The Triplets' Cowboy Daddy

Chapter One (#u09a3d2a5-e1ff-5434-96df-6a7029a661ba)

Nora Carpenter could have cared for one baby easily enough. She could somehow have juggled two. But three—she’d never imagined that accepting the role of godmother to her half sister’s babies would actually put her into the position of raising those babies on her own. She was still in shock.

Nora stood in her mother’s brilliantly clean farmhouse kitchen, more overwhelmed than she had ever felt in her life. The three infants were still in their car seats, eyes scrunched shut and mouths open in hiccoughing wails. She stood over them, her jeans already stained from spilled formula and her tank top stretched from...she wasn’t even sure what. She unbuckled the first infant—Rosie—and scooped her up. Rosie’s cries subsided as she wriggled up against Nora’s neck, but anxiety still made Nora’s heart race as she fumbled with Riley’s buckle. She’d come back to Hope, Montana, that afternoon so that her mother could help her out, but even that was more complicated than anyone guessed. These babies weren’t just orphans in need of care; they were three tiny reminders that Nora’s father hadn’t been the man they all believed him to be.

Everything had changed—everything but this kitchen. The counters were crumb-free, as they always were, and the room smelled comfortingly, and very faintly, of bleach. Hand-embroidered kitchen towels hung from the stove handle—two of them, one with Monday sewn across the bottom, and one with Thursday. Today was Friday. Unless Dina Carpenter was making jam or doing canning, this was the natural state—immaculate, with no care for properly labeled towels. The babies’ cries echoed through the house.

Rosie, Riley and Roberta had finished their bottles just before Nora’s mother had left for a quick trip to the store for some baby supplies.

“I’ll be fine!” Nora had said. Famous last words. The minute the door shut, the cries had begun, and no amount of cooing or rocking of car seats made a bit of difference.

There was a knock on the back door, and Nora shouted, “Come in!” as she scooped up Riley in her other arm and cuddled both babies close. Riley’s cries stopped almost immediately, too, and that left Roberta—Bobbie, as Nora had nicknamed her—still crying in her car seat, hands balled up into tiny fists.

Nora had no idea who was at the door, and she didn’t care. Whoever walked through that door was about to be put to work. Served them right for dropping by.

“Need a hand?” The voice behind her was deep—and familiar. Nora turned to see Easton Ross, the family’s ranch manager, standing in the open door. He wore jeans and cowboy boots, his shirt pushed up his forearms to reveal ropy muscle. He’d changed a lot since their school days. Back then he’d been a skinny kid, perpetually shorter than she was. Not anymore. He was most definitely a grown man...and she was no longer the one with all the power. When her father died a few months ago, he’d left Easton a piece of property.

“Easton.” She smiled tiredly. “Would you mind picking up Bobbie there? She needs a cuddle.”

Her personal grudge against the man would have to wait.

“Yeah...okay...” He didn’t sound certain, but he crossed the room and squatted in front of the car seat.

“You know how to pick up babies, don’t you?” she asked.

“Uh...sort of.” His face had hardened, his jawline now strong and masculine. He used to have acne as a teenager, but there was no sign of it now. Looking at him squatting there, she realized that she’d missed him more than she’d realized—and that wasn’t just the fact that she didn’t have enough hands right now. And yet, while she’d been away in the city, he’d been here with her dad, building a relationship that her father would reward him with her great-grandparents’ homestead. Bile rose every time she thought about it.

“Support the head and the bottom,” she instructed. “The rest will take care of itself.”

Easton undid the buckle then cautiously scooped up the baby in his broad, calloused hands. Bobbie settled instantly as Easton pulled her against his chest. He looked down at the baby and then up at Nora.

“There,” he said. “That worked.”

“Thanks...” Nora heaved a sigh. The quiet was more than welcome.

“Bobbie?” he asked. The babies were all in pink sleepers.

“Her full name is Roberta. But she’s my little Bobbie. It suits her.”

Nora had only had the babies in her charge for a few days of her twelve-week parental leave from work, but she was already attached. They were so sweet, and so different from each other. Rosie was the quietest of the three, and Riley couldn’t abide a wet diaper. Bobbie seemed to have the strongest personality, though, and Nora could already imagine their sisterly dynamic as they grew.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he said. “Hi.”

“Hi.” She gave him a tight smile. “Nice to see you again.”

Last time she saw him was at the reading of the will. She pushed back the unpleasant memory. Regardless, Easton was a fixture around here. They used to be good friends when they were younger, and they’d spent hours riding together, or just sitting on a fence and talking. When times were tough, Easton always seemed to materialize, and his solid presence made a difference. Apparently, her father had had equally warm memories.

