Fortune's Secret Baby

by Christyne Butler

  “I’m not talking about staying in the hacienda with me and Isabella. There are a couple of furnished cottages on the place sitting empty. You and Anthony are welcome to one of them. It would give you two the independence it sounds like you’re looking for, but with family nearby…just in case.”

  Glancing at his brothers, Cooper watched them nod in agreement. It was a good idea. He missed being on a ranch and he missed Solo, the buckskin stallion he’d picked up outside Laramie, Wyoming, six years ago and named after his favorite movie character. The horse had quickly become his best friend.

  “Okay, but only if the place is far away from your house. Anthony’s got quite a set of lungs on him and he’s not afraid to use them.”

  JR chuckled then said, “That’s fine with me, but we need to get used to the idea of baby noises around the ranch. Isabella is already decorating the nursery for our bambino.”

  They sealed the agreement with a handshake and another round of beers for everyone—except Cooper, who asked for a refill on his sweetened iced tea.

  As the setting sun cast a blaze of deep reds, bright oranges and soft pinks across the Texas sky, Cooper felt pretty damn proud of himself. He and Anthony were all moved into a two-bedroom stucco cottage. Ross, Jeremy and JR had helped with moving the baby furniture that Jeremy and Kirsten had insisted Cooper take with him.

  Telling them about his decision had been hard, but they’d agreed it was the best idea for everyone, even as Kirsten flagged pages in his Parenting for Dummies book and programmed their phone numbers into his cell phone.

  JR’s wife, Isabella, who ran her own interior design business from the ranch, had decorated the cottage with sturdy furniture and accents of bright Southwest colors. The miniature hacienda came complete with a swing on the covered front porch, a fully stocked kitchen and bedding for the queen-size bed in the bigger of the two bedrooms. With the smaller bedroom filled with everything Anthony needed, Cooper had to admit it felt good to be on his own again.

  On his own plus one.

  “Time for bed, little guy,” Cooper whispered, rising from the rocking chair, the bottle releasing from the baby’s mouth with a gentle pop.

  It’d taken three tries to get the consistency of the bedtime bottle right, but he considered that a victory after they’d sampled a half dozen different jars of baby food before finding a flavor Anthony would eat without sending it flying through the air in disgust.

  Making his way to the crib, Cooper stepped over the remains of a handful of disposable diapers on the floor. Who knew the sticky tabs on those suckers ripped off so easily? But his son was on his way to dreamland, that’s all that mattered.

  Laying the boy on his back, Cooper paused for a moment, awed by the tightening in his chest as he looked at his son. Unable to stop himself, he lightly touched the unbelievable softness of one chubby cheek. Anthony’s fists waved in the air and Cooper backed away. Turning on the baby monitor on the nearby dresser, he grabbed the smaller handheld version and left the darkened room.

  Drawn to the kitchen by the smell of freshly brewed coffee he’d made himself earlier but never got to taste, he poured a mug and paused to listen to the silence.

  He wasn’t used to this.

  Usually he spent his evenings at a local honky-tonk, in the company of fellow cowboys with a beer in one hand and a fistful of cards in the other, or on occasion, it was just him and his horse.

  Ignoring the itch to visit his friend tucked away in the main barn, Cooper turned away from the mess in the kitchen and walked into the living room. He placed the baby monitor on the coffee table and reached for the parenting book he’d been reading for the last couple of weeks. The image of a smiling family graced the cover.

  Had his father and mother ever looked at each other that way? At him? He doubted it. His father had taken off for greener pastures before Cooper had turned two, and Cindy was an indifferent parent at best.

  What kind of parent had Lulu been? How had she dealt with being alone and pregnant? And what had finally driven her all this way to find him? Hadn’t she wanted the baby anymore?

  Sighing, he settled back in his chair and cracked open the book, his mind focused on Anthony. Less than six months old and the kid was already the ultimate story of luck gone bad—a motherless child who was now stuck with him for a dad.

