The Unclaimed Baby

by Sherryl Woods

“Oh, but I don’t mind at all,” the woman insisted, starting around the counter to pick up the baby.

  “No!”

  Sharon Lynn’s voice was so harsh that the woman instantly looked affronted and Ashley began to wail. Cord stepped in to smooth things over. He scooped the baby up and was rewarded with a dazzling smile. He turned and winked at the woman.

  “Don’t mind Sharon Lynn. You know how protective new mamas are.” He figured it was a stretch of the truth that was called for under the circumstances.

  “Yes, I’m sorry,” Sharon Lynn apologized at once, apparently somewhat reassured by Cord’s friendly intervention that this woman wasn’t Hazel Murdock.

  “Of course,” the woman said. “I shouldn’t have pushed. It’s just that I miss my own grandchildren so much. I’m on the way home after visiting with my sons and their families and all of a sudden I’m aching to hold a baby again. After your own kids are grown, you forget what it’s like. Then when you’re reminded of it, you miss it.”

  Cord shot a quick look at Sharon Lynn, judged her expression to be one of understanding and compassion, then turned and offered the baby to the woman. “Here you go. I’ll take her back as soon as your meal’s ready.”

  Cord watched with amusement as Sharon Lynn prepared the woman’s dinner with lightning quick speed. She served it with a warm smile, but there was no mistaking the relief on her face when Cord took the baby back and settled her on his lap. He had a feeling if more customers hadn’t come in just then, Sharon Lynn would have insisted on taking the baby herself.

  After everyone had left, he regarded her worriedly. “This can’t go on,” he said quietly. “You can’t be in such a state that you’re a wreck every time a stranger walks through the door. If you keep on snapping at the customers, it won’t be long before you don’t have any.”

  “Can you blame me? I never know when this Murdock woman will show up.”

  “Or if she will,” he reminded her gently. “Maybe she’s waiting for an official confirmation from Justin. When are the blood test results due?”

  “I called Lizzy earlier. She checked with the lab. They should be back any day now.” She gave Cord a haunted look. “I don’t know if I want to know the results or not.”

  “Of course you do,” he said at once. “We have to know, darlin’, one way or another. The sooner the better, if you ask me.”

  “I didn’t ask you,” she snapped, slapping her dishrag onto the counter and walking away.

  Cord waited right where he was, knowing that pretty soon she would collect herself and come back filled with regret. He also knew that she was as close as anyone could be to the breaking point.

  Maybe he should consider taking Sharon Lynn to Garden City so she could see Hazel Murdock for herself. At least that would stop these panicky moments around the customers. She would have a face to go with the name of the woman she obviously considered to be her mortal enemy.

  Or maybe it was time he put in a call to Lizzy himself and pleaded with her to put a rush on getting those results. That, at least, was something he could do right now.

  He was about to reach for the phone when Sharon Lynn came back, picked up the dishcloth and began methodically wiping the counter again. For several minutes she avoided his gaze and he let her.

  “Your quarrel’s not with me,” he reminded her finally.

  She lifted her chin and regarded him with tear-filled eyes. “I know,” she whispered. “I’m just so scared.”

  He beckoned to her. “Come here.”

  She came to stand directly in front of him, with the counter still squarely between them. He held back the urge to grin at the obvious distancing. Instead he shook his head and beckoned again.

  “Around here.”

  She hesitated, then finally circled the end of the counter and came closer. He tucked the baby securely on one side and opened his other arm. “Come on, darlin’.”

  A smile quivered on her lips. “Another hug?”

  He nodded. “That’s right. Grin and bear it.”

  She stepped into his embrace eagerly enough then and rested her head on his shoulder. He felt a sigh shudder through her, felt tears dampen his shirt. He had to force himself not to think beyond that. He couldn’t allow the awareness of her scent, of her warmth, of her curves to sweep him beyond giving comfort and on to wanting.

  Even though holding her was sheer torture, he knew that not holding her, seeing her suffering all alone would be worse torment. Whether she knew it or not, she needed him, and for now that had to be enough.

