Twin Ties, Twin Joys: The Boss's Double Trouble Twins / Twins for a Christmas Bride / Baby Twins: Parents Needed

He looked at her, bemused. “Okay, I will. I could eat a horse.”

She almost smiled. “That’s a dangerous thing to threaten out here in horse country.”

She could see his slow grin out of the edge of her vision. “I’ll make do with a burger,” he said. He sat up straighter in his seat. “And I know just where we can get one.”

“Where?” she asked skeptically. They were out in the middle of nowhere. She hadn’t seen a gas station for miles, much less a hamburger stand.

“Turn right on the Sorrel Highway.” He pointed out the sign just ahead. “It’s been years, but I think it’ll still be there.”

She turned where he’d indicated, but the land looked empty in that limitless way that didn’t bode well for hamburgers. How many miles would he want to go before giving it up as a lost cause?

“It’s got to be out this way,” he reassured her. “I remember it well. My grandfather had a cattle ranch in the Sargosa Hills and I used to go out and help him work the place sometimes on summer vacations. There was this old recluse of a guy—think of your ultimate stereotype of the old prospector with a pickax on his shoulder and a mule by his side. His name was Ry Tanner.”

He scanned the horizon, then pointed as a ramshackle building came into view. “There it is! See that bed and breakfast? That’s got to be the place. Stop there.”

Darcy frowned doubtfully as they pulled up in front of the ancient building. A two-story frame in a rustic Victorian style, standing out alone on the treeless plain, it looked like a survivor of another age. The sign said, Tree Stump Bed And Breakfast. Another sign, hanging by a tattered rope, said, Café. And there were a few tables and chairs set out on the browning grass of the front yard, in the shade of a small stand of cottonwood trees.

“Mitch, are you sure?” she began.

“Absolutely,” he said, getting out of the car. “We can get some lunch here. Come on.”

She followed him but she wasn’t too keen on this. The place almost looked abandoned.

“I don’t know,” she murmured, frowning.

But Mitch was cupping his hands and calling toward the entry to the building. “Hello! Anybody here?”

There was a dusty silence for a moment, but just as Darcy was starting to turn away, a gruff voice came from the house.

“Go away. We’re closed.”

Mitch grinned, giving Darcy a wink. “It’s him,” he said before stepping closer. “Ry Tanner, ya ole reprobate. Is that you?”

There was a pause, then the voice sounded again. “We’re closed, I tell you.”

But Mitch had mounted the steps to the front door and was peering in through the milky glass. “Ry Tanner, come on out here.”

“Who’s that?” the voice demanded.

“Mitch Carver.” He spread out his arms. “Don’t you remember me?”

The door opened a crack and a grizzled head appeared. “Mitch Carver! Is that you?”

“It’s me, all right.”

The door opened a bit more and the old man stood in the light. “What are you doin’ here? I ain’t seen you for years.” His gnarled face turned and his beady black eyes took in Darcy, too. “And you got yourself a pretty girl. Poor thing. I never thought you’d find one would put up with ya.”

Mitch laughed. “She doesn’t. But that’s another story.”

The man shuffled out onto the porch and nodded toward the tables on the grass. “Come on over and set a spell,” he said. “Out here in the cool breeze.”

“We came to get some food,” Mitch said as they followed him to the table.

He shook his gray head. “We’re closed.”

“A little snack will do. That’s all we need.”

Dropping down into a chair, Ry Tanner frowned at his company. “I told you, we’re closed.”

“No, we ain’t.” A plump, pretty woman who looked to be in her forties came out of the house.

“Don’t listen to him,” she said, smiling at them all. “He’s just playin’ hermit. You’re old friends of his? Y’all sit down. I’ll get you some food.”

Ry grumbled, but it was becoming apparent that his grumbling didn’t mean much. Darcy and Mitch sat down across from him and the woman, whose name was Betty, took their order and hurried into the house to prepare their food.

“You two married yet?” Ry demanded, glaring at Darcy.

“No!” they both said at once.

He nodded, looking at Mitch. “Good.” He leaned closer, confiding. “But you watch out. Here’s a life lesson, son. They try to trap you.”

“Trap?” Darcy knew he was just an old man but she couldn’t hide her outrage. “Why would I want to trap anyone?”

He glanced at her, then back at Mitch. “Marriage. That’s all any woman wants, you know. She wants to pluck you off the vine and plunk you down into her own little teacup.”

Darcy blinked at the strangely mixed metaphor.

“I have never tried to trap anyone into anything, much less marriage. And you know what? I’ll tell you a secret.” She leaned toward him conspiratorially. “I wouldn’t marry him if he asked me to.”

“See?” He waved a finger in the air. “That’s the first trick they use. Playin’ hard to get.” He nodded knowingly, narrowing his eyes as he looked at her sideways. “Watch out for that one, my friend.”

She shook her head. Mitch was silently laughing, his blue eyes dancing. She glared at him. He was having too much fun with this.

“The male ego never ceases to amaze me,” she muttered.

Ry seemed to take offense. “Well then, what are you coming by here bothering people fer?”

Darcy’s jaw dropped. This crazy old man! “We don’t mean to bother you. Mitch just thought …”

He looked triumphant. “Ya see there?” He nodded to Mitch. “There she goes, takin’ your side, letting you think she’s defending you. That’s number two on the roster. Write these down, son. You need to keep a list about you at all times. Ya gotta be prepared to counter their attacks.”

Mitch was laughing, Darcy was confused between reluctant amusement and annoyance, and Ry Tanner seemed to be in his element now.

But Betty had her own advice. “Don’t listen to him,” she suggested as she put a pair of huge hamburgers, with fries, out in front of them. “He just likes to hear himself talk. Don’t you, Pops?”

Ry grumbled, but the hamburgers were good and Darcy was famished. She had to admit the old man was like a piece of old Texas. He should be in a museum somewhere. But she couldn’t say he was much of a lunch companion. Mitch seemed to have a strange affection for this old man, but she didn’t think she could share it.

“So, Ry Tanner,” Mitch was saying casually. “What do you know about the Heartland Project? I hear it’s going in right next to you here, isn’t it?”