Dani sat on the porch and waited for Kelsi as she fingered the letter from her mother in her pocket along with the key in the velvet bag. She’d had a long day already. It had been everything she could do to concentrate on work. She couldn’t even count the times Erica had asked her a question and she hadn’t noticed until the third or fourth time—or so Erica had told her. She’d managed to call Kelsi and ask her to come over after she closed the cafe, but she couldn’t think of one other thing she’d actually done so far but brush her finger over her lips—and remember Travis’s lips on hers.

What could he have been thinking? She wasn’t his type—although she wasn’t sure what that was. All she knew was that she’d had fun getting to know him, admired his skill at racing and that he’d been very good to her. And he was a great cook. And that when he wasn’t around—well, she wished he was.

She shook it off as she spotted her good friend Tony heading toward the main house with the woman who had been his assistant and who was now his boss and head of security—Charley. Dani smiled as they seemed to be having some sort of discussion, Charley’s hands waving wildly as Tony just smiled and nodded.

He sat down beside her as Charley said hello and walked into the lobby. He leaned back against the bench and took his hat off, rubbing his forehead.

“How’s that going?” Dani asked.

“Charley? Good. She’s smart, real smart. Just juggling the gallery and her, and Mira.”

She turned to look at him and sure enough, he still had that loopy smile he’d had since he first met his new love. It seemed to be everywhere around River’s End Ranch.

“How are you doing?” he asked. “Haven’t seen you for a while. I know you were covering for Wade, and I heard the snowmobile races last night were fantastic.”

“Oh, thanks,” she said as she smiled. “It was fun.”

“Huh. That’s it? Fun?”

“Well, yeah.”

They sat in silence for a moment and she squirmed a bit in her seat. Tony had been a good friend for years, and he always knew when she was hiding something. It was just that right now, she really didn’t even know what she was hiding—if anything.

“Hey, guys,” Wyatt said as he rode up on his favorite horse, Belle.

Dani straightened on the bench, peering behind Wyatt, and her stomach tightened as she saw Travis on Wyatt’s second favorite horse right behind him.

“Travis Montgomery, meet Tony Morales, our resident law enforcement and art expert,” Wyatt said as he pointed toward Tony. “You already know Dani.”

Her face flushed as Tony stood and hopped down the steps to shake Travis’s hand. “Nice to meet you. Hey, are you the guy I’ve heard about who drove out the Dodge Ram?”

“One and the same,” Travis said as he tipped his hat at Tony. “Nice to meet you.”

Travis turned to Dani and winked, and she noticed that today he had on a cowboy hat, not his usual ball cap—and that he looked particularly handsome.

They headed past the Main House and up the trail and Tony stood at the bottom of the stairs and watched before he came back up on the porch and sat by Dani.

“So you like this guy?”

“What? I barely know him. What do you mean?”

“Good grief, Dani. Never play poker with professionals. You’ll lose with that poker-face.”

“Oh,” she said as she looked down at her boots. “Well, I barely know him.”

“Didn’t look like that to me—on either of your faces. You been to see Jaclyn?”

“Heck, no. I’ve steered clear from her as best I can.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that,” he said. “She knows stuff.” He stood and stomped his boots on the planks before he stepped inside.

“Well, I can’t right now. I’m waiting for Kelsi.”

“Uh-huh. You’d better do it. Remember our conversation from before?”

“Which one?” she asked as she folded her arms over her chest.

“I distinctly remember the day you told me I’d better come clean with Mira and tell her how I really feel. I said you’d better be ready—one day a guy was going to show up in a Dodge Ram, or on a horse or jump out of a helicopter and then you’d be toast, too. Looks to me like two of those three are covered.”

Dani’s eyes flew open and she leaned forward, peering after Wyatt and Travis, although they’d disappeared up the mountain already. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Says you. Oh, hi, Kelsi,” he said as Kelsi grabbed the handrail of the porch stairs and pulled herself up.

“Hi, Tony. How’s everything?” she asked.

“Great. Couldn’t be better, unless you could talk some sense into your sister, here.”

“About what?” she asked, her eyes wide.

“Never mind. See you later, Tony. Kelsi and I have some business to talk about.”

“Suit yourself.” He tipped his hat once more as he opened the door and stepped inside.

“Okay, what was that all about?” Kelsi asked as Dani grabbed her hand and pulled her inside. She took a quick glance toward the sofa by the fireplace to make sure the coast was clear of Jaclyn before she pulled Kelsi over to the staircase that led to the second floor. She pulled her up the stairs, careful not to make her short of breath but as quickly as she could manage.

