The Texas Cowboy's Baby Rescue

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  Bridgett called on her training to answer what was essentially a medical question. “Not without the mother’s DNA.”

  “So, until then?” he pressed.

  Mitzy’s answer was brisk. “Robby is going into foster care.”

  Bridgett’s heart squeezed in her chest. Aware she was about to learn of an even more important decision, she looked at her friend hopefully. “Was my request granted?”

  With a staying lift of her hand, Mitzy allowed, “Temporarily. As long as you understand that this child is not, and may not ever be, available for adoption.”

  Bridgett thought about the emotional connection she had already forged with the infant. The reservations she’d had up to now, about opening herself up to further heartache, faded completely. “I can handle it,” she vowed to one and all. “Furthermore, I’ll do as the note requested and take Riot, too.”

  * * *

  CULLEN WOULD HAVE figured the social worker would be happy to hear that, since it meant her job here was done. Instead, Mitzy Martin looked as stressed as Bridgett Monroe had when he’d arrived at the hospital to confront her.

  She leaned forward. “Are you sure, Bridgett? Up to now you’ve adamantly refused to consider fostering any child not available for adoption because you have a hard enough time saying goodbye to the babies in N-ICU and didn’t think you could do it in your personal life, too.” She reached over to take her friend’s hand. “And I get that. We all do.”

  So, Bridgett Monroe had a heart as soft as her fair skin and bare pink lips. Cullen couldn’t say he was surprised. Any more than he was surprised about his reaction to her. Stubborn, feisty women always turned him on.

  “This is different,” Bridgett said, color flooding her face.

  “How?” Cullen asked, an answering heat welling up deep inside him.

  “I know it sounds crazy...but I think I was meant to find these two.”

  It was all Cullen could do not to groan. The last thing he needed was another overly sentimental woman in his life. Even on the periphery. Yes, she was graceful and feminine. Pretty in that girl-next-door way, with her glossy, rich brown hair, delicate features and long-lashed pine-green eyes. She wore a long-sleeved white T-shirt beneath the blue hospital scrubs that seemed to emphasize, rather than hide, her svelte curves and long legs.

  But she was also an emotional firebrand—at least, when it came to him. Jumping to conclusions. Pulling him in. Then shutting him out, just as quick.

  He did not need those kinds of ups and downs.

  Especially not now.

  Mitzy and Dan exchanged a wary glance.

  “Unfortunately, Bridgett,” the social worker put in gently, “even if what you say is true, that this was all destined to happen the way it did, it doesn’t mean your chances of fostering then adopting a baby on your own have changed. At least, as far as the department goes.”

  Cullen watched as disappointment glimmered in Bridgett’s eyes.

  Gently, Mitzy continued. “The district supervisor and the local family court judge who hears these cases want infants who are in search of permanent placement in a stable, two-parent home.”

  “But for every rule or policy there’s always an exception that can be made, especially in special circumstances like these,” Bridgett persisted resolutely.

  “Yes.” Mitzy chose her words carefully. “But I wouldn’t count on that happening, long term.”

  Except Bridgett was, Cullen noted in concern.

  With a sigh, Mitzy continued, “They’re willing to make an allowance for Robby temporarily because you’re a nurse and Robby is just a few days old with health issues that may or may not crop up, but—”

  “Whoa,” Cullen put in. “If there is any kind of risk, why not keep the baby in the hospital?”

  Bridgett swung around, her elbow nudging his rib in the process. “Because the few problems he had upon admission have been treated. Hence, there’s no reason to keep him here.”

  “So—” Mitzy looked at Dan “—unless there has been any further news on the law enforcement front...?”

  Dan shook his head. “Sadly, not yet. But the Laramie County sheriff’s department has sent information requests to all the hospitals, clinics and urgent care facilities in the state.”

  Cullen’s gut tightened at the thought of all the people who would hear his name tied to this heartbreaking situation. The assumptions they would make about his character, and by default, the McCabe family, could be catastrophic.

