Cowboy's Triplet Trouble. Carla Cassidy

was all some crazy wild-goose chase.

      Patting her purse, she felt herself calm somewhat. Her gun was inside, loaded and ready to use if necessary. She wouldn’t hesitate to fire it if she sensed her own safety or, more importantly, her children’s safety was in peril.

      Her nerves eased a little more as she reached the entrance to the ranch. Massive stones with wooden plaques indicated it was the ranch she sought. In the distance a two-story house rose out of the lush pastures. The ranch looked huge and well-kept, definitely not the place you’d expect an old man to be sitting around in his underwear and pretending to be a woman named MysteryMom.

      Still, as she pulled up in front of the house and parked the car, the first thing she did was pull her gun out of her purse and slip it into the pocket of her navy blazer.

      “Better safe than sorry,” she muttered beneath her breath. The girls were still soundly sleeping as she got out of the car. She’d left her car window cracked open a bit to allow in the sweet summer breeze, and she figured it would only take a minute to find out if she was at the right place or not.

      Her nerves twisted in her stomach as she walked toward the front door. The worst that could happen was this would be the wrong place, the wrong man, and if that was the case then she and the girls would check into their motel room and make the trek back home in the morning.

      It was just before noon, and she didn’t see anyone around. A large barn stood not too far in the distance, along with several other outbuildings. Maybe everyone had knocked off work for the lunch hour or were out in the pasture where she couldn’t see them.

      As she reached the porch, she gave one last look at the car and reminded herself that she was doing this for the little girls asleep there. With one hand on the butt of the gun in her pocket, she used the other hand to knock on the door.

      When the door opened, Grace’s breath caught in the back of her throat. She stared at the man who was the father of her daughters.

      She’d forgotten just how hot he was with his curly black hair and chiseled features. The last time she’d seen him he’d been wearing a dark suit and white dress shirt. He now wore a pair of tight, faded blue jeans that showcased his slim hips and a white T-shirt that stretched across his broad shoulders.

      A coil of heat began to unfurl in the pit of her stomach. It stopped as she saw the utter blankness in his dark blue eyes. Instead of the heat, a cold wind of embarrassment blew through her. He didn’t even remember her.

      “Yes?” he asked with the pleasant smile of somebody greeting a stranger.

      She was struck by a new attack of nerves. “Wait here,” she said and turned and left the large porch. She hurried toward the car, her heart pounding a million miles a minute.

      She was a third-grade teacher. Maybe the best way to let him know what had happened since the last time she’d seen him was a little show-and-tell. She opened the trunk with the press of a button on her key chain and quickly withdrew the oversize stroller.

      It took her only moments to unfold the stroller and fill the seats with sleeping little girls and a diaper bag. As she pushed the girls toward the house, she saw his expression transform from pleasant to utterly stunned.

      “Let me jog your memory,” she said when she reached the porch again. “Nineteen months ago, Sally and David’s wedding? My name is Grace … Grace Sinclair. We were together at the wedding and the next morning you left me with a surprise. I’d like you to meet your daughters.”

      “Maybe you should come inside where we can talk,” he said, his eyes dark and troubled. “I’m afraid you’ve made a mistake. I’m not the man you’re looking for. I’ve never seen you before in my life.”

      Jake Johnson instantly knew he’d said the wrong thing. Her pretty cheeks filled with color as her green eyes narrowed dangerously. “The last thing I expected from you was a denial of even meeting me,” she replied, her voice icy with an edge of contempt. “Surely you remember being at the wedding.”

      “Please, come inside where we can talk more comfortably.” Jake grabbed one end of the stroller to pull it up the stairs and into the house. As he gazed at the sleeping girls, there was no doubt in his mind that they were Johnsons. Their little heads were covered with dark curly hair and the shape of their faces reminded him of baby photos he’d seen of himself.

      And there was no doubt in his mind of exactly who was responsible for this woman being on his porch with three babies. His stomach knotted with a touch of anger. This was one mess that wasn’t going to just go away. Jake wouldn’t be able to pay a ticket, take care of a fine or do some fast talking to make this one disappear.

      Once they had the stroller inside the living room, he gestured her to the sofa. As she lowered herself down, he sat in the overstuffed chair opposite her.

      He couldn’t help but notice that Grace Sinclair was a gorgeous woman. Her long brown hair held shiny blond highlights, and her legs seemed to go on forever beneath the navy slacks she wore. At the moment her beautiful green eyes were filled with anger, and her lush lips were compressed tightly together as she glared at him.

      “I didn’t exactly think you’d jump for joy at the unexpected news that you were a father, especially a father of three,” she said. “I know it was only one night, but we were together for a long time at the reception.”

      “I should explain that….” he began.

      “Of course, maybe you make it a habit of sleeping with lots of women and don’t always remember them when you meet them again out of a bed,” she continued, cutting him off midsentence. “Allow me to remind you again—Sally’s wedding in Wichita?”

      “I wasn’t—”

      “Look, if you’re worried that I want something from you, that I might need anything from you, then don’t. I just thought you had a right to know that you are a father.”

      “I’m not saying that—”

      “I’ll gladly have a DNA test done if that’s what you want.” She sat up straighter on the sofa and tucked a strand of her shiny hair behind her ear. “I know for sure that you’re the father because I hadn’t been with anyone for a long time before you and I wasn’t with anyone after you. But I would understand if you have doubts considering the circumstances.”

      Once again her cheeks became a charming shade of red. “You don’t really know me. You don’t know what kind of a woman I am, and I can understand how the fact that I fell into bed with you so easily that night might make you think I do that all the time—which couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve never done anything like that before. My only excuse is that night for the first time in my life, I drank too much.”

      Jake didn’t even try to say anything. He sensed she wasn’t finished yet, and in any case wouldn’t let him get a word in edgewise. The anger he’d felt moments before had passed, and instead a weary resignation had set in.

      It was obvious what had happened—a wedding party, a night of too much booze and unprotected sex. Now somebody was going to have to step up and do the right thing. Jake knew for certain it wasn’t going to be him.

      Sometimes he felt as if he’d spent every day of his thirty-five years doing what was right for everyone else. Now it was his turn to do what was right for him, and there was no way he intended to get caught up in this drama.

      Yet, even as he thought it, he knew there was no way he wouldn’t be sucked into the mess. The precious little girls asleep in the stroller would ensure that he became a part of it in some way.

      “I don’t need any child support from you. I just thought you might want to be a dad to the girls. Girls need fathers in their lives.”

      There was a wealth of emotion in her voice, then she finally took a breath and stared at him expectantly. At that moment Jake’s brother appeared in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen.

      Grace’s mouth formed a perfect