AND BABY MAKES THREE?

Veterinarian Coco Grant is used to animals being left on her doorstep. The last thing she expects to find there is an abandoned baby girl. As a temporary mommy, Coco can’t resist loving her sweet little charge. But there’s also Coco’s growing attraction to the town’s handsome, if infuriatingly by-the-book, sheriff.

To help with the baby, Sheriff Jet Wilson is practically living with Coco—and the town gossips are in seventh heaven! It’s only when rumors start circulating about Lily’s real father that Jet realizes that there’s a lot more at stake than setting a few tongues wagging. Because not only is the lawman falling for the baby...he’s falling for Coco even harder.

Didn’t he trust himself...or maybe he didn’t trust her?

Jet was in a pickle, and had no choice but to take Coco up on that sofa offer.

“Fine,” he said aloud as he trudged back to her front door, the snow and cold wind blasting his face and hands with its bitter sting. He hated nights like this, nights when Mother Nature reminded him of her power, and when memories of his childhood came crashing back. But most of all, he hated that the baby would now be a ward of the state and he would be the one to hand her over.

The irony was too real.

Life sure could stink at times, he thought, but before he was able to ring the bell, Coco swung open the door and handed him that shot of scotch.

“Thanks,” he said, stepping forward.

“I saw you through the window and figured as much,” she said, her voice low and sultry, feet bare, pretty little toes painted a bright pink.

No doubt about it, he was in for it now...

Dear Reader,

This is the last book for the Grant family. It features Doctor Coco Grant and Sheriff Jet Wilson, a character I introduced in previous Briggs books. The good sheriff never had a very prominent role until he spoke to me when I began to outline this book.

I couldn’t ignore him. Not when I knew he would make such a great hero for Coco, who knows everything about animals, but absolutely nothing about babies. I decided to turn things around and have Jet be the one who can change a diaper, prepare formula and lull a fussy baby into sleep. It’s all in his background, which he thought was his misfortune, but as it turns out it’s one of his biggest assets.

I really loved writing about these characters and baby Lily, who will surely steal your heart. After all, she stole mine as soon as I met her. I happen to love babies, and this little darlin’ is especially sweet. So get ready to fall in love not only with baby Lily, but with Jet Wilson, who just wants to do what’s best for everyone involved.

It’s really hard for me to say goodbye to the Grants, just as it was difficult to say goodbye to the Grangers, but I’m moving on to the Porter family, with four delightful stories planned beginning in 2018.

Till then, enjoy the Grants as they come together once again, along with those quirky townsfolk from Briggs, Idaho, to prove that love is all you need...and maybe a good snowplow.

Visit me on Facebook, maryleoauthor, and Twitter, @maryleoauthor.

Happy reading!

Mary

A Baby for the Sheriff

Mary Leo

www.millsandboon.co.uk

USA TODAY bestselling author MARY LEO grew up in south Chicago in the tangle of a big Italian family. She’s worked in Hollywood, Las Vegas and Silicon Valley. Currently she lives in Las Vegas with her husband, author Terry Watkins, and their sweet kitty, Sophie. Visit her website at maryleo.com.

For darling Elena, who contacts me every day to see how I’m doing, who surprises me with thoughtful gifts and who is a constant delight.

And for my son, Rich, who fell in love with her.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

The wine was poured. The fire burned bright in the hearth. Doctor Coco Grant, the town’s vet, had painted her toenails, donned extra makeup, chosen her most seductive underwear—the blush lace panties and bra she’d bought anticipating this moment—slipped into her sexiest black dress and even shaved her legs.

All of it done in preparation for her date with Russ Knightly, the potential new mayor of Briggs, Idaho, and one of the most sought-after eligible bachelors for a hundred miles. At thirty-three, he would be the youngest mayor of Briggs, and the one man in the entire county whom Coco had lusted over for the past five years while he dated several other women. One of them he’d even proposed to. Fortunately for Coco, that engagement didn’t last more than a few weeks.

Now it was Coco’s turn...the woman he was meant to be with, the woman he would love like no other, the woman for whom he was about to fulfill all her sexual fantasies in one hot night, and the woman she hoped would one day be referred to as Doctor Coco Knightly, the mayor’s wife. Her family, especially her brother, Carson, admired Russ. Carson had been sponsored by the Knightly Endowment for the Preservation of Western Culture when he had first started competing as a bronc rider in local rodeos.

