The Colorado Kid

She found the baby wipes, pulled one out of the container and handed it to him. “No, you wouldn’t, but it does seem to take both of us to replace one experienced mother.”

“That’s what I’ve been thinking.” He leaned over Elizabeth. “Hold still there, little one.”

Watching him tend to the baby with such gentleness made Matty’s throat tighten. He was going to be one hell of a daddy, if it turned out this little bundle belonged to him.

“Matty, do you think you could see your way clear to stick around here for the next few days?” he asked casually, not looking at her as he continued to work on Elizabeth.

Her heartbeat quickened. Although she’d been expecting the request, she wasn’t ready with her answer.

“I know it’ll be a pain in the neck,” he continued, still concentrating on the baby. “But I don’t see how else we can manage this. We can bring Sadie over here, of course, and I’ll help you take care of things at your place. We could drive over a couple of times a day. If you’ve got fence to mend, I’ll be happy to help you with it.” In the silence, he glanced up at her. “You’re being mighty quiet.”

“I’m thinking.”

A coaxing light came into his gray eyes. “I really need you here, Matty. I’d be petrified to be left alone with this baby right here at the beginning.”

As if she ever could have denied him. When he looked at her like that, she’d give him anything he wanted, including her heart. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll stay over.”

4

MATTY WOULD STAY. Sebastian almost keeled over in relief. The seemingly impossible job of dealing with this baby had been whittled down to a workable size.

“I think Elizabeth’s ready for her diaper,” he said with newfound confidence. He held out his hand. “Lay one on me.”

Matty gave him one from the box. “Go to it.”

Sebastian took the folded diaper and spread it on the table with one hand while he kept the other on Elizabeth’s chest. “Seems easy enough. We’ll just work in reverse. All we have to do is—”

Elizabeth squealed and started to kick and wave her arms.

“Hey!” The diaper slipped from his fingers onto the floor as he grabbed the baby with both hands. “Now is not the time to learn boot-scootin’, Elizabeth!”

The baby stared up at him and gurgled. Then she made that soft little cooing sound he liked so much.

A knot of anxiety loosened inside Sebastian’s gut when he heard the happy little noise, the same one she’d made when she’d seen his dog for the first time. Apparently she could tolerate the idea of having a cowboy like him take care of her. Secretly he’d been worried about that. Just because Jessica had decided to leave the baby with him didn’t mean the baby would like it much.

“I think you’ve made a friend,” Matty said softly.

He was embarrassed by how pleased that made him, so he minimized the significance of it. “Yeah, any friend of Fleafarm’s is a friend of hers.”

As if in response, the dog nudged his leg. Sebastian glanced down to see Fleafarm standing patiently beside him, the fallen diaper held delicately in her mouth.

“Oh, my God,” Matty said. “That is beyond cute.”

Fleafarm wagged her tail and looked up at them expectantly.

“Good dog!” Matty rubbed behind Fleafarm’s ears. “Thank you so much.” She took the diaper. “Now go lie down. That’s a good girl.”

“We’re not using a diaper that is covered with dog slobber, are we?”

“Pretend like you’re using it,” Matty said out of the corner of her mouth. “Don’t hurt her feelings by rejecting her offer of help.”

Sebastian sighed and took the diaper. “As life gets ever more complicated.” Then he made his tone bright. “Look, Elizabeth! Fleafarm picked up your diaper. The diaper we are going to use to cover your cute little tush. This very diaper. Absolutely. This one.” He shoved it into the middle of the table and grabbed the new one Matty slipped quietly to him.

About that time Elizabeth started kicking and cooing again. “Damn, how does anybody do this all by themselves?”

“I seem to remember my sister had a strap on her changing table. And a mobile hanging over it, to distract the kid. Let me see if I can help keep her occupied.” Matty moved around him, leaned down toward the baby and spoke in a low voice. “Now, Elizabeth, if you’ll stay very, very quiet, I’ll tell you a deep, dark secret. Something not very many people know. But you have to promise never, ever to breathe a word of this to anyone. Promise?”

Sebastian hadn’t ever heard Matty use that tone of voice. It sounded almost seductive, like the sort of tone a woman might use during lovemaking. He wondered if that’s the way Matty sounded when she—

“Sebastian?” She glanced up at him. “I’m trying to hypnotize this kid, not you. Get busy.”

“Oh. Yeah. Right.” He snatched up the diaper. “I’m on it.”