The Firefighter's Twins. Heidi McCahan
marked her family’s tenth season of offering a destination farm experience, complete with hay rides, the corn maze and several other creative opportunities to get kids outside. They took every reasonable precaution to protect their guests. She blew out a long breath. The last thing she needed was some arrogant firefighter telling her how to run her own farm...or her fall festival committee.
* * *
Shay watched her drive off, her honey-brown hair spilling between the skinny straps of her sundress. Despite the medical emergency, the curve of her bronzed, bare shoulders and delicate collarbone hadn’t escaped his notice. He’d always had a thing for sundresses and cowboy boots. Until Monica left. He’d stopped listening to the country radio station for fear he’d hear her latest hit single.
Shoving aside the memory of his ex-wife, he jogged back toward the inflatables. Isn’t that where he instructed the other parents to take the kids? But when he got to the giant multicolored bounce house, the kids seemed older. Bigger. He scanned the faces of the adults hovering on the grassy area nearby. This was only his second week in Meadow Springs, but none of these ladies looked like anybody he’d met at the beginning of the party. Not that he had much time for small talk. He’d left the socializing up to his mother, while he kept a vigilant watch on the boys. If he looked away for an instant, Liam and Aiden toddled off, climbing something, touching things they shouldn’t—making his heart race. He’d lost focus once before, and it had cost his family dearly. He couldn’t afford not to be hypervigilant.
He spun in a circle, searching for towheaded boys wearing denim shorts and blue and green T-shirts. Don’t panic. Mom can handle it. But this was their first birthday party that wasn’t limited to close family members. Would she remember to ask about the ingredients and double-check the labels? And could she deal with the tantrums if she had to tell the boys they couldn’t have any?
“Excuse me.” He spoke to an older woman who appeared to be supervising the inflatables. “Do you know where the little kids from the birthday party went? A bunch of two-and three-year-olds?”
She fluffed her short brown hair with her fingers and smiled, staring at him over the rim of her leopard-print sunglasses. “Shelby’s group?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“They’ve gone on to the gazebo. They were afraid of the siren, so Shelby skipped straight to cake and ice cream.”
“Where’s the gazebo?”
She pointed behind him. “Go toward the pond and past the rubber duck races. You can’t miss it, hon.”
“Thank you.” He weaved around couples with strollers, kids tugging on their parents’ hands and packs of teenagers staring at their phones. Gravel crunched under his tennis shoes as he made his way past the main building. The aroma of fries and hamburgers filled the air, making his stomach rumble. He’d worry about lunch later. His boys’ safety was his first priority.
A line snaked out the door of the café. “Pardon me, please.” He eased between two women chatting in line, while two little girls chased each other in circles around their legs. Once he was past the crowd, a large white gazebo situated next to a pond came into view. A group of older boys cranked the handles on the water pumps nearby, their rubber ducks racing down the water-filled troughs. Aiden and Liam would love that. Maybe if they had time, he’d bring them over to check it out.
Moms and dads mingled with the children in the gazebo, talking and laughing. A few glanced up as he joined the party. Walker and Harrison stood by a cooler with cans of soda in their hands. He’d thank them for their help with Maria in a minute, once he knew Mom had handled the cake situation.
“Shay,” Mom called out from where she sat at the end of a long picnic table, Aiden and Liam across from her.
“Da-da!” Aiden shrieked, his blue eyes gleaming. Frosting coated his fingers and ringed his mouth. The paper plate in front of him held a half-eaten slice of cake and a melting scoop of vanilla ice cream. Liam didn’t even look up, all his attention centered on loading his fork with the sugary treats.
Shay’s stomach lurched. “Mom. The cake—” He raced to the table, reaching for the boys’ plates.
“Sweetie, I scoured the labels and interrogated the poor girls serving it. It’s fine. No peanuts.”
Aiden’s lower lip quivered, and he snatched the plate back, glaring. “Mine.”
“We don’t know if it’s safe for you to eat, buddy. Let me check.”
Mom sighed. “I promise I double—”
Her words were drowned out by the sound of the boys crying. Not a little crying, either. The kind of sobbing that stopped all conversation.
“Hey, fellas.” A young woman approached the table carrying an ice-cream carton and scoop. “Is everything okay?”
“Aiden has a severe peanut allergy, and I don’t let Liam eat peanuts, just to be safe.” Shay felt the curious stares of the other guests as the boys continued wailing. “I was concerned about cross-contamination.”
“My daughter’s the birthday girl. She has a severe allergy, too. Trust me, I can guarantee this cake is completely acceptable.” She set the ice-cream container on the table. “I’m Caroline Walker, by the way. You probably know my husband, Trent, from the station.”
Man, he felt like an idiot. He wished the ground would open and swallow him whole. Shay dropped his gaze to the boys’ plates. “Here you go, boys. I’m sorry. Daddy messed up.” He slid the plates back in front of them. “Go ahead. You can eat it.” He offered his hand to Caroline. “Thanks for clarifying. I’m Shay Campbell, and this is Aiden, Liam and my mother, Belinda Campbell.”
“Nice to meet you.” Caroline shook his hand. “Do you mind if they have more ice cream? We bought way too much.”
Aiden and Liam’s pathetic sniffles disappeared as they shot cautious glances in Shay’s direction. “It’s fine. You may have more.”
The conversation around him ebbed and flowed again, much to his relief.
“See?” Mom patted their little hands. “Everything’s going to be okay. By the time you’re finished with that yummy cake and ice cream, I bet it will be time to watch Ella open presents.”
“We’re glad y’all could come today.” Caroline added a tiny scoop of ice cream to Aiden’s plate, and he grinned up at her.
“Thanks for the invitation. This is quite a treat.” He’d been counting the minutes until the party ended and he could get the boys home for nap time. More ice cream would probably derail their afternoon routine. But a sugar high was a small price to pay for inflicting such pain on his innocent little boys. They’d suffered enough already.
“Are you all getting settled in your new place? Trent said you’re in that neighborhood behind the farm?”
Shay nodded. “Meadow Crossing. Yeah, it’s...great.” He pictured the moving boxes still stacked against the wall in the detached garage. Sometime soon he’d carve out time to tackle those. Getting the boys settled in their new bedroom and unpacking their toys was as far as he’d gotten. Well, that and the kitchen essentials. Even with Mom’s help, establishing a new routine and helping them cope with Monica’s absence was all he could do.
“How about you, Mrs. Campbell? Are you close by?”
“My husband and I live in the new retirement community a little closer to town. But I stay with the boys when Shay’s at the station.”
He grimaced. Did she have to tell everybody about that? It wasn’t a secret that he didn’t have a wife, but the looks of sympathy and awkward silence that usually followed made him uncomfortable.
If Caroline was surprised by the revelation, she hid it well. “That’s wonderful. We have family nearby, too. It’s such a blessing, especially when the guys are on duty. This is a great group of people, Shay. We treat