her boys would have their real daddy and then maybe eventually they’d have a loving, caring stepfather.
But at the moment, any kind of relationship with a man seemed impossible. She was just too tired to even think about romance. She’d been tired for months, not that she minded. The twins were more than worth any exhaustion they caused.
“You look tired, Melissa,” he said as if he’d read her thoughts. “I hope you’ll take your time here and allow my mother and me to help so that you can get some extra rest. It can’t be easy dealing with twins all by yourself.”
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “It’s gotten easier since they sleep through the night most of the time now.”
“Still, I hope you’ll let us take some of the burden for the next couple of days.”
“They aren’t a burden. They’re my joy,” she exclaimed a bit more vehemently than the situation warranted.
He leaned forward and reached out and brushed the corner of her mouth. “You had a little cinnamon,” he said as he pulled his hand back.
She grabbed a napkin and wiped her mouth and tried to ignore the electric jolt his touch had shot through her body. He just swiped your mouth, she told herself. A simple, casual touch and yet she felt it from head to toe.
A loud knock sounded on the front door and he pushed back from the table. “You might want to come with me to answer it,” he said. “I think it’s for you.”
“For me? Who would be here for me?” She got up from the table and followed him to the front door.
He looked outside, then smiled and this time his smile warmed her completely. “It’s Christmas, Melissa. Christmas has officially arrived at the Randolf house.”
Henry opened the door to allow in the four ranch hands who maneuvered a huge evergreen tree through the door. The boughs were tied down and Hank and Tim, the ranch hands bringing up the rear, carried between them a huge pot to stand the tree in.
“It was the biggest one old man Keller had on his lot,” Charlie said as they carried the tree into the living room.
“Melissa, can you help me move the coffee table?” Henry asked.
She quickly grabbed one side and he grabbed the other. They moved the table out of the men’s way. “Just set it up in the corner,” he instructed.
“That’s the biggest tree I’ve ever seen,” Melissa said, her eyes round with wonder.
Henry smiled. “I told them to get the biggest one they could find. We’ll decorate it this evening after dinner.”
“We could string popcorn and cranberries.” She flushed and shook her head as if irritated with herself. “That was silly of me. I’m sure you have lovely expensive ornaments.”
He could tell she was embarrassed and he found that oddly endearing. “Actually, I’ve always wanted to do a tree the old-fashioned way. I think it would be fun to string popcorn and cranberries.”
The look she gave him was so sweet, so grateful, that he once again felt a stir of desire deep in the pit of his stomach. When he’d brushed the trace of cinnamon from her lip moments earlier, he’d wanted to kiss it off.
He focused on watching his men wrestle the tree into the stand. Something about Melissa touched him, a vulnerability, a wistfulness in her eyes that he hadn’t seen in a woman’s eyes for a very long time.
He still didn’t trust her. The only woman Henry really trusted was his mother, who had no ulterior motive for loving him. Any other woman he’d ever allowed close had ultimately shown herself to be more interested in the Randolf fortune than in whatever Henry could offer her as a man.
He didn’t know if perhaps Melissa was just smarter than them all and had managed to trap him like none of the other women had managed to do.
Once the men had the tree up and the ropes off, Henry introduced Melissa to them. “These are some of the best ranch hands in the state of Texas,” he said. “That’s Hank and Tim, Ben and Mike and Jacob and that rascal with the black hat is Charlie, my right-hand man.”
Melissa’s eyes had glazed over and he smiled at her. “Don’t worry, there won’t be a test later,” he said.
She laughed and the sound of her musical laughter shot a rivulet of warmth through him. “Good, because you lost me at Hank.” She smiled at all the men. “But it’s nice to meet you all.”
“I’ll be right back,” Henry said to her as the men began to head for the front door.
In the entry he touched Charlie’s shoulder and motioned for Charlie to stay behind while the rest of them got back to their work.
“You heard about the shots fired last night?” he asked.
Charlie nodded. “Jimmy talked to a couple of us late yesterday evening.”
“I want all of you armed while on the property until we know what’s going on,” Henry said. “And I’d like to work a couple of you in shifts so that somebody is always working the house. Talk to the men and see what kind of schedule you can arrange.”
Charlie’s eyes narrowed. “You looking for more trouble?”
Henry released a small sigh of frustration. “To be honest, I’m not sure what I’m looking for, but twice now somebody has taken potshots at me and I don’t like the idea of anyone on my property attacking me or mine.”
“We’ll work out a schedule and I’ll get it to you this afternoon,” Charlie replied.
“Thanks, Charlie. I really appreciate it,” Henry replied.
“It’s no problem. We can’t let the boss get hurt.” With these words he stepped out the door.
Henry watched him catch up to the other men. Charlie was a good worker, always pitching in for even the dirtiest jobs. When Henry had broken up with Hilary he’d worried that he was going to lose Charlie. Hilary was Charlie’s sister and Henry had feared that Charlie might feel compelled to stop working for him because of sibling loyalty. But Charlie had assured him that he wasn’t going anywhere and that he didn’t get involved in his sister’s affairs.
Henry had gotten the impression that there was no love lost between the two. In any case, he was grateful that he hadn’t lost Charlie. Good workers were hard to find.
In fact, he was going to have to let Hank go. He’d noticed the tall, thin man had smelled like a brewery despite the fact it wasn’t even lunchtime. Henry had already warned him twice about drinking on the job. There wouldn’t be any more warnings.
He closed the front door and returned to the living room to find Melissa gone. She’d apparently gone upstairs to check on the twins. He walked over to the large floor-to-ceiling windows and gazed out to the outbuildings in the distance. The tree was only the first of the deliveries that would take place over the next two days.
The brief conversation he’d had with her over coffee had told him exactly what he needed to know. She had no family and he suspected she had few friends. That would make what he had in