  He couldn’t believe he was doing it again, bringing shame upon those closest to him.

  “Is this going to be on the news?” he asked tensely.

  “No,” Mitzy said. “We don’t want to scare off the birth mother if she does change her mind in the next few days and wants to come forward and reclaim her child.”

  Looking as shocked and horrified as Cullen felt, just considering the possibility. Bridgett cut in, “Would the Department of Child and Family Services really allow that to happen?”

  Mitzy paused. “It’s hard to say. There could be mitigating circumstances behind the mother’s actions.”

  “Like what?” Cullen bit out, not surprised to find himself siding with Bridgett on this.

  “Like she’s suffering from postpartum depression and isn’t thinking clearly,” Mitzy suggested.

  “The note she left with the baby seemed pretty clear-cut to me,” Cullen said.

  “In any case, we’re all aware there has to be much more to this story than we know thus far,” Mitzy explained. “So law enforcement and the medical community are all on alert for a woman coming in, having just given birth but without a baby to show for it. If anything the least bit suspicious occurs, we’ll hear about it, pronto. And go from there.”

  Bridgett sat back in her chair, looking dejected again.

  Cullen could imagine how the dedicated N-ICU nurse felt.

  She’d found the abandoned infant and puppy, and the idea of giving Riot and Robby back to someone who had been unhappy or unbalanced enough to leave a baby alone in a cardboard box with only a puppy to guard it had to rankle.

  It sure as hell did him.

  “So, if you’re sure this is what you want, Bridgett, even knowing it’s only temporary...” Mitzy began.

  Bridgett’s expression turned fierce. “I am.”

  “And what about you?” Mitzy turned to Cullen.

  Not sure what the social worker was asking, Cullen shrugged. “I just told Bridgett. There’s no way on earth that Robby is my baby.”

  To his frustration, Mitzy looked as skeptical of that as Bridgett and his younger brother had. “Can you tell us who might want to assign paternity to you, then?” Mitzy asked.

  Suddenly, all eyes were upon him once again. Cullen thought a long moment, then, unable to come up with anything, shook his head.

  Mitzy pulled a pen from her bag, perfectly calm. Matter-of-fact. “So you’re formally surrendering all claim to this infant, then?” She brought out another piece of paper.

  Was he?

  Cullen hadn’t expected to do anything except come to the hospital, straighten out the situation and leave. However, seeing the newborn infant, reading the note, changed things. Made him feel that he just might be involved here.

  How, exactly, he didn’t know yet.

  But he was a McCabe, as well as a Reid.

  And unlike the Reids, McCabes did not shirk their obligations, familial or otherwise. So he was going to have to see this calamity through to its resolution.

  Aware what Bridgett Monroe probably wanted him to say, so the way would be clear for her, he paused, then finally said, “No.”

  His younger brother Dan looked on approvingly, while sharp disappointment showed on Bridgett’s pretty face.

  Mitzy simply waited.

  Cullen inhaled deeply, then directed
his remarks to everyone in the room. “Someone left the puppy and the baby for me. Like it or not, that makes them my responsibility. At least until their real family is found or permanent arrangements can be made to give them a good home. So I’d like to keep tabs on the child while he’s being fostered. Meet the dog.” Who might have more of a connection to him than anyone except his brother yet knew.

  Mitzy turned. “Bridgett? Is this going to be okay with you? Because if you’d rather your first ward be a child who has already been released for adoption, I would completely understand. And so would everyone else at the department.”

  For the first time since he’d laid eyes on her, Cullen saw Bridgett falter. She turned to glance at the papers that would make her the baby’s temporary foster mother and, for a second, looked so vulnerable he couldn’t help but feel for her. Pushing aside the temptation to take her in his arms and comfort her, he swallowed hard, reminding himself this situation was complicated enough as it was.

