The Sheriff and the Baby

by C. C. Coburn

  She gave herself a mental shake. What was she thinking? She had no business feeling attracted to Matt O’Malley. She wasn’t even sure why she’d allowed him to stay once Lucy had gone. Except that she needed him, needed him to look after Sarah until she was well enough to do it herself. And you need him to care for you, too.

  “There we go,” Matt said, lifting Sarah from the tub and wrapping her in the towel draped across his lap. He wiped Sarah’s face and hands with the ends of her towel, dropped a noisy kiss on her outstretched hand, then passed her to Beth.

  Sarah instantly began to fuss.

  Before Beth could express her dismay, Matt said, “I’ll go warm her bottle.”

  She touched his arm, halting him, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath her fingers. “No, it’s okay. Lucy said I should try to feed her myself.”

  “I…I’ll give you some privacy, then,” he said, hurrying toward the kitchen.

  Beth swore the room felt cooler after Matt departed. She could have gazed at him all night, the firelight emphasizing his well-toned arms and chest. When she’d found him there, talking to Sarah, his head bent to his task as he bathed her daughter, her heart had filled with something rich and warm. Something she was tempted to explore further.

  But that wasn’t going to happen. Matt was a cop and she was a fugitive. They were an impossible combination.

  TEN MINUTES LATER, Matt could hear Sarah complaining bitterly. He ventured back to the living room. Beth held her daughter up to him, frustration written all over her face. “You take her. She likes you better.”

  He shook his head. “She loves you. She probably just needs to be burped.”

  With a sniff, Beth bought Sarah to her shoulder and rubbed her back. “I’ve already done this. It didn’t work.”

  “You need to thump—gently—rather than rub.”

  Beth patted her daughter gingerly, afraid of hurting her, but Sarah continued to squirm and wail.

  “Harder. She won’t break.”

  “She might,” Beth said through clenched teeth and gently thumped Sarah’s back three times.

  “Told you,” he said, triumphantly, when she burped.

  “I should’ve stayed in the hospital another day so I could learn these things.”

  Matt shrugged and said, “You’ll learn. She’s asleep, by the way.”

  Beth kissed the top of Sarah’s head and passed her back to him. “Would you mind putting her in her crib? I don’t feel strong enough to carry her.”

  “Want something to drink?” he asked when he returned to the living room.

  “Hot chocolate would be nice.” She covered a yawn. “Could I have it in bed?”

  Matt had a sudden image of sharing hot chocolate in bed with Beth, holding her…. “Go ahead. I’ll bring it in when it’s ready.”

  As she walked back to her bedroom, he observed the sway of her hips, her gown drifting behind her, and decided he was arranging for a nurse to come and stay in the morning.

  When he took in her hot drink a few minutes later, Beth was fast asleep. Her features had lost their tenseness now that she was no longer on guard. The tiny frown that creased her brow too easily was gone as she slept peacefully, free for the moment of the fears that haunted her.

  He turned off the bedside lamp and went back to the living room, where he cleaned up Sarah’s bath things. After stoking the fire, he lay on the sofa, pillowed his hands beneath his head and stared up at the ceiling. I have a feeling this is going to be a long night, he thought—and not just because Sarah would wake him for feeds. He knew he’d have difficulty sleeping with Beth in the next room.

  A BABY’S HIGH-PITCHED cry had him sitting bolt upright before he was even awake. It’d been part of his dream. A dream about a fair-haired, gray-eyed woman in trouble, running away, clutching her baby. The baby was screaming at the top of her lungs, her tiny arms outstretched. Matt rubbed his face, then realized Sarah was crying.

  He glanced at his watch—two-fifteen—and wondered how long she’d been crying. “Here I am, sweetie, no need to scream the house down,” he called as he hurried into her room.

  Sarah was beet-red, her face screwed up angrily, feet drawn to her chest. Matt scooped her up and cradled her against his shoulder. Her cries turned into whimpers and then hiccups.

