He raised his head and stared down at her. “What’s wrong?”
“I...uh...think you just poked me...with something.” She laughed uncontrollably and covered her mouth with one hand. With the other, she pointed to the sack he held under his arm.
“Oh. Sorry.” He smiled. “It’s something for the kids. But I didn’t plan on giving it to you this way.”
Her thought in response to that statement made her cheeks burn.
Her feelings for him flared just as hot, her response to his kiss overwhelming. Out-of-whack hormones, that’s what she had to blame, along with lack of sleep and tension over trying to take care of three newborns at once. She couldn’t feel anything for Tyler.
And still, she did.
As hard as she had fought to deny the truth to herself, she had to accept it now. The day they had met, she had done more than fall for him. She had given him her heart.
Now, she couldn’t go back into the house and face Grandma, not with her face still flushed and her pulse still pounding. Quickly slipping through the doorway past Tyler, she crossed to the wooden porch swing and sank onto it.
He followed, as she had dreaded but known he would. He couldn’t do what he did best from a distance.
After taking a seat beside her, he plopped the sack into her lap.
She looked down. “You already bought gifts for the kids—the stuffed animals.”
“And now I bought them something else. I’m entitled.” She said nothing, and a beat later, he added quickly, “After all, I’ve been one of the best babysitters they’ve ever had.”
“The only babysitter, you mean.”
“Even more reason for me to spoil them.” He gestured to the sack. “Go ahead, open it.”
She unrolled the top and reached inside the sack. Her fingers touched something soft and padded. She pulled out a stuffed terry-cloth pony with a mane made of woolen strands. Then she pulled out its twin and finally their triplet. Each wore a ribbon around its neck—blue, green or yellow, just like the blankets and caps her babies had worn home from the hospital.
She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. All his gifts were heartfelt and precious. And they weren’t enough.
Her heart ached, but looking at the silly smiles on the ponies’ faces finally brought a small smile to her lips, too. “Thank you. The babies will love them.”
“There’s more,” he said.
“Oh.” She reached into the sack again and pulled out a handful of tiny garments on plastic hangers—the source of the surprising stab that had interrupted their kiss. The hangers held one-piece pajamas patterned with horses. A multipack of bibs sported horseshoes and saddles.
She couldn’t miss the message.
One way or another, Tyler was determined to have their babies grow up to be cowboys.
* * *
SHORTLY AFTER HIS greeting to Shay on the front porch, Tyler sat sharing yet another meal with her and Mo.
The conversation when he’d come back home...come back here...had been all he could have asked for. Shay hadn’t rejected him when he had taken her into his arms. Heck, that kiss might have gone on for quite some time if the sack he’d held hadn’t gotten in the way.
Mo looked across the table, beaming at him. “Those are lovely gifts you brought for the babies, Tyler.”
He laughed, shrugging. Why he’d gone into the department store and wandered to the children’s section, he still didn’t know. “Kind of a coals to Newcastle gift, bringing new clothes into a house already filled with them. But I saw them on the hangers and that was that.”
“Ah, but infants need more clothing than most children.”
He frowned, puzzled. “I’d have said they would hardly need anything but diapers and an outfit or two.”
“They grow so quickly,” Shay explained. It was the first time she had spoken since they’d sat down to supper.
“That they do,” Mo agreed. “Sometimes they barely have the chance to wear an outfit before they’ve outgrown it.”
“But not bibs,” he said quickly.
“No, not bibs.” Mo laughed, and even Shay smiled.
To his satisfaction, she had seemed to like the gifts he’d brought. Of course, a new mom would probably be overjoyed by anything given to her babies. Still, he told himself she especially liked his gifts. And his kiss. To his surprise, he found the knowledge of each brought him equal pleasure.
Now, her brow wrinkled in a frown, Shay stared down at her serving of the chicken casserole that had been delivered by a friend. “I don’t understand this, Grandma,” she said, sounding bewildered. “The women of Cowboy Creek are there for each other, always. And you and I have never hesitated to help anyone out. All our friends who signed up to bring food are delivering as promised. But we had a full roster of assistants, and not one of them has shown up.”
He didn’t get it, either, but he knew better than to say so. For sure, he realized the wisdom of keeping quiet about his agreement with Mo.
“They’ve had their reasons, lass.”
“Well, yes. Sickness and toothaches, I can understand. But a haircut and a manicure?”
“Those seemed rather flimsy reasons, to be sure,” Mo agreed. While her granddaughter’s attention was still diverted, she shot Tyler a glance, then quickly looked away again.
Suspicion landed like a punch to his gut. Shay was right. Some of those women were bailing out with poor excuses. Did Mo have a hand in that? Had she arranged to have the women skip their assignments? But with Mo too busy to help, why would she leave a brand-new mom like Shay on her own with three babies?
Because...because Shay hadn’t been alone. She’d had him here.
As if Mo had read his mind, she said, “We’ve been very fortunate that Tyler could help out.”
He narrowed his eyes. He sensed strings being pulled here and felt sure she wasn’t working alone. Jed Garland had his hands in this, too. He was certain of it.