Coco had been smitten ever since Russ, and a few other cowboys, rescued a small herd of wild horses trapped up in the Teton Mountains. Russ had risked his life to go up there and lead those animals out, under severe avalanche warnings for the area.

Ever since that moment, she thought Russ Knightly was a kindred spirit who loved and respected animals as much as she did. He was simply the bravest man alive, or at least the bravest man in Briggs, next to her brother and her dad, of course.

“I’ve been thinking about you all day,” Russ said as he walked backward to her bedroom, pulling her along with one hand, the other caressing his glass of expensive scotch, a scotch that Coco had ordered online just for this occasion, a fifteen-year-old scotch she knew he would love.

“Me, too,” she told him as she eagerly followed him, aroused by the mere idea of what was about to happen in her once lonely bedroom.

She and Russ had been dating for almost two months, thanks to an official introduction by her brother, but because of her schedule and his mayoral campaign, they hadn’t found the time to take their relationship to the next level.

Tonight, they would break through all those levels with pure lust, pure sex and pure seduction. At twenty-nine, Coco hadn’t really experienced a lot of sex, especially not the kind that Russ Knightly was noted for. She’d been too busy with her studies, volunteering and dreaming about Russ to care much about dating other guys.

But all that was in her past now. Tonight the floodgates were open, and each time he touched her a fire ignited that she didn’t want to put out anytime soon.

Heck, Coco had even locked her little dog, Punky, a Yorkshire terrier, in the bathroom. For some reason she couldn’t understand, Punky didn’t seem to like Russ, and growled whenever he came close to Coco.

Well, there would be none of that tonight.

Tonight Coco and Russ would be so close they might need the Jaws of Life to pull them apart.

“I have plans for you, baby, plans for your body,” he muttered in a deep voice.

She loved it when he called her baby.

“What kind of plans?” she teased, loving how he made her feel all tingly.

“Dirty plans that will make you blush whenever you think about our first night.”

“I’m already blushing,” she demurely said. “And I have my own plans.”

That was a complete fabrication. The only plans she’d had that day were how to foal a breached horse and what kind of drugs she would administer to Helen Granger’s horse, Tater, for the infection in his right front femur.

Russ stopped, pulled her in tight and kissed her. Although Coco’s mind sometimes drifted whenever they kissed, she felt certain once they were in bed together her focus would laser in on the task at hand—not that making love to Russ was a task. What she meant was, once they were in bed together, nothing else would matter and she’d be able to surrender to the moment.

Of course it would be that way, she told herself. He was the man she wanted to be with forever. The man she’d dreamed about, longed for and pictured as the father of her children.

Russ Knightly was her man, her guy, her Mr. Right.

As he pulled her in tighter and she felt the bulge of his manhood press against her body, her heart raced, and suddenly all she could think of was how this was finally going to happen. She was going to make love with her dream man. Life couldn’t get any better if it had been scripted.

Until the doorbell rang for her animal clinic downstairs. She’d only recently, in the last eight months, finished construction on the two-thousand-foot expansion. She’d had proper ventilation installed, added to the reception area and incorporated two large pens for the livestock she inevitably took in. She’d been thinking of hiring another doctor to help out, but so far, she hadn’t made the time to begin the search...a fact she now found herself regretting.

Russ kept his lips pressed to hers as if he hadn’t heard it.

“I...I, um, I should get that,” she mumbled while his lips stuck to hers.

“Not tonight. Whoever it is will go away.”

The bell rang again.

“Or not,” she said, trying to disengage from him. It felt as though his lips were glued to hers and she couldn’t unstick them.

“I...really...need...to...get...that.”

He finally stepped back and Coco swore their lips popped apart. “You’re not seriously going to leave me here like this while you answer the door.”

He nodded down toward the bulge in his pants, which for some odd reason was no longer doing it for her. Not when she knew someone’s animal could be in crisis.

“I’m sorry,” she said, slipping out from his embrace, “but as much as I would like to, I can’t ignore the bell. It wouldn’t be right. If someone’s trudged through all that snow and cold, I have no choice but to at least answer the door.”

