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He made a face.
“The cows are really cute,” Jessalyn interjected from her booster seat. “Some are brown and white and some are black and white....”
“I like it when they moo,” Jeffrey declared.
Chase continued gaping at Merri as if she were a complete and utter fool. She refused to let his skepticism get her down. “It’s a good thing,” she promised, sure about this decision even if she wasn’t so certain about others. Cheerfully, she predicted, “And it will be even better in a few years, when we get the dairy operation expanded to quadruple the size.”
* * *
MERRI HADN’T BEEN KIDDING, Chase noted thirty minutes later when all four of them had changed into “ranch clothes,” hopped in the pickup truck and headed for the south side of the Broken Arrow Ranch. Just as she had claimed, there were twenty-four cows pastured outside the big barn. All were big, robust, surprisingly handsome animals. Most were heading slowly for the barn door as the truck approached.
“The cows like to come in all on their own!” Jessalyn announced.
“But if they don’t, Mutt—the doggie—will help Slim get the cows inside the barn, so they can get hooked up,” Jeffrey added helpfully.
“The cows know when it’s time to be milked, so they head for the barn,” Merri explained.
Chase parked in the gravel area and everyone got out.
A tall, thin cowboy in his mid-fifties came out of the barn, with a border collie at his heels. The gray-haired hired hand tipped his hat at Merri before glancing at Chase. “I expect you want to have a look around,” he drawled, with the respect due one of the original Armstrongs.
Did he? Chase wondered.
Finding out what Merri had been doing to the place was his worst nightmare. He was stunned no one had mentioned it. But maybe they’d figured—rightly so—that it was going to be a sore subject with him.
Chase tipped his hat back to Slim, a cowboy he recalled meeting at the barbecue in his honor. “May as well,” he grumbled.
Clasping the children’s hands, Merri led the way inside the sparkling, clean barn.
Chase was stunned to see twenty-four stalls, and plenty of stainless-steel, state-of-the-art milking equipment with hoses running to a big steel vat.
Merri murmured with pride, “I joined a co-op dairy that supplies organic milk to a big grocery store chain. Every day a truck comes in and takes it to the processing plant, for ultrahigh-temperature processing and packaging.”
“I don’t like the truck,” Jessalyn complained, covering her ears. “It’s too noisy.”
“But we like watching the cows get milked,” Jeffrey said.
As the bovines were ushered into the stalls, they were hooked up to the milking machines. For all the activity, the barn was surprisingly quiet and peaceful.
Chase’s cell phone rang.
He stepped outside to take the call, then walked back in to let Merri know the latest. “That was Liz Cartwright Anderson. She got us on Judge Roy’s docket for tomorrow afternoon at four. We’re the last case the judge is going to hear before the Thanksgiving break.”
A fact, Chase thought happily, that put them one step closer to his ultimate goal: to have this family officially his.
Chapter Three
“You know what I think?” Judge Priscilla Roy said after listening to Chase and Merri’s joint request for guardianship. In her black robe, glasses perched on the edge of her nose, the dark-haired justice cut an imposing figure as she glared at Chase. “None of what is going on here today, or what happened yesterday in the hospital chapel, has anything to do with the kind of unconditional love and commitment needed for a successful marriage, never mind a stable family unit.”
She was right about that, Merri thought. Their union wasn’t about the feelings she and Chase had for each other.
“I think you’re just doing this to provide access to the children slash heirs and get back control of the family ranch.”
Merri blinked. What?
“Your Honor. There has been no request from Mr. Armstrong for control of the children’s estate,” Liz interjected with lawyerly calm.
Judge Roy waved her hand, then drew her glasses farther down the bridge of her nose and peered at Chase. “Don’t tell me you’re happy about what happened to the ranch you grew up on. Armstrongs and the Broken Arrow have always raised beef cattle. Not dairy cows.”
“That’s true,” Chase admitted with admirable candor. “What’s happened there would not have been my choice. But I do understand.” He turned to glance at Merri. “My wife had to raise these kids on her own and take care of the property. She’s done the best she could under the circumstances.”
Unmoved, Judge Roy continued, “But you could do better?”
Chase lifted his hands. “I’m a surgeon.”
Sternly, the judge commanded, “Answer the question, please.”
