Daddy's Little Cowgirl

by Charlotte Maclay

  “Those positions are difficult to fill, sir, but I’d certainly be happy to take your request.” She sounded nice, very professional.

  “Okay, but I need one in a hurry. I’ve got a kid, see? She’s only a month old and I need someone to take care of her while I’m working.”

  “I quite understand. Finding proper child care is a difficult problem.” She paused, and he heard papers being shuffled around. “Now then, your name, sir?”

  “Reed Drummond. I own the Rocking D Ranch a couple of miles inland from town. I don’t care about age or race or anything like that. Just somebody who’ll be good with the baby.”

  The pause was longer this time. “You’re Max Drummond’s son?” she asked, her voice hesitant, almost accusing.

  “Yeah, but what’s that got to do with—”

  “Mr. Drummond, both you and your father have a reputation—”

  “My ol’ man’s dead.”

  “—such that, in good conscience, I would be reluctant to refer any decent woman—”

  “What the hell are you saying? That I’m not good enough to hire a damn housekeeper?”

  “Really, Mr. Drummond, there’s no need to shout.”

  In a delayed reaction to his raised voice, Bets’s eyes flew open, and she began to cry.

  He adjusted the baby’s position, lifting her to his shoulder, trying to pat her back with one hand while not dropping the phone. He lowered his voice. “Now look, lady, you can’t discriminate. My money is as good as—”

  “Good day, Mr. Drummond.” The phone went dead.

  “Ah, hell!” He slammed down the phone.

  Bets’ frightened wail increased in volume.

  “Ah, come on, sweet pea,” he crooned. “Daddy didn’t mean to scare you.” He jiggled her up and down, pacing across the kitchen to the window that looked out toward the distant ocean. The movement seemed to calm her, her cry turning to little sucking sounds as her head relaxed against the crook of his neck.

  She was definitely the softest, sweetest thing he’d ever known. But what the devil was he going to do with her if he couldn’t find a housekeeper?

  Mar del Oro only had one employment agency, and that one was a bust.

  When he called the agencies in San Luis Obispo, they weren’t much more help, saying they didn’t normally refer clients that far away. Without giving him any encouragement, they took his request. Reed suspected they tossed the form in the trash as soon as they hung up.

  His next choice was to place an ad in the local weekly newspaper, but that wouldn’t appear for several days.

  When Bets woke from her morning nap, he bent over to change her diaper and said, “Looks like you’re stuck with me, sweet pea. Where I go, you go.”

  Her big, brown eyes focusing on Reed, she pumped her tiny legs and waved her arms.

  He grinned. “Good. I’m glad you don’t mind ‘cause I’ve got lots of work to do.” Including finishing the fencing job down at the school.

  His smile hitched up another notch. Maybe sweet sugar—Annie would be interested in the job he had to offer, particularly if he included a few nonstandard benefits in the employment package, ones they could both enjoy.

  ANN NOTICED HIM during the morning snack break.

  Naturally, she ignored him.

  Naturally, the girls in her class didn’t.

  “He’s got his baby with him this morning, Ms. Forrester,” Rosetta said, all agog. “She’s sooo sweet.”

  “He’s carrying her in one of those sling things,” Hailey Hunter chimed in. “Right up against his chest like my mom did with my baby brother.”

  “While he’s digging holes for the fence?” Ann asked, stunned as she pictured a tiny baby huddled against the broad expanse of his chest.

  The girls nodded enthusiastically.

  Why on earth would he bring a baby with him, exposing the poor thing to all that dust and dirt out in the field? Not to mention cuddling an infant against his sweaty, muscular body—which she shouldn’t be thinking about.

  It was none of her concern, she told herself as she brought the class to order. Reed was the child’s father. Within reason, he had a right to do whatever he wanted with the baby. Surely he wouldn’t harm the child in any way. And a little dust and dirt probably wouldn’t hurt. Babies were resilient, she’d been told.

  She was still telling herself that when lunch period started, and she found herself walking out past the football field to where Reed was working.

