Melissa Senate - The Maverick's Baby-In-Waiting

She reached into her purse for the list of baby must-haves that Baby Bonanza had stacked at the front of the shop.

Crib. Bassinet. Bouncer. Play mat. Bottles. Wipes. Wipes warmer. Diaper master...

Apparently, a diaper master was a special little garbage pail in which you threw out diapers. Wouldn’t a regular old garbage can with a lid work? For a quarter of the price?

“Ooh, I’m definitely getting that deluxe bouncer, Mom,” a very pregnant woman said as she and an older woman walked up behind Mikayla. She was eyeing the model that had given Mikayla sticker shock. “Only the best for my little Arabella,” she added while patting her belly. She looked to be around seven or eight months along.

“That one only vibrates and plays music,” her mother said, reading the description on the side of the box. She pointed at another box on the shelf above. “This double-deluxe model says it vibrates and gently massages the baby, a must when cranky. It’s only fifty dollars more. Worth every penny.”

“Oh, definitely that one,” the expectant mom said. Her mother lifted the even more expensive model into the cart, which already had a lot of items.

Only fifty dollars more. Jeez. That’s two weeks’ worth of layaway payments for me.

It was just stuff, she reminded herself. And not what mattered.

An image of her own mother popped into her mind. Widowed when Mikayla was a teenager, Hazel Brown had been a wonderful mother, and Mikayla had lost her just three years ago to a car accident. How she wished her mother was here now, by her side, explaining things, telling her what to expect, telling her everything would be okay. At least she knew her mama was looking down on her, watching over her like a guardian angel.

Chin up, she moved away from the expensive bouncers. The next aisle was filled with baby blankets and crib sheets that were so adorable her heart lifted again. She could afford one package of sheets and a waterproof liner. After all, that was what laundry three times a day was for.

Smiling, she put into her cart a lemon-yellow sheet with tiny pastel animals, along with a waterproof pad, then turned and headed for the checkout, but her gaze was caught by the cradle and crib aisle. Last week she’d put a beautiful white spindle crib on layaway. She stared at the floor model, struck by the fact that in just a couple months, the crib would be in her room at Sunshine Farm, her baby nestled inside on little animal-print sheets. She smiled at the rocking bassinets, one of which she’d also put on layaway, and the toddler beds in the shapes of race cars and butterflies. She couldn’t even imagine her baby walking and talking and sleeping in a big-kid bed. That seemed so far down the road.

“Oh, how adorbs!” another expectant mom said—this time to her doting husband, who was pushing their cart with one arm around his wife. Their gold wedding rings gleamed in the dimly lit aisle.

Mikayla glanced over to see what was so “adorbs,” and oh, God, it was. A plush baby blanket, hand knit, with little bulldogs on it. Each corner of the blanket had little chewing triangles for when the baby started teething.

“Aw, Oliver, these bulldogs look just like our Humphrey.” Into the cart the forty-five-dollar baby blanket went. Mikayla knew the price because she’d ogled the blanket not two minutes ago.

And there she was, the hugely pregnant single woman with no ring, no husband, and not able to buy a quarter of what she wanted for her child.

She sighed and was about to turn toward the checkout when a gorgeous man appeared at the other end of the aisle.

The gorgeous man she’d last seen running out of Daisy’s Donuts. This morning he wasn’t wearing a suit, as he had been yesterday. Today he was wearing sexy jeans, a navy blue Henley shirt, the zillion-dollar belt buckle and cowboy boots. His thick, silky blond hair was movie-star perfect, even though he probably hadn’t done a thing to it.

Then suddenly he froze as he noticed Mikayla at the end of the aisle. “Mikayla?” He grinned. “Well, I guess if I’m going to run into you anywhere, it would be in a baby store.”

She knew why she was here. But why was Jensen here? He wasn’t a father, was he?

“Buying a little relative a gift?” she asked.

“My brother’s nephews and niece,” he said. She was momentarily mesmerized by his blue eyes and the slight crinkles at the corners, his strong nose and square jawline. “They’re celebrating being potty trained with a party today, but I have no idea what to buy them as a gift.”

She was trying to remember back to the bachelor/bachelorette party and the Jones brothers she’d met. “Oh, that’s right—Hudson is married to Bella and she’s Jamie Stockton’s sister,” she said. “I remember meeting Jamie and his wife. They have two-year-old triplets. They potty trained three babies at once? That’s one heck of an achievement. Definitely partyworthy.”

He grinned. “I don’t doubt it. So I want to get them something worthy. Any ideas?”

“Hmm,” Mikayla said, glancing around. What would be just right for two-year-olds? “I noticed some wonderful educational toys and lots of great electronics in that aisle,” she said, pointing. “And those big stuffed animals are so adorable,” she added, gesturing at the three-foot-tall giraffe with a little seat built in. “Oh, I love those toddler beds in the shape of a race car and a butterfly.”

“Sold,” he said as his gorgeous blue eyes lit on the beds.

“What? Really?” She’d noticed the very high price tags when she was here last week. The beds cost a small fortune. Times three? A big fortune. The cost of things clearly didn’t faze him. When you were a Jones millionaire, it was probably like buying a cup of coffee at a gas station. Barely a blip on the budget.

She wondered what it would be like not to have a budget. But she truly couldn’t imagine.

“Do two-and-a-half-year-olds sleep in those kind of beds, or would they still be in cribs?” he asked.

“They’re probably just the age to move into big-kid beds,” she said.

“Perfect. I knew you were the woman to ask.”

“Ha, I have no idea what a newborn needs, let alone a toddler. I’m seven months along and just learning on the go. There must be a million books written about what to expect when you’re pregnant, but until I’m actually holding a newborn and need to do the zillions of things infants require...”

“I suppose you’ll hire a baby nurse,” he said. “That should make things easier.”

She almost laughed. Baby nurse! Was he kidding with that one? As if she could afford another crib sheet in addition to the one in her cart, let alone a living, breathing, experienced baby nurse to care for her infant during the night while Mikayla got eight hours of interrupted sleep.

“Uh, I’ll be the baby nurse. And nanny. And chief bottle washer.”

He smiled. “One-woman operation, huh?”

Her own smile faded. “Yeah. Just the way it is.”

Her heart pinching, Mikayla wanted to flee and stay at the same time. That was a weird dichotomy.

“So what are you buying today?” he asked, glancing in her cart.

“Just a crib sheet and some pajamas. I guess I can’t help window-shopping for the nursery I’d love to have, but that’s silly when I’m staying at Sunshine Farm and don’t know when I’ll move into my own place.”

He tilted his head and stared at her. “Sunshine Farm? Isn’t that Luke and Eva’s ranch house?”

She could feel her cheeks turning pink. She was pregnant and didn’t even have her own place.

“That property is gorgeous,” he said. “I love the big yellow barn. I think I heard my brothers say the Stocktons intend to turn the place into a guest ranch.”