Baby's First Christmas: The Christmas Twins / Santa Baby. Tina Leonard

understood why Duke had been so miserable as the object of their machinations.

      Secretly, he’d hoped that they would try to encourage some type of romance between he and Jessie. He’d been looking, in fact, for some matchmaking by the little old ladies, and perhaps a bolstering of his worth in Jessie’s eyes.

      Something had gone terribly wrong. Jessie was now staying with Pansy, and Helen wouldn’t speak to him. Duke was breathing down his neck, and even Molly hesitated to allow him to pet her.

      He was in the proverbial doghouse, and it was a very uncomfortable place to be.

      But a man had to stand firm. When the roadside assistance fellow came out to the Triple F ranch, Zach told him the car had been repaired and that he could leave. It was lucky he’d thought to hide Jessie’s car in one of the outlying barns on the ranch.

      “It’s hard to be the villain,” he told the chickens that were checking out the white-walled tires of Jessie’s T-bird. “Being dishonorable is not fun. But if I let that gal out of my sight, I could very well end up worse than Duke.”

      He and Duke and Pepper had grown up in a traditional family. Liberty had been raised by parents who mainly ignored her, but luckily she’d lived nearby and had been befriended by Zach—who had always looked at her as a brother would—and by his parents. But her sad upbringing had hurt her all her life. He could never do that to a child of his own.

      He sat on the bumper of Jessie’s car. “I wish I could say I shouldn’t have done it, but I liked being with her,” he told Molly as she sat beside him, her golden fur soft and reassuring under his touch. “I liked being with Jessie more than I ever liked being with a woman in my life.”

      Molly barked at him.

      “Yeah, it’s crazy.” He got off the bumper. “I just hope she’s not as fertile as she looks, because as hard as it’s been to keep her in Tulips, I’d likely never get her to the altar!”

      JESSIE PUT her carpetbag away in Pansy’s guest room, glad she always carried makeup and a change of clothes. She had a secret, one of many, only this one was a big one, and the cowboy had made her realize how much she didn’t like hiding it.

      She was afraid of settling down. She’d simply wanted a baby, and her ex-boyfriend had been the way to achieve that.

      She’d come to the unhappy realization that she’d probably never been in love with him, which probably meant she was shallow and vain. Her family was successful; she shouldn’t have needed to conjure up a relationship in order to validate her goals in life.

      Maybe she was lacking a fundamental building block in her personality, like patience or strength of character. “Trust a relaxing jaunt through the country to give me more time to think and be hard on myself. Just what every second-thoughts bride needs.”

      She heard the doorbell ring as she put away her belongings. A second later, Pansy called, “Jessie!” up the stairwell.

      Jessie walked down, surprised to see Zach sitting very properly in Pansy’s living room. “Hi, Zach,” she said, trying to ignore the excitement rushing through her.

      Pansy sat down in a nearby chair and began to knit, a quiet chaperone. Jessie sat in a floral chair across from Zach.

      Zach looked at her. “Settling in all right?”

      Jessie nodded. “Yes, thank you. And I sent roadside assistance out to repair whatever was leaking on my car.”

      Zach shifted on the sofa. “Would you like to take a walk?”

      Jessie shook her head. “I’m pretty tired. It’s been a long day.”

      “Okay.” Zach stood, nodding to Pansy. “See you all later.”

      He departed, surprising Jessie. She looked at Pansy as the door shut behind Zach.

      “Oh,” Pansy said. “I do think he likes you.”

      Jessie knew what was really on Zach’s mind. “I don’t think so. I just think he’s very protective.”

      Pansy put away her knitting. “You know, it’s been difficult for Zach. He’s the middle child, and was often pushed to the side. Not quite the man of the house, and not the baby. Sometimes I thought he was never certain whether he wanted to follow in Duke’s footsteps or be a role model for Pepper. He tried to do both and somewhere along the line, he became a bit arrogant and somewhat overly determined.”

      “I can see where women would be attracted to that trait.”

      “Yes,” Pansy said with a smile, “but he’s never bothered to ask any of them to take a walk.”

      Jessie shook her head. It didn’t matter. She was leaving as soon as her car was fixed. There were enough stray matters in her life to occupy her time. “Thankfully my car might be repaired tomorrow. Good night, Pansy. Thank you for everything.”

      Pansy waved a hand as Jessie stood. “I’m enjoying having you here, Jessie. Plan on staying as long as you like.”

      Until the morning, Jessie thought. And then I’m out of here.

      Before she was waylaid by the temptation of an attentive, opinionated cowboy who had “bad for you” written all over him.

      JESSIE SLEPT WELL. In the morning she showered, ate breakfast with Pansy and Helen—scones and hot tea—packed her carpetbag and hitched a ride in Sheriff Duke Forrester’s truck to the Triple F.

      “If my brother gives you any more trouble,” Duke said, “you just let me know. I’ll give him a pounding he’ll never forget. Or better yet, just tell Pepper. Zach hates it when Pepper gets on to him.”

      “That won’t be necessary.” Jessie smiled. “My car should be fixed by now, and I’ll be out of everyone’s hair.”

      “Well,” Duke said, “if you ever want a place to visit, I know the ladies would love to have you back. They’re always trying to entice people to settle here.”

      “Oh.” Jessie looked out at the passing countryside. “It’s pretty here, but—”

      “Not your kind of place,” Duke said kindly. “I understand completely.”

      “You do?”

      “Sure. Liberty has a wedding shop in Dallas, as well as one here. I go into town with her from time to time. There’s a lot to offer folks in the city. Here in Tulips, we live life at a snail’s pace.”

      “The Gang doesn’t seem very snail-like to me,” Jessie said. “They seem rather lively.”

      He grinned. “Be careful. They’d just love to figure out a way to bring you into the fold. Wait until you meet Liberty. Together, they got me to the altar.”

      She heard the pride in his voice. “I rather like the single life.”

      “I did, too, for a while. But Liberty had other plans.” He laughed. “Actually, that’s a small-town big tale. It was hard to catch that little girl, and I did all the chasing.”

      Jessie smiled as they pulled into the Triple F. “I think I may have heard that from Helen and Pansy.”

      “You watch those two. If they decide Tulips would be better off with you on the census rolls, here you’ll remain. All I do as sheriff is make certain everyone behaves.”

      Jessie got out of the truck. “Thanks for the ride, Sheriff.”

      “Sure.” He glanced around. “Where’s the pink Caddy I’ve heard so much about?”

      “T-bird. Maybe the roadside assistance person moved it.”

      Zach walked out on the porch, waving. “Good morning.”

      “Where’s her car?” Duke asked.

      “I sent it over to Holt’s to look at. The roadside repair guy was terrible.