  Arnold spotted her right away. He came loping toward her, his tail flagging. As she petted him, he licked her hand, and a lump formed in her throat. She’d left the miniature on her kitchen table, the cowboy with his baby and his dog. She’d eaten breakfast staring at the darn thing, almost afraid to touch it for fear the entire tableau would suddenly come alive in full—size and living color.

  And now it had, though Reed wasn’t mounted on Fiero. He’d brought the pickup again. But he was carrying the baby in a blue mother’s sling, and the dog had been right beside him.

  Nervously, her mouth dry, she brushed her hair back behind her shoulder. “Do you think it’s a good idea for the baby to be out here in all this heat and dust?”

  Arnold trotted back to his master and flopped down in a circle of trampled grass, the fragile spring wildflowers bent flat.

  Reed rested his arm on the posthole digger, giving Ann a lazy perusal with his burnished—bronze gaze before he spoke. “She got fussy in the car seat.”

  Her gaze slid to the truck and its open door. An infant carrier was carefully strapped into the passenger seat. “Couldn’t your wife have—”

  “I don’t have a wife.”

  An unwelcome flutter of combined relief and excitement rippled through her stomach. “The woman I saw last night—”

  “My housekeeper. She quit. Took the first bus out of town this morning.”

  “The baby’s mother—”

  “Dead. So’s her father. I’m adopting her.”

  Ann’s jaw went slack. She never would have thought—

  ”I trust you don’t have any objections to me adopting this baby, sugar, ‘cause it wouldn’t do you any good. She’s mine.” He staked his claim as firmly as a rancher would mark the boundaries of his land, making sure trespassers knew they weren’t welcome.

  “Object? No, I’m just surprised. I mean, I assumed—”

  “That I’m not good enough?”

  She bristled. “Of course not” But she was amazed he’d want to saddle himself with an infant. That hardly fit the image she had of Reed Drummond, a restless, reckless cowboy who didn’t want any roots.

  “The employment agency I called this morning sure wasn’t interested in finding somebody to replace Lupe. Seems they didn’t think much of my reputation. Or my old man’s.” The baby made a soft, crying sound. Attentive to the baby’s needs, he shifted her slightly, turning his body so he shaded her from the direct sun.

  Ann marveled at his gentleness, the way his large hands cradled the child, and an ache tightened in her chest. “I’m sure you’ll be able to find someone soon.”

  “Think so?” He tipped his hat to reveal more of his face, and he gave her a wicked grin. “I don’t suppose you’d consider taking the job. To sweeten the deal, I could offer some extra fringe benefits.”

  Ann had no doubts about what those benefits would include. She wanted no part of them. “Thank you, but I like the job I have.”

  “Well, ain’t that a darn shame,” he drawled.

  Heat flooded her cheeks but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of letting him know just how strongly he affected her. “Have you given any more thought to mentoring Jason?”

  “As you can see, my plate’s plenty full right now, sugar—Annie. Bets, here, is my first priority.” He indicated the baby huddled close to his chest.

  “Yes, I can understand that.” She could even respect his decision. Certainly she admired his willingness to adopt a child, particularly an infant. Not many single m
en would do that. She had to wonder why Reed had, and what his connection was to the baby.

  But none of that solved her problem with Jason. He hadn’t come to school today. One of his foster brothers had said he’d gotten as far as the school’s front gate that morning, and then he’d taken off to parts unknown.

  She hoped he hadn’t made good on his threat to head for Los Angeles. Assuming he managed to arrive there safely, Ann very much doubted that his mother would welcome him.

  The school bell sounded twice, a call for the janitor, and Ann realized lunch period was nearly over. If she was going to survive a full afternoon schedule of classes, she’d have to eat something in a hurry.

  “I have to go,” she said, taking a few backward steps away from Reed, oddly reluctant to leave him.

  “Well, now, y’all come back and visit any time, sweet sugar.” His cocky grin creased his cheek. “Bets and me are always happy to have a pretty little lady like you drop by, you hear?”

