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

Mikayla nodded. “I’m trying to be a very good guest so that I don’t ruin their fantasy for them. But when the baby comes...” Her eyes widened and she grinned. “I can’t believe they haven’t told me to scram before my due date, but they apparently like the idea of a baby in the house.”

He winced. Slightly, but he did. She knew what he was thinking: Who’d want to wake up in the middle of the night to a baby wailing? Or change a diaper—ever? Mikayla wondered if he’d feel differently if it were his own baby, but she figured he’d hire a day and night nurse if he ever had a kid of his own.

“Are you planning on staying in Rust Creek Falls permanently?” he asked.

“I really don’t know,” she said, quite honestly. “I’m kind of...figuring things out right now.” Could the floor open up and swallow her and her cart? He’d probably never had to figure out the basics of life—like a place to live and money to buy a crib. Move along, Mi kayla , she told herself. There’s no sense even making this man’s acquaintance. You live on different planets. “Well,” she said with what probably looked like a forced smile. “I’d better get going. Nice to see you again, Jensen.”

Too bad pulling her eyes off him was so hard. She could stand here and look at this man all day and night.

“Nice to see you again, too,” he said, kind of wistfully, if she wasn’t mistaken. Huh. Once again, Mikayla the Amazing Mind Reader had a good idea what he was thinking: Shame she’s pregnant. She could be showing me the sights around town, including lovers’ lane, where we could have had some fun.

Was there even a lovers’ lane in Rust Creek Falls? As if Mikayla would know.

“Can I help you?” a store employee asked as she walked over, smiling at Mikayla and Jensen. “Oh, and congratulations, you two. Mommy and Daddy are getting their nursery in order before the big day, I see.”

Mikayla turned beet red.

Jensen practically choked.

“Oh, we’re not together,” Mikayla rushed to say. Why do I always feel the need to explain? she wondered. For a second there, she’d been someone’s wife, her baby had a father and she was setting up her nursery in advance of the big event. Just the way she’d dreamed.

The sales clerk cringed. “Sorry. I’m always putting my foot in my big mouth. You could have been brother and sister, too.”

“We’re definitely not,” Jensen said. “I’ll take three race car beds,” he added to the clerk. “And they must be delivered this afternoon by one. Oh, and I’d like the beds personalized with the names across the fronts. Jared, Henry and Katie.”

“Did you want the butterfly bed for Katie?” the salesclerk asked, pointing at the pink-and-purple bed.

Jensen shook his head. “Apparently, Katie loves cars just like her brothers, so a race car it is. Her favorite color is orange, so maybe her name can be stenciled in orange.”

The manager nodded. After Jensen gave the delivery information, she said, “I’ll make sure everything is correct and delivered with bows by 1:00 p.m. to the Stockton residence in Rust Creek Falls.”

“Thanks,” Jensen said. Then he turned to Mikayla. “And thanks for your help. I never would have thought to buy the beds. They’re perfect.”

She managed a smile. “Well, ’bye,” she said too brightly and practically ran down the aisle to the checkout.

Crazy thing was, the moment she stopped, she missed being around him.

* * *

Well, the woman was definitely not trying to find herself a husband—and a rich one, at that, Jensen thought. She couldn’t get away from him fast enough.

He wondered why. Most single women flirted with him outright, making no mistake of their interest. Mikayla Brown’s interest was less than zero.

As he watched her wheel her cart to the checkout, Jensen stood about fifty feet away, partially blocked from view by a giant stuffed panda he pretended interest in buying. He was trying to come up with some reason to stall her, to talk to her more, maybe offer to take her for coffee—decaf—or an early lunch.

Why, though? he asked himself. The woman is about t o have a baby! And the last thing Jensen planned to be was anyone’s daddy. Maybe in ten years. Or never. But definitely not in a couple of months.

“I’d like to put twenty-five dollars down on the crib I have on layaway,” he heard Mikayla say to the cashier. “And I’d also like to add this car seat and snap-in stroller to my account.”

A crib and car seat on layaway. Jesus. He knew not everyone could afford everything they wanted right then and there, and racking up debt on credit cards wasn’t a great idea, but these seemed to be necessities for a newborn. It killed him.

When she left the store with her meager purchase of a crib sheet and two pairs of cotton pajamas, grand total $24.52, he walked up to the cashier.

“I’d like to pay off the balance of Mikayla Brown’s layaway items,” he said. “The woman who just left.”

“Oh, she sure is lucky to have a guardian angel,” the woman said. She typed in Mikayla’s name into the computerized cash register. “Ah, the crib, a bassinet, diapers, wipes, a changing table and pad, and an infant car seat with a snap-in stroller.”

Just the basics, Jensen realized. He could do a lot better than that for her. “Does she have a wish list?”

“Oh, yes,” the woman said. “Helps our expecting mothers keep track of what they’d like, particularly for registries for baby showers.”

“I’ll pay off the layaway and also take everything on the wish list,” Jensen said.

The woman’s mouth dropped open. “Wow, you’re like a summertime Santa Claus.” She punched in a bunch of keys. “I can have everything delivered to Ms. Brown’s address—Sunshine Farm in Rust Creek Falls—by late this afternoon. We have everything in stock here, and instant delivery is how we keep folks from going to the big-box store outside town.”

“Thanks for all your help,” Jensen said.

He felt much better as he exited the store into the bright August sunshine. He couldn’t have Mikayla Brown, but he could help her out.

He lifted his face as the refreshing breeze ruffled his hair. This was a perfect morning for a long ride. Walker kept horses and had told Jensen to take one out whenever he wanted. A ride would clear his head, hopefully ridding it of Mikayla’s beautiful face and her not-so-great life situation. He had to forget her.

So why the hell couldn’t he?

“Last place I’d ever expect to see you, Jensen,” called out a familiar voice.

Jensen turned to find his brother Walker and Walker’s wife, Lindsay, exiting their car in the parking lot of the baby store and heading toward him.

“I came out here to pick up some gifts for the potty party,” he said. “Try saying that five times fast.”

Lindsay laughed, tossing her long brown hair behind her shoulder. “Us, too. Oh, Jensen, I keep meaning to tell you. I’ve heard through the grapevine that several women in town are very interested in meeting you. Everyone keeps asking me, ‘Is he single? Seeing anyone? Should I tell my sister to go for it?’”

Walker shook his head with a grin. “I told you, Lindz. They’re all wasting their time.”

She playfully socked her husband in the arm. “Oh, come on. Until I hear it from the man himself, I won’t believe you. Who wouldn’t want to meet the love of their life?”

No wonder Lindsay was such a good lawyer. She put it right out there. No escaping the truth.

“I’m open to a dinner out or seeing the sights around the county,” Jensen said. “But beyond that—no. I’m not looking for a relationship.”