Colton Cowboy Hideout. Carla Cassidy

      “Bring it on.” Her eyes shone with a warmth he found far too inviting.

      He opened the door, hoping the girls’ presence would tamp down the edge of desire that had unexpectedly welled up inside him.

      “Dada-love, home!” Lily squealed from her seat in her high chair.

      “Dada-love, home,” Leigh echoed from the high chair next to her sister. Both of their mouths and bibs were smeared with red sauce from the spaghetti meal they were obviously enjoying.

      Peggy smiled from her chair between the twins. Strands of her gray hair had sprung loose from the bun at the nape of her neck and a bit of spaghetti sauce clung to the front of her blue-flowered dress.

      “You can always be sure of a grand reception when these two see you,” she said.

      Tanner smiled. “Hi, Lily-love. Hi, Leigh-love,” he said as he touched the nose of each of the girls. “We’ll see how long the good times last. I imagine when they’re teenagers they won’t always be so happy to see me.”

      Peggy got up from her chair and held out an arthritic gnarled hand to Josie. “I’m Peggy Albright, and I know you’re Josie Colton and I understand you’re going to be taking care of these two sweet peas for a while.”

      Josie gripped her hand and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you, Peggy. Tanner has told me wonderful things about you.”

      A smile lit Peggy’s wrinkled face. “Any man who loves his babies like Tanner does is a good man in my book.” She looked at Josie. “They are sweet little girls and you should find them a real joy to be around.”

      “Thanks, Peggy, and I really appreciate you seeing to the girls this evening. I know it’s past time for you to get some dinner.” He looked at Leigh and Lily and then back to the old woman. “I think I can handle things from here.”

      Peggy nodded and started toward the door. “There’s leftover spaghetti in the fridge and plenty of applesauce and green beans if they want more, but they both ate like little ranch hands. I think they’re finished because they’re playing with what’s left on their plates instead of eating it.”

      “Hand,” Lily said and held up a spaghetti-sauce-covered little hand.

      “Spoon,” Josie said and picked up the small spoon on Lily’s tray and handed it to her. Lily laughed, turned to her sister and released a long string of babble. Leigh responded in kind and they both giggled like misbehaving schoolgirls.

      Peggy laughed and shook her head, then said her goodbye and went out the door.

      “So, which one do we hose off first?” Josie asked in good-natured humor.

      A bubble of laughter rose to his lips. It surprised him. He rarely found laughter anymore unless it was at the antics of his daughters. “Maybe we should tag-team them. If you could wipe down Lily and I’ll get Leigh?”

      A few minutes later he and Josie were armed with warm washcloths and prepared to attend to the business of cleaning up the twins. “I’ll just warn you—they hate to have their faces washed,” Tanner said.

      “No, Dada-love,” Leigh said with a stern look as he approached her.

      “We have to wash our faces so we can kiss Daddy,” Josie said brightly.

      “Kiss, Dada-love,” Lily replied and raised her face to Josie’s ministrations.

      Leigh watched her sister then smiled up at Tanner. Tanner’s heart exploded with love. He would do anything for his children. Since the day Helen had walked out on him—on them—Tanner had vowed his daughters would be his number one priority and he would fill their worlds with as much love and happiness as humanly possible.

      He certainly had no desire to marry again; his life was full enough with his two girls. Besides, he’d failed miserably at marriage once, so he wasn’t willing to try it again.

      A half an hour later he and Josie sat on the living-room floor helping the girls build block towers. To be more precise, he and Josie built the tall towers and Leigh and Lily took great pleasure in knocking them down.

      “Which one is older?” Josie set a blue block on top of his red one.

      “Leigh. She’s three minutes older than Lily,” Tanner replied.

      “Leigh,” Lily said and threw her arms around her twin’s neck. The two girls toppled over on their backs.

      “No, Lee-lee,” Leigh protested and struggled to get back to a sitting position.

      “However, Lily is usually the ringleader if there’s any trouble,” Tanner said with an affectionate glance at the little girl in purple.

      “Trouble,” Lily echoed with a delightful grin.

      Josie laughed, a musical sound Tanner found intensely attractive. “She’s a bundle of trouble and she’s proud of it. It’s sweet how they call you ‘Dada-love’ each time they see you.”

      “I didn’t realize how often I said it to them until one day they started saying it to me.” He smiled at the girls. “At some point in time I’m going to have to break it to them that our last name isn’t ‘love.’ But for now they’re my Lily-love and my Leigh-love.” The girls laughed and swatted yet another block tower down to the floor.

      They remained on the living-room floor until just after seven, when Tanner got to his feet. “I’m going to get these two into the bathtub and ready for bed. Feel free to make yourself at home in here or relax in your room.”

      He needed a little distance from Josie. The last hour had been far too pleasant with her company. It almost felt as if they were a normal family and he knew better than to get caught up in that particular silly fantasy.

      He’d learned from Helen that he wasn’t man enough to make a woman happy. He didn’t have what it took to be a life partner. However, even if he were in the market for a woman in his life, he knew with certainty it wouldn’t be the very young, very beautiful Josie Colton.

      By eight o’clock the twins were asleep and he went back into the living room, where Josie was curled up in the chair and staring out the window. Twilight was quickly turning into deepening night.