  When she was calmer, when her tears had dried and her shoulders were resolutely squared again, she stepped back and gave him a wobbly smile.

  “I seem to be doing that a lot lately.”

  “What?”

  “Crying on your shoulder.”

  “I offered.”

  “But it’s not fair. I need to handle things on my own, not be relying on you.”

  “You are handling things on your own,” he commented. “You’ve taken on the care of a new baby without even having a moment to prepare for it. You’ve fit her in with your life with no promise that she’ll stay and the very real danger that she’ll go. That’s an enormous amount of stress to be under. Seems to me it only makes good sense to share a little of it with whoever’s handy and willing.”

  She regarded him with curiosity. “You really don’t mind, do you?”

  He decided on a little dose of straightforward honesty. “To tell you the truth, it feels good to be needed. Being an independent loner has its merits, of course, but it’s always seemed to me that the good Lord put us on this earth to go through life two-by-two so there’d be someone to count on when times got tough.”

  “I can’t let that happen,” she protested. “I can’t count on you.”

  “Why not? I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “You can’t guarantee that. No one can.”

  She was thinking of Kyle Mason, of course, the man who’d promised to love, honor and cherish her all the days of their lives, only to leave her in fewer than twenty-four hours. How could any woman allow herself to have faith in the future after that?

  “No,” he agreed at last. “I can’t guarantee that, but I can swear that as long as it’s in my power to be here for you, I will be. No human being can do more.”

  “That’s just it,” she said wearily. “It’s not you I don’t trust. It’s fate.”

  Her bleak, worn-down expression was almost more than Cord could bear, but she was right. He didn’t have an argument to counter that. Only time would prove to her that he meant what he said and even a dozen tomorrows or a thousand wouldn’t be enough, when the day after that remained uncertain. That required a huge leap of faith and she wasn’t yet ready to take it.

  It was possible, he admitted with regret, that she would never be able to take such a leap. But he would wait, he promised himself and her, just in case the time came when she could.

  Chapter 13

  Sharon Lynn had fallen asleep the instant she got home from work on Friday. She was awakened by the sound of raised voices on her front porch. Familiar voices. Lizzy’s, Justin’s, Dani’s and then Cord’s. There could only be one topic that would have stirred them all to such a frenzy. Panic whipped through her, followed by a whispered cry of denial. Finally she forced herself to cross the room and fling open the front door.

  “If this has anything to do with me, don’t you think you should bring it inside?” she inquired politely.

  Four startled, guilt-stricken faces turned her way.

  “I thought you were going to take a nap when you got home from work,” Cord muttered, coming to stand beside her in what struck her as an almost symbolic show of unity.

  “I did, but all the chattering out here woke me up.”

  “Sorry,” Justin said. “We’ll come back.” He looked all too eager to make a break for it.

  She latched on to his arm. “Oh, no. You’re not getting away that easily. Inside
, now! All of you,” she added when it looked as if Dani might creep right on back to her veterinary clinic via the entrance on the opposite side of the house.

  Everyone dutifully trooped inside.

  “Sit down,” Cord encouraged, guiding her toward the sofa.

  Sharon Lynn sat and was promptly surrounded. Cord sat on her right, Dani on her left. Lizzy took up guard behind her. That left Justin as the outcast.

  “I need coffee,” he grumbled and headed for the kitchen.

  “I thought he’d be better at breaking bad news by now,” Sharon Lynn observed wryly. “That is what has you all in a tizzy, right? The blood test results came back?”

  Lizzy nodded. “It’s a match, at least enough of a match to take into court. Hazel Murdock is Ashley’s grandma.”

  Sharon Lynn had been telling herself she was prepared for this, but she’d been lying. She felt as if she’d just taken a blow to her midsection. She swallowed hard against the bile rising in her throat.

  “What happens now?” she asked, folding her hands together tightly in her lap. Cord reached over and covered them with his own hand. To her surprise, his touch helped. She felt, if not reassured, at least a little stronger because of it.

