COWBOY AND THE BABY, THE

by Ferrarella, Marie

  Summer had relented, of course, though other children at the party would make no difference. Teddy didn’t socialize. With anyone. Children or adults or even his own mother.

  A man appeared behind Summer, materializing in her peripheral vision. She assessed him instantly, something she’d learned to do out of necessity. He was young, maybe early thirties. Possibly a ranch hand, given his clothes, though, he didn’t look familiar and Summer knew, or knew of, most everyone in their small community.

  Whoever he was, he seemed concerned about nothing more than finding the correct aisle for whatever purchases he was making and promptly wandered off. Good thing, because Teddy had started humming, something he did to calm himself when he became nervous or agitated.

  “Well, big guy.” Summer smiled down at him. “Let’s find the vanilla extract and get out of here.”

  The other ingredients were already nestled in Teddy’s lap. He’d insisted on holding them.

  Summer pushed her cart forward, being exceedingly careful not to touch Teddy. He tolerated contact better now than he used to, thanks to the learning center he was enrolled in and his weekly equine therapy sessions. Still, he picked and chose his moments. Summer could never be sure.

  Suddenly two grandmotherly women rounded the corner and started down the aisle toward Summer and Teddy. She froze, halting the cart in midstep. The women were also strangers, likely passing through Mustang Valley on their way to or from Payson. Travelers regularly stopped at the market for refreshments.

  Don’t talk to us, please. The words were a mantra inside Summer’s head.

  Stare. Make judgments. Gossip about us later in your car. I don’t care. Just please, please, please don’t talk to us.

  The woman on the left smiled and nodded. In another minute, possibly less, they would be upon Summer and Teddy and want to pass by.

  Summer’s grip on the cart handle tightened until her fingers cramped and her knuckles turned white.

  Turn around now. Leave us alone.

  Surrendering to the pressure building inside her, she started walking backward, taking the cart with her. Hopefully, Teddy hadn’t seen the women. They were behind him, after all.

  No such luck. His humming grew louder, and he started banging the heels of his sneakers on the bottom of the cart basket, a sure indicator he’d noticed the women.

  Summer moved faster. Glancing back over her shoulder, she spotted Dennis, the store manager. He’d be no help, and besides, Teddy made him uncomfortable.

  “I think the vanilla extract’s in the next aisle,” she said cheerfully, knowing full well it wasn’t.

  All at once, the two women increased their strides, reaching Summer and Teddy before they made good on their escape.

  The smiling one said, “Do you by chance know where the aspirin is?”

  “Front of the store,” Summer said. Go away.

  Sweat dampened her palms and collected between her breasts. She could feel rivulets forming at her temples.

  “Thank you.” It looked as if the two women might turn around.

  Before Summer could release even the tiniest sigh of relief, the one on the left stepped to the side of Summer’s cart and looked directly at Teddy.

  “Hi there, young man. How are you today?”

  He averted his face and cringed, his rocking and humming gaining momentum. The tune wasn’t distinct, rather he repeated the same five notes over and over.

  Bang, bang, bang. His heels hit the cart basket harder and harder.

  “He’s kind of old to ride in a cart, isn’t he?” The woman’s tone left no doubt of her opinion. “What are you, son? Eight? Nine?”

  “Have a good day.” Summer resumed walking backward, intent only on getting to the one open register and escaping the store before Teddy lost control.

  “I’m sorry. My sister didn’t mean anything.” The first woman caught up with Summer, her expression going from concern to suspicion. “Are you okay, young man? Is something the matter?”

  Before Summer reached the end of the aisle, what she’d been dreading most happened. The woman reached out and touched Teddy, her hand resting on his shoulder.

  “Young man?”

  His reaction was instantaneous and, at this point, unstoppable. Ear-splitting shrieks erupted and filled the small market. His rocking turned into thrashing. One by one, he threw the items from his lap onto the floor.

  Summer reacted without thinking, having experienced this same outburst countless times and as recently as last week. Reaching the open area near the front of the market, she swiveled the cart one hundred and eighty degrees and ran it toward the entrance. The double doors swooshed open in the nick of time. She and Teddy burst outside into the bright July sunshine.

  “Miss! Miss.” The woman ran after them.

  Summer hurried. Very little time remained before Teddy passed the point of no return and hurt himself or Summer.

  The cart bumped wildly as she ran it over the uneven asphalt. Fumbling for her purse at her side, she dug her keys out and pressed the button on the fob that unlocked the car.

  As Teddy’s screeching escalated—she hadn’t thought it possible—she wrenched open the rear passenger door. Keeping one eye glued on him, she grabbed a large black cowboy hat off the floor. So far, so good. He wasn’t trying to climb out of the cart.

  Anticipating what lay ahead, she drew in a deep breath, steeled her resolve and took hold of Teddy by the waist. Lifting him out of the cart, she quickly deposited him in the booster car seat.

  He lost all control, screaming, kicking the back of the driver’s seat and clawing at her. Trying to contain him with one arm, she plunked the hat on his head. At first, he pushed it off but allowed her second attempt. When the brim fell over his eyes and shrouded him in darkness, he began to quiet.

