Название: Jingle Bell Baby
Автор: Kate Little
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
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“Whatever you say,” Jessie responded with a shrug.
She blew at an errant wisp of hair that was hanging down along the side of her cheek, tickling her nose. Before she could shift the baby around to reach it, Clint reached out and brushed it back behind her ear. His fingertips brushed soft as a whisper against her cheek, but the brief contact jolted her as if she’d been touched with the live end of an electric wire.
Their gazes met for one searing second; his eyes darkened and Jessie looked away.
“Uh, thanks,” she mumbled.
He stepped back and cleared his throat. “I guess we’d better get out of here.”
“Right,” Jessie said. “I’ll just wrap her up.”
She carried Daisy to her basket and began to wrap blankets around her with shaky hands. What in the world was happening here? Was she getting all tangled up inside over this grim lawman?
Nonsense, she told herself. It was the snowy, silent night, and the sheer adventure of finding a baby—period, Jessie told herself.
“We’re ready,” Jessie said, slipping on her coat and scarf.
Clint took the basket from her and headed out to the car. As he walked along she could hear him talking softly to the baby, and she smiled. Jessie gave the café one last long look before closing the lights and locking up, and she felt suddenly hopeful and bright, as if one part of her life were ending and new one just about to begin.
But it didn’t have one damn thing to do with Clint Bradshaw, she reminded herself.
And it wasn’t going to, either.
The snow was falling fast and deep as Jessie slowly drove the familiar route home. Her small white farmhouse was just a few miles outside of town but she had rarely recalled the ride taking so long. As she guided the Jeep over bumpy, snow-covered roads, she could see the police car’s headlights shining steadily a short distance behind her. She thought of the baby, secure in her basket in the back seat of Clint’s cruiser—and she thought of Clint—and tried to ignore the odd little glow inside her.
The Jeep fishtailed as she turned into the long driveway and she steered hard to avoid skidding into a pine tree. Finally the vehicle lurched to a stop, the front end sunk into a hip-high drift.
She sighed and rested her head on the steering wheel for just a second before turning off the engine. She would have to do some digging to get this heap on the road again, but right now she had more important business to tend to.
Jessie hopped out, then glanced back to the police car that had pulled up behind her. Clint was already reaching into the back seat for Daisy’s basket. He was quickly at Jessie’s side, his long legs gliding effortlessly through the deep snow.
“You go ahead and open the door,” he said.
Jessie trekked up to the door and got it unlatched, Clint following close behind. He stumbled into the house, holding out the basket like a fullback coming over the fifty-yard line.
“This baby could sleep through a tornado,” he said. “Where do you want her?”
“In the living room will be fine for now, I guess.” Just behind him, Jessie peeked inside the basket as he carried it into the living room and set it down near the Christmas tree. Daisy was still, miraculously, sound asleep. Jessie reached in and arranged the blankets around her.
“Don’t start fussing over her too much now—she’ll wake up,” Clint whispered as he crouched down next to her.
“Do you think she’s okay in there? Maybe I should make a little bed for her from a dresser drawer or something,” Jessie whispered back.
“She looks pretty snug as is. I wouldn’t move her. You’ll put her in your bedroom tonight, while you’re sleeping, right?” he asked.
“Of course I will—” Jessie turned to him, wide-eyed and indignant. “As if I’d let this little girl sleep down here all by herself.”
“All right. Just checking,” he whispered back with a hint of laughter under his voice. “No more questions, promise. I know you’ll take good care of her.”
She would indeed. That was certainly no lie. She’d take the most excellent care of this baby, even if she had to stay up all night staring at her like a loyal watchdog. What she didn’t know about baby care Jessie was determined to make up for in dedication.
“Tell me something, Jessie,” he whispered. “When you got up this morning, did you ever think you’d find something like her under your tree?”
Jessie glanced at him, but made no answer. He had a teasing edge to his voice that Jessie would bet one didn’t hear too often. She looked down at the baby again and made a tiny adjustment in Daisy’s blanket.
“To tell you the truth, she’s exactly what I asked Santa to bring me.”
“You must have been a very good girl this year,” he replied.
She gave him a questioning sidelong glance, then looked back at the baby. “What are you expecting in your stocking this year? A lump of coal, I’d bet.”
“Sounds about right,” he admitted with a nod. “But I do have my memories.” His wicked grin made her heart skip a beat.
She smiled despite herself, but didn’t dare stare into his eyes for too long.
“She’s a miracle, isn’t she?” Jessie said, turning the conversation back to the baby.
“She is, indeed.” Clint nodded, his gaze moving from the baby back to Jessie. Had he done the wrong thing by letting her take this baby home, even for one night? The expression on her lovely face was enough to move even his old battered heart. How was it that she wasn’t married with a houseful of kids of her own? This lady wanted a baby—a baby and all the trimmings. All the things that he could never give a woman.
And he had wondered why he was even thinking in that direction. It had to be the baby that had put him in this strange mood. He knew how a child, a sweet little baby girl like this one, could so easily steal your heart. And he knew the pain of losing one.
“Well, everything seems to be under control,” he whispered. “I’ve got to go.”
Abruptly he stood up. Jessie stood up, too, wondering about his abrupt change of mood. She had just been about to offer him coffee, but it was probably better that she hadn’t, she decided. She had to admit that now that he was leaving, she felt just the tiniest bit nervous about being alone with the baby.
Get a grip, she urged herself. You can’t admit now that you don’t know beans about taking care of her.
Besides, it was probably better that he was leaving. СКАЧАТЬ