“Ashley? Why Ashley?”
“I don’t know. I like it.”
Sharon Lynn hesitated for a full minute, her expression troubled. “I don’t know…”
“Then you pick.”
“I meant I don’t know if we should do this.”
“Why not?”
She drew in a deep breath and met his gaze. “It makes it too much like we think she’s going to stay.”
“She is staying, for a time, anyway. While she’s here, she deserves a name,” he insisted. “She shouldn’t be anonymous, even for a short time.”
After a moment, Sharon Lynn smiled. “How about Cordelia, then? After the man who found her.”
He laughed, even though something deep inside him yearned to say yes. It would give him a lasting connection to this baby no matter what happened, but Cordelia? No way. He shook his head. “She’d never forgive us.”
“If she goes back to her family, she’d probably never even know. It would just be between us,” Sharon Lynn said pointedly.
He grinned. “You hankering for another secret?”
“Maybe.”
“No. I still vote for Ashley. That’s got some class to it. I can see her growing up to run a whole cattle empire one day.”
Sharon Lynn faced him, her expression troubled. “Don’t,” she whispered, the word barely more than a broken cry.
Startled by the reaction, he stared. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t make plans for the future. Don’t look too far ahead. She could be gone tomorrow.”
Instinctively he held the baby a little tighter as if to prevent her going. “That’s the advice you’ve been hearing all day, isn’t it? That’s what had you so upset when I turned up tonight?”
She nodded. “It’s good advice. It really is. I can’t think beyond the moment.”
Cord sighed at the well-meaning logic. “You’re right, of course. I’m sorry. It’s easy to get caught up in the fantasy.”
Her expression turned sympathetic. “I know. Believe me, I know.”
He glanced down at the baby and saw that she had finally fallen asleep. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “I’ll put her down for the night. Do you want her on your bed again?”
“I think the portable crib tonight. You can set it up in my room, next to the bed. I’ll get a blanket to put in the bottom.”
She followed him down the hall, then held the baby while he set up the portable crib they’d brought with them from Dolan’s. Cord caught a glimpse of her face for just an instant before she realized he was looking. There was a raw yearning there every bit as deep as his own. Gently he took the baby and placed her in the crib, then reached out to brush a stray curl from Sharon Lynn’s cheek. She trembled at his touch, then gazed at him with an anguished expression.
This time he was the one who whispered, “Don’t. Don’t look ahead. She’s with us now.”
She gave him a wavery smile. “Yes, she is. She’s with us now.”
When they returned to the kitchen and dinner was on the table, neither of them seemed to have much of an appetite. Though it was the last thing in the world he wanted, Cord drew in a deep breath and said, “Maybe your family is right. Maybe this isn’t such a good thing.”
She stared at him with obvious shock. “What are you saying?”
“There are professionals, people who deal with this kind of case all the time.”
“She’s not a case,” Sharon Lynn protested vehemently. “She’s a baby. She needs me.”
“And you need her,” he suggested cautiously, recognizing that his own needs ran just as deep and were just as troubling. “That’s the real danger, isn’t it?”
“Okay, yes,” she said, her eyes glittering with defiance “But she’s all that matters. Until we know more, she’s staying with me and that’s final.”
“I just don’t want to see you hurt.”
“People get hurt all the time. They live with it,” she said flatly.
“Some pain can be avoided, though.”
“She’s staying, Cord. If it turns out there’s family to take her, somebody who can care for her properly, give her the love she deserves, I’ll deal with it.”
She said it with the strength and conviction of someone who’d survived other losses. Cord wondered if he could say it as readily. He’d spent even less time with the baby—Ashley—and already he was ready to fight to hold on to her. It was a totally irrational response, one based on emotions, not logic, but that was pretty much how he’d lived his life. His gut instincts hadn’t steered him wrong yet.
“We’ll wait and see, then,” he said finally.