  A little while later, cries jerked Cooper out of the arms of an unknown woman in a strange but enticing dream. Stumbling out of the chair and tripping over his boots lying nearby, he raced down the short hallway to the baby’s room.

  He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and found Anthony still on his back, the angelic look gone from his face and replaced with eyes clenched tightly together and his tiny mouth letting loose an ear-piercing screech.

  “Hey, buddy, what’s going on?” He reached for the baby, who continued his crying. “Geesh, you’re not a happy camper.”

  First stop, the changing table. Cooper made quick work of the baby’s diaper, thankful it was only wet and not one of the industrial-strength, poop-filled ones Anthony favored at times.

  He peered at the clock and saw that it was just short of midnight. “Okay, so you must be ready for another fill-up. Good thing I’ve got another bottle cooling in the fridge, but you can tone it down any time now.”

  Anthony either didn’t care or thought his daddy wasn’t moving fast enough, because the crying only increased as Cooper headed for the kitchen. His tone doubled when he saw the bottle.

  “Hold on, partner. You don’t want cold cow juice.” Cooper juggled the baby with one arm while popping the bottle into the electric warmer. “Hang on just another five minutes.”

  Anthony was hanging on, but not quietly. He fussed and squirmed while Cooper counted down the minutes on the warmer. Finally done, he shook the bottle and it took some maneuvering to test its contents to make sure it wasn’t too hot. Then he popped the bottle into Anthony’s waiting mouth.

  The peace and quiet only lasted a few seconds.

  “Easy there, you’re going to drown yourself.” Cooper pulled the bottle back as Anthony continued to cry, spitting up more of the liquid than he was taking in. “Okay, you don’t want the milk. What do you want?”

  Anthony’s only answer was increased wailing.

  He held the baby close to his chest and walked. Around the dining table, into the living room, down the hall and back again. He didn’t bother to count his steps this time as he gently patted Anthony on the back. Thankful for the dim glow from the night-light in the baby’s room and the light over the stove, he made it through the furniture obstacle course without stubbing his toe or bashing an ankle.

  Now if he could only get the little guy to calm down.

  “You liked it when I talked to you last time we were in this situation.” Keeping his voice low, Cooper never stopped moving or talking. “Maybe that’ll work again? But what the heck do I say to someone whose only response is an attempt to break my eardrums?”

  Three hours later…three million steps.

  Okay, maybe not three million, but it had to be close.

  Cooper figured he’d shared his entire life story with the kid, starting with stories of growing up with Ross, Flint and Frannie—the four of them against the world—as they struggled to keep things going despite living with their wayward mother.

  He told him about the time he and Ross taught Frannie how to ride a bicycle without training wheels, and when he’d taken on a bully twice his size after the kid refused to stop messing with Flint. Stories of high school, his rodeo days and taking college classes at a variety of places around the country until he finally earned his degree in animal husbandry. He even included every joke he could remember that might be appropriate for little ears.

  He’d only paused long enough to grab a few sips of tepid tap water, not wanting to get a mug of hot coffee anywhere near the baby. Man, what he wouldn’t give for a cup of joe….

  Anthony had moments of lesser crying, but he never really stopped and Coo
per was getting worried. He reached for his cell phone and flipped it open. Pressing the “contacts” button, he saw Jeremy and Kirsten’s number listed first.

  But he couldn’t make the call. He and Anthony needed to make it through together. On their own.

  The baby wasn’t warm so he figured he wasn’t running a fever. He was just cranky and probably missing the familiar surroundings of his former home, but Cooper had never been the one to comfort him. Someone else was always there to take Anthony off his hands. Now, he was the only person his son could rely on, and he was determined to make it work.

  “You’re aiming to break the crying record, aren’t ya?” Cooper whispered. “I don’t know where you get your energy.”

  Another diaper change, more tries with the bottle, making use of the rocking chair next to the crib. Nothing worked.

  “How about some music? What’s that saying about music soothing the savage beast?” He looked around for a radio, but there were none in the cottage. “Well, I hope you like country, because I don’t know any baby songs.”

