“Right there, correct?”
His pulse had begun to race at the slight caress. He nodded, rather than trying to force an answer past the sudden lump in his throat.
She leaned forward ever so slowly, deliberately taunting him. Cord clenched his fists at his sides to keep from reaching for her, claiming her. The brush of her lips, when it finally came, was as light and feathery soft and rapid as the touch of a bird’s wings. He had a feeling her heart was racing just as quickly.
“Nice,” he murmured. He glanced sideways in her direction. “How many of those points did you say I’d accumulated?”
She grinned. “Enough.”
“Then let’s try that again.”
This time just as her lips neared his cheek, he turned so that the kiss landed squarely on his mouth. After the first startled instant, the first flaring of panic in her eyes, she sighed softly and stayed right where she was, her lips teasing his.
Cord’s hands came up to cup her face. His fingers threaded through her hair. Another sigh shuddered through her and as it did, he deepened the kiss, tasting her, dipping into the mysterious, honeyed sweetness of her mouth.
The kiss lasted forever…but not nearly long enough. He was the one who pulled away, though he didn’t release her face. He studied the bright patches of color on her cheeks, the confusion in her eyes.
“Was that a mistake?” he asked quietly.
She swallowed hard, then returned his gaze bravely. “No,” she said in a whisper. “Not a mistake. Just a surprise.”
He grinned at that. “You didn’t see it coming? Haven’t expected it since the day we met?”
“Okay, yes, maybe.” The confusion was back. “Do we have to talk about it?”
“Only if it’s a problem.”
She shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know if it is or not. Cord, I can’t make promises. I can’t look ahead. You need to know that.”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “Shh. It was a kiss. Not a commitment.”
In time, though, in time he wanted more from her. Much more.
The phone rang then, jarring them both out of their reveries. Sharon Lynn’s hand trembled visibly as she reached for it. After she’d answered, she turned to him and mouthed, “It’s Lizzy.”
Her expression darkened at whatever Lizzy was telling her. “I see,” she said finally. “What happens next?”
Cord could see from her bleak expression that the news wasn’t good. He reached for her as she hung up, pulled her closer so that her back was resting against his chest.
“The blood type’s a match,” she said, her voice thick with choked-back sobs. “They’ll have to do more testing.”
Cord held back his own dismay. “She could still be ruled out as the baby’s grandmother,” he reminded her. “Millions of people have the same blood type.”
“I know. It’s just that…”
“It’s just that you wanted it to be over, at least for now.” He felt her barely perceptible nod against his shoulder. “The testing won’t take forever. We have to be absolutely sure.”
“I know,” she said.
Her utter stillness, the sadness in her voice, combined to touch him in a way that Lizzy’s report hadn’t. It galvanized him into plotting his own strategy for handling things from here on out. Let the police and medical experts do their thing, he thought. There were other kinds of evidence that would be needed if there was to be a court battle, other ways to gather proof. He didn’t have a lot of money left and it had been meant as a stake toward buying his own ranch, but this was a better use for it.
“I’ll hire a private investigator tomorrow,” he promised her. “By the time he’s done, we’ll know everything there is to know about Hazel and Victoria Murdock.”
She turned to face him. “Private investigators cost money,” she protested. “You’re supposed to be saving every cent toward a down payment on a ranch.”
“That can wait. This can’t.”
“I have some money.”
“No. This is something I need to do.” He met her gaze. “Let me, Sharon Lynn. Let me do this for you.” He hesitated, gazed directly into her eyes and added quietly, “For us.”
Maybe it was his imagination, but it seemed to him that she visibly relaxed. A halfhearted grin came and went.
“You’re just after more brownie points, aren’t you?” she teased.
He laughed at that. “Okay, you’ve got me. That is something I am surely counting on.”
First thing in the morning Cord sought out Sharon Lynn’s father. He wanted to settle the matter of the land with him and he wanted to see if Cody could recommend a private investigator to look into the background of the Murdocks.
