Son of a Gun

The woman who’d eyed her warily at first smiled as she stood and walked toward Emma. “We wondered where Damien had gotten off to. But when Tague checked and found his horse missing from the barn, we figured he’d gone out for one last check on the cattle.”

“Lucky for me and Belle that he did.”

“I’m Carolina Lambert, Damien’s mother.”

So he wasn’t a simple cowboy. He was a Lambert. Obviously wealthy and likely powerful, yet he’d easily passed for your everyday wrangler. Already she loved Texas.

Carolina stood, walked over and leaned in for a closer look at the squirming infant, whose face was turning redder by the second.

“Oh, poor little sweetheart. You must be cold. We’ll take care of that.” Carolina looked up. “She’s adorable.”

“Thank you.”

Damien made quick introductions of the rest of the people at the table as Belle tuned up. The two men were his brothers, Durk and Tague. Both were tanned and muscular and shared Damien’s good looks. Tague sported a ready smile. Durk eyed her suspiciously, his handshake firm.

Damien’s grandma Pearl was silver-haired, petite and wrinkled but with a mischievous sparkle in her violet eyes. His aunt Sybil looked to be in her sixties. She wore heavy makeup and her neck and wrists were weighted down with chunky silver and turquoise jewelry. A black wig topped her head like a hat. Emma hoped hers was not nearly so conspicuous.

“You’re the best-looking stray Damien’s ever come home with,” Tague said. “Of course, your closest competition was a mangy yellow dog with a bad drool.”

“Glad I beat that out.” She managed a smile.

“Have a seat,” Grandma Pearl said. “You need some soup to warm you up. A little sherry wouldn’t hurt, either.”

“Mother thinks sherry is the cure for everything,” Sybil said. “I’ll get you some soup.”

“Maybe we should give Emma a chance to catch her breath and warm up before we start pushing food on her,” Carolina said.

Belle began to wail.

“Why don’t you let me take her for you,” Carolina said. “You must be exhausted.”

“She’s hungry,” Emma said. “I really need to feed her.”

“Of course. And I’m sure you’d appreciate some privacy,” Carolina said. “Come with me to the family room. There’s a rocker near the fireplace.”

Emma took a deep breath, preparing herself for the next lie. Nothing about this was going to be easy, but it was still a million times better than freezing to death or being violated by Julio.

“I know how irresponsible this sounds, but I was so upset when I walked away from the truck that I left Belle’s bottles of formula behind.”

Durk’s eyebrows arched. “I thought you said you were driving a car.”

“It’s an SUV,” she said, as if that explained it. “Anyway, it’s imperative that I go into town and get bottles and formula for her.”

“No use to go into town for that,” Carolina said. “My neighbor Karen has a son about the same size as your Belle. She’s over frequently since we’re both on the library committee and planning a new extension. I keep bottles and formula here for her. Disposable diapers, as well.”

“She uses Similac,” Sybil said. “What kind of formula do you use with Belle?”

“Similac.”

“Now, that’s luck,” Sybil said.

Grandma Pearl clicked her tongue against her false teeth. “Luck has nothing to do with it. The Lord works in mysterious ways.”

“Indeed he does,” Carolina agreed.

“I’ll go stoke the fire,” Tague said.

Carolina walked over to the counter. “I’ll get a bottle ready.”

“I don’t want to interrupt your dinner,” Emma said. “Just point me to the formula and I’ll take care of feeding Belle.”

“Nonsense,” Carolina said. “I’ve finished my soup. And dessert and coffee can wait until you’re ready to join us. I’ll get the bottle. You just take Belle to the fire so the both of you can get warm.”

“Thanks so much,” Emma said. “And thankfully we’re warmer already. My teeth have totally stopped chattering.”

“Did you say you have false teeth?” Pearl asked.

“No,” Emma said. “My real ones were chattering from the cold.”

“Mother, are you wearing your hearing aids?” Sybil asked.

Pearl smiled. “I might have left them on my dressing table.”

“Do I just follow the directions on the can of formula?” Carolina asked.

“Yes. And you can’t imagine how I appreciate this.”

Unexpected tears began to well at the back of her eyes. Simple acts of kindness and words of faith had become foreign to her. Now they were warming her heart and making her feel guilty at the same time.

Grandma Pearl left the table and joined them at the counter. “Don’t you think you should call your aunt?”

“I will once I’ve fed Belle. She’s not actually expecting me until tomorrow, but when the weather forecast said snow in Dallas tonight, I decided to come up a day early. I’d planned to make it before dark, but the Friday afternoon traffic was much worse than I’d expected.”

“Is that blood on your arm?” Sybil asked.

Emma had tried to position the rebozo so that no one would notice the blood, but there was no hiding the fact now.

“I scratched my arm while climbing through the fence,” she said. “I’m sure it’s nothing to be concerned about.”

“It looks like you lost a lot of blood to me,” Sybil said. “You better let someone take a look at it.”

“It’s okay, really.”

“It needs to be checked,” Damien said, the authority in his voice leaving little room for argument.

“Okay,” she agreed. “As soon as I finish feeding Belle.”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t wait that long,” Carolina said. “You may still be losing blood. Sybil and I can handle feeding Belle or at least get started at it while Damien checks your injury. There’s a fully stocked first-aid kit in the hall bathroom.”