“We? I’m the one responsible for her,” Sharon Lynn protested. “When did you get a say in what happens?”
Cord’s jaw tightened at the attempt to dismiss him. “Friday night, when I found her in the snow.”
“If you hadn’t been there, I would have heard the thump. I would have found her.”
“But I was there,” he reminded her quietly. “If there’s a decision to be made, we talk it over, understood? We’re in this together, darlin’. Get used to it.”
Sharon Lynn didn’t know what to make of a man like Cord Branson. How many men would assume responsibility for an abandoned baby? How many would insist on being a part of any decisions that were made? The men in her family would have, even worrywort, by-the-book Justin, but Adams men were a breed apart. She hadn’t met many others like them.
Of course, as a practical matter, Cord was at White Pines. The baby was here in town with her. She was responsible for the day-to-day care, the middle-of-the-night feedings, the diaper changes, juggling the baby and work. How often was Cord likely to pop in for a few minutes of cuddling the baby, maybe a feeding? How long would it be before he tired of making the long drive? How long before the novelty of make-believe parenting wore off?
Quite a while, she finally concluded at the end of the week, when Cord had turned up every single evening promptly at six and insisted on taking over Ashley’s care.
“You’ve had her all day. I’ll pitch in now,” he told her emphatically on Tuesday and every night after.
She’d never seen a man so taken with a child. On the one hand, knowing how precious little time they might have, she begrudged him every second he spent with the baby. It was time lost to her. On the other hand, it was amazing and wonderful to see just how tender and patient he was. Ashley responded to him with gurgles of delight. No matter how fussy she’d been, she quieted at once in his arms. He had a magic touch, all right. Sharon Lynn envied him that.
“Why the disgruntled expression, darlin’?” he inquired from his perch on a stool at the counter. Ashley was settled in his arms with a pacifier in her mouth.
“Sorry,” she said, forcing a smile.
“Better, but I don’t believe it. What’s on your mind?”
She slapped down the rag she’d been using to wipe the counter. “Okay, here it is. I just don’t get it. She’s been cranky all afternoon. You walk in, pick her up and bam, she’s peaceful as a little lamb.”
He grinned. “Seems to me you’re the cranky one, darlin’. You want to slip up here in my lap and see if I can settle you down, too?”
She scowled. “That is not what I meant.”
“No, what you meant is that you’re doing all the hard work and then I waltz in and get duty that’s a snap. You get the tears. I get the smiles.”
He’d hit the nail on the head, but it seemed selfish and mean-spirited to admit it. “You don’t have to help out at all,” she told him stiffly. “I can manage.”
“I thought we’d settled that. I’m going to do my share, at least as much as I can, given our circumstances. Now, come on. Finish up here and I’ll take you out to dinner. Then you can go home and get a decent night’s sleep. I’ll bunk on the sofa and take the 2:00 a.m. feeding. I don’t have to work in the morning. Your brother’s taking over for me.”
Sharon Lynn regarded him skeptically. “Harlan Patrick volunteered for extra
duty? Why?”
“I didn’t ask questions. I just grabbed at the chance to relieve you.”
“I suppose this was daddy’s bright idea,” she muttered under her breath. “Or Grandpa Harlan’s.”
“Does it really matter? I thought you’d be grateful.”
“Oh, I am,” she said, thinking longingly of getting an uninterrupted night’s sleep for a change. But she had a feeling that whoever had dreamed up the notion had been more interested in throwing her and Cord together overnight. Fortunately he seemed oblivious to that particular motive.
When she’d put the last of the cleaning supplies away, she glanced up and saw Cord watching her.
“On second thought,” he suggested, “why don’t we go to your place? You can prop your feet up, put on a little music, relax and I’ll cook.”
“You cook?”
“Well enough. Tempted?”
“Oh, yes,” she said fervently. “It sounds like heaven. Maybe I could even take a nice long bubble bath, while you’re in the kitchen.”
