Chapter One

A branch of fresh-cut lavender in hand, Sadie McCabe stared at the heartrendingly familiar silhouette suddenly framed in the doorway of the brand-new Lavender Ridge outbuilding. Convinced she couldn’t possibly be seeing what she thought she was, she lifted an arm against the Texas sunshine pouring in behind her unexpected visitor, the blinding summer light at odds with the dark interior of the drying barn. “Will?” she whispered in shock, her heart pounding in the warm, dry heat, as fans moved lazily overhead. It had been a heck of a long day, spent pruning plants, and harvesting flowers all by herself, with very few breaks. Was she dehydrated? Hallucinating?

The brawny figure stepped closer, and suddenly she knew for certain. He was here! “Will!” she cried out joyously, thrusting the fragrant bundle aside and rushing toward him, her beloved yellow Lab by her side.

He closed the rest of the distance between them, just as swiftly. He gathered her in his strong arms, hugging her tight, his low voice a sexy rumble. “In the flesh.”

She stepped back, still staring up at him in disbelief. Damn, he looked good, even in travel-worn fatigues that cloaked his broad, muscular shoulders, taut abs and long, sturdy legs. With his thick, cropped brown hair, gray-blue eyes, chiseled jaw and can-do attitude, he was compelling enough to star in a recruitment commercial. As well as her most forbidden dreams…

Luckily, or maybe unluckily, depending on how she looked at it, he had first known her as his friend Joe’s little sister, then his devoted pen pal, and eventually grown-up best friend. Which was where they had been for the last ten years.

Each of them dating others, unsuccessfully.

Sharing their woes.

But always, always being there for each other.

He’d encouraged her to dream big and start her lavender farm, when no one else had really thought she could do it all on her own.

She understood the military was where he belonged.

They had told each other almost everything—except this! Trying not to feel a little hurt about the lack of notice, she sent him a chiding glance. “No one let me know you were coming home!”

Because if she had known to expect him, she would have rearranged her work schedule and gotten cleaned up. Instead of being covered with the sweat and grit associated from a day spent in the lavender fields and drying shed.

As he stepped back and hunkered down to affectionately pet her dog, Belle, Sadie noticed that Will looked a little worse for wear, too. Like he had also had a couple of very long days.

“Yeah, well….” Straightening to his full height, he flashed her a disarmingly rueful grin that upped her pulse another notch. His eyes traveled over her hair before returning to her face. “Probably because I didn’t tell anyone my plans.”

Yet another inconsistency.

As a Special Forces soldier, he always knew weeks or months in advance when he was being deployed and when he was going on leave. And because he usually spent most, if not all, of his time off in Laramie, Texas—which was the closest thing he had to a home base these days—he generally gave her and her family a heads-up, too.

She studied him more closely.

Yes, there was definitely something wrong.

A mission gone bad? Given that he specialized in reconnaissance and intelligence gathering, it was impossible to know where he’d been, or what he’d been doing, or had found out…

One thing was sure, though—they both needed to sit down and relax. “Let’s get out of this heat and into the air-conditioning.”

“Sounds good to me.”

He accompanied her across the yard, and into the Lavender Ridge ranch house. Belle tagged along beside them, her tail wagging furiously every step of the way.

The last time he had been back, the downstairs of her home had been an in-progress renovation mess. Now it had an open-concept, modern rustic vibe. The kitchen sported white cabinets and stainless steel appliances, and a café-style table for four sat in front of the bay window, overlooking the backyard. Just beyond it, a comfortable island with more seating provided extra storage and workspace, while a big white enamel farmhouse sink added utility and style.

Will paced through the cozy sitting area that framed her white limestone fireplace and out to the covered back porch, where a wide wooden swing overlooked the lavender fields—still in full bloom for another month, or until the season ended. He stepped back inside after a moment, the door clicking softly shut behind him.

With a shake of his handsome head, he openly admired the renovation. “You finished it,” he said.

Her pulse jumping the way it always did when she was near him, Sadie went to the fridge and got out the pitcher. “The upstairs, too.”

He watched her fill two tall tumblers with ice. “Nice.”

She poured the iced tea then, inclining her head, led the way over to the sofa, while Belle headed for her water dish and lapped thirstily.

Sadie settled on the far-right cushion. Will took the far left.

There were circles beneath his eyes. A weariness to his tall frame. Plus, a whole hell of a lot that he seemed to be holding back. “So, what’s going on?” she asked quietly.

His expression became even more distant and unreadable. With a ragged sigh, he removed his cell phone from his pocket and pulled something up on screen. “Remember that cousin I told you about? Glenna? That I hadn’t seen since I was a kid.”

