Page 33 of A Baby for the Billionaire Cowboy

“Oh, no.” Ava fluttered her hands. “Take a month, at least. You got things so organized that we can handle the paperwork without you, no problem.”

Daisy’s gut twisted. She didn’t want them to be able to handle things without her. She hoped she hadn’t organized herself out of a job. Maybe they’d decided they didn’t need a full-time employee after all, and they were letting her down gently by giving her the cottage for a while—

No. She wouldn’t spiral into panic. At least, she’d try to stop the anxiety. She was a good worker. The Tomlinsons had the enormous charitable foundation as well as the ranch. Surely they’d have work for her for a long time. And if they ever didn’t need her, she had skills to take elsewhere.

But she really liked it here.

“I want to return to work,” she said. “I haven’t been working here for long, so I don’t expect an extended maternity leave.”

“Oh, honey.” Ava placed a hand on Daisy’s cheek. “It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been here. You’ve brought so much joy to his family.”

Joy? Her?

Ava meant the baby, of course. Daisy hadn’t had any idea how enthusiastic people got about a new baby, even when they weren’t related, barely knew the mother, and had never met the father. It seemed like half the town had stopped by already, often bringing gifts of baby clothes, diapers, blankets, and food. If Ava hadn’t instituted the visitation schedule, Daisy wasn’t sure she’d have had a moment alone with Avery since the birth.

“But that geologist guy is coming this week for the windmill survey, right? I suppose Xander will take him around the property, but there’s paperwork and...” Daisy wasn’t sure what all needed to be done, but there had to be something.

Ava leaned closer and whispered, “Have you seen that guy?” Her eyes opened wide. “He’s cute!”

“What? Really?”

Ava nodded, her eyes dancing and her lips pressed together but curving in a mischievous smile. She patted Daisy’s arm. “So don’t worry about a thing.I’lltake care of him.”

“Oh. Right. Okay.” Daisy had checked the man’s website to get familiar with his work history, but she hadn’t particularly noticed his photo.

Was Ava really this intrigued by the guy? Or was this her way of making an excuse so Daisy wouldn’t insist on working? The woman Daisy had been thinking of as a second mother now sounded like a giddy teenager. It was hard to process. The only thing weirder would be if Auntie Rhonda started batting her eyelashes and cooing over some man.

Daisy winced at her own thoughts. It was hardly fair to expect these widowed women to lose all interest in men and—no, Daisy couldn’t even think about sex in this context. She’d leave it asinterest in men. Why shouldn’t they want love, companionship, and romance? And if they did start a... physical relationship, they’d have the advantage of not worrying about getting pregnant. Although hadn’t she heard something about high rates of sexually transmitted diseases among older folks who started dating? Should she mention that to Ava?

Dear Lord, no. She should mind her own business. Her brain was hardly capable of processing her own concerns right now, let alone someone else’s.

“Um, fine. He’s all yours.” Daisy winced at her own words. But the geologist wasn’t the point of her going back to work.

As much as Daisy appreciated Ava’s help with everything, she had to do something to earn at least a tiny bit of the generosity. But if she told Ava she felt obligated to get back to work, Ava would brush away Daisy’s concern. She had to come at it from another direction.

She gestured toward the couch, and she and Ava sat.

“It’s been wonderful having this time with Avery,” Daisy said, “and I fully admit my brain has not been up to doing anything that requires organization or attention to detail. But I’d like to get back to the office, at least part-time. I want to keep track of what’s going on. Going back after a month off would be unpleasant because I’d have to practically learn everything from scratch again.”

Ava frowned and nodded slowly. “I suppose that’s true. Going on vacation always means you have twice the work when you get back.” She grinned. “I say that as if I’ve been on lots of long vacations. Until my trip this past summer, we’d never been away for more than one night.”

“So you know how much can change,” Daisy said. “Besides that, I feel like I could use a little adult time. You know, remind myself that I’m a reasonably capable working woman and not only a mother.” That wasn’t entirely true. It probably would be true eventually, but at the moment, she could easily spend all day resting and caring for Avery. But Ava didn’t need to know that.

“All right, come into the office tomorrow, but only for two hours at most.”

“Great.” Daisy almost laughed at her relief. How many people were grateful for beingallowedto work two hours a day? She owed the Tomlinsons everything; she would not take advantage of them, even if they encouraged her to do so. “I’m sure Auntie Rhonda will babysit.”

“Or...” Ava looked coy. “You could bring Avery! We could get another bassinet for the office. That way he’ll always have you close, and when you get back to working longer hours, you can simply go into the reading room to nurse.” She leaned closer and added in a conspiratorial whisper, “And I’ll get to peek in on him and give him cuddles!”

Daisy did laugh then. “Fine. I see why you’re really willing to let me come back to the office. We don’t need another bassinet though. I’m sure I can find something here that will work.”

Ava gave a little gasp. “I know! I have this wonderful little rocking crib that my grandfather made. I’m sure it’s still in the attic. We’ll clean it up, get some lovely blankets, and keep that in the office.” She sniffled. “It’s been almost twenty-five years since that crib had a baby in it.”

Daisy gulped, holding back her own tears. If Ava kept treating her like family, Daisy was going to have a hard time remembering she wasn’t. But since Ava obviously loved the idea of sharing her family heirloom with Daisy’s child...

“That sounds lovely.”

Her phone beeped with a text. Fortunately, the phone was sitting on the coffee table where she could hear it. She picked it up. “Xander wants to stop by.”

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