The Texas Rancher's Marriage. Cathy Thacker Gillen

making things more difficult than they already were.”

      “So rather than stir up a hornet’s nest, you just let things be,” Liz said.

      “Yes. Because I thought Chase didn’t want to be involved. That he didn’t want to discuss it. Otherwise…I was sure he would have laid claim to the children at the time of Scott and Sasha’s death.”

      “So you went on. Alone,” Liz surmised.

      “Yes,” Merri admitted in a choked voice. Though she had always known, in the deepest recesses of her heart, that a day of reckoning might come.

      As it finally had…

      Liz looked at Chase. “What would you like to do here?”

      “These kids are mine. I want to be their dad and help Merri raise them. But I also want to do everything we can to protect the twins from scandal.”

      “Meaning, keep this quiet,” Liz asserted.

      The two nodded in unison, and then Merri added, “I’m no more comfortable with the lies that started all this than Chase is. But we agree—the twins are far too young to understand.”

      “If they don’t ever have to know, we’d rather they didn’t,” he added.

      “So,” Merri said, “if there was a way this could be handled privately…the court records sealed to ensure word never gets out…”

      Liz tapped her fingers on her desk. Looked from Chase to Merri and back again. “I understand what you’re asking me to do. Unfortunately, there are a couple of pretty big problems with all this,” she said. “The twins turned four…”

      “Last March,” Merri qualified.

      “Hence, in Texas, you can no longer challenge paternity based on DNA. That option ends when a child turns four, no matter what the circumstances. You can terminate the parental rights of Scott and Sasha, and adopt the children, but a judge would first have to determine if that is in their best interest. And I’ll be honest.” Liz sighed. “I don’t see that happening. At least not in the immediate time frame you want.”

      Chase lifted a hand. “Wait a minute. Why would we have to adopt them when the DNA tests prove they are ours, biologically?”

      “Because in Texas, in the eyes of the law, they are not your children,” Liz explained calmly. “You terminated those legal rights when you donated the sperm and the eggs.”

      “Except Scott lied.” Chase grimaced. “He forged my signature. I never agreed to give him that sperm to make a baby.”

      Liz gestured matter-of-factly. “But you did give sperm to the research facility. And that permission trumps any legal rights you had prior to that.”

      “What happened was still fraudulent,” Chase insisted.

      Liz nodded in solemn agreement. “You could sue. There would be a lot of ugly publicity. It would take years. Which is not what you want.”

      No, Merri thought miserably, it wasn’t. The kids had been through enough already, being orphaned as babies and spending the past four-plus years without a father figure or steady male influence.

      “Then what would be the best course?” Chase countered, obviously still determined to be a part of the twins’ lives.

      The attorney leaned back in her chair. “I suggest you look at the matter the way the family court will. The twins have a guardian, and they are doing well. The court is going to want to continue the status quo. So if you want to have

      access to the children, your best bet is to petition to be a co-guardian with Merri.”

      How often would Chase be around, anyway? she wondered. Given the fact that he was a surgeon, he’d probably be at the hospital all the time. When he wasn’t, well, they would figure out how to coparent. It might even be good for the kids to have a man around all the time. Something she and Sasha had never had when they were young. It would give the twins a male role model, fill the void.

      “I could handle that,” Merri murmured.

      Chase nodded in relief. “Me, too.”

      Liz continued to frown. “That’s a very generous attitude,” she acknowledged. “Unfortunately, for both of you, it’s not quite that simple.”

      Chase and Merri groaned in unison as they waited for the ax to fall.

      “You see…I know Judge Roy,” Liz continued bluntly. “She is not going to grant this, even on a temporary basis, unless you are married.”

      Well, that was out of the question, Merri thought. When she married, it would be for love. Period. To her relief, Chase appeared to feel the same way.

      “Isn’t there another judge?” he asked Liz.

      The attorney rocked back in her chair. “No. Priscilla Roy is it for Laramie County, in family court.”

      “Well, we can still ask,” Chase insisted, as determined as ever to do the right thing. “Explain the situation to her. All Judge Roy can do is say no.”

      “That’s true.” Liz pressed her fingertips together in front of her. “But if you lose, you would then have to go to appeal, which would halt the whole process for at least a year.”

      Silence fell as they all thought about that.

      The last thing Merri wanted was more time in limbo.

      Liz leaned forward and concluded kindly, “What I suggest you do is go home, think about all this, spend some time with the kids…and figure out if there isn’t some way the two of you can handle this unofficially, at least for now. Because once you start this process,” she warned, “believe me, there will be no turning back.”

      Chapter Two

      Chase settled next to Merri on the porch swing. It was a beautiful fall day, sunny and clear, with the temperature hovering around sixty degrees. Broken Arrow land stretched out as far as the eye could see. But as good as it felt to be home again—and the ranch was home to him, and always would be—Chase was focused on the beautiful woman seated beside him. In tailored brown slacks, ivory sweater, and trendy tweed jacket, she was the epitome of a capable thirty-something woman.

      The fact that she was so used to being on her own only made the job of convincing her all the harder. “It doesn’t have to be a real marriage,” Chase continued persuasively, determined to have his way on this whether she liked it or not. “At least not in the conventional sense.”

      “Well, that’s a relief.” Merri looked at him with a mix of exasperation and cynicism in her vivid green eyes.

      He regarded her seriously, aware he had a responsibility here. “Its only purpose will be to help us meet the objective.”

      She exhaled softly. “You becoming a father to your children.”

      Chase watched as she crossed her legs and clasped her delicate hands around her knee. When had she gotten so all-out beautiful? “While keeping you as the mother they know and love.”

      Her forehead creased. “People will talk.” She pushed herself out of the swing, hips swaying provocatively as she began to pace.

      Chase stayed where he was, admiring the view. “A lot less if we’re married,” he predicted.

      Merri looked at him as if she knew that was true.

      “You already asked me if I wanted to stay at the ranch with you and the kids.” He stood and ambled over to join her.

      Her hand encircled a post. “Temporarily. And your first instinct was to refuse.”

      She smelled like lavender again. Lavender and woman. “Things are different now. We have a lot more on our agenda.”

      “No kidding. Look, Chase, I get that we could