The Unclaimed Baby

by Sherryl Woods

  “Stubborn brat.”

  “Stubborn old man.”

  He grinned. “If you’re calling me names, I guess your spunk is back. Might’s well go along home and find something else to worry about.”

  “Might’s well,” she agreed. “I really am okay, Grandpa Harlan.”

  He lifted the baby above his head until she giggled, then brought her down for a kiss before handing her back to Sharon Lynn. He headed for the door, then turned back.

  “By the way, Cord’s working out real good at White Pines. Your daddy’s kept him hopping and from what I hear, Cord is up to it.”

  “He got the job, then? I’d wondered.”

  Surprise registered on his face. “You haven’t talked to him?”

  “Not since Friday night.”

  “Interesting,” he said thoughtfully. “Well, something tells me he’ll be coming around first chance he gets.”

  Her gaze narrowed at the vague innuendo in his tone. “What is that supposed to mean? You haven’t been meddling again, have you?”

  “I asked a few questions, that’s all. We were hiring the man. What would you have me do?”

  “I thought Daddy interviewed him.”

  “He did. I just came along behind him and picked up a few more details, tidied up some loose ends, you might say.”

  “Such as?”

  “Oh, this and that.”

  “Grandpa!”

  “You take care, darlin’ girl. Bring that baby out to the ranch this weekend, if she’s still staying with you. Nothing I love more than fussing over a new baby.”

  He was gone before she could reply, but not before the casual invitation stirred up all of her worst fears. Would the baby be with her by the weekend? Would she even be with her tomorrow? The uncertainty was difficult now. How much worse would it get as time passed? What would her impulsive decision to become the child’s foster mother lead to? What would it cost her?

  “It doesn’t matter,” she murmured, settling the baby into the carrier so she could clean up the lunch counter and grill from the day’s onslaught of customers. She didn’t matter. The baby’s well-being was all that counted, and for now she was in a position to see that nobody ever hurt that precious child again.

  Another round of curious neighbors and family members dropped in around four. By nightfall, she was sick of being subjected to concerned glances and of listening to all the warnings. She was ready to close up on the dot of six, if only to prevent any more lectures from well-meaning relatives. Just as she was about to lock the door and breathe a sigh of relief, Cord appeared. Given the hints her grandfather had dropped earlier, she wasn’t sure just how welcome she ought to make him.

  “Too late to get dinner?” he asked, his expression hopeful.

  She regarded him warily. “That depends.”

  “On?”

  “Whether you intend to offer advice.”

  He grinned. “I gather your family’s been calling on you today. I assumed as much from the ruckus going on out at the ranch all day. Every time one of the women came back with a report, all the men gathered around to hear it. I got the feeling your brother and your father were just itching to sneak into town and take a look for themselves. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if they showed up tonight.”

  “They’ll probably hold out till tomorrow. Grandpa Harlan came in their place.”

  “I’m not surprised. He probably would have been here Saturday right after he talked to me, if the roads hadn’t been so bad. He had more questions than a reporter sniffing out a hot scoop.”

  “I’ll bet. Watch your step around him or you won’t have a secret left.”

  Cord met her gaze evenly. “I’m not all that big on secrets, not with the people who matter to me. I’m a cards-on-the-table kind of guy. What about you?”

  “I don’t know. In my family, it’s virtually impossible to keep any,” she said a little wistfully. “It might be nice to try sometime. I’ve always wanted to be mysterious. That’s hard to pull off when you’ve lived in the same town all your life and your life’s an open book. Do you know how difficult it is to get any privacy at all with relatives looking over your shoulder every time you turn around?”

  “Think about the flip side. You could be like me and not have anyone to share things with at all. Believe me, darlin’, you’re better off.”

  “I suppose,” she said, but after a day like today she had a really hard time relating to his perspective.

  “Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn’t have done what you did, just taken off and gotten a fresh start someplace totally new.” She thought of her uncle Luke and her cousin Angela. “Of course, others in my family have tried it and wound up right back here again. Only one moved far enough away to get some peace and quiet, but she’s back with her family at the drop of a hat. All she has to do is hint and Grandpa sends Uncle Jordan flying up to bring them all down.”

  Cord listened thoughtfully, but his expression was skeptical. “Why would you leave all you have here, a family, a business, your home?”

  “It might have been easier,” she said quietly, thinking of the days after Kyle’s death, when she’d faced reminders everywhere she turned. That would have been the time to go. Instead she’d bought Dolan’s and pretty much ensured that she’d be here forever.

  “Easier?” Cord repeated. “I don’t understand.”

  She forced a smile. “No, I don’t suppose you do.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “I’m not sure I believe that.” His gaze searched hers. “Something tells me it matters very much. Are you going to tell me the whole story?”

  “Maybe,” she said. “One of these days.”

  He tilted his head “Now, you see, you do know how to keep secrets, after all.”

  She could feel a slow grin spreading across her face. “You’re right. I guess I do. Does that make me a woman of mystery?”

  “It does to me.”

