by Regan Black
She stacked diapers onto the shelf under the changing table. “You told me you had a rocker you were bringing up from outside.”
And that had been his plan until he’d seen the wistfulness on her face in the store. “This saves me cleanup time.” He fidgeted while she stared him down. Escape was his best option. “I should go and interview my brothers. We need DNA samples to confirm he’s a Colton.” He cleared his throat. “You’re good here?”
“We’re good.” She cast him a quick smile over her shoulder. The little guy was looking around and taking it all in from a hammock-like seat Kelsey called a bouncy chair. “It’ll be easier for you to talk to your brothers without us around.”
He didn’t mean to make her feel unwanted. And he sure didn’t mean for her to feel like she wasn’t on equal footing with him. “I...” He lost his train of thought when she bent over to put something away on the bottom shelf of the changing table.
That never happened. His brothers often teased him that when he was focused a chorus line could dance by naked and he wouldn’t notice. There was no way to not notice Kelsey. Yes, she had that petite frame, but she was curved in the right places. His fingers prickled, itching to touch her hair, to frame her waist...
What was wrong with him? She was the nanny and his new assistant. She had a right to work in both roles without being ogled by the boss. This was not a side effect he’d anticipated, but it was temporary. He just had to keep his eyes and hands to himself until they found the baby’s father. Then Kelsey could move out of the house and he’d only see her in a work capacity. That would cure this burst of red-hot lust.
“Fox?”
“Hmm?”
“Did you want us to go with you?”
“What?” He shook his head. “No. No thanks. I just...” The sunlight streaming through the window brought out the gold highlights in her hair. Why couldn’t he finish a sentence around her? “I’m just procrastinating,” he said. “I’ll call you when I’m on the way home...and you can tell me what to pick up for dinner.”
When she smiled, the curve of her lips drew his full attention. Would that bottom lip taste as sweet as it looked? “I’m happy to cook.”
“No.” He’d said it too loudly, startling the baby. He waited for the wailing to start, but it didn’t. The baby had barely cried since Kelsey’s arrival. Clearly, she worked miracles. “I only meant you’re doing more than enough already.”
Her gaze drifted to the baby. “I’m sure it feels that way now, but it’ll all balance out. I can’t wait to learn from the best quarter horse breeder in the business.”
He appreciated her graciousness about the whole mess she’d walked into but the heartfelt compliment made him uneasy. “Guess I’ve stalled too long,” he muttered. He crouched down and took a picture of the baby with his phone. “Thanks again, Kelsey.”
He made his escape, stopping at the office downstairs for supplies. Outside, he breathed in crisp air laced with pine and horses on his way to the truck. He had a momentary debate about leaving Kelsey and the baby without any transportation, but he couldn’t go back in there. And really, after less than twenty-four hours, he couldn’t imagine a baby crisis she couldn’t manage.
He drove away from the ranch, taking the road up toward Wyatt’s house. They were coming home from the hospital today and it would make sense to stop there first, except he’d had enough of tiny humans for the moment.
He’d start his interviews with his brother Decker. A year older than Fox, Decker had a head for business and currently served as director of operations for The Lodge. He called first, since his brother spent less time at work after his recent marriage. Finding Decker was still at work, on the drive up to Pine Peak Fox struggled with what he was about to do. How should he phrase his requests so he didn’t offend his brothers?
Best to stick with his strengths and keep it academic. Clinical. A quick recap, a few questions, an easy-to-accommodate request. Then it would be rinse and repeat with his next two brothers until he was home again. With the baby and Kelsey.
The Lodge always struck him as masculine, clinging to the mountain, while The Chateau seemed more feminine, a beautiful asset to the valley. Both resorts boasted over-the-top luxury that drew in tourists looking for pampering and winter sport enthusiasts alike. Entering the lobby, Fox headed for Decker’s office. Fox wished he’d taken time to trade his Henley shirt, faded jeans and boots for something that didn’t scream “rancher fresh from the barns.”
Too late now. He knocked on Decker’s open door.
“Fox!” Decker beamed, an expression that was relatively rare before he’d fallen in love with and married Kendall. “What brings you by?”
“I’ve got a situation,” he began, “and I could use your help.”
“Anything you need. Come on in.”
Fox entered and closed the door behind him. He pressed his palms together and tried to state the matter as clearly as possible. “Two nights ago someone left a baby boy on my doorstep.” He reached for his cell phone and pulled up the pictures.
“You? What? You can’t be serious.” Decker’s dark eyebrows shot up toward his hairline. “Who’d you knock up?”
“I’m not the father,” Fox said, tamping down his irritation. “Does the baby look familiar?”
Decker scrolled through the pictures. There were only three, but he went through them several times. A dopey smile brightened his face. Could his brother have fathered the child? “He’s cute, even when he’s mad. Congratulations.”
“For what?”
“Looking at something besides a stud book or microscope.”
“Ha. Shut up.” Fox pushed at his hair. “The baby isn’t mine.” He managed not to mention the dry spell he was in. “I’m here to ask if he might be yours.”
Decker reeled back as if Fox had punched him in the jaw. “That’s a hell of a suggestion.” He pointed a finger between the two of them. “You really think the mother got the two of us mixed up?”