  “You are one wet little girl,” he chided her softly as he changed her and fastened her into another clean sleeper. No wonder mothers were always tired. Not only did babies keep them up all night, they also produced mountains of washing. Even though Sarah wore disposable diapers, he’d already created a mound of sheets, towels and sleepers. “We’ll worry about all that in the morning” he said as he carried her to the kitchen.

  She was hungry and impatient. He didn’t want to wake Beth, so Sarah would have to make do with a bottle.

  The kitchen needed a microwave oven, he decided as he waited for the bottle to heat with Sarah screaming in his ear. “Hey! I thought you liked me!”

  She stopped screaming and looked at him for a moment. She seemed about to start again.

  “If you don’t behave yourself, sweet Sarah, I’m gonna hop in my truck and drive into town and get myself some earplugs.”

  Once more Sarah stopped crying, but when he didn’t continue talking, her lip began to tremble.

  “Okay, so you’re a typical woman, you like conversation,” he murmured. “Let’s exchange some juicy gossip, then, huh?”

  Sarah blinked and waited.

  He cuddled her and prattled on about people he knew, people he’d had to arrest—like his brother Will, who’d ended up marrying the town judge. He shifted Sarah to his shoulder and checked her bottle again. It was warm enough, so he took her to the living room, sank down on the sofa and poked the nipple into her mouth. She snuggled against him and started sucking immediately.

  The little darlin’ just wanted to be near someone, to feel a heartbeat and hear a voice.

  IT WAS STILL PITCH-DARK when Sarah woke him at five. He stumbled from the sofa to the kitchen, put on her formula to warm, then changed her.

  “We’re a pretty great team, you and I,” he told her as she finished her bottle. She seemed in no hurry to settle down, so he stoked the fire and spread a rug on the floor for her to lie on, then collected some toys from the nursery and lay beside her.

  For the next hour, her dark blue eyes roamed the room and occasionally tried to focus on the toys he kept presenting to her. “Do you wanna go to sleep now, sweetie? ’Cause Matt does.” He yawned loudly. If he didn’t get some sleep, he was afraid he’d end up collapsing from exhaustion. He picked her up. “We’re going to sleep now, missy,” he said firmly. “Little girls need their beauty sleep and grown men, well, they just need their sleep.”

  He stretched out on the sofa, tucking Sarah protectively against him. Within minutes, they were both asleep.

  Chapter Nine

  And that was how Beth found them the next morning. When she touched Matt’s shoulder, he was instantly awake.

  “Hi,” she said almost shyly.

  He moved over to make room for her. She looked vulnerable and beautiful in a robe pulled tightly around her, her hair mussed from sleep. Beth smoothed her hand over her cheek tiredly and reached for Sarah. “Did she keep you up all night?”

  “No, she’s been a little angel,” he answered, his voice husky as he watched Sarah snuggle against her mother.

  Matt left the room, making excuses about getting breakfast ready.

  When he returned fifteen minutes later, Sarah was fast asleep and Beth was obviously dead tired. “You don’t look very well,” he said. “How about lying down? I’ll change Sarah and bring her in to your room.” He picked the baby up, leaving Beth no alternative but to comply with his suggestion.

  At the door to her bedroom, she turned and said, “I want you to know how much I appreciate everything you’re doing for us,” then walked into her room before he could answer.

  WHEN BETH SWALLOWED her last mouthful of bacon and eg
gs, dabbed her lips with her napkin and said, “That was delicious!” Matt couldn’t help grinning.

  “Would you like more?” He was lying on his side across the end of the bed, having finished two helpings sometime earlier. Sarah was tucked up against him, sleeping.

  Beth shook her head. “I couldn’t. I’ll be the size of a house with all this inactivity. I’m used to taking long walks.”

  “We can take a walk when you’re feeling up to it.” He checked his watch. “I need to call Lucy. Is there anything she can bring you from town?”

  “I think I’ve got everything I could possibly need right here,” she said, her eyes holding his. After a moment, she looked away and reached over to stroke Sarah’s hand. Matt wondered if Beth was saying she needed him.

  Feeling an urge to put space between them, he stood and said, “I’ve got a load of washing to do.”

  Beth began to get up but he stopped her. “Stay here and rest. Lucy would shoot me if she knew I’d let you do any housework.”

