Never Say Never (2 page)

The sound wafted on the air again, louder and more intent, yet still threadlike, as if the creature wasn’t very large. Jill froze where she was beside the big man.

“I can’t figure out what that is,” he muttered.

Jill was intrigued, too. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think that was a baby,” she whispered.

His eyes met hers in a shared instant of co-conspiracy. “A baby!” he whispered back. “What kind of baby? Kitten? Dog?”

She shook her head, unsure. But the next time the sound came, they stepped forward together. They had gone about fifteen yards when Jill saw pink at the trunk of a barren tree.

“There,” she said, pointing down at the dull fall leaves on the ground, serving as a sort of nest for a swaddled infant.

The man beside her was suddenly very quiet. Jill walked forward to the pink bundle, squatting down beside it. A little round, pale face with roses in the cheeks from the cold, screwed itself up for another call for dinner, or perhaps a protest at being left to the elements, although its body seemed warm and well-wrapped. Gently, Jill picked the infant up, cradling it in her arms.

The man stared, his mouth open, first at the bundle, then at Jill. “I can’t believe you came to my ranch to dump your baby,” he said.

“Dump my baby!”
Jill was outraged. “Dump my— Have you lost your
mind
? How could you think I would—no, no,” she paused, shaking her head at him. The baby let out a squall between the two combatants. “I can’t believe you’d be so careless as to leave your baby lying on the ground. Did you forget to pick her up instead of your gun? That’s a man for you, always forgetting responsibilities. Here.” She thrust the well-covered infant at him, but he stepped back cautiously.

“Uh-uh. I don’t want it. It’s angry…and it isn’t mine. You take it right back wherever you came from,” he said righteously.

Jill’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t
leave
with this baby just because he thought it was hers. “This is not my child,” she said stubbornly.

“Looks like you.”

“No, it doesn’t! I mean, what an idiotic statement!” Jill was getting madder by the moment. “What do you think you see that possibly resembles me in this child? The fact that it has two eyes and a mouth?”

“A loud one,” he said agreeably.

“Look,” she said, striving hard for patience, “even if this were my baby, I wouldn’t have been driving around with it in my car with no car seat. Do you understand safety precautions?”

He appeared to mull over her statement. The baby had quieted for a few minutes, but was showing signs of anxiety in Jill’s arms by thrashing in the silence. After a tense moment, the man strode down the hill. Jill followed, wondering if he intended to leave her.

Stopping in front of her tired old car, he peered inside. “No car seat.”

“I said that already,” she said through gritted teeth. It was the last of Jill’s patience. “Put that damn gun down,” she commanded. He didn’t look like he was going to, so she said, “If you don’t, I’m going to…scream.”

She wouldn’t, but she felt like it. He must not have liked the idea, worrying that she might upset the baby or bring somebody running to witness their dilemma, because he leaned the gun against a tree, tossing unused shells beside it. She thrust the yelling bundle at the crazy man, which he took this time, maybe realizing she was at the end of her tether.

“I came here to inquire about the housekeeper’s position, but I can see that would be a mistake.”

She marched to her car and opened the door.

“Why didn’t you say you were here about the job?”

“You’ve given me precious little opportunity,” she ground out.

The infant appeared to be at the end of its tether, too. Jill paused. “You’d better take her up to the house and see if she’ll take some warm milk. Oh, wait a minute. Here,” she said, returning to the man’s side. “Someone thoughtfully provided you with a panic bottle.”

She withdrew a small, four-ounce bottle from inside the pink wrapping, where it had popped up due to the infant’s agitated movements. “It even has directions on it, and the brand name.” She gave the rancher a delightedly saucy grin. “You’ll probably have just enough time to feed her that and run to the store and buy some more before she demands her next meal.”

She had turned to go again when his voice stopped her.

“Hey,” he said, his voice suddenly softer and less angry than it had been in the five minutes they’d been together, “I’m sorry I’ve upset you. I’m pretty freaked out myself. Do you think I could talk you into coming up to the house with me while I feed her? Then maybe keep an eye on her while I call the police? I feel a little overwhelmed by this…early Christmas present.”

His voice had softened when he’d glanced back down at what was in his arms. It
was
a Christmas present of sorts, Jill thought. After all, how often was a baby delivered to your house, with blanket and bottle and instructions?

But he’d accused her of dumping the infant, charging her as the abandoner. Jill shook her head. “I don’t think I can, I—”

The unhappy baby let out a wail. Jill looked at it, forcing back latent motherly instincts she hadn’t known she possessed.

“Will you come up to the house with me?” he asked again. “My mother is there, but I’m not sure how much help she’ll be with a newborn. She has bad arthritis which the cold seems to aggravate.”

The man had a mother inside the beautiful old ranch house. She’d forgotten that part of the advertisement. Jill nearly sighed with relief. She could go with him and keep an eye on the baby while the proper authorities were called. Her conscience would feel much better.

“On one condition,” Jill said, staring him down so he’d know she meant it.

“Now what?”

“You have to put the gun away. I’m not used to men running around waving armaments.”

“Lady, this is a
ranch
.”

“Well, this is a
baby
,” she replied, mimicking his sarcastic tone. “And where I come from, guns and babies are not said in the same breath.”

“You’re a city girl.”

The statement was made without any rancor. Jill nodded. “Down to the underwear I bought at Macy’s.”

“You said you’d come to answer the ad! I specifically said
no mall-dwellers
,” he said, in a now-I’ve-got-you voice. “
If
you were really interested in the position, like you claim.”

“I bought them several years ago, when I got my first real job. They might fall off of me any minute. Satisfied?”

His sudden silence made her think perhaps he was. Jill took the baby from him.

