Counting on a Cowboy

by Debra Clopton

  Abby dug around in the bag and found a can of formula and some jars of baby food. And finally a bottle. “That’s a start. If you’re calling the sheriff, maybe you’d better have him stop by and bring some diapers with him. I think he looks like maybe a size four—but I’m not sure how many pounds he weighs.”

  He looked like she’d just spoken gibberish. “Okay, I’m calling him now. Size four?”

  She nodded. The man was all nerves. Abby didn’t wait for him to say anything else. She walked into the kitchen and, holding the baby in one arm, she prepared a bottle of formula and then headed to the living room where she settled into a rocking chair in the corner. Levi was dry, eating, and happy at last—or at least for the moment.

  Abby was about as far from happy as she could get, wanting even more now than ever to wring someone’s neck. She had no patience for anyone who would abandon a child like this. Abby wasn’t by nature a violent person, but right now she’d do some bodily harm to the “friend” who’d left Levi on the porch!

  Yes, there could be reasons—mental illness, momentary insanity, whatever—but if there were any viable explanations to why this person had abandoned this baby on a porch without making certain there was someone there to take care of him, then Abby couldn’t have cared less right now. Even if it was true and this baby’s mother was dead, which was horribly sad, that didn’t change the fact that she’d handled the baby’s well-being carelessly. Not telling Bo. And then again, the so-called friend who’d left Levi on the porch. What was wrong with that person? Abby’s head pounded—quite frankly she felt like she might explode, she was so steamed about it.

  “I’ll check into all of this for you,” Jake Morgan said.

  “Thanks,” Bo was relieved to have Jake’s help. He’d arrived within two hours after Bo called him, having stopped by the store and picked up some supplies for them. How many sheriffs would do that? Jake was one of the good guys.

  He’d been the sheriff of Wishing Springs for several years. They’d all gone to school together and Jake had gone into law enforcement because it gave him the opportunity to protect and serve and ranch some at the same time. Jake had probably seen a lot of things in his years of law enforcement. Bo wondered how this ranked on the list.

  “Strange that this woman’s friend would leave the baby like this. Strange and wrong. But there are several reasons it could be. The person might have been scared you’d turn the kid away and they’d somehow think they were stuck with it.”

  “What?” Bo scowled at Jake.

  “I’m not saying that’s what would have happened. I’m saying that might be the impression this person had. Think about it. If the mom didn’t believe you’d care to know about the baby, that’s the impression her friend would have too.”

  “This is all just too crazy.”

  Jake slapped him on the back. “Yeah, but crazier things have happened.”

  Bo felt the heat of what—shame? Humiliation? Nothing good, he knew that for sure. Still he went there. “I tried to find numbers to call, but no luck.”

  “We’ll take care of it. If you hear anything new, let us know.”

  Jake headed over to look at the baby as he slept in Abby’s arms. When they’d first rung Jake, he’d been out on a call on the other side of the county and they’d had to wait. Abby hadn’t mentioned leaving. Not that he’d asked. He’d needed her and he hadn’t been shy about it. What was he supposed to do with a baby?

  “Nice to meet you, Abby. If you need anything, you give me a call.” He smiled, and Bo caught the interest in his gaze. Jake was a good man, so why did he want to tell him to step away from this particular single resident of Wishing Springs?

  He walked Jake to the door and then turned and headed back into the living room. What would he have done if Abby hadn’t been with him? He cringed at the very thought. Poor kid would have really been in a pickle.

  Pops and Solomon had hovered near Abby and the baby, completely curious about the tiny bundle, and Bo was just glad the baby and the dog had both quieted down. Again, he didn’t know what he would have done if Abby hadn’t been with him.

  Jarrod came stalking through the back door. Though they were in the den, Bo knew instantly who was in the room.

  “What’s going on? I was in town and Clara Lyn said she’d heard through Madge the dispatcher that you had a baby out here. Asked me if I’d seen your baby yet. What’s going on, Bo?”

