Carla Cassidy - Operation Cowboy Daddy

She hated the way her heart beat just a little faster at the mere sight of him. The very first time she’d met him her heart had reacted the same way, and it had shamed her, since he was her friend’s boyfriend.

She closed the door behind him and motioned him to sit on the sofa. What was he doing here? And why did he have a baby, who cooed softly as he set the carrier on the floor next to him?

“Have you been in touch with Amy lately?” he asked as she sat in the chair opposite the sofa. He took off his hat and placed it next to him.

“No. The last time I spoke to her was about six months ago. Why?”

“She came by the ranch last night and said she was in trouble.” He glanced down at the baby and his jaw tightened. “She told me the baby is mine and his name is Joey, then she jumped into her car and drove off. I need to find her.”

Oh, Amy, what kind of trouble have you found this time? “I’m sorry, Tony, I don’t know what to tell you. The last time I talked to her she was living in Oklahoma City with a man she met not long after the two of you went your separate ways. I tried to call her a while ago, but the phone number I had for her was no good.”

Tony’s eyes bored into hers with intensity. A woman could fall into those dark depths. “Do you remember the name of the man?”

Mary frowned thoughtfully and tried to remember the last conversation she’d had with her friend. “No, I don’t think she mentioned his name to me.”

Her gaze drifted down to the baby. He smiled and cooed to her and a wave of unexpected anguish swept through her, an anguish she’d believed she’d made peace with a long time ago.

“Did you know she was pregnant?” Tony asked.

Mary nodded. “She told me she was pregnant with your child when she first took a test.”

Tony’s strong features expressed bewilderment. “Why didn’t she tell me? Why didn’t she come to me?”

“I don’t know, Tony. I certainly encouraged her to do so at the time.” But there was no telling Amy anything when she didn’t want to listen. “Besides, she made me promise I wouldn’t tell you.”

He leaned back against the beige sofa, his disturbed energy filling the air. “Do you know for sure that he’s mine?”

Mary’s heart squeezed tight as she thought about her troubled friend. “I can only go by what she told me at the time, but I know when she did tell me she was already living with the other man.” She knew that Tony probably understood as well as she did that Amy wasn’t always a reliable source of truthfulness.

He remained silent for several long minutes, his gaze directed someplace over her shoulder. Tony Nakni obviously had Native American blood. His skin tone was a warm bronze and his straight black hair was a thing of glory, falling to the middle of his shoulders.

And those broad shoulders accentuated his slim hips and long legs. Physically he stirred something in Mary that had been dormant for a very long time.

His gaze returned to her and he leaned forward. “I need your help, Mary.”

At that moment Halena came in from the back porch and stood in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen. “Grandmother, do you remember Tony Nakni? He came to visit a couple of times with Amy.”

“I don’t remember what we had for breakfast this morning,” Halena replied as she eyed Tony with a touch of suspicion. “Is that your baby?”

Tony hesitated a moment. “I don’t know,” he finally replied. “What I do know for sure is that I need help.” He looked back at Mary.

“What kind of help?” she asked.

“I’ll pay you whatever it takes if you’ll take care of Joey just until I can find Amy,” he said. She stared at him in stunned surprise and he quickly continued, “I know you’re a good woman, Mary. I wouldn’t trust him with anyone else, but I have to work during the day and I don’t live in a place that would be healthy for a baby. Besides, I don’t know what I’m doing. I know I’m asking a lot, but I don’t have anyplace else to turn. It should only be for a couple of days or so.”

Mary was speechless. In a million years she wouldn’t have been able to anticipate a visit from Tony, let alone the favor that he asked of her. He had also just spoken more words than he had during all the visits when he and Amy had been here before.

She didn’t want to get involved with this. Anything that had to do with Amy always wound up to be a big mess. Besides, he was talking about her taking on a huge responsibility.

Still, as Joey cooed and waved his hands in the air as if catching imaginary butterflies, myriad emotions surged up inside her.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” she heard herself say.

Tony jumped up off the sofa. “Thank you so much,” he said fervently. He picked up his hat. “I’ll just head into town and get some things for you that you’ll need.”

“Don’t thank me yet, you haven’t heard my terms,” Mary replied. If the baby was Tony’s, then he wasn’t going to get off so easily. She wasn’t just going to take care of little Joey without him being a part of it.

“Terms?” He looked at her warily.

“Joey can stay here with us, but when you get off work in the evenings, you need to be here with him.” All she was thinking of was what was best for the child. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was intensely attracted to Tony.

“That’s not a problem,” he replied. The darkness that had filled his eyes dissipated somewhat for the first time since he’d walked through the door. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

He began to inch toward the front door. “I’ve got a suitcase full of stuff that Amy left with him. I’ll go get that now and then I’ll pick up some more things in town and be back here later this afternoon.”

“I’ll walk out with you for the suitcase,” Mary replied.

They left the house and headed toward his black king-cab pickup parked in her driveway. “It’s possible Amy will show up in the next day or so,” he said. He pulled the suitcase out of the pickup bed and then frowned. “She didn’t look good, Mary. I think she’s back on drugs.”

Mary’s heart sank, although she wasn’t surprised. Amy had fought addiction issues for years. “Let’s just hope whatever is going on with her life, she gets it together soon and comes back for her son.”

“This arrangement isn’t going to cause issues with your boyfriend or a significant other, is it?” he asked worriedly.

“Since I don’t have a significant other or a boyfriend, there’s no problem,” she replied.

Moments later she watched as Tony’s truck disappeared in the distance. She gripped the suitcase handle tightly and wondered what she had just gotten herself into.

She should have never agreed to this. The last thing she needed was to have a baby in the house to remind her of all her inadequacies. But Tony had looked so desperate.

It’s going to be just fine, she assured herself. It was possible Amy had already returned to the Holiday ranch looking for Tony and her baby.

With this positive thought in mind she headed inside. Halena remained standing in the same place she’d been during the conversation with Tony, only now she had deep lines etched across her forehead.

“Big changes,” she said. “And a tin man... You’d better guard yourself, my Mary. The leaves are whispering to me that this is not a good thing.”

Mary released an uneasy laugh. “But, Grandmother, sometimes the leaves lie to you.”

Halena’s eyes remained dark and troubled. “And sometimes they don’t,” she replied.

Chapter 2

Tony had forgotten about Mary Redwing’s beauty. Of course, the last time he’d seen her he’d been completely besotted by Amy’s curly blond hair, bright blue eyes and infectious giggles.