Rula Sinara - The Twin Test

His twins might be wild...

But she knows just how to tame them—and their father

Earthquake expert Dax Calder brings his eleven-year-old twins to the Serengeti to fulfill a promise to his late wife—never leave the girls. Meeting free-spirited teacher Pippa Harper feels like serendipity. She’s the perfect nanny for his mischievous twosome, even if her definition of rules is slightly different than his. But there’s one rule Dax never expected to break...falling in love again.

Award-winning and USA TODAY bestselling author RULA SINARA lives in rural Virginia with her family and crazy but endearing pets. She loves organic gardening, attracting wildlife to her yard, planting trees, raising backyard chickens and drinking more coffee than she’ll ever admit to. Rula’s writing has earned her a National Readers’ Choice Award and a Holt Medallion Award of Merit, among other honors. Her door is always open at rulasinara.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter, learn about her latest books and find links to her social media hangouts.

Also By Rula Sinara

From Kenya, with Love

The Promise of Rain

After the Silence

Through the Storm

Every Serengeti Sunrise

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

The Twin Test

Rula Sinara

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08497-0

THE TWIN TEST

© 2018 Rula Sinara

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

“You’re an amazing father. I can tell how much you love them.”

Could she tell that he loved her, too? That he was falling hard and fast? He pulled away and raked back his hair.

“No amount of experience can dampen the need to protect your children and those you...care about.”

“I’m not known for keeping quiet,” Pippa said. “I’d tell you if I thought you were too buried in work.” The corners of her lips lifted into a soft smile and he desperately wanted to kiss her again. But he couldn’t. It would make leaving that much harder, not just for him, but for her.

“I’m not known for listening.”

“I’d show you. Remind you.”

She reached up and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. Her scent teased him. He slipped his fingers through her curls and held her face close to his, battling the need to either bridge the gap or break free and save them both.

Dear Reader,

When I wrote The Promise of Rain, my debut and first book in the From Kenya, with Love series, I knew that I’d end up watching spunky little four-year-old Pippa Harper grow up through the series. I was so moved when readers let me know that she had latched onto their hearts the way she had mine. In Every Serengeti Sunrise, Pippa had grown up and was now in her twenties...and experiencing devastating heartbreak. I had my doubts about Pippa ever being able to trust and love again.

But in this book, widower Dax Calder, an earthquake expert working off the grid in Kenya, shows up at the lodge with his impossibly difficult twin girls. Dax has suffered more than his share of loss and has buried himself so deeply in work, he’s forgotten how to love life or embrace parenthood. Talk about setting both Pippa and Dax up for more heartbreak! Two people who can’t risk falling in love again, yet who each hold the key to healing the other’s heart...and two twin girls who turn their worlds upside down.

My door is always open at rulasinara.com. Sign up for my newsletter, get information on all of my books and find links to my social media hangouts.

Wishing you love, peace and courage in life,

Rula Sinara

To parents and teachers around the world—and often far off the grid—for loving and putting children first, no matter what unique challenges must be overcome. Your patience, strength and dedication to their emotional well-being and education paves the way for brighter futures for each of them and, hence, a better

tomorrow for all.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Dedication

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

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

THEY WERE MISSING.

Dax Calder muttered a curse and tossed his laptop, satellite phone and several rock samples, on the hand-carved poster bed that occupied the bungalow’s main living space. He double-checked the adjoining bedroom, where his identical twin daughters were supposed to be waiting for him.

The room was in perfect order, down to their suitcases—one purple and one green—sitting uncharacteristically neat and aligned at the ends of their timber-pole framed beds. Two binders of math practice assigned from their virtual classes lay on a small writing table tucked in the far corner. He had a feeling the twins hadn’t touched a math problem since he’d left them three hours ago. Sheer white curtains danced over a colorful, handwoven tapestry rug in front of the sliding doors which led to a private, lava stone patio.