A Dad for Her Twins (5 page)

Chapter Three

“Y
ou must have been starved,” Abby said, watching Ivor inhale the two sandwiches Mrs. Swanson had made for him. “Would you like something else? I don't think Cade ate all of that delicious chocolate cake we had for dessert.”

She hadn't finished saying it before Mrs. Swanson set a huge piece in front of the boy, patted his shoulder and clucked sympathetically. Then the housekeeper said good-night.

Cade sat on the other side of Ivor, nursing a mug of steaming coffee, broodingly silent. Abby saw his head jerk upward as the sound of his father's motorized wheelchair drew near. Every muscle tense, Cade shoved to his feet, his eyes dark, his brows lowered. Abby thought the frown spoiled his very handsome face.

Thump! His father banged his cane on the tiled floor to gain attention as he glared at Ivor first, then Cade. Even after all these years his father still needed to look in control. Only difference was, now he used a cane to do it.

Who's he?
he scrawled on his notepad.

“Dad, this is Ivor. He'll be staying with us for a while.” Cade leaned down and murmured something in Ed's ear, then straightened. Ed glared at him, then reached out with his cane and nudged Ivor's leg.

“Dad!” Cade's cheeks flamed red. He grabbed at the cane but Ivor beat him to it.

“Is there a hidden point in this thing?” Ivor peered into the end. “I saw canes like those at the nursing home where my grandma used to live.” He let the cane drop. “She's dead, too,” he mumbled before returning to his cake. But instead of eating it, now he just picked at it.

Much more gently this time, Ed poked his leg with the cane. When Ivor turned to look at him, Ed grinned and shook his head.
No point
, he scrawled on his sheet. Ivor grinned back.

Abby saw shock fill Cade's face. He stared at his father, then turned his attention to Ivor, obviously puzzled by the unspoken communication the two were sharing.

“You should watch where you're pointing that thing,” Ivor warned. “Someone might poke
you
with it.” Ed chuckled out loud. “Do you know how to play chess?”

Ed nodded vigorously.

“He's very good at it,” Cade warned the boy. Abby knew he was trying to protect Ivor, that he feared his father would misbehave and somehow hurt the boy, not physically but mentally, the way she figured Cade must have been hurt.

“I'm pretty good at it, too,” Ivor bragged with ten-year-old bravado. The lost look on his face drained away. “Want to have a game?”

Ed jerked his head in a nod, beckoned to the boy and led the way out of the room. When they were gone, Cade turned to Abby.

“Maybe I should go with them, make sure everything's okay,” he said, his voice halting, unsure. “I don't want the kid to get hurt. Not that Dad would purposely hurt him, but he's not very careful about feelings.”

“Let's give them a chance.” Abby smiled. Under that veneer of gruffness, Cade was a big softie. “Do you have to go and care for your cattle tonight?” she asked to change the subject and to learn more about her new home.

“I have a hired man. He would have taken a couple of bales of hay to their pasture this afternoon,” Cade explained. “I'm sure he's fed the horses, too.”

“Horses?” Abby gasped, staring at him, eyes wide. “You have horses?”

“Most ranches do,” he teased, one eyebrow arched. “Why?”

“I love horses.” Abby squeezed her eyes closed and silently whispered a thank-you to God. If she had to leave her precious little home, coming to a place with horses was the next best thing. “Can I see them?” she asked eagerly.

“Well, maybe not tonight.” His crooked smile teased her. “I'll show you and Ivor around tomorrow. Do you—did you ride?” he asked. Abby noticed the way he glanced at her stomach, then slid away.

“Oh, goodness no,” she said with a laugh. “I don't know the first thing about horses.”

“Then how can you love them?” Cade looked totally confused. The look was so cute on him.

“I've always been infatuated with horses.” She shrugged. She thought a moment, searching for a way to explain. “They're so—pretty,” she finally managed.

“My horses are not pretty.” Cade snorted his indignation. “They're strong, capable, well trained, but pretty? No.” He frowned at her. “You sound like a city girl.”

