Taking On Twins. Carolyn Zane

a handkerchief and, tipping her chin, dabbed at the tears that ran down her cheeks. Several passersby cast her a curious look.

      “Wait until you’re ready, sweetheart,” Wyatt said. “In fact, if this is too painful, you can tell me another time.”

      “No!” Emily gave her head a vehement shake. “I’ve been waiting to talk about this for months now. I want to tell you. It’s just…hard.”

      “I know.”

      “Anyway once my eyes adjusted, I could see a man—a stranger—hiding behind the drapes, near the bed. And, Wyatt, he had a knife.”

      Emily looked up at Wyatt and he gave her shoulder a squeeze.

      “I thought I was going to faint, but somehow I managed to stumble down the stairs and out the front door. He—” Emily swallowed “—he followed me.” Wyatt closed his eyes. “What’d you do?”

      “Kept running until I remembered the alcove where Liza and I would play when we were kids. The entrance is easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there.”

      Wyatt was filled with brotherly admiration. “Wow. Quick thinking saved your life.”

      “It was instinct. Oh, Wyatt, I’ve never been so scared in my life. I hid in the alcove until sun up. All I could think to do was hide. Somewhere. Anywhere.

      “After a while, this really nice older trucker picked me up and told me he was headed to Wyoming. Wyatt, it seemed like a sign. Dad had been harbored here, back when he was a little boy and the McGraths fostered him. So, I climbed into his truck, and here I am.”

      Wyatt gestured down the street. “The McGrath farm where Dad grew up in Nettle Creek is only a few miles from here.”

      Emily’s smile was wan. “I know.”

      “Are you okay now?”

      “I still have all kinds of bad dreams. And I’m not using Blair as my last name anymore. Everyone here knows me as Emma Logan.” She blinked up at Wyatt. “But I think I’m pretty safe here.”

      “Let’s keep it that way, okay, Emily…Logan?”

      “Okay,” she whispered.

      “I’d better get you back to work now. But listen. I’m staying across the street at that little hotel,” he pointed to The Faded Rose, a quaint, pale yellow building with flower baskets adorning the porch. “Room 102. You call me if you need anything, okay?” Standing, Wyatt pulled her to her feet.

      “I will.” She slipped an arm around his waist as they walked back to the grill. “Wyatt, I can’t tell you how glad I am to have you here.”

      “I’m glad, too.”

      He held the door open for her and Geraldine, noting Emily’s blotchy, tear-stained complexion and red-rimmed eyes, scowled.

      “Geraldine, I’ll be back on the floor in five.”

      “I’m here, honey. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

      “I don’t think Geraldine likes me,” Wyatt murmured.

      “She’ll come around.” Emily moved to the other side of the counter, poured him a cup of coffee and motioned for him to take one of the empty stools. “Can I get you something to eat?”

      “Yeah, come to think of it, I’m starved. The special will be fine. And, Em, before you go, listen. I know it’s going to be hard, but you are going to have to continue to lay low until Austin and Rand have enough solid evidence against Patsy to bring to the police.”

      “Poor thing. Something awful must have happened to make her this way.”

      Wyatt’s admiration for his kid sister jumped up yet another notch. Trust Emily to have compassion for the woman who tried to end her life. Again, she reminded him of Annie. “Oh, and one last thing. I know Keyhole is a growing town, but I just wondered if you’ve ever met a woman named Annie Summers. I heard from Rand that she kept her maiden name when she married. Anyway, he says she owns an antique store in the area.”

      Emily nodded. “Of course I know Annie.”

      “You…do?” Wyatt felt his stomach clench.

      “Sure. Keyhole’s not that big. She owns Summer’s Autumn Antiques, next door. I used to help out there on my days off. Annie and I are friends. In fact, that’s her over there.” Emily pointed to the other side of the restaurant. “She comes in for lunch with her twin boys, Noah and Alex, pretty much every Saturday.”

      Wyatt felt a bolt of lightning blast through him the likes of which he’d not experienced since that Valentine’s kiss, so many years ago. Slowly, his gaze followed the direction Emily pointed and, for the first time in years, settled on the wonderful face of Annie Summers. Luckily, she was too busy to notice him and he took the time to look her over.

      She hadn’t changed a bit.

      She was neither graying, nor age-spotted, nor knock-kneed, or even snaggle-toothed, the way he’d hoped. No, she was still the smooth-skinned, fiery-haired young woman that he’d fallen in love with back in college. In fact, if possible, she was even more attractive than before. Motherhood definitely seemed to agree with her. Even though she had two kids now, she was still as trim as ever. Her facial features had lost their girlishness and were now more angular and womanly, highlighting the enormity of her eyes and the fullness of her lips.

      Unnoticed, he watched as she interacted with the two frolicking puppies that were so obviously her sons. Her kids had creased a permanent smile into the corners of her eyes and mouth and she looked content in her new life. More than content. Happy.

      A cloud of self-doubt rolled in and settled over his heart. Surely, she wasn’t pining away for him, the way he had been for her. Just by looking at her, he could guess that meeting up with the unresolved past and all the emotions that went with it was not on her agenda for today.

      He watched as she dipped a napkin into her water glass and mopped the mustard from her boys’ freckled faces. They resisted her ministrations in a typical reaction for their age. One of them picked up a napkin and dabbed at something on her face, causing her laughter to ring out.

      Wyatt closed his eyes and struggled to inhale. The sound of her laughter caused such an explosive reaction in his body, he could barely breathe. For him, nothing had changed. The past seven years evaporated like a puddle on a midsummer’s day and he was vexed to discover that he was as fiercely in love with her this minute, as he’d been the day she said goodbye.

      Clenching the countertop, he watched her gather her things and herd the boys to the cash register, only two dozen feet away, to pay her bill. Dressed more sophisticatedly than the simple jeans of their college days, she wore a pair of khaki slacks and a white blouse. Her wonderful hair was swept into a knot at the top of her head, but curly wisps escaped, still defying her attempts to tame them.

      After she’d signed her credit receipt, she called her boys and with a bing-bong, was gone.

      “Where is she going?” Wyatt wondered aloud.

      “Back to work, right next door. The place we were sitting in front of, a minute ago. She works there till five on Saturdays.”

      Distracted, Wyatt scooted off his stool and stood. He bent to press his lips against Emily’s temple.

      “How do you know Annie?” Emily asked.

      “You too,” Wyatt answered and laid some cash on the counter.

      “Me too, what?”

      “You’ll call me tonight, right?”

      “Okay, sure, but—” Emily watched him go, a puzzled frown marring her brow. “Uh, wait a minute. Where are you going? What about your lunch?”

      “Thanks, Em,” he called and was gone.

      What on earth was that all about? Emily