SUSAN MEIER - Oh, Babies!

Evan gave her a sympathetic look. “Not when they’re this wound up,” he said amiably, as if dealing with the kids was second nature to him and not something that got him flustered or frazzled. “I’ll call Claire and see if she can rearrange our schedules so that one or both of us can stay with you this morning.”

Kristen peeked at Mrs. Romani.

Mrs. Romani subtly nodded her endorsement that Kristen could take the offer without fear of reprisal.

The breath she was holding burst out in a whoosh. “You mean it?”

“Of course,” Evan said, walking to the wall phone by the door. Juggling Cody and dialing simultaneously, he added, “We’re all trying to work together here, but Grant’s the one with the most input. If he doesn’t like the way you’re handling the kids, he won’t keep you.”

Kristen smiled with sardonic acknowledgment. “I figured that out for myself.”

“Not a problem. We’ll teach you the ropes,” Evan said, dismissing the whole business as if it were no big deal. “Before this is all over, Claire and I will turn you into a professional.”

“You’d do that for me?”

He shrugged. “You and the kids.”

A wave of gratitude washed over Kristen until she realized what had just happened. Not only had she let down her guard with one of the brothers, but that same brother had put the health, safety and well-being of the triplets ahead of his business.

Kristen stopped that line of thought because that wasn’t precisely what he had done as much as it was her interpretation of what he’d done.

Besides, she wasn’t here to make any determinations about the Brewsters, whether or not they were good caretakers or whether or not she should feel guilty about wanting to get custody of the triplets. She was here to prove herself. Even if the only thing she could get from these men was the opportunity to take the kids to Texas long enough to get the ranch, she still had to prove to them that she was capable of handling three babies for the time they would be in her custody.

If anything, she’d just scored a strike against herself.

Dinner with the Brewster triplets was an adventure.

Though Claire had stayed with Kristen through the morning, and even helped with lunch, she needed to get back to the lumber mill and left Kristen alone to handle the afternoon by herself. Given that the children typically took a long nap, neither Kristen nor Claire felt there would be a problem, but the kids didn’t seem to want to sleep.

They wanted to play. And cry. And play. And cry. Because Kristen wasn’t sure if she should let them cry themselves to sleep, or play with them until they were exhausted, she tried a little of both and the result was that she confused them. Eventually all three children fell asleep, but none of them slept more than twenty minutes.

Since they hadn’t napped as long as they needed, they were exhausted by the time dinner rolled around, and all three were cranky and restless. The girls were so bad Evan and Claire took one look at them and knew Kristen couldn’t feed them alone.

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