The Texas Cowboy's Baby Rescue. Cathy Thacker Gillen

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СКАЧАТЬ there now, but they’re currently putting a commercial kitchen in the ranch house so Sage can do the majority of the baking for her café-bistro on the premises. So they are at Sage’s old one-bedroom in town with their two kids for the next three months.”

      He squinted down at her thoughtfully. “What about your twin sister?”

      “Bess lives in the same building I do.”

      “So that’s out.”

      “Right.”

      He studied her. “There’s no one else in the area you could call upon in an emergency? Other family?”

      Yes and no, Bridgett thought. “I’ve got two more siblings. My older brother, Gavin, and Violet and their two kids live in a shotgun house here in town that is already bursting at the seams. And my sister Erin and Mac are living in the Panhandle now, with their brood, so although they would take me in, I can’t leave the county with Robby until everything is straightened out.”

      He edged close enough that she could smell the soap and sun-warmed-leather scent of him. “Friends, then?”

      “The ones who live in houses all have kids and pets of their own, and the ones who don’t live in apartments.”

      Cullen shrugged. “You could board the puppy at the vet clinic in town temporarily or turn him over to the animal shelter.”

      “No!” The force of her response stunned them both.

      Bridgett drew in a bolstering breath. “If it hadn’t been for Riot’s determination to get my attention, I never would have known Robby had been abandoned at the fire station. Who knows how long it would have been before he’d been rescued? Plus, the note specifically said the mother wanted the two of them to stay together. I intend to honor that.”

      “Do you even know anything about caring for a dog?”

      Irked by his doubt, she tilted her chin at him. “No. But I’m sure I can learn. I just made an offer on a house, so all I need is a short-term solution that will hold us until I move.”

      He regarded her with new respect. “You’re buying a home?”

      Apparently, real estate was a language they both spoke. She nodded, forcing herself to relax. “An adorable little bungalow here in town. I’m just waiting for my mortgage application to be approved. Which unfortunately rules out renting another place. No one’s going to want me in and out for just a couple of weeks.”

      “Well, since you are clearly out of options...” Cullen gave an affable shrug. “You could bring Robby and Riot to the Western Cross.”

      Bridgett blinked. “Stay with you? At your ranch?”

      He nodded.

      She crossed her arms and glared up at him. “Why would you want to do that?” she blurted out.

      He regarded her calmly. “To fulfill my moral obligation, and to preserve my reputation and that of the McCabe family, of course.”

      * * *

      CULLEN COULD SEE it wasn’t the explanation Bridgett wanted. Which was too bad, because the blunt truth was the only reason he was prepared to give. “I’ve got a virtual cattle auction coming up in ten days. My first at the Western Cross ranch. If people think I am unreliable on any level, they’re not going to buy livestock from me. So it’s to my advantage, and yours, to get this resolved as soon as possible. And maybe if we’re all together I’ll be able to more quickly figure out who would have wanted me to be responsible for all this.”

      “Makes sense. I guess.”

      He continued looking her in the eye. “I also don’t want to embarrass Frank and Rachel or any of the rest of my family.” Thanks to his mom, and the way she had selfishly kept his paternity a secret, for years, so she wouldn’t have to share him, they had already been through enough.

      Bridgett went still, for a moment giving him a glimpse of the woman she was, at heart. “You call your parents by their first names?”

      His attention drifted to her mouth. “Rachel is my stepmom. And Frank didn’t come into my life until I was sixteen.”

      She bit her lip, her gaze glued to him. “That explains the Rachel. But Frank...?”

      He shrugged, wishing he could table the urge to take down her hair and run his fingers through the thick, silky waves. “I never got the hang of calling him Dad.”

      She moved closer. “Did he want you to call him Dad?”

      “We never discussed it,” he said curtly. And he sure wasn’t going to dissect his tumultuous early years with the nosy nurse in front of him. “So,” he said, bringing the conversation back around to the current trouble at hand. “Are you going to take me up on my offer or not?”

      She looked down at the baby, who was beginning to stir, and sighed. “I’m not sure if I’ll stay the night or not, but I’ll follow you out there, assess the situation and then figure out what I’m going to do.”

      Not exactly a yes. But likely the closest he would get.

      He gave her the address to put into her navigation system in case they got separated, and then they took off. Twenty minutes later, they were turning beneath the archway to the Western Cross ranch. Both sets of vehicle headlamps swept over the live oaks lining the drive, the fenced pastures filled with cattle and the cluster of brand-new state-of-the-art barns and stables. Finally, he drew up in front of the ranch house and parked behind the Laramie Animal Clinic van.

      His good friend, and recent widow, Sara Anderson stepped out. It was hard to tell whether the pale, drawn hue of her face was due to grief over the sudden loss of her soldier husband or the nausea associated with the first trimester of pregnancy. But he appreciated her willingness to help them out today.

      He picked up Riot and met her in the middle of the circular drive. “Thanks for coming,” he said.

      The willowy blonde smiled, kind-hearted as always. “No problem.” Sara studied Riot with a clinician’s unerring eye, stroked him beneath the chin. “This the little runaway?”

      “It is.” And though it had been years since he had held one, Cullen experienced the lure of a puppy all over again.

      Bridgett parked and got out, too, a fussy baby Robby in her arms. Cullen made introductions. “Sara Anderson, Bridgett Monroe. Sara’s a neighboring rancher and the veterinarian who sees to all of my cattle and horses.”

      Bridgett nodded. “Sara and I talked at the county’s High School Career Fair last fall. And we also both volunteer at the West Texas Warriors Assistance nonprofit.”

      “Ah, then no introduction necessary.” Indeed, the two women looked surprisingly chummy. He hadn’t thought about them being friends. But then, he didn’t spend a lot of time socializing with anyone outside the cattle business.

      Sara moved an electronic wand over the pup, between his shoulders and neck and from side to side. Then over the rest of his body.

      “Anything?” Cullen asked.

      “No.” СКАЧАТЬ