  He started with the classics from Johnny Cash and worked his way up to Garth Brooks, making up words when the real ones wouldn’t come. He tried the bottle again during his rendition of “Friends in Low Places” and the baby latched on to it. When it was empty, Anthony kept fussing, so Cooper kept singing. Halfway through a favorite tune by Willie Nelson, he suddenly realized two things.

  The sun was starting to rise over the horizon and Anthony was finally asleep.

  He put the baby back in his crib—thankful for the blinds that kept the room dark—and crept out into the hallway. Grabbing a much-needed cup of coffee and the handheld baby monitor, he headed to the front porch. Fresh air was called for right about now.

  He stared out over the land. The buildings and gentle rolling hills that made up Molly’s Pride were still dark against the sky that slowly lightened. The quiet of the morning was only punctured by the soft snores coming through the baby monitor.

  Damn, maybe he wasn’t doing the right thing after all.

  Yeah, they’d made it through the night, but what if he was wrong? What if Anthony cried for so long because he was sick and had only worn himself out?

  Stretching his arms wide, Cooper worked out the kinks in his back while offering a silent prayer that this crazy parenting plan of his was the right thing to do.

  “I’ll take anything you want to send me,” he said to the heavens, resting one shoulder against the porch landing. “Just give me a sign.”

  Ignoring his coffee, he stared into the distance, watching as dark shadows gave way to the coming daylight, a slow and easy progression that never failed to lift his spirits. Then on the horizon a cloud of dust formed out of nowhere, coming straight at him at breakneck speed. The sound of pounding horse hooves filled the air.

  The cloud moved closer, taking the shape of a horse and rider. He straightened the moment the chestnutcolored quarter horse, recognizable by its well-muscled body and powerful, rounded hindquarters, galloped in front of the cottage.

  The rider was a woman. She rode without a saddle, crouched low on the horse’s back, at ease and in control, with only the reins of the bridle in her grip. Her white dress billowed behind her, molding her curves and displaying miles of long lean legs. Her hair carelessly whipped in the wind, mimicking the horse’s tail in length and dark color.

  Well, I’ll be damned.

  He stepped off the porch, the morning dew soaking through his socks, and watched her ride to the top of a nearby hill. The horse slowed to a stop. The rider straightened and turned as if she felt him watching her.

  A bright shaft of sunshine had him shielding his eyes. He stepped into the shadow near the porch railing, but when he dropped his hand, she was gone.

  Whoa! Who was that beautiful lone rider?

  Chapter Two

  Cooper listened for the sound of galloping hooves, but heard nothing. The air was still and silent. Then a cool breeze washed over him and he blinked. Hard.

  Had he been asleep? Was she a dream?

  “Cooper?”

  He spun around and found Isabella, JR’s wife, behind him.

  “Are you all right?” she asked, moving closer. “You seem a little dazed.”

  Rubbing at his eyes, Cooper shook off the vision of the lady in white and smiled. “Hey, Isabella. No, not dazed, just asleep on my feet, I guess.”

  She nodded toward the baby monitor on the railing. “Rough first night?”

  He shrugged. “We made it through. What are you doing out here so early?”

  “Just taking a stroll and enjoying the coolness of the morning.” She tenderly rubbed her rounded abdomen. “Junior tends to be an early riser. Much like his daddy.”

  “Well, let’s hope Anthony doesn’t take after either of them.” He glanced at his watch, surprised to see how much time had passed since he put his son to bed. “I just got the little guy to fall asleep an hour ago.”

  As soon as Cooper spoke, a cooing noise came through the monitor.

  “Geez, not again.”

  “Oh, you must be exhausted. I can sit with Anthony if you want to grab a shower or get some sleep yourself.”

  Cooper hesitated. He probably smelled like a mixture of formula, strained peas and baby powder. A shower would be great, but he wondered if it would get back to Jeremy and Kirsten if he took Isabella up on her offer.

  “I’m not here to spy on you, Cooper.” Isabella’s soft words cut into his thoughts. “And no one is keeping score on your parenting skills. I’ll admit I headed this way because I figured the baby would have you up early. I just wanted to see how you two were doing.”

