Just a Cowboy and His Baby (Spikes & Spurs) (23 page)

Gemma’s ears rang with Liz’s voice when she had told her fortune in the spring: “You will definitely have a cowboy of your very own and a baby by this Christmas.”

She had not said a cowboy of your very own and
you
two
will
have
a
baby
together
.

He set the baby on the table and slumped into a chair. “Gemma, I don’t know anything about this business, and you have every right to be angry. What am I going to do? She said she was on the pill and…”

She laid a finger over his lips. “Shhh. I’m angry at Ava, but why would I be angry at you? You had no idea about any of this. If you’d have said you were taking that child to an adoption agency, I would have walked away from you and never looked back. Look at her, Trace. She has your dark hair and lips. Take her out of that thing and hold her.”

His face went pale. “I don’t know how.”

Gemma hobbled over to the car seat and unfastened the buckles. “See, it’s easy once you get the hang of it. I learned with Rachel.”

Trace shook his head. “I could have figured that out. That’s not the problem. I’ve never held a baby in my whole life. They scare the hell out of me.”

Gemma sat down in a chair nearest the car seat. She loved babies, and not picking up that poor little motherless child was the hardest thing she’d ever done.

She touched his cheek and said, “Slip a hand under her bottom and support her head with the other, then hold her close to your heart so she can hear the beat. Sugar was a hell of a lot smaller than that when you got her, wasn’t she? And I bet she wiggled more than a two-week-old baby.”

He did exactly what Gemma told him and held his daughter so close that he could feel her little heart beating next to his chest. His expression went from bewildered to amazed in a split second. He leaned back and looked down at Holly and she snuggled down in his arms.

“Oh, my!” he said.

“See, nothing to it,” Gemma told him. “It’s a lot easier than riding a bronc.”

“But a bronc event is only eight seconds. This is a lifetime,” he said softly.

“Yes, it is. Once a parent, always a parent. You can’t go back, only forward.”

“She’s so tiny.”

“And beautiful.”

Trace’s smile barely turned up the corners of his mouth. “Come and sit in my lap. I want to share this moment with you. You will help me, won’t you?”

Tears dammed up behind Gemma’s eyelashes when she sat down on Trace’s knee. When she touched the baby’s hand, Holly wrapped her fingers around Gemma’s pinky.

“That woman is heartless. I could never give up something this precious. It’ll take both of us to take care of her at the rodeos. I’ll watch her while you ride and you can while I ride. And we’ll take turns on the night feedings.”

Trace cut his eyes around at her. “The what?”

“Night feedings. You can’t just put a pan of water and a bowl of food beside her bed. Someone is going to be getting up every three to four hours to feed this little girl. Her tummy won’t hold enough formula to last longer than that. Mind if I look into that folder and see how much she weighed?”

“Of course not. You need to know everything.”

She moved into a chair right beside him and thumbed through legal documents and finally found the birth certificate. “Holly Jo Coleman was born July 15th. She was nineteen inches long and weighed six pounds and two ounces. She’ll be eating every three to four hours for sure. Babies that weigh more than eight pounds eat more, so they sleep longer.”

“How do you know all this?” Trace asked.

Gemma touched Holly’s face. The baby opened her mouth and turned toward her hand.

“She’s getting hungry. And I know all that because Austin was terrified about being a mother. She was an only child, and she was afraid she’d do something wrong, so she read baby books by the dozens and we heard about them all the time. Then Pearl got pregnant with the twins and it was the same thing all over again. And I used to keep the nursery at the church on Sunday mornings.”

“Thank God!” Trace said. “What do we do now? Is there food in that bag?”

Gemma rummaged through it. “Six diapers. Two bottles of formula. One extra blanket and no more clothes. We can change her diaper and feed her, but we’ve got to go to the store pretty quick. And that means we have to unhitch my trailer.”

“Why your trailer?”

“Because my truck has a backseat. It’s against the law to put a baby in the front seat of a vehicle. She can’t ride in your truck. Guess we’ve got some plans to make.”

Worry etched into Trace’s face like lines on a road map. “I don’t feel anything. Shouldn’t I be overwhelmed like those guys in the movies when they hold their babies? I bet Rye and Wil felt something when their babies were born. Is there something wrong with me? Is this really my child?”

