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“No, it’s a name,” Will told her mildly, “for my colt.”
“Your colt?” she repeated.
Was he talking about his father’s old gun? As she recalled, Jake Laredo had kept an old Colt .45 that he claimed had belonged to his great-great-grandfather, handed down to him by Stephen Austin, the man who’d founded the Texas Rangers. There was more to the story, but she’d always pretended to be disinterested whenever he mentioned it. In her opinion, Laredo’s head was big enough. She didn’t need to add to it by acting as if she cared about anything he had to say.
“A colt’s a male horse under the age of four,” he told her patiently.
Some of her energy had to be returning because she could feel her back going up. Heroic endeavors or not, Laredo was talking down to her again, Cassidy thought, annoyed.
“I know what a colt is,” she snapped, or thought she did. Afraid of scaring the baby again, she lowered her voice. “I just didn’t know you had one.”
“It’s a horse ranch,” he reminded her, referring to the property that his father had left to him—something she was aware of since she was in Olivia Santiago’s office when he’d been called in and told about his father’s will. The fact that his father had left it to him had rendered Will speechless. She’d almost felt sorry for him—almost. “What else am I going to have?”
“Debts.”
The answer came out before Cassidy could censor herself. It was Laredo’s fault. He had that sort of effect on her. The next moment, remorse set in. He was the bane of her existence, but he didn’t deserve that.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, “I didn’t mean to say that.”
“Sure you did.” Instead of being annoyed, he let her words pass. “Because it’s true,” he admitted matter-of-factly.
Everyone in town knew that his father had had money troubles. They’d only gotten worse over time. There was no reason to believe that anything had changed just before he died. Jake Laredo had sought refuge in the bottom of a bottle, drinking to the point of numbness, after which he’d pass out. Subsequently, the ranch had fallen into disrepair and ruin. When he’d gotten the letter from Olivia about his father’s death, he’d returned only to put the old man into the ground. He’d been surprised that the ranch was still standing and that there were a couple of horses—rather emaciated at that—still in the stable.
Will saw it as a challenge.
“It’s probably why he left the place to me,” Will was saying, more to himself than to her. “It was his final way of sticking it to me.”
Still lying on the bank, Cassidy turned her head toward him. She decided it had to be what she’d just gone through. The experience had to have rattled her brain to some degree because she was actually feeling sorry for Laredo—a little, she quickly qualified. But the feeling was there nonetheless.
“Someone else would just walk away,” she pointed out to him.
“Someone else isn’t me,” he told Cassidy. “Besides, I can’t walk away. If I did, that old man would have the last laugh.”
The last laugh would have meant that he couldn’t do the honorable thing, couldn’t pay off his father’s debts, couldn’t make a go of the ranch. In effect, it would have made him no better than Jake Laredo had been. Or at least that was the way Will saw it.
“I don’t think he’s laughing much where he is now,” Cassidy said quietly.
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.”
“I kind of see myself more like a guardian angel than a fairy godmother,” he deadpanned. “They’ve got bigger wings.” He added that with a sly wink that made her desperately want to punch him if only her arms weren’t full.
Cassidy bit her bottom lip to keep from saying something caustic. The next moment, as she seated herself directly behind the driver’s seat, she felt Laredo reaching over her.
So much for silence, she thought, giving up. “Okay, what the hell do you think you’re trying to do?” Cassidy demanded.
“I think I’m trying to get this seat belt around you and the baby. We’re liable to hit a skid in this weather, and I don’t want the two of you suddenly flying out the window—or worse,” he added with deliberate emphasis.
“Since when did you become so damn thoughtful?” Cassidy asked coldly.
Her eyes widened. Was it her imagination, or had Laredo’s hand just slid over her lap as he stepped back after fastening the seat belt?
“I’ve always been thoughtful, Cassidy. You’ve just been too mean-tempered to notice,” he answered mildly.
Before she had a chance to snap at him, Will shut her door and went over to get into the front seat.
“I am not mean-tempered,” she informed him, struggling to hold on to that same temper.
Will shut the door and secured his own seat belt before starting the vehicle. Only then did he raise his eyes to the rearview mirror to look at her. “I’ve got a town full of people who might argue with you about that,” he replied mildly.
Her eyes met his in the mirror. She could feel her temper heating, but there was no time to give Laredo a piece of her mind or take him down. The baby had begun to cry in earnest now. Even if the infant was just wet and hungry, she had no dry clothes, diapers or food to offer him, so the sooner they got to the clinic, the better.
“Just drive!” she ordered.
“Yes, ma’am,” Will responded.
She didn’t need to see his face to know that his mouth had assumed that all-too-familiar smirk she knew and hated. She could hear it in his voice.
Okay, Laredo. I need you to help me get this baby to the medical clinic. But once we do and this little guy is someone else’s problem, I am going to become your worst nightmare.
She paused for a moment, savoring that thought. And anticipating.
Even worse than I already am.
Chapter Four (#uc2df5cce-d16c-578b-b10f-3fd1cae7cf4e)
The infant hadn’t stopped crying since before they’d gotten into the vehicle. The wailing noise was making it hard for Will to think. That, added to the fact that the rain had picked up again, was enough to really put him on edge.
“You sure he’s not hurt?” Will asked, glancing at Cassidy over his shoulder.
