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The Cowboy's Twin Surprise
Cathy McDavid
DAD ON THE DOUBLEFrankie Hartman never thought she’d see Spence Bohanan again. Not after he broke her heart and walked away before she could tell the wandering cowboy about his twin daughters. Now that he’s back in Mustang Valley, Frankie has to reveal the truth. At least about his kids – Spence can never find out that she still secretly aches for him.Spence finally has his life together and he’s ready to prove himself to the only woman he’s ever loved, but her revelation shakes everything up. It doesn’t take long for him to fall in love with his little girls, but repairing the trust between him and Frankie won’t happen so quickly. Spence is ready to be a family man – will Frankie give him a chance?
DAD ON THE DOUBLE
Frankie Hartman never thought she’d see Spence Bohanan again. Not after he broke her heart and walked away before she could tell the wandering cowboy about his twin daughters. Now that he’s back in Mustang Valley, Frankie has to reveal the truth. At least about his kids—Spence can never find out that she still secretly aches for him.
Spence finally has his life together and he’s ready to prove himself to the only woman he’s ever loved, but her revelation shakes everything up. It doesn’t take long for him to fall in love with his little girls, but repairing the trust between him and Frankie won’t happen quite so quickly. Spence is ready to be a family man—will Frankie give him a chance?
“Newborn pictures are never the best,” Frankie explained.
Spence needed a moment. Swallowing, he waited for his heart to sink back into place from where it had lodged in his throat. These were his daughters when they were just a day, maybe hours, old!
“I think they’re beautiful.”
“I might have extra copies stored in a drawer I can give you along with the thumb drives.”
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
“I wish I’d been there,” Spence said without thinking and realized with a start how much he really did wish it.
Frankie turned her face to his, and tears shone in her eyes. “This is harder than I thought it would be.”
“Aw, honey. Don’t cry.”
Spence put an arm around her and she angled her body toward him and lifted her chin—something she’d done when they were dating and she wanted him to kiss her.
Wait. Take a breath. Think.
He had to be mistaken, right? Then again, not all old habits were bad, were they?
The Cowboy’s Twin Surprise
Cathy McDavid
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Since 2006, New York Times bestselling author CATHY McDAVID has been happily penning contemporary Westerns for Mills & Boon. Every day, she gets to write about handsome cowboys riding the range or busting a bronc. It’s a tough job but she’s willing to make the sacrifice. Cathy shares her Arizona home with her own real-life sweetheart and a trio of odd pets. Her grown twins have left to embark on lives of their own and she couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishments.
To Clay and Caitlin,
my own grown twins who will
forever be my little babies—XXOO
Contents
Cover (#uf9130808-420b-511b-96dc-0f59acfc235a)
Back Cover Text (#u5eb1bb60-be63-5564-af47-7150006d8ac1)
Introduction (#u7d6477b1-88ca-523d-a208-8b4f087f3c31)
Title Page (#u3b65e279-e0c5-5ed6-9852-0b58f8f2d5d4)
About the Author (#ub4ab2916-91ef-5789-84a1-672740c7eee3)
Dedication (#u740a2c23-3d2e-5385-936c-4fc83704829f)
Chapter One (#u7a94acc1-723b-581c-847e-c2184bebfe1e)
Chapter Two (#u315bda66-c05c-5cb3-8c3b-d923062e1175)
Chapter Three (#u61e48f60-5979-5dbb-8667-a3367dc9088b)
Chapter Four (#u9778fb2d-dbbd-5511-b23d-9c5ff5ff56c7)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#uead4fa66-b991-5a78-9c2e-25a73000103a)
“When are you going to quit this job and run away with me?”
The man, seventy if he was a day, stared up at Frankie Hartman with an endearing smile.
She refilled his mug from the pot that was never far away and always contained freshly brewed coffee. Propping an elbow on the counter, she said, “Now, Everett. What about my girls? They’re just three. I couldn’t possibly leave them.”
“Ah. The twins. I forgot.”
He hadn’t. Everett passed through southern Arizona at least twice a month, hauling gravel and sand for a regional supplier. The Cowboy Up Café, where Frankie worked her tail off as head waitress, was a regular stop for him and he often engaged her in a flirtatious exchange that both of them knew would lead nowhere.
She didn’t mind. Everett was a good tipper. He was also funny and a lot smarter than his good ol’ boy appearance and personality would have people think.
In that regard, he wasn’t unlike Spence, the errant father of Frankie’s twin daughters. But she refused to think about him. Not today. She had much more important matters on her mind.
Tia Maria, owner and manager of the café, would be assembling the staff at any moment and announcing the name of the new manager. Though Tia Maria had dropped only occasional vague hints, Frankie was one hundred percent convinced she’d get the promotion.
Who else? Besides having the most seniority, she’d covered for Tia Maria off and on this past year during the café owner’s increasing absences. While Tia Maria wasn’t seriously ill, advancing age and health issues had begun to take their toll, and she’d decided to finally retire.
Frankie had been mentally spending the increased salary that came with the promotion for weeks now. Between two young daughters and the house she’d recently purchased, her budget was stretched to its limit.
“Maybe before my next run, you’ll reconsider.” Everett wasn’t ready to give up.