“Maybe the mother mixed up our addresses.” Fox bristled. “I forget what a jerk you can be.”
“Me?” Decker tapped his chest. “I’m a charmer and you know it.”
Had he ever been grateful for the brothers he inherited through adoption? “Yeah, well, charm me and give me a cheek swab.”
“Why?” He stared Fox down. “The kid isn’t mine, either.”
“Someone fathered him,” Fox pointed out. “And someone thought that father was a Colton.”
“Have you talked to Wyatt? He’s the Colton who lives closest to your address.”
“I’m working my way around. Is there a reason you don’t want me to have your DNA?”
Decker spread his arms. “I’d rather not be cloned.”
“No worries on that score.” He pulled out a lancet for the blood typing test as well as a cheek swab. “I wouldn’t put the world through two of you. Now, open up.”
His brother laughed, but it died quickly. “If you aren’t the father, why did the baby end up with you?” he asked before opening his mouth for Fox to swab his cheek. “And where is the baby now?”
“He’s at the house with a new, um, nanny,” Fox said. Carefully, he returned the sample to the tube and labeled it and the plastic bag with Decker’s name.
“What about child services or whatever?”
Fox shook his head. “Couldn’t do it. Call me a fool.”
“Fool,” Decker obliged. “You don’t know the first thing about babies.”
“I know they’re small and loud.” And as cute as a button when they were asleep. At least Baby John was, though he’d been too exhausted to appreciate the moment last night.
“My money’s on Wyatt,” Decker said.
That had been his theory as well, considering that the baby had been left on ranch property. “Well, the more samples I collect the better chance we h
ave of finding his real father.”
“If nothing else, this rules me out, right?”
“True.” Fox stood up.
“Spoiler alert, you can stop looking at me like I’m a liar,” Decker said.
“Maybe,” Fox joked. “For what it’s worth, I believe you might not know if you fathered a kid.”
“Same goes, brother.”
He deserved that. After all, the child had wound up at his door, not his brother’s.
“What will you do if you can’t find the father?”
“I’m not sure.” He reached for the DNA collection kit. “It seems someone thinks he’s family, but we all know I’m about the last person who should be a father.”
Decker shook his head. “For a smart guy you can be so dumb.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” His brother shook his head. “Just because your dad was rough with you doesn’t mean you’ll be the same way.”
Embarrassment and shame seized Fox’s throat, made it hard to speak. “I didn’t know you knew about that.” It wasn’t something he talked about. Why rehash what couldn’t be changed? By the time he and Sloane had been orphaned, he was an expert at going unseen and he continued that habit while he sorted out the new family dynamics.
He shrugged. “Kids have super-powered hearing. Adults forget that. Mom and Dad mentioned it a time or two.”
“Too bad the little guy at my place doesn’t have super-powered communication skills. I’d love to know where his mother is.”
“Good luck,” Decker said, walking Fox to the door.
“I appreciate the assist. If you hear anything helpful, let me know.”
“You got it.” He pulled Fox in close and slapped him on the shoulder.
Back in the truck, breathing easier, Fox sent Kelsey a text message to check in. She replied immediately and included a picture of the baby sound asleep in the new portable crib.
Show off, he texted back.
With the phone on mute and a smile on his face, he drove down the mountain toward the new house his brother Blaine had built for his family.
Fox really didn’t want to upset his brother’s newfound happiness. He parked, cut the engine and checked his phone.
It’s all in the sway.
The text message from Kelsey made him feel as if he had someone to share a secret with, even though he usually preferred his solitude.
He was still smiling when he knocked on Blaine’s door. The conversation went much the same as it had with Decker. There had been zero familiarity when he looked at the pictures and general denial that he could have somehow fathered a child this age. With Blaine’s background, Fox had to take his word that he wasn’t even in the States when the baby had likely been conceived. Still, he was willing to give a DNA sample to further Fox’s search.
“Have you considered that whoever left the baby with you knew you’d take him in?” Blaine asked. “Your adoption isn’t a secret.”
Fox labeled the sample, irritated when his hand shook. With the blood test and the cheek swab in the kit, he closed it up. “It was too cold to leave him outside,” he said.
“Stop.” Blaine didn’t show his serious side often, but Fox had never been comfortable on the receiving end of all that intensity. “You think the baby is a Colton.”
“I think someone believes that, yes.”
“Fox, you don’t have to take this on. ‘Someone—’” he used air quotes “—is mistaken.”
“Time and DNA will tell,” he said. How did his brothers read him so well? They’d never been particularly close as kids and years of college and careers had separated them further.
“You don’t owe the universe or anyone a debt for being adopted,” Blaine said. “Dad and Mom would tell you the same thing.”
Russ maybe. Mara, well, he wouldn’t be surprised if she kept a tab in the back of her mind with Fox’s name on it.
“That’s not what this is,” he denied. “A baby showed up at my door. A baby can’t fend for himself. He needs his family and I’m trying to find them.”
“So taking in a random baby has nothing to do with us taking in you and Sloane when your parents died?”
