Page 19 of A Baby for the Billionaire Cowboy

He couldn’t quite get his mind around the question. “What else would I do?”

“Oh, I don’t know,notwork? Lots of people would make that choice.”

He slowed at the turnoff for their ranch. Green hills, golden fields, blue skies above—he felt the tension that came from even a trip to Last Stand drift away. “It’s not like I’m going to throw fancy parties or even go to them. Or, I don’t know, buy a yacht? I like fishing okay, but I can do that at the lake or in the river. And who would want to be on vacation all the time? I like keeping busy.”

She touched his arm again. “Me too. Remember that the next time you’re tempted to tell me to take it easy.”

He chuckled and stopped by the shelter they’d built for the guard. He’d thought maybe they didn’t need a guard anymore, now that the initial fuss had died down, but the strange woman today made him glad they still had security. In any case, it was a good job for local ranch hands who needed time to recover from injuries before they went back to heavier labor.

Herman dashed out and waved, so Xander lowered his window.

“Good, you’re back,” Herman said. “We got another drop-off.”

Xander’s heart sank. “What this time?”

“Box of kittens. They don’t look so good.” Herman ducked back into the shelter and came out holding a cardboard box. The three kittens were young and had obvious eye infections.

Xander winced. He hoped Daisy couldn’t see the state the kittens were in. “Let me drop off Daisy, and I’ll come back for them and take them straight to the vet. Can you call and let them know I’m coming?”

“Sure thing.” Herman ducked and nodded to Daisy. “Ma’am. Nice to see you.”

“You, too. Xander, if you need to hurry to the vet, I can go along, or you can drop me off here. I can walk to the house.”

He already had the car moving. “It’ll only take a minute. You rest—sorry, you get back to work.” He winked, trying to keep things light. “Tell Mama what I’m doing.” He pulled up at the house and got out so he could go around and open her door.

She was already hoisting herself from the car. “You get going and take care of those babies!”

“I will. See you tonight.” He hoped he’d be able to bring good news back to her.

Chapter Nine

Daisy waited upfor Xander, or at least she intended to. The door opening woke her from a doze, and she pushed herself upright on the couch, dislodging the calico cat that had crawled onto her side to join her for the nap. Daisy blinked and rubbed her eyes as the cat grumbled.

“Hello.” Xander sounded subdued, and he wasn’t carrying the box or anything else that might hold kittens. That didn’t look promising. And she had more bad news for him, unfortunately.

“Hello.” Daisy got up, pushing aside the worry. She couldn’t do anything for the kittens, but maybe she could do something for Xander. Her bladder told her she needed to pee, but she ignored its nagging. She was afraid if she took the time to go to the restroom, Xander would disappear into his room.

“Do you want some tea or cocoa? Did you even get dinner?”

“I had a sandwich. I don’t need anything.”

She took in his disheveled state, clothes wrinkled, shoulders sagging and eyelids drooping.

“I’d like some cocoa,” she said. “I might as well make two mugs if you’ll drink one.”

“Okay.” He followed her into the kitchen.

Daisy busied herself pouring milk into a pot on the stove. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

“Not really.” He leaned against the wall and rubbed his face.

“I can take it.” Anyway, if she didn’t know the truth, she’d assume the worst. “I know farm life isn’t always pretty.”

“Yeah, but it should be prettier than this. Someone dumped those kittens because they didn’t want to deal with them anymore. All they had to do was drop off the kittens sooner, here or at the vet or at the animal shelter.”

So they chose the Tomlinsons, knowing they had soft hearts and enough money to provide vet care? Or had they simply chosen a random ranch and gotten rid of a responsibility? They might have fooled themselves into believing the kittens could survive on their own as barn cats.

Daisy braced herself. “Didn’t the kittens make it?”

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