“I
am
a city girl.” She giggled when he rolled his eyes. “You and Max share that same macho characteristic. He always teased that I was naive.” She sobered suddenly. “I guess I was naive,” she murmured, remembering how her husband's romantic dreams had melted away in the face of his post-traumatic stress issues and how he'd refused to accept his illness.

She glanced up and found Cade watching her, a curious look on his face.

“Max had no idea of the ugliness I've seen through my work,” she said quickly. “City or country, ugliness always rears its head.”

Cade nodded but said nothing.

When the moment of silence her words brought had stretched too long, Abby cleared her throat. “What do you raise your horses for?”

“We sell ours for riding of all kinds, but rodeo stuff mostly. There are a lot of families in the area who are involved in 4-H.” Cade raised an eyebrow as if to ask if she knew what that was.

“4-H. A group for kids to learn skills,” she shot back with a grin, anxious to show her knowledge. “Lots of involvement in gymkhanas which means riding and training a horse and participating in judged events.”

“Very good.” Cade grinned back. She could tell he loved verbally sparring with her. “A lot of the dads around here buy their kids horses from me, which means they have to be broken and properly trained before the boy or girl ever gets on. We also dabble a little in pedigreed horses.”

“And the cattle?”

“Our cattle are Black Angus, raised strictly organic, prime Alberta beef. We also have a few pigs because I like ribs, a few dozen chickens because Mrs. Swanson likes her eggs fresh and natural, and some sheep who supply her with enough wool to knit her scarves and mitts for the street kids in Calgary.” A smile played at the corner of his lips. “We also get a few ducks and geese on the pond in the spring, the odd coyote or wolf after our cattle and some owls in the woods. That about covers the animals on the Double L.”

“Why is it called the Double L?” Abby asked. The moment she said it, she knew she shouldn't have. A dark, brooding look filled Cade's face.

“My great-grandfather homesteaded the land, then my grandfather and father.”

“And now it's passed on to you,” she said with a bright smile, trying to understand his odd manner.

“For the time being,” Cade said, then pressed his lips together and stared at her.

“That's nice,” Abby said. “After my parents died, I had to sell their place. They had some serious bills from the nursing home they stayed in.” She blinked when Cade suddenly jerked upright.

“Did your parents choose to go into the nursing home?” he asked in an intense tone.

“Yes.” She nodded. “It was the best option for them. I was at university and couldn't always be there when they needed me. They both had mobility issues because of lung problems. In the nursing home they got the care and support they needed to enjoy their lives.” She couldn't help wondering why he'd asked.

Cade said nothing but a raised eyebrow told her to continue.

“They served overseas in Africa when they were young and got some virus that affected their lungs,” she explained. “That's why they eventually came home. But the virus never went away.”

“I'm sorry, Abby.” His hand brushed hers, then drew away.

“It's okay. They were both strong in their faith. I know they're in heaven, waiting to see me. It's just—” She paused a moment, sucked in a breath of courage to chase away her sadness and summoned a smile for him. “I get lonely now with Max gone, too.”

A crash from the other room cut off whatever Cade had been going to say. They glanced at each other, then hurried to see what had happened. Abby could tell from Cade's face that he expected the worst. What they found were Ivor and Ed laughing. The chess board and pieces were spread all over the floor.

“Sore loser,” Ivor said to Ed, who simply grinned. Then he saw them standing in the doorway and the laughter stopped to be replaced by the scowl he habitually wore.

“What happened?” Abby asked when Cade remained silent, his gaze locked with his dad's.

“I told Ed that cane would be the death of him,” Ivor explained. “He keeps waving it all over. Finally it caught on the board.” He shrugged. “We were finished anyway. I won.”

Cade began picking up the pieces. Ivor knelt to help him. “Do you play chess with your dad?” he asked innocently.

“No.” Cade gave no explanation, simply set the pieces back on the board and rose.

“I think it's time I went to bed,” Abby said before Ivor could ask more questions. “This has been a busy day for me.” She walked over to Ed, bent and brushed her lips against his leathery cheek. “Good night,” she whispered. She managed a quick hug for Ivor.

