Twins For Christmas

Thanksgiving was a casual affair at the Tanner household. She threw on a pair of jeans, an ivory draped top and her favorite pair of Old Gringo boots, which Lauren had given her last Christmas. She quickly applied a little mascara and a slick of gloss over her lips on the way out the door.

She’d given Noah the address of her parents’ ranch. Back in their heyday, her parents had been sheep wool farmers. She asked him to meet them there around noon, and as she unfastened the twins’ car seat buckles, he drove toward her along the main ranch road. “Let me help you,” Noah said as he stepped from his car.

His arm brushed against hers as he reached into the cab and lifted Cheyenne out of her seat. Hannah shook off the tingling sensation it created, reminding herself of the Girlfriend’s Golden Rule—never lust after or date your best friend’s ex. Hannah gasped. The unexpected thought sucked the breath from her lungs. Any tingle from Noah would be completely inappropriate. She couldn’t betray Lauren. She wouldn’t.

“You look nice, by the way.” Noah’s voice snapped her to attention.

His casual comments didn’t help matters. “Thank you.” Every minute she spent around Noah, she understood Lauren’s attraction to him more. Granted the man would be in her life forever because of the girls, but it didn’t mean it was a one-way pass to a relationship.

“Are children their age permitted to ride in the front seat of the truck?”

His question knocked her off-kilter. She didn’t appreciate the insinuation she was illegally toting the kids around. “I assure you it’s quite legal. If a pickup truck doesn’t have an extended cab, children can ride up front if they are in an appropriate car seat or safety harness.” Hannah had read the manuals. She knew the rules. She’d even had the police department install the seats. There was no doubt in her mind the children were safe. Her truck wasn’t ideal, but she couldn’t afford a more child-friendly vehicle right now.

“Whoa, I didn’t mean to offend you.” Noah hip-checked the truck door closed once the twins were out. “Although I can see why you would be. I’m sorry. I guess I’m being overly protective. I mean, that’s what I’m supposed to do, right? That’s a fatherly thing.”

Hannah tried not to laugh at his explanation. He really was new to this. “I’m the one who should apologize. You’re asking the right questions. I’d be worried if you weren’t. This is old hat to us Charlotte and Cheyenne veterans.” She tugged at the bottom of Charlotte’s dress where it had caught in her white stockings. Not that those would last more than an hour the way the kids played. “For the record, I haven’t told anyone who you are yet. I mentioned I was bringing someone to dinner and figured we could tell them together. But again I ask you, please be careful what you say in front of the twins.”

Noah leaned closer to Hannah so the girls wouldn’t overhear. “I’m their father. You do plan on allowing me to tell them sometime soon, don’t you?”

“Yes, of course.” Hannah had the sinking feeling the next sixteen and a half years would be much harder than she’d imagined. He’d probably ask for a visitation schedule. She wasn’t ready for any overnight visits to his house and neither were the girls. “I’ve spent almost every day of their lives with them. I know what’s best. Trust me.”

Hannah introduced Noah to all sixteen members of her family—newly enlarged courtesy of her brother Clay’s marriage to Abby.

Once the girls were playing safely out of earshot, Hannah gathered her parents, brother and sister-in law together in the kitchen.

“I have something to tell you,” Hannah began. Her stomach clenched. “Noah isn’t just a friend of mine. He’s Charlotte and Cheyenne’s biological father.”

“Heaven help us.” Hannah’s mother reached for the counter to steady herself. “What does this mean?”

“It doesn’t mean anything yet.” Hannah spoke before Noah had a chance to respond. “The girls don’t know and we need to take this day by day.”

Noah excused himself, and for a brief second, Hannah wondered if he was making a break for it. From the outside looking in, she could see how her clan could be a tad intimidating.

“Why didn’t you call me as soon as Noah made contact with you?” Clay demanded. “I need to run him through the system and make sure he’s legit. I assume you’re going to schedule a paternity test. Taking this man at his word isn’t smart or safe.”