  He believed the sincerity in her words. “Thanks. It sounds like he’s gone back to sleep, but a shower would be great.”

  Once inside, Isabella waved off his apology for the condition of the kitchen and shooed him toward the back of the cottage.

  After checking on once-again-sleeping Anthony, Cooper went into the bathroom in his room, stripped down and stood under the hot spray of the shower.

  His mind wandered back to the horse and rider. Had he been hallucinating—who was that beautiful angel?

  Tired of the bar scene and rarely in one place longer than a month or so over the last year, it’d been a while since Cooper had been in the company of an unattached lady. Not that his body had forgotten how to respond to the sight of incredible legs and curves to match.

  But riding bareback across his cousin’s ranch?

  He still wasn’t sure he hadn’t fallen asleep in those few surreal moments, and decided to discover if that vision on horseback had been a figment of his imagination.

  Finishing up with a blast of cold water to chase away the final cobwebs, Cooper got out of the shower, dried off and pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He walked back into the living room and found Isabella engrossed in his parenting book. He thought about asking her about the mysterious woman, but what if she had only been a vision brought on by his exhaustion?

  “Interesting stuff, huh?” he asked instead.

  She smiled up at him. “Typical reading for a new dad?”

  “Especially for one who’s only been at it a few weeks.” He paused for a moment and then asked, “Do you mind staying just a bit longer? It’s been over a week since I’ve visited Solo. I know JR has had one of the crew members exercising him, but I’d love to take him out for a quick run.”

  “Sure, go ahead. I’m here as long as you need me.”

  After making sure she had his cell phone number, Cooper pulled on his boots, grabbed his beat-up straw cowboy hat and headed toward the main barn. He stopped to look at the fresh tracks left in the soft earth by this morning’s rider.

  So the lady did exist.

  Once inside the barn, he took a deep breath, relishing the familiar smells of horses, leather and hay. It was a scent ingrained in his soul from the first time he’d visited Red Rock as a kid with his brothers and sister. Their mother had shipped them
off to stay with her cousin, Ryan Fortune, and his wife, Lily, at the Fortune family homestead so she could travel across Europe with her latest boyfriend. Of all the places at the Double Crown Ranch, Cooper had loved the horse stables the best.

  He greeted Solo with a fresh carrot, but his friend seemed more excited about the prospect of taking his owner for a ride than the treat. He quivered with anticipation as Cooper saddled him. When they cleared the fenced corral, the buckskin stallion took off from the gentle trot to a high-speed gallop.

  Moments later, they left the buildings behind and it was only a man, his horse and the wild open Texas countryside. Cooper slowed the animal and found himself searching the rolling hills and flatlands for any sign of the beauty in white he’d seen just over an hour ago.

  Nothing.

  Disappointed, he turned back. He needed time to give Solo a proper rubdown before returning to Anthony. Maybe later he would bring his son out to the barn to meet the horse. He liked the idea of someday teaching the boy how to ride.

  He walked the horse back to the barn to allow him to cool down. Once inside, he gave his buddy a full brushing and started to put the supplies back when he heard—

  Singing?

  Light, feminine and slightly off-key. He followed the lyrical voice, until finally in the first stall, he found her.

  His angel.

  Only now her curves were covered by jeans and a simple white T-shirt with the name of the ranch, and well-used, low-heeled boots on her feet. She was a beauty, the natural kind, her long dark hair now pulled back in a high ponytail with loose strands brushing her forehead. An inner glow seemed to radiate from her as she sang softly to the chestnut horse—the same one he’d seen her riding this morning.

  He opened his mouth, but his mind blanked on the usual flirting he’d perfected to an art form. Confused by the sudden loss of words, he leaned against the stall door and enjoyed the view.

  She moved with purpose and a sureness of someone who’d been around horses all her life. Her touch was gentle, her focus completely on the animal she tended. Moving to the horse’s head, she met the animal’s broad flat forehead with her own and finished her tune with a gentle kiss.