“Want me to walk you to your room?” When he shook his head firmly she recognized that he didn't want to be seen as a baby and it was too early for him to accept someone else doing what his mom had done. She nodded, then looked up at Cade. “Thank you again,” she murmured, keeping her voice low enough so the others wouldn't hear. “Good night.”

His eyes held hers for a long moment. Finally he said good-night, but as she walked out of the room, Abby could feel three sets of eyes boring into her back and was grateful Mrs. Swanson had already shown her the way to her room. Abby scurried down the hall, grateful the house was ranch style with only one floor. She didn't think she could manage stairs tonight. She was just too tired.

She was tucked up in bed when she heard the others go to their rooms. Cade's calm, level voice penetrated as he wished Ivor good-night. She couldn't decipher what he was saying to his dad but Ed's cane made several loud thumps, which were soon silenced. Sometime later she heard Cade say “Good night, Dad.” Then a door clicked and the house settled down.

Abby lay on her big, wide bed and marveled at the lovely room. It was twice the size of the one she'd shared with Max. There were huge windows opposite the bed. Come morning she would probably have a view of the entire ranch, maybe even the horses. God had certainly taken care of her. For now.

But what was she going to do about getting a permanent home for the babies?

Abby smoothed her hand over her bulging stomach as she pressed down the rush of panic that threatened to overwhelm her.

“God will provide,” she whispered. A tiny unborn foot in the center of her midsection kicked her hand. She smiled. “For all of us,” she said. But how? That question haunted her. While the babies went through their nightly calisthenics routine, she picked up her Bible, flipped it open and began reading in the Book of Psalms.

God adopts us as His very own children.

Abby smiled to herself. Here was a promise she could cling to. God had adopted her. She was His. He'd used Cade to bring her here, to give her a home, even if it was temporary, and she had new friends in Mrs. Swanson, Ivor and Ed, not to mention Cade.

For a moment her thoughts got caught up in the strong, handsome rancher, in his gentleness to her, his protective attitude and the way he'd insisted on rescuing her. Poor Cade. He was trying to do the right thing here, too, but his father certainly didn't make it easy on him.

An idea blossomed. Maybe that's why she was here, to help the two of them mend their relationship. Despite Ed's crankiness, Abby had seen a glint in his eyes when he'd surreptitiously watched Cade. She was certain father and son loved each other. They'd just gotten off track.

She could never repay Cade for all he'd done for her. Except, maybe she could help him find his way back to the man he clearly loved.

Show me, Father, please?
she prayed.

Then she put her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. As usual, her fingers closed around the tiny locket she wore, the one precious thing she couldn't bear to sell. She popped it open and stared into Max's eyes. For the first time in months, tears didn't well up. She traced his features with a forefinger.

“Your friend's taking care of us,” she murmured. “We're fine. And you're at peace now. I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help you. I'm sorry I failed you. But I promise I will not fail our babies. Cade will help us.”

But just how much help could she take from the handsome rancher with the deep blue eyes?

* * *

In all his years on the ranch, Cade had never had a more frustrating day. His two best bulls had broken through a fence last night and it had taken forever to round them up, get them back with the rest of the herd and fix the fence. It had to happen on the day he'd given Garnet Jones, his hand, the day off. The drifts were so deep he'd had to use the snowmobile. Ivor had seen him and rushed out, eager to try the machine.

Cade wanted the kid to feel at home, even to enjoy himself. Since he hadn't had much luck interesting Ivor in anything else the past three days, he figured the snowmobile might act as a kind of bridge between them. That was before Ivor had raced the machine too close to the pond and broken through the ice on the edge.

“It could have been worse,” he told Ivor after he'd pulled the snowmobile out with his four-wheel drive.

“How?” Ivor glared at him.

“If you'd gone further, you'd have sunk in completely and taken a cold bath. And you'd have ruined my machine.” He studied his snowmobile and sighed. “Not that it won't take a fair bit of work to dry it out and get it running now.”

“It's really old. You should probably buy a new one,” was Ivor's only comment before he wandered back to the house.