Lydia's Twin Temptation(Divine Creek Ranch 8)(58)

She took one more look up at the ridge before closing the front door. After locking up the house like they’d asked her to, she went upstairs and dressed for bed. The fire made her a little nervous. The house was a distance away, but a grass fire could get out of hand quickly, and she also worried for Chance and Clayton.

She went into Chance’s bedroom which looked out over the front of the house and could now plainly see the glow near the ranch entry when she slid back the curtains. She pulled the upholstered rocker from his bedside and sat before the window, rocking. Her phone sat on his nightstand, in case either of them called her.

Lydia covered up with the soft, hand-knit throw blanket from the back of the chair as she pondered what might have happened if the three of them hadn’t been interrupted earlier. Her resolve to take their relationship slow was weakening with each passing day as they both charmed their way past her defenses.

She’d taken a risk, coming to Divine with Chance, and felt certain her choice had been the right one. With the exception of her less-than-helpful house help, she felt very happy and at home on the Rockin’ C Ranch. She watched out the window, praying that the blaze would be kept under control and Chance and Clayton were safe.





Chapter Fifteen



Smelling like smoke from the grass fire, Chance walked in the back door with his twin at three o’clock on Friday morning feeling grubby. He wanted a shower but thought twice about traipsing through the house, knowing Lydia was trying hard to get it thoroughly clean, despite having little help.

“Let’s strip down in the utility room,” Chance said with a yawn. “We can throw the clothes straight in the washer.” Clayton nodded mutely, and they set the washer to filling and dropped their clothing in one article at a time. Chance grabbed their boots and put them on the back porch so they wouldn’t stink up the house with their smoky, sooty smell.

With the exception of one dim lamp downstairs, the house was dark as Chance followed Clayton up the stairs in his boxer shorts. He was beat and wanted a shower and his bed. He’d be lucky if he got a couple of hours sleep before it would be time to get up and face the day again.

They took hot showers and scrubbed away the smoke and soot that clung to their skin. The hair on Chance’s right forearm had gotten singed off in a flare-up, but in all they’d been very lucky.

The grass fire had burned up a lot of the mesquite and dry brush that bordered their property. He was thankful that the fields up front had been baled the week before and the bales stored elsewhere.

Working together with the volunteer firefighters, they’d managed to keep the fire contained to an area roughly fifteen acres in size. A vehicle must have come though dragging something that threw sparks because small grass fires had sprung up all along that stretch of the state highway, and they’d kept busy helping put out the other fires, besides the one in front of their place.

On his mind also was the news that Gil James had discovered Kade Parker on the front porch talking with Lydia. Chance knew Lydia wouldn’t willingly spend any time alone with Parker, and Gil had mentioned that she’d sounded a bit tense when he’d asked if she was all right. Gil had told Chance that he’d given Parker instructions to get on the second truck to head out to the fire while Gil secured the barns for the night.

When Chance and Clayton later questioned him, Kade had been very apologetic, claiming that he’d misunderstood and had merely been “checking on things,” as he put it. They’d warned him to listen to instructions better, and he’d promised that it had been a misunderstanding.

“Did you check on Lydi before you came in the shower?” Clayton asked as he scrubbed his head.

“No, she must be sound asleep. I’ll check her before I go to bed. Damn shame we got interrupted,” Chance murmured as he rinsed the soap from his skin. He lathered up again just to make sure the smoky odor was gone.

Clayton chuckled as he rinsed his head under the pelting spray of the showerhead. “She seemed real disappointed, too.”

Chance yawned and said, “Good sign.”

“Good night,” Clayton said as he climbed from the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist.

“See you in a couple,” Chance replied as he rinsed the soap from his body again. He turned off the shower and grabbed his towel as he stepped on the bathmat and dried off.

Clayton reappeared in the doorway. “Her bedroom door was open. She’s not in her room. She’s not in my room either.”

Chance frowned as he tucked the towel around his hips, wondering where she could be. He went into his room to fetch his robe so he could help his brother look for her then sighed in relief. Earlier, he’d stumbled through his dark bedroom to get to the bathroom and hadn’t noticed the rocker that had been repositioned before the window. She was curled up fast asleep in the comfortable, padded rocker. Her head was resting on the arm of the chair, and she was bundled up in the red throw blanket his mom had knitted for him several Christmases ago.