  “Justin says…” Lizzy began, only to have Justin finally emerge from the kitchen and interrupt her.

  “I’ll tell her. It means that I have to go to Garden City and talk to Hazel Murdock again and pass along the good news,” he said with a wry grimace.

  “And then?”

  “And then, since there’s still no sign of her daughter, the ball’s in her court.”

  “She could decide to let matters rest, then?” Cord asked.

  “She could. If that’s her choice, then Sharon Lynn could ask the court to let Ashley remain with her.”

  Hope stirred inside her. “Could I adopt her?”

  “In time, once the court is satisfied that every effort’s been made to find the real mother.”

  She took a deep breath and forced herself to ask the question that had been plaguing her day and night. “Could Hazel Murdock just walk into Dolan’s one day, say she wants the baby and walk out with her?”

  Justin shook his head. “No, she’ll have to petition the court. The judge has jurisdiction in this matter, since he’s already put her in foster care with you.”

  “Then if Mrs. Murdock isn’t capable…” Her voice cracked. “If she’s awful…” She met Cord’s gaze, found reassurance there, then turned back to Justin. “Then I could fight her?”

  “You might not win, but you could. If there are real grounds, then you could.”

  “There are grounds,” Cord muttered darkly.

  Justin’s gaze zeroed in on him. “Now how would you know that?”

  “I just know, that’s all,” Cord retorted defiantly.

  “Dammit, I knew it,” Justin exploded. “You hired that private eye, didn’t you?”

  “No.”

  Justin’s gaze narrowed. “Then you and Harlan Patrick did the sleuthing yourselves, the way you’d threatened to.”

  When Cord remained stubbornly silent, Justin shook his head. “Dammit, I should have seen that coming. I should have pushed when Harlan Patrick evaded all my questions.”

  “The point is, there is evidence that she’s unfit to care for a baby. Any social worker on the planet would have to see that,” Cord said violently.

  “Look, I can’t argue with you about that,” Justin soothed. “I’m on your side here. All I’m trying to say is that blood ties hold weight with the court. Plus Sharon Lynn would be a single mom.”

  “And Mrs. Murdock wouldn’t be?” Sharon Lynn retorted. “Or have I missed something about the presence of a Mr. Murdock?”

  Justin rubbed his forehead as if trying to fend off a throbbing headache. “No, there’s no Mr. Murdock. I’m just trying to point out that it won’t be cut-and-dried. It won’t be easy. Sweetie, this could get downright ugly.”

  “I don’t care about easy or ugly,” Sharon Lynn insisted. “All I care about is keeping that baby away from a woman who can’t care for her properly. If she could…” She swallowed hard. “If she could, as difficult as it would be, I wouldn’t fight her.”

  Cord gave her hands a squeeze. “It’s okay, darlin’. We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves here. There’s no guarantee she’s going to try to take the baby. We’ll know more after Justin sees her, right, Justin?”

  Her cousin nodded.

  “When will that be?” Cord asked.

  “The sooner the better,” Sharon Lynn said. “I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.”

  Justin came over to hunker down in front of her. When his gaze was level with hers, he regarded her sympathetically.

  “No time like the present,” he told her. “Try not to worry. I’ll do everything I can to make sure Ashley winds up where she’ll get the best possible care.”

  “I know you will.” Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks just the same as she watched him leave. Then she turned instinctively toward Cord, who opened his arms and enfolded her in them.

  “Don’t cry, sweetheart,” he murmured. “Please don’t cry.”

  She felt Lizzy reach down and give her shoulder a squeeze. Dani pressed a kiss against her cheek and then they were gone and she was alone with Cord. She drew on his strength. Despite the turmoil of the past few minutes, despite the fear that was ricocheting through her, she felt surprisingly calm in his embrace. She had spent her entire life surrounded by strong men, but none were any more steadfast than this man who had been a stranger only a few short weeks ago. Whatever happened in the future, she would always be grateful to him for that.