Fox shook his head, not trusting his voice. His stomach churned at the thought that the baby had been left at his door because his family was dead.
“Fox, come on. It’s me. You should talk about it.”
“Nothing to say,” he managed through gritted teeth. “The kid showed up and I’m stepping up until we find his family.”
Blaine nodded to the picture on Fox’s phone. “Looks a little small to put to work.”
“He’ll grow,” Fox replied, appreciating the joke. “Thanks for the assist.”
He made a quick exit, checking in with Kelsey before he pulled out of the driveway. This time Kelsey sent him a picture of a casserole dish in the oven and a note that he had forty minutes until it was done.
His stomach growled. She shouldn’t have cooked, but he couldn’t deny that whatever it was looked delicious, even half-baked. What was this strange connection he felt with her? She put him at ease and he willingly let down his guard. Maybe whatever magic she used with the baby worked on him, too.
By rights he probably should have notified the sheriff before hiring a nanny for a child that wasn’t even his. Too late. He wasn’t turning over the baby to the foster system until he had more information. Who would even complain about it except the baby’s actual family?
One brother left. Driving back to the Crooked C, he took the fork toward Wyatt’s side of the Crooked C. When he reached his brother’s sprawling ranch house, he parked and texted One more stop to Kelsey.
Last week, he would have rung the bell without thinking. But after only one restless night with the baby, he knew better. They couldn’t have been home for long and he didn’t want to upset or wake the newborn. He rapped lightly on the door, prepared to send Wyatt a text that he was outside.
His big brother came to the door, looking a bit worn out, but as happy as Fox had ever seen him. “Hey, are you the welcome home committee?”
Fox regretted not bringing over anything helpful like a meal, a box of diapers or beer and cigars. “I’m empty-handed tonight,” he admitted. “I won’t be next time.”
“Not a big deal, we’re set at the moment.” He invited Fox into the house. “Mom brought over soup, lasagna and a pan of brownies.”
In the background, Fox heard the thin cry of Wyatt’s new son. “I only need a minute,” he said, his palms going damp. After having this conversation twice now, he should be a pro. “It’s a private matter.”
Wyatt cocked his head. “Let me make sure she’s set.”
“Of course.”
“Grab a beer from the fridge if you want one.”
Fox cooled his heels in the kitchen. He didn’t want a beer, just the DNA. And if Mara had brought the beer too, he wouldn’t feel right about drinking it. Unlike his sister, who she folded right into the family, his aunt had never been as warm toward Fox. He couldn’t imagine how stuck she’d felt, coping with her own grief while trying to care for her sister’s children, but he still had no clue what had caused the rift between him and Mara. Perhaps he had hurt her feelings or pushed her away when she’d been trying to help fill the void left by his mother’s death.
Water under the bridge now. Kids and parents were people and not all people got along equally. Fox accepted that, understood it was okay that he’d never feel that soul-deep sense of belonging with anyone other than Sloane or in his own home. Wyatt dashed back in and out again with a glass of water for Bailey. When he returned he slid into the chair at the kitchen table. “What’s the deal?”
“A baby showed up on my doorstep,” Fox said. “The night after Hudson was born, in fact.”
“A babe? It’s not nice to brag.”
Fox would’ve smacked him, but Wyatt’s exhaustion could be forgiven. “Not bragging. It was an infant—not a woman.” He sighed. “He’s about six months old, based on the internet search I did.”
Wyatt rubbed at his eyes. “You would do an internet search.”
“It’s not like his mother or whoever left me his birth certificate and medical records.” If anyone deserved a pass it was Wyatt, and yet Fox felt judged.
“The baby was clearly left with me by mistake.”
“You’re sure?”
“I do remember how babies are made.”
“And you haven’t...?” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Fox rolled his eyes. “I haven’t.” In far too long. That had to be a factor in his instant attraction to having Kelsey living with him.
“Why would someone leave a baby on your doorstep if you haven’t...y’know.” Again with the eyebrows.
For the first time in his life, Fox actually hoped to hear a baby cry. Anything to put a twist in this particular conversation. “My first thought was someone must have been looking for your doorstep, not mine.”
The expressions that rippled over his brother’s face were worth the wait. Indignation, bafflement, denial and then flat-out anger. “No. Not a chance.” He looked around furtively, as if he expected Bailey to pop out of a doorway and smack him on the head. “The only baby I’ve fathered is in there with his beautiful mother.”
“That you know of,” Fox said. Taking pity on Wyatt, he held up his hands in surrender. “I believe you, I do. But it’s logical to assume the baby’s mom or whoever was looking for a Colton.”
“Decker,” Wyatt said, his gaze menacing.
“Already talked with him. He denies it.”
Wyatt didn’t look convinced. “So let protective services sort it out, Fox. You aren’t prepared to deal with an infant.”
Direct hit and the truth hurt. “I hired someone to help,” he said. “A nanny.” Fox pulled the pictures up on his phone and handed the device to Wyatt. “Does he remind you of anyone?”
“Are you kidding?” Wyatt studied the pictures. “He’s a cute kid, but I barely recognize you after a couple of days in the maternity ward with Bailey and my son.”
