“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Lydia replied, looking like she wanted to have that talk, too.
Grace said, “Have we met before? Something about you seems very familiar to me.”
Not wanting to chance the news getting back to Ace if Grace pinpointed the familial resemblance between her and her older brother, Clayton changed the subject to a little safer topic. “Lydia is the newest addition out at the Rockin’ C.”
Grace beamed with happiness at him, and Clayton couldn’t help but grin like an idiot. “That is fantastic news.”
They talked for another minute, promising to get the whole group together one Saturday night at The Dancing Pony, then said their good-byes.
When they turned up the next aisle, Lydia whispered, “She has three husbands? Three? Really?”
Clayton studied Lydia as he tucked a strand of her silken, brown hair behind her ear. “Yes, three husbands.”
“My gosh, I can’t imagine the amount of laundry she has to do.”
“I believe she has someone who keeps up with their house and takes care of that. She’s a pretty active businesswoman in her own right. I think the three of them work pretty hard at keeping up with her.”
“Amazing.”
Seeing how content Ethan, Adam, and Jack were with Grace called into question any reason why he hadn’t gone along with Chance from the very beginning. The fact that Lydia had such a sweet disposition and was nothing like his last girlfriend should have been a good indicator, too. Clayton doubted that Lydia played games with people’s hearts.
They rounded the corner to the bulk goods aisle, and she put him to work. “I need two of those five-pound bags of brown rice.”
He loaded them and grimaced. “Brown rice?”
Pointedly, she said, “Yes, cowboy. It’s healthier for you, and wait until you see what I can make with it. Not one of you will complain.”
“Yes, ma’am! I’m sure I’ll happily eat whatever you serve me,” he murmured suggestively as he placed the bags in the cart and then brushed the wavy lock of hair back from her cheek again. He snuck a small peck on her cheek.
Clayton almost chuckled when she opened her mouth to say something, gaped at him, and then slammed her mouth closed and blushed. He noticed she didn’t complain about his mild innuendo.
They finished the grocery shopping with two full carts, just as she’d predicted. He enjoyed shopping with her, in the sense that it gave him time alone with her but also because he enjoyed helping her and watching her respond to him.
At home, he insisted she let him carry all the groceries in, and then he helped her put them away.
“You don’t need to get back to work on the ranch?” she asked as he helped her stack canned vegetables in the pantry. The scent of chili powder and cayenne hung in the close air of the pantry, reminding him of his mother’s and grandmother’s cooking.
“No. I have more paperwork to do, but it can wait. I’d rather spend time with you,” he murmured, close enough to her to catch the scent of her shampoo.
She squatted down to the bags they still needed to unload and said, “I appreciate the help, Clayton.”
“Lydi, can I ask you something?” When she smiled up at him and nodded he continued. “Does the fact that I’m Chance’s identical twin make getting used to me difficult?”
Lydia shook her head confidently. “No. And I think if you were standing side by side I could tell you apart.”
That was news to him. “How?” He’d heard from every other woman in their love lives over the years that they were identical in every way, which had occasionally equated interchangeable. He hadn’t liked that very much.
Lydia tipped his jaw at an angle and stroked a spot on his cheekbone with a soft fingertip. “Did you have chicken pox when you were little?”
Clayton nodded and said, “Bad. Chance had them, too, but they were much worse on me. I can still remember how much it itched and how awful I felt.”
“I could still tell you apart even without that chicken pox scar.” Her voice was low, and she held him mesmerized as she gazed up into his eyes. Lydia’s eyes were an unusual pale color. Standing this close to her, he could make out shades of pale green and blue.
“Everyone says we're identical, even at this age.”
Lydia slowly, but confidently shook her head. “No. It’s in the way you hold your mouth. You hold back more than your brother does and you don’t trust as easily.”
His heart dropped in his chest, and he felt ashamed that she could see that much so clearly. If his face didn’t give it away, his attitude toward her in the last several weeks should. He hadn’t trusted his brother or her, and even now he was still holding back from her. She hadn’t minded his familiarity in the grocery store. Stuck in the pantry with her like this, he should’ve been taking the opportunity for a little friendly “getting to know you” groping and kissing.