  Bridgett drew herself up, raised her chin and looked Mitzy straight in the eye. “I can handle this,” she vowed.

  Could she? Cullen wondered.

  Chapter Two

  “You really don’t have to walk us to my SUV,” Bridgett said half an hour later, as she got ready to go.

  Cullen was clearly skeptical. “You’re saying you could easily manage all this on your own?”

  Bridgett looked at the messenger bag she took to work, the diaper bag filled with emergency essentials, and the swaddled infant she was about to pick up. He had a point. It was a lot.

  “Okay.” She handed him both bags and her vehicle keys, then gently picked up little Robby.

  She’d handled hundreds of newborns in her career. Cuddled and given medical aid and taken care of their emotional needs for as long as they were in the N-ICU.

  But this was different. It had been from the first moment she’d gathered the little infant in her arms.

  She felt connected to this child, heart and soul.

  As if she were already his mother.

  “But that’s all the help we need,” Bridgett continued firmly. “Once I get to my apartment and you meet the puppy, to see if that sparks anything, I’ll be able to handle it from there.”

  The only problem, she noted ten minutes later as she pulled up in front of her nondescript brick apartment building and saw a furious man pacing outside, was that she still had a few more wrinkles to iron out.

  Cullen emerged from his pickup truck. He nodded at the short and stocky man storming their way. “Who’s that?”

  Her heart sank as she stepped from the driver’s seat and faced off with the man who had just been peering in her apartment windows. “My landlord, Amos Stone.”

  The gray-haired man marched closer. “Miss Monroe! Do you have a dog in your apartment?”

  Too late, Bridgett realized she should have found another emergency solution that morning. One that hadn’t involved spiriting a dog who’d had no place in the hospital to yet another place he was absolutely forbidden to be. She fixed the building’s owner with her most winning smile. “I can explain.”

  Her landlord did not think so. “Your lease explicitly says no pets of any kind allowed. Ever.”

  “I know.” Bridgett reached into the car to gather Robby in her arms. “But—”

  “No buts,” the older man huffed. “You’re out of here! Effective immediately.”

  Cullen stepped forward. “Surely there’s some middle ground here,” he beseeched cordially, on her behalf.

  Amos Stone glared. “Nope. Twenty-four hours to get everything out, or I start formal eviction proceedings. And that mangy mutt goes right this instant. Or I call animal control to take him for you!” He stomped off.

  Able to hear the barking from inside her unit, Bridgett handed Robby over to Cullen, then hurried to unlock her front door. What she saw, as the pup barreled toward her and leaped into her arms, was even more dismaying.

  Riot had pushed aside the temporary barrier she’d set up between her small galley kitchen and the rest of the unit. He’d wreaked havoc throughout the apartment, knocking pillows off the sofa and upending plants, lamps and a basket of clean laundry. He’d also had several accidents on the wood floor.

  Apparently being left alone had stressed the poor little guy out.

  But now that the puppy was in her arms again, he was quiet, cuddly and clearly exhausted.

  Cullen stood beside her, a drowsy Robby held against his broad chest. He looked around, surveying the damage. “What next?” he said.

  Outside the window, she saw her landlord standing next to his car, phone to his ear. She headed outside again, to her vehicle, and Cullen followed. “Mr. Stone is probably on the phone with animal control right now. So we need to get Riot out of here.”

  Cullen inclined his head toward the slumbering infant. “Want to switch?”

  “Um...let’s not rock the boat just yet.”

  Especially since Robby looked as if he were in baby nirvana. She nodded at the safety seat that had been installed in the backseat of her SUV. “If you can settle Robby back in that, I’ll hand off Riot to you and then get the baby strapped in.”

  Cullen did as she asked and then took the dog from her. “Where do you want the pup?” he asked.

  Good question. To have Riot on the loose while she was driving and Robby was strapped in a car seat did not seem like a good idea.