Gemma patted his shoulder. “Nothing is wrong with you. Rye and Wil and now Ace all had nine months to get ready for a baby, and they had it with someone they were in love with. They didn’t have a baby dropped out of heaven into their arms. Be patient. One day at a time, like the old song says. Right now, we go to the nearest store and buy necessities,” she said.

He set the diaper bag and the folder in the car seat, carried it in one hand, and cradled the baby in the other. Gemma picked up her crutches and the three of them headed back to her truck.

“Eight seconds can change the world,” she said.

“You talkin’ about ridin’ or this?”

“Both. Who would have thought that thirty minutes ago when we walked away from my truck we’d come back with a baby?”

“What is this going to do to our relationship?” he asked.

“We have a relationship?”

“Don’t tease.”

She braced her back against the truck. “I expect if what we have is strong enough to withstand the competition we are in, then one little bundle of smelly pooped diaper won’t hurt it too much.”

He took a deep breath and snarled. “Is that what that is? I thought we were downwind from a hog lot.”

“Lay her on the backseat and put the diaper bag on the floor. I can take care of that in no time,” she said.

Trace watched over her shoulder while she changed Holly’s diaper. “Maybe I should forget the rest of the circuit and go home.”

“Why? She don’t know if she’s being raised up these first months in a trailer or a mansion. We can do this, Trace. Don’t give up on your dream.” Gemma picked up the baby and held her close to her chest. Holly started rooting around, hunting for food.

“What do I do now?” he asked.

“You put that car seat in the backseat and strap it down with the seat belts. Then we go to your trailer and heat up a bottle so I can feed her. After that we’ll go to the store and buy supplies. Then we’ll come back and figure out what we’re doing after the ride tonight.”

“You are fan-damn-tastic, woman.”

“I can’t carry her and use crutches, so help please,” Gemma started.

Trace cut her off mid-sentence when he picked her up. She held the baby in her arms and Trace held her like a new bride. He carried both of them to his trailer and set them in the middle of his bed.

“I’ll go back and get that diaper bag and papers now,” he said.

She stretched Holly out on her knees and checked her toes and fingers: ten of each. Then she touched her little ears and traced the outline of her lips. “You are perfect, sweetheart. And you’ll have the best daddy in the whole world when he settles down and realizes that a little angel just got dropped into his lap.”

Holly had begun to whimper by the time Trace returned and he panicked.

“Is she all right? What do we do now? Should we take her to the hospital and have a doctor look at her?”

“She is hungry, Trace. Run hot water in a pan or a bowl in the sink and stick one of those bottles in it, then you can feed her,” Gemma said.

He swished the bottle back and forth. “How will I know when it’s ready?”

“Pick it up and let a drop fall on your wrist,” she answered.

He followed her instructions and said, “I can’t feel it.”

“Then it’s ready. Come on over here and sit down beside me.”

When he sat down, his eyes reminded her of a scared rabbit. “Will you do it this time and let me watch? Like the diaper thing. If I see how to do it then I’ll be able to take on the job.”

Gemma cradled Holly in her arms, held the bottle to her mouth, and the baby latched right on to it. “See, it’s not a lot different than feeding a calf.”

“Except with a calf you put it in a bucket.” Trace laughed nervously.

She looked up to find him staring into her eyes. “What?” she asked.

“You are beautiful holding that baby.” He kissed her and sparks flew around the trailer just like always.

“Whew!” she said. “I wondered if a baby would change the fire power. It didn’t.”

He chuckled again. “I wondered the same thing, but I do believe that kiss was the hottest one yet.”

“Burp time and you get to do it.” She put the baby in his arms.

“How?”

“Put her on your shoulder and pat her gently on the back.”

“Like this?”

Gemma leaned back and glared at him. “You rascal. You lied to me. You’ve done this before.”

He shook his head. “I saw it on television.”

Holly burped loud and clear, shoved her thumb in her mouth, and made sucking sounds.

Trace handed her back to Gemma. “Thumb sucker? Will that ruin her teeth or give her a speech problem?”

“We’ll get her a pacifier at the store and that will take care of any problems. While I finish feeding her, can you get my trailer and truck unhitched? Why don’t we use my truck from now on and your trailer?”

“Sounds good, but how?”

“Remember, Ace and his brothers are coming to the rodeo. Momma and Dewar were pouting, remember?”