Was that the matchmakers’ plan—to give him and Shay time alone? If so, their plan had succeeded. And was that why Jed had claimed he would be busy at the wedding reception the other day—the old man had deliberately left him at loose ends, hoping to drive him to the Big Dipper and Shay? That had worked, too.
He’d been played.
He’d also been given time to play.
But much as he liked the idea of another kiss, a cuddle and the hope of something more, getting even closer to Shay wasn’t a smart idea. Not when he’d be leaving again...soon.
Judging by her stiff expression, she seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “We...we can’t keep relying on Tyler,” she told Mo.
I can’t rely on Tyler. That’s what she meant.
He had walked away from her once and, kisses aside, it seemed she planned to hold that action against him forever.
Chapter Fifteen
From the back booth of SugarPie’s, his favorite seat, Jed Garland could watch everything that went on in the sandwich shop. He could even get a peek through a doorway into the adjacent bakery. Both shops were quiet now, though. At this hour of the morning, too early even for the townsfolk to be headed to work, no one had stopped in yet to have breakfast or to pick up some of Sugar’s famous sweet rolls.
He reached for the plateful of them she had just set in front of him.
“Is Mo stopping in?” she asked.
He swallowed a smile. Sugar Conway was appropriately named, all right. Her sugar-wouldn’t-melt-in-my-mouth Southern accent might deceive those who didn’t know her. But he’d watched her eject a rambunctious group of teens from the shop without lifting a finger. No, her sweet tone didn’t fool him.
“You know darned well Mo’s meeting us here this morning,” he said. “I gather that’s the reason I’m getting your special attention. You’re as eager as I am to find out what’s going on with S
hay.”
Laughing, she wedged herself into the seat across from him. “Jed, you know darned well you get the royal treatment every time you walk in. And yes, I want to hear what’s going on. Tongues have been wagging in here and all over town.”
“That’s only natural for folks in Cowboy Creek. But Mo and I between us have managed to keep everyone away from the house.” He filled her in on the latest developments with the new mom and her brood...and their daddy. “We’re very pleased with the way Tyler’s managing to take care of the babies.”
“That does sound promising. Besides, he wouldn’t hang around if he didn’t have an interest.”
“In the babies or in their mama,” he agreed. “We just need to find out which one’s the driving force.” He glanced past her. “And here’s Mo now. Let’s hope she’s got an answer.”
Mo took a seat in the booth beside him. Sugar reached across the table with the carafe and poured her a mug of coffee.
“Thanks, Sugar.”
“It’ll cost you,” the other woman said with a grin. “Let’s have the news.”
Even he couldn’t wait to hear. “Which one has Tyler got his eye on?”
“Both,” she said promptly. “That’s my best guess. Yesterday afternoon Jim Grayden stopped in to check on his patients. Tyler left for a while, then came home with an armload of gifts for the babies.”
“And for Shay?” he asked.
“I’m thinking he gave her something, too.” She smiled. “Just after he returned, they spent some time out on the front porch. When they walked into the kitchen, her hair was mussed and she looked apprehensive, as though afraid I would guess what the two of them had been up to.”
“Too bad you don’t know for sure,” Sugar said.
“Who says I don’t?” Mo grinned wickedly. “I peeked into the living room and saw them together at the front door. As in, lips locked together.”
“So everything’s going according to plan,” Sugar said complacently.
“Well...” Mo shifted her coffee mug in a circle on the tabletop.
“Out with it, woman,” Jed demanded. “The news sounds promising. But what’s got you on the fence?”
“I don’t quite know. It’s hard to put my finger on it, but something’s still not right between them.”
“Even after their kissing in broad daylight?”
“Yes. And we’ve had a major upset to our plans this morning, as well. Tyler called just as I was leaving home and said he won’t be by today.”
“What?” He frowned. “The boy left the hotel bright and early this morning, as usual.”
“Well, he didn’t come our way.”
“Hmm.” He brooded for a minute. “I think maybe those two need a break from the babies. Some time on their own to talk, and to get up to whatever they want to get up to.”
“Oh, that will never work,” Mo protested. “Shay won’t leave her little ones, not for a good while.”
“She won’t have to if you volunteer to bring them out to the ranch with her this afternoon. Tell her Tina and the other girls want to see the babies. Also, tell her I need to see her about her hours at the Hitching Post. She can hardly say no to either of those, now, can she?”
“But what about Tyler?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of him.”
* * *
AT FIRST, SHAY had balked about taking the babies out to Garland Ranch. On their visit, they could run into Tyler. Or, worse, they might not.
“Isn’t it too soon for the babies to be out?”
“They’ve already been exposed to plenty of hospital staff and visitors,” Grandma had said. “And we’re only planning to see Jed and the girls while we’re out there.”
Jed and his granddaughters...and not the babies’ daddy?
The question made her determined to turn down the trip to the Hitching Post.
The message Grandma passed along that Jed wanted to see her had made her change her mind. In the dark hours of the night, alone in her bedroom between feedings, she would—and did—allow herself to think about Tyler. At any other time, her thoughts had to focus on taking care of her babies. Extra hours at the Hitching Post would go a long way toward helping with that.
