Rancher's Remorse (Culpepper Cowboys Book 2)

by Merry Farmer

  The moment had passed. Cooper went back into planning mode. Faith was more than happy to let the grand revelation wait for another time. “Yes.” She let out her own breath of relief. “Although it would either need to be at the other side of the workshop or in the house so that it doesn’t get clay dust in it.”

  Cooper nodded, strode across the workshop to Faith, and gave her a quick kiss. “I sure am proud to have a wife with so many hobbies and interests.”

  Something about the comment didn’t work, as far as Faith was concerned, but she was willing to let that go too.

  “Oh, wow!” Hope appeared in the doorway, along with Joy, Chastity, and Linda. “This space is awesome.”

  “It’s so big,” Chastity said.

  “It was supposed to be for home improvement projects and the like,” Cooper explained. “But my house isn’t that old, and honestly, I’d rather spend my time taking care of the ranch.”

  “That’s my boy.” Linda came over to give her son a hug.

  “So where do you want this?” the head delivery guys said.

  Conversation turned to sorting out the workshop. Whatever else Faith should have said or needed to say to Cooper was brushed aside as logistics took over. Honestly, she was relieved. Now that Linda knew about the business, and could probably guess about Faith’s inability to give her grandbabies, telling Cooper would sort itself out. All in good time. But for now, she had a business to get back up on its feet.

  6

  Something wasn’t adding up.

  Cooper shooed the last cow from the paddock where Doc O’Donnell had finished with the last of the vaccinations into the pasture and clanged the gate shut. The herd was healthy and happy, the first crop of hay would be ready to harvest any day, prices on the beef market were up. Not only that, Chris had finally married Chastity, and the girls were giddy over the daycare they’d started at Linda’s house. They were on their way to raising the money they needed to buy Travis out. His brothers had never worn smiles so big. He had been smiling more than his fair share lately too, and his back and legs had been sore in that very special way. Faith was a dream in bed. They’d be a family in no time.

  Still, something wasn’t right.

  “That’s the last of them.” Doc strolled up to the edge of the paddock fence, put a booted foot on a bar halfway up, and climbed over. He dropped to the other side with a grin, showing off, no doubt. It was too bad he’d come to town right after the incident of the underwear models decimated the single female population. The ladies of Culpepper would have been all over him.

  “Thanks.” Cooper thumped him on the back and started for the stable.

  Doc followed. Ahead of them, Chris stepped out of the stable office. “Hey Doc, you got an invoice for the treatments?” he started, but pulled up short when he saw the scowl on Cooper’s face. “What’s biting your butt?”

  Cooper’s scowl deepened. “None of your business.”

  “Trouble in paradise?” Doc asked, laughter in his voice.

  “None at all,” Chris answered. “Four marriages within a month, and all of them outstanding. Have you met the amazing Quinlan Quads, now known as the Culpepper Cuties?”

  “I saw you all in town the other day at Maisy’s for lunch. You can’t miss a crowd like you guys. Plus, every woman with a baby in town is talking about how grateful they are for that daycare.”

  “Grateful?” Chris blinked.

  “Sure.” Doc chuckled. “Half the female population of Culpepper gets swept away by underwear models, a dozen surprise weddings take place a little over two years ago, and boom, babies everywhere and not enough folks to take care of them. I was over at the Marshall ranch last week, looking in on their brood mare, and Hank Marshall was telling me that his daughter is at her wits end looking after her new twins. Said she wished she’d just had one.”

  “She was probably sleep deprived,” Chris said. “I see it all the time with the families I teach homeschool lessons for. New babies are adorable, precious, miraculous, and a pain in the patoot.”

  Cooper glanced across the field toward his house. He’d never considered that babies were a burden. No, of course they weren’t. Babies were wonderful, they just took some work. Just like anything else. But maybe Faith was nervous about the work ahead of her. Maybe that’s what had her so tense and quiet whenever he tried to dream about their future family aloud.

  “If things keep going the way they are, your wives are going to have to expand their daycare business,” Doc went on as Cooper’s feet itched to go home.