  She gave a little nod of satisfaction. “Well, then, that’s something.” She flashed him a brilliant smile. “So, tell me, what are you doing here? I’m surprised you’re not eating in the bunkhouse out at White Pines. The food’s better there than anything I could throw together for you.”

  He winked at her. “But the company’s a whole lot more fascinating around here.”

  Sharon Lynn flushed under his warm gaze, but before she could warn him off, before she could make it clear that she wasn’t interested in pursuing anything more than conversation—or maybe just a hint of flirting to see if she was still any good at it—he turned away and scanned the drugstore.

  “Where’s my girl?” he demanded. “I’ve spent the whole weekend wondering how she was getting along. Everybody at the ranch was offering up opinions, but I couldn’t wait to see for myself.”

  So that was why he’d come, she thought, feeling oddly disgruntled by the discovery that this visit was all about the baby. Apparently he’d just been making idle, small talk with her, biding his time.

  Before she could reply, Cord spotted the portable crib and headed straight for it. Sharon Lynn watched as he scooped the baby up and held her in the air. The baby gurgled with delight as she had earlier for Grandpa Harlan. Sharon Lynn wanted to haul the baby into her arms and explain that girls shouldn’t go trusting a man whose attentions were so fickle. Then again, maybe she was the one who needed that advice. She’d realized when Cord walked through the door that she’d been half watching for him all weekend long.

  “You’ve made a conquest, I see.” She couldn’t seem to help the testy note in her voice. Fortunately Cord seemed oblivious to it.

  “I’ve always been a big hit with ladies under two.”

  Sharon Lynn was willing to wager he’d been a huge success with women of any age. Aside from his looks, there was that quick wit and easygoing charm about him that could weave a spell in the blink of an eye. If she’d been a lot less wary of men and relationships, she might have been taken with him herself. As it was, she could
view the ingrained flirting with tolerant amusement. Or so she reassured herself.

  “Have you ever been married?” she asked.

  He took the out-of-the-blue question in stride. “No, why?”

  It was as if the words had just popped out of her head. She couldn’t have explained if her life depended on it. She swallowed hard and managed to improvise. “You’re so good with the baby. It’s as if you’re used to this. I thought maybe you’d had a wife and kids.”

  He shrugged. “Nope. Just second nature, I suppose. I like kids, but I’ve never had any of my own. Guess I always thought kids deserved two parents who loved each other and intended to stick together through thick and thin. There’s never been a woman I felt that way about.”

  “Lots of brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews?”

  He shook his head. “No, an only child. Maybe that’s why I gravitate toward big families with lots of kids underfoot.”

  “Then you’re at the right place at White Pines. As you’ve seen already, the ranch is crawling with family.”

  He settled the baby against his shoulder, then turned his penetrating gaze on Sharon Lynn. “Ever heard the expression about being all alone in a crowd? Sometimes when what you want most in the world seems almost within reach, it’s harder than ever to accept that you don’t really have it.”

  As his words sank in, Sharon Lynn’s gaze sought out the baby. It was true. For the past two days, she had been caught up in a game of make-believe. She had held a child in her arms and despite all the disclaimers she had voiced to her family, she had pretended that the baby was hers to keep. She had longed for it to be so.

  Knowing that it wasn’t, accepting that it might never be, brought the salty sting of tears to her eyes. Before she was aware he’d even moved, Cord had placed the baby back in the carrier and was drawing her into his arms. To her surprise, not only did she not resist, but she went willingly.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  He tucked her head beneath his chin, where she could feel the beat of his heart and smell the clean, masculine scent of him. The comfort was her undoing. Tears, never far from the surface these days, spilled down her cheeks and soaked the soft chambray of his shirt.

  “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I never meant to make you cry. What was it I said?”

  “It’s not you,” she managed to choke out. “I’ve been a regular waterworks for months now. It doesn’t take much to set me off.”

  He tipped her chin up with a finger, then swiped gently at her tears with his thumb. The tender gesture left her trembling.

  “Want to tell me why?” he asked.

  “Not really.” She regarded him with a watery glance. “Do you mind?”

  “I mind that you’re sad, but I don’t mind that you’re not ready to share the reason for it with me. After all, we’re little more than strangers.”

  Right now, though, Cord Branson didn’t feel like a stranger. He felt like a trusted, undemanding friend, someone she—and the baby—could rely on. Everyone in her family was certainly reliable, but at the first sign of tears, they worried. They plagued her with solicitous invitations or plunked themselves down in her living room and tried to cheer her up. Adamses wanted to fix things for her. Cord seemed willing to just be there.

  “Thank you,” she whispered against his chest.

  “No need to thank me,” he insisted. “One of these days I’ll pry the secret out of you and then I’ll go after whoever hurt you.”

  “I appreciate the thought, but heroics aren’t needed.” She rested her head against the solid wall of his chest again, unwilling to leave the warmth and comfort of his embrace, even though she knew it would be the wise thing to do. Her life had gotten complicated enough in the past few days without dragging him into the middle of the storm of emotions that the baby had unleashed inside her.

  Finally she sighed and pulled away. When she glanced up, it was into twinkling eyes.

  “No need to move on my account,” he said lightly. “I was just beginning to enjoy myself.”

