Rancher's Twins: Mum Needed

As they pushed through the swing doors of the diner on 81st Street they were greeted by laughter and happy chatter and the appetizing smells of frying bacon and coffee. The waiters recognised Holly and the children and welcomed them warmly.

Gray was introduced.

‘My dad from Australia,’ Josh said proudly.

They slipped into a booth with Gray and Anna on one side, Holly and Josh on the other. The waiter handed out menus.

Gray barely looked at his. ‘I’ll have a hamburger.’

Holly shot him a surprised glance. ‘What kind of hamburger? There are at least six varieties.’

He shrugged, cracked a careless smile. ‘I’ve worked up an appetite. Whatever’s the biggest.’

‘That would be the Mighty Mo,’ the waiter told him with a grin.

‘Thanks. Sounds perfect.’ Gray turned to his daughter. ‘What about you, princess? What would you like?’

He watched Anna study the menu, following down the lists with her finger.

‘A grilled American cheese sandwich,’ she decided.

‘And I wanna hot dog,’ said Josh.

‘I’d like a hot dog, please, Daddy,’ Holly reminded him.

‘I’d like a hot dog, please, Dad.’ His son sent him a cheeky grin.

‘You’re both excellent readers,’ Gray said.

His children smiled politely, as if they were thinking—Of course. It’s only a simple old menu.

He asked quickly, ‘What are you having, Holly? Let me guess. A Greek salad?’ This had always been Chelsea’s choice and, judging by Holly’s slim build, Gray assumed she was equally diet-conscious.

‘Actually,’ she replied with a raised-eyebrow smile, ‘I rather fancy nachos with cheese, guacamole and sour cream.’

It was hours later, close to midnight, when Holly woke to the sound of high-pitched screaming. Her heart pounded as she leapt out of bed. Anna was having another nightmare.

She hurried through the apartment, not bothering to turn on a light. She was so familiar with the route from her bedroom to the children’s room that she could easily dodge furniture and find her way in the dark.

But tonight, halfway down the hall, she ran into a solid object. Six feet three inches of near-naked male. Gray’s warm bare chest and arms. His shoulders, bulky and smooth. His sculpted, cow-wrangling muscles. And he was only wearing boxer shorts.

‘Gray.’ She was suddenly breathless and flushed and—

‘What’s the matter with Anna?’ he demanded, stepping past her.

Holly came rapidly to her senses. ‘She’s having a nightmare.’

As they hurried into the children’s room, she gave herself a mental slap. Okay, so having a close encounter with this man’s partly naked body was likely to send almost any female into a tizzy, but what had happened to her priorities? What about poor Anna?

In the children’s bedroom she switched on a lamp and the room was illuminated by a soft pink glow. Anna was huddled in a tight ball in the middle of her bed, sobbing, ‘Mommy! Mommy!’

Gray looked appalled and helpless, but Holly was sadly used to this scene. Kneeling on the bed, she drew the little girl into her arms. ‘There, there. It’s okay.’ She stroked Anna’s silky hair. ‘It’s okay, honey. You can wake up. You’re all right.’

She felt the mattress dip beneath an extra weight. Gray was sitting on the other side of the bed, his eyes fierce and filled with concern. Lifting a shaking hand, he touched his daughter’s tear-stained cheek.

‘Anna,’ he whispered. ‘Anna, baby.’

‘Daddy!’ The little girl lifted her head from Holly’s shoulder, then turned and hurled herself into her father’s arms. Within minutes her shuddering sobs calmed and she buried her face into his chest.

Holly couldn’t blame her. What little girl wouldn’t want to be held safe in those big, strong, manly arms?

Just the same, she couldn’t help feeling rejected. After weeks of comforting Anna during these middle of the night crises, Holly had suddenly become redundant.

She looked across to Josh’s bed. In the early weeks he’d been the first to jump up, trying to calm his sister. Lately, he’d been more inclined to lie quietly, wide awake, knowing that Holly would come, that Holly knew what to do and that the storm would eventually pass.

‘Hey there, champ,’ Holly whispered.

‘Hey,’ the boy returned softly and then he yawned.

‘You go back to sleep.’ She leaned over to drop a kiss on his warm, still baby-soft cheek. He really was the greatest little guy. She adored him.

Adored them both.

When she turned back to see how Anna was now, she found Gray watching her, and it was then, in the warmth of his gaze, that she remembered that he wasn’t the only adult in this room who was half undressed. She was in her thin cotton nightie—little more than a long, baggy T-shirt with a trail of dog’s paw-prints stamped across her chest.

She tried to shrug off the intimacy of this situation, of being here with Gray, both in their pyjamas, tending to his children in the middle of the night. But the intimacy seemed even greater now after their afternoon in the park and their shared meal. Almost as if the four of them were a little family.

Good grief, what am I thinking?

How could she betray Chelsea with such thoughts? Very soon she would be waving goodbye to this father and his kids. In the fall, she would embark on an exciting new career.

Enough already.

Determined to be sensible, Holly said softly, ‘I think Anna will be okay now.’

In the early weeks, she’d taken the little girl back to sleep in her bed, but lately she’d been weaning Anna out of that habit.

‘Perhaps she’d like a drink of water.’ Holly handed Gray a glass from the nightstand and watched as Anna took a few sips. ‘We can leave the lamp on for five minutes,’ she said.

‘Okay, princess?’ Gray gently eased his daughter back into bed.

Holly pulled up the covers and tucked her in. ‘Night, night.’

The little girl looked peaceful again, curled on her side, eyes closed, golden curls gleaming softly in the lamplight as she clutched her favourite fluffy koala.

Gray gave his daughter a kiss and his son a gentle shoulder thump.

‘‘Night, Dad.’