He glanced at his watch. “It’s ten o’clock at night. Nobody just brings over their sick animal at this time of night without calling first.”

“All the more reason why I need to get that. It’s probably an emergency.”

Coco ran a hand through her hair, placed her wineglass on the table and turned to dash down the stairs to answer the door.

The bell rang again.

“Persistent, aren’t they?” he said, sounding resentful.

She turned back to him. “I’ll only be a minute. I’m sure it’s something minor and I’ll be able to fix it in no time.”

But Coco wasn’t so sure. Usually whenever her doorbell rang this late, someone was leaving behind an unwanted or sick pet they could no longer care for. She flipped on the light switch in the stairwell and through the glass on the top half of the door caught the shadow of a woman wearing a puffy coat and hood as she walked away.

“Oh, shoot,” she said aloud, knowing full well it was a drop-off. She already had a piglet named Jimmy, two baby goats, one puppy, two persnickety calico kittens, an adult tortoise named Tortie and two temperamental baby llamas taking shelter in her clinic. She’d find homes for all of them eventually, but at the moment, the farm animals were illegal within city limits, and if Sheriff Jet Wilson—who did everything by the book—learned about them, he’d issue her another fine on top of the last two she couldn’t afford to pay. She’d spent all her savings on the expansion.

When she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, she grabbed the gray sweater that hung on a hook next to the door and slipped it on. Whatever was waiting for her on the other side of that door was more than likely going to require her standing out in the cold for a minute or two before she could wrangle it inside.

Good thing she still wore her shoes, albeit three-inch heels, but shoes nonetheless.

“Okay, what do we have this time?” she asked as she swung open the door expecting another goat or llama or...

* * *

SHERIFF JET WILSON fought his way back to the jail. The official white SUV, with the Briggs Sheriff’s Department logo emblazoned on the two front doors, was fishtailing at almost every turn. The snow was piling up fast now, and driving was nearing impossible. Benny Snoots, the town’s one and only official snowplow driver, worked as fast as he could, but the snow was just too much for him.

Russ Knightly, a man Jet Wilson didn’t much like, promised two more snowplows if he was elected mayor, and on a night like this, Jet considered giving him his vote...or not.

If, on the other hand, Mayor Sally Hickman won again, Jet would make sure at least one more snowplow was on her agenda, and if it wasn’t, he promised himself he’d take up the cause himself and add plowing capability to the front of the SUV.

When he finally pulled up in front of the small jailhouse, he parked curbside and got out. His very first step encased his cowboy boots in so much snow that it slipped inside his boots and made a mess of his nice warm woolen socks. He grabbed the bags of food that he’d picked up at Sammy’s Smokehouse off the back seat, slammed the doors shut and headed for the front of the jail. None of the townsfolk knew he was living at the jail these days and no one needed to know.

A water pipe had burst in his apartment earlier that week, and until his landlord could get it fixed and repair the damage to the floor and the wall, Jet didn’t have anywhere else to go...at least nowhere he could afford. All the rooms in this town were too pricey for him and, well, he didn’t want to impose on what few friends he had.

Being relatively new to Briggs, having lived there for less than two years, making friends had been tough. Especially since he’d ticked off Russ Knightly, who seemed to be a big deal in town, next to Carson Grant, the town’s one and only rodeo hero. Jet admired Carson, and had met him a few times, but Russ was another story entirely. He hadn’t meant to make him mad, but the guy had been doing seventy-five in a fifty-five-mile zone, had a taillight out and was missing his front license plate when Jet had pulled him over. Idaho required two license plates, no matter what kind of vehicle you drove, and besides, the guy had way too much attitude for Jet’s liking.

Little had Jet known that Russ seemed to pull all the important strings in town, and in the state, for that matter, and when you were merely a small-town sheriff, those strings could get pretty tight.

In the end, his violations had somehow been dismissed, and Jet had ended up the bad guy.

Of course, at the moment, Jet didn’t give a hoot. The jail suited him just fine, thank you very much. The bed in the cell was comfortable enough, and rarely used, so he thought he’d break it in for a few days.

