Hannah thrust a hand at him, shaking his with a firm confidence that reminded him of her bold mother. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
Wow, that was a kick in the teeth, he mused. Made him sound ancient. Then again, to her he probably was. Allie didn’t venture out to follow her sister’s lead, and he settled for another smile in her direction. “Your grandpa’s been telling me about how you ended up with an alpaca named Teddy. It was real generous of you to give him such a good home.”
“He’s a good boy,” she allowed in a voice so quiet, he had to strain to hear it. After that, she patted Morgan’s cheek and drifted into the house without another word.
Obviously, there was something different about her, but he’d never dream of asking what it might be. Fortunately, her twin filled in the blank for him. “Allie has a-tism, so she’s shy around people. It was nice of you to talk about Teddy, ’cause she really likes him.”
Following that very straightforward explanation, she skipped inside, Skye right on her heels.
The revelation hung in the air, creating an awkward silence that Ty had no clue how to fill. Morgan looked especially uncomfortable, and JD reached over to grasp her hand in a reassuring gesture. “Both our girls are special. That’s what we focus on, right, honey?”
“Right.” She made a valiant attempt at a smile that fell woefully short. Standing, she said, “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check on things inside, then unload that feed I bought in town. Hope you enjoy your visit, Ty.”
He suspected that she didn’t come close to meaning that, but as she disappeared inside, he couldn’t really blame her for not welcoming him with open arms. She’d told him she’d never forgive him, and he believed her.
“Well, I’d best get over to my place and see how bad that old cabin looks,” he said, putting his hat back on before extending his hand to his neighbor. “Thanks for the talk and the lemonade. I enjoyed ’em both, just like always.”
That leathery hand held on to his for an extra pump before letting go. Then JD gave him a sage look, as if he knew what Ty was keeping from them all. “You’re welcome here anytime, son. Starting over ain’t easy, but it might go better if you get a little help once in a while.”
“What makes you think I’m starting over?”
“I was born during the day,” the old rancher told him with a chuckle, “but not yesterday.”
Grinning, Ty strolled out to his truck feeling a lot more chipper than he had just a couple of hours ago. As he drove out and headed for his place on the other side of the Whittakers’ east pasture, something about Morgan’s twins was nagging at him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something about them that felt familiar to him.
They were both the spitting image of their mother, he reasoned. That must be it. But even as he tried out that explanation in his head, it didn’t sit right with him. Then, because he couldn’t think of anything else, he put it out of his mind. As JD had noted, starting over wouldn’t be easy, but he had a lot of years left, and he had to come up with a productive way to spend them. What that might be, he couldn’t say, because the only skills he’d ever had any interest in learning were useless outside the rodeo arena.
Beyond that, the modest Cape-Cod-style cabin he’d referred to hadn’t been lived in since his parents had moved away five years ago. No doubt, there was enough work to do there to keep him well occupied and prevent him from thinking too much about the still amazing—and still maddening—Morgan Whittaker.
Copyright © 2018 by Andrea Chermak
ISBN-13: 9781488042591
Her Cowboy’s Twin Blessings
Copyright © 2018 by Patricia Johns
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