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Heidi put a dry diaper on the baby, then swaddled him in the quilt. She pulled at Rebecca’s skirt, urging her closer so she blocked Colton’s view. Then she sat cross-legged on the board, took the bottle from Rebecca’s hand and began to feed the baby. She indicated that Rebecca should lean closer and she did. “You have to wait until he stops crying so he won’t choke.”
Rebecca filed that information alongside the steps on changing the baby and swaddling him in a blanket. Then her brain raced with all the things she needed to do. “He’s going to need fresh milk. I’ll speak to Mr. Gavin about it. At the same time I’ll ask where the building supplies are. I’ll arrange for a crib or cradle to be put into our room at the hotel.” Somehow she’d care for the baby and oversee the orphanage construction at the same time. How hard could it be? She turned back to Colton to assure him that she could manage.
But she did not see approval in his face. She saw resistance. He opened his mouth, but she wouldn’t let him voice his argument. She might be a city girl, but she could handle a lot more than people gave her credit for.
“The orphanage should have been finished by now. That’s obviously what the mother of this little boy expected.” She tipped her head toward the note he still held. “As the person responsible for the building project, it’s only reasonable for me to care for him until he can be safely sheltered under this roof.” She indicated the building under construction.
He shook his head. “Not this baby.”
She stared at him. What did he mean? Was he suggesting that she wasn’t up to the challenge?
She tipped her chin and rallied her defenses.
* * *
“This baby belongs with me.” Colton forced himself to ignore the shocked hurt in Rebecca’s eyes.
Her cheeks flared pink. “He’s your son?”
His face burned and he hoped he didn’t turn the color of a bonfire. “No.”
“Then I don’t understand what you mean.”
“You see the quilt?”
From the way she looked at him, he knew he wasn’t making any sense.
“It’s my grandmother’s. Or rather, my grandmother made it.” He stumbled over the words. When had he ever had such a hard time explaining a simple thing? Never. But with Rebecca’s wild-flax-flower blue eyes on him, he could hardly think straight. He felt clumsy and way too big before her daintiness. Though she was tall for a woman, she still had to tip her chin to meet his eyes. Which she did, her expression was patient, serene and yet downright challenging. No doubt she wasn’t used to having her decisions disputed.
She might be a rich, city girl and he only a nothing-special kind of cowboy, but this baby wasn’t going to an orphanage if he had anything to say about it. “The quilt proves he’s connected to the Hayes family, and I aim to take care of him.” He let out a sigh of relief when she didn’t point out that the quilt might have been passed on to someone outside the family, though he detected a flicker in her eyes that might indicate she wondered at the possibility.
“I’m sorry, but I have to ask how you intend to care for a baby. You’re a—”
“A cowboy. I know.”
“When I got here a few minutes ago, you didn’t know what to do with him. You appealed to me to help make him stop crying.”
“True. But I’m sure I can manage. My ma will help.” At least, she’d be able to give advice. “He’s family. I have an obligation.” Caring for a baby would stretch his time to the limit. Already he struggled to keep up, always torn between the demands of the ranch and the care of his parents. But he’d find a way to make it work. He wouldn’t accept any other possibility. He had a duty to this child, and he was determined never to fail in his family duties again.
She smiled, making it even more difficult for him to figure out his thoughts.
A tiny thread of suspicion made its way up to his brain. Was her smile meant to disarm him?
“I admire your sentiment.” Her tone didn’t quite match her words. “But it’s clear as glass that the mother intended the baby to be cared for in the orphanage. That means I am the one who should care for this baby until the building is finished.”
“Then what?” Surely there was more in the baby’s future than being raised in an institution. There were already too many children who didn’t have loving homes. A fact that tore at his insides. He wouldn’t leave an abandoned kitten to fend for itself, and the thought of abandoned, orphaned children seemed as wrong as a yellow sky. He couldn’t take in all the children who would eventually come to stay at the orphanage...but he could take in this one.
“He could be raised in the orphanage or maybe placed in a foster home or adopted,” Rebecca replied.
A moment ago he’d feared that his face was turning red. Now the blood rushed from it. “No. I’ll take him home. He’ll be safe with me.” He wouldn’t contemplate the baby going to strangers.