  MATT MADE HIS CALL to Lucy, reported that both patient and daughter were doing fine, then asked if she could hire a nurse.

  “Not at this short notice! What’s wrong?”

  “Everything’s fine. But I thought a nurse would be a more appropriate caregiver than me.”

  “Don’t underestimate yourself. No one would be more appropriate than you,” Lucy assured him. “After all, you’re Sarah’s father.”

  He could hear the teasing in her voice. “You know that’s not true.”

  “If you say so. Matt? I’ve got a room full of patients so I’ll see you around four.” She ended the call. What exactly was he doing here? And what was he going to do once Beth was well? Betray her by handing her over to the LAPD? Hardly. Something just didn’t feel right about that report. As soon as he felt she was up to it, he was going to get some answers from her. Honest ones.

  BY THE TIME HE’D finished cleaning the kitchen, the wash was ready for the dryer.

  He went to check on his charges, found both fast asleep and took Sarah to her crib, holding her close to his heart. Something deep inside him seemed to blossom every time he held her. What would it be like if Sarah was his child? Could he love his own any more than he already adored this baby? Was he so attached to her because, by caring for Sarah, he was in some way making up for what he could never do for his own child?

  He placed Sarah in her crib and watched as she slept, her tiny lips forming a perfect rosebud. Was she the connection that would persuade Beth to reveal what was troubling her? Who she was running from?

  An image of Beth formed in his mind, so ethereal in her nightgown, her hand held out to him…beckoning him into her room.

  Was it even healthy to feel that way about someone he hardly knew? Maybe when he learned the truth and whatever she was hiding from, he’d be able to get her out of his thoughts and get on with his life.

  He went into the laundry, pulled the clothes from the washing machine and put them into the dryer. When his hands closed over a pair of Beth’s panties, he had to stop for a moment and take a few deep breaths. He couldn’t go on like this. He finished loading the dryer, switched it on and then went out to split more wood.

  DESPITE THE NEAR-FREEZING temperature, he’d worked up a substantial sweat by the time Will’s truck pulled into the driveway.

  Matt went to meet him before his brother could get out and invite himself inside. Will handed him a bag containing his clothes. “Your cat’s run away and your plants are trying to die.”

  Matt cursed himself for being so preoccupied he hadn’t given a thought to the stray that had adopted him a couple of years ago. Although Wendy wasn’t officially his cat, no one else had claimed her, so he’d had her spayed, got her vaccinated and installed a cat door so she could come and go as she pleased. Without the cat door, she’d tried tearing up his furniture. Her independent half-wild nature suited him. He hadn’t wanted to be tied down or show he cared too much about anything. And now he’d forgotten about her. Some caregiver! “I don’t care about the damned plants, but I’m worried about Wendy.”

  “That cat’s made a career out of running away at regular intervals,” Will reminded him and punched his shoulder. “Buck up. I’ve offered Nick and his buddies a reward to find her. I’ll keep you posted.”

  “Thanks,” Matt said and grabbed his bag, preparing to go back inside. He didn’t want Will asking too many questions.

  “So, she’s here, is she?” Will asked.

  Matt turned. “Lucy told you?”

  “No. But there’d have to be a darned good reason for telling Jolene to hold your calls and not being able to get your own clothes. Then I drive in here and you’re splitting wood. She must be pretty special.” He grinned knowingly.

  “She is. But I don’t want you talking about her to anyone, including Becky.”

  “Ah! A woman of mystery.”

  Matt frowned. “She’s scared of something—or someone. She needs protection. Until she’s well enough and I find out what she’s running from so I can deal with it, I’m staying here with her.”

  Will clapped him on the shoulder. “Your secret’s safe. Anything you need, just give me a call.” He climbed into his truck. “Take care, Matt, and I’ll call the minute I hear anything about Wendy, the wayward cat.”

  With a salute he turned out of the driveway.

  Matt carried his bag inside, dumped it on the sofa and went to check on Sarah. She was wide-awake, staring at the mobile above her crib.

