Carolyn Zane - Taking On Twins

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Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

“Wyatt?”

Wyatt Russell glanced up to see his foster cousin and bride-to-be Liza Colton burst through the front doors of her uncle Joe’s massive Spanish-style ranch house. In her tail-wind she dragged some hapless devil that he could only guess to be her fiancé. Liza’s giddy laughter rang out and a grin started in Wyatt’s belly and flared into his cheeks. Man, it was good to be back. As he pulled his bags out of the trunk of the idling cab, Wyatt inhaled a deep lungful of home.

Ah, Prosperino, California. Just standing in this fertile valley was rejuvenating.

The day was typically sunny, the sweeping vista filled with rolling hills and endless blue sky.

Yes, this was paradise on earth. Even more so, because of the people who waited here for his return.

“Yes! Nick, honey, it is Wyatt! Sweetheart, come on, hurry!”

“Nick,” as it were—wearing an indulgent smile—allowed himself to be yanked by the wrist as Liza rushed down the aggregate steps that led from the Hacienda de Alegria and to the cab parked beneath the sprawling portico. “Wyatt Russell, you sneaky—and terminally late might I add—rascal! I can’t believe you are actually here in time for my wedding! And a week early? Nick, honey, get ready to catch me, I may faint.”

“Liza!” Wyatt dropped his suitcases in favor of a hug and swept the willowy woman into his arms.

After they rocked and exclaimed over each other for a moment, Wyatt set Liza back on her feet and looked her up and down. Now slender and sophisticated, cousin Liza’s baby fat had migrated to all the right places, leaving her a beautiful woman. Wyatt let out a low whistle.

“Good grief. My little Lizard’s gone and grown up on me.”

“So have you, Beevis.” Liza preened under his scrutiny. She reached up and lightly touched the cleft in his chin with a forefinger. “Handsome as ever I see, ya big heartbreaker.”

Wyatt rolled his eyes. “How long has it been?”

“Too long.” She pouted. “Now that you’re a big-time Washington lawyer, you don’t have time for us little people.”

“This from the diva of the hoi polloi.”

“Don’t tell me you pay any attention to my career.”

Wyatt snorted. “Only every time I go through the checkout line. Did you know that you and Elvis are expecting an alien baby?”

“That is so yesterday. You obviously haven’t heard that Nick and I are divorcing.”

“Before the wedding?”

“Saves all kinds of time, don’t you agree?”

“Always thinking. And, speaking of your career, congratulations on getting your voice back. You sound better than ever.”

She lifted a palm of supplication to the heavens. “Thanks to Nick.” Liza tugged her fiancé from where he stood in the shadows behind her. “That’s how we met. He was my doctor.”

“Nick, music fans everywhere are indebted to you, man.”

Nick chuckled. “She makes me look good.”

“Wyatt, I want you to meet the man I love—” her sigh was content as she circled his biceps with her arms “—Nick Hathaway. Nick, Wyatt Russell was one of Uncle Joe’s many foster sons and—” she grinned “—my nemesis growing up.”

As Wyatt held his hand out to Nick, he could see the love sparkling in Liza’s eyes and knew that she was happy. He felt a tiny stab of envy and exhaled in a world-weary way. If only he could get his caseload to cooperate, maybe he could start penciling in a social life. A special someone. The bachelor deal was growing tedious and he longed for the type of connection with a woman that he saw radiating between these two.

He raked a hand through his hair. Weddings. They always made him go soft in the head.

“Good to know you, Nick,” he said, gripping the other man’s hand and clapping him on the back. And he meant it. There was something about Nick that immediately inspired trust. Wyatt liked him already.

“Good to meet you, too. Liza has told me all about you.”

“All?” Wyatt bent to retrieve his bags. “Has she told you that if you want to hear her really hit those high notes, a well-placed pile of plastic barf will do the trick? I recommend her sock drawer, although her shoes and her closet are both good.”

Nick cast a thoughtful look upon his intended. “I’ll keep this in mind.”

“You will do no such thing! Wyatt, leave your luggage here. We’ll get it later.” Flitting like a delicate butterfly, Liza moved between the men and, slipping her hands into the crooks of their elbows, urged them toward the house. “Right now everyone is wanting to see you. Especially Uncle Joe.”

Just as Liza had predicted, the welcoming committee was waiting in the parlor just off the breezy foyer.

“Wyatt, my boy!” Family patriarch Joe Colton’s affectionate voice reverberated off the endless expanse of slate flooring, and Wyatt was summarily joggled and jostled and pounded on the back. “You made it, son! Good deal. Just in time for dinner, too. Nothing has changed, I see.”

The poignancy of belonging burned the back of Wyatt’s throat as he returned Joe’s manly displays of affection. It was such a relief to see Joe standing there, safe and sound considering what he’d been through last year. The older man carried only a light scar on his cheek as a somber reminder of the attempt made on his life at his sixtieth birthday party.

“You’re looking good, Joe.”

Joe snorted and waved the compliment away.

Wyatt grinned. Joe never could take a compliment. He never seemed comfortable with the fact that, even in middle age, he was still a handsome guy, commanding the ladies’ attention with dark good looks and the physical build he hammered into shape every morning. Even though he’d just entered his seventh decade, his hair was only now beginning to silver at his temples, which only added to his distinguished appeal.

But none of that stuff mattered to Joe.

No. To Joe, family love and a good moral character were of utmost importance. And that was why, Wyatt noted with admiration, Joe Colton was the man he was today.

As Joe steered him into the parlor, Wyatt heard his name ring out. Soon, he was enveloped in hugs and memories of happy times that began in the bosom of this family and he laughed with unbridled joy at each familiar face that came forward to greet him. This family was his heart and soul.

But even so, he was suddenly feeling a tad fifth-wheelish.

As he looked over the crowd of faces that helped to shape his youth, everyone, it seemed to Wyatt, had a partner in this old life. Everyone but him. Odd how he’d never really noticed this feeling before today. Then again, there had been a rash of weddings recently. His gaze slowly swept the crowd as he made note of the many couples.