“If you’d like,” he agreed, though his voice suddenly sounded a little husky.
Sharon Lynn discovered that she was enjoying the reaction just a little too much to let it pass. “That wouldn’t bother you, would it?” she asked innocently.
“Bother me?” he echoed irritably. “Why would it bother me?”
“I can’t imagine,” she said. “I mean, it’s just a bubble bath. There’s nothing provocative about that.”
He scowled at her as he led the way out of Dolan’s and waited while she locked up. When she glanced up there was a wicked glint in his eyes.
“Don’t push your luck, darlin’, or I’ll be sharing that bubble bath with you,” he warned.
Now there was an interesting idea, she thought before she could stop herself. Dear heaven, what was happening to her? She didn’t want to seduce Cord Branson.
Or did she? Was that why she’d been so frustrated and edgy all week? Was she more attracted to him than she’d wanted to admit? Was she actually jealous of the amount of attention he was devoting to the baby, rather than to her?
No, she told herself firmly. Of course not. Flirting was just that. Teasing. Setting off a few sparks. Part of nature’s male-female game. It didn’t have to imply anything more. It never had to go beyond taunts.
But there was no mistaking the slow reawakening of her senses the past few days. Maybe that was just indicative of the healing process and nothing more. Maybe it didn’t have a thing in the world to do with Cord, per se. Yeah, right.
So, the bubble bath was out, but a long, quiet evening stretched out ahead of them. Cord was going to fix her dinner. Behind that offer was a surprising sensitivity to her exhaustion.
When was the last time anyone outside of a few family members had seen through the facade she’d been putting on since shortly after Kyle’s death? Everyone was constantly talking about how brave she was, how strong. Cord instinctively seemed to know better. Somehow that kind of intuitive understanding was scarier than the stirrings of desire he’d sparked in her.
Moreover, he’d just announced that he was going to stay the night. A sexy, virile man was going to be sleeping under her roof, albeit for the most innocent of reasons. Even so, that certainly hadn’t happened in a very long time.
Anticipation, something she hadn’t felt in months, stirred deep inside her. She was actually looking forward to going home, looking forward to the evening stretching out ahead of her. It felt a lot like a miracle. Her steps, which normally slowed as she neared that empty, lonely house, picked up a little.
She glanced at Cord as they walked up the front walk. He turned toward her and smiled, that easy, crooked smile that could charm a saint.
It would be so easy—too easy—to get used to this, she warned herself. This, too, was temporary. The baby was their link. When she was gone, the bond would be broken. The realization was a harsh reminder not to let herself care too much for either of them, to bask in the warmth of having a thoughtful, attentive man beside her, to seize tonight and look for nothing more.
Ashley had fallen asleep on the walk. Cord put her into the portable crib, then turned to Sharon Lynn.
“Go take your bath. I’ll see what I can rustle up in the kitchen.”
“I’ll help,” she said automatically.
He shook his head and turned her toward her bedroom. “Go, before I have to strip you out of those clothes myself.”
She tilted her head and studied him consideringly. “You’d do it, too, wouldn’t you?”
He grinned. “With pleasure.”
“Maybe a quick shower,” she decided.
“It won’t be the same.”
This time she grinned. “For you or me? I have a feeling your imagination’s been working overtime conjuring up images of that bubble bath.”
“That’s exactly right,” he admitted, surveying her boldly. “Give me something here. Take the bubble bath.”
He sounded as if the images alone would be enough to torment him. That was enough to convince her. It had been a long time since she’d stirred a man’s fantasies. “Maybe I will.”
She left him staring after her, felt his intense gaze following her. In the bathroom, she stripped off her clothes as the water ran into the tub, turning it into a froth of lilac-scented bubbles. When it was filled almost to overflowing, she stepped in and sank down to her chin. It was sheer bliss.
She rested her head against the back of the tub and closed her eyes, as the warm water lapped gently over her.
