Twins For The Texas Rancher

DOUBLE TROUBLE!

Sadie McHenry and her twin sons are heading home to Stampede, Texas. Sadie wants a chance to start over after being laid off—and she might have found it with rancher Logan Hardell. Logan instantly bonds with her boys, especially with Tommy, whose ADD makes him a handful. But Logan seems to understand the four-year-old’s needs and seeing them together melts Sadie’s heart.

Logan’s ranch is at risk, so Sadie agrees to help with their books—putting Logan on twin patrol! With his fun-loving approach to the kids and his rugged appeal, Sadie can’t understand why he’s ruled out a family of his own. But she’s not giving up on him just yet. Because Sadie’s convinced Logan is exactly what she and her boys need!

“We should get back.” Sadie climbed down from the hill without waiting for his help.

“I don’t usually come on so strong,” Logan said, fumbling for something to ease the awkwardness.

“Don’t apologize. It was fine.”

No woman had ever described his kiss as fine.

Sadie stopped when they reached the back porch. “Okay, here’s the truth.” She looked him in the eye. “I liked your kiss. More than is probably smart, but...” She stared at her feet. “I don’t want an affair or a fling or a rendezvous or whatever else it’s called these days.”

“What do you want?”

“I want forever with a man I can depend on. A man who will come through for me and the boys. Who’ll make us a priority not an afterthought.” She nodded to the back door. “It’s time for me and the boys to go.”

“Back to Wisconsin?”

“No, to my aunt’s house.” Sadie disappeared inside, leaving Logan standing outside feeling like an idiot.

Twins for the Texas Rancher

Marin Thomas

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MARIN THOMAS grew up in the Midwest, then attended college at the U of A in Tucson, Arizona, where she earned a BA in radio-TV and played basketball for the Lady Wildcats. Following graduation, she married her college sweetheart in the historic Little Chapel of the West in Las Vegas, Nevada. Recent empty-nesters, Marin and her husband now live in Texas, where cattle is king, cowboys are plentiful and pickups rule the road. Visit her on the web at marinthomas.com.

To all the mothers who’ve given birth

to multiples—you ladies are rock stars!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

“Are we lost, Mom?”

“Nope,” Sadie McHenry fibbed. She glanced in the rearview mirror at her son Tyler. The clip light attached to his book, Frog and Toad Are Friends, illuminated his worried little face.

“We’re taking the long way,” she said. It was almost midnight, and according to the GPS on her iPhone they should have arrived in Stampede, Texas, a half hour ago. When she’d passed the sign for Rocky Point, she realized she’d taken a wrong turn somewhere. “Is Tommy sleeping?”

“Uh-huh.”

Her four-year-old blue-eyed, brown-haired twins might be the spitting image of each other, but every day of their lives was another chapter in the tortoise and the hare story. Tyler was sober, quiet and shy. Tommy was outgoing, strangers were his best friends and walls were made to bounce off.

Last year when she’d enrolled them in preschool, Tyler had come home the first day with a good-student award, while Tommy had broken the record for the number of minutes spent in the time-out chair—twelve. The teacher had recommended Tommy be tested for attention deficit disorder, and sure enough, at three years of age her son had shown signs of ADD. After several months of applying disciplinary techniques suggested by Tommy’s pediatrician, there had been little change in his behavior and the teacher had grown frustrated, so Sadie had withdrawn the boys and enrolled them in a different preschool program.

“Are you tired?”

“I’m fine, honey.” Tyler was a sweet boy and it broke her heart that she couldn’t focus more attention on him because she was constantly monitoring and containing Tommy’s wild ways. “Close your eyes and rest. Tomorrow we’ll see Aunt Lydia and Great-Aunt Amelia.” Aunt Lydia was actually a cousin, but the boys had become confused when she’d explained how they were all related, so aside from their grandparents everyone was an aunt or an uncle.

Not a mile had passed since leaving Madison, Wisconsin, that Sadie hadn’t second-guessed her decision to drive to Stampede. She’d called ahead and warned her aunt and cousin Lydia of her impending visit. If anyone understood Sadie’s need to jump off the crazy train and catch her breath, it was her other cousin Scarlett. She had a front-row seat to Sadie’s frenzied life—parenting twins with little help from her ex, working forty hours a week, then spending Saturday and Sunday catching up on the laundry and shopping. Throw in an emergency doctor visit, a missed child-support payment or a flat tire and the crazy train derailed.