He swung open the heavy front door, hit the light switch, slipped out of his bulky parka and cowboy hat, tugged off his boots and his wet socks, sat down at his desk inside his small office and tore open the bags of delicious-smelling barbecue. His mouth instantly watered in anticipation. He hadn’t eaten all day, and his stomach had started aching about three hours ago from lack of food. The pungent smells filled the room as Jet cracked open a can of beer and took a long pull.

He was in for the night, and it felt good to finally be free of all responsibilities. He took a big bite of one of the beef ribs, ripping the meat off the bone with his teeth, groaned his delight and walked over to put his wet socks on the old radiator under the bank of windows so they could dry. All the blinds were closed, so no one could see him, not that there was anyone out there looking on a night like this. Still it gave him comfort to be hidden from view for a while. He walked back to the desk, took another big bite and was just about to sit down and settle in when the phone rang...his phone, in his pocket. The phone that he kept private, and only a handful of people had the number.

That phone rang.

The jailhouse phone had an all-night service for any emergency calls, but that wasn’t ringing.

He felt the sigh that seemed to come up from his bare feet before he heard it expel from his throat as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the screen.

Doctor Coco Grant’s name lit up the black screen along with the picture he’d taken of her in front of her illegal goat pen inside her clinic.

Part of him didn’t want to answer, but he knew if she was calling this late at night, it must be important.

Frankly, he didn’t want to hear about “important” right now, not in the middle of what had to be the best barbecue ribs Sammy had ever created.

He chewed and swallowed.

“Hello,” he reluctantly said into his phone.

“Hi, Sheriff. Sorry to bother you this late, but I’ve got a situation over here that requires your attention.”

He glanced up at the large clock above the front door knowing perfectly well that whatever it was that required his attention would take him at least another hour or more and it was already going on ten thirty.

“Can I give it my attention over the phone? It’s pretty nasty out there tonight, and it’s late. Besides, if someone left you another goat or any other farm animal, there’s nothing either one of us can do about it tonight.”

“It’s not a goat, Sheriff. It’s a baby.”

As he took another bite of a rib, sauce dripped down his fingers and landed on his shirt and lap—bright red sauce that stained everything it touched. He cursed under his breath as he tried to wipe it up.

“You don’t have to get nasty about it,” she said in his ear.

“No. I wasn’t talking to you. It’s just that... Look, let’s call a truce for tonight. I don’t care what kind of illegal baby critter someone left you. We can deal with it another time, just not right now.”

“If you don’t want to do your job, fine, but you should know it’s not a critter of any kind this time. It’s a baby, as in a human baby. A little girl named Lily. She’s about two weeks old from what I can tell and in desperate need of a diaper change, which I think I can do with an old T-shirt. But some real diapers would be nice. And some formula, and a new outfit, cause she soiled this one and wrapping her in something of mine isn’t a real option.”

He didn’t know what to say or how to respond. He’d never dealt with an abandoned baby before. He’d have to read up on it, or at the very least call someone over in Boise to give him a quick rundown of protocol.

“Hello. Hello. Hello. Are you there?” she said, sounding agitated.

He finally took a breath. “Did you say a baby girl?”

“Yes. An infant, and from what I can tell, the only note we have is written on the back of a restaurant receipt from Sammy’s Smokehouse with Lily’s name on it and nothing else.”

He stood, raking a hand through his hair while trying to gather his thoughts. Then he said, “I’ll be right over.”

* * *

“WHY IS SHE crying so much?” Russ asked for the umpteenth time as he awkwardly held baby Lily by her head and butt, flying her back and forth like he was getting ready to propel her through the air. “Is she sick? Maybe she’s got something really wrong with her?”

“Or maybe it’s the way you’re holding her. Haven’t you held a baby before?”

Coco walked over and took Lily, carefully folding the baby into her arms. At once, Lily calmed down as Coco gently spoke to her and naturally bounced with each step, trying to soothe the fretful child.

“There has to be something wrong with her. She smells horrible. I don’t want to get too close, what with all the events I have coming up in the next week. I can’t afford to be sick.”

He was right about the events, at least five that she knew of, and three of them she would be attending alongside him.

So no, he couldn’t get sick, but she really didn’t think that baby Lily had anything physically wrong with her other than needing a diaper change and maybe a bottle.