Now, in the sitting room of the hotel, she watched Tina and Jane and Andi ooh and aah over the babies. She couldn’t help but smile. At the same time, her spirits sank lower than they had when she and Grandma and the triplets had arrived. As she had feared, Tyler had been nowhere to be found.
Maybe he had left town already. Maybe that was why he had called to say he wouldn’t be at the house—he was on his way out of Cowboy Creek.
He had hung up after delivering his message to Grandma, not even asking to speak with her. She didn’t care. So then why, ever since that phone call, did it feel as though her heart had broken?
So much for not thinking about the man.
Tina looked up from cuddling Bree. “Robbie was so disappointed he couldn’t be here. Once Grandpa Jed told him the babies were coming for a visit, he didn’t want to go to school this morning.”
“Neither did Rachel,” Jane said. “And I heard about it all the way to the bus stop.”
Everyone laughed. Even Shay managed a genuine smile. Pete’s young daughter never hesitated to share her thoughts. “Robbie will have a baby brother or sister to keep him company soon.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Tina said. “He still wants to see the triple kids, as he calls them.”
Shay laughed. “Then I’ll plan to bring the babies out here again soon. Or you all can come visit us at home.” At home, where she and the babies and Grandma would get along just fine without...their absent helper.
“I’m not sure where you’ll find the time to spend at the house, lass,” Grandma said. “Not if Jed’s planning to give you more hours.”
“And I hope he is,” she admitted.
“I’m pretty sure he is,” Tina said with a smile. As the bookkeeper, she would probably know. “But don’t let him hear I spoiled the surprise.”
“I won’t.” Shay didn’t want to spend time away from the babies. She didn’t want more hours, but she needed them. As a bonus, staying busy would help keep her mind off her worries. It would help remind her—as if she could forget—that she was now a parent and had obligations...
Which was just the way Tyler felt.
How could she have been so upset with him about that?
The sudden sound of boot heels and deep voices from the hallway made her pulse spike. The sight of Tyler standing beside Jed in the hotel’s wide sitting room doorway set off a fluttering in her chest.
His gaze met hers, then jumped to the babies. She couldn’t fault him for that at all. She wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“Abuelo, look who’s here.” Tina rose and crossed the room to show off Bree.
“Well, let me get my hands on that little girl.” Jed took the baby from her. “She’s a cute one, isn’t she, Tyler?”
He smiled and nodded. “Gonna be a heartbreaker someday.”
Just like her daddy.
Tyler reached over to adjust Bree’s knitted cap, then stood smiling down at her. His half smile and rapt expression made Shay’s eyes sting with tears. He’d become so good at handling the kids in such a short time. Even more, he cared about them. She could see that plainly, even if no one else could. Even if he wouldn’t admit it to her.
He cared for his babies, that’s what counted most.
And she cared for him. She loved him and always had. That had to count for something, too. She had to talk to him, to find the courage to tell him how she felt. And most of all, to make sure he would be there for their babies.
* * *
HALFWAY DOWN THE hall to the Hitching Post’s kitchen, Shay reached Jed’s den, where Tina had told her to meet him.
/> She stepped into the room and stopped short. No Jed. Instead, Tyler sat on the couch along one wall, his legs stretched out in front of him, boots crossed at the ankles, giving every appearance he had settled in. If only she could convince him to feel that way about Cowboy Creek.
“I’m supposed to meet Jed here,” she said.
“So am I. Have a seat.” He began to rise.
“Don’t get up.” When she took one of the visitor’s chairs by the desk, he sank back into his seat. She had wanted to speak to him privately, but not here, not now. When Jed walked in, she would need a clear head to discuss her job at the Hitching Post. But if Tyler did plan to leave town at any moment, this might be the only chance she had to talk with him.
She rested her hands on the arms of the chair and shot a glance in his direction.
“The babies look fine this morning,” he said stiffly.
“They are fine.”
“Is Timothy still ruling the roost at mealtime?”
“He is. But Bree beat Jamie to her bottle this morning.” At the memory, she couldn’t help but smile.
He did, too, a small, almost wistful smile. “Wish I’d been there—”
“You could have been,” she said quietly. “You could be there often, if you wanted to.” He ran his hand down his arm, smoothing his shirtsleeve. Or was he literally brushing away her words?
Uneasiness ran through her. She took a deep breath and reminded herself she had found the courage to do this. “Tyler, maybe we went about everything out of order, with me getting pregnant before we had the chance to have a real relationship. But I... You have to know how much I care about you. I care about your relationship with the kids, and I see how much you care about them, too. We can make sure your relationship with them goes the right way. If you’ll stay in Cowboy Creek.”
Now he rose from the couch. Though he stood a few feet away, his height and broad shoulders still managed to give the impression he towered over her. She didn’t fear him. Just the opposite. Heat flushed her cheeks and flooded her body, and she knew her appeal to him to stay in town came equally from concern for her babies—their babies—and wishes for her own future happiness.
The Cowboy's Triple Surprise Page 14