Page 27 of The Cowboy and the Baby

Naomi.

My twin.

My second heart beat.

Tears welled up in my eyes, splashing my wrist as I plunged my hand into the bowl and scraped the sides with bare fingers. Grandma taught both Naomi and me how to make biscuits and gravy at this same countertop, and we’d delighted in the sticky mess.

This was the last place I recalled happy memories with Naomi. Before Mom and Dad kept us away because Dad was angry and Grandpa was stubborn. Before Naomi found friends I didn’t like, and I rushed off to college to avoid home, and Naomi fell in with people who cared nothing about her. Her tragic and rare death after childbirth had been a devastating blow.

My heart beat an unsteady rhythm while I turned the dough. Naomi. Naomi. Is she what I sought here? Did I subconsciously bring myself to the ranch because I knew I’d find her? Or Grandma? Or a place that once loved me back?

I didn’t know.

But I didn’t need to know.

A lusty cry from the bedroom startled me from my grief spiral as I finished setting the biscuits on the cookie sheet. Sniffling, I swiped my cheeks off with my forearms, rinsed my hands, set the biscuits inside the heated oven, and hurried to the bedroom.

I cried while I prepped Lily’s bottle.

I cried while she ate.

I cried while I cleaned her up.

And then I snuggled Lily, fresh from a bath, thought of Naomi never getting to hold her, and cried some more. A cool tingle crossed my shoulders right before warmth overtook my heart. For a mere breath, I could have sworn Grandma embraced me, letting me know that this is exactly where we were supposed to land.

Almost like Grandma and Naomi could guide me to the life I was supposed to live, not the one that my parents gave me.

Snow and boots and beards trampled into the kitchen thirty minutes later. I was reaching for a jam jar when three large male bodies spilled into the kitchen from the back porch. The lead body stopped as quickly as he entered.

He paused, blinking, and cried, “You weren’t kidding, hoss! There’s a girl in here!”

A fast smile followed his exclamation, and before I knew what hit me, a pair of arms had me wrapped in a hug, lifted me off the ancient linoleum, and twirled me around. He smelled like hay and horses. As quickly as he picked me up, he set me down.

“Good to meet you, Miss Morgan. I’m Wyatt, but you may know me as the handsome one.”

Audacious.

I liked him immediately.

“A pleasure,” I drawled, still regaining my balance with a laugh.

Another young man advanced, bowing his head a little as he offered a hand. His periwinkle eyes twinkled, and his smile had a slant of shyness I couldn’t help but appreciate. He had a cowboy’s handshake. Firm, but gentle. A wordless promise.

“Miss Morgan, a pleasure. My name is Cody. I’m the normal one, if you can believe that.”

“Good to meet you both, gentlemen. My name is Noelle.”

“They’re extra, as my sister would say,” Cade declared. “I apologize for not warning you about all three of us coming inside. I?—”

Here, his words faltered. His gaze dropped from my eyes to the stove behind me, then to the hot coffee pot, the biscuits, gravy, and bacon heaped on the table.

“Your timing is perfect,” I replied, finally grasping the jam I sought from the fridge. “I just finished making breakfast and was going to text you. Though now that I think about it, we need a better communication system. I’ll put it on the update list.”

There I went again.

We.

But I couldn’t help myself. My heart claimed this ranch, and I had no plans of letting go any time soon.