Hannah reeled from her brother’s onslaught of questions and demands. It was the downside to having a private investigator in the family. “I’m quite certain he’ll want a paternity test. But I’m positive he’s the father. He was the only person Lauren had been with during that time. As for a background check, I’m fine with it. I don’t think he needs to know, though.”

“Where does he even live?” Clay asked. “And what are his intentions with the twins?”

“I don’t know.” Lauren and Noah hadn’t spent much of their night together talking. And Hannah hadn’t thought to ask during his visit yesterday afternoon. “He met Lauren in College Station and he learned of her death there, too, so I’m assuming he lives somewhere in that vicinity.” It wasn’t next door, but three and a half hours away would allow him to visit on weekends. Maybe after a while she’d even be willing to make up a guest room for him so he could spend more time with his daughters.

Clay rolled his eyes. “My naive little sister, things aren’t always as they appear on the surface. What’s his last name? I’ll have one of my associates begin working on it.”

Hannah hadn’t remembered him mentioning a last name. She groaned inwardly. “I have no idea. I took him at his word.” Maybe she had more of Lauren in her than she thought.

“I’ll handle it. Until we know more about him, you should limit his time with the twins and make sure someone else is there when he’s around.” Clay enveloped her in a hug.

“I know this is hard, kiddo.” Hannah’s father joined them. “We’ll help you through it any way we can. Clay’s right, though. Until we know more about him, you need to keep your distance. At the very least, have one of us there with you.”

They rejoined the rest of the family as Noah reappeared bearing a bouquet for her mother and a couple of bottles of wine for her father. Her parents appreciated the sweet gesture. Something Lauren used to say came to mind: “You can’t fake sincerity.” Hannah had always argued that fact, until yesterday. Noah seemed genuinely enamored with his daughters, which was what Lauren had always hoped for. She had always vowed to find him one day.

By the end of dinner, Clay had grilled Noah more than a steak on a barbecue. His last name was Knight...as in shining armor. Lauren would have howled at that. And his first name was William. But there had been so many Williams in his kindergarten class he’d asked the teacher to use his middle name instead. He went by Noah from then on. That explained why Clay hadn’t been able to locate a pilot named Noah when Lauren asked him to find the father of her unborn babies. His job as a helicopter-logging pilot sounded as cool as it did dangerous.

“Aren’t you concerned with deforestation?” Hannah’s father, Gage, asked.

“Heli-logging actually works in harmony with the environment. Instead of scarring the hillside by dragging the logs out or building new roads to transport them, I’m able to lift a telephone pole–sized log straight up.”

“So you’re not creating huge sections of missing trees?” Abby asked.

“No, we’re not clear-cutting,” Noah continued. “We’re also eliminating the soil erosion that can arise from traditional logging.” Noah reached across the table for the salt and pepper shakers and placed them in front of his plate. “Heli-logging thins the forest and opens it up by creating wide spaces between the trees.” He moved the shakers apart from one another to demonstrate. “You’re always hearing about forest fire devastation. A fire will whip through a thinned forest and rarely burn a tree because it remains on the ground. When a forest hasn’t been managed—” he moved the shakers closer together “—there are felled trees and overgrowth providing fuel that concentrates and intensifies the heat on the ground.” He placed his silverware and napkin around and between the shakers. “The fire doesn’t have a chance to flash through as it does in a managed forest. It’s never a matter of if there will be a forest fire, it’s when. Heli-logging helps control the burn before it begins. That’s just one aspect of the job.”

“I never knew any of that existed.” Fern offered him more sweet potatoes. “Your life definitely sounds interesting.”

Charlotte and Cheyenne had insisted on sitting next to him at the table and Hannah wondered if they instinctively knew he was their father.

What had surprised Hannah most was that he lived two thousand miles away in Oregon. She and the girls definitely wouldn’t be seeing him as much as she’d anticipated. That unsettled her. A weekly visitation schedule would be better for the girls. How could they bond with him if they were together only a few times a year?

