Marin Thomas - Twins For The Texas Rancher

Logan’s gaze zigzagged between the twins. “You guys look alike.”

“That’s ’cause we’re twins,” Tommy said.

Keeping a straight face as he stared at Tyler, Logan teased, “What’s a twin?”

Tyler opened his mouth to answer, but Tommy beat him to the punch. “Us.” He pointed to Tyler, then poked a finger in his own chest. “We’re twins ’cause we came out of my mom’s stomach at the same time.”

Now that Logan had that nice image in his head, Sadie said, “Grab your backpacks, boys.”

Tommy raced past Logan and dived into the van, then tossed out Tyler’s backpack—the one with an image of a Labrador retriever wearing reading glasses on the front. The second one to hit the ground sported an image of Captain America.

Sadie removed a small overnight bag and Logan took it from her. “Is this it?” he asked.

“The rest of the luggage can stay in the van.” She slung her purse over her shoulder, then pressed the automatic lock button on the key fob. “Should I park the van in front of our room?”

“It’ll be fine right here.” Logan frowned. “It’s just the three of you?”

“Yes.” It had always felt like it had been only her and the boys, even before she’d divorced Pete. “Why?”

He glanced at the license plate on the van. “That was a long drive to make by yourselves.”

Tommy patted Logan’s thigh. “My dad moved to Balkimore.”

“Baltimore.” Sadie looked at Logan. “Didn’t Lydia mention that I was divorced?”

“I’m sure she did, and I forgot,” he said. “Your room is at the end.” Logan pointed to the door and Tommy raced down the sidewalk. Sadie took Tyler’s hand and they followed behind Logan. When Tommy stopped at the wrong door, Logan said, “One more, buddy.”

Instead of numbers on the rooms there were placards. “Stagecoach?” Sadie asked.

Logan held his hand out for the key card and Sadie gave it to him. “Lydia named each of the rooms after a Western movie.”

“Clever idea,” she said.

He slid the card into the lock reader, then opened the door and flipped on the light before standing back and allowing her and the boys to enter first.

“Wow.” Sadie admired the Western mural of John Wayne sitting on horseback in the desert. “Amazing.” She ran her fingers lightly over the image. “That’s wallpaper.”

The sound of the toilet flushing echoed in the room, then Tommy walked into view, pulling up his pants. “The toilet works, Mom.”

“Stop.” Sadie pointed to the sink outside the bathroom. Tommy turned around and washed his hands, then shook them dry before dashing across the room and launching himself onto the bed.

“Shoes,” Sadie said. Tommy kicked off his sneakers and began jumping on the mattress.

“C’mon, Tyler. Don’t you want to jump with me?”

Tyler inched closer to Sadie, his eyes still watching Logan.

“Settle down.” She braced herself for the inevitable dark scowl that Tommy’s behavior usually garnered from strangers. Instead Logan’s mouth broke into a wide grin as he watched her son use the bed for a trampoline.

“You’re encouraging him,” Sadie whispered.

Logan looked her way, his gaze slipping to her bosom before returning to her face. “What?”

“Stop smiling.”

He pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes. “Better?”

“Much.”

“Tomorrow you should let the kids check out the playground behind the motel.”

“That’s a good idea.” Sadie nudged Tyler toward the bathroom. “Your turn.” He obeyed, like he always did, closing the door behind him.

“Is there anything else I can get you? More towels? An extra blanket?” Logan asked.

“I think we’ll be fine for one night.” She expected him to leave—actually, she was surprised he hadn’t bolted for the door as soon as Tommy dived onto the bed. Instead he appeared reluctant to go.

Tommy did a backflip and Logan clapped. “You’d make a good circus clown.” He waited until Tyler finished washing his hands, then said, “And you’d be a good circus manager.”

Tommy rolled off the bed. “What’s a circus manager?”

“Enough questions for one day, kiddo,” Sadie said. “Get your pj’s on and crawl under the covers.” For once, Tommy listened to her and followed Tyler’s lead, digging his clothes out of his backpack.

“It’s pretty safe around here, but make sure you use the bolt and bar latch before you turn out the lights.”

“I’ll do that right now.” Sadie smiled. “It was nice seeing you, again.”

“Hey, Uncle Logan.” Tommy ran across the room, his pajama bottoms on backward. He pointed at Logan’s boots. “Are you a real cowboy?”

“I am.”

“Do you got a horse?”

“I do.”

“Does he got a name?”

“Her name is Sweet Pea.”

“You got a girl horse?”

“Yep.”

“That sucks.”

“We talked about using that word, young man.” Tommy had learned it from one of the kids at school.

“I wanna boy horse.” He looked at Sadie. “I want to see Sweet Pea.”

Logan answered before Sadie had a chance to. “You and Tyler are welcome to visit her at the ranch.”

“Stop pestering Uncle Logan. It’s way past bedtime.”

Logan opened the door, then glanced around Sadie. “Hey, Tyler, have you ever been in a hayloft?”

Tyler shook his head, clutching the Frog and Toad book against his chest.

“If you come out to the ranch, bring your books because it’s a cool place to read.”

Sadie appreciated how Logan made a point to speak to Tyler. More often than not, Tommy stole the show and his brother was forgotten.

“I’m sure we’ll be making a trip to the ranch to see the horses and the hayloft,” Sadie said.

Logan shut the door and then Sadie secured the extra locks. “Time to play the quiet game and see who falls asleep first. The winner gets an extra doughnut for breakfast tomorrow.” She didn’t like using bribes, but it beat yelling all the time. The boys snuggled beneath the blankets and closed their eyes, pretending to sleep.

She kissed their foreheads. “I love you, guys.”

Me, toos echoed in her ear.

Sadie carried her nightshirt and a clean pair of panties into the bathroom and took a shower. Afterward, she adjusted the air conditioner so the room wouldn’t grow too cold during the night. She left the bathroom door halfway open and kept the light on in case the boys got up in the middle of the night to use the toilet.

“Mom?” Tommy whispered.

“You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

“Can we go see Uncle Logan’s girl horse tomorrow?”

“I don’t know, honey.”

“Mom?”

“What?” A full minute passed and only the quiet hum of the air conditioner filled the room. “Tommy?” she whispered. No answer.

Her little Energizer Bunny had finally drifted off to sleep.

Now if only she could get some rest. But when Sadie closed her eyes, she saw Logan’s face. In her meager dating experience, single handsome men weren’t jumping at the chance to interact with a challenging child as rambunctious as Tommy.

Don’t forget Tyler.

Sadie was amazed that Logan had picked up on Tyler’s love of reading after just meeting him. As she drifted off to sleep, she couldn’t help thinking how great it would be to find a man who wanted to be a father to her boys and would treat them better than the one they already had.

Chapter Two

Logan glanced at the clock on the wall and rubbed his eyes. Five a.m. He pushed himself out of the rocking chair and stretched until the twinges and aches disappeared. He was only thirty-two and suspected he’d be in worse shape if he’d continued rodeoing all these years. At least the aches and pains would have been worth it. After his father had been struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while changing a flat tire on the side of the road and his grandfather fell off the wagon, Logan had stashed away his rodeo gear and returned home to ride fence and feed cattle.