  Bo’s shoulder muscles bunched into tighter knots. “When you figure it out, let me know. In the meantime, this is Levi. And, yes, he might be my son.” He handed him the note off the table. “It’s all there—what little we know, anyway. Someone left him on the porch with Pops.”

  Jarrod looked as stunned as Bo had felt. “On the porch with Pops,” he said, taking the note and scanning it. “Is this true?”

  Bo raked his hand down his face and let out a long sigh. “I don’t know. It could be.”

  Abby left Bo and Jarrod and gently laid the sleeping child in the playpen that they’d brought inside. After pulling the baby blanket over him, she just stared at him for a moment, he was so sweet. Her heart ached . . . Pops, the sweet man, had trailed in behind her and he gently touched Levi’s soft brown hair. “He’s goin’ ta be a cowboy.”

  Abby nodded. Trepidation consumed her looking into his twinkling eyes. When she’d filled the baby’s bottle, she’d walked by a den on the way to the kitchen—a den full of Pops’s life history. Truly a man’s domain, the room was filled with bronze trophies, photos of a man on a cutting horse in several action shots, and an amazing pencil portrait. She’d thought it was Jarrod at first, but then after seeing all the championship photos with dates and names of Pops and his horses, she realized the pencil portrait was of Pops in his younger days. At Jarrod’s age, midthirties, they’d been the spitting image of each other. And it was more than obvious that Pops had been a very talented man in his younger days.

  She smiled at Pops. “Levi just might be a cowboy with all of you leading the way.” She fought the urge to not form an attachment to Pops. Or to Levi. Or to the good-looking cowboy who very likely was a dad.

  She wanted to go back to her hotel and disconnect—even though she’d come to Wishing Springs to do the opposite. But this was pressing a little too hard and fast at cuts that might never scab over.

  But she was trying. She was here to force herself to take one day at a time and not compare it to the way it used to be—she was giving herself permission to have a good day.

  Not that she’d had to have any permission since coming to Wishing Spings. A wreck with a cow and now, here she was taking care of this little boy, because if she hadn’t what would have happened?

  It made running for the hills impossible. She couldn’t run—not at the moment, even if she tried. She had no car and . . . she couldn’t anyway, not yet.

  Not like this.

  “Hey, I hope you didn’t need to be anywhere,” Bo said, coming back inside from where he’d followed Jarrod to talk. “I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t been here.”

  She placed a hand on her hip. “Bottom line, you’re going to have to get comfortable with this baby. And you’re going to have to do it soon. That means you’re going to have to be able to pick him up without fear. You’ll have to change his diaper, feed him, and talk to him.”

  He looked so panicked—like a forlorn puppy—that she almost smiled. Quite the opposite of the confident cowboy.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  “You’ll learn, but the first thing is to get used to holding him. That was nice of the sheriff to bring out a car seat, by the way.”

  “He always keeps a couple handy because you never know when someone will need it.”

  “And now you definitely do. Let’s go put Levi in it and find some more diapers and formula. He’ll need both when he wakes up.”

  “Right. Sure. Let me stop Jarrod so he’ll take Pops with him. He doesn’t need to be left alone today. He’
s more confused because of the excitement. He does better when his routine isn’t altered.” He started back toward the door pulling his cell phone from his pocket at the same time. He spun back to her. “Wait, you’re coming with me, right?”

  Abby suddenly felt the heavy load sitting on Bo’s shoulders. He had to work, keep watch on his Pops, and now he had a surprise baby on his hands. A sudden wave of compassion hit her. No wonder he was stressing out.

  She closed her eyes and tried to calm the voice in her head telling her this was not her problem. “I’ll go with you to the store and help you learn how to move about with a baby in tow—as best I can. I’m no expert. I worked at the day care and helped out with my cousin’s baby a little while I was in college. But, Bo, believe me, you could probably find someone far more qualified—”

  He’d stalked back to where she stood, and before she knew what he was doing, he’d grabbed her in a hard hug, stopping her rambling. Just pulled her into his arms and very nearly squeezed her in two.