Cody glanced up from his paperwork when Cord walked into his office. Despite the truce, his eyes were still filled with distrust.
“I’m delighted you decided to show up this morning,” he said sourly.
Cord let the comment pass. He knew he needed to prove that he was a responsible employee. He hadn’t demonstrated it up until now, even if his reasons were sound.
“Do you have a minute?” he asked.
Cody put down his pen and gestured toward the chair. “Have a seat.”
“It’s about Sharon Lynn and that land of hers.”
“I’m not sure we ought to be getting into that,” Cody said. “We’re likely to come to blows. Daddy’ll pitch a fit if I injure the man he’s all but handpicked for my daughter.”
Cord grinned. “You’re assuming you’d actually manage to lay a hand on me.”
Cody scowled for an instant, then sighed. “I may be out of practice, but I can still hold my own in a brawl,” he muttered. “And I’m just itching to prove it.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. I just don’t think it’ll be necessary after you hear what I have to say.”
“Go on then.”
Cord told him what he and Sharon Lynn had discussed the night before. “So, you see, that land isn’t available. She’s made an agreement with the foreman and she’s sticking by it, just as she should. And I’m going to go right on working here and saving my money. I’ll have my own spread one day, but it won’t be that one.” He gave Cody a wry look. “Satisfied?”
The older man looked relieved. “To be truthful, yes. Despite what happened yesterday, I like you, Cord. I didn’t want to believe that your motives where Sharon Lynn were concerned were anything but honorable, but I had to say something. I couldn’t just let my suspicions pass.”
“I know that, sir. I didn’t like what you had to say, but I could understand your need to say it. I told Sharon Lynn that myself when she wanted to come out here herself and tear a strip out of your hide.”
Cody chuckled. “She would have, too. That girl’s got the Adams’s temper and spunk, even if it has been in short supply the last few months. I’m glad to hear it’s coming back and relieved to learn it won’t be directed at me.”
“There’s one more thing,” Cord told him. “It looks as if there’s a good chance that woman Justin found over in Garden City is the baby’s grandmother. They’re running another set of tests to confirm it. I wasn’t crazy about what Justin had to say about her and I’m not sure he didn’t leave some of it out. I was thinking it might be a good idea to hire a private investigator to do some checking. I wondered if you knew of anyone.”
Cody’s gaze narrowed. “It sounds as if you and Sharon Lynn are thinking of fighting the woman’s claim to the baby, if it turns out she has one. Is she that attached to the child?”
“We both are, but we’ll fight only if it seems like the right thing to do,” Cord insisted.
Cody stood up and began to pace. “I don’t like it,” he said. “Sharon Lynn’s getting too involved with that child. Now you’re talking about a private investigator.” He shook his head. “It’s going to get messy. She doesn’t need that.”
“Believe me, I understand where you’re coming from,” Cord assured him. “Like it or not, we are involved. Whoever l
eft that baby on Sharon Lynn’s doorstep saw to that. I just want to be sure whoever winds up with custody has the baby’s best interests at heart.”
“And you think this woman who might be the grandmother won’t care about that?”
“It’s just a feeling I got from what Justin said and what he didn’t say. He’s got a responsibility to go by the law. I understand that. He may not be in a position to dig deep enough into this woman’s life to make sure she’s the right person to care for that baby.”
“What about social services?”
“I’m sure they’ll do their jobs. I’d just feel better if we had all the facts, too. I know Sharon Lynn feels the same way.”
The mention of his daughter did the trick. Cody nodded. “Let me call Justin and see what he thinks. If he agrees, I know just the man for the job. Lizzy’s husband and I hired him a while back when we were having some problems around our ranches. He was fast and he was thorough.”
Cord could see that was the only concession he was going to get for now. Maybe Cody’s caution was justified. It wouldn’t hurt to wait a few more hours. He stood up.
“I’ll be waiting to hear from you, then.”
