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“Well, obviously Grandpa Harlan would think any child of his precious baby daughter’s would be a genius,” Sharon Lynn teased. “As for Hank, he’s totally and thoroughly besotted with you. It was a given that any child you two conceived would be brighter and cuter than any other baby on earth, at least in his eyes.”
She reached for this baby and took her from Lizzy’s arms. “Of course, this one could give little Jamey a run for his money in the looks department.”
“You sound an awful lot like a proud mama,” Lizzy said, regarding her worriedly. “Sweetie, you aren’t getting any ideas about trying to keep her, are you?”
“Of course not,” Sharon Lynn denied a little too emphatically. “This is just temporary until Justin can find out who abandoned her and whether there’s any family to take her.”
“Then why did you bring home enough diapers and formula for months, rather than days?”
She could feel the color flooding her cheeks. “I just grabbed stuff last night. I wasn’t counting. Neither was Cord. We just accidentally doubled up on some stuff.”
As soon as the last was out of her mouth, she realized her mistake. The repeat mention of Cord’s name was like waving a red flag in front of Lizzy.
“Okay, into the kitchen,” Lizzy ordered in the imperious manner of a woman used to having her demands taken seriously. “You can feed the baby and I’ll pour the coffee. I want to hear all about this Cord person.”
“Don’t you have to get back to your own family?” Sharon Lynn asked hopefully.
“You are my family,” Lizzy reminded her. “I’m the aunt. I get to be nosy.”
“You’re younger than I am.”
“Doesn’t matter. In the family pecking order, I have rank. Ask Daddy.”
“It would be a waste of time asking Grandpa Harlan,” Sharon Lynn conceded. “Precious Lizzy has ruled the roost since the day she was born. After all those impossible sons of his, to say nothing of Jenny who was a fourteen-year-old troublemaker when he married your mom, you were his darling angel. Little did he know that you’d turn out to be the most stubborn and impossible of all of them.”
“None of which has a thing to do with the topic,” Lizzy reminded her, oblivious to the familiar teasing.
“Which is?”
“Cord. Tell me about him.”
Sharon Lynn forced a casual, disinterested shrug.
“He’s a nice guy. He came into Dolan’s last night, right off the road in the middle of that storm. He’d been traveling from Montana. He’s here looking for a job.”
“What kind of job?”
“Actually he has an interview at White Pines today.”
“Oh, boy,” Lizzy said, chuckling. “And you think I’m subjecting you to an inquisition. Just wait till Daddy gets wind of the fact that you and Cord rescued a baby from a blizzard.”
That was precisely what Sharon Lynn was most afraid of. Her grandfather was notorious for his matchmaking schemes. She gave Lizzy a pointed look. “Then hopefully he won’t find out about it.”
“You have to be dreaming. Daddy has a sixth sense for this sort of thing. Not to mention the fact that Justin and I already know about it. I had to tell Hank I was coming here on my way to work at the hospital. Who knows how many people Justin has spoken to? And Cord is at this very moment out at White Pines meeting with whom?”
“Daddy, more than likely.”
Lizzy grinned. “Oh, yes, indeed, Uncle Cody is definitely known for his discretion. Add it up, sweetie, and you’re in big trouble.”
“Cord is being interviewed by my father,” Sharon Lynn reiterated. “Not Grandpa Harlan.”
Lizzy chuckled. “And you think that’s an improvement?”
Sharon Lynn sighed. “Okay, maybe not much of one. Maybe Cord won’t mention having met me.”
“Did you swear him to secrecy?”
“No.”
“If you were hoping to get hired on by the biggest rancher in the state, wouldn’t you use the fact that you happen to know his daughter?”
“Okay, maybe, but it’s not like we’re old friends or anything. We just met.”
“And rescued a baby together. It’s a bond, sweetie, the kind that will set off all sorts of wild speculation around White Pines. There’s no getting around it.”
It was a bond, Sharon Lynn thought with a sigh. Cord’s tenderness with the baby had touched her heart. His outrage and indignation had been every bit a match for her own. Beyond that? She refused to look beyond that. She wasn’t remotely interested in allowing a new man into her life, especially not a charming stranger who might be all too capable of slipping past her defenses. She’d lived amidst charming rogues and scoundrels all her life. She wasn’t interested in dating one. That’s why Kyle, the polar opposite of the men in her family, had held such strong appeal for her. Judging from Lizzy’s expression, she hadn’t yet made herself clear enough. She tried again.