  “Miss? Can I help?”

  “We’re all right. Thank you,” Summer said firmly. She didn’t look at the woman and focused her attention entirely on Teddy.

  “Is there someone I can call?”

  Like 9-1-1 to report her for abusing her child? It had happened before.

  Teddy’s shrieks and thrashing resumed.

  “We’re okay. Really.” Summer tried reasoning with the woman. “My son is easily upset by strangers.”

  Can you not see he’s special-needs? Do I have to say autistic?

  “Okay,” the woman muttered. “If you’re sure.”

  She left—thank God. Summer lowered her head until it was level with Teddy’s and began singing a childhood rhyme in a soft voice.

  “The eensie, weensie spider went up the water spout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out.”

  He hummed and rocked in rhythm to the melody.

  “Up came the sun, and it dried up all the rain. And the eensie, weensie spider went up the spout again.”

  Two more times she sang the song. Then, taking a chance, she inched a hand closer and buckled him into his booster seat. Next, she slipped away and started the car, turning the air-conditioning on high. July in Arizona could be counted on for hundred-plus degree temperatures. Teddy, however, seemed impervious to the heat.

  In colder weather, she used a quilt to calm her son. He preferred the weight and volume over the lightness of a cowboy hat, but in this heat, he’d smother, so she improvised.

  “Better now, sweetie pie?” She returned to her position next to him, careful to avoid contact.

  He shook his head, the oversize hat flopping. But he seemed to have relaxed so she decided he must be improved.

  “Excuse me, ma’am.” A deep male voice interrupted her. “You left your groceries.”

  She rose and pivoted, emitting a small gasp at the sight of the cowboy from the market standing so close to her. He held out a plastic grocery sack.

 
“Wh-what?”

  “Your groceries. You forgot them.”

  She shook her head in confusion. “I didn’t buy them.”

  “It’s okay.” He shrugged.

  “Did you pay for these?”

  Behind Summer, Teddy shifted. He could hear the man even if he couldn’t see him from under the hat’s wide brim. She prayed that he didn’t have another meltdown.

  “Don’t worry about it,” the man said. “I could see you were...in a hurry.” Not a trace of reproach or disapproval or shock colored his deep voice.

  She blinked, then stared. Who was he?

  “Look,” she began to explain. “It’s not what you think.”

  “I don’t think anything, ma’am. It’s none of my business.”

  Still, she felt the need to explain. The man had been kind, unlike the women who’d been curious and interfering. “My son is autistic and struggles in social situations.”

  In her support group, she was encouraged not to make excuses for her son. If people didn’t understand, or if they poked fun at her and Teddy, well, that was their problem. Not hers. Still, it wasn’t easy.

  “I understand. I struggle myself at times.” There was an honesty in his statement that took her momentarily aback.

  He was handsome. Handsome enough that if Summer wasn’t preoccupied with her son, she’d be intrigued. Brown eyes with flecks of gold studied her intently. Broad shoulders and muscled arms emphasized the snug fit of his black T-shirt. Scuffed cowboy boots added an inch to his already impressive height. Stubble darkened his strong jawline. That, along with a noticeable scar beside his left eye, lent a mysterious, if not dangerous, element to his looks.

  “Let me pay you.” Summer reached for her purse, which she’d left on the ground.

  “It’s not necessary.”

  “Yes, it is,” she insisted as she handed him several bills.

  He hesitated before accepting. Stuffing the money in his jeans pocket, he tugged on the brim of his hat.

  “See you around.”

  Would he? She almost hoped that were true. After a moment, she came to her senses. Summer didn’t date. Ever. Not that she wouldn’t enjoy being in a relationship. But she and Teddy were a package deal. It wasn’t easy finding an understanding and patient guy who’d accept and love a boy who wasn’t his. Finding a guy who’d accept and love a special-needs child who wasn’t his was nearly impossible.

  “Thank you again,” she said.

  He seemed almost disappointed, as if he’d expected her to ask him to stay. Before she could say another word, he turned and left, disappearing into the store.

  Summer stood and watched him go, the grocery sack growing heavy in her hand.

  “Maw Maw.”

  Teddy calling her by name. He was definitely feeling better.

  “Let’s go home, honey. What do you say?”

  She slowly removed the cowboy hat and laid it on the car floor. Getting behind the wheel, she pulled out of the parking lot. There was still time to make the cookies before the party.

  “Man,” Teddy said from the rear seat. “Wide haws.”

  “That’s right. The man was a cowboy and rides horses.”

  Her thoughts drifted to him. She recalled his strong, compelling features. His kindness. The scar by his eye—surely there was a story there. Not that it mattered, but it was too bad she’d forgotten to introduce herself. Neither had she gotten his name.

  Only when she reached her driveway did she realize she’d also forgotten the vanilla extract.

  * * *

  THREE DAYS AT Dos Estrellas Ranch, and Quinn Crenshaw felt as if he’d been living there for months. No, that wasn’t entirely accurate. He felt as if he was home, in a way he hadn’t felt at home for a long, long time.