“By the way, who’s paying this private eye, if you hire one?”
Cord frowned at the question. “I am.”
“With the money you’ve been saving to buy a ranch?”
Cord nodded.
“Why?”
“Because what happens to that baby matters to Sharon Lynn,” he said readily. “And to me.”
Cody regarded him with approval. “That tells me everything I need to know about you, Cord Branson.”
“Then you don’t object to me spending time with your daughter?”
“It hasn’t mattered to you up until now whether I did or I didn’t, has it?”
“Truthfully, no,” Cord responded with a grin. “But it would be nice to know I have your blessing.”
Cody walked over to where Cord stood and held out his hand. “You have my blessing, son.” Then he grinned. “Not that it’ll matter a whit to Sharon Lynn one way or the other. The woman has a mind of her own.”
Cord laughed at the warning. “Yeah, but it can’t hurt to have one more Adams on my side.”
“Son, I may be her daddy, but it’s Grandpa Harlan who does the matchmaking around here, and he’s been on your side from the get-go. Now, go on and get to work. I’ll be in touch about the private eye before the end of the day.”
Cord nodded and went to find Harlan Patrick. The last time he’d seen him he was nursing a hangover and a broken heart. What they both needed was some good hard work to take their minds off their troubles.
Unfortunately an entire day in the bitter cold checking for downed fences didn’t do anything except come close to freezing their butts off. When they rode back in just before dusk, they found Justin waiting.
“Hey, cousin, you here to take me out to drown my sorrows again?” Harlan Patrick inquired hopefully.
“From what I’ve heard you did that last night,” Justin said. “Seems to me like a good night’s sleep is called for tonight.”
“I think I had every right to have a couple of drinks,” Harlan Patrick grumbled. “When did you turn so judgmental? Oh, wait, it was when you put on that uniform, wasn’t it?”
Cord watched Justin’s expression. He remained perfectly cool in the face of the taunt, though his eyes were unreadable behind his reflective sunglasses.
“Picking a fight with me won’t solve your problem,” Justin said mildly. “Besides, I’m here to see Cord.”
That brought Harlan Patrick up short. He stared at Cord. “You in some kind of trouble?”
“None that I know of,” Cord said, his gaze locked on Justin. “I suspect this is about a matter I discussed with your father this morning.”
Justin gave an imperceptible nod. “Can we go someplace and talk? Cody said his office would be empty.”
“Fine,” Cord agreed.
“I’m coming along,” Harlan Patrick said at once.
“No need,” Cord said.
“It’s not your concern,” Justin added.
“If it’s about that baby,” he began, then nodded when he caught their expressions. “I thought so. Then it concerns Sharon Lynn and that concerns me. Hell, it concerns all of us.”
Cord couldn’t argue with a brother wanting to look out for his sister. “Come on, then.”
In Cody’s office he and Harlan Patrick settled into chairs, while Justin stood behind his uncle’s desk. He slowly removed his sunglasses as if to assure that they got a good look at the glint in his eyes.
“The last thing we need is a private investigator poking around in this,” he declared.
Cord froze at his warning. “Why is that? You have a need to protect your turf?”
“No, dammit. I’m just afraid it’ll look to the court as if we’re using Adams money and influence to try to get this poor woman and steal her grandbaby from her.”
When Cord started to protest, Justin held up his hand. “Look, I know how you feel. Believe me, I was not impressed with this woman or with her sincerity. She’s the last person I’d want raising a kid of mine, but that’s gut instinct, not law.”
“What you’re saying is we need facts,” Cord said. “How else are we going to get those, if not by hiring a private investigator?”
“You seem to be forgetting that I’m a sheriff. I’m already investigating this case, because abandoning that child was a crime. I’ll get all the evidence we need if there’s going to be a fight for custody.”
Harlan Patrick fixed a hard gaze on his cousin, then seemed to reach a conclusion. “Maybe Justin is right, Cord. He won’t let Sharon Lynn down.”
