The Cowboy's Christmas Baby. Carolyne Aarsen

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       Chapter Two

      This was it.

      Erin slowed as she headed down the driveway and made the final turn. She saw the house situated on the hill, overlooking the fields and the mountains beyond, and felt the land wrap itself around her heart and stake its claim.

      She wanted to stop and take it in.

      But Caitlin had been fussing ever since her aborted stop in Saddlebank and Erin never had gotten that drink.

      She headed toward the house, parking beside a couple of smaller cars. She didn’t recognize one but guessed it was Jodie’s from the stickers on the windows and the beads hanging from the rearview mirror. The other one she knew to be Lauren’s. Plus, in spite of the dust on the road, it gleamed in the afternoon sun. Lauren always liked things orderly and tidy.

      Caitlin was screaming by the time she shut the engine off. Erin jumped out, quickly unclipping her car seat, grabbing the diaper bag.

      The door of the house burst open as she headed up the walk and Jodie and Lauren spilled out, arms wide, calling out her name.

      And then stopped dead in their tracks staring at the car seat she lugged up the walk, Caitlin now howling her protest from within.

      “Hey, guys. Can you take her? I’m parched.” Erin unceremoniously thrust the car seat toward Lauren, gave Jodie a quick smile and rushed into the house, not even bothering to look behind her. She knew she was being a coward but she really was dying of thirst.

      And she needed a moment.

      She ran to the bathroom, turned the tap on and gulped down a glass of water. Then another. As she lowered the cup she caught her reflection in the mirror. Hollow cheeks, sallow complexion and hair that looked like she had been attacked by an angry squirrel. Of course Dean would have to see her like that.

      And why do you care?

      She cared because even though Dean was eminently unsuitable and definitely not her type, he’d always held an undeniable appeal. He represented a part of her that sometimes yearned to be cool. Accepted. Independent.

      Well, you’re not, she told herself, finger-combing her hair and with quick, practiced movements, tying it up in a loose topknot.

      Sam liked it when she wore it down. And since she’d broken up with him, she’d deliberately started wearing it up.

      Besides, that way Caitlin couldn’t grab it.

      A faint wail resounded from the living room and then the sound of her sisters hushing her baby.

      She held the edges of the counter, dizziness washing over her. She blamed it on a combination of not eating for the past twelve hours and the nerves holding her in a steady grip all the way home.

      She splashed some water on her heated cheeks, patted them dry, sucked in a long breath and left to face her sisters.

      As she walked around the corner she felt a sense of coming home. To her left was her father’s office, to her right the kitchen where she and her sisters had spent a lot of time cooking and baking and trying out recipes. Things they were never allowed to do at their grandmother’s house back in Knoxville where they lived ten months of the year.

      The living room lay ahead with its soaring ceilings and large windows that let in so much light. The huge stone fireplace dominated the one wall but no fire burned in it now.

      Jodie sat on the loveseat cradling Caitlin in her outstretched arms. Lauren sat beside her, Caitlin’s tiny fingers clutching hers.

      “You are just the sweetest little thing,” Jodie continued, bending over to nuzzle her cheeks.

      Erin’s heart softened at the sight of her sisters so obviously in love with her baby.

      And the one thought threading through her mind was, We’re not alone anymore.

      Lauren sensed her presence and looked behind her, her smile stiffening as Erin came nearer. But then she stood and walked around the couch, her arms open wide.

      Erin stepped directly into her twin sister’s embrace, fighting down the surprising and unwelcome tears as Lauren hugged her. Hard. Tight.

      “Oh, sweetie. What has been happening in your life?” Lauren murmured.

      Erin simply clung to her sister unable to find the words.

      She was the first to pull away scrubbing at her cheeks, thankful that she hadn’t bothered to put on any makeup.

      “Sorry. I just...” She looked at her sister and gave her a watery smile. “I missed you.”

      Lauren cupped her face in her hands and brushed a gentle kiss over her forehead. “Missed you, too, Rinny.”

      The pet name was almost her undoing again.

      But then Jodie stood, shifting Caitlin in her arms, grabbing Erin in a one-armed hug. “Hey, sis,” she said, pressing her cheek against hers. “Love this little girl.”

      Erin pulled in a shaky breath and struggled to keep her composure. All the way up here she’d been nervous and afraid of what she would see in her sisters’ eyes. But now that she had arrived and her sisters had met Caitlin, she felt a loosening of the tension gripping her the past few months.

      “I love her, too,” she whispered, stroking her daughter’s cheek.

      They were all quiet for the space of a few heartbeats, each connected by this precious baby.

      “So...” Lauren let the word drag out and Erin knew the moment of reckoning had arrived.

      Then a door slammed and a male voice boomed into the quiet, “Grocery delivery,” and Erin felt a temporary reprieve.

      She turned to see Vic walking into the room, half a dozen plastic bags slung from his hands. He was as tall as Dean, his hair lighter with a bit of curl, his features softer and a brightness to his eyes that Dean didn’t have.