  She turned and fled before he could see the heat racing up her neck to color her cheeks. But that didn’t stop her blush. All the way back to the main building, she could feel his hot gaze on her. Intimately. Warming far more than her face.

  ANN MET HER PARENTS that evening at the Blue Moon Saloon, the nicest restaurant in town, which specialized in fresh fish and French cuisine. They were waiting out front with the new bank manager, David Emery Curtis III, and they chatted while waiting for the next available table.

  “I understand you’re a teacher,” David said. “That’s very admirable.”

  “Most days it’s simply hard work,” she replied, smiling. He was definitely a David—not a Dave or Davie or, heaven forbid, a Butch or Stinky. In his late thirties, he was perfectly groomed in a dark suit and power tie, his blond hair precisely combed, his back ramrod straight. Small, round glasses adorned a face with features so even he might have modeled for the “after” photo in a plastic surgeon’s gallery of fabulous successes. All and all, David Emery Curtis III was the epitome of a man you could trust to guard your money with care.

  A rebellious part of Ann’s mind considered that Reed Drummond was exactly the opposite, and therefore all the more intriguing to a woman who should know better.

  “Banking has its moments, too,” he commented.

  Her mother said, “You know, David is new in town and hasn’t had time to make many friends yet.”

  “He has a great future in the banking business,” Ann’s father commented. “He comes from a long line of successful financiers.”

  “I believe your parents are attempting a little matchmaking, Miss Forrester.” His wry smile was a gentle one, nothing like the raffish grin that had been troubling her dreams of late. “Should we be insulted or indulge them?”

  She laughed. At least he had a sense of humor. “Oh, let’s indulge them, why don’t we? They won’t be able to stand the shock.”

  Her parents vociferously sputtered their denials, but they’d already been found out. Relaxing, she glanced around the well—lit parking lot, which was adjacent to the only supermarket in town. The evening air was warm, tinged with a hint of salt from the nearby ocean, and the press of tourist cars on the street had slowed to a trickle.

  Her breath caught. As if her thoughts of Reed had conjured him up out of thin air, she saw him lifting his baby out of the infant carrier in his truck and fastening her securely in the sling across his chest. He looked up then and their eyes met.

  The moment was electric, the sparks leaping between them like a physics experiment gone awry. The contrast between his rugged masculinity and the gentle way he cared for his baby daughter left her transfixed Lust and wonder mixed in a volatile combination in her chest, threatening to explode. What woman wouldn’t be tempted by such a complex man?

  He tipped his Stetson to her. “Evenin’, sugarAnnie,” he drawled, slow and silky smooth, sexy as you please. “Nice night, isn’t it?”

  Stunned by her powerful reaction to the man, she could barely nod in response. Other parts of her anatomy had a far more dramatic rejoinder, however—like hot, molten liquid flowing through her veins.

  “You don’t know that man, do you, Ann Marie?” her father hissed as Reed turned and strolled toward the grocery store, his long legs leisurely covering the distance in easy strides.

  “I, ah…he’s been doing some work around the school.” Her mouth was as dry as the parched hills in summer, her stomach as knotted as a Chinese puzzle. “Building a fence.”

  “Well, you keep your distance from him, missy. That’s Reed Drummond, back from wherever he ran off to years ago. He’s nothing but trouble, you hear?”

  Ann didn’t need to be told Reed meant trouble for a woman. Intellectually, she knew that. But some part of her that was totally unrelated to her brain reacted to Reed as she had never reacted to any other man, not even the bad boy she’d fallen for as an adolescent.

  Her parents had both been devastated by her brief rebellion, her father even more than her mother. His “baby angel” had shown she had feet of clay. Ever since then he had been wary of any man she met—though they were few and far between.

  She could hardly imagine what his reaction might be if he knew Reed had actually kissed her. And not only had she enjoyed it, in her most secret self she wanted him to do it again.

  With a sigh, she looked up at David Emery Curtis III. However pleasant he might be, she knew he’d never be able to set off the sparks in her the way Reed could with a single raffish grin.

  More’s the pity, she thought grimly.