“Lizzy, for a woman with a practical, scientific mind, you’re talking like the ultimate romantic. Get a grip. Cord Branson is a total stranger.”
“He might have been when he walked into Dolan’s last night, but something tells me he isn’t now.”
“You’re imagining things.”
“We’ll see,” Lizzy predicted. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned the last couple of years, it’s that fate has a sneaky way of turning life upside down when you least expect it. Jamey is proof enough of that.”
Sharon Lynn could certainly testify to that, too, but her experience with fate wasn’t something she had any intention of repeating. She was in total control of her life these days and she intended to stay that way. She said as much to Lizzy.
“And this time yesterday were you cuddling a baby in your arms and trying to figure out how you were going to juggle your schedule at Dolan’s and care for her?”
“No, but—”
Lizzy grinned. “I rest my case.” She slipped on her coat, then leaned down to brush a kiss across Sharon Lynn’s cheek. “See you, sweetie. Call if you need any help. If I’m not around, talk to Hank. He’s the baby expert, anyway. He’ll probably insist you bring this little princess out to the ranch to play with Jamey.”
Sharon Lynn grinned. “I think this one might be a little young for play-dates, don’t you?”
“I do, but Hank won’t. Promise you’ll call if you need anything.”
“Thanks. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
Lizzy’s expression sobered then. She picked up Sharon Lynn’s hand and pressed it against her cheek.
“Don’t get too attached, okay? It would be easy to do. Nobody could blame you, but—”
“I know,” Sharon Lynn responded bleakly. “It can only end in heartbreak. I’ve been there, done that. One more time won’t matter.”
“It would matter,” Lizzy said fiercely. “You’re strong, Sharon Lynn. We all know that. But even you have a breaking point.”
Sharon Lynn forced a smile. “Then I can’t let myself get too attached, can I?”
When Lizzy was gone, she glanced down at the now-sleeping baby in her arms and sighed. She had a terrible feeling it was already too late.
The interview had gone well enough. Cody Adams had asked tough questions, questions that might have put Cord on the defensive, but he’d asked them in a way that had encouraged Cord to give straight answers about his past, as well as his ambitions.
“In other words, we can’t count on you sticking around here as a hand until your dying breath,” Cody summarized after the questions were done and they’d spent some time touring the ranch. “You scrape up enough money, find some land you want and you’ll leave?”
“To be perfectly honest, yes,” Cord admitted.
“But until I do, I’ll work longer and harder than any other man you’ve got.”
“Why White Pines?”
“Because everybody says you’re the best.”
“Who is everybody?”
Cord mentioned all the places he’d stopped and asked questions. “The Adams name kept coming up.”
Cody nodded, his expression thoughtful. “I like a man who does his homework. I also like a man who doesn’t make promises he doesn’t intend to keep. Depending on how good you are at tucking away your pay and not squandering it on poker games and such, I suppose I can count on you being with us for a while, long enough for it to be worth my while to break you in.”
Cord thought of another reason for staying right here, not just in the short term, but forever. She had the most incredible blue eyes he’d ever seen. He doubted Cody would want to know about his intentions in that regard just yet. Instead he said only, “Yes, sir, I think you can count on me being here that long.”
“Then the job’s yours. When can you start?”
Cord barely managed to contain a whoop of triumph. “When do you need me?”
“Today would be good. I’ll settle for tomorrow. I’m short one man and I’ve got two more down with the flu. I’m running in circles trying to keep up. My brother-in-law’s been pitching in, but he’s got his own spread to worry about, plus a kid who’s just learning to walk and is running both him and his housekeeper ragged.”
“Just tell me what needs doing and I’ll get started,” Cord told him, pushing aside his regret that there wouldn’t be time to head back into town to see Sharon Lynn and the baby until later that night or early the next week.
Before Cody could reply, the phone in his office rang. he grabbed it up, listened intently, then glanced at Cord with renewed curiosity.
