wore their straight black hair in adorable, beribboned pigtails, and stared at her with dark, serious brown eyes. Their noses were small and their chins dainty, like their mother, but they had high, sharp cheekbones that reminded her of Billy. They were tall for six-year-olds and dressed exactly alike in collared blouses tucked into denim coveralls and white tennis shoes.
“Hello, Raejean,” she said, addressing the child who had her arm wrapped comfortingly around the other’s shoulder.
The child’s eyes widened in surprise at being recognized. Then she said, “I’m not Raejean, I’m Annie.”
The other twin’s mouth dropped open, and she glanced at her sister. Then she turned to Cherry, pointed to her chest with her thumb, and said, “I’m Raejean.”
“I see,” Cherry said. They were both missing the exact same front tooth. No help there telling them apart. Billy had said Raejean was the confident one, so Cherry had assumed it was Raejean who was giving comfort to her sister. But maybe she had been wrong.
“I need to use your phone,” she said, moving toward where it hung on the kitchen wall.
Cherry felt the girls watching her while she dialed.
“We don’t need another housekeeper,” the twin who had identified herself as Annie said. “We’re going to stay at Nana’s house until Daddy gets home.”
Cherry felt her heart miss a beat. She turned to Mrs. Trask and said, “Billy went into town for supplies. He should be back any time now. There’s no need to take the girls anywhere.”
“I’ll be the best judge of that,” Mrs. Trask said. “Go upstairs, girls, and finish packing.”
The twins turned and ran. Cherry heard their footsteps pounding on the stairs as the ringing phone was answered by her sister, Jewel. Of her seven Whitelaw siblings, Jewel was the sister closest to her in age. Jewel had been adopted by Zach and Rebecca when she was five—the first of the current generation of Whitelaw Brats.
It had taken Cherry a while to straighten them all out, but now she could recite their names and ages with ease. Rolleen was 21, Jewel was 19, she was 18, Avery was 17, Jake was 16, Frannie was 13, Rabbit was 12, and Colt was 11.
Of course Rabbit’s name wasn’t really Rabbit, it was Louis, but nobody called him that. Jewel had given him the nickname Rabbit when he was little, because he ate so many carrots, and the name had stuck. Colt was the only one of them who had been adopted as a baby. The rest of them had all known at least one other parent before being abandoned, orphaned, or fostered out.
“Is anybody there?” Jewel asked breathlessly. “If this is the kidnapper, we’ll pay whatever you ask.”
“It’s me, Jewel.”
“Cherry! Where are you? Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. I’m at Billy Stonecreek’s ranch.”
“So he did kidnap you! I’ll send Daddy to get you right away.”
“No! I mean…” Cherry had turned her back to Mrs. Trask and kept her voice low thus far, but she figured there was no sense postponing the inevitable. “Billy didn’t kidnap me. Last night we flew to Las Vegas and got married.”
She was met with stunned silence on the other end of the line. Which was a good thing, because Mrs. Trask gave an outraged shriek that brought the two little girls back downstairs on the run.
“Nana! Nana! What’s wrong?”
“I have to go now, Jewel,” Cherry said. “Tell Zach and Rebecca I’m okay, and that I’ll come to see them soon and explain everything.”
“Cherry, don’t—”
Cherry hung up the phone in time to turn and greet the twins a second time. Again, she identified the twin taking the lead as Raejean, which meant the one standing slightly behind her was Annie. “Hello, Raejean. Hello, Annie.”
“I’m Annie,” Raejean contradicted.
Before Annie could misidentify herself as Raejean, Mrs. Trask snapped, “Don’t bother trying to tell them apart. They’re identical, you know.”
“But—” From Billy’s descriptions of them it was so obvious to her which twin was which. Couldn’t Mrs. Trask see the difference?
“What’s wrong, Nana?” Raejean asked. “Why did you scream?”
Mrs. Trask’s face looked more like a beet or a turnip than a human head, she was so flushed. It was clear she wasn’t sure exactly what to say.
“Your grandmother was just excited about some news she heard,” Cherry said.
“What news?” Annie asked.
“It’s a surprise I think your Daddy will want to tell you about himself when he gets home,” Cherry said.
“We’re not going to be here that long,” Mrs. Trask retorted. “The girls and I are leaving.”
“Not until Billy gets back,” Cherry said firmly. “I’m sure Raejean and Annie want to wait and say goodbye to their father.” Cherry turned to the girls and asked, “Don’t you?”
Raejean eyed her consideringly, but Annie piped up, “I want to wait for Daddy.”
Mrs. Trask made an angry sound in her throat. “I hope you’re happy now,” she said to Cherry. “My grandchildren have had a difficult enough time over the past year, without adding someone like you to the picture.”
Cherry reminded herself that Mrs. Trask was always going to be Raejean and Annie’s grandmother. Throwing barbs now, however satisfying it might be, would only cause problems later. Zach and Rebecca would have been astounded at her tact when she spoke.
“I’m sorry we surprised you like this, Mrs. Trask. I know Billy will want to explain everything to you himself. Won’t you consider waiting until he returns before you leave?”
“No.”
Of course, there were times when being blunt worked best. Cherry crossed to stand beside the twins. “I’m sorry you have to leave, Mrs. Trask. The girls and I will have Billy give you a call when he gets home.”
Cherry saw the moment when Mrs. Trask realized that she had been outmaneuvered. She wasn’t going to make a quick and easy escape with Billy’s children. Cherry was there to stand in her way.
Billy chose that moment to pull open the screen door and step into the kitchen.
Annie and Raejean gave shrieks of joy and raced into his wide open arms. He lifted them both, one in each arm, and gave them each a smacking kiss. “How are my girls?” he asked.
Raejean answered for both of them.
“Some man got mad at Mrs. Motherwell because she didn’t know where you were and Nana came and Mrs. Motherwell packed her bags and left and Nana said we should pack, too, and go live with her until you came back home, only this lady came a little while ago and said you were
