Page 59 of The Cowboy and the Baby

“Why isn’t he married?”

It felt like a relief to release the question. How could he still be unattached? So handsome, compassionate, hard-working, yet not snatched up by the first woman ready to be barefoot and pregnant with his babies?

The idea wasn’t a terrible one.

Dagny lifted her hand to shade her eyes and murmured, “That has always b-been the question, and I don’t think it has as m-much to do with a busy ranch as he might make it out to be.”

Her last line sat with me. What could that possibly mean? His arrival prevented me from asking. He smiled as he approached.

“You’re saving me a couple hundred bucks, Dag.”

She shrugged. “I tr-rust you with it, Cade. And I expect to see the p-project once you’re all done.”

He strode around to the back of the truck as he called, “It’ll be awhile before that happens!” and I somehow felt great relief in the comment. If it would take a while to finalize the renovations, then I had reasons to stick around.

It bought me time.

The tires hummed as Cade eased down the highway, one hand on the wheel, the other bent on the window, his head tipped. A line formed between his eyebrows when he thought this hard, and it appeared now.

“Thank you.”

My tentative offering shattered the quiet. Blinking, he looked over.

“Sorry?”

“For introducing me to Dagny.”

A surprised smile wreathed his face. “My pleasure.”

I left it there, and wasn’t that the best part of Cade? I didn’t have to elaborate, try to figure out what he was thinking. We were the same in the quiet as we were in conversation, and it felt like a gift.

The truck rumbled its way down the hill, and I felt a sense of peace begin to creep inside. Cade meant it when he said he didn’t care what others believed about us. A vibration cut my thoughts short. I pulled my phone from my vest pocket in surprise. Marsha and I had spoken that morning. She didn’t usually?—

My breath caught.

I said, “Oh!” before I realized it.

Cade asked, “You okay?” while my eyes skimmed the test message that caught me by surprise. The text wasn’t from Marsha.

Sarah: Thank you for the invitation to visit your new place in Wyoming, Noelle. We would love to see Lily and your new home. We have booked our flights to the closest airport to the address you sent us, and acquired a rental car. We’ll be there in three days.

Three.

Days.

A warm hand touched my shoulder, pulling me from my surprise.

“Noelle?”

Clearing my throat, I said, “Yes, sorry. I mean, fine. Everything is fine. I, uh . . . I heard back from Sarah.”

“And?”

“They’ve already purchased a flight and booked a rental car. They’ll be here in three days. She didn’t say anything snarky about me being out of state,” I added as an aside, which surprised me. In the past, she accepted any opportunity to be snide.

He whistled. “Three days? That was fast.”

“Yeah.”