“Sure thing, Daddy. I’ll send him over to the house. Don’t be taking up too much of his time, though. I’ve got chores for him to do.” He grinned.
“Yes, I recall that it is still your ranch and you do have some say about what goes on around here. Even if I should forget, you take great pleasure in reminding me every chance you get.”
He hung up and turned back to regard Cord speculatively. “You didn’t mention that you’d met my daughter.”
“Sharon Lynn?” he asked, impressed by the speed of the family grapevine.
Cody nodded. “How’d that come about?”
Cord debated just how much he should say, finally settling on the bare minimum. “I stopped in town last night for a bite to eat. Dolan’s was the only place open.”
“I see. Anything else interesting happen while you were there?”
Cord chuckled at the careful probing. Apparently he was wasting his time being discreet. “Obviously you’ve heard about the baby that was dropped off on the doorstep.”
“Daddy told me just now. He wants to hear the whole story. So do I, but in my case it’ll have to wait for another time. You go on up to the main house and fill him in, then come back here when you’re done.”
Cord stood up and started for the door, but Cody stopped him.
“You know, if you’d mentioned what happened, I’d have given you the job without asking a million and one questions. The fact that you helped out my daughter and that poor little abandoned baby would have been enough.”
Cord nodded. “I suspected as much, sir. I wanted to get the job on my own.”
Cody regarded him with approval. “An admirable decision. I think you’re going to work out just fine. Now get on up to the house before Daddy comes looking for you. Once he’s here, he won’t be able to resist telling me how to do things.”
“I imagine that would be time-consuming, sir.”
Cody grinned. “You have no idea.”
Cord had seen the main house in the distance when he’d driven up to White Pines a few hours earlier. It reminded him of a Southern plantation. Cody had explained that was exactly what it was, almost a replica of the burned-to-the-ground home that his ancestors had left behind when they’d fled the South after the Civil War.
He parked in front of the house and climbed the steps, which had already been cleared of snow. Before he could ring the bell, the door swung wide and an older version of Cody with white hair and stooped shoulders held out a hand.
“You must be Cord. Come on in. I’ve heard all about the goings-on in town last night.”
“I gather Los Pin˜os has an active grapevine.”
“I can’t swear for the town, but this family does,” Harlan Adams said with pride. “There’s not much that goes on that I don’t know about.” He started down the hall and beckoned for Cord to follow.
“Let’s go in the kitchen if you don’t mind. If I’m right there, I have half a chance of getting a decent cup of coffee, instead of that pitiful decaf everybody’s been insisting I drink the last few months.”
In the huge kitchen, Harlan Adams glanced around, poked his head into what was apparently a large walk-in pantry and gave a nod of satisfaction. “Good, the housekeeper’s gone. If you’ll grab a couple of cups from that cupboard over there, I’ll pour.”
Cody found two large mugs and put them on the table, hiding his amusement that one of the most powerful men in Texas was having to sneak a cup of real coffee in his own home.
“Are you sure you ought to be drinking this?” he asked.
“Of course not. My daughter, the one who’s got a fancy medical degree now, got a notion that the real stuff is bad for my heart. I’m way past eighty now. It’s my opinion that if I want a cup of coffee, then by God, I ought to have one. Age should have some privileges.”
“Just don’t keel over on my watch,” Cord said.
The old man’s blue eyes twinkled merrily. “I’ll guarantee that, if you’ll keep my little secret.”
“Done.”
“So tell me about this baby you and Sharon Lynn found.”
“What have you heard?”
“Pitifully little. I tried to wheedle more information out of my grandson, but he’s the sheriff and as tight-lipped as an old maid when it comes to an investigation. All I know for sure is that Sharon Lynn talked him into leaving the baby with her for the time being. I’ve called a judge to make it official that she can provide temporary guardianship for the child, while Justin does his poking around.”
Cord gave a little nod of satisfaction. “She’ll take good care of her.”
“Well, of course she will. The girl has a heart as big as Texas. Trouble is, she’s mighty vulnerable these days. I just pray she doesn’t get hurt. I know Justin thinks she’s making a big mistake. Giving up foster care babies isn’t always easy, not even on folks who do it all the time.”
