by Jo Ann Brown
“I suppose I was,” he admitted good-naturedly. “I’m glad to see you, though. I’ll be sure to tell Dad.”
She sobered then. “How is Wes? I heard he wasn’t doing too well.”
Rex nodded. “It’s been tough. The surgery was hard on him, but my sisters and I are going to take good care of him.”
“You tell him I’m praying for him.”
“Yes, ma’am. We appreciate that.”
“I’ll be in to take over in a just a moment, Mrs. Lightner,” Callie said. Then she crooked her finger at Rex again. “This way.”
Mrs. Lightner still frowned, but she went off to dress Bodie while Rex picked up the boxes and followed Callie into another room. The place had a faded, girlish feel about it. Callie wasted no time packing her belongings quickly and efficiently. Within minutes, Rex began carting boxes and bundles of clothing down to the truck. He returned to find Mrs. Lightner standing in the doorway, the baby in her arms and a thunderous expression on her face.
“What on earth is going on here?”
“Didn’t I say?” Callie replied smoothly, never slowing her movements. “Mr. Billings needs my help until his daughters arrive.”
Sensing a battle on the horizon, Rex quickly surveyed the field and decided on a course of action. Sliding past Mrs. Lightner, he took a quick glance at the baby and carried the suitcases that Callie had packed downstairs. He heard the argument erupt behind him.
“You can’t do that!”
“But I must, Mrs. Lightner. Wes Billings desperately needs help.”
Rex didn’t linger to hear more. The sooner he got Callie Deviner out of there and to the ranch, the better for all concerned. He returned to find Callie in the nursery tossing baby things into a box while Mrs. Lightner rocked a babbling pink bundle who seemed determined to snatch glasses from teary eyes.
“I’m sure you know what you’re doing,” Mrs. Lightner said in a tone that clearly indicated the very opposite.
“We’ll be fine,” Callie promised, closing the box. “Thank you for your concern.” She glanced up at Rex then, sliding the box across the carpet toward him. “We really have to go.”
“Yes, I don’t want to leave Dad any longer than I must,” he stated honestly. “One of the ladies from church is sitting with him, but she has to leave soon.”
Callie slid another box toward him, then shouldered an overstuffed diaper bag and stood, turning to the rocking chair. Mrs. Lightner sighed as Callie gathered the baby into her arms. Dipping, Callie snagged the top of a large plastic bag of disposable diapers.
Rex stacked and picked up the boxes. They felt surprisingly light, so he took the diapers from Callie.
“If you’ve got all that,” she said, “I can grab the car seat from the closet downstairs.”
“What about the rest of these things?” he asked, nodding at the elaborate stroller and the padded playpen, the changing table and canopied baby bed.
“Leave them,” Callie instructed briskly.
He didn’t have to be told twice. “Okay, then. Let’s move.”
Within minutes they were packed into the truck, and Callie was hugging Mrs. Lightner in the driveway.
“Go on home now, Mrs. Lightner,” he heard her say, “and thanks again for everything.”
“But your father...” Mrs. Lightner said.
“Don’t worry. Just head on home.”
As they backed out of the driveway, Rex couldn’t help asking, “Everything okay?”
Callie smiled and glanced over her shoulder at the baby before settling into her seat with a satisfied sigh. “It is now.”
Rex wondered why she seemed so anxious to take this job, but he was too glad of the help to care. The sooner his dad was on the mend, the sooner he could get back to his real life. The sooner everyone could get back to their real lives, him, his sisters, their dad, even Callie Deviner.
Hiring the daughter of the wealthiest man in War Bonnet as a cook and housekeeper did seem odd, but Rex didn’t really care what the pretty little widow’s reasons were for taking this job. He had to give her this: she was a decisive woman, and she traveled light and fast.
He could’ve done worse. Casually looking over at her, he smiled.
Oh, yes. He could have done much worse.
Copyright © 2016 by Deborah Rather
ISBN-13: 9781488007446
His Amish Sweetheart
Copyright © 2016 by Jo Ann Ferguson
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com