LITMIR.BIZ

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      “You sound an awful lot like a proud mama,” Lizzy said, regarding her worriedly. “Sweetie, you aren’t getting any ideas about trying to keep her, are you?”

      “Of course not,” Sharon Lynn denied a little too emphatically. “This is just temporary until Justin can find out who abandoned her and whether there’s any family to take her.”

      “Then why did you bring home enough diapers and formula for months, rather than days?”

      She could feel the color flooding her cheeks. “I just grabbed stuff last night. I wasn’t counting. Neither was Cord. We just accidentally doubled up on some stuff.”

      As soon as the last was out of her mouth, she realized her mistake. The repeat mention of Cord’s name was like waving a red flag in front of Lizzy.

      “Okay, into the kitchen,” Lizzy ordered in the imperious manner of a woman used to having her demands taken seriously. “You can feed the baby and I’ll pour the coffee. I want to hear all about this Cord person.”

      “Don’t you have to get back to your own family?” Sharon Lynn asked hopefully.

      “You are my family,” Lizzy reminded her. “I’m the aunt. I get to be nosy.”

      “You’re younger than I am.”

      “Doesn’t matter. In the family pecking order, I have rank. Ask Daddy.”

      “It would be a waste of time asking Grandpa Harlan,” Sharon Lynn conceded. “Precious Lizzy has ruled the roost since the day she was born. After all those impossible sons of his, to say nothing of Jenny who was a fourteen-year-old troublemaker when he married your mom, you were his darling angel. Little did he know that you’d turn out to be the most stubborn and impossible of all of them.”

      “None of which has a thing to do with the topic,” Lizzy reminded her, oblivious to the familiar teasing.

      “Which is?”

      “Cord. Tell me about him.”

      Sharon Lynn forced a casual, disinterested shrug.

      “He’s a nice guy. He came into Dolan’s last night, right off the road in the middle of that storm. He’d been traveling from Montana. He’s here looking for a job.”

      “What kind of job?”

      “Actually he has an interview at White Pines today.”

      “Oh, boy,” Lizzy said, chuckling. “And you think I’m subjecting you to an inquisition. Just wait till Daddy gets wind of the fact that you and Cord rescued a baby from a blizzard.”

      That was precisely what Sharon Lynn was most afraid of. Her grandfather was notorious for his matchmaking schemes. She gave Lizzy a pointed look. “Then hopefully he won’t find out about it.”

      “You have to be dreaming. Daddy has a sixth sense for this sort of thing. Not to mention the fact that Justin and I already know about it. I had to tell Hank I was coming here on my way to work at the hospital. Who knows how many people Justin has spoken to? And Cord is at this very moment out at White Pines meeting with whom?”

      “Daddy, more than likely.”

      Lizzy grinned. “Oh, yes, indeed, Uncle Cody is definitely known for his discretion. Add it up, sweetie, and you’re in big trouble.”

      “Cord is being interviewed by my father,” Sharon Lynn reiterated. “Not Grandpa Harlan.”

      Lizzy chuckled. “And you think that’s an improvement?”

      Sharon Lynn sighed. “Okay, maybe not much of one. Maybe Cord won’t mention having met me.”

      “Did you swear him to secrecy?”

      “No.”

      “If you were hoping to get hired on by the biggest rancher in the state, wouldn’t you use the fact that you happen to know his daughter?”

      “Okay, maybe, but it’s not like we’re old friends or anything. We just met.”

      “And rescued a baby together. It’s a bond, sweetie, the kind that will set off all sorts of wild speculation around White Pines. There’s no getting around it.”

      It was a bond, Sharon Lynn thought with a sigh. Cord’s tenderness with the baby had touched her heart. His outrage and indignation had been every bit a match for her own. Beyond that? She refused to look beyond that. She wasn’t remotely interested in allowing a new man into her life, especially not a charming stranger who might be all too capable of slipping past her defenses. She’d lived amidst charming rogues and scoundrels all her life. She wasn’t interested in dating one. That’s why Kyle, the polar opposite of the men in her family, had held such strong appeal for her. Judging from Lizzy’s expression, she hadn’t yet made herself clear enough. She tried again.

      “Lizzy, for a woman with a practical, scientific mind, you’re talking like the ultimate romantic. Get a grip. Cord Branson is a total stranger.”

      “He might have been when he walked into Dolan’s last night, but something tells me he isn’t now.”

      “You’re imagining things.”

      “We’ll see,” Lizzy predicted. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned the last couple of years, it’s that fate has a sneaky way of turning life upside down when you least expect it. Jamey is proof enough of that.”

      Sharon Lynn could certainly testify to that, too, but her experience with fate wasn’t something she had any intention of repeating. She was in total control of her life these days and she intended to stay that way. She said as much to Lizzy.

      “And this time yesterday were you cuddling a baby in your arms and trying to figure out how you were going to juggle your schedule at Dolan’s and care for her?”

      “No, but—”

      Lizzy grinned. “I rest my case.” She slipped on her coat, then leaned down to brush a kiss across Sharon Lynn’s cheek. “See you, sweetie. Call if you need any help. If I’m not around, talk to Hank. He’s the baby expert, anyway. He’ll probably insist you bring this little princess out to the ranch to play with Jamey.”

      Sharon Lynn grinned. “I think this one might be a little young for play-dates, don’t you?”

      “I do, but Hank won’t. Promise you’ll call if you need anything.”

      “Thanks. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

      Lizzy’s expression sobered then. She picked up Sharon Lynn’s hand and pressed it against her cheek.

      “Don’t get too attached, okay? It would be easy to do. Nobody could blame you, but—”

      “I know,” Sharon Lynn responded bleakly. “It can only end in heartbreak. I’ve been there, done that. One more time won’t matter.”

      “It would matter,” Lizzy said fiercely. “You’re strong, Sharon Lynn. We all know that. But even you have a breaking point.”

      Sharon Lynn forced a smile. “Then I can’t let myself get too attached, can I?”

      When Lizzy was gone, she glanced down at the now-sleeping baby in her arms and sighed. She had a terrible feeling it was already too late.

      

      The interview had gone well enough. Cody Adams had asked tough questions, questions that might have put Cord on the defensive, but he’d asked them in a way that had encouraged Cord to give straight answers about his past, as well as his ambitions.

      “In other words, we can’t count on you sticking around here as a hand until your dying breath,” Cody summarized after the questions were done and they’d spent some time touring the ranch. “You scrape up enough money, find some land you want and you’ll leave?”

      “To be perfectly

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