Rancher's Perfect Baby Rescue

Luckily, he’d seemed to overcome his shock about her confession fairly quickly. The rest of the past would have to stay buried. It wasn’t that she thought he would force her to leave if she told him. She trusted him not to rub it in her face. Somehow she knew he wasn’t that kind of man.

Still, what good would it do to blurt out everything? She and Melody would not be staying on the ranch for good. It was impossible. So why take the chance of upsetting him for no reason?

He was a beautiful, honorable man. She had lots of feelings about him. Some just as honorable, some not so much. And she had no intention of ruining whatever temporary relationship they could have by shoving unnecessarily hurtful truths about her past in his face.

They were making their way to what appeared to be a new wing. Low slung and cozy, the construction made it look more like a cottage rather than part of the ranch house itself.

She set her shoulders, not at all sure she was ready to meet a special-needs child. But then, she didn’t know what to expect. All she knew was that the Devotees would not be happy knowing such a girl lived in close proximity to their perfect world.

The more she’d been thinking about the Devotees’ stance against any imperfections, the more uneasy she’d become. How dare the Devotees shun people who weren’t like them? Surely Samuel couldn’t know about this way of thinking.

And what about the rumor of their selling imperfect babies? To whom? And for what? The very idea gave her the chills.

“Here we are.” Nathan stood on the stoop with one hand on the doorknob. “Kathryn wants to meet you, too. She’s offered a few things for you to wear if the two of you are the same size. You’re not too tired?”

Before coming here they’d only gone a little ways past the yard and around the barns out to the nearest wooden fence. From there, in the distance she’d seen a field full of reddish-colored cattle, milling about in tall grasses and making soft noises. It’d been interesting, especially when Nathan told her how much work it took to raise a herd in Wyoming winters.

But now he was waiting for an answer to his question. “I’m okay.” She wanted to do this to please him.

In the sunshine, for the first time since she’d come to the ranch, she was able to breathe deep. With Nathan standing beside her, she’d felt really safe for the first time in weeks.

As he’d talked about the cattle, she’d casually glanced over at him. The sun had hit him just right, and glints of gold bounced along his body like spotlights. The sudden rush of sensual awareness caught her by surprise.

She had no business checking him out like that. Closing her mouth, she tried to concentrate on what he was saying.

But heaven knew he had a body that could make any woman weep. Tall and lanky, his arm muscles bunched under the long-sleeved shirt. Here was a man who worked hard outdoors and came by his muscles naturally. She’d never met anyone quite that rugged before. Her fingertips longed to run along the plains of his well-honed body.

Still, she fought the unwanted urges and chided herself for even thinking such things about a man who temporarily had control of both her and her child’s well-being. And in addition to that one very important fact, she was also a brand-new mother with an infant and not a woman on the prowl for a man.

Nathan’s only reason for being nice to her had to be Melody. She felt sure of it. He’d taken them in and agreed they could stay because he was a decent person who couldn’t turn away a sick newborn. Susannah had done nothing but give him trouble thus far.

So, if he wanted her to meet his niece, then she would do it despite her reservations.

He pulled off his Stetson and led her inside the house to a small living room, like something out of an ancient TV sitcom set back in the fifties. “Kathryn? We’re here.” He ran the rim of the Stetson through his fingers and waited for acknowledgment.

“Come on back.” A pleasant female voice came from somewhere unseen. “We’re just finishing afternoon floor time.”

Nathan motioned for her to go ahead through a set of double doors. On the other side, she found another great old-school-style room with little girls’ toys spread all over the floor. And in the middle of the mess sat a pretty little girl of six or seven with long blond hair.

The girl didn’t turn when they came through the door. In fact, she didn’t acknowledge their presence at all.

Not so was the case of the woman with her. The nice-looking woman of about forty was getting to her feet, smiling at Nathan as they came closer.

“Glad you could stop by this afternoon before she gets too tired. Sara’s made a couple of emotional connections today, and I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.” Then the woman turned to Susannah and stuck a hand out. “Hi. You must be Susannah. I’m Kathryn Robards, and this is Sara Pierce.”

“Good to meet you.” Susannah took Kathryn’s hand but noticed the little girl did not even turn at the mention of her name.

Was this child mad that a stranger had come to visit?

Nathan dropped his hat on a nearby table. Then he folded all of his six-two or six-three body up and sat on the floor directly in front of the child.

“Hi, Sara. What are you playing with today?” He picked up a nearby doll and brought it up to his face. “This little princess? She’s one of your favorites, isn’t she? Want to play?”

Sara looked up at Nathan, and her eyes widened. She reached for the doll, still not smiling, but more animated than she’d been since they’d come into the room.

“Uncle Nat-ton. Jasmine, p … please.”

Nathan chuckled and handed her the doll. For a few minutes, he spoke softly to her about the toy. His voice stayed low and slow. But his face spoke volumes about how well he loved this child.

“Do you know much about autism, Susannah?” Kathryn spoke in a quiet tone while Nathan and Sara continued talking and playing on the floor.

“Nothing. She doesn’t look physically injured or ill in any way.”

“No, many autistic kids seem like perfect children on the outside, though unfortunately Sara is one who has gone through her share of physical challenges. But we’ve got most of those managed now. You might not know, but it’s a fact that some autistic children have high functioning intelligence. We think Sara may well be one of them. However, everything is all locked up inside her head. Nathan hired me a couple years ago as her companion and to work with her on ways to expand her abilities.”

“Does she go to school?”

“No, not yet. But we’re hopeful that someday she will. Would you like to talk to her?”

“Very much.”

“Then you need to know that she will appear disconnected, but she’s not. Autism robs these kids of the ability to use regular facial expressions. At first glance, the rest of us can’t tell if she’s happy or sad. That might make you think she isn’t clever, but she’s far from dull or mentally impaired.