  The hammer rested easily in his hand, fitting perfectly in the crook of his palm. Raising it, he brought the head down hard on the nail, enjoying the loud thwang and the reverberation running up the length of his arm.

  This was good work. Real work. Meaningful work. He’d missed it during the last two years, three months and fourteen days. For the majority of that time, he’d labored as a janitor, earning pennies an hour. Prisoner wages. Most of it was spent in the commissary. The remainder of his savings, thirty-two dollars and change, had been given to him when he was released six weeks ago.

  His parents had funded his trip to Mustang Valley. Without their help, he couldn’t have afforded the gas for the fourteen-hour drive and the new tires his six-year-old pickup had desperately needed. Nor would he have had the cash to purchase the woman’s groceries earlier today at the market. He hadn’t wanted to take her money, but he could see it was important for her to repay him.

  She was pretty, and he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since their encounter. Freckles were his undoing, and the small sprinkling across her nose and cheeks was the perfect amount. She also appeared devoted to her son and was dealing with difficult circumstances to the best of her abilities.

  Both were qualities Quinn admired and appreciated. His parents hadn’t wavered once in their support of him during his arrest, trial and imprisonment.

  Granted, he was reading a lot into a brief meeting and could be coming to a wrong conclusion. Quinn would bet, however, that he was right about the woman. Too bad he’d likely never see her again. And if he did see her, he was hardly in a position to pursue more than a casual acquaintance. He was innocent of any crime and completely exonerated thanks to new evidence. That didn’t change the fact he was an ex-con with a record, one not cleared yet.

  She’d said her son was autistic. Quinn had heard of the disorder, but his knowledge ended there. He might learn more while at Dos Estrellas. The equine therapy program that operated at the ranch currently had over thirty special-needs children enrolled, some coming from as far away as Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and Phoenix. Cara had told him as much yesterday. She was his cousin Josh’s fiancée and the head of the therapy program. Quinn would be one of the groomsmen in their wedding next month.

  “What are you doing, mister?”

  Hearing a child’s voice, Quinn straightened. He’d been bent over the wooden arena post, repairing a loose railing, and hadn’t heard the girl and horse approach.

  “Fixing this.” He pointed at the railing with his hammer.

  “Why?” She spoke with a pronounced lisp.

  “It was loose. Now it’s not.”

  The girl, an adorable pixie, giggled impishly from where she sat atop a brown mare. Ten or twelve—he wasn’t good at judging ages—her distinctive almond-shaped eyes narrowed to small slits as her smile widened.

  Quinn grinned in return, something he rarely did. The girl was responsible. Children were open and much more accepting than adults. He could relax around them.

  What did his daughter look and act like? Was she cute and bubbly or shy and quiet? The questions plagued Quinn constantly and angered him on those nights when sleep eluded him. The private investigator he’d hired hadn’t located his daughter or her mother, claiming they’d gone into deep hiding. Quinn couldn’t disagree. His own efforts had failed to produce results.

  Running out of money, he’d let the PI go after only a week. Until one of the feelers he’d put out netted results or he landed a job that paid more than room and board, his search had come to a grinding halt.

  “Is that a scar on your face?” The young girl pushed at her pink riding helmet, which had slipped low on her brow. A harness secured her to the saddle, preventing her from falling off.

  “Yep.”

  “How did you get it?” she asked.

  “An accident.”

  A fellow inmate’s fist had “accidentally” struck Quinn’s face during a fight his first week in the California state prison when he’d refused to give up his place in the
cafeteria line. He’d spent two days in the infirmary with a mild concussion, three cracked ribs, multiple contusions and a dozen stitches.

  Quinn learned fast. The fight wasn’t his last one, but it was the last one he lost. Twenty-seven months in all had been added to his sentence. Fortunately, he hadn’t had to serve them.

  “Lizzie.” The instructor rushed over to the girl. The brown mare, well trained, did no more than bob her head. “I told you not to ride off.”

  A group of six students had been practicing at the other end of the arena.

  “Sorry.” Lizzie smiled at Quinn before turning a contrite face to her instructor. “I didn’t hear you.”

  “You know the rules.” The instructor took hold of the horse’s bridle. “No riding off and no talking to strangers.”

  “He’s not a stranger. He works here. He’s fixing the loose railing.”

  “Come on.” The instructor was having none of it. She led the pair away, her scowl telegraphing her thoughts loud and clear. She didn’t want the students having anything to do with Quinn. He supposed she’d heard about him. News traveled fast, titillating news that much faster.

  Lizzie ignored her instructor and, glancing backward, waved at Quinn. He raised his hand in return, then let it drop.

  Moments like this one never lasted. Maybe someday, if he was lucky, his life would return to normal and his daughter would be a large part of it. He wasn’t holding his breath.

  “Somehow I knew I’d find you here.”

  He spun to discover his cousin Josh standing there, Cara with him. Both of them were staring.

  “Where else would I be? You said the arena railing had come loose.” Quinn didn’t wait around to be told what to do next. Rather, he took it upon himself to handle the task.

  “You might be getting ready for the party,” Josh said. “It starts in an hour.”