Coco knew how to treat and care for animals, but what she knew about babies couldn’t fill one page. She was going on instinct here, and what she’d seen her sisters do. Sure, she’d held their babies, but she’d never changed a diaper nor had she ever had to soothe the little darlings or feed them. She’d successfully avoided all of that...up until now.

“She’s a baby. Babies poop and pee. It’s not her fault she smells. She just needs her diaper changed.”

“Can you do that?” His forehead furrowed as if the mere thought of changing a diaper made him nauseous.

“I could if I had a diaper or even an old T-shirt or a dishcloth, but I don’t think I own any safety pins. We’ll just have to bear it until the sheriff gets here with supplies.”

“Well, you can at least strip her down and clean her up, then maybe wrap her in a clean blanket.”

From the tortured look on Russ’s face, Coco thought she should do just that, or what was left of her date night might end right now.

“Okay. Let me see what I can put together,” she reassured him. “Not that I wanted to call him in the first place—we could have simply called Child Welfare or the hospital or anyone other than Sheriff Wilson...even his deputy would have been better. There’s no telling what that man might do with a baby.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. He’ll do what he’s been trained to do with an abandoned baby...whatever that is.”

“You know how that man is with the animals that get left on my doorstep. I’m still paying the fines for keeping some of them longer than the city will allow. If it were up to him, he’d turn them all over to the animal shelter in Idaho Falls, where they’d be put down if no one claimed them in seventy-two hours, sooner if they’re overcrowded. The man has no heart.”

“He’s just doing his job, as I’m sure he will with Billy.”

“Her name is Lily. Why can’t you remember that?”

“I don’t know. Does it really matter? She can’t understand me.”

Lily let out a blood-curdling wail.

“I actually think she can. Or at least she doesn’t like the tone of your voice.”

Coco pulled the baby in tighter.

“Okay. Okay,” he whispered. “Is this better?”

Coco bounced Lily and she quieted down. The little darling seemed to like motion, so Coco kept it going.

“Yes, thank you.”

Coco walked to her bedroom with Lily fussing on Coco’s shoulder, but she seemed to want to calm herself. She squeaked and cooed instead of wailing, a definite improvement. Once inside her bedroom, Coco contemplated putting Lily down on her bed, the bed she’d bought new silky sheets for, and sprayed with perfume, and surrounded with candlelight. The bed she and Russ would make love on until her body ached and she cried out for more.

The bedroom that had been set up for sin.

That bedroom where she now flipped the switch for the overhead light and blew out the candles...at least for now.

She carefully laid squirming baby Lily down on the scented bed while trying to soothe her with soft-spoken words, which weren’t working. She walked to her bathroom and prepared a couple warm washcloths and then brought along a couple fluffy clean towels—new towels that she’d also picked up for the shower she and Russ would take together after hours of making love.

So much for all her sexy plans.

Of course, the night was still relatively young. Anything could happen.

Placing one towel under Lily and keeping one handy to wrap her in, Coco began to undress the little sweetheart, who had stopped fussing when Coco started singing the first song that came into her head, “Happy Birthday.”

“I’d offer to help,” Russ said, coming up behind her, “but I’m horrible with kids, especially babies. Plus, I don’t know the first thing about changing a diaper.”

“And you think I do?” Coco said as she gently wiped off Lily’s soiled bottom. Russ made a few disgusted grunts and turned away.

Coco knew enough from birthing livestock to keep hold of Lily’s arms while she cleaned her. Newborns of any kind liked to be touched and held whenever something else was happening to them. This one little action seemed to soothe her, exactly like it soothed a foal.

“You’re a woman,” Russ announced as if that fact had any relevance in this situation.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s in your DNA. Besides, you deal with babies all the time.”

“There’s a big difference between a puppy or a foal and a little baby girl, an abandoned baby girl. Poor sweetheart doesn’t know what to think...do you, sweet Lily?”

Lily made a couple complaints, but then settled when Coco began singing “Happy Birthday” again.

“Where’s that sheriff? He should’ve been here by now.” Russ walked up behind Coco and ran his hands down her body. Normally a great sensation, and a real turn-on, but not while Coco was trying to clean up baby poop. “We need to pick up where we left off.”