Cord could see both men were sincere, but it wasn’t enough to reassure him. “I’d just feel better if we had an objective outsider doing the digging into this family’s background.”
“I’m telling you, it’s the wrong tactic,” Justin declared. “You haven’t met this woman. I have. If she realizes somebody’s out there poking around in her life, it’ll get her back up. She’ll fight just to prove a point. If we handle her right, I say she’ll just walk away from the baby without a backward glance.”
“I’m sorry,” Cord said. “I can’t take that chance. If a P.I. is a bad idea, then I’ll do some checking on my own.”
“You’ll be like a bull in a china shop,” Justin protested. “There’s no way she won’t know what you’re up to.”
“It’s me or a P.I.,” Cord insisted stubbornly.
Justin threw up his hands in defeat. “Do what you have to do, but I don’t want to know about it.” He caught Cord’s gaze and held it. “Hazel Murdock better not know about it, either.”
“She’ll never guess a thing,” Cord promised. He stood up and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Harlan Patrick asked.
“I thought I’d take a ride over to Garden City and buy myself a drink.”
Harlan Patrick’s expression brightened “Mind some company?”
Justin groaned. “Heaven protect me from amateurs,” he muttered.
“We’re not amateurs,” Harlan Patrick protested. “We’re just a couple of guys out on the town.”
“See that one of you stays sober to drive home,” Justin said.
They were almost out the door when he called out to them. “You might try the End of the Road Saloon. I understand it’s where Hazel Murdock likes to spend her evenings.”
Harlan Patrick went back and gave his cousin an exuberant pinch on the cheek. “You sweet thing,” he taunted. “I just knew there was a little bit of that old hell-raiser left in you.”
“Just forget where you got the information,” Justin pleaded.
Cord grinned at him. “Hell, we don’t even know your name.”
“I wish,” Justin grumbled. “Try to stay out of trouble, okay? It would be really embarrassing if I had to come over there and bail the two of you out of jail.”
/>
“But just think of how long you could hold it over our heads,” Harlan Patrick responded with a grin.
Justin brightened. “Now that is something to look forward to.”
Chapter 11
The End of the Road Saloon was aptly named. It was at the end of a long, dusty road that led to nowhere Cord could see. He was surprised by the fact that Harlan Patrick seemed to know the way without bothering to check on the address or ask for directions.
“I take it you’ve been here before,” he said as they pulled into a parking space outside the huge barn of a building.
He shrugged indifferently. “Laurie Jensen used to sing here once in a while.”
Cord recognized the name and the woman’s connection to Harlan Patrick. “Laurie’s the one who just took off for Nashville, right?”
Harlan Patrick’s expression fell. “Yep. That’s the one.”
Cord glanced around at the old wooden building, which hadn’t seen a coat of paint in years, at the half-empty parking lot and neon beer sign with most of the letters burnt out. “I’m surprised she’d want to leave a golden opportunity like singing here,” he observed wryly.
Harlan Patrick scowled at him. “Okay, maybe it’s not the Grand Ole Opry, but she drew a big enough crowd here. The place was always hopping when she sang. People drove in from all over west Texas.”
“But she wants more?”
“More?” he repeated scathingly. “She wants it all. She wants a recording contract, concert tours, the whole nine yards.” He made no attempt to hide his bitterness. “She couldn’t wait to leave me in her dust. Well, good riddance.” He frowned. “Can we drop the subject?”
“Fine by me,” Cord agreed, aware that he didn’t know enough about the pair’s history to offer either advice or consolation. “Let’s go see what we can find out about this Murdock woman.”
“Let me ask around,” Harlan Patrick suggested when they were inside. “I’ve been here enough that some people know me. It won’t seem as if a stranger’s poking around.”
Cord could see the sense in that. He followed Harlan Patrick’s lead and took a seat at the bar.
The Unclaimed Baby Page 12