  Cullen understood her indecision. “Why don’t I put him in my truck and drive him wherever you’re going next?”

  If only she knew where that was, Bridgett thought, opening the door on the driver’s side to let the pleasant spring breeze circulate through the interior of the car. For the next few minutes, they remained next to her SUV while she scrolled through the hotel listings on her phone and made a few quick calls.

  “Any luck?” Cullen asked, after the third.

  Disappointed, Bridgett shook her head. “None of the inns in the county allow pets.”

  Still holding the puppy against his chest, he used the index finger to tilt his hat a little higher on his forehead. “Doesn’t your family own a ranch?”

  “The Triple Canyon. My younger brother, Nick, and his wife, Sage, live there now, but they’re currently putting a commercial kitchen in the ranch house so Sage can do the majority of the baking for her café-bistro on the premises. So they are at Sage’s old one-bedroom in town with their two kids for the next three months.”

  He squinted down at her thoughtfully. “What about your twin sister?”

  “Bess lives in the same building I do.”

  “So that’s out.”

  “Right.”

  He studied her. “There’s no one else in the area you could call upon in an emergency? Other family?”

  Yes and no, Bridgett thought. “I’ve got two more siblings. My older brother, Gavin, and Violet and their two kids live in a shotgun house here in town that is already bursting at the seams. And my sister Erin and Mac are living in the Panhandle now, with their brood, so although they would take me in, I can’t leave the county with Robby until everything is straightened out.”

  He edged close enough that she could smell the soap and sun-warmed-leather scent of him. “Friends, then?”

  “The ones who live in houses all have kids and pets of their own, and the ones who don’t live in apartments.”

  Cullen shrugged. “You could board the puppy at the vet clinic in town temporarily or turn him over to the animal shelter.”

  “No!” The force of her response stunned them both.

  Bridgett drew in a bolstering breath. “If it hadn’t been for Riot’s determination to get my attention, I never would have known Robby had been abandoned at the fire station. Who knows how long it would have been before he’d been rescued? Plus, the note specifically said the mother wanted the two of them to stay tog
ether. I intend to honor that.”

  “Do you even know anything about caring for a dog?”

  Irked by his doubt, she tilted her chin at him. “No. But I’m sure I can learn. I just made an offer on a house, so all I need is a short-term solution that will hold us until I move.”

  He regarded her with new respect. “You’re buying a home?”

  Apparently, real estate was a language they both spoke. She nodded, forcing herself to relax. “An adorable little bungalow here in town. I’m just waiting for my mortgage application to be approved. Which unfortunately rules out renting another place. No one’s going to want me in and out for just a couple of weeks.”

  “Well, since you are clearly out of options...” Cullen gave an affable shrug. “You could bring Robby and Riot to the Western Cross.”

  Bridgett blinked. “Stay with you? At your ranch?”

  He nodded.

  She crossed her arms and glared up at him. “Why would you want to do that?” she blurted out.

  He regarded her calmly. “To fulfill my moral obligation, and to preserve my reputation and that of the McCabe family, of course.”

  * * *

  CULLEN COULD SEE it wasn’t the explanation Bridgett wanted. Which was too bad, because the blunt truth was the only reason he was prepared to give. “I’ve got a virtual cattle auction coming up in ten days. My first at the Western Cross ranch. If people think I am unreliable on any level, they’re not going to buy livestock from me. So it’s to my advantage, and yours, to get this resolved as soon as possible. And maybe if we’re all together I’ll be able to more quickly figure out who would have wanted me to be responsible for all this.”

  “Makes sense. I guess.”

  He continued looking her in the eye. “I also don’t want to embarrass Frank and Rachel or any of the rest of my family.” Thanks to his mom, and the way she had selfishly kept his paternity a secret, for years, so she wouldn’t have to share him, they had already been through enough.

  Bridgett went still, for a moment giving him a glimpse of the woman she was, at heart. “You call your parents by their first names?”