“Noah,” her father said. “I don’t know what your plans are for the rest of the evening, but we have a tradition of cutting down a live Christmas tree and decorating it on Thanksgiving. We’d love to have you join us, since you’re the expert logger.”

Noah laughed. “I’d be honored, sir. But my team does most of the cutting on the ground. I’m more of a removal man. Hopefully you don’t choose a tree large enough for me to bring in one of my Chinook helicopters.”

Hannah hadn’t expected to enjoy decorating the tree when the men returned. She’d made up her mind earlier that she would duck out just after they left on their tree expedition. It was too painful without her best friend there. Her family’s high spirits kept the mood elevated even though everyone felt Lauren’s absence. The girls had fallen asleep shortly after they’d brought the boxes of decorations down from the attic. Thankfully, her mother had kept their cribs after Lauren left for Boston. They’d return to their old routine of staying with Nanny during the day once Hannah went back to work at the rodeo school. Her job had graciously given her time off while she settled the house and the girls’ routine.

“These were Lauren’s.” Her mother carefully unwrapped the tissue paper–covered ornaments. “I had promised to send them to her once she’d settled in. Now I will pass them directly on to her daughters.”

Noah sat on the couch beside her mother and wrapped a supportive arm around her shoulders. “I’ll make sure they’re the first ornaments the girls hang every year, and I’ll even send you pictures.”

“Excuse me?” Hannah stared at Noah. “You make it sound as if Charlotte and Cheyenne will be with you.”

Noah looked around the room and stood. “Where else would they be? I’m their father.”

“And I’m their legal guardian.” Hannah took a step toward him. “Father or not, Lauren named me in her will, not you.”

“Only because she didn’t know where to find me,” Noah countered. “You even said she’d been looking for me.”

“She may have been looking for you, but she had no intention of handing her children over to you. You have no legal claim to them.”

“I will once I take a paternity test, which I’ve scheduled for tomorrow at Grace General Hospital.”

“You did what?” Hannah couldn’t believe what was happening. He honestly expected to take the girls away from her and her family? “Who do you think you are, coming into my home, my parents’ home, and announcing your plans to rip Charlotte and Cheyenne from the only family they’ve ever known?” Her pulse quickened and the room began to spin. He couldn’t take them. She refused to consent to it. She grabbed hold of her brother’s arm for support.

Clay stepped between them. “Noah, I think you should leave.”

“I don’t understand.” Noah held up his hands. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve seen your house and you’re clearly struggling financially. I don’t want my daughters to be a burden. Plus, we have a lot of time to make up for.”

“First of all, a social worker has already completed a home inspection and I’m well aware of what needs to be done to my house. And second, I may not make as much as you, but those children will never be a burden to me. We won’t be millionaires, but we will survive.”

“I don’t want my daughters to just survive. I want them to thrive and I can provide that for them.”

Hannah felt a shiver down to the bone. “A few hours ago you wondered if asking questions regarding their safety was the fatherly thing to do. You don’t have experience with these children. There’s no way in hell you’re getting those girls.”

“I understand your attachment to them.” Noah spoke with controlled firmness. “I would never cut you out of their lives. That wouldn’t be fair to them or you. But I am their biological father, and you can’t keep me from raising them. You’re more than welcome to visit anytime you’d like, but those girls are coming home with me.”

Clay grabbed Noah by the collar and ushered him to the door. “Until you have a court order saying otherwise, stay away from my sister and my family.” He pushed him through the door and slammed it shut behind him.

“Oh, my God.” Fern began to cry. “Does he have a chance of getting the girls?”

Clay glared down at his sister. “You need to prepare yourself for the fight of your life.” He gripped Hannah’s shoulders. “Maybe I can uncover something to use against him in court. Call Avery. You need an attorney to help you fight this. If a paternity test proves he’s their biological father, a judge can sever your claim to them, despite Lauren’s will.”

This must be a cruel joke. Charlotte and Cheyenne were a part of her as if they were her own flesh and blood. She’d already lost her best friend—she refused to lose the girls, too. She felt a steely grip squeeze her heart. Lauren. She never would have wanted this.

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