It was the last thing she remembered, until she felt herself being scooped out of the water, the air cold against her damp skin.
“Cord?” she murmured sleepily.
“Yes, darlin’.”
“What happened?”
“You fell asleep in your bath,” he said as he briskly toweled her dry and tucked her robe around her.
She was too out of it to feel embarrassment, though something told her she should. Instead she just snuggled against him and let him pick her up and carry her into the bedroom. He’d already turned down the sheet and spread. He set her gently on the bed, then pulled the covers over her, his movements quick and decisive.
“Weren’t we going to have dinner?” she murmured, struggling to sit up.
He pushed her right back down. “You need sleep more. If you wake up and you’re hungry, call me. I’ll bring you a tray.”
“Okay.”
“Sleep tight, darlin’,” he whispered and then he turned out the light.
He didn’t leave the room at once, though. She sensed him standing over her. It was odd, she thought groggily. She hadn’t felt this cared for, this cherished in years. Not even with Kyle.
On that thought, she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.
It was daylight before she awoke. The pale, wintry sun was filtering into the room. She hadn’t felt this rested in ages, she thought, stretching languidly. No nightmares about the accident. Not a one.
She was still indulging in the wonder of that when she remembered. “Oh, my God, the baby.”
Ashley must be starving by now. As Sharon Lynn tightened the belt on her robe, she listened intently for Ashley’s cries, but there was only silence.
Then the rest of the memories flooded back—falling asleep in the tub, Cord rescuing her and putting her to bed. The thought of him touching her made her skin tingle. Blast, she thought with a touch of regret. She’d had a man’s hands all over her last night and she barely recalled a second of it. What a waste!
She crept into the living room, then came to an abrupt stop, the beginnings of a smile on her lips.
Cord was sprawled awkwardly on the sofa, one arm outflung, the other curved tightly around the baby resting stomach-down on his chest. They were both sound asleep.
Now there was an image to steal a woman’s heart, she thought, watching them.
Even as Sharon Lynn stared, Ashley began to squirm. Sharon Lynn reached down to pick her up, but
before she could, Cord snagged her wrist with his free hand.
“Why don’t you come on down here and join us?” he inquired lazily.
She pulled away. “I thought you were asleep.”
“Just resting my eyes.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“I was. How much sleep do you think I could get with this little one demanding food every fifteen seconds?”
“She’s not that bad.”
“Seemed like it. No wonder you fell asleep during your bath last night.”
The mention of that brought color flooding into her cheeks. She could feel the heat of it. “About that…”
He grinned, obviously enjoying her discomfort. “You gonna thank me for saving you from drowning?”
“How long was I actually in there?”
“Long enough for the water and dinner to get cold. I finally got scared that you’d slipped in, so I tapped on the door. When you didn’t answer, I decided it was time to invade your privacy.”
“The water was cold?”
“Like ice.”
“Any bubbles left?” she inquired hopefully.
His grin broadened. “Not a one.”
“Oh,” she said faintly.
“Not to worry, darlin’. I would have seen all there was to see when I scooped you out of there, anyway. Besides, it was purely a professional rescue operation.” He solemnly sketched a cross across his heart. “You were just a lady in distress.”
“Uh-huh,” she murmured, amused by the vehement defense. “Somehow it sounds like you’re protesting a little too much.”
“Would you rather I tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed myself?”
She told herself to let it drop, to let the incident rest, but she couldn’t seem to do it. “Did you?”
“Not half as much as I would have if you’d been awake and willing.”
Her face burned at that. Okay, she’d asked for it and now she knew. The man had wanted her. That should terrify her, right? But it didn’t. For the first time in ages, she felt like a whole woman again.
She felt alive.
Chapter 6
“What’s on the agenda for today?” Cord asked as he flipped pancakes, while Sharon Lynn sat at the kitchen table feeding the baby.
The Unclaimed Baby Page 6