“I’ll admit I don’t know your granddaughter all that well, but she struck me as being a pretty sensible woman. She didn’t waste a lot of time getting emotional last night. The instant we found that baby, she just took charge.”
“That’s her way, but it’s been a terrible year for her. Take my word for that.”
Cord had the feeling that was all Harlan Adams intended to say on the subject, but his measured words only confirmed what Cord had read in her eyes. Something tragic had filled her with sorrow. It reminded him that he needed to move slowly, even though his every instinct was to pursue her without pause until he swept her off her feet.
“You a single man, Cord?”
The question took him by surprise, especially in the context of the conversation they’d just been having and his own thoughts.
“Yes, sir.”
“I see,” Harlan Adams said, surveying him speculatively.
Cord tried not to flinch under the intense scrutiny. Finally he met the old man’s gaze evenly and asked, “How do I measure up, sir?”
Harlan threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, you’ll do well enough, I imagine.”
“Are we talking about ranching now or something else?”
Before he could reply, a woman with black hair threaded with silver and the angled cheekbones of Native American ancestry swept into the kitchen, snatched the mug from in front of Harlan Adams and poured the contents into the sink, even as she gave Cord a smile.
Despite the look of longing he cast at the emptied mug, Harlan Adams’s gaze softened as he looked at the woman. “Cord, this is my wife, Janet. She has a sixth sense about when I’m straying from the straight and narrow. It’s a damned nuisance.”
Janet Adams smiled at Cord and touched her husband’s cheek. “I don’t intend to lose you, old man, not if I have to spy on you twenty-four hours a day.”
The affection between the two of them stirred a yearning inside Cord. He wanted what they had. He wanted to have someone in his life who cared enough about his well-being to defy him when it mattered, someone who would treasure every minute they managed to snatch as they grew old together.
Once more an image of Sharon Lynn came to mind. Judging from her grandfather and father, the years would be kind to her. He could envision sharing them with her. The prospect had taken him by surprise the night before, but it was growing on him now. It seemed as natural as breathing, as inevitable as the sunrise.
“I’d best be getting back to Cody now,” he said.
“He has chores for me.”
Harlan barely pulled his gaze from his wife, but he said, “Welcome to White Pines. We’ll be seeing a lot more of you around here, son.”
As he headed back to Cody’s office, Cord kept hearing the echo of that one word—son. He supposed Harlan Adams referred to a lot of men in that same easy, casual way. He couldn’t possibly have guessed how much it would mean to Cord to be accepted so readily.
Or how soon Cord intended to make the ties between them real and deep by marrying his granddaughter. Then, again, he recalled the expression on Harlan Adams’s face earlier when they’d been talking about Sharon Lynn. He was a wise man. Maybe he’d already been able to read what was in Cord’s heart.
Chapter 4
Sharon Lynn was falling in love. With every hour that passed, she grew more and more enchanted with the baby she and Cord had discovered in the alley behind Dolan’s. The little angel rarely fussed and had a smile that could light up the world.
Because of the weather, she’d had the baby to herself the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday. It had been surprisingly easy to fall into the baby’s rhythm, frightening to realize how easily her heart could be stolen.
In a few short hours, it began to seem totally natural to have a child tucked into the crook of her arm as she went about her other chores. Old lullabies she hadn’t thought of in years came back to her as she held the baby and rocked her to sleep.
As the time flew by, she began to dread the ringing of the phone. Each time she answered, she expected it to be Justin with word on the baby’s family, with an announcement that someone was coming to claim the child. She couldn’t help wondering how she would cope with that inevitable end.
On Friday night, the baby had needed Sharon Lynn to survive. By Sunday, she worried that maybe it was turning the other way around. Finding the baby on her doorstep was giving her, at long last, a reason to live.
But such a tenuous reason, she warned herself, one that could be snatched from her at any moment. Yet how could any woman defend herself against loving a beautiful, helpless child?
There were limits, though. Even she could see that. It was one reason she resisted the temptation to name the baby. Surely the child already had a name. She had to. It wasn’t Sharon Lynn’s place to choose another, even if it meant calling her nothing more than sweetie or little one. It was awkward and frustrating at times, but it was the way it had to be.
