the hotel had that little restaurant on the premises.” She recalled walking by it yesterday.
“It does,” Rebecca told her. “But unfortunately, it’s still closed for repairs.”
“Repairs?”
The other woman nodded. “It seems that yesterday, just before end of day, we had a grease fire. There was some damage done. We’re keeping it closed for now. Just one thing after another,” she said with a sigh. “You don’t mind going, do you?” she asked after seeing the slightly unhappy expression on Stacy’s face.
“Oh, no, no problem.”
Which was a lie. She hadn’t ventured out to see anyone except for Olivia since she’d returned.
But she knew that she’d have to face people eventually and field questions. There was no such thing as “mind your own business” in Forever. But she had really thought that eventually wasn’t going to arrive so soon.
Obviously, she’d thought wrong.
So, after a very brief review of her new duties, which, Stacy felt, anyone with an ounce of common sense could have easily figured out, she found herself walking to Miss Joan’s Diner.
She knew she could have driven there, giving herself a quick avenue of escape once she’d placed and picked up her order, but that was only putting off the inevitable. She had to face the people of Forever who would have questions for her.
It was better to get it over with than to stress over the anticipation of what those questions might be.
You can do this, you can do this, Stacy told herself over and over again, like some sort of a mantra meant to give her strength as she made her way down the streets of Forever to the diner.
You can do this. You can do this.
Finally reaching the diner’s front door, she pulled it open and walked inside. Several people at the counter looked up in her direction. She saw recognition ricochet back and forth on their faces.
You can’t do this.
The babies had both been fed and, thanks to the resourcefulness of Jackson and Garrett’s housekeeper, they had been changed as well, so their whimpering, at least for now, had stopped. The twins had fallen asleep.
Cole took the opportunity to call home. It took several rings before anyone picked up on the other end.
“Hello?”
Cole could tell by the way the greeting had been barked that Connor was in less than good spirits. “Connor, it’s Cole. I’m going to be late.”
“You’re already late,” his older brother informed him.
“I know,” Cole said, an apology implied in his voice. “But it can’t be helped.”
“Everything can be helped,” Connor said impatiently. And then Cole heard his older brother sigh. “Okay, well, what’s the problem?”
Looking at the sleeping twins, Cole moved farther away from them, afraid that if he accidentally spoke loudly he’d wind up waking them up. “You know how Cody came across Devon pulled over on the side of the road and she was about to give birth?”
“Yes?” Connor sounded perplexed.
“And then Cassidy helped save that baby out of the river?”
“I’ve got chores to do, Cole. For both of us, it appears. I know all this you’re telling me. What I don’t know is where you’re going with it.”
Cole took a deep breath. “Well, it seems that it happened again.”
“What happened again?” Cole sounded as if he was coming to the end of his patience.
“I was about to leave the ranch when I found these two babies on the doorstep.”
“Two babies,” Connor repeated incredulously.
“Yeah. They’re twins.”
Connor sighed. “Of course they are. Whose are they?” he asked.
“Haven’t a clue,” Cole admitted. “They were just there, tucked into this huge wicker basket like laundry—breathing, moving laundry.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line and then Connor finally began to ask, “Cole, did you by any chance, um...”
Cole knew what was coming and immediately headed it off before Connor had the opportunity to finish the sentence. “No, I didn’t, Connor. Those babies are not mine.”
“I’m just going to ask this once, and then we’ll put this to rest,” Connor promised before he pressed, “You’re sure?”
“I am positive,” Cole said with finality.
There was no mistaking the relief in Connor’s voice. “Okay. Then you’ve got to find out who those babies belong to.”
“I know,” Cole answered. “I’m taking them into town to see if anyone there knows anything. I’m sorry about this.”
Connor’s voice took on his customary understanding tone. “Don’t be. This isn’t your fault. Give me a call when you find out who abandoned them like unwanted puppies.”
“The second I find out,” Cole promised just before he terminated the call.
Returning to the living room, where Rosa was sitting next to the sleeping infants, Cole began to pick up the basket.
Rosa stopped him with a look. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m taking them into town to see if anyone there knows who these little guys really belong to.”
“Only one of them is a little guy,” Rosa reminded him.
Rosa had been right. One of the twins was a girl.
“I know,” Cole answered. With that, he walked toward the front door with the basket in his hands.
Rosa was on her feet and wound up beating him to the front door. Her agility was rather impressive for a woman her age. “You cannot put them on the seat next to you in the truck,” she warned.
He smiled at this protective side of the woman. “I don’t intend to, Rosa. Don’t worry,” he told her. “They’ll be safe.”
“Safe” involved some clever work with the wicker basket and a length of strong rope. Securing the latter around the former, then tying the basket to the seat, Cole was able to drive into town.
Forever had a medical clinic as well as a sheriff’s office, but there was no question in Cole’s mind what his first stop with the twins was going to be.
He
