A Rancher for Christmas. Brenda Minton

And sympathy was the last thing he wanted to feel.

      “Yes, I guess.”

      “And Lawton’s wife. She looked very sweet.”

      That’s when his own pain slammed him hard. He cleared his throat, cleared the lump of emotion that settled there. He hadn’t yet gotten used to the loss. “Elizabeth was my twin sister.”

      She bit down on her bottom lip and closed her eyes, just briefly. “I’m so sorry.”

      “So am I.”

      “So why am I here?”

      “Because Lawton came home from Oklahoma and changed his will.” He brushed a hand over his face, then he reached for the manila envelope on his desk. “He left you his house, money from his dad’s estate, as well as a small percentage of his software and technologies company. He left the twins a larger percentage as well as a trust fund. The business manager, Tyler Randall, also inherited a small percentage of the company.”

      “I see.” But she clearly didn’t understand. He was about to make it clear. And he prayed she’d take the out.

      “Breezy, Lawton and Elizabeth left us joint custody of their daughters.”

      He and this woman were now parents to two little girls.

Chapter Two

      “No.” Breezy shook her head. This couldn’t be happening. No one would give her custody, even shared custody, of two little girls. “He couldn’t have done that.”

      “I’m afraid he did.”

      She met his blue gaze, knowing he disliked her. Or at the least, disliked the situation he’d been forced into with her. He knew these little girls. They were the children of his twin sister. Of course he was angry. She was angry, too.

      What had made Lawton, a man she barely knew, think this was a good idea? She’d never stayed in one place longer than six months until she moved to Dawson, Oklahoma. She’d never had real family until her sister, Mia, found her. She definitely didn’t know how to raise a child.

      “I’m not sure what to say,” she admitted.

      “That makes two of us. I never planned on losing my sister and my best friend. And I certainly couldn’t have seen this coming.”

      Jake Martin studied her. His blue eyes were sharp; his generous mouth was a straight, unforgiving line.

      He shook his head and hit a button on an intercom. A woman answered. “Okay,” he said.

      She sat quietly, forcing herself to maintain eye contact with him. The door behind her opened. She didn’t turn, even when he looked past her, smiling at whoever had entered the room. There were footsteps and quiet voices.

      Curiosity overrode her desire to hold his gaze, to not feel weak. She glanced back over her shoulder and the room spun in a crazy way that left her fighting tears, trying to focus. Twin girls toddled across the room wearing identical smiles on identical faces.

      “These are your nieces.” His voice came from far away.

      “Oh.” What else could she say? The toddler girls were smiling as they bypassed her to get to Jake Martin.

      “The lovely lady behind them is Marty, their nanny,” he explained, nodding toward the older woman who had remained in the doorway. He leaned down, holding out his arms. The girls ran to him and climbed onto his lap. He hugged them both tight.

      “They’re beautiful.” They were dark-haired with blue eyes and big smiles. After all they’d been through, they could still smile. Though she didn’t want to, she attributed that to the man sitting across from her.

      “They are.” He kissed the top of each dark head. “And we are their guardians.”

      “You should have told me.”

      He shrugged and looked at the girls, who had picked up pens and were drawing on the papers on his desk. He moved the envelope out of their reach.

      “I think I just did.”

      “I meant from the beginning.”

      “Really? I should have disclosed this to someone I’ve never met?” He shook his head. “I’ll do whatever I need to do to keep them safe.”

      “I get that.” She kept her voice soft, not wanting the girls to hear anger. She had too many memories of loud and unforgiving voices as she hid beneath the bed with Mia and their brother, Juan.

      Was she really angry with him? As she studied the little girls on his lap, she thought not. He wanted to protect them.

      He grinned at the girls and they reached up to pat his lean cheeks. “Rosie and Violet, this is your aunt Breezy.”

      She had nieces. She wanted to hug those little girls close. She wanted to hold them forever. They were looking at her, wide-eyed, curious but not ready to come to her.

      “Hi, girls.” What else could she say? Her vision blurred. She raised her hand to wipe away the tears that drifted down her cheeks.

      Jake Martin looked at the little girls he held, his gaze serious and then he refocused on Breezy. He studied her, as if looking for a sign that she might run. He pushed a box of tissues across the desk, never removing his eyes from her. She wouldn’t run. She didn’t know what he knew about her, about her past, but she wouldn’t run. She couldn’t. Not now.

      “Marty, why don’t you take the girls back to their playroom?” He set the girls down, easing them onto their feet. They walked around the desk and Breezy wanted to touch them. Rose smiled up at her and toddled close, little legs and bare feet peeking out from her colorful sundress, white with big brightly colored flowers. Violet held back, letting Rose take the lead.

      They were identical, but not. Rose had a slightly rounder face. Her dark hair had a bit of wave. Violet’s dark hair was perfectly straight.

      “Hi, Rose.” She leaned and the little girl walked up, unafraid, her little face splitting in a dimpled grin.

      “Hi, Rose,” the toddler repeated and giggled. Breezy smiled.

      “You’re both very pretty.”

      “Very pretty,” Rose repeated and Violet giggled.

      “And smart.”

      “Smart a...” Rose started what sounded like something inappropriate.

      “No!” Marty jumped forward. “Uncle Duke is a bad influence.”

      “I know he is.” Jake shook his head. “He’s going to start putting money in a college fund if he doesn’t watch his language around them.”

      Marty took the hand of each girl and they left the room with soft words, giggles and the patter of their bare feet.

      “They’re precious.” Breezy turned to face what felt like her judge and jury. He had leaned back in the big leather chair and his booted feet were on the desk.

      “Yes, they are. And I will do anything to protect them.”

      “I’m sure you would.” She studied him for a minute. “But you don’t have to protect them from me.”

      “That’s the problem. I don’t know you, Breezy. I know you were Lawton’s sister and he had the crazy idea that this would be best for his girls. But he also didn’t plan on dying so soon.”

      “You don’t want me in their lives?”

      He exhaled sharply and shook his head. Of course he didn’t. “I’m not sure what I want.”

      The answer surprised her. “Did you hope I wouldn’t show up?”

      He shrugged. “It would have made my life easier.”

      “Right,