was in the kitchen speaking with Etta about dinner. Melissa took the babies and went upstairs before I got a chance to ask her.”
“She’s staying until after Christmas.” He leaned forward. “I don’t quite know what to make of her. The story she told me about some cyber friend giving her directions here sounded more than a little bit shady.”
“You think she’s after money?”
“It certainly looks like she could use it.” He frowned as he thought of the rusted old car out front, the frayed robe that had hugged her curves that morning.
Mary leaned back in her chair and folded her hands in her lap. “You want to tell me how this happened?”
Henry grinned at her. “You need a lesson in biology?”
She scowled at him. “You know what I mean, Henry. I’ve never heard you mention this woman’s name before and yet she shows up here with two babies who are obviously yours.”
“Remember the blizzard we had at the beginning of December last year? The night I couldn’t get home from Hilary’s because of the whiteout conditions?”
“That was the night you broke up with that woman.”
Henry nodded. “I was on my way home when the conditions got impossible to drive in. As I pulled over to the side of the road I saw another car there and Melissa was inside. I had no idea how bad the weather was going to get and I’d just passed the old Miller place and knew it was vacant, so I got her out of her car and we holed up there for the night.”
Mary raised a hand. “That’s all I need to know about the particulars. Is it possible she knew who you were?”
Henry pulled a hand down his lower jaw. “I don’t know. I suppose anything is possible. I’ve always been so careful. I’ve always recognized how vulnerable I was to gold diggers.”
Mary arched an eyebrow upward. “Need we mention Hilary’s name?”
Henry smiled as he thought of the woman he’d been dating and had broken up with the afternoon of the blizzard that had brought him and Melissa together.
“Hilary might be a gold digger, but she never kept that fact a secret,” he replied. Since the day of their breakup the attractive brunette hadn’t stopped waging her battle to become Mrs. Henry Randolf III. She called him or came by at least once a week in an attempt to seduce him back into her arms.
Mary straightened her back and sniffed indignantly. “That woman couldn’t wait to marry you and have me shut up in a nursing home someplace. The evil witch.”
And that had been the very reason Henry had broken up with Hilary. It was at the moment she mentioned that she thought it would be uncomfortable living with Mary and that Hilary had been searching for a nice nursing home for the older woman when Henry had recognized there would never be a future with her and certainly not a marriage.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” he said to his mother. Once again he leaned back in his chair and cast his gaze out the window.
“I never really thought about having kids,” he said softly. “But now that they exist I want them here with me. I want them to grow up here on the ranch and learn the family business. I want to teach them like Dad taught me.”
“Aren’t you forgetting one little thing? Melissa might not want to move here. She might have a perfectly fine life, perhaps with a boyfriend or family of her own.”
Henry frowned thoughtfully. “I find that hard to believe. I mean, according to her story she took off from her home to meet some cyber friend and spend Christmas with her. If Melissa has family or a boyfriend, why didn’t she stay home to spend Christmas with them?”
“I’m sure I don’t know. You know her better than I do. But, Henry, you have to remember that just because you want something doesn’t mean you can have it. You’re talking about a woman here, not a business deal.”
Mary stood. “All I know is that I intend to enjoy each and every minute of having those babies in this house. And now I’m going to go make a shopping list. There’s only two shopping days left before Christmas and suddenly I’m in the mood to shop.”
She practically floated out of the study. Henry hadn’t seen his mother this happy since his father had been alive.
Even though he’d had the entire night to process the fact that he was now a father, he still wasn’t sure how this was all going to work. The first thing he would have to do was get to know Melissa, find out if she’d come here looking for easy street or if the story she’d told him was true.
But before he could do that he had some phone calls to make. He’d promised Melissa a Christmas to remember and Henry never broke a promise.
His mother was wrong about one thing—this was a business deal. Melissa had what Henry wanted and all Henry had to figure out was what price he’d have to pay to get it.
Chapter 3
Melissa stood at the window and watched as a car pulled up out front and Mary got into the car’s passenger side. When the vehicle pulled away Melissa wondered if she should be doing the same thing—driving out the main gates and heading for home.
Behind her in the playpen the two boys had just fallen asleep. They usually napped for about an hour in the morning and the same amount of time in the afternoon.
Restless energy coursed through Melissa and she moved to the window on the opposite side of the room to gaze out at the pastures, corrals and outbuildings on the land. In the distance she could see what appeared to be a carriage house.
The dusting of snow that had fallen the evening before had melted beneath the warmth of the sunshine. It was a beautiful day, cold but clear.
A whisper of noise whirled her around and she saw Henry standing just outside the room in the hallway. He motioned to her and she left the room. “I thought maybe while the boys napped you might want to have a cup of coffee with me. I’d like to get to know you, Melissa.”
Once again nervous energy fluttered in her chest. Of course he wanted to know her better. She was the mother of his children. “And I’d like to get to know you better,” she agreed. “Coffee sounds wonderful.”
She checked on the boys to make sure they were still asleep, then followed him down the staircase to the dining room where Etta, the Randolf cook, carried in a tray laden with two cups of coffee, cream and sugar and two small plates with slices of cinnamon coffee cake.
Henry introduced the older woman to Melissa. “Etta has been keeping the Randolf family well fed for the past twenty years.”
“And it’s been a pleasure,” Etta replied. Then with a friendly smile at Melissa she turned and left the dining room.
Melissa pulled a coffee cup before her and wrapped her fingers around it. As Henry watched her she felt ill at ease and wasn’t sure what to say, where to begin.
“This is awkward, isn’t it?” he finally said.
She flashed him a grateful smile. At least he felt it, too. “Terribly