  He carried her to the kitchen and heated a bottle of the milk Beth had pumped. That done, Sarah latched on to the nipple and watched him as she drank, her deep blue eyes boring into him as she made loud sucking noises.

  When she’d drained the bottle, he said, “Now, are you gonna stay awake and play, or are you going to be a good little girl and go to sleep while Matt fixes your mom some lunch?”

  Sarah’s eyes drooped as if her tummy was so full she couldn’t possibly do anything more than sleep.

  “You’re my good little girl, aren’t you?” he whispered as he took her to her room and laid her in the crib.

  HE PREPARED A SALAD and canned soup for lunch. Beth was sitting up when he took it in to her. “I must be improving. I’m starved,” she said when he’d set the tray with a full glass of milk on her lap.

  “Lucy’ll be pleased,” he said, then stood by the side of the bed, feeling strangely uncomfortable. “Sarah’s down for a few hours. I told her to be on her best behavior while Lucy’s here.”

  Beth smiled up at him. “You’re so good with her. I wish I’d had a camera this morning to catch you sleeping so contentedly together.”

  Matt grinned. “That would’ve been nice. Sarah’s a real beauty. Just like her mom.”

  A flush of embarrassment stained Beth’s cheeks at his words. He liked that, the fact that she was surprised and maybe pleased by his small but heartfelt compliment.

  She picked up her fork and fiddled with her salad. “Why do you split so much wood? You seem to be out there a lot.”

  Matt shifted his feet, trying to think of a plausible excuse for his compulsion to split wood at all hours of the day or night. He shrugged. “I want to make sure you don’t run out.”

  “There was a stack of split wood already, Matt. It’s not necessary for you to go out and do it in the moonlight.”

  Beth looked so innocent asking him what she no doubt thought were harmless questions. If she only knew the truth. He stuck his hands into his belt loops, partly to keep them from hauling her into his arms and admitting exactly why he spent so much time splitting wood. He shrugged again. “I need the exercise.”

  She patted the bedclothes and asked, “Aren’t you going to join me?”

  “I’d like nothing better than to join you in bed,” he said.

  Beth blinked, then her face reddened.

  Matt cursed himself. His comment held a wealth of innuendo that he’d meant in jest—well, half in jest.

  Embar
rassed, he excused himself, walked to the front door and stepped out into the icy air.

  The snow had let up for a while. He picked up the ax.

  BETH WAITED, expecting Matt to return with his own lunch, but when she heard the rhythmic sound of an ax hitting wood, she gave up and ate her lunch alone.

  Matt was an intriguing man. Strong, masculine, compassionate and nurturing. She was sure he hid a sense of humor beneath that somewhat stern exterior. He’d probably meant that remark as a joke, and she was angry with herself for misunderstanding.

  Last night, she’d been awakened by Sarah’s cries, but was too bone-weary to move. Then she’d heard Matt talking to her daughter, cheering her along while her bottle warmed, chattering in kindly tones in the living room. She’d caught snatches of his one-sided conversation. The way he nurtured Sarah softened her heart toward him even more. Obviously, not all cops were bad. Maybe she wouldn’t have to move away from Spruce Lake, after all. Maybe she could trust Matt O’Malley with the truth….

  AFTER FINISHING LUNCH, Beth took her dishes to the kitchen. From the window, she could see Matt lifting the ax high, then bringing it down hard on a log, splitting it in two.

  He’d taken off his jacket and his T-shirt molded his muscled arms and back. She filled a glass with water, drank it down, then held the cool glass against her breast and remembered Matt blushing when she’d asked him why he split so much wood. What was that about? Perhaps he split wood at odd hours to burn off excess energy. But a more likely scenario presented itself—perhaps he did it to distract himself from her. Perhaps that remark about joining her in bed hadn’t been completely a joke. But Matt was an honorable man. Possibly the most honorable man she’d ever met.

  He’d anchored the ax in the piece of hardwood he was using to split the logs on. He stood to his full height and peeled off his T-shirt, exposing taut muscles sheened with sweat. Beth wanted to run her hands over him. Big was the only word that could describe him. Big and strong and capable.