Sadie nodded, reciting, “She was your mother’s sister’s daughter, who moved to California with her mom when you were both kids. If memory serves me right, you both lost your moms about the same time—when you were teenagers—and ended up in foster care for a year or so before you turned eighteen and enlisted, and she went on to college.”

“Correct.” He scrubbed a weary hand over his face, then let his hand drop back to his side and trained his gaze on her. “Well, my cousin sent me this several months ago, but I was deployed and only got it last week.” He hit Play and handed her his cell phone. A dark-haired woman about their age appeared on screen. She was pretty and vivacious, and very round. “Surprise, Will! I’m back in Texas, and as you can see,” she rubbed her belly, “very pregnant!”

She certainly was, Sadie thought.

“There are a few health-related complications with the pregnancy…” Glenna paused to clear her throat, “so I’ve been advised to make an estate plan and line up a legal guardian for the twins, just in case.” She blinked away tears and went on stalwartly, evidencing the same inner determination Will had always had.

Sadie spared him a glance and saw his frown deepen even more.

“I conceived these little darlings with the help of an anonymous donor at a fertility clinic back in Cali, so there’s no daddy to go to. And—” she drew a deep, bolstering breath “—you’re the only family I have. So, of course I want you to be appointed their legal guardian.”

Glenna shook her head, swallowing, and continued to make her case. “I really don’t want the babies to be in foster care. Or separated, ever. And I know you’ll be a wonderful dad, if it comes to that, Will.” Her voice caught, and for a moment, she seemed unable to go on.

“But, if for any reason you feel you just can’t do it—” her eyes shimmered with moisture “—then I trust you to find them a two-parent family who will adopt them and love them both, while you also promise to keep an eye on them so if they ever need anything you will be able to be there for them. And of course, if they are adopted by another family, my children need to know how much I loved them….even if I couldn’t be there to actually raise them.”

Glenna ended by telling Will how much she adored him, and always had, and the video ended. As Sadie handed the phone back to him, the silence that fell between them told her something tragic had happened.

Will shut off the device, pocketed it.

For a moment, he said nothing, clearly as choked up as she was. Swallowing, Sadie shifted toward him, closing the distance between them. Her heart going out to him, she reached over and touched his arm. The tense silence continued to stretch out between them, and then, seeming to pull himself together, he covered her hand with his palm. With a brief look at her, he went on resolutely, “I was able to talk to her doctors. They told me that her heart gave out during childbirth, as they had feared it might, due to a preexisting congenital condition. They were able to save the babies—” he withdrew his hand and sat back “—but she didn’t make it.”

The pain in his eyes was real. As was everything about the man. Trying not to think how much she loved the low, sensual voice that did battle with the ever-present toughness within him, Sadie absorbed everything he had told her. Aware that he had a way of making her feel things she had no business feeling. Not when they were just friends, anyway. Albeit very good ones who, thanks to an abundance of common sense between them, were never going to be anything more.

She forced herself to focus on the crisis at hand. “When did all this happen?” she asked gently, resisting the urge to take him in her arms the way she would have had they actually been a thing.

Regret darkened the mesmerizing gray-blue of his eyes. “Three months ago.” His shoulders flexed, his expression becoming patently unhappy. “The twins have been in foster care ever since, with two different families.”

Sadie’s hand flew to her heart. “Oh no…” She couldn’t imagine life without her siblings. Especially since her four older brothers were quadruplets, all five of them extremely close-knit. Whereas Will had been an only child. Still, from what she’d just seen on the video, she knew separating the children was the last thing his cousin Glenna had wanted, in the event of her passing.

This must be killing him.

“I’m so sorry, Will.” Sensing he needed comforting, even if he wasn’t one to admit it, Sadie moved to close the distance between them. She gave him a full-body hug, which he seemed to numbly return before letting her go.

A new force field of emotional distance went up between them. His expression implacable, he went on, “Both foster families would like to adopt their charges, but neither feel they can take both babies, since they have other children.”

“Sounds complicated,” she whispered, moving back to her end of the sofa to give him the physical space he suddenly seemed to need. And heartbreaking.

Will leaned forward, hands clasped between his spread knees, brawny forearms resting on his strong thighs. “Anyway, as stipulated in Glenna’s will, I have been named legal guardian and I’m going to assume responsibility for them both.”

She wouldn’t expect anything less of her best friend, but still it was a lot for him to take on. “What happens next?” she asked softly.

