Shadows Of The Past. Frances Housden

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СКАЧАТЬ gave a sharp little bark and advanced slowly toward the sound that obviously fascinated her.

      “Hey, Fleafarm!” Matty called. “Come and say hello to Elizabeth.”

      The dog moved warily into the dining room. Then she cocked her head and gazed at Matty sitting in a dining room chair, Elizabeth cradled in her arms.

      Sebastian had a moment of uneasiness as the dog drew closer. “Do you think it’s okay?”

      “I think it’s essential. You want Fleafarm to be protective of her, don’t you?”

      He hadn’t gotten that far in his thinking. “Does it matter? Elizabeth might only be here a few days.”

      “She might.” Matty glanced at him. “Or she might be here a whole lot longer. Unless Jessica mentioned a specific time frame for this caper?”

      “Not exactly. The note only said she wanted me to be a godfather to Elizabeth until she could return for her.”

      “Which leaves this operation completely open-ended. You’d better prepare yourself for more than a few days. I’m not sure you realize yet that your life has just been turned upside down.”

      “Oh, it’s beginning to sink in.”

      “Good. Facing reality is admirable.” Matty watched the dog edge closer. “It’s okay, Fleafarm. You’ve been a mommy, so you know about babies. This is like a puppy, only bigger. And less hair.” She glanced up at Sebastian. “Maybe you should come on over here and pet Fleafarm while she gets used to the idea of this baby. We don’t want jealousy getting in the way of bonding. And we don’t want Fleafarm to slobber over Elizabeth and scare her to death.”

      Sebastian walked over and scratched the dog behind her ears. Then he crouched down and wrapped an arm around the silky neck, restraining her gently. The dog’s coat was cold, and Sebastian was still shivering from his jaunt outside, but he worked to control it so Matty wouldn’t have cause to say she told him so.

      He turned to the dog. “You wouldn’t be jealous of that little baby, would you Fleafarm?”

      She whined and licked his face.

      “Oh, yes, she would,” Matty said. “But if you make sure she knows you still love her, she’ll probably guard this baby with her life. At least that’s the way it worked with my nieces and nephews and the dogs they had. You have to make sure you don’t appear to be giving more attention to Elizabeth than you do to Fleafarm.”

      “This sure is getting complicated.”

      Matty looked into his eyes. “You still have a choice.”

      He gazed back at her. “No, I don’t.”

      Elizabeth made a soft, cooing sound, like a dove on a summer morning.

      Sebastian glanced at the baby in surprise and pleasure. Now there was a noise he could grow fond of.

      Elizabeth stared at the dog and her little fists waved in the air. For the first time Sebastian admitted she was sort of cute, with her fuzzy crop of light-colored hair and round baby face. She cooed again.

      Fleafarm whined and wagged her tail.

      “Love at first sight,” Matty pronounced.

      “No such thing,” Sebastian said. He wasn’t even sure what love was, period. He’d thought he was in love with Barbara, but she hadn’t been in love with him, at least not for very long—and certainly not when she was carrying on with Butch for all those years.

      “Maybe love at first sight is rare for people, but for dogs and kids, it happens all the time.” Matty leaned down and kissed Elizabeth on the cheek. “Well, I think that’s enough dog-baby communication for the time being.” She picked up Elizabeth and cradled her against her shoulder. Then she turned her face toward the baby and gave her another kiss. “We can work on it later, okay, sweetheart? Right now I know a little girl who needs her diaper changed.”

      “I was hoping you’d done it while I was out getting the dog.”

      Matty grinned. “I’m sure you were. You’d better go wash your hands, and use hot water to warm them up. No lady likes to be touched with cold hands.”

      Damned if that comment didn’t get him to thinking of touching Matty, which he’d done before, but only as a friend. Now he was wondering how it would be to touch her like a lover.

      She’d said Fleafarm might be jealous of the attention the baby was getting. Well, Sebastian found himself mighty jealous of the way Matty was cuddling Elizabeth, giving her kisses and nuzzling her. He’d never known Matty to be so openly affectionate, but then he’d never seen her with a baby, either.

      He wondered if she’d been playful and snuggly with Butch when the two of them had been alone. If she had been that open and vulnerable, his heart ached for her, because she’d been married to a faithless man.

      “Oh, don’t scowl like that.” Matty laughed. “I doubt if changing a diaper is going to be any worse than mucking out a stall.”

      “Says you, the person who has no more experience than I have.” He wiped the frown off his face and was glad she’d misinterpreted it. Pushing himself to his feet, he clucked to Fleafarm and got her settled under the table, one of her favorite spots.

      “Don’t worry,” Matty said. “You’ll be a diapering fool in no time.”

      “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

      She gazed at him. “Are you worried that you’ll ruin your macho reputation with the guys?”

      He grimaced, and her soft laughter taunted him as he headed into the kitchen to wash up. To be honest, he hadn’t thought of himself as doing this sort of chore if he ever became a parent.

      With her usual dexterity, Matty had exposed another uncomfortable truth about Sebastian Daniels. Whenever he’d imagined being a father, he’d sort of skipped the baby stage in his mind. He’d pictured buying the kid a pony, helping with homework, flying kites. He hadn’t pictured changing diapers. Apparently he’d unconsciously assigned baby care to the mother. Not very enlightened.

      Well, Matty wouldn’t let him get away with being unenlightened. He smiled as he soaped up and ran warm water over his chilled hands. Matty wouldn’t let him get away with a damn thing. He realized he’d always counted on her to tell him the truth, and at the moment he needed the truth more than anything else. He needed Matty. Thank God she’d offered to help him.

      They hadn’t figured out any details yet, though. This little bundle of joy would need looking after twenty-four hours a day, and he’d feel much better if both of them were on hand, at least at first. He wondered if Matty would consider staying over until they’d established some workable routine.

      Yeah, that was the answer. The three of them needed to stick together for a while. They could all drive over to Matty’s place and do her feeding and chores, then come back here and do his. This time of year the main job was making sure fences were ready for the yearlings they’d buy in May. His fences were in decent shape, and he could help Matty with hers if she needed some repairs done. In fact, it’d be sort of fun having Matty around all the time. He began to СКАЧАТЬ