  As he held her, she regretted more than ever that she couldn’t repay his kindness by giving him the ranch he’d always dreamed of owning, land she had no need for herself. And yet, she knew that even if she hadn’t already promised that ranch to another man, Cord wouldn’t have accepted it. He wasn’t here for her now because he expected payment. He was here because he cared, for her and for Ashley. He was here, because that was the kind of sweet, generous man he was, though she had a feeling he would have hated either label.

  “I wish…” she began, the words a muffled whisper against his chest.

  “What do you wish?” he asked, smoothing a hand over her hair.

  “That there was some way I could thank you, some way to show you how grateful I am for what you’ve done the past few weeks.”

  “No thanks are necessary.”

  She was struck by a sudden idea. “I could talk to Daddy and Grandpa Harlan. Part of White Pines will be mine one day. I could sign that over to you.”

  Cord released her as if she were suddenly too hot to hold. “Forget it,” he said.

  “But it’s a wonderful idea,” she said, warming to it. “Kyle’s land is promised, but I certainly don’t need my share of White Pines.”

  He regarded her with a wry expression. “I can just imagine how your father and grandfather would react to this. If your father blew a gasket over the possibility that I might be after your late husband’s land, just what do you think he’d have to say if you presented him with this crazy idea? White Pines belongs to your family, Sharon Lynn. Someday it will be your children’s heritage. You can’t just go giving that away.”

  “But Daddy would have to listen to me,” she argued. “I owe you.”

  “You owe me nothing,” he insisted. “When will you get that through your head?”

  “But…”

  He shook his head. “I can see there’s no reasoning with you, so I’ll just have to come up with another way to shut you up,” he said grimly, bending down and sealing her mouth shut with a kiss.

  Sharon Lynn’s senses reeled. At first she blamed that as much on the afternoon’s emotional upheaval as Cord’s skill, but when her skin began to heat, when her heartbeat accelerated to a brisk pace and her breath caught in her throat, she had to admit it was more than that.

  In
fact, she couldn’t seem to recall exactly how the kiss had begun or what they’d been discussing that was so all-fired important. All she knew was that his lips on hers were magic. The touch of his tongue inflamed. His hands, tentatively at first and then with more certainty, stroked and caressed until her body responded in ways that shocked her. No man’s touch had ever been so deft, so arousing. She was trembling with the kind of longing, the kind of desperate urgency that she’d been convinced she would never feel again.

  It would be so easy to let this exquisite tension escalate until it was out of control. It would feel so good to welcome Cord inside her, to give in to desire and forget everything else. She would welcome that momentary oblivion, that ecstatic release.

  Just when she was on the verge of making a conscious decision to let Cord make love to her, he uttered a harsh groan and pulled away. She blinked in surprise at the sudden absence of heat, the sudden withdrawal of his weight.

  When she dared to open her eyes, she found him seated beside her, a careful few inches away, raking a hand through his hair and looking as distraught as she’d ever seen him.

  “Cord?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She swallowed hard against a tide of disappointment. Apparently there would be no quick and urgent release. “Sorry?” she repeated, her voice heavy with her own regrets.

  “That should never have happened, not now, not when you’re so vulnerable.”

  There it was again, that deeply ingrained sense of honor, that evidence of the type of man he was. At some other time in her life, she would have regretted that there was no room in her heart for a man like that. Now, determined that there would be no man in her life ever again, she regretted only the immediate loss of his nearness, of the comfort he’d been offering before passion had intruded.

  She reached out a hand, but he shied away from it.

  “I’d better go,” he said.

  “Why?” she demanded, though the answer was obvious.

  “Because if I stay, I can’t swear that I’ll stay away from you. Not tonight.”

  “But you’ll be back?”

  The expression on his face turned rueful. “Oh, yeah. I’ll be back. If there’s one thing that’s become crystal clear to me since I met you, it’s that I’ll never be able to stay away. You can count on it.”