A Dad for Her Twins

A faint smile twisted Cade’s lips. Max was the only other person he’d told his life story to and he’d shown the same reaction.

“He hates me because I killed my mother.” Why did the knowledge still hurt so much? “She died giving birth to me.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Abby’s hand touched his shoulder, then fluttered away. Her voice dropped. “But even so—it can’t be true. You must have confused something. He probably got so caught up in his own pain and didn’t know how—”

“No.” Cade heard the sharpness in his own voice, felt his jaw tighten. “You can’t romanticize it, Abby. Even if he was decimated by grief, it’s been over thirty years and his attitude toward me hasn’t changed one iota. His anger and the way he took it out on me for my entire life is the reason I left home and joined the military.”

He swallowed the rest of what he wanted to say. His fingers gripped the steering wheel as he turned off the highway and into Buffalo Gap. It struck him that he’d received his wish. A woman now sat beside him. The rumor mill would be rampant with speculation.

Cade with a woman? He hasn’t brought anyone to the Double L since that woman, Alice, and Ed chased her off pretty quick.

Again Cade pretended he didn’t see the curious stares. He drove stoically through the small town.

Cade didn’t get involved in Buffalo Gap. He didn’t have time for it. The constant mental battles with his father left him beaten and worn down, as did the challenge of constantly avoiding another misstep that would take the ranch to financial ruin. He didn’t have time to socialize with the townsfolk.

Max had told him once that women could sense the anger festering inside him and so they steered clear of him. Cade now knew that was true. In his life he thought he’d loved only two women and both of them had dumped him after a visit to the ranch. Cade had blamed his father’s anger and rudeness, but he knew the truth; he simply wasn’t the kind of man women cared for. He lacked the softness that having a mother would have given him. Now Cade no longer wanted the complication of romance in his already uncomfortable world.

But with sudden awareness, he now realized that to expect Abby to endure the simmering discontent of his father was a bad idea. She said she had a little more than three months to go before the twins were due; three months in which she should be pampered and soothed to prepare for delivery. Cade was no expert on human birth, of course, but he’d helped deliver hundreds of calves and about the same number of colts, and he knew giving birth was hard work for any mom.

“Cade?” The softly voiced query drew his attention to Abby. “I don’t have to stay on your ranch. I could go to my friend’s or a shelter, if that would be better for you. I don’t want to cause you problems.”

“You can’t stay in a shelter. Max would never have allowed it and neither will I.” Admiration for her pluck drove off the brooding that always enveloped him when he thought of his father. Cade focused instead on the small woman in the opposite seat.

“But I need to prepare you for what you’ll find. And I want to ask you to, as much as possible, avoid my father. He’s very unhappy with the way I’ve been managing the ranch and with the decisions I’ve made. He refuses to work at his physiotherapy. He often won’t eat the meals our housekeeper, Mrs. Swanson, prepares. He deliberately knocks things over and bangs his cane against anything to express his anger.”

“Oh, the poor man.” Abby’s eyes welled with tears. For some reason that made Cade very angry.

“He’s not a poor man. He’s unhappy, as he’s always been, and he’s trying to make everyone else feel the same.” Cade had to force his fingers to relax on the steering wheel as he drove the gravel road toward the ranch. “I have only one rule for your stay on the Double L, Abby. You must avoid my father. I won’t risk anything happening to you or to Max’s babies.”

Abby’s eyes widened before she turned to look out the window. Cade hated the worry he’d glimpsed there, but he was issuing the warning for her sake.

“Maybe I should go somewhere else—” she began.

“I’ve made you afraid.” He cut off whatever else she’d been going to say, mentally stewing over his lack of subtlety. “Don’t be afraid, Abby. Physically, you will be perfectly safe at the ranch.” He used the gentlest voice he could muster but mostly Cade was out of touch with gentleness.

“But you said—”

“My father has never deliberately physically harmed Mrs. Swanson or me. He uses words instead.” Cade pushed ahead with his confession. “His negative state can be very depressing. I don’t want you to be depressed or unhappy. For that reason I want you to avoid him, as much for your sake as for his.”

Cade pulled up in front of the big white farmhouse that had been home for his entire life. He switched off the truck. Then he turned to look at Abby. She returned his stare, her clear gaze direct and unflinching. Her hands smoothed over her bulging stomach in a protective shield before she spoke.

“I’m here as your guest, Cade. I’ll do whatever you ask. I don’t want to cause any problems for you or your father.” She smiled and Cade noticed the faint trace of dimples in her cheeks. “I’ll try not to be a bother to anyone.”

“You could never be that, Abby. Just be advised. Don’t expect a nice, kindly old man. He’s not.”

