Twins Under the Christmas Tree by Marin Thomas

Author:Marin Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Isi reread the first paragraph of her term paper, satisfied she’d nailed the opening. Three sentences later, her mind wandered. The boys should be awake by now. Rarely did they sleep in and she worried they were coming down with colds.

Last night when she’d arrived home from the bar, she’d been surprised to find Conway’s truck parked in front of her trailer, because they’d agreed that the boys would sleep at the farm while he harvested the pecans. When she’d asked why he’d brought them home, he’d said he thought it was best that they sleep in their own beds.

She shut down the computer and left the kitchen. When she opened her sons’ door, she discovered them dressed and sitting on their beds, wearing glum expressions. “Hey, you two, what’s the big secret?” Their eyes widened—not a good sign.

“Aren’t you hungry?” she asked.

They hopped off their beds and filed past her, shoes dragging across the carpet. Oh, dear. They sat at the kitchen table and she felt their foreheads—no fever. “What’s going on?”

“Conway’s mad at us,” Miguel said.

“Why?” When neither of them explained, she pulled out a chair and sat. “What happened at the farm yesterday?”

Javier refused to make eye contact with her, so she swung her gaze to Miguel. “I’m waiting...”

“We broke Conway’s TV.”

Isi gasped. “How?”

Miguel stamped his foot. “It was Javi’s fault!”

“Was not!”

“Was so!”

“Stop.” She slapped her hand against the table, startling her sons. “Javi, how did the TV break?”

“We had a pillow fight ’cause we were bored.”

“Where was the TV?” she asked.

“In the bunkhouse,” Miguel said.

Why had the boys been in the bunkhouse by themselves? Conway had promised to keep them close by while he worked.

“How big was the TV?” Isi mentally calculated the meager amount she’d saved for the boys’ Christmas presents.

“This big.” Javier spread his arms wide.

“It cost a thousand dollars,” Miguel said.

A thousand dollars?

Why hadn’t Conway told her about the TV last night?

Because he knows you don’t have the money to replace it.

Isi rubbed her brow. Conway had done so much to help her—more than he should have, and the boys breaking his TV made her feel horrible. “We’re going to have to pay for a new TV.”

As she cooked breakfast, she worried over how she’d come up with the money to replace the TV. Maybe Conway would allow her to make monthly payments. Poor Conway—he needed a break from her sons. She could skip class but not work—she couldn’t afford to lose any hours when she lived paycheck to paycheck. There had been many times when she’d almost given in and confronted Tyler Smith, demanding he pay child support but pride had stopped her. If she’d had to choose between her pride and feeding the boys she would have pursued Tyler with relentless determination, but things had never gotten that bad.

A half hour later Conway’s truck pulled in front of the trailer and Isi’s heart pounded with dread. “Conway’s here.” She turned from the window and caught her sons fleeing to their bedroom.

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