Fortune's Secret Baby

“You’ve had a rough couple of weeks. First Anthony, and then finding out Lulu had been dead all these months instead of just a runaway parent. You sure this isn’t misplaced guilt?” Ross finally asked.

“No.”

“Identifying a former girlfriend’s remains in a morgue is something I never want on my ‘to-do’ list,” Ross continued. “And giving her a proper burial yesterday was a decent thing to do.”

“Lulu didn’t have any family. I did what needed to be done. I still wish I knew why she never tried to find me.”

“Well, we guessed she came to Red Rock back in January to see you because she’d read the news about William and Lily’s wedding.” Flint shoved a forkful of fajitas and guacamole into his mouth and quickly chewed. “The forensics report did say her car accident happened around that date.”

“That still doesn’t explain how my son ended up with Kirsten’s brother’s ex-girlfriend. Unless Lulu purposely left the baby with her,” Cooper said.

“Or why Lulu didn’t try to contact you long before the baby was born,” Ross added.

“Not that you would’ve been easy to find,” Flint said. “Hell, you finally got your first cell phone a week ago. Welcome to the twenty-first century, bro.”

The device was a necessity now because of the baby, and Cooper still wasn’t used to the contraption clipped to his belt. Still, even if he’d had a cell phone last year, would he have shared the number with Lulu?

“Lulu wasn’t happy I was leaving town, but it’s not like she begged me to stick around.” Cooper pushed at the food on his plate, his appetite suddenly gone. “We both made it clear from the beginning neither of us was interested in settling down. You guys know me, my life is—was—about being a cowboy, being free to go where I want, when I want. Maybe Lulu figured it was best if I wasn’t in the kid’s life at all.”

“But now you are.”

He let the fork drop to the plate. “Yes, and I need one-on-one time with my son if we’re ever going to find our way.”

“You don’t plan on leaving town, do you?” Ross asked.

Cooper shook his head. “No. Red Rock is home. The Fortunes are here and they’re Anthony’s family.”

“Damn right we are.”

All three brothers looked up to find JR Fortune standing at the table. The oldest of their Uncle William’s five sons, JR had left a successful life in Los Angeles last year to put down roots in Red Rock. He’d purchased a local ranch, renamed it after his deceased mother and went to work restoring the land and the buildings.

“JR.” Cooper greeted his cousin as he sat next to him.

“Things a bit crowded at my brother’s place?” JR asked.

Cooper nodded and quickly told the men at the table what happened two weeks ago and how he hadn’t had a moment alone with his son since. “I know I didn’t come up with the diaper or bottle answer right away that night, but I would’ve. I just never got the chance to think that far ahead.”

“Well, I have an idea that might work,” JR said. “Your stallion’s been staying at my place since you got back into town. We’ve got room for you and the baby, too.”

Cooper shook his head. The main house at his cousin’s ranch, Molly’s Pride, came with three times the square footage of Jeremy and Kirsten’s, but that wasn’t what he was looking for. “I appreciate you taking in Solo when I got to town and keeping an eye on him, but—”

“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.