  “Thank you. Thank you! You have to know more than I do. We’ll worry about the rest later.”

  Abby stared up into his bright eyes, completely shocked at finding herself in his strong arms, held tight against his solid chest. She could barely breathe, barely think . . . Pushing back, she moved away from him. Her knees wobbled as she did.

  “Okay, good. Um, we should go. I-I need to get back to the motel soon.” And away from this man and the unexpected and unwelcome emotions he had caused to rise up inside of her. She needed to get back on track with why she’d come to Wishing Springs. Finding a man had nothing whatsoever to do with it.

  6

  Abby backed away from him like he had just made an outrageous pass at her. Bo wanted to kick himself—what had he been thinking to grab her up like that? He’d once again put her in an awkward situation. And even though he’d released her the moment she pushed against him he should have never grabbed her in the first place.

  “Sorry about that,” he said. “I was just so relieved to have your help.”

  “It’s okay, I understand,” she said quietly. “I’ll get Levi ready and be right there. If you’ll grab the diaper bag and the car seat I’ll show you how it works when I get out there.”

  “Sure,” he said, gathering up everything she’d told him to grab and heading outside to wait and kick himself a little bit more. A few minutes later she showed up with a bottle and the baby. She explained how to buckle a car seat in and then buckle Levi into it and then they headed out for the store.

  Uncharted waters.

  Driving toward town, his thoughts went to Darla. They had been going out for three weeks when things had gotten out of control with the beautiful woman. Bo had regretted it immediately. There were certain things he didn’t take lightly. Sleeping around was one of those things. No, sadly that hadn’t always been the case. He’d had his share of flings, but he’d recognized there was a void inside of him that ached for more, and so he began to draw the line at intimacy. He’d recognized that he wanted more from making love than immediate gratification. He wanted it to be special. To be right. He wanted it to mean something. And then there was the risk that always came that he could father a child. And that responsibility was definitely one he took seriously. At least he thought he did . . . With Darla he’d fallen short of his new convictions and she’d gotten hurt in the end and Levi, this innocent little boy, had almost paid for Bo’s actions by being lost in the system, had it not been for Darla deciding to reach out to him in her last days.

  Darla hadn’t liked when he’d later drawn back from their relationship. But he’d known he didn’t love her—he’d been wrong to let the physical relationship go so far. There was no going back; there was only ending it then, rather than later, before she got hurt any more. There hadn’t been enough real meaning between them. Nothing to build a relationship on, nothing . . . of substance. He’d handled it all badly. He knew that more now than he had.

  Was that why she’d kept Levi a secret—if in fact Levi was truly his?

  He’d done fine until Darla, and now he was paying the consequences.

  But worse, this little boy was paying them too.

  He glanced at Abby sitting quietly in the seat next to him. This made how many uncomfortable trips in his truck? Man, what she must think of him.

  The woman knew babies like she had two or three stashed somewhere—did that just come natural to women? But, despite her gentle care of Levi, she’d looked terrified a couple of times—especially when they’d first arrived at the ranch. He’d known Abby for less than thirteen hours and that entire time had been nothing but chaos.

  Yeah, he thought with disgust. He thought she was great and she probably thought he was a loser.

  Abby stared out the window of Bo’s truck and once again fought down the clawing need to run. Levi played with his toes in his car seat and Bo stared pensively forward as he drove into the parking lot of the discount store. He’d been a nervous wreck loading the baby into the truck.

  Her lip stung from biting down on it in order not to tell Bo to drive more slowly, to look both ways at the stoplight, to watch for irresponsible drivers—for drunk drivers. All things that had played a role in the wreck that had stolen her . . . happiness, her world. Her—

  No, she said nothing, not wanting to draw attention to her problem. He’d think she was crazy if she didn’t explain why she was freaking out when he had been a very responsible driver so far. No, this was Abby’s problem—one of a boatload she carried around with her—and she kept her mouth shut.

