So maybe she’d just imagined the way he’d been looking at her. Or maybe not. He had called her beautiful. And because of the way he’d looked at her, she’d felt beautiful.
But now, as they neared the front door of the huge house, nerves clamored in her stomach. Was she overdressed? Underdressed?
She had no idea what to expect at Ranch Haven. And she was glad that after taking her hand to help her down from the truck, Brett kept holding it. She needed that connection to him, that support he always offered her whether he agreed with her or not.
Instead of pressing the doorbell, Brett just reached for the doorknob with his free hand and pushed the door open. “Grandma gets mad if we ring the bell,” he said. “Only salespeople and strangers ring the bell.”
She smiled. While she’d only met his grandparents briefly, she had been so impressed. She’d been so young when both sets of her grandparents passed that she didn’t remember them. But people like Sadie and Lem would be unforgettable no matter how long their grandchildren and great-grandchildren had them.
She pressed her free hand to her belly where the babies were kicking and moving. She wouldn’t be able to give them grandparents, let alone great-grandparents. Her mother had made it clear to her years ago that she would never be called Grandma and that she wouldn’t help raise anyone else’s kids. Raising her own had been difficult enough.
Trish couldn’t remember being difficult; she’d always tried so hard to please her mom. She would never put that kind of pressure on her children.
“Are you okay?” Brett asked.
She realized that she hadn’t moved yet; her feet were planted on the porch. Then a fluffy ball of black fur catapulted out of the house, jumping around her legs and Brett’s. It snapped and growled, then latched on to the bottom of Brett’s jeans.
Instead of being horrified, Brett laughed and reached down to scoop it up with one hand. “Meet Feisty,” he said to Trish. The little dog pressed kisses to his chin. “She’s fierce like her owner.”
“She’s Lem’s dog now, the little traitor,” Sadie said as she joined them. But Feisty jumped from Brett’s arms to hers when Sadie hugged him. Then the older woman hugged Trish, too, and she somehow wound up with the fluffy long-haired Chihuahua in her arms.
“Welcome to Ranch Haven,” Sadie told her. “And welcome home to Willow Creek, my dear.”
Trish could have pointed out that she’d never really lived in Willow Creek, and that she had moved here weeks ago. But she just smiled. “Thank you for this party,” she said. “I was definitely not expecting one.”
“We love a party at the ranch,” Sadie said. “And there is no better way for you to meet all of the family.” A trio of little boys ran down the hall then. One had pale blond hair, one sandy-brown hair and the third was a dark-haired toddler.
The one with the lightest hair stopped when he saw Brett and sighed. “You’re not Billy the Kid.”
“No, I’m not,” Brett said with a smile. “But he and Elise and Lucy should be here soon.”
“Baby,” the toddler said with a wide smile.
“This is Caleb, Ian and little Jake,” Sadie introduced her great-grandsons. “This is Miss Trish.”
Little Jake pressed a hand against her stomach. “Baby,” he said again.
Trish nodded as her heart warmed with affection for him. “Two babies,” she told him.
“Aunt Melanie had two babies,” Ian said. “They cry a lot.”
“A lot,” Caleb agreed.
Trish felt that pang of alarm she’d felt when Darlene had told her how difficult twins could be. Could she handle it alone?
Brett squeezed her hand, and she was surprised to find that he was still holding it through all the greetings. She noticed when Sadie noticed, and a big smile spread across the older woman’s face.
“Miss Elise is coming?” Ian asked. “She isn’t out saving kids?”
“Not today,” Brett replied.
“What about you?” Ian asked Trish. “Do you save kids, too?”
She shook her head.
“Miss Trish is starting a camp at the Four Corners,” Brett said.
She glanced at him with surprise that he would bring it up.
