Marie Ferrarella - The Rancher And The Baby

Meaning hell, Will thought. He almost laughed at that but checked himself in time. “Well, I see you haven’t lost it.”

Her eyebrows drew together in a puzzled look. She was actually trying to be nice to the man. Served her right. What the hell was he talking about?

“Lost what?” she asked.

“That knack of saying the first thing that comes into your head without filtering it,” he told her.

Cassidy had to admit that she felt more comfortable sparring with the cocky so-and-so, receiving stinging barbs and giving back in kind.

She could feel the adrenaline starting to rush through her veins again. She was definitely coming around, Cassidy thought.

“Hey,” she cried, bolting upright as the realization suddenly hit her. “It’s stopped raining.”

“And that baby’s stopped crying,” Will added. “It’s like Nature’s taking a break.”

The moment he said it, Cassidy’s head snapped back around. What had struck her subconsciously now hit her head-on. Laredo was right; the baby in the tub was no longer crying.

Was that because...?

Her heart froze as she looked down at the infant in the tub again. And then she exhaled the breath she’d just sucked in and held a second ago.

Wonder of wonders, the baby was sleeping. For a moment, she’d thought the worst.

“I guess all that crying took everything out of him—or her,” Cassidy added as an afterthought.

“Him or her? You don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl?” he asked her incredulously.

Rather than answer him directly, she said, “Well, it was crying so hard I couldn’t think, so it’s probably a male,” she speculated.

He was trying to nail Cassidy down, something that had never been easy to do. “Then you’ve never seen this baby before?” he questioned.

“Well, I haven’t been to the new-baby store recently, so no, I’ve never seen this baby before. Not until I saw it floating by in that flash flood that used to be a creek,” Cassidy added.

Laredo looked at her skeptically, which indicated that he didn’t believe her. But then, she supposed that just this once she couldn’t really fault him. If she were in his place, she wouldn’t have believed him, either.

“No, seriously, I’ve never seen this baby before.” She looked at the sleeping infant and shook her head. The whole thing seemed almost macabre as well as incredible. “Who sticks a baby into a plastic tub?” she asked.

“Someone trying to save its life would be my guess,” Will said, speculating. “Maybe it was someone who’s new to the area. They were driving through and got caught up in the flash flood—this could have been their last-ditch attempt to save the baby.”

She had a question for him. “Who drives around with a plastic tub in their car?”

“Someone who had no place to live,” he guessed. The expression on her face told him that she thought he was stretching it. “Hey, I don’t have all the answers, but it’s a possibility.”

“It’s also a possibility that the kid’s mother or father is looking for him or her right at this very minute,” Cassidy said, thinking how she would feel in that person’s place.

Scared out of her mind.

The baby began to stir. Any second it was going to wake up and start crying again, she thought, looking at the infant intently.

And then it was no longer a speculation.

The baby they had rescued was awake again. The next moment, it began to cry.

Will recalled something he’d overheard a young mother saying. “At this age, they only cry for a reason. It’s either hungry or wet,” he told her, getting up.

“Or maybe it just doesn’t like being crammed in a little plastic tub.” Speculation aside, she lifted the infant out of the confining tub. And as she did so, she also quickly drew back a section of the diaper and took a peek. “He’s also wet,” she pronounced, although that could have been the result of being caught up in the flood.

“He?” Will echoed as he stood up.

“He,” Cassidy repeated. “It’s a boy.” Holding the baby to her chest, she started to get up only to have Will reach down for the infant. She tightened her hold. “What are you doing?”

“You don’t want to risk falling over with the baby as you get up,” he told her as if it was a common occurrence for her. “I’m already up.”

“Good for you,” Cassidy commented sarcastically. Grudgingly she let Will take the baby, then popped up right beside him and reached to take the child back.

But Will didn’t release him. “What are you planning on doing?” he asked.

“Well, I certainly don’t want to have a tug-of-war with this child if that’s what you’re thinking.” It came out like an accusation.

Will didn’t rise to the bait. “No, what I’m thinking is that this baby needs to be seen by one of the doctors at the clinic.” It wasn’t a suggestion.

Okay, Cassidy allowed, so maybe Laredo was capable of having a decent thought once in a blue moon. But she wasn’t about to let him think that he’d gotten the jump on her.

“That’s just where I’m taking him,” she informed Will coolly.

But he wasn’t budging.

Now what? she thought, exasperated.

“You planning on tossing him in the back of the truck?” Will asked.

Her eyebrows drew together like light blond thunderbolts, aimed right for his heart. “Of course not,” she snapped.

He continued to hold on to the infant protectively. The baby was beginning to fuss. But Will’s attention was focused on the woman who stood in his way. “Okay, then what?”

“Um—”

To Cassidy’s surprise, he relinquished his hold on the infant, who was now beginning to cry. “C’mon, you hold the baby, I’ll drive.”

It really irked her when he took the lead this way, as if he was in control of everything, including her. “I don’t need you to drive us.”

Standing right in front of her, Will drew himself up to his full height. Although Cassidy would have never admitted it out loud, he did make a formidable obstacle.

“You planning on holding him in one arm while driving with the other hand?” he asked, then challenged, “On these roads?”

She knew he was right and hated giving him that. But unless she was willing to stand here, listening to the baby crying progressively louder—possibly even endangering this baby—she had no choice.

“Okay, fine,” she bit out, “you drive—but we’re coming back for my truck.”

He nodded absently. “I’ve got no problem with that,” he said, leading the way back to his vehicle.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cassidy asked.

He made her crazy. It felt as if everything out of his mouth came with a hidden meaning. Plus, Cassidy found she had to really lengthen her stride in order to try to keep up with him. But there was no way she was going to ask Laredo to slow down. She’d never done it with any of her brothers—all of whom were taller than she was—and she sure as hell wasn’t going to do it with Laredo.

Instead, Cassidy glared at the back of his head all the way to his truck.

When they reached it, Will opened the door directly behind the driver’s seat and held it open for her.

She immediately took it to mean he regarded her as subservient to him. “What’s wrong with the front seat?” she asked.

Will continued to hold the door open for her. “Backseat’s safer for the baby.”

Cassidy blew out a breath. Damn it, Will was right, and she hated that.

When he took hold of her elbow, she pulled free and nearly jabbed him with it. “I can get into the truck on my own.”

Unfazed, Will said, “I’m just looking out for the baby.”

Cassidy scowled at him. “Just because you helped save him doesn’t automatically make you his fairy godmother.”