The Twin

Annabelle, a permanent employee, gave her a new dog to walk. A beautiful, mostly German shepherd about three years old, he was extremely well behaved.

Sunny squatted down and scratched his ruff. “You’re a beauty, sir. How did you come to be here?”

“Somebody was moving out of the country and couldn’t take him,” Annabelle said. “A real shame.”

“We need to find you a good home, boy.”

Maybe Ben’s son would like to have a dog. Or maybe he already had one. She’d have to ask. If she ever saw Ben again. He hadn’t called or dropped by for lunch the day before, but he’d probably been busy.

Had he been disappointed in their date?

No, she told herself. Don’t go there. If he asked her out again, fine. If not, that was fine, too. No big deal.

BEN HELD OUT UNTIL THURSDAY. Sunny had been on his mind most of the time. And a sudden cold snap made it a great day for chili. He stopped by about half past twelve, and it seemed as if half the people in town had the same idea. The place was packed.

He didn’t even see Sunny. He looked around the crowd, trying to spot an empty place. Some lanky college kid in a red shirt pointed him at a table for two behind a post, and another one brought tea and took his order. He finally glimpsed her behind the bar pulling a tray of drafts. He tried to catch her attention. Tried, hell, he practically stood on the table and flagged her. She smiled and nodded toward him, then said something to a waitress and motioned his way before she hoisted the tray and went off to deliver the beer to the other room. The waitress came over and filled his tea glass, and that was the last he saw of Sunny except for a fleeting glance of her back now and then.

Damn.

Against his better judgment, Ben had planned on asking her out again. He spent a long time over his lunch, but he was finally forced to pay up and leave. He had to get back to work. Once the crowd had thinned out, he’d been tempted to ask for her, but his pride had gotten in his way.

Guess he wasn’t the only one who had reservations about their getting involved. He’d thought their date had turned out well. She’d seemed to be enjoying herself, but maybe he’d misread the situation because for sure she was treating him like a leper today. Marla had called him a loser more than once. Maybe Sunny was looking for somebody more exciting than he was.

Damn.

Chapter Seven

“Have you heard from the hunk?” Cass asked as they drove to Wimberley.

“Which hunk?” Sunny asked, wishing Cass would stop quizzing her every day.

“Ben the hunk.”

“How do you know he’s a hunk?”

“Because I peeped through my spy hole when he came to pick you up last weekend. Looked like a hunk to me. Has he called?”

“Nope.”

“Bummer,” Cass said, flipping down the mirrored visor to apply lip gloss.

“Don’t do that! Keep your eyes on the road or you’re going to end up in a cow pasture.” Cass wasn’t really a bad driver, but she was a speed demon in her fancy little convertible, and the two-lane highway had a lot of twists and turns.

“I haven’t seen a cow for miles, and you’re not a cop anymore, so ease up, sis. Have you got the map and directions?”

“I do.” Sunny unfolded the directions Belle had dictated as well as a map she’d printed from the Internet. “I think the turn should be about a mile ahead. On the right.”

They started looking for landmarks and soon saw their turn. The road wound and dipped some more before they spotted the entrance to Belle and Gabe’s place. It even had a guardhouse, and they pulled to a stop.

A burly-looking guy glanced back and forth between them. “You must be the twins. Go straight ahead and hang a left at the fork. If they don’t answer the bell at the big house, try the pool area around back.” He touched his hand to the bill of his cap.

“The big house?” Cass said as she drove on. “How many houses are there? And how big is the big house?”

“Don’t ask me. I get the impression Gabe’s loaded. The monster helicopter was my first clue.”

The house was huge, but not ostentatious. They parked beside several cars and walked up the steps to the large porch stretched across the front. Sunny rang the bell.

A little bit of a woman with sharp features answered the door. “You must be the Outlaw twins. I’m Suki. Come on in. Most everybody’s out back in the pool or sittin’ around shootin’ the…breeze and drinkin’ beer. You bring swimsuits or do you need to borrow one?”

“I’m Sunny, and she’s Cass, and, yes, we brought our suits. Should we change first?”

“Suit yourself. It’s a mite chilly for me, but the pool’s heated so you won’t freeze your tokus off.”

“I think I’ll take a dip,” Cass said. “It’s in the seventies, and I haven’t been swimming in ages. Where can we change?”

“Up them stairs,” Suki said. “First door on your right. There’s extra robes in the closet. When you’re done, just go straight through the house to the outside. There’s a bunch of windows and doors back there, and you can’t miss it. I’ll let Belle know you’re here.”

“Thanks, Suki,” Sunny said.

The little woman scurried off, and they went upstairs.

“This place is gorgeous,” Cass said as she opened the door to a suite. “Wonder who their decorator was?”

“Beats me. Ask Belle.”

After they’d changed and were selecting robes from the closet, there was a tap on the door. “It’s Belle.”

Sunny opened the door. “Hello. We were just about to come outside. Your house is gorgeous.”

“Thanks. We like it. Especially after I redecorated.”

“I was admiring your choices,” Cass said. “Beautiful.”

“Thanks. It’s sort of Belle eclectic. I figured if I liked it, it went together.”

“A woman after my own heart,” Sunny said. “What was it before?”

“Country French from top to bottom and designed by a former fiancé who was also a decorator.”

“I don’t see a stick of Country French now.”

Belle grinned. “Nope. Not a stick. I unloaded most of it on Skye and my mother-in-law for their new places. The rest I gave to the Salvation Army. Come on down. The party’s grown and we have a backyard full of people.”

“Who’s the hottie on the diving board?” Cass whispered to Sunny.

Sunny stopped in her tracks, and her heart bounced. Dear Lord, it was Ben poised on his toes. She didn’t realize he’d been invited, and things were bound to be awkward between them. Leaving wasn’t an option, although the thought was tempting.

“Back off. That’s Ben McKee,” she muttered to Cass. “I thought you said you’d seen him through your spy hole.”