“I’m going to family and child services in Fort Worth to pick the babies up tomorrow.” He paused to give her a long, measuring look. “I was hoping you would go with me. Help me for a day or two until I get the hang of it.”

Her breath hitched. She couldn’t even imagine the stress he must be feeling right now. No wonder he had seemed so…on edge. Not to mention, emotionally overwhelmed with the enormity of it all. Which was definitely understandable. “Of course I’ll go with you to pick up the babies.”

He nodded, relieved. Then, sobered all the more. “I also need a place to stay for the next three or four weeks until I get it all worked out. So—” he turned to her, looking her straight in the eye “—I was hoping you might let me rent the caretaker’s cottage if it is still available.”

*

Will knew he was asking a lot.

Just as he knew that Sadie always gave wholeheartedly to those around her. Especially her family and close friends. Like him.

But what he didn’t expect was the mortified look on her pretty face. As if she wished he had asked her anything but that.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

Belatedly aware what a mistake this was, he rose. Not sure what he was going to do now, but aware he had to figure it out fast, since he had told the Fort Worth social services people that he would be moving the kids to his home base in Laramie, Texas, as soon as he picked them up. And the two social workers involved wanted everything worked out before he departed with the twins.

He shook his head and gave Sadie a look of sincere regret, for ever having put her in such an untenable situation. “I understand. I know you were planning to rent it.” Hell. She probably already had a tenant. Why hadn’t he thought of that?

She stood swiftly, following him to the door, cutting him off before he could leave. Then she splayed a delicate hand across the center of his chest, wordlessly willing him to stay, as she gazed up at him. “It’s not that I don’t want to help you…”

He nodded. He hadn’t felt this “in the way” since he had been abruptly placed in foster care himself, years ago, after his mother’s death. He called on the warrior within him to give him the wherewithal to hide his hurt and disappointment.

Because if there was one person in the entire world he had thought he could count on, it was Sadie.

He swallowed and stepped back, forcing her to drop her hand to her side. Again, their glances met. Her eyes were soft, sympathetic and full of regret.

“I get it,” Will told her. Part of him had known this was too much. Which was why he had waited to lay it on her. Instead of giving her a chance to tell him no on the phone.

Chin lifting, Sadie gritted out, “Actually, I don’t think you do, soldier. But you will.” A fiery glint in her intoxicatingly beautiful sapphire blue eyes, she took him by the wrist and tugged him toward the caretaker’s cottage, behind her farmhouse-style home.

As they moved wordlessly across the yard, he had a chance to look at her. Her five-foot-nine form was as slender and fit as ever, her shoulder-length golden brown hair caught up in a messy knot on the back of her head. Silky tendrils brushed the nape of her neck and the elegant features of her face. Her fair skin was lightly tanned, her lips as soft and full as ever.

She was wearing a thin white cotton work shirt over a medium blue tank top, faded jeans and lace-up work boots. When he inhaled, he caught the scent of fresh-cut lavender and soap.

That undeniable essence that was uniquely her.

Trouble was, beneath all that familiarity, she was ticked off at him.

Was it because he’d crossed a line by asking to stay there with the twins, until things were settled?

He could hardly blame her. It wasn’t like they had ever dated—or been anything but really good platonic friends.

This was the kind of request you asked someone you were intimate with. And he and Sadie had never hooked up, never even kissed. Although there were plenty of times when he wished they had.

But giving in to that latent desire would have meant a real breach of boundaries. And that was not a risk Will was willing to take.

Sadie was far too important to him.

Like a woman clearly on a mission, she dropped her hand on his arm and strode on ahead to unlock and open the cottage.

The last time he remembered seeing the inside was when she had bought Lavender Ridge a year and a half ago. The caretaker abode had been woefully out-of-date, but clean. With definite potential as a rental property to bring in extra cash, and help her bolster the bottom line of her brand-new business.

But now… the three-room house looked like a demolition zone. Walls torn open. Linoleum floor removed. All appliances gone. The single bath torn down to the studs.

Will stared around in shock. “What the hell happened here?”

“I had a pipe burst last winter, during an ice storm, and the place flooded without me knowing it for a few days. Turns out the pipes were over sixty years old and corroded everywhere. The electric wasn’t up to code.”

“Damn, Sadie. I’m really sorry.”

She nodded bleakly in acceptance of his condolences. Then, squaring her slender shoulders, she turned back to look him in the eye. “So it’s not that I don’t want you and the babies here, Will,” she said softly. “I do.” She lifted a palm, warning him not to interrupt. “But since this place is obviously off-limits, the three of you will have to stay inside the ranch house, with me. And bunk in my guest room on the second floor.”