Charlotte Maclay - Montana Twins

Sitting back on her haunches, Laura watched him leave. His obvious pain had brought an ache to her own chest. From what she’d just seen and what Amy had told her, Eric’s wounds were fully as deep as his sister’s had been.

Smiling down at the twins, who were now chewing on each other’s fingers, she silently vowed she wouldn’t leave them with Eric until she made sure whatever damage his mother had done to him emotionally hadn’t left him so severely scarred that he was incapable of giving the twins the love they deserved.

If she decided to leave them here at all.

When he returned, his strong, masculine features were tightly under control, and he held himself erect.

“You’ve convinced me,” he said. “Amanda and Rebecca are my nieces. We’re blood kin, and I’ll give them the best home I know how.”

Fear and adrenaline drove Laura to her feet. “It’s not that easy. I’m not going to simply hand the girls over to you.”

“Why not? That’s why you tracked me down, isn’t it? It’s what my sister wanted, right?”

“Not exactly. First, I have to—”

The doorbell chimed, but before either of them had a chance to react, the door opened.

“Hey, Eric, are you home?” a female voice asked.

Laura’s heart sank. If Eric had a woman in his life who could be a good mother to the twins—

A young woman with reddish hair swept into the room followed by an equally attractive blonde.

“Oh, look at those sweet little babies,” the first one crooned, kneeling beside the quilt on the floor. “Look at their tiny pug noses. They’re adorable.”

Laura bristled, her protective instincts rising.

Frowning, Eric muttered, “What are you two doing here? And since when do you use the front door?”

“Since we knew you had company and we came to see the babies, of course,” the blonde responded. “And to meet the woman you’ve been seeing on the sly.” With a welcoming smile, she extended her hand to Laura. “Hi, I’m Lizzie Oakes, Eric’s sister-in-law. And that’s Kristi fawning all over your babies, Eric’s other sister-in-law. We’re both upset he’s been keeping you a secret from the family.”

Laura gaped at the woman before finally taking Lizzie’s hand. “I think there’s been some misunderstanding. Eric and I haven’t been—”

“You don’t have to pretend with us,” Kristi said, playing peek-a-boo with Amanda. “We’re certainly not ones to cast stones.”

“Neither of us,” Lizzie agreed. “We just want to make sure Eric is prepared to do the right thing. A woman shouldn’t have to—”

“Ladies!” Eric barked, causing both babies to twist their heads around searching for the source of that unpleasant sound. “This is Laura Cavendish, who I just met today. And those two babies, who you think are so cute, are my nieces, which is no doubt why you think they’re cute. Family resemblance.”

Jaws agape, both young women stared at Eric.

“What sister?” they said in unison.

“Half sister,” he admitted. “Laura, who knew her when she was growing up, brought the twins here so I could meet them. I’m very grateful for that.” He acknowledged her with a nod. “And it is my intention, based on my sister’s wishes, to adopt the twins and be the best darn father I know how to be.”

“Oh, my…” Kristi murmured.

“Well, then,” Lizzie said. “Congratulations. You’ll be a terrific dad.”

“Excuse me, but it’s not that simple,” Laura told them. She’d been aware via the adoption records the detective had uncovered that Eric had two brothers. She hadn’t expected to be assailed right off by two sisters-in-law, however.

“You’re right,” Kristi agreed, placing a kiss on Rebecca’s forehead before she stood. “Among other things, I don’t think Eric has a lot of experience with babies. I know he’ll be grateful if you could stay here with him for a few days to help him get the hang of things. Unless you have a husband to get home to.”

“No, I don’t—”

“That’s a terrific idea.” Lizzie shot a conspiratorial look in Kristi’s direction.

Eric stepped forward. “Now wait a minute—”

“You’ve got that extra bedroom where Laura can stay,” Lizzie said. “And the room on the south side will make a wonderful nursery. Sunny and warm in the winter. The babies will love it.”

“Trust me, you’ll need a lot of extra help at first,” Kristi added. “Why, I remember when…”

Laura’s head spun as the two women pointed out the importance of having someone on hand who knew how to handle infants. They, the women insisted, didn’t have time to help him out. They had their own families. Laura suspected the whole deal was a match-making scheme. On the other hand, she wasn’t about to leave the twins in Eric’s care just yet. Maybe never. In order to give him a fair chance at proving himself, she needed to give him some time with the babies. Maybe he’d hate all the inconvenience enough to forget being a father.

Driving through town, she’d noted Grass Valley didn’t offer a whole lot of options for temporary housing. She hadn’t considered that problem before she left home, and now she had nowhere else to stay except with him and the twins, because she sure as hell wasn’t going to leave them.

“I think staying here is a fine idea,” she announced.

They all turned toward her. Eric shook his head. Lizzie said, “I think it’s perfect, too. Would you like us to help bring in your luggage?”

“No, I’m sure Eric will be more than happy to do that for me.” She gave him her stern schoolmarm look that had been known to wither a whole gang of adolescent boys. Managing one man shouldn’t be all that difficult.

Lizzie and Kristi appeared pleased they’d accomplished whatever it was they’d set out to do.

“We’ve got to be running along,” Kristi said.

“Just wanted to welcome you to Grass Valley,” Lizzie added. “Eric’s a great guy, by the way.”

Laura smiled weakly. The man had certainly developed a fan club among his sisters-in-law. She wondered what their spouses thought of that. And knew their views wouldn’t sway her about leaving the twins with Eric if she wasn’t one hundred percent convinced it was the right thing to do.

Given how much she loved the babies, it was hard to imagine she’d ever be willing to do that, despite Amy’s wishes.

She swallowed hard, telling herself she didn’t know enough yet about Eric to seriously consider handing over the twins’ custody. His worthiness to be their father could take days to determine. Maybe even weeks.

She nearly groaned aloud. Surely it wouldn’t take that long to discover some fatal crack in his paragon-of-virtue image.

He managed to escort his sisters-in-law out the door, then returned to the living room.

“I’m sorry about the misunderstanding. Those two are really great people but they do sometimes jump to conclusions.”

“It’s all right.” She knelt and draped a light blanket over the two sleeping babies. “The fact is, you’ve jumped to a conclusion, too.”

“What’s that?”

Pulling some papers from her briefcase, she handed a copy of Amy’s notarized instructions to Eric.

“Amy was abused most of her life, not just by the man who fathered the twins. The one thing she asked me to do before I relinquished the babies to you is to make sure you had a wife who could love them like a mother should.”

He stared at her in disbelief, then quickly read through the papers.

“This makes you the final arbiter of whether or not I get custody.”

“That’s true.” The attorney she and Amy had hired had carefully crafted Amy’s last wishes so that the custody decision about the twins would be Laura’s and hers alone.