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She forced that Debbie Downer thought out of her head as she pulled her car into the lot of Mile High Adventures. Sam, Hayley, and Micah were unloading things out of the Jeep.

She got out of the car, gratified when Micah grinned at her and scrambled over. All limbs and enthusiasm. ThankGod.

“Did you have fun?” she asked, pulling him into a hug.

He let her hug him for about a second, then bounced out of her reach. “We saw a bear! Seriously!”

“From hundreds of yards away with my very high-powered binoculars,” Sam assured Cora, still unloading things from his Jeep.

“It wassocool.” Micah happily took the backpack Hayley handed him. “Hey, before we head home do you think we could stop by the ranch and see the horses?”

“Well, matter of fact, Shane asked us if we wanted to come over for dinner tonight.”

There was the slightest hesitation at the mention of Shane, but the horses must have won out because Micah nodded. “Cool.”

“I’m going to go give the babies hugs first. Coming?”

“Eh, sure, I guess,” Micah said with a negligent shrug, but Micah had shocked the heck out of her when the twins were born. Oh, he acted tough and uninterested, but, any time an adult wasn’t paying too close attention, that boy gave them nothing but love. “I have to help set up the tents to air out first.”

She gave him another squeeze before he wriggled out of it. “My little responsible camper.”

Micah groaned on his way over to help Sam and Hayley heft stuff out of the Jeep and then to the backyard of Mile High Adventures, where they’d do whatever they did with tents and tools. Cora tried not to know.

She headed inside and offered a greeting to Skeet, who merely grunted at her from his near-permanent spot behind the reception desk. He was wearing a T-shirt that readmy dog ate your stick-figure family.

“Skeet, how do you feel about swords?”

The old man’s white eyebrows drew together as he stared at her. “Huh?”

“I think I have the perfect woman for you.”

Skeet scowled and made a shooing motion. “Lilly’s in her office.”

Grinning to herself, Cora walked through the main room and to the little hallway that led to the individual offices. She didn’t bother knocking on Lilly’s door since Lilly sometimes had the babies sleeping in there.

But when she pushed the door open, Cora groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, God. Stop that you two.” When she dared open her eyes, Lilly and Brandon had only moderately stoppedthat. In that their mouths were no longer fused together, but they still had their arms around each other.

Lilly grinned at her. “Well, knock.”

“I was trying to be considerate of the babies.” She gestured at the playpen where Aiden and Grace happily gurgled at each other. “Aren’t babies supposed to cure you of all that?” she asked, gesturing at Brandon and Lilly’s linked forms.

“Not cured, just desperate for the occasional moment of peace. We’ll take it where we can get it.”

Brandon, who at least had the decency to look alittleshamed, unwound himself from Lilly. “I’ve got to go make those calls. Do you want me to take one?”

Lilly waved it off. “Make your calls first. They’re liable to start screaming the minute you get a hold of someone.”

Brandon nodded, kissing Lilly quickly on the cheek, then dropping a sweet pat on each of the babies’ heads before exiting the office.

“I know it’s a lot to ask. . . .”

“But you need a babysitter for the babies so you and Brandon can get it on.”

Lilly chuckled. “Please.Please. I’ll owe you eight million favors. I swear the second that man’s penis gets anywhere near naked they start screaming.”

“Little baby cock blockers,” Cora cooed at them, earning a groan from Lilly. “Sure. I’d do it tonight, but I already told Micah we could go over to the Tyler ranch. What about tomorrow?”

“That’ll work.” Lilly’s gaze zeroed in on Cora, thatI can read your mind if I try hard enoughlook. “The Tylers again?”