Clearly she didn’t believe him. Abby was sweet and good, everything he’d missed from life, everything he craved but couldn’t have. He tore his thoughts away from that thinking and turned his attention to the front window. His father sat there, watching. Cade knew the time for talking was past.

“Welcome to the Double L, Abby.” He climbed out of his truck, walked around to the other side and opened her door. “I’ll introduce you to my father and Mrs. Swanson. Then you can settle in.”

“Thank you.” She held out her hand so he could help her down, letting out a tiny squeal of surprise when he simply lifted her and set her on her feet on the snowy pebbled driveway. Her cheeks grew warm when she noticed surprise on the housekeeper’s face where she stood in the open doorway. His father was there now, too, his usual scowl deepening in disapproval.

Cade’s fingers curved around Abby’s arm. He knew she could feel the tension rippling through his body. Absently he noticed that his boots crunching on the stones made the only sound in the crisp winter air.

“Come in, the pair of you.” Mrs. Swanson’s round face beamed. She pulled his father’s wheelchair backward. Cade urged Abby forward so he could close the door behind them.

“Mrs. Swanson, Dad, this is Abby McDonald. She’s my friend Max’s wife. You remember Max? He used to visit when we had leave.” Cade’s voice tightened. He paused, then resumed speaking, this time in a firmer tone. “Abby’s going to be staying with us for a while.”

“It’s very nice to meet you.” Abby stepped forward, hand outstretched. It was obvious that she remembered too late that Cade had said his father was partially paralyzed. Both his hands lay in his lap. Abby bent, covered his fingers with hers and gently squeezed, smiling in spite of his fierce glare. Then she moved to the woman who stood next to Mr. Lebret’s chair. “Finally I meet the legendary Mrs. Swanson. Max talked a lot about your amazing apple pies.”

“Ah, the dear, dear lad.” Mrs. Swanson’s faint Scottish brogue died away as she sniffed. “’Tis sorry for your loss I am. Max was a good man. He’d wrap me in those gigantic arms of his and swing me around till I was dizzy.”

“Me, too,” Abby whispered with a watery smile.

“I think Cade brought him here to fatten him up. Never saw a man who could eat like your Max did and not gain an ounce.” She slid an arm around Abby’s waist and urged her forward. “Come, my dear. You’ve had a long drive. It’s tea you’ll be wanting to revive you.”

“Tea would be lovely. Thank you.”

Cade almost laughed aloud at the expression on Abby’s face. She looked as though she was being swept along by a tidal wave.

“But I can make tea myself,” Abby protested. “I don’t want to be a bother. You don’t have to wait on me.”

“’Twould be my pleasure to care for Mr. Max’s wife and her wee bairn,” Mrs. Swanson assured her, patting Abby’s stomach gently.

“Bairns,” she corrected. “I’m having twins.”

“Well, glory be!” Mrs. Swanson chuckled again, then urged her forward.

Abby glanced back once, just in time, Cade knew, to see the word his father scrawled with a fat felt marker across a pad of paper lying on his lap.

No!

There was no subtlety in the stark, one-word comment. Cade met Abby’s gaze, saw the question in her eyes. He shook his head once firmly, then smiled, a tight, controlled twist of his lips. Anger tightened his shoulders. He spoke in a careful tone.

“You go with Mrs. Swanson, Abby. Dad and I will join you in the kitchen for tea in a minute.” When she hesitated, he nodded at her as if to reassure her.

After a second check of Cade’s face, Abby gave in. Judging by her expression, she understood he didn’t want her to overhear his discussion with his father. A wave of sympathy rolled through her vivid green eyes before she walked back to him, stood on her tiptoes and murmured for his ears alone, “Max always said you were the most caring man he’d ever known. He told me stories of how you encouraged and praised the men in your unit.” She touched his arm, squeezed. “Now I’ve witnessed your kindness for myself. You don’t have to shield me, Cade. I’m tough. I’ll be fine.”

“Thank you for understanding.” Cade felt the warmth of her smile touch his cold heart, but as she and Mrs. Swanson left the room, the warmth faded. He chose his words carefully, using a measured voice to explain Abby’s situation to his father, leaving out the worst details and making generalizations that would save her embarrassment.

“She will stay for as long as she needs to. I owe Max that.”

His father glared at him, then shoved his pen in his shirt pocket.

Cade pushed his dad’s chair into the kitchen. As they drank Mrs. Swanson’s tea he thought how perfectly Abby fit in. It would be nice to have a friend like her. But when Abby teared up as she answered Mrs. Swanson’s questions about Max, Cade snapped back to reality. It was clear Abby wasn’t nearly over mourning his death.

Cade was pretty sure Abby wouldn’t want a friendship with him, not when he should have been there to protect her husband.

* * *