Operation Cowboy Daddy. Carla Cassidy

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СКАЧАТЬ in the air and the river cane she used to make the baskets she sold tickled her nose.

      She’d built a successful business for herself, selling baskets and pottery and other items not only at craft fairs, but also through her internet site.

      As she sat at the long worktable, it didn’t take her long to lose herself in the artistry of weaving. She worked here most mornings and then after lunch her grandmother often joined her. The two would work and chat until dinnertime and then move back inside for the evening. After supper, Halena worked on her blog or watched movies, while Mary checked in with the two people who helped her with her web-based business.

      “It’s going to be a long winter,” Halena said as she settled into the cushy porch chair after lunch. The skirt she was hand-sewing was a beautiful spill of turquoise in her lap.

      “And how do you know that?” Mary asked.

      “The leaves in the trees have whispered to me that the snow will come early and stay late,” she said.

      “Last year didn’t the leaves in the trees whisper to you that we’d have an unusually wet summer?” Mary asked in amusement. It had been the driest summer on record.

      Halena smiled with a glint in her eyes. “Okay, I’ll admit that sometimes the leaves lie to me.”

      Mary laughed, but her laughter was cut short by a loud knock on the front door. “I wonder who that could be,” she said. She got up from the table and hurried through the house to answer.

      She opened the door and stared at the man on her porch in stunned surprise. “Tony,” she said in shock. The last time she’d seen the handsome cowboy had been a little over a year ago, when he and her friend Amy had come to visit several times.

      He held on to a baby car seat with a bright-eyed, chubby-cheeked infant tucked beneath a blue blanket. Tony was not only clad in jeans, a white T-shirt and a brown cowboy hat, but he also wore an air of utter desperation.

      “Mary, can I come in?” he asked.

      “Of course.” She stepped aside and as he swept past her to enter the living room, he smelled of not only sunshine and fresh air, but also a woodsy cologne that was instantly appealing.

      She hated the way her heart beat just a little faster at the mere sight of him. The very first time she’d met him her heart had reacted the same way, and it had shamed her, since he was her friend’s boyfriend.

      She closed the door behind him and motioned him to sit on the sofa. What was he doing here? And why did he have a baby, who cooed softly as he set the carrier on the floor next to him?

      “Have you been in touch with Amy lately?” he asked as she sat in the chair opposite the sofa. He took off his hat and placed it next to him.

      “No. The last time I spoke to her was about six months ago. Why?”

      “She came by the ranch last night and said she was in trouble.” He glanced down at the baby and his jaw tightened. “She told me the baby is mine and his name is Joey, then she jumped into her car and drove off. I need to find her.”

      Oh, Amy, what kind of trouble have you found this time? “I’m sorry, Tony, I don’t know what to tell you. The last time I talked to her she was living in Oklahoma City with a man she met not long after the two of you went your separate ways. I tried to call her a while ago, but the phone number I had for her was no good.”

      Tony’s eyes bored into hers with intensity. A woman could fall into those dark depths. “Do you remember the name of the man?”

      Mary frowned thoughtfully and tried to remember the last conversation she’d had with her friend. “No, I don’t think she mentioned his name to me.”

      Her gaze drifted down to the baby. He smiled and cooed to her and a wave of unexpected anguish swept through her, an anguish she’d believed she’d made peace with a long time ago.

      “Did you know she was pregnant?” Tony asked.

      Mary nodded. “She told me she was pregnant with your child when she first took a test.”

      Tony’s strong features expressed bewilderment. “Why didn’t she tell me? Why didn’t she come to me?”

      “I don’t know, Tony. I certainly encouraged her to do so at the time.” But there was no telling Amy anything when she didn’t want to listen. “Besides, she made me promise I wouldn’t tell you.”

      He leaned back against the beige sofa, his disturbed energy filling the air. “Do you know for sure that he’s mine?”

      Mary’s heart squeezed tight as she thought about her troubled friend. “I can only go by what she told me at the time, but I know when she did tell me she was already living with the other man.” She knew that Tony probably understood as well as she did that Amy wasn’t always a reliable source of truthfulness.

      He remained silent for several long minutes, his gaze directed someplace over her shoulder. Tony Nakni obviously had Native American blood. His skin tone was a warm bronze and his straight black hair was a thing of glory, falling to the middle of his shoulders.

      And those broad shoulders accentuated his slim hips and long legs. Physically he stirred something in Mary that had been dormant for a very long time.

      His gaze returned to her and he leaned forward. “I need your help, Mary.”

      At that moment Halena came in from the back porch and stood in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen. “Grandmother, do you remember Tony Nakni? He came to visit a couple of times with Amy.”

      “I don’t remember what we had for breakfast this morning,” Halena replied as she eyed Tony with a touch of suspicion. “Is that your baby?”

      Tony hesitated a moment. “I don’t know,” he finally replied. “What I do know for sure is that I need help.” He looked back at Mary.

      “What kind of help?” she asked.

      “I’ll pay you whatever it takes if you’ll take care of Joey just until I can find Amy,” he said. She stared at him in stunned surprise and he quickly continued, “I know you’re a good woman, Mary. I wouldn’t trust him with anyone else, but I have to work during the day and I don’t live in a place that would be healthy for a baby. Besides, I don’t know what I’m doing. I know I’m asking a lot, but I don’t have anyplace else to turn. It should only be for a couple of days or so.”

      Mary was speechless. In a million years she wouldn’t have been able to anticipate a visit from Tony, let alone the favor that he asked of her. He had also just spoken more words than he had during all the visits when he and Amy had been here before.

      She didn’t want to get involved with this. Anything that had to do with Amy always wound up to be a big mess. Besides, he was talking about her taking on a huge responsibility.

      Still, as Joey cooed and waved his hands in the air as if catching imaginary butterflies, myriad emotions surged up inside her.

      “Okay, I’ll do it,” she heard herself say.

      Tony jumped up off the sofa. “Thank you so much,” he said fervently. He picked up his hat. СКАЧАТЬ