He released an exasperated breath and looked at her, squaring his shoulders deliberately. “Yes. I think I could do better. But that’s not the point, Your Honor.”
“Actually, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong, I think that is exactly the point. Mr. Armstrong is back in town and wants what was previously denied him by his mother’s estate—control of the ranch and its assets, which are currently held in trust for the children. To get that, he would have to be co-guardian of the kids.” Priscilla Roy paused meaningfully. “And to achieve that, at least in my courtroom, he has to be married to Merri Duncan. Which he has managed in very short order, with no prior courtship, at least that anyone in the county seems to know about.”
Merri didn’t know what they could say to that, without breaking the promise she and Chase had made to each other to keep the twins’ biological origins private and hence protect the children from scandal. It was bad enough that they’d been orphaned at eight weeks of age, without making Scott and Sasha out to be conniving liars.
Thank heavens the twins didn’t understand any of this. At four and a half, they simply wanted Merri to be their mommy, and hopefully soon, for Chase to be their daddy.
“Judge,” Liz interrupted, “if I may… I have spoken at length with my clients. They both want what is best for these children. Jeffrey and Jessalyn need a father and a mother, and my clients are willing to make the necessary sacrifices and work together to provide that.”
Judge Roy looked at Merri. “An early Christmas gift?”
Wary of making a mistake that would put them in even deeper trouble, she admitted cautiously, “Something like that.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong. You worked as a wedding planner before settling back in Laramie County?”
Merri nodded. “That’s true.”
Judge Roy rocked back in her chair. “And isn’t that a romantic profession?”
Merri winced. “It’s a profession that provides romance. I don’t know how romantic it is for the planner at the end of the day.” She sighed. “Weddings can be very stressful. And a lot of time, the days leading up to the ceremony are anything but romantic.”
The justice pushed her glasses back into place. “So in other words, your work left you jaded.”
Merri shrugged and risked a tiny glance at Chase, who stood beside her, sober and strong. “Maybe. A little.” As had her personal experiences with relationships. “But also exceedingly practical.” She paused, searching for the right words. “I do want what is best for the children. And I think having Chase in their lives, as their dad, will provide that.” It was certainly better than splitting the children up, one night at her place, one night at his.... Which was the only other fair alternative.
“Okay.” Judge Roy sat back, folded her hands on the desk. “You’ve convinced me to give you a chance. But that is all it is. An opportunity to prove that your marriage is a real one, not a sham, and what you are proposing is in the best interest of the twins. If I find out you’re misleading this court in any way, if this marriage is simply a means to an end, I’ll remove you both as guardians.”
Remove? Merri blinked in shock.
Judge Roy turned to her clerk. “Schedule another hearing, for January 3.” She banged her gavel, signaling their hearing had come to an end.
Stunned, Merri left the courtroom with Chase and Liz, as the next case was called. Their lawyer guided them down the hall to a spot where they could talk privately.
“Would the judge really do that?” Merri asked, her voice wobbling as badly as her knees. Clapping a hand over heart, she sank down on the closest wooden bench. “Take the kids away from us?”
“It’s within Judge Roy’s power. But she’s not going to do that, as long as this is a genuine attempt to build a loving, supportive family that will benefit all of you in the long run.”
“It is,” Chase said firmly, with laudable assurance. “Merri and I will make this work.”
Merri only wished she felt as confident.
“So much for our plans to divorce if things don’t work out,” she murmured as the two of them walked to the parking lot. She still felt shaky and at a loss. Chase, on the other hand, looked more confident than ever.
“Judge Roy had a point. Nothing good was ever accomplished with one foot out the door.”
Merri knew the words were truer than she wished. Still… “I’m scared.”
He caught her to him as they reached the car. “Don’t be,” he murmured with both hands on her shoulders. He looked deep into her eyes. “We’re two very strong people, who want only the best for the kids. We’ll find a way to make it work.”
Chase was as good as his word. He was there to help, with dinner and baths and story time. Jeffrey and Jessalyn still regarded him with wariness, but they were slowly warming to him, Merri could tell. As was evidenced by the last question of the day, as they were being tucked in for the night.
“Is Chase going to be our daddy…now that you two are married?” Jessalyn asked.
