Jill Kemerer - Wyoming Christmas Quadruplets

Leaving him had been like stabbing a knife in her own heart. It still hurt. Probably always would.

She glanced at her watch. The fifteen minutes were up. She shoved her feet into boots, eased into her coat, then strolled next door. A path through the snow had been cleared between the cabins. About twenty feet separated their porch steps. Her spirits lightened as she watched her breath materialize in wispy puffs. One of the wonders of winter.

His porch light was on, and a shovel with snow caked on the bottom was propped against the side rail. The man was thoughtful. Another thing to add to his growing list of virtues.

She knocked on the door and heard, “coming,” and then Marshall stood before her with a ladle in hand. He grinned. “You didn’t get lost.”

“It wasn’t hard to find.” She gave him a smile, taking off her coat and boots. She blew on her hands. “What can I help with?”

“You can set the table.” He backtracked to the kitchenette, identical to hers, except everything in this cabin was dark wood. The place reeked of masculinity. While it suited him, she preferred her pretty space.

Plates, bowls, silverware and paper napkins had been piled near the edge of the table. She made up two place settings. The unmistakable aroma of chili filled the air. He tossed her a pot holder, and she caught it, setting it on the table.

“Hope you’re not a vegetarian,” he said.

“Isn’t that illegal in Wyoming?”

His laugh was low and hearty. It sent flutters through her chest. After carrying the chili to the table, he hustled back to the oven and pulled out a cast-iron pan of corn bread.

“Wow, when did you have time to do all this?” She took a seat at the table.

“I didn’t have to. The slow cooker did all the work.” He ladled chili into each of their bowls. She cut the corn bread into slices and set one on his plate.

His spoon was poised above his food, but she cleared her throat. He glanced up.

“Would you like me to say grace?” she asked.

He set the spoon down and folded his hands.

“Dear Lord, thank You for this delicious meal. Please let it nourish us and give us the strength to care for Your precious babies tomorrow. In Jesus’s name, amen.”

“Amen.”

“Marshall?” She slathered butter on her corn bread. “Would you mind telling me more about Belle and Raleigh?”

His eyebrows drew together, and he seemed really into his food. “What do you want to know?”

“How long have they been married? How did they end up with quadruplets?” Why is your sister ambivalent about the babies? She took a bite of chili. Spicy, meaty, it hit the spot. “By the way, this is absolutely delicious.”

“Thanks.” The side of his mouth tweaked upward. “They’ve been married for three years. Raleigh had cancer in his early twenties and the doctors advised him the treatment would affect his chances at having children, so he took the advice of a fertility specialist. Belle was well aware the only way they’d have biological children was with medical help. They started the process right after the honeymoon. Their first attempts didn’t take. They decided to try in vitro fertilization. Two embryos were implanted. They both split. And two sets of identical twins were born.”

“That must have been shocking. I had no idea.” She ran through a few mental calculations. Belle would have been on hormone therapy before getting pregnant. Then the fact she was having four babies would have sent her natural hormones into overdrive. Since she’d given birth five weeks ago, there was a good chance her entire body was out of whack. “So I take it both of them wanted the babies?”

“Oh, yeah. They were ecstatic when they heard the news. Honestly, up until she gave birth, Belle was happier than I’d ever seen her.”

“And Raleigh?”

“I don’t know.” He turned his attention to the chili. “He’s hard to read.”

His attitude confused her. He positively lit up talking about Belle, but when the topic changed to Raleigh, he shut down. She thought about her first impression of Raleigh. He’d beamed at the babies before he’d spoken to her. Sure, he’d been more concerned with having Marshall back on ranch duties than with what the babies needed, but did it make him a bad parent?

“I’m hoping with you here—” Marshall glanced at her “—some of the pressure will be off Belle.”

“Pressure? You mean with the babies?” She hadn’t been deaf to the undercurrents in the conversation back at the main house. Belle wanted help with the quads. Raleigh wanted help with the ranch. And Marshall wanted...what did he want?

“Yeah.” He took another bite, and she took the opportunity to study his face. His handsome features and strong bone structure weren’t enough to hide the fact he looked completely exhausted, as if he hadn’t had a full night’s rest in a week.

What if he hadn’t? He’d mentioned stopping over in the wee hours to help Belle sometimes, but surely he hadn’t meant every night?

No. She almost shook her head. Belle and Raleigh were there. Between the two of them, they could manage feeding the quadruplets.

Lost in her thoughts, she continued to enjoy the meal. The lamp next to the couch cast a welcoming glow on the living room, and the overhead lights added a cozy cheerfulness to the small room. The light whoosh of the wind outside added to the atmosphere. A pleasant place to enjoy a hot meal on a night like this.

“What about you, Ainsley?” He met her eyes, and she felt exposed, like he could see right into her heart. “You made it clear you’d only be here through the holidays. What do you have lined up after that?”

“I applied for a job at the hospital in Laramie. I’m trying to get into the nursing program at the university. I already have my first two years out of the way, but the program is competitive. I didn’t make the cut last year.”

He pushed his empty bowl back. “So this job at the hospital is in nursing?”

“No, I’d be a monitor technician in the ICU. It’s great experience.” She couldn’t wait to hear back from the hospital. They’d be making their decision in a few weeks. With her letters of recommendation, she had a very good chance at the job. And it would be one more plus on her application to nursing school.

“I’m impressed. I’m not much into blood and guts. Well, unless you count the guts of a tractor.”

She polished off the final bite of her chili. His eyes were brighter. He didn’t look as tired. “You can fix a tractor?”

“Yes, ma’am. I used to work in Cheyenne for a large equipment repair shop. Loved it.”

“What happened?”

He shrugged. “When Belle found out about the babies, well, she and I are twins and we’re all we’ve got. No mom, no dad. Just us. I wasn’t going to leave her here to do it on her own.”

“But she’s not on her own. She has Raleigh, right?”

He straightened, adjusting his shirt. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

Quietly, she picked up her plate and bowl and took them to the sink. She understood as much as she needed to. Either Raleigh wasn’t a great husband or Marshall didn’t think his sister could handle much.

Something was off about his relationship with Belle. She could sense it.

Maybe he did have a flaw, after all.

Chapter Three

“We aren’t paying you to leave the babies unattended.”

Ainsley wiped her damp hands on the hand towel and counted to five. Belle had finally opted to emerge from her room, and, as Ainsley had found out repeatedly over the past week, she’d come prepared to criticize. The eight-to-six schedule had been a nice fantasy. So had getting a day off. Every morning Ainsley arrived at seven thirty and couldn’t in good conscience leave until after seven, when Marshall and Raleigh returned from their evening chores. Though Marshall helped with the babies for a few hours each morning and in the afternoon, the bulk of the care fell to her. She wouldn’t mind, but Belle rarely touched the infants, and being treated like the hired help was getting old.