Little Heidi had fed the baby the milk and burped him. He now slept in her arms, the fingers of one hand curled around her index finger. Asleep he didn’t look like such a challenge.
Heidi saw him watching her—or, more correctly, the baby—and ducked behind Rebecca’s back. He understood Heidi’s shyness, having seen the scars on her face. They marred an otherwise beautiful child, but he didn’t find her appearance off-putting, especially given her sweet way with the baby. Since she hid behind the curtain of her saddle-brown hair and kept her face turned down, he guessed she thought otherwise. Someone should tell her to let people see her big brown eyes more often and they’d forget about her scars.
He returned his attention to Rebecca. The pretty blue eyes had become brittle granite. He took a step backward and tried to sort out his thoughts. He didn’t know the rules of arguing with a pretty city girl. All he knew was that he intended to personally see to the care of this infant and he’d brook no argument.
She turned to the little girl. “Come along, Heidi. We’ll go to the store first.”
Before she could take a step, he planted himself in her path. “Now, wait just a minute.” He tried to form a plan, mount a convincing defense, but her steady consideration of him and the way she held her head high left him scrambling for reason. “Look, maybe we can work something out.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”
He didn’t have anything concrete planned, but perhaps they could share the responsibility. The idea immediately appealed to him. “There’s plenty of room at the ranch. You and Heidi and the baby could live there. I could help care for the baby and make sure he’s okay.” As he spoke, the idea took shape in his mind. “You wouldn’t have to stay at the hotel any longer.”
Rebecca smiled, though the brittleness remained in her eyes. “That’s a lovely idea.”
He heard the but before her smile faded.
“But I have to stay in town to see why the materials haven’t been delivered. I have to make sure this building is complete before the orphans come to live here. Wyatt will return any day with children.” Wyatt Reed was the newly appointed U.S. marshal charged with tracking down the orphans Baxter had hired out. The marshal had recently married Charlotte Miller and they’d adopted Sasha, one of Rebecca’s young charges. If Wyatt hadn’t discovered how Felix Baxter was getting rich by hiring out orphans from earlier trains, those poor children would still be suffering. “It makes me angry to think how the children have been mistreated.” Felix had robbed those children of any chance at a normal life.
Colton jerked his attention to the frame of the building beyond her shoulder. The only thing he could offer was his help. “I came here this morning to pitch in on the construction.” An idea took root and blossomed. “If you take care of the baby at the ranch, I could do more work on the orphanage.”
The doubt that clouded her eyes did not clear.
He had to convince her. It was the only way he could think to get her to give up or at least share the care of the baby. “I’ll take over supervision of the construction work. Personally see that this building gets completed in a timely fashion.” Surely a few words in the right ear and an occasional trip to town would be sufficient. The task wouldn’t require much time away from the ranch. It was the ideal solution.
But she shook her head. “I am not prepared to abdicate my task to someone else.”
He got the clear feeling that that was her final word on the subject. Was there anything that could be said to change her mind?
Chapter Three
“Miss Sterling.”
Rebecca barely managed to bury a sigh at the imperious tone of the woman approaching her. She’d avoided her at the hotel dining room, but it didn’t look as if she could escape her now. Miss Beatrice Ward was not a woman to be ignored. From the beginning, she’d opposed the presence of the orphan children in Evans Grove. Every time Rebecca encountered Miss Ward, with her helmet of silver hair and steely-gray eyes, she had to endure yet another lecture about the folly of keeping the orphans in the community.
“Riffraff,” she’d said in a public meeting. “Mark my words, we’ll suffer a rise in crime rate with these hooligans around.” And every time something went awry, she blamed the orphaned children. The idea of constructing an orphanage to provide for even more orphaned children had sent her into a frenzy. But this time, she’d changed her strategy. Instead of speaking out against the children directly, she sought to block the building instead, saying there needed to be ordinances and building codes in place first. She insisted that Evans Grove should aim higher than basic wooden structures. Delay after delay ensued, thanks to Miss Ward.
Now her plan of attack had shifted to questioning God’s approval. Honestly, if Rebecca once again heard the woman warning, “The lack of success is surely a sign from God that the plan should be abandoned,” she would forget her polite upbringing and tell the woman exactly what she thought of her constant interference.