Merri looked at Chase. He waited, leaving the answer up to her. They hadn’t broached the subject yet, because they hadn’t wanted to rush the kids. “Yes, this makes him your daddy,” Merri said, with as much ease as she could muster.
“Is that okay with you?” Chase asked.
Jessalyn and Jeffrey exchanged looks. Two lower lips slid out truculently. “No,” Jeffrey said.
“We don’t want a daddy right now,” Jessalyn added.
Chase’s expression was inscrutable, but Merri could tell from the faint sheen in his eyes that he was crushed. As was she. “Why not?” she asked the kids, when she found her voice.
“Because we already got a mommy, so we don’t need a daddy,” Jessalyn explained.
“It’s okay,” Chase assured them, seeming to understand that he had upset the equanimity of the household.
“You can change your minds anytime,” Merri felt compelled to add.
Jeffrey sighed and hugged his teddy bear tightly. “We’re not going to.”
Jessalyn nodded in agreement. And that, it seemed, was that.
* * *
“SORRY THEY WEREN’T MORE cooperative,” Merri said as she and Chase went down the stairs together.
“They’ll warm up,” he predicted.
Merri hoped so. Thanks to Judge Roy’s ultimatum, they didn’t have a lot of time to make this work.
Unfortunately, Chase had an early call at the hospital. So the twins didn’t see him at all the next morning before preschool.
“Try a lot of short visits,” Merri’s friend Paige said, when she talked to her later that morning. Paige was not only a dedicated pediatrician, but also an experienced mother of demanding triplets. “It will help the kids get used to Chase and vice versa, and put a lot less pressure on all of them.”
Deciding it was good advice, Merri stopped by the hospital complex, after picking up the kids from school.
“How come we’re going to the hospital?” Jessalyn asked.
“I don’t want another shot,” Jeffrey whimpered, holding his hand over his thigh.
Paige held open the door to the hospital annex, where all the physician offices were located. “You’re not going to get one today. You already had your flu shots last month, remember?”
Jeffrey rubbed his thigh in memory. “That’s why I don’t want another one.”
“So how come we’re here, if we’re not going to the doctor?” Jessalyn persisted, pausing to study the festive turkey and cornucopia display taped outside the pediatric services suite.
Merri took the children’s hands and pressed on. “I thought we’d surprise Chase and see if he’d like to have lunch with us in the cafeteria.”
More frowns. “I’d rather go to the Dairy Barn,” Jessalyn said with a pout.
Merri paused outside the general surgery suite. “Another time,” she promised.
She ushered the children in, only to be told by the receptionist, “You just missed him. He went down to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat.”
“Perfect!” Merri smiled and ushered the children back out into the hall. Not surprisingly, they grumbled and dragged their heels all the way to the cafeteria.
Chase had already gone through the line. Tray in hand, he was searching for a seat when he saw them. He flashed a devastating smile, set his tray on a table for four and strode toward them.
He was looking more handsome than ever in blue surgical scrubs and a white doctor’s coat, and Merri felt her heart quiver in response. She knew this wasn’t a real marriage in the traditional sense, but at the moment, it felt as if it were.
Aware that all eyes were on them, she beamed at him. “Hey.”
Still smiling, Chase pressed a quick, casual kiss to her temple, then leaned down to do the same to the kids.
Instead of welcoming the gesture, they both shrank back, out of reach. The twins clung to Merri, hiding their faces in the fabric of her wool trousers.
“Can we go home now?” Jeffrey’s voice was muffled against her leg.
Merri patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Let’s have some lunch first, okay?”
The little boy was about to protest when a loud cheer went up behind them. Squeals of delight were followed by a chorus of “There he is!” “What a sight for sore eyes!” “Handsome as always, Dr. Heartbreaker!”
Dr. Heartbreaker?
Merri turned, coming face-to-face with the half-dozen young women from Chase’s photo. They were clad in desert-hued camouflage pants, jackets and form-fitting beige
T-shirts, and were all incredibly glad to see Chase. From the welcoming expression on her now husband’s face, he was equally thrilled to see them.
En masse, the women streamed toward him. And one after another, with everyone in the hospital cafeteria looking on, they greeted Chase with more whoops and hollers and heartfelt hugs.