  IN THE GROCERY STORE, Reed juggled Bets in one arm as he loaded his cart with diapers, milk, beer and makings for sandwiches. He figured sweet sugar—Annie was probably planning something a little more gourmet for her evening meal than what he had in mind. That was okay. Blowing money on fancy food didn’t fill him up any more than the basics did.

  “Drummond? Is that you?”

  Reed turned to see who had called him. “John? John Fuentes? Hey, man, how’s it going?”

  “Can’t complain.” John shook his hand. He had a slightly crooked smile and a nose to match, one that had been broken in a failed effort to score the winning touchdown for Del Oro High in a league play—off game. His dark eyes flashed with the same spark of assurance Reed had noted when he’d been a kid admiring John, the upper classman and school hero. When John had been in the principal’s office receiving accolades, Reed had been there serving detention. “I heard you’d moved back to the ranch.

  “Yep. The proverbial bad penny.”

  John checked the baby in his arm. “A penny and change, it looks to me.”

  “Something like that.” He adjusted Bets’s position to his shoulder. “I figured you’d be long gone from this backwater town by now.” Reed had heard John had gotten a college scholarship, for academics, not athletics. In fact, in high school he’d been a little undersized for a jock. He’d filled out now and looked rock hard.

  “I spent some time in L.A.,” John admitted, pulling his grocery cart out of the way so a customer could pass in the narrow aisle. “But I had a chance to come home and jumped at it.”

  “That’s great. Maybe we’ll be able to do some business together.” John looked so prosperous in his sports coat and tie that Reed suspected he might own a small business in town.

  John laughed, an infectious sound that had the ladies turning their heads. “You’d better hope not, Drummond. I’m the town’s new police chief.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “‘Fraid not. I spent eight years on the force in L.A., worked my way up to lieutenant and then the job opened up here around the first of the year. I couldn’t pass it up. If I had, Mama would have tanned my hide.” His eyes sparkled with amusement that his mother would have so much influence over her thirty—year—old son…a cop at that.

  “I’ll be damned.” Smiling, Reed shook his head. If there had been railroad tracks through Mar del Oro, John would have been raised on the wrong side of them.
And look what he’d accomplished. It made Reed feel guilty he’d wasted so many years himself. But he was back now, too, and he had Bets.

  John extended his hand again. “Good to see you, Drummond. Maybe one of these days I’ll drop by the Rocking D—just to say hello.”

  “Sure. Anytime.” He didn’t know if John was saying that because he remembered Reed had been less than a model citizen as a kid and was afraid he’d start a crime wave in town or if the new police chief was really offering his hand in friendship. It didn’t matter. Reed’s nose was as clean as they got. He wasn’t about to get so much as a speeding ticket, not while he had Bets to worry about. And anything more than a ticket would play hob with his petition to adopt Bets.

  REED DIDN’T GET much sleep during the next few nights; he didn’t get much work done during the day, either.

  Only one woman had answered his ad in the local paper. A witch.

  She glanced around the living room, her nose in the air like she was the damn queen of Transylvania, for God’s sake. “This is simply not up to my standards,” she announced, sneering. With that, she turned and stalked out of the house.

  Good riddance, Reed decided. He wouldn’t have wanted that old biddy to come within a mile of Bets anyway. The poor kid would probably get hives.

  And so what if the house wasn’t furnished with the fanciest stuff around, the stove was old, there was no dishwasher and a few springs were broken in the couch. He’d gotten the place cleaned up; he’d scrubbed the floors and washed the walls until his hands had turned to prunes. He might not have a lot of money but his daughter wasn’t going to grow up in filth like he had after his mom had run off. Reed had been ten at the time.

  The memory of her abandonment still had the power to knock the air right out of his lungs.

  When nobody else responded to the ad, he asked some of the junior high girls if they had an older sister who might want to baby-sit after school. Even a few hours a day would have helped.

  You would have thought Reed was a serial rapist the way their mothers reacted. One woman had actually accused him on the phone of trying to lure her sweet innocent daughter to his house in order to seduce her. She’d sent the police chief around to give him a hard time.