When the phone rang at nine o’clock on Sunday night, she jumped. At the sound of Justin’s voice, her heart slowed to a dull thud.
“Everything okay over there?” he asked.
“Of course. Have you found out anything?”
“Nothing. Still no reports of a missing baby. It’s as if she appeared out of nowhere.”
“Maybe she’s just a gift from heaven,” Sharon Lynn said quietly, unable to hide the wistfulness.
“Maybe this was meant to be.”
“Don’t go there,” Justin warned. “Please don’t go there. Not yet. We’re just in the early stages of the investigation. Anything could happen.”
She sighed. “I know.”
“What do you intend to do about work tomorrow?”
“I’m taking her with me, of course.”
It was Justin’s turn to sigh heavily. “I figured as much. Lizzy called. She says she has a portable crib and a carrier out at her place that you can use. I’ll pick them up first thing in the morning and drop them off at Dolan’s.”
“Thanks, Justin. You’re an angel.”
“I hope you still feel that way when this is all over.”
“No matter what happens, I won’t blame you. I promise.”
“I’ll see you in the morning.”
After she’d hung up, Sharon Lynn went in to check on the baby and stood for a long time just watching her sleep. She was so innocent and trusting and yet already in her young life, she had been betrayed in the cruelest way of all. Was she aware of that on some level? Would it affect her for the rest of her life? Or did she only know that there was someone now keeping her warm and fed and safe? She certainly seemed to be sleeping peacefully enough.
As the night wore on, Sharon Lynn envied her that. She tossed and turned, knowing that the day ahead would be chaotic, that it would be filled with unanswerable questions and maybe with heart-wrenching loss. The weather had saved her from the visitors and the questions all weekend, but she wouldn’t be so lucky come morning. It wasn’t in the Adams genes to let something like this pass unnoticed.
Sure enough, not only was Justin on the doorstep when she arrived at Dolan’s, but her mother and grandmother were there right on his heels. Her aunts and her cousins followed at a head-spinning clip.
Thanks to Lizzy’s contributions, the baby was settled into a portable crib behind the lunch counter where every single Adams could ooh and aah over her, along with half the town. By noon Sharon Lynn was so sick of advice, so tired of warnings about getting attached that she was ready to scream. She would have thrown everyone out and locked the doors, but Dolan’s was a business and the novelty of an abandoned baby on the premises had the lunch counter busier than it had been in weeks.
By two, things had finally settled down again. Patsy Driscoll had gone home after pocketing more tips than she usually did in a week. Sharon Lynn finally had a chance to hold the baby herself.
“You charmed the socks off of them,” she informed the gurgling child. “Little wonder. You’re every bit as cute as any Adams baby I’ve ever seen and, believe me, there are a lot of them.”
“Hey, are you maligning my descendants?” Grandpa Harlan inquired as he slid onto a stool next to her, his gaze locked on the baby.
Sharon Lynn sighed. “I should have known you wouldn’t be able to resist coming into town to see her for yourself.”
“Why should I be the only one left out?” he inquired.
“Because she’s a baby, not a circus sideshow.”
“You upset because everyone’s interested or because they’re all offering up advice you don’t want to hear?”
Of course, he would see that, she thought. Her grandfather was the wisest man she knew. She gazed into his bright blue eyes and saw the concern there.
“I know what I’m letting myself in for,” she assured him.
“I’m sure you do,” he agreed. “Doesn’t mean we can’t worry about you.”
“Do you intend to add in your two cents?”
He grinned. “Not if you’ll let me hold her, while you go pour me a cup of real coffee.”
Amused by his eagerness, Sharon Lynn relinquished the baby gladly enough, but she poured decaf into the cup she handed him. Her grandfather scowled.
“You, too?”
“I take my marching orders from a higher authority.”
“Who’s that?” he demanded indignantly.
“Janet.”
“Whatever happened to the days when an old man was respected?”
“We do respect you and we love you. That’s why we want you to stick around. Now, drink the decaf. It tastes just as good as the high-octane stuff.”
“If taste were all that mattered, there wouldn’t be two kinds. I want a little kick.”
“Well, you won’t get it here and that’s that.”
“Stubborn brat.”
“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.”