As Miss Ward neared, Heidi clutched the baby to her chest, bolted to her feet and pressed herself to Rebecca’s side, as if hoping she could disappear into the folds of Rebecca’s skirt.
The poor little girl was certain everyone stared at her scarred face. Over and over again, Rebecca had assured her that people would love her despite the burn scars. But they’d seen plenty of evidence to the contrary on this trip. At each train stop, the children had been examined and several chosen. Heidi had started the journey with her brother, Jakob. The sturdy fourteen-year-old boy had been an ideal candidate for placement, but he had stuck stubbornly to his sister’s side, wanting them to be placed together. Each time couples would approach the pair, the sight of Heidi’s disfigurement drove them away. It had reached the point where Heidi tricked her brother into getting placed on his own so that she wouldn’t hold him back from finding a family. Now she was all alone and still without a family willing to give her a chance.
Rebecca shot a glance toward Colton. What did he think of Heidi’s scars? She couldn’t bear to see this child rejected time and again because of something she had no control over.
Colton watched Heidi as she shivered at Rebecca’s side. Was it her imagination or did his expression reveal tenderness? Tenderness that made her heart tug at its moorings.
“She’s frightened of Miss Ward,” he whispered.
Rebecca nodded. She wanted to pull Heidi into her arms and reassure her, but she’d learned not to offer Heidi too much in the way of comfort. The child simply withdrew. It had grown worse since her brother, Jakob, had been placed with a family in Iowa. Heidi herself had arranged for the other children to keep Jakob and her apart until someone chose to take him. It wasn’t until the train pulled away that Jakob realized his little sister wasn’t staying with him.
Rebecca would never forget the silent tears that streamed down Heidi’s cheeks as she watched her brother standing alone on the platform calling for her as the train with the remaining orphans pulled away. Rebecca had hugged her and tried to console her, but since that day Heidi—shy and self-conscious even with her brother at her side—had pulled back even further into herself.
“Miss Sterling.” Beatrice Ward steamed closer. “We need to talk.”
Rebecca glanced toward the store. Perhaps she could hurry away to find out why the materials hadn’t been delivered.
The older woman stepped directly in Rebecca’s path, making escape impossible.
Little Gabriel whimpered.
Miss Ward’s eyes narrowed. “What is that I hear?”
Colton took the baby from Heidi. Rebecca felt the little girl trembling at the man’s nearness.
Colton moved to Rebecca’s side, the baby ensconced in his arms. “Miss Ward, meet little Gabriel.”
“Gabriel?” She squinted at the bundle and sniffed. “I don’t recall anyone around here having a new baby by that name.” She shifted her gaze, stared at the basket nearby and swallowed hard enough to be audible. Slowly, as if it hurt, she brought her gaze back to Colton and the baby. “He’s a foundling, isn’t he? Another one. Soon this town will be overrun with the likes of these.” She swept her hand to indicate the baby and Heidi, who pressed into Rebecca’s back. “It has to stop.”
Rebecca smiled gently, hoping it would disarm the woman, even though what she really wanted was to unleash the onslaught that burned at her throat and scalded her tongue. “Evans Grove is fortunate to have these children in their midst. Each of them has proven to be an asset.”
“They are street urchins.”
“All with good hearts.”
Miss Ward sniffed. The older woman fixed Rebecca with a scowl. “They don’t belong here, and neither do any other ruffians. You must cease construction on that...that poorhouse.”
Rebecca gasped. “It’s not a poorhouse. It’s an orphanage.”
“It’s the same thing, isn’t it?”
“Not at all. And I will not order the construction stopped on your say-so.” Not that it required an order from her. The construction had ground to a halt of its own accord. Or as a result of someone else’s efforts. She suspected that Miss Ward might be behind it, but she had no proof.
Miss Ward looked ready to eat Rebecca for a midmorning snack. “I suspect they do things differently in New York. I don’t suppose they give consideration to what others in the community want. Nor do they consult God in their plans. That’s the only reason I can think that you haven’t considered all the warning signs God has sent your way. This is not His will. Shouldn’t you heed such things?”
No matter how many times she heard this warning repeated, it never made any sense. “I don’t think I should blame God for vandalism, mischief and the failure on the part of man to deliver supplies as agreed upon.”
“Mark my words. If you refuse to listen to God’s warnings, nothing but disaster will follow. And if you suspect monkey business, perhaps you need look no farther than the hooligans you brought to town.”