“Lord, I barely remember my name,” he said.

She went on, “We can send your truck and my trailer back with them. It’ll be a tight squeeze to fit all my things plus Holly’s in your place, but it can be done. My saddle can ride in the backseat beside her car seat, and if you’ll put your tool chest over in the bed of my truck we can store things in it. We can share the gas and food expenses.”

He was shaking his head before she got the last word out. “I can pay for those things. If you’re going to help with this baby, it’s the least I can do.”

Gemma looked him in the eye. “Don’t get defensive with me, cowboy.”

He smiled. “I’m not. I just wanted you to know up front that I’ll pay for everything if you’ll just help me.”

Gemma nodded. “Deal. She’s about finished with this bottle. You want to burp her or go unhitch my trailer?”

“You can’t unhitch a trailer with your foot like that.”

“Then I’ll do the burping and you do the unhitching,” she said.

He waved at the door.

She groaned. “Dammit! And don’t let me hear you repeating that, Miss Holly. I want hitching as in a permanent relationship, and that’s a fact.”

Half an hour later they were in her truck, baby in the car seat and Gemma looking through papers while Trace drove. They’d only driven a mile when they saw a Dollar General store with its big yellow sign.

“Is this all right?” Trace asked.

“Just fine. Oh, oh!”

He tapped the brakes. “What?”

“Don’t stop. Go on and park. I just found a DNA paper. That redheaded groupie witch must have been helping her out all along.”

Trace found a spot close to the door and turned to face Gemma. “What are you talking about?”

“Says here that the baby is yours. Ninety-nine point nine percent positive. Looks like they took your DNA from a beer bottle. I didn’t know they could do that. I thought that was just something on television cop shows.”

“I’d feel better if I had another one done,” he said.

“Then do it, but I betcha she’s yours. If Ava hadn’t known she was, then she wouldn’t have given her to you,” Gemma said.

He pinched his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “Man! I never thought I’d be having a conversation like this when I woke up this morning. And I still have to call my parents.”

“I have to call Momma and Ace,” she said.

“Why Ace?”

“Remember, we are going to ask him to take our extra rig home. And Momma because I want to.”

He held the door to the store for her, and the lady behind the checkout counter greeted them. “Hot enough for y’all?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Gemma said.

She had blond hair cut in a neckline with a spiky top. Blue eyes were set deep in a bed of wrinkles that said she’d seen middle age come and go a while back. “My uncle said he saw a whole caravan of lizards last week headin’ north. Guess even they’ve had all of this summer heat they can stand. Girl, it must be miserable to have crutches and a new baby both. But looks like your husband is a good man. Most men I know wouldn’t be carryin’ a baby around without one of them buckets. Can I help y’all with anything?”

“We need formula and diapers,” Gemma said.

“Baby stuff is that way.” The lady pointed. “Boy or girl?”

“Girl,” Gemma answered.

“How old is she?”

“Two weeks.”

“Man, you look damn fine to have just had a baby two weeks ago. Took me months to get back in my clothes. Y’all need any help, you just holler.”

“Thank you.” Gemma said.

Trace held Holly cradled in one arm and pushed a cart with the other. He stopped midway down the aisle and shook his head.

“Where do we even start?”

Gemma pointed to the second shelf down from the top. “Three cans of that powdered formula. Two packages of those newborn diapers.”

“Three?”

Gemma steadied a crutch and reached around him. “A can will last just about a week, but we don’t want to run out in the middle of the night. Diapers won’t last that long. We need three packages of these blankets.”

“Just tell me what and how many and I’ll put it in the cart. I’m afraid you are going to fall,” he said.

She backed up a step. “Okay then, three packages of those undershirts and three of these gowns.”

Trace picked up things and tossed them into the cart. “Why three?”

“That makes nine of each and she’ll go through them in a hurry. Especially if she’s a spitter, and if she’s not, a diaper might leak or worse. And we’ll have to do laundry more often too, so we might as well get a bottle of that baby laundry soap.”

“Do we need bottles or are those two from the bag enough? Don’t they have to be sterilized?” Trace asked.

She propped the crutch tightly under her arm and pointed. “Those are what we need. They are just shells that you put liners in. Get a couple of boxes of liners. That way we can toss the liners in the trash and only sterilize nipples in the microwave.”