  Chris shrugged. “According to Chastity, they have some plans to make the load lighter.”

  Cooper couldn’t keep still any longer. “You guys have fun figuring out the bills. I’m going to head home for an early lunch.”

  He didn’t wait for either man to acknowledge him before he headed across the field. This whole being a good husband thing was harder than he thought it would be. He was making great strides in chilling out when it came to his schedule, but it seemed like every time he turned around, something else was bothering Faith that she couldn’t bring herself to talk about with him. If he was doing things right, his wife would want to talk to him about everything.

  The field was muddy from rain the night before, so rather than marching through the front door, Cooper went around back to the kitchen. As soon as he stepped into the mud room and began cleaning off his boots, he heard Faith’s voice. Since it was just her voice, he figured she was on the phone, so he stayed quiet. He stepped out of his boots, leaving them on the mat, and headed into the kitchen.

  “Yes, I apologize for the delay,” Faith was saying to whomever was on the call. “It couldn’t be avoided. We…we had to relocate the entire operation because of…well, if I’m being honest, because we were about to be found out.”

  Cooper frowned and crossed the kitchen tile in his sock feet. He peeked around the corner into the den. Faith sat at the desk, a spreadsheet up on his computer, a photo of a baby in a pop-up window on the screen.

  “No, it’s nothing like that,” she laughed into the phone. “Everything is just fine now, and we’ll be back on schedule with the deliveries by the end of the month.”

  Deliveries? What was that all about.

  “So, I understand you’re looking for a baby boy?” Faith asked her caller. “Mmm hmm. Mmm hmm.” She wrote something down on the pad next to her. “Oh, that’s so sweet. I’m sure your daughter will love it. I’m so sorry for her loss, though.” She sniffed and wiped a tear from her cheek.

  Cooper fought the urge to rush into the room, take her in his arms, and ask her what was wrong.

  A second later, that instinct froze into prickles down his back.

  “I know that a baby can never truly be replaced, but I hope she’ll find some comfort in what I can come up with for her. Of course, it’s next to impossible to get the exact same features, but with these photos you’ve sent me, I’ll do my best.”

  Cooper swallowed hard. What did Faith mean, she couldn’t replace some woman’s baby exactly, but she would do her best? He inched back into the kitchen, twisting to press his back against the wall just on the other side of the doorway.

  “Yes” Faith sniffed, sighed, and went on. “Yes, we’ve just opened a new operation, so it may take some time to do the work and deliver a baby for you. I can assure you, though, we definitely have the capacity to provide you with everything you need. In fact, we’re thinking of expanding.”

  Swirls of dread passed down Cooper’s spine. Expanding? Didn’t Chris just say something about the daycare needing to expand?

  A second, worse thought struck him. The daycare was apparently a godsend for all the ladies of Culpepper who had procreated with those underwear models without realizing how much work raising babies was. Didn’t Doc just say they were eager to get rid of their kids?

  “Thanks, Mrs. Freeman.” Faith sounded like she was wrapping up her call.

  Cooper shot a desperate glance around the kitchen. He d
idn’t want Faith to know he’d heard everything. Thanking his lucky stars that he was in sock feet, he zipped through the kitchen and out the other door into the front hall, skidding a couple of yards in his socks.

  Just as he reached the door, it flew open.

  “Oh! Cooper, you startled me.” His mom stepped into the house, a crying baby in her arms.

  “Ma?” Cooper’s eyes widened at the sight of the baby—a boy, judging by the blue blanket he was wrapped in. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see Faith.” Smile as big and as innocent as church, Linda strolled through the hall and back toward the den, bouncing the baby and cooing to him as she went. “It’s okay, sweetie. You’re going home soon.”

  In a daze, Cooper followed her to the den. His mind reeled as he connected the dots of everything he’d heard.

  “Oh, Faith,” Linda said as she crossed into the den. “I hate to disturb you when I know you’re working, but I was wondering if you could come give us a hand at the big house.”

