Newborn Daddy

“Good.”

He stood. “She’ll be released from the hospital in a couple of days?”

“I’ll try to keep her there that long. She told me two weeks ago she wouldn’t be staying more than one night.”

“But she didn’t know then how hard a time she’d have, right?” Ryan, after having seen Emma, wasn’t sure she would even be able to walk in a week’s time, much less care for a newborn.

Steve’s closed expression, as if he didn’t want to discuss anything else, was his only answer. “Look, let me know when she’s getting out and I’ll be there to get her settled in.”

“Ryan, someone checking on her every day won’t be enough. She’s weak and determined to nurse her child. If she accomplishes that, it will be a miracle. Forget cleaning, cooking, bathing the baby. And she’ll need more. She’ll need companionship. I’m seriously worried about her because she seems so alone…so sad.”

Guilt again built in Ryan’s chest. Okay, so he’d paid a few bills. He had the money. It wasn’t much of a sacrifice. But Emma’s sad eyes popped into his head, alongside Beth’s look of joy.

Ryan paced the doctor’s office again, facing a difficult decision. The guilt won out.

“Okay, I’ll take her back to the ranch with me. Billy can do the cooking and cleaning. And I’ll hire one of the cowboys’ wives to stay with her every day until she’s better. Will that do?”

The doctor’s compassionate gaze settled on Ryan’s face. “If that’s the best you can do, I guess so. It’s better than her being on her own.”

Ryan didn’t put much effort into his goodbyes. He wanted away from that look. Away from what he was facing. And he had a lot to do.

Once he reached his truck, he took out his cell phone and called the ranch.

“Billy, drop everything and get ready for two guests.”

“Hi, boss. Your mom and dad coming to see the new grandbaby?”

“Yeah, but they’re staying at Beth’s. Uh, Emma Davenport and her baby are going to recuperate at the ranch.”

Silence followed his announcement. Then Billy said, “Okay. How old is the baby?”

Emma had visited the ranch a few times and had quickly become a favorite with Billy. Her quiet appreciation for his efforts, plus her offers to help, had pleased him.

“Her baby was born today. Give Emma the downstairs bedroom and clean out the little room across the hall. I’ll bring home some baby stuff to go in there. Get help if you need it.”

Ryan didn’t give himself time to think. He hurried to the one department store in town to get whatever he’d need to accommodate the baby. Later, if Emma didn’t want any of it, he could give it to Beth, or keep it for when she, Jack and his namesake visited.

The saleswoman, another hometown friend, eagerly sold him everything ever known to mankind made for a baby. Memory of Emma’s sad eyes had him buying the most gaily-colored items offered. He helped load everything in the back of his truck, ready to head for home.

His stomach growled and he considered stopping for a bite to eat, but that made his thoughts immediately fly to Emma and their dinners. It wasn’t the first time this had happened. In fact, he’d refused to come into town in the afternoons for the past few months.

He slammed into the cab of his truck and drove faster than he should have to reach the safety of the ranch. Soon even the ranch wouldn’t be safe.

Emma and the baby would be there.

Emma was encouraged by the slight increase of strength she felt the next morning. She almost had to crawl to the bathroom in her room, but she made it without calling for help.

The nurse came in just as she left the bathroom and helped her back to bed. Emma couldn’t refuse since she was trembling all over.

“You should’ve called for help,” the nurse chided. “Doctor said you weren’t to get out of bed.”

“I have to get stronger so I can go home today,” Emma said, trying to smile at the woman.

“Lawsy-mercy, after the time you had? Doctor won’t even think of letting you leave today. You could stay in bed for a week and it would still be too early.”

Panic built in Emma, but she tried to hide it. “I don’t need that long. Besides, I can’t afford it, you know. Babies are expensive.”

The nurse gave her a kindly smile. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. Ryan took care of everything.”

Thank goodness she was already in the bed, or she would’ve collapsed on the floor. “What did you say?” she demanded, but her voice was faint.

“Uh, I shouldn’t have—I thought it would reassure you. I’m sorry.” The nurse began backing toward the door. “I’ll bring your breakfast.”

As soon as she was alone, Emma reached for the phone beside her bed. When the billing office answered, she demanded to know her balance.

“Your balance is zero, Miss Davenport,” the woman said cheerfully.

“How can that be? I haven’t paid anything.”

“Oh, your baby’s father paid everything. We’re supposed to bill him if there are any other charges. So, you have nothing to worry about.”

Emma hung up the phone without answering. Nothing to worry about. She had put Ryan’s name on the birth certificate because she knew how much that meant to a child later in life. She hadn’t known either her father or her mother’s name. Her child would know.

But she hadn’t done it so Ryan would feel forced to pay for the baby…and her. She’d always known he was a good man. And she’d found out about his wife and son afterwards. As much as his words had hurt her, stunned her, she’d understood.

She should’ve carried out her plan to have the baby in Buffalo, but it was an hour’s drive away, and she’d got frightened that she wouldn’t be able to make the drive by herself.

Seven months ago, she’d even considered giving up the job she loved and moving away then, while she could still have managed. But she hadn’t, because she’d harbored a foolish hope that Ryan would change his mind. That he’d walk back through the doors of the library and ask her out to dinner again.

Foolish, foolish Emma.

With tears in her eyes, she pushed up from the pillow and surveyed her room. Her suitcase was on the floor by the window, still packed, though standing open. Last night the nurse had helped her don her own nightgown. While not fancy, at least it didn’t have gaps down the back, like the hospital gown she had worn.

So, all she’d have to do was make her way to the chair beside her suitcase, get dressed, toss in her nightgown, and leave. Stopping to collect Andrea on the way, of course.

The thought of walking to her car alone was enough to exhaust her. Carrying a suitcase and her baby seemed an impossibility. But she didn’t want Ryan paying any more.

He didn’t want them, either of them.

As she was contemplating what she had to do, the door opened and the nurse entered with a breakfast tray. She raised the head of the bed, then put the tray on the bed table and slid it in front of Emma.

“You’ll feel stronger once you eat your breakfast,” she advised cheerfully. “And Doctor will be in soon to visit with you. He came last night, but you were already asleep and he didn’t want to wake you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she whispered. She barely remembered him from the delivery, but she’d liked him when she’d visited him two weeks ago to ask him to deliver her baby.

“No problem. He thought you getting some rest was more important than him poking around on you. Actually, you’re doing much better than any of us expected. You were in labor a long time. Why, Beth Kirby came in after you and delivered a couple of hours before you did.”

“Beth’s here? She had her baby?” Emma asked, joy on her face. She’d loved Beth almost as much as Ryan, feeling she’d finally found a sister. “Are she and the baby all right? What did she have?”