Easton met her gaze, dark eyes softened by a smile. “You look good.”

“Babies suit me, do they?” she joked.

“So the word around town—it’s true, then?” he asked.

There it was—the beginning of the town’s questions. There would be a lot of them, and the answers were complicated.

“What did you hear?” she asked warily. “How much do people know?”

“That you came back to town with triplets,” he said. “That your dad had an affair, and you had a half sister...” He winced. “It that part true? I find it hard to believe of him. I knew your dad better than most—”

She chafed at that reminder. The homestead was an old farmhouse her great-grandparents had built with their own hands. Over the years, the Carpenters had maintained it and Nora’s parents had used it as a guesthouse. It mattered, that old house. It was Nora’s connection to her family’s past and she’d loved that old place. For her father to have left it to someone else...that had stung. She only found out that he’d changed his will when he died. Her mother had been surprised because she said they’d talked about doing something for Easton, but hadn’t landed on what exactly. Normally Cliff and Dina talked through everything. But it looked like even Easton had been in the dark about her father’s biggest secret.

“Yes, it’s true.” Easton wouldn’t be the only one to be disappointed in this town. “My half sister, Mia, introduced herself a couple of months ago. Her mom—the other woman—” those words tasted bitter “—passed away a few years ago, and Mia was looking for her dad’s side of the family. When I met her, she was already pregnant. There was no dad—she’d gone to a sperm bank. She really wanted kids and hadn’t met the right guy yet.”

Mia had had no idea about the affair and she never got a chance to meet Cliff. She had introduced herself after he died. It had been an awkward meeting, but Nora and Mia had recognized something in each other. Maybe they felt the genetic link. They’d both been raised only children, and to find a sibling was like a childhood daydream come true. Except this was real life, and they’d both had to come to terms with their father’s infidelity.

“And you’re godmother,” Easton concluded.

“Yes. When she asked me to be godmother, I swear, I thought it was just a kind gesture. I never imagined this...”

Mia had died from childbirth complications—triplets being a high risk pregnancy to begin with—and Nora had grieved more deeply than she thought possible for a sister she’d only known a couple of months, whose existence rocked her own world. Nora was certain they’d have been close.

“Wow.” Easton cleared his throat. “So your mom... I mean, these babies...”

“Yes, these babies are my father’s illegitimate grandchildren.” Nora sighed. “And Mom isn’t taking it well.”

That was an understatement. Nora hadn’t told her mother, Dina, about Mia for a few weeks, afraid of causing her mother more grief than she was already shouldering since her husband’s death. So Dina Carpenter hadn’t had long to adjust to this new information before Nora and the babies arrived on her doorstep.

And Dina hadn’t adjusted. She was still coming to terms with her late husband’s infidelity and learning to run the ranch on her own. The babies only seemed to fuel more heartbreak.

“So what are you going to do?” Easton asked.

Footsteps sounded on the wooden staircase outside; then the door opened and Dina came inside, dropping some shopping bags on the floor. She was plump, with graying blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. She shut the door behind her then looked up.

“You’re back,” Nora said.

“I got some baby clothes, diapers, formula, soothers, three bouncy chairs—they might help with...” Dina’s voice trailed off. “Hi, Easton.”

Nora recognized the trepidation in her mother’s voice. The secret was out. She’d been holding this one close to her chest, and Nora knew how much her mother dreaded the whole town knowing the ugly truth about her husband’s affair. So did Nora, for that matter. It was worse somehow that her father wasn’t here to answer any questions, or take the brunt of this for them. He deserved to feel ashamed; they didn’t. Nora and her mother hadn’t been the ones to betray trust; he had. But he was dead, and they were left with the fallout of Cliff Carpenter’s poor choices.

“Hi, Mrs. Carpenter.” Easton stood awkwardly, the baby nestled against his chest, and seemed almost afraid to move. “Just lending a hand. I came by to tell you that we’re rotating pastures for fence maintenance, and that will require a bit of overtime from the ranch hands.”

“More overtime?” Dina sighed. “No, no, do it. The southwest fences, right? We put them off last year, so...” She sighed. “Is that all?”

“Yeah.” Easton nodded. “I can get going.” He looked down at the baby in his arms then at Dina as if he didn’t know what to do.

If the homestead was still in the family, Nora would have moved in there with the babies to give her mother some space, but that was no longer an option. Nora and Dina would just have to deal with this together.

“I guess we’ll have to get the babies settled in your old bedroom,” Dina said. She paused, put a hand over her eyes. “I still can’t believe it’s come to this.”