The Unclaimed Baby

“Stubborn old man.”

He grinned. “If you’re calling me names, I guess your spunk is back. Might’s well go along home and find something else to worry about.”

“Might’s well,” she agreed. “I really am okay, Grandpa Harlan.”

He lifted the baby above his head until she giggled, then brought her down for a kiss before handing her back to Sharon Lynn. He headed for the door, then turned back.

“By the way, Cord’s working out real good at White Pines. Your daddy’s kept him hopping and from what I hear, Cord is up to it.”

“He got the job, then? I’d wondered.”

Surprise registered on his face. “You haven’t talked to him?”

“Not since Friday night.”

“Interesting,” he said thoughtfully. “Well, something tells me he’ll be coming around first chance he gets.”

Her gaze narrowed at the vague innuendo in his tone. “What is that supposed to mean? You haven’t been meddling again, have you?”

“I asked a few questions, that’s all. We were hiring the man. What would you have me do?”

“I thought Daddy interviewed him.”

“He did. I just came along behind him and picked up a few more details, tidied up some loose ends, you might say.”

“Such as?”

“Oh, this and that.”

“Grandpa!”

“You take care, darlin’ girl. Bring that baby out to the ranch this weekend, if she’s still staying with you. Nothing I love more than fussing over a new baby.”

He was gone before she could reply, but not before the casual invitation stirred up all of her worst fears. Would the baby be with her by the weekend? Would she even be with her tomorrow? The uncertainty was difficult now. How much worse would it get as time passed? What would her impulsive decision to become the child’s foster mother lead to? What would it cost her?

“It doesn’t matter,” she murmured, settling the baby into the carrier so she could clean up the lunch counter and grill from the day’s onslaught of customers. She didn’t matter. The baby’s well-being was all that counted, and for now she was in a position to see that nobody ever hurt that precious child again.

Another round of curious neighbors and family members dropped in around four. By nightfall, she was sick of being subjected to concerned glances and of listening to all the warnings. She was ready to close up on the dot of six, if only to prevent any more lectures from well-meaning relatives. Just as she was about to lock the door and breathe a sigh of relief, Cord appeared. Given the hints her grandfather had dropped earlier, she wasn’t sure just how welcome she ought to make him.

“Too late to get dinner?” he asked, his expression hopeful.

She regarded him warily. “That depends.”

“On?”

“Whether you intend to offer advice.”

He grinned. “I gather your family’s been calling on you today. I assumed as much from the ruckus going on out at the ranch all day. Every time one of the women came back with a report, all the men gathered around to hear it. I got the feeling your brother and your father were just itching to sneak into town and take a look for themselves. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if they showed up tonight.”

“They’ll probably hold out till tomorrow. Grandpa Harlan came in their place.”

“I’m not surprised. He probably would have been here Saturday right after he talked to me, if the roads hadn’t been so bad. He had more questions than a reporter sniffing out a hot scoop.”

“I’ll bet. Watch your step around him or you won’t have a secret left.”

Cord met her gaze evenly. “I’m not all that big on secrets, not with the people who matter to me. I’m a cards-on-the-table kind of guy. What about you?”

“I don’t know. In my family, it’s virtually impossible to keep any,” she said a little wistfully. “It might be nice to try sometime. I’ve always wanted to be mysterious. That’s hard to pull off when you’ve lived in the same town all your life and your life’s an open book. Do you know how difficult it is to get any privacy at all with relatives looking over your shoulder every time you turn around?”

“Think about the flip side. You could be like me and not have anyone to share things with at all. Believe me, darlin’, you’re better off.”

“I suppose,” she said, but after a day like today she had a really hard time relating to his perspective.

“Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn’t have done what you did, just taken off and gotten a fresh start someplace totally new.” She thought of her uncle Luke and her cousin Angela. “Of course, others in my family have tried it and wound up right back here again. Only one moved far enough away to get some peace and quiet, but she’s back with her family at the drop of a hat. All she has to do is hint and Grandpa sends Uncle Jordan flying up to bring them all down.”

Cord listened thoughtfully, but his expression was skeptical. “Why would you leave all you have here, a family, a business, your home?”

“It might have been easier,” she said quietly, thinking of the days after Kyle’s death, when she’d faced reminders everywhere she turned. That would have been the time to go. Instead she’d bought Dolan’s and pretty much ensured that she’d be here forever.

“Easier?” Cord repeated. “I don’t understand.”

She forced a smile. “No, I don’t suppose you do.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

“I’m not sure I believe that.” His gaze searched hers. “Something tells me it matters very much. Are you going to tell me the whole story?”

“Maybe,” she said. “One of these days.”

He tilted his head “Now, you see, you do know how to keep secrets, after all.”

She could feel a slow grin spreading across her face. “You’re right. I guess I do. Does that make me a woman of mystery?”

“It does to me.”

She gave a little nod of satisfaction. “Well, then, that’s something.” She flashed him a brilliant smile.

“So, tell me, what are you doing here? I’m surprised you’re not eating in the bunkhouse out at White Pines. The food’s better there than anything I could throw together for you.”

He winked at her. “But the company’s a whole lot more fascinating around here.”

Sharon Lynn flushed under his warm gaze, but before she could warn him off, before she could make it clear that she wasn’t interested in pursuing anything more than conversation—or maybe just a hint of flirting to see if she was still any good at it—he turned away and scanned the drugstore.

“Where’s my girl?” he demanded. “I’ve spent the whole weekend wondering how she was getting along. Everybody at the ranch was offering up opinions, but I couldn’t wait to see for myself.”

So that was why he’d come, she thought, feeling oddly disgruntled by the discovery that this visit was all about the baby. Apparently he’d just been making idle, small talk with her, biding his time.

Before she could reply, Cord spotted the portable crib and headed straight for it. Sharon Lynn watched as he scooped the baby up and held her in the air. The baby gurgled with delight as she had earlier for Grandpa Harlan. Sharon Lynn wanted to haul the baby into her arms and explain that girls shouldn’t go trusting a man whose attentions were so fickle. Then again, maybe she was the one who needed that advice. She’d realized when Cord walked through the door that she’d been half watching for him all weekend long.

“You’ve made a conquest, I see.” She couldn’t seem to help the testy note in her voice. Fortunately Cord seemed oblivious to it.