“Oh, Daniella, there’s someone here to see you.”

Dani almost put her hands over her ears when Kelsi used her given name. Nobody used Daniella, except their mother—and only sometimes, when she wanted something. Or Dani was in trouble.

The sound was like fingernails on a chalkboard and Dani cringed as Kelsi strolled down through the cafe, followed by a man, his thin, cotton coat collar turned up and a baseball cap tipped up his forehead. The logo on the cap advertised some oil company, and Dani thought he looked like maybe a truck driver. A delivery, maybe? She was in charge of inventory for most of the ranch, so that could be it—but if that were the case, he wouldn’t be asking for Daniella.

Dani glared at Kelsi, who leaned against the counter, clearly enjoying her twin’s discomfort at her given name.

Kelsi smiled even bigger as she said, “He has something for you. From Mom.”

Dani and Fred both raised their eyebrows at this information and exchanged glances. As the family banker, Fred had been the go-between the entire time Mr. and Mrs. Weston had been gone, delivering the sometimes unwelcome assignments that they’d been given by their parents. His contact had been primarily Dani, and she’d borne the weight of the news that they’d be re-designing the kitchen, building a barn and a Kids’ Korral along with their regular responsibilities—all news delivered by Fred.

So this was a new development for both of them, and they stood as Dani reached her hand out toward the man Kelsi’d brought over.

“Fred Wharton the Third,” Fred said as he tugged at the sleeves of his blazer and reached out his hand toward the man.

“Travis Montgomery. Nice to meet you.”

Dani eyed him as they shook hands. He was tall, but not as tall as her brothers. His brown hair was streaked with a little blond from the sun—so he was definitely not from around the ranch—and it curled a little bit below his collar. She normally didn’t notice what people looked like, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her—nobody called her Daniella.

“Dani Weston,” she said as she gave his hand a good, strong shake. She looked up and struggled against a smile as his eyes crinkled and his green eyes softened, holding hers for a moment longer than was comfortable for her.

“It’s very nice to meet you finally,” he said. He turned toward Kelsi. “Both of you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“And we’ve heard absolutely nothing about you,” Dani said before Kelsi shoved her elbow into Dani’s side.

“Dani, be nice. Travis has been sent by Mom and Dad and needs to speak directly with you,” she said, one eyebrow raised as she cocked her head. “Fred, certainly you understand. He’s driven all the way from Florida. I’ve ordered him one of Bob’s special omelets.”

“What? Oh,” Fred said as he frowned at Travis. “Sure, he can join us.”

“Ahem,” Kelsi said as she folded her arms over her chest. “Privately, Mom said. We need to excuse them for a bit.”

Fred glared at Travis. “Mr. and Mrs. Weston are my most important clients. I’m certain that they would want me included in any message about the ranch.” He sat back down in the booth and reached for his mug of coffee, tilting the empty cup toward Kelsi.

Dani shook her head and laughed. There was no way Fred was going to win a tug of war with Kelsi—not in a million years. She couldn’t believe he was even trying. Twins were great backup when you needed them, and her curiosity had only grown about what Travis could possibly need to tell her—and only her. She could talk to Fred any time.

Fred stood again and pulled some bills out of his pocket, handing them to Kelsi. “Fine. Dani’ll need to be getting to the office soon, anyway. Your mother explained about Wade, and I am willing and able to help in any way I can,” he said and smiled thinly at Kelsi.

His smile faded as he turned to Travis and said, “Again, nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Travis said as he stood in the middle of the diner and Fred left, climbing in his Dodge Ram with one last glare through the window.

“Good riddance,” Kelsi said as she cleared a different booth for Travis and Dani.

“Ah, he’s not so bad.” Dani had learned how best to deal with Fred over time and he’d actually been a little sympathetic about all the hoops their parents had them jumping through. She’d even begun to try to get information about what their parents’ grand plan was, and when they’d be returning. But he didn’t need to be involved with whatever Travis had to say—and it appeared their mother wanted it that way, too, no matter what Fred thought.

Dani settled into the booth and nodded at Kelsi as she filled their coffee cups again. “Thanks.”

“You’re very welcome. Your omelet will be right up, and Dani, I’m bringing your usual,” Kelsi said as she headed back toward the cash register—and Dani was shocked, as Kelsi’s curiosity was usually bigger than her own. Maybe she was just planning on torturing her for the information later—maybe help with baby names or something. She had no doubt she’d do her best to extract the information no matter what.

But for now, she didn’t have any information to extract, except that some stranger had driven all the way from Florida in a Dodge Ram and needed to speak to her.

“So...” she began slowly as she leaned against the wall of the cafe and threw her elbow over the back of the booth seat, strumming her fingers on the table. “What can I do for you?” She looked at the clock on the TV behind the counter—she needed to beat Wade into the office to talk to Bernie and Lily before he did. Bad timing for this new bit of info.

His smile spread wide and he reached into his pocket, setting an envelope on the table.

“I met your folks in Florida. Really nice people, by the way, and they asked me to give you this. Well, this and that,” he said as he pointed out the window of the cafe.

She turned and followed his gaze to a huge—well, it looked huge to her—truck. Sure enough, it had Florida plates.

“A truck? Why?”

“Somebody in the RV park had it for sale, and they thought it would be perfect for the ranch. Low miles, lots of extras, and a diesel. Good work truck.”

“Okay, I guess we could use another truck around here. How did you end up driving it back?”

“Well, that’s another story,” he said as he smiled and drained his mug. Kelsi arrived with their breakfast and set the plates down.

“You need anything else?” she asked as she lingered a little longer than needed, her eyes locked on the envelope with Daniella written on it.

“No, thanks, we’re good,” Dani said as she buttered her toast.

Travis made an appreciative groan at his first bite of his omelet. “Wow. I’ve been to a whole lot of diners, and I’ve never had something like this in one.”

“Bob will be flattered. He prides himself on his cooking,” Kelsi said as she stayed in place.

“Why don’t you go tell him?” Dani set her toast down and leaned against the table. It must be complete and utter torture for Kelsi to not know what was in that envelope, and Dani had to admit she was enjoying it a little. “Like, now.”

“What? Oh, okay,” Kelsi said as she tore herself away from the table. “Let me know if you need anything. Anything at all.”

“You two sure are different for identical twins,” Travis said between bites of his omelet.

“You don’t think we look alike?” Dani asked.

“Actually, you look quite a bit alike, aside from the hair—hers blond and yours—well, not blonde,” he said diplomatically. She knew her hair was a mess—her natural muddy brown color and cropped short, just how she liked it, but she’d never really cared about it much. Besides, it was another way she could stand out as different from her larger-than-life twin.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“And there’s the pregnant thing. That’s different. But you seem to be very different in personality. Night and day, actually, in my expert five-minute impression.”

“Ah, an expert,” she said as her gaze traveled back to the letter. “Well, I’m sure my parents gave you a good run-down on the ranch, and I probably don’t want to know any more than you’ve already told me.”

Travis smiled and wiped his hands on his napkin. “Maybe not.” He slid the envelope over to her side of the table and leaned back as he reached for his coffee.

Dani stared at the letter for a bit. Maybe it was just a hello, along with the truck. That would be best. Anything else and they could have just called or sent something snail mail. They never touched email and didn’t even have a computer, so she’d stopped hoping for quick, surgical information delivery long ago. Actually, this was typically dramatic for her mother.

She decided it was probably better to just get it over with and put everybody out of their misery, and she reached for the envelope, opened it and spread the letter on the table.