  Faith rose from her chair with a smile, stretching out her arms to take the baby from Linda. As soon as she spotted Cooper behind her, she blanched. Instead of taking the baby, she whipped around and shut off the computer monitor.

  “Cooper. What are you doing here?” She cut right past Linda, advancing on him as though to push him out of the room.

  “I thought I’d come home a little early to have lunch with you,” Cooper managed to squeeze out, even as suspicion crawled up his spine, making him hot and cold at once. “What’s going on here?”

  “Here? Nothing,” Faith replied. She sucked in a breath and jolted to face Linda. “Where are my manners? Of course I’ll take this baby. And I’ll come help out later too.” She scooped the crying baby boy out of Linda’s arms, cradling him against her chest and humming to him.

  An emotion more powerful than suspicion flooded through Cooper. Faith looked so perfect with a baby in her arms that it took his breath away. More than that, the baby stopped crying and planted his head on her shoulder. Faith cooed to him, stroking his head and kissing the fuzz of his hair. Cooper’s groin tightened at the sight, but with more than just lust. That could be their baby.

  Unless whatever this crazy baby scheme Faith was involved in turned out to be what he thought it was. Baby stealing. More than that. She’d mentioned delivery? Baby smuggling. Dear Lord, his wife was involved in baby smuggling. How could a sweet, kind, sensuous woman like Faith—a woman from a strict background, who babies obviously loved and who his mom adored—be involved in baby smuggling?

  His mom. Good grief. Another piece slipped into place. His mom had come over with a baby, asking Faith for help. The daycare had been set up at her house. Hellfire and brimstone, his mom was involved in stealing babies.

  “Son, you look like you’ve just stepped on a rusty nail.” Linda came over to him and gave him a hug. “Maybe you need to eat something before you pass out.”

  Cooper’s jaw dropped, but no words came out. What was he supposed to do now?

  Go to the police. He should definitely go to the police.

  No, that would be a disaster. Not only would Faith, his mom, and all of his brothers’ wives get in serious trouble, the ranch would be implicated. And the terms of Granddaddy’s will hadn’t been fulfilled yet. This was just the sort of thing that could blow all that out of the water, no matter how much work they did to raise the extra money they needed. He’d be damned if Travis ended up selling the ranch to some developer.

  No, whatever was going on here, he had to deal with it himself. Clearly Faith needed psychological help. Anyone who could cuddle and calm a baby like she was doing while simultaneously thinking of selling it to someone—someone who had lost their own baby and wanted a replacement—needed mental help.

  “You know, I just thought of something back at the stable that I didn’t take care of. Need to take care of it right away. You understand. Have lunch without me. Bye.” He strung his words together in the middle of turning and fleeing from the den so fast that he was sure his mom and Faith thought he was the one who needed help.

  He started to go out through the front door, but realized at the last minute that he’d left his boots in the mud room and went out that way. Once his feet were shoved in his muddy boots, he ran from the house as though it was on fire.

  Who was he supposed to contact to deal with something like this? How could he stop illegal activity from happening on his ranch and get his wife the help she needed? Maybe the women of Culpepper were willingly giving up their babies for adoption, but he couldn’t count on it. Just like Doc said, it was probably sleep deprivation. Faith couldn’t be taking advantage of that, could she? What if she—

  “Mr. Culpepper.”

  The voice that called out for him was familiar, but Cooper couldn’t place it. He stopped in the middle of his flight to the stable and turned to see who it was. A compact sedan had pulled into the bottom of his driveway, and a petite brunette in a business-y suit was getting out.

  “Mr. Culpepper, it’s Nancy.” She started toward him, but her heels weren’t made for ranches. “Nancy Tilson? From the Louisville Recorder?”

  Cooper’s heart dropped to his gut, swirling around with panic to the point where he thought he might be sick. A reporter. A reporter who had tried to interview them as they’d come out of the church on their wedding day. A reporter who knew what was going on, who his wife was.

  He turned back to the house, glanced across the field to the stable, then made up his mind to take care of this as far from his loved ones as he could. It had to be nipped in the butt.