“I’ll carry her, you dispense with
that
,” she said with an imperious nod toward the gun. “Poor little baby,” she murmured, walking toward the house with the delicate package wrapped securely in her arms.

Crackling leaves told her the man was following fast behind her. Jill smiled, hugging the baby to her chest. He was a little crazy, but she had an idea he was also pretty harmless.

After all, she’d been watching the way he’d held the baby in his arms. Those big, flannel-covered arms of his had been holding her quite protectively. He might be grouchy, but he also cared.

After the man and the woman had walked to the house, Sadie eased to her feet. Her legs were cramping from staying still so long. Her eyes burned from the tears she longed to shed. But it wouldn’t do to be caught on Dustin Reed’s land—not since she’d just left the thing she loved most in the world in his care.

Sadie stumbled away, silently begging the tears not to fall. Mr. Reed was handsome, though he was so big and frightening that Sadie had wondered if her mother had told her the right thing to do. But the lady who was visiting him, now, she was something else. Sadie had watched the pretty lady carefully hold her baby and sweetly try to soothe it. In that moment, that lady had become Sadie’s angel, so that Sadie could rest a little easier with the trial she had to bear. Maybe Mr. Reed would marry the lady and then one day, Holly would have a real family.

Just not her real mother. But that couldn’t be helped. Sadie had learned tough lessons in her nineteen years, and one of them was that raising a family without enough to eat was difficult. If trading motherhood for the chance for Holly to be protected, and to have enough food—healthy food—to eat was the only way, then she would make that painful sacrifice.

Stealthily, Sadie pulled her bike from behind the tree, staring down at the basket where her baby had been just a little while ago. Then she peddled away, making certain no one saw her leave the ranch.

By the time Sadie reached her house, the night sky was falling rapidly. Dark blue clouds covered the moon, making everything seem darker. As if anything could seem darker than her life was now. Sadie put her bike away, thinking her house appeared very tiny and dingy compared to Mr. Reed’s ranch. Thank goodness he’d come outside, so she hadn’t had to go up and leave Holly on the porch, the way she’d planned. She’d been terrified enough as it was by the big steers meandering along the fence, and the overwhelming size of the house. It was like creeping up to a castle.

She went inside her house, to be greeted by the smell of greens cooking and the sound of the television blaring. Her mother looked up from shelling pecans she would sell at the roadside stand.

“Did you do it, gal?” her mother asked.

Shamed and regretful, Sadie bowed her head. “I did it, Mama.”

Even though the TV was loud, there was a silence between mother and daughter that was even louder, and more intense. Her mother put down the bowl and the pecans and held out her arms.

“Come here, gal.”

Sadie rushed into the comfort of her mother’s arms, trying desperately not to think about never holding her own daughter in hers.

“You did the right thing. You know you did.”

“But it was hard, Mama! I felt awful, listening to her cry and not being able to go to her!”

Vera Benchley drew soothing fingers through her daughter’s hair. “I know. I know. But think for a moment. Won’t you feel better knowing Holly has enough to eat? Has warm clothes to wear in the winter? Gets regular doctor visits and shots?”

“Yes, but…but she’s mine,” Sadie whispered. “I love her. I feel like I’ve given away my heart.”

“Shh, shh, now,” her mother comforted. “You’ll know you’ve done the right thing when you see Holly going into church, wearing shoes that fit and pretty dresses, gal. When you come home to another dinner of greens and not much more tomorrow, you’ll feel much better.”

“But they can’t love her the way I do.” Sadie turned anguished, dark eyes on her mother. “And he seemed so mean. He was kinda yelling at this woman while I was there.”

Her mother thought about that. “I can’t speak for Dustin. He’s a different man since his wife died. But, Sadie, Miss Eunice is there, too. She may be older now and a bit frail, but the Homecoming Queen I went to high school with had more heart in her than any of those other silly rich girls. Almost more heart than anyone I ever knew.” She was quiet for a moment. “And you know we had to do it, to keep Holly safe.”

Sadie laid her head down in her mother’s lap closing her eyes in deep misery. Of course her mother was right. She thought about the pretty lady who’d yelled at Mr. Reed to put the gun away. A little peace stole into her heart.

If the pretty lady could make Mr. Reed mind, then maybe he wasn’t that bad after all.

Chapter Two

Dustin opened the door so the woman carrying the baby could walk past him into the house. “Mother!” he called. “We’ve got company!”

The lady eyed him a bit peevishly before walking into the parlor off the hall. He watched in amazement as she sat down, settled the baby in her arms, and popped the cap on the bottle. Testing it deftly on her arm, the woman shrugged, then put the bottle to the baby’s lips. The infant started sucking greedily. It was a relief, though the baby’s fussing hadn’t really been that loud. He just hadn’t been able to bear knowing that the minuscule person was hungry. Tiny gulping sounds in the antique-furnished parlor made Dustin smile.

But not as much as the sight of the woman cuddling the infant to her breast, close and secure, as she murmured soft, comforting words to it.

A large piece of the past suddenly lodged in Dustin’s throat. His wife, Nina, had wanted their baby so badly. And although even the baby hadn’t been enough to keep Nina’s unhappiness at bay for long, she’d been a good mother. She had to be turning in her grave to know that her parents were trying to wrest Joey away from his home.

“We have company, Dustin?”

His mother’s voice interrupted his musings. Dustin turned to see Eunice making her way slowly from the kitchen to the parlor.

“You should use your walker, Mother,” he said quietly. But he knew what her instant reprimand to him would be.

“I don’t in front of company, Dustin,” she reminded him. She drew near him, peering around into the parlor. “Oh, my,” she murmured. “Introduce me, please, son.”

“Mother, this is—” he paused, staring at the woman who was looking up from her task with delicate, questioning brows. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I asked you your name. I’m Dustin Reed, and this is my mother, Eunice.”