Twin Wolves - Scarlett Grove

1

Cash Wilde and his twin, Cal, pushed a twin-size bed against the wall of a room in the new bunkhouse. Cash wiped his forehead and crossed his arms, nodding in satisfaction.

“That’s the last of them,” Cal said.

“The first intern is arriving tomorrow. A girl named River.”

“I really hope this whole intern situation pans out after all the trouble we’ve gone through to get Heath’s old house prepared.”

“I never thought I would miss Heath, but not having him around as much means more work for us,” Cash said.

“I think we deserve a break. Don’t you?”

“Definitely. There are some steaks in the fridge at home.”

“And a six-pack of beer.”

Cash looked down at his watch. It was four forty-five in the afternoon. “Close enough to five for me.”

“I think Austin expects us to make all the beds, stock the fridge, and launder all the towels before we leave.”

The Wilde twins trotted down the stairs to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. “It’s empty,” Cal said.

“Who was supposed to do the grocery shopping?”

“I guess that’s us,” Cal said with a sigh. “The six-pack will have to wait.”

“There’s a shopping list here,” Cash said, showing it to Cal. “It’s in Heath’s handwriting.”

“Great. Looks like we’re going to town.”

Cash grabbed his keys from the counter. The twins went out to the truck and climbed inside. On the way into town, Cash put on his favorite metal CD. He was partial to the classics, Metallica and Black Sabbath. Maybe he was old-fashioned, but he really liked guitar. They bumped along the road into town, singing along to “Nothing Else Matters” for the four hundredth time.

Cash pulled into the parking lot of Fate Rock’s biggest grocery store, the Farmer’s Market, and climbed out of the truck. Cal grabbed a cart while Cash studied the list. They hurried into the produce aisle and grabbed oranges, apples, bananas, a bag of lettuce, and some salad dressing.

They then headed to the dry goods and picked up cereal, bread, beans, toilet paper, and paper towels. They added dish soap and laundry detergent to their cart and walked up to the checkout.

“I can’t believe we’re on shopping duty. You’d think there would be a better use of our skills,” Cal complained.

“This has to get done,” Cash said.

They went through the checkout, greeting Molly Simpson, a girl they’d gone to school with. She was a bear shifter and the niece of the current fire chief. She had an enormous round belly, like she was about to pop at any second.

“When is the baby due, Molly?” Cal asked.

“Three more weeks.”

“Should you be standing on your feet all day?”

“I’ll be taking a leave at the end of the week. But it’s my store, so you know how I like to be here.”

“Of course,” Cash said. “We feel the same way about the ranch. Don’t work too hard.”

“Don’t get into too much trouble.” Molly smiled and winked.

The twins had a reputation around town as being troublemakers and ladies’ men. It wasn’t as if any of it was untrue. At twenty-seven years old, Cash and Cal had had their share of good times.

But seeing Molly so ripe and close to her time made Cash feel a pang of longing for his own mate. It had been growing stronger and stronger over the past couple of years since he and his brother had finally joined Mate.com. Unlike the rest of their brothers, they hadn’t joined until their midtwenties. Cal and Cash had been members for over three years and still hadn’t been matched with their mates.

“So, when are you two going to settle down?” Molly asked, sliding the canned goods over the scanner.

“We’ve been on Mate.com for a while now,” Cal said, flipping through a women’s magazine.

“Still nothing, huh?” Molly said with a tone of sadness in her voice.

Cash looked at the gum quizzically, as if trying to disguise his longing. He grabbed a chocolate bar and threw it on the conveyor belt. “Still nothing. But it’s not like our social calendar is empty.”

Molly laughed. “So I hear.”

She and the twins had been in the same class at school, and they’d all lived in the same small town their entire lives. Word got around. Cash didn’t really mind. But he hoped that the stories that people told about him and his brother would eventually change.

Seeing Austin and Cheyenne with their baby made him feel an even stronger urge to settle down and start a family. If anyone had told him five years before that he would feel that way, he