Frankie flashed him the smile she reserved for her favorite customers. “Anything’s possible.”
She hurried to the pass-through window, grabbed her order and delivered it to the waiting customers. Because the café was shorthanded today, she’d been filling in wherever needed, covering the counter more than the dining area. In between, she watched the door for Tia Maria’s return and counted the minutes.
From the corner of her eye, Frankie caught sight of her two younger sisters, Mel and Ronnie. At four months pregnant, Mel had recently started showing and switched from wearing her standard jeans and tucked-in work shirt to stretchy pants and loose tops. She looked both different and adorable.
Waving hello, the pair slipped into a recently vacated booth.
Frankie informed her nearest coworker she was taking a break. She then prepared Mel’s favorite herbal tea and a hot chocolate for Ronnie. With luck, they’d be celebrating Frankie’s promotion.
“You came.” She placed the mugs in front of her sisters. Since Tia Maria frowned on employees sitting at tables with customers, Frankie stood. It was actually a practice she supported.
“Dad and Dolores send their apologies,” Mel said.
“No problem.”
Frankie hadn’t expected either her father or stepmom to show. Cattle buyers were visiting The Small Change Ranch this morning, where her father worked as foreman, and her stepmom lay in bed, recovering from a minor surgical procedure.
Of course, Frankie would love to have all her family here to share in her moment of excitement, but she understood why it wasn’t possible.
“Is Sam home with the girls?” Ronnie asked.
“She’s picking them up after preschool and bringing them by for a dish of ice cream.”
“Did she tell you she’s competing at the Camp Verde Rodeo this weekend?”
Frankie sighed. “I swear, I hardly see her anymore.”
They’d recently connected with their unknown teenaged sister—when she’d crashed their father’s birthday party and demanded a share of his lottery winnings. While accepting of Sam, Mel and Ronnie still had their ups and downs with her, struggling to come to terms with her sudden appearance, her decision to say in Mustang Valley, and the fact their father had had a child with another woman and never told anyone.
Frankie, however, had taken instantly to the eighteen-year-old, who stayed with her when she wasn’t on the road and fit in as if they’d been together their entire lives.
“When’s the announcement?” Ronnie blew on and then sipped her hot chocolate.
“Any minute. Whenever Tia Maria gets back.” Frankie glanced around, noting the new busboy hadn’t cleared two of the tables. “She’d better hurry. We’re going to get busy soon.”
Though customers continued to come and go, the crowd had thinned during the typical lull between breakfast and lunch. Frankie didn’t worry. The well-trained staff, with the exception of the new busboy, would handle the few new customers straggling in.
“Are you nervous?”
Frankie beamed down at Mel. “I’m excited. I can’t wait. I have so many ideas for this place.”
Had she really been employed at the café fourteen years? She could remember ditching school one afternoon during her junior year to interview with Tia Maria, who, with her steel-colored hair, sharp features and vivid red lipstick, had scared the pants off Frankie. Truth be told, she still did once in a while.
“Will you be able to keep up with the catering after the promotion?”
Mel’s question was one Frankie had pondered endlessly since Tia Maria first mentioned retiring.
“If work gets too demanding, I’ll just cut back on the catering. Limit myself to friends and family. And the really high-paying jobs, of course.”
“How’s your crowd-funding campaign coming along?” Ronnie asked.
“I’ve only raised a few hundred dollars so far.” Hardly enough to launch a business, even a side one.
“No one makes better barbecue brisket and ribs than you,” Mel added. “Even that place the New Times voted number one doesn’t compare.”
Frankie unabashedly agreed. “But side jobs don’t provide company benefits. I need the employer-paid health insurance and vacation days.”
They chatted a couple more minutes, until Frankie noticed the new busboy had yet to clear the two tables. This wasn’t the time for her to fall behind in her duties, not with a promotion nearly clinched.
“I’d better get going.”
“We’re rooting for you, sis.”
She hurried off, still not understanding why Tia Maria hadn’t simply given her the promotion. What was with all this big announcement stuff?
Frankie located the busboy in the storeroom, hanging out with the assistant cook, and hurriedly dispatched him to the dining area. She then admonished the assistant cook, a notorious flirt who was much too old for the kid, before returning to the counter, where customers were waiting for either refills, their check, to place their order or be served.
At least three new people had arrived. She summed them up in a flash. A middle-aged couple—tourists judging by their cargo shorts and T-shirts—and a young cowboy, probably in his early thirties, though it was hard to tell from this angle.
Frankie delivered an order of pancakes, and then snatched the coffeepot from the warming plate, ready to offer the cowboy and middle-aged couple a steaming mug. At that moment, the cowboy turned from talking to Everett and looked directly at her.
He wore an enormous grin, and his green-gray eyes danced with amusement.
Frankie froze as if hit with a stun gun. Only her heart moved, and it beat hard enough to crack a rib.
No, no, no! This could not be happening.
She closed her eyes. When she opened them, Spencer Bohanan still sat there, acting as if he hadn’t been gone for over four years and without so much as a phone call. A text. An e-mail. A greeting passed on from a mutual friend.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded, storming over to him.
“Now, now, honey.”
