamed up at her and Jackie instantly shoved a furry bear leg into her mouth. “Hmmm, make that she’s definitely hungry.”

“I’ll bring up the bag with their food before the rest of the luggage. Anything else you need right away?”

“If you could bring up the diaper bag too, that would be great.”

He nodded and left the room.

“Well, girls, let’s see what we can do to make you comfortable.” Charlene laughed when Jessie blew a raspberry before smiling beatifically. “Are you going to be the class clown?” she teased.

Jessie gurgled and tipped sideways before righting herself and reaching for Jackie’s bear.

“Oh no you don’t, kiddo.” Charlene made sure each little girl had their own stuffed animal before calling the front desk. The clerk assured her he would arrange to have three high chairs from the restaurant sent to the room immediately. He also confirmed that Nick had requested three cribs during check-in and that someone would be delivering and setting them up within a half hour.

Satisfied that arrangements were under way, Charlene barely had time to replace the phone in its cradle before Nick returned with the box containing baby paraphernalia and two bags.

For the next two hours, neither she nor Nick had a moment to draw a deep breath. The high chairs were delivered while he was bringing in the luggage. Later, Charlene and Nick spooned food into little mouths, wiped chins and sticky fingers and tried to keep strained carrots from staining their own clothes.

Neither of them wanted to tackle eating dinner in the restaurant downstairs while accompanied by the triplets, so they ordered in. Nick insisted Charlene eat first, and she hurried to chew bites of surprisingly good pasta and chicken while he lay on the carpet, rolling rubber balls to the triplets. By the time Charlene’s plate was empty, all three babies were yawning and rubbing their eyes.

The two adults switched places—Nick taking Charlene’s chair to eat his steak, Jessie perched on his knee while Jackie played on the floor at his feet. Charlene toted Jenny into the bathroom and popped her into the tub to scrub the smears of strained plums and carrots from her face and out of her hair.

By the time she had Jenny dried, freshly diapered and tucked into footed white pajamas patterned with little brown monkeys, Nick had finished eating.

“Hey, look at you,” he said to Jenny. “What happened to the purple-and-orange face paint?”

Charlene laughed. “She even had it in her hair.”

“I think they all do.” Nick rubbed his hand over Jessie’s black curls and grimaced. “Definitely sticky.”

“I’m guessing that’s the strained plums,” Charlene said. She handed Jenny to him and lifted Jessie into her arms. “Will you watch her and Jackie while I put Jessie in the tub?”