The Tycoon's Tots Read Free Page A

insides were shaking as if he’d just woken from a two-day drunk.
    â€œYou saw my sister while she was jailed?”
    Chloe nodded. It wasn’t one of her more pleasant memories. But she and her sisters, Justine and Rose, had felt compelled to talk to the woman. She’d known things abouttheir father that only she could tell them. And Belinda had told them some things in her own disturbed, fragmented way. Chloe had come away from the county jail feeling both saddened and sickened. From what she’d seen, Belinda Waller had once been a beautiful young woman, but drugs and alcohol had ruined her looks, her mind, and subsequently her very life. It was such a waste.
    â€œHow was she then? How long was that before she died?”
    Chloe shrugged. “Two or three weeks probably. As far as how she was, I can’t really say. I didn’t know her beforehand.”
    Wyatt felt weak and sick. And he wondered why he’d ever left Houston to come here. But of course, deep down he knew it was simply for the babies. He felt he owed Belinda that much.
    Turning away from Chloe, Wyatt walked to the end of the long stable and stared out the open doorway at the mountain range rising directly behind the ranch.
    It didn’t seem possible that his family was gone now. His mother had simply left. His father had been killed. And now Belinda was dead. The only close relatives Wyatt had left were the twins.
    â€œMr. Sanders? Are you all right?”
    He turned slowly to see Chloe standing just behind him. She looked genuinely concerned for him, which was quite a switch from a few moments ago when he’d gotten the impression she wanted to wham the side of his head with her shovel.
    â€œI was just thinking about Belinda,” he said, then with a sigh he swiped a hand through his coal black hair. “She was beautiful and outgoing. One of those bubbly kind of people who laughed a lot. She loved excitement and always liked to stay on the go.” His expression grim, he glanced away from her. “But her traveling days are all over now.”
    Whatever Chloe felt about Belinda Waller, she harbored no malice toward this man. As far as she and her family knew, he had nothing to do with the damage his sister had done to their father and their ranch. It would serve no purpose to describe to him the pathetic creature she’d seen locked behind bars. He obviously didn’t know what his sister had become. And Chloe hardly wanted to be the one to tell him.
    â€œWell, we might as well go up to the house so you can see the twins,” she said, while telling herself the sooner he saw the babies, the sooner he would leave the ranch. “Aunt Kitty is probably feeding them a snack about now.”
    â€œEarlier, at the house, a small woman with gray hair answered the door. Was that your aunt?”
    Chloe nodded and Wyatt said, “I figured she was the housekeeper or nanny or something.”
    â€œWe’re all family around here,” she told him, her voice laced with pride.
    â€œI see,” he said. “And she helps take care of the twins while you’re doing this?” He gestured around the large stable.
    The way he said this made it sound as if she were no better than a common ditch digger. And she suddenly decided it was a shame the inside of this man wasn’t as nice as the outside. But then, in her experience, men were usually lacking beneath the surface.
    â€œShe does,” Chloe answered his question. “Aunt Kitty loves the twins as much as me and my sisters.”
    He didn’t say anything to that and Chloe wondered what he was thinking and why he was really here. She somehow knew she hadn’t heard everything from him yet
    â€œWell, right now I have to get the horses off the walker. If you’d rather not wait, you can go on up to the house without me,” she told him.
    Wyatt figured if he was smart, he wouldn’t wait. He’d go see the babies without