  She shot him a wry grin. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

  His expression sobered at once. “You don’t have to be afraid with me, darlin’. Not ever.”

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  He touched a finger to her lips. “That’s not what I said. I said you don’t have to be afraid with me. Nothing will ever hurt you when I’m around. That’s a guarantee.”

  For reasons every bit as mysterious and every bit as certain as those that had led her to keep the abandoned baby with her, rather than turning her over to foster care, Sharon Lynn believed him.

  Because she trusted him so implicitly, she glanced around Dolan’s to be sure everything that needed to be done before closing had been done, then met his gaze.

  “Why don’t you come to my place for dinner? You can put the baby to bed, while I make spaghetti and a salad.”

  “Throw in a beer and you’re on.”

  Sharon Lynn froze at the mention of beer. Ever since the accident, she hadn’t wanted to be near anyone who was drinking, not even a single beer. Sensitive to the circumstances, everyone in the family had been careful to avoid alcohol around her. But, of course, Cord couldn’t possibly know that.

  “I’m sorry. There’s none in the house.”

  The words came out more stiffly than she’d intended. In the awkward silence that followed, she waited for him to suggest stopping off to pick up a six-pack, but after an intent study of her face, he merely shrugged.

  “Soda will do, with coffee for a chaser,” he said easily.

  “Now that I can accommodate,” she said, relieved that he hadn’t pushed, either for the beer or an explanation.

  “Then let’s get out of here. Something tells me our little buddy here is going to be starving herself pretty soon and we’d better be ready to swing into action. She’s not nearly as patient as I am.”

  Nothing about Cord Branson suggested he was the least bit patient, but Sharon Lynn let that pass. He’d allowed an awkward moment slide by without comment and that was all she cared about. A man who could ignore hints and innuendoes, who could detect a puzzle and let it rest until the solution was offered voluntarily was a rarity. After months of people poking and prying into her feelings, she was more grateful than he would ever know.

  “Let me grab another package of formula and we’re set.”

  “I’ll get that. You bundle up the little darlin’.”

  When everyone was wrapped snugly in enough layers to withstand the bitter cold, they walked briskly to her place. She couldn’t help thinking that on a night just like this one a week ago, the cold had cut through her and left a chill not only throughout her body, but in her heart. What a difference a few days—and the presence of this man and this baby—had made. What would happen to her when—not if, but when—they were gone?

  Chapter 5

  Cord had never spent a more frustrating few minutes in his life. First the unexpected flood of tears from a woman who seemed so strong, then the admission of secrets and the shuttered expression at the mention of beer. There was a story there, but he had a feeling it was a whole lot more complicated than anything he could imagine.

  It would be simple enough to get at the truth out at White Pines. Sharon Lynn had said it herself—she had no secrets from her family. Fortunately he was wise enough to know that the answers had to come from her. He wanted her to trust him enough to share them with him, to let him into her life totally and completely. That kind of trust didn’t happen over night and it surely wouldn’t happen if he started prying. Obviously this was going to be just one more test of his patience.

  In the meantime, though, his imagination was working overtime. To silence all the wild speculation going on in his head, he focused on the baby. Every time he held her, he was more awestruck. She was so tiny, so perfect. Powerful, amazing emotions swept through him, made him vow to protect her with his life if it ever came to that. The emotions were all
the more astonishing because he had no idea where they’d come from. His own pitiful parents had never set such an example.

  “Have you ever in your life seen a kid this size eat this much?” he asked as she sucked lustily on her bottle, her little hands gripping it tightly as if she feared he might take it from her. “You don’t suppose she was half starved when we found her?”

  “Lizzy says her weight appeared to be normal and that she wasn’t showing any signs of being malnourished.” Her expression darkened. “Have you thought about the mother at all?”

  “I’ve tried not to. It’s too infuriating. What about you?”

  “I can’t help thinking that she must have been truly desperate.”

  “Maybe the mother wasn’t in any position to care for a child.”

  “You mean financially?”

  “I mean maybe she was sick herself, maybe she even died after the baby was born and the baby’s father couldn’t cope.”

  Her expression shifted from anger to sympathy. “Oh, God, I hadn’t even considered that.” She came to stand close and brushed gentle fingers over the baby’s head. “Poor little thing.”

  Cord glanced up at her. “Not so poor. She landed with you, didn’t she? She’s warm and safe.”

  “But all alone.”

  “She has you. She has me,” he said fiercely.

  Sharon Lynn grinned. “She certainly does seem to have you wrapped around her little finger.”

  He snuggled the weight of her a little closer, laughed when her face screwed up as the bottle’s nipple slipped from her mouth. “Are you still hungry?” he murmured incredulously, even as he offered her more. He glanced over at Sharon Lynn, who had gone back to stirring spaghetti sauce, filling the kitchen with an enticing aroma. “Have you given any thought to giving her a name?”

  Her hand stilled. “I don’t think I should. It’s not my place.”

  “We can’t just go on referring to her as the baby. It sounds like she’s interchangeable with every other kid.” He studied the baby intently, then said, “I think we should call her Ashley.”