  “Okay, here we are.” Bo parked the truck and turned it off, but made no move to get out. “Abby, you okay?”

  She glanced at him and nodded. “I’m fine. Just a lot on my mind. Let’s go inside and stock up on some things. If you’ll just get Levi, we’ll head inside.” Abby got out and walked around to his side of the truck and opened the rear door. He got out and stood beside her. “Okay, take him out.”

  Bo did as he was told, though he fumbled with the snaps and releases and she had to reach in and show him how to undo the buckle. Their fingers brushed and she yanked hers away instantly, but the electric sizzle tingled all the way through her . . .

  Not good. Not good at all.

  “You’re doing fine,” she said, tucking her fingers securely into her jeans pockets. She stared at his back, the muscles working as he lifted Levi from the seat and turned to her with a hesitant smile of triumph on his lips. Butterflies fluttered through her as if newly freed from their cocoons. It had only been two years since she’d lost Landon. She wasn’t ready for butterflies—as shocking as it was that they were winging their way around her stomach.

  “Bo,” she said, determination in her tone, her mouth dry as grit. She needed out of this situation and she needed out fast. “I’m showing you how to do all of this and then you’re going to have to drop me off at the hotel on the way home. You’re going to be on your own.”

  His smile faded and the panic returned to his gorgeous eyes. “Abby, hold on, please. I know you barely know me and you’re probably wishing you’d never laid eyes on me, but we’re going to be a mess without some more guidance. The poor little dude is gonna wail himself into a fit and break out in a large bumpy red rash or something—it won’t be pretty. Heck, I’ll probably do the same. All you need to do is name your price and you’ve got the job.”

  “No,” Abby snapped, feeling as if an arctic wind had just blown through her, chilling her to her core. “I can’t. I really can’t,” she said, more calmly now, but still firm. The man had awakened something inside of her she didn’t want and it disturbed her beyond measure. “You’ll be fine. You’ll find someone if you need them, it’s just not me.” If Maggie were here she could help him. There were plenty of people in town who could help him.

  This was not her problem. She’d just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that was the only reason she was here now.

  But she was done.


  At least she was as soon as they were finished shopping.

  Bo knew Abby was right. She needed to go home; this wasn’t her problem. Following her into the store, he berated himself for having taken advantage of her this way. If he hadn’t been desperate, he wouldn’t have. But he had been desperate, and he still was. Staring down at the baby in his arms, he tried not to think about what he would do tonight when he got home and it was just the two of them—and Pops and maybe Jarrod. It was going to be a very long night. Of course he could call for help—maybe Peg Garwood, the nurse who ran Over the Rainbow. Or her daughter Lana. But Abby was here and for some unexplainable reason, her being here helped him.

  Levi looked up at him and blew a spit bubble, then grinned. The kid was completely oblivious to the trauma that was happening around him. Bo was just thankful beyond measure that he wasn’t crying.

  He was glad the baby wasn’t crying either.

  “Hey there, Bo.”

  “Hi, Doonie?” Bo greeted, halting beside the shopping buggies.

  “Doonie.” The lanky man grinned, coming their way.

  So this was Doonie Burke, town mayor and twin brother to Doobie. She’d learned about them through the columns she’d read. They owned the real estate agency in town and she hoped they would help her find a house.

  “Is that the baby?” he asked, tickling Levi under the chin. He was in his late fifties or early sixties, and he had an easy manner about him. “I heard Madge on the scanner telling one of the deputies that you’d had a baby dropped off under suspicious circumstances.”

  Bo’s eyes widened. “You heard that on the scanner?”

  Doonie was grinning despite Bo’s obvious displeasure at realizing he’d been the brunt of town gossip.

  “You think he’s yours?”

  “I guess you heard that on the scanner too. Mayor, it seems to me you need to do something with your town employees. I bet Jake isn’t going to like knowing his dispatch is using the police scanner to yammer about things she should be keeping to herself.”