Rebecca could do nothing but stare.
“Miss Ward.” Colton spoke softly. “It might interest you to know that I’ve offered to supervise the building of the orphanage. Miss Rebecca and I were discussing the details of our agreement when you came along.”
Rebecca gaped at Colton. Realizing that her mouth hung open, she forced it closed.
Miss Ward sniffed again. “It’s plain that she’s hoodwinked you. But don’t think you can manipulate God to your own desires.” She stormed away.
Rebecca stared after her. If only she could avoid ever seeing that woman again. Unfortunately, she and Heidi were forced to run into her every day, since Miss Ward also lived at the hotel as she waited for her house to be repaired following the flood. How nice it would be to live where Miss Ward and others couldn’t stare at Heidi as she took her meals.
Mr. Hayes was offering her a way out, but she couldn’t take it, could she? No, of course she couldn’t. Supervising the orphanage building was her responsibility, and if she couldn’t fulfill it, how could she ever prove to her father—and herself—that she could complete a difficult job?
* * *
“What about it, Miss Rebecca?” Colton asked, trying to read her expression. It remained calm and unruffled, giving him no clue to her state of mind.
“The funds for the orphanage building were sent to me. Overseeing the construction is my responsibility.”
“I’m only offering to help you.”
“I prefer to see my obligations through. That includes personally seeing that this building is finished. I’d do better to simply take the baby and stay with him at the hotel.”
Heidi tugged Rebecca’s skirt. “Oh, please, Miss Sterling. Do we have to stay there?”
Colton shook his head. “The orphanage may be your responsibility, but I’m the one who found this child, and that makes him my responsibility.” The baby nestled in the crook of his arm. Before Rebecca or Heidi could stop Colton, he grabbed the basket and headed for his horse.
“Besides, you don’t fool me. You don’t know any more about caring for the baby than I do. At least I have my ma at home to help.” Best thing he could do was take little Gabriel home to her now. He’d only come to town to help with the orphanage building, and given the lack of materials, it was clear that no work on that could be done today.
As he rounded the corner, he saw again the damaged door frame. He knew it was deliberate. Would the person or persons responsible take the vandalism further? Did Rebecca know she faced opposition that resorted to this kind of destruction?
If he left her to deal with this on her own, would she get in over her head?
He clamped down on his teeth. He couldn’t babysit her. He had his hands full. Literally. But if harm came to her, he would live with it hanging around his neck.
Just as he did with his pa’s injuries.
* * *
Rebecca stared at the broad back of Colton Hayes. Technically, the child was not her responsibility. But she couldn’t let him go. Yes, she wanted to prove herself capable, but that was only part of her reason. She wanted to protect the child. Not from the big-booted cowboy. Colton also wanted to protect the baby. But she’d seen how crippled his parents were. Who would hold Gabriel and rock him? Who would kiss away his tears? Could they? Would they? Her heart squeezed out an answer. Even if they did, she shared something with the child—abandonment. She was grown-up, yet it hurt beyond words to be rejected. Her fiancé had eloped with some seamstress just days before their wedding. This baby had been abandoned by his mother. Neither was right, and she would do what she could to make it better for Gabriel. She’d give him the care and love he deserved.
“Wait.” The word rang with more pent-up emotion than she normally revealed.
He stopped, turned slowly and regarded her through the framework of the building. “I’m taking this baby home.”
“I accept your offer.”
He snorted. “I might have changed my mind.”
“A gentleman would not do that.”
“I’m no gentleman. I’m a cowboy.”
Although his words were softly spoken, she didn’t miss the harsh note. Did he intend to make her beg?
She considered her predicament. On one hand stood her father with his high expectations. Would he see it as a failure on her part if she let someone oversee the day-to-day construction work on the orphanage? On the other, there was this helpless baby. If the construction of the orphanage had been finished on time, there’d be a safe place for him to stay. It was her fault that there wasn’t—and that meant it was up to her to see to his care, whether the cowboy saw it that way or not.
Very well. She’d prove to everyone that she could handle any challenge. “I think it would benefit us both to work together. An infant would be a lot of work for your mother. I’ll help—” She practically choked on the word. “I’ll help with the baby and accept your help on this building.”