  “Miss Tilson, stay where you are.” He took large strides as he crossed the field. Thankfully, Nancy Tilson stopped only a few feet from the front of her car. Judging by her expression, she was relieved not to have to walk any further in her heels.

  “Sorry to drop by unannounced like this,” she said while Cooper was still approaching her. “I really wanted to score an interview right after learning the Quinlan Quads had moved here, but I hated to disturb your wedding day. The office wasn’t happy when I came home without the story, though, so they sent me back. Still, I should have called to set up a formal interview first.”

  Every word the woman said set Cooper’s teeth on edge. If she was that persistent, she must know what was going on. A reporter’s lifeblood was getting a juicy story and spreading it out all over the world. He couldn’t let Miss Tilson destroy his family and his ranch like that.

  “We won’t be granting any interviews.” He came to a stop in front of her. It felt wrong somehow to draw himself up to his full height and cross his arms, trying to be intimidating. Miss Tilson seemed nice, even a little ditzy. Definitely not like a hard-hitting reporter. But wolves often came in sheep’s clothing, and he wasn’t going to risk it.

  “Oh.” Miss Tilson’s shoulders sank. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. This would make a great story.”

  “I’m sure it would,” Cooper growled.

  Miss Tilson flinched. “Did I come at a bad time?”

  “Yep.”

  She winced like she was the one who did something wrong. “Sorry. Sorry. I’ll make an appointment to come back for an interview, maybe tomorrow?”

  “There won’t be any interviews,” Cooper insisted. “This story isn’t going anywhere. There’s nothing to see here.”

  Miss Tilson started to back up, but paused. She tilted her head to the side. “Um, I know this is a silly question, but you do know who your wife is, don’t you, Mr. Culpepper? You know about the babies and how popular they’ve become, right?”

  “Oh, I know, all right.” Or at least, she’d just confirmed his worst fears.

  His intimidating act must have worked, because Miss Tilson scrambled back a few more steps, reaching for her car door. The color had drained from her face. “Gosh, I feel really bad that I intruded without calling first now. I’m really sorry. Maybe if I try to give your wife a call in a day or so? I also think the daycare would
make a good story too. Oh, and there’s lots of interesting stuff in town.” She gave a nervous laugh. “That thing about the underwear models and so many of the women in town getting married to them a couple years ago.”

  “Is that a threat?”

  Cooper instantly regretted raising his voice as Miss Tilson gasped and threw open her car door.

  “No, no, not at all. I really shouldn’t have come out here. I won’t come out unannounced again, I swear.”

  She dove into her car and slammed the door. Before Cooper could say anything else—and maybe apologize for coming off as an ogre when he was just trying to protect his family—she turned the engine and backed down the drive. Gravel scattered under the tires as she gunned her car and shot off down the main drive of the ranch.

  Cooper watched until the puff of dust blown up behind the car disappeared and Miss Tilson was gone. Then he swiped his hat off his head, batted it against his leg, and swore up a blue streak. He should have asked more questions before marrying Faith. Heck, Dr. Lachele’s interview should have turned up something as massive as this. He should have done a little investigating himself before marrying a woman he hardly knew.

  At the same time, his heart thumped hard with the certainty that, ultimately, he’d done the right thing. It hadn’t quite been a month, but already he’d fallen hard for Faith. He wasn’t going to un-fall any time soon. And Cooper Culpepper had always taken the responsibilities he had to the people he loved seriously.

  Faith was mixed up in something dangerous, but it couldn’t be her fault. She needed help. Help and protection. And he was going to be the one to give it to her.

  7

  When the plan to come out to Wyoming to marry the Culpepper brothers had been set into motion, Faith knew that it would interrupt That’s My Baby’s flow of orders. Now that the kiln had been set up for a couple of days and production was back on track, half the load of worry that had been sitting on her shoulders lifted. Well, maybe not half. Maybe more like a third. She still hadn’t figured out how to tell Cooper about the business. She definitely hadn’t worked out a way to explain that she couldn’t have children.