“What’s going on? You’re acting weird,” Kelsi said and she pulled her hand back when they reached the second floor.

“Just follow me.” Dani led Kelsi down the hall, padding quietly on the carpet. She stopped in front of the narrow stairs at the end and turned toward her twin. “Remember the letter Mom sent with Travis? And the key?”

“I didn’t see a key,” Kelsi said as she folded her arms and cocked her head.

“Nice try,” Dani said as she helped her sister to the top of the stairs.

“Oh, was it a key to the attic? It’s been locked for years. I’ve always wanted to see what’s inside.”

Dani reached the top of the stairs and opened the door with the key her mother had sent. It creaked as she pushed it open, and she stepped in gingerly, not wanting Kelsi to go in until she was sure there wasn’t anything creepy in there. It was clean, though, not a speck of dust anywhere. Somebody must have been keeping it up—maybe Andrew.

Light poured in through the stained glass window at the peak of the roof, bathing the room in reds, greens, blues and yellows. Dani reached in her pocket for the letter and read it again, looking up and searching the room for the trunks that her mother had described.

“Dani, what’s going on?” Kelsi said as she tapped her toe.

“Just give me a second.” Dani pulled two chairs over to the chest with the pine trees painted on top, just like her mother had said would be there. She sat her sister down and took her hand. “I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but Mom’s new request was that I bring you up here and open these chests, and that you and I go through it together.”

“What? Why?” Kelsi ran her hand over the lacquered pine of the chest.

“I’m not exactly sure,” Dani said as she lifted the lid. “I do remember this, though. Did we have it in our room when we were little?”

Kelsi peered inside the trunk. “I think so. It looks familiar to me, too.” She reached in and picked up a rattle, laughing as she shook it. “I don’t remember this, though.”

“We would have been too little to remember that,” Dani said. She reached in and pulled out a little pink dress with a snowman embroidered on it and Kelsi pulled out a matching one.

“Oh, wow. It’s all our baby stuff.” She reached inside and pulled out another dress. “I wonder if there’s a big-foot baby outfit in here.”

Dani laughed and nudged her sister, who returned her smile. “I doubt it.”

They spent the next couple of hours going through that trunk and another one, laughing at the clothes they remembered and marveling at the tiny ones they didn’t. They talked about being called “twin” at school, and could even laugh about some of the things that had happened in high school that hadn’t been at all funny at the time. Dani couldn’t remember when she’d laughed so hard, especially since Kelsi had married Shane and moved out. It felt good.

“I miss you, Kelsi.” They finally reached the bottom of the second trunk and began folding and putting things back in.

“I miss you, too,” Kelsi said as she reached for Dani’s hand.

“Are you happy? I mean, I think you are, but really, really happy?”

“You know you don’t need to ask. Shane is the best thing that ever happened to me, and we’re going to be an even bigger family soon.” She patted her belly and held up a tiny outfit. “And now Beckelinda will have more clothes than she knows what to do with.”

Dani rolled her eyes and didn’t even ask about the name. “We’ll just have to spend more time together,” Dani said before she could stop herself. She had no idea what had come over her—she loved her family and everything, but somehow, things were changing. She felt different.

“I’ll ask Andrew to send somebody to get these and take them to your house,” Dani said. “You’ll need them soon.”

“Thank you. Maybe you could bring them yourself, in the ranch’s new Dodge Ram. I’d love to show you Beckelinda’s room.”

Dani smiled. “That would be nice. I’d love to. Right after Christmas, maybe?”

“That would be perfect.” Kelsi set the last pink outfit in the trunk and closed the lid. “I’m so glad you’re my sister, Dani. There’s nothing more important than family, and now with Mom and Dad away...it’s even more important.”

Dani reached over and hugged Kelsi—her twin, her friend. She was right. Nothing was more important than family, and she would be there for Kelsi and her daughter—and complain about it as little as possible.

“Oh, by the way, I’ve been meaning to thank you for sending me lunch the week Wade was out. And for packing sandwiches for us when we were plotting the snowmobile course,” Dani said as she helped her sister down the stairs. “I really appreciated it.”

Kelsi held onto the railing as she followed Dani down the stairs. “I didn’t do that. Travis did.”

“Travis?” Dani stopped dead at the bottom of the stairs and turned toward Kelsi, her eyes round.

“Yes, Travis. He’s sure nice. He came in the first day and asked me all kinds of questions about what you liked, what your favorite things were. He did all that. Not me.”

“Oh.” Dani grew quiet as they headed up the big stairs into the lobby. “I didn’t know.”

“Of course not. He asked me not to tell. But he’s pretty sweet on you, sister. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up just like me—happily married and pregnant.”