She moved away from him, leaning in closer to Lily, who was now nice and clean and smelling of new baby, a delightful scent if there ever was one.

“I don’t know if that’s possible tonight, Russ. The mood has sort of been broken.”

Coco swaddled Lily as best she could inside the soft white towel, then picked her up, cradling her tight against her chest, her little rosebud mouth suckling the air.

“Not really. I know how we can get it back again.”

“How?”

He leaned in and kissed her with one of those sinful kisses that might have brought her to her knees...if it wasn’t for the warm trickle of liquid that now ran down between her breasts.

* * *

SHERIFF WILSON WASN’T about to drive over to Dr. Grant’s clinic without all the supplies she’d asked for, and then some. He’d taken care of enough babies in his life to know exactly what she needed. Plus, he knew enough about the system to know that the chances of his being able to drop off a baby with the appropriate authorities at this time of night, with all this snow, were slim to none. After he’d changed out of his uniform into more casual wear, he’d made a few phone calls, and the only words of encouragement he’d gotten were keep her warm.

Driving down Main Street was proving to be a challenge, despite his being the only actual vehicle on the road. Even Travis Granger, who maneuvered his red sleigh and Clydesdales, picking up any stranded pedestrians, was having a time of it. The two men nodded to each other as they passed, silently acknowledging that Briggs was in for it tonight.

By the time Sheriff Wilson tried to pull his SUV curbside on Main Street, then trudge up to the glass front door of Whipple’s One Stop and push on the bell that rang inside the Whipple apartment upstairs, he felt the tension intensify in his neck and shoulders. Jet braced himself for what was sure to be the third degree from Cindy Whipple, proprietor and one of the biggest town gossips. Not only was she a gossip, but she had town radar and could usually figure out what someone was trying desperately to hide. She had the uncanny ability to guess exactly what was going on before anyone could tell her the truth.

A sweet woman with a heart of gold, but she couldn’t keep a secret if God came down and asked her personally.

Within moments, a soft light came on inside the store, illuminating the frozen-food section located in the back. Jet and Cindy locked eyes for a moment before she disappeared behind the produce shelves.

When the glass door finally swung open, bells chiming overhead, Cindy Whipple greeted him wearing a fuzzy red robe and matching slippers. Her short white hair stuck out in strange angles, as if she’d just come out of a windstorm, and her horn-rimmed glasses were askew on her wizened face. But her lips were perfectly smeared with red lipstick. Ms. Whipple never went out in public without her bright red lipstick in place. And, apparently, that went for answering the door late at night.

“Sheriff Wilson! What in blazes are you doing out here so late? Did somebody die? Is there a big accident somewhere and you need medical supplies? Because I can give you a deal you won’t believe.”

“No, nothing like that, but is it possible that you could open your store for me? I know it’s late, ma’am, but I would really appreciate getting a few things.”

“I take it this is some kind of emergency, or you wouldn’t be standing here. Are you going to tell me what happened or is it a secret?”

He decided to play along. “Yes, it’s a secret, and I can’t tell anyone about it. Not even you.”

“Me? I’m Fort Knox,” she said with a chuckle.

If only that were true.

“Good, because I’m depending on you not to ask me any questions. I promised I wouldn’t say a word.”

“Absolutely. Not one question. Not a word. My lips are sealed.” She slipped two fingers across her pursed lips, as if she was zipping them up. “Now, what do you need?”

He was hoping he could get out of there without giving her any details. At this point, that was about all he could hope for.

“Baby formula, newborn diapers, a few of those onesies, some undershirts, a couple baby bottles, nipples, a little knit hat and blankets, lots of those small baby blankets,” he told her all in one breath. “Oh, and baby wipes, several containers of baby wipes.”

Her eyes went wide, and she straightened up her glasses. “Now, why on earth are you in here buying up baby supplies?”

“You promised no questions. I’m depending on you.”

“But...”

He tilted his head and gave her a look.

She took a step back and let out a big sigh. “Okay, okay.” Then she quickly went about gathering up all the supplies, placing them on the counter.

After a moment she yelled from across the store, “A boy or girl?”

“Why would that matter?” He knew she was fishing.

“Just want to know if I should pick up blue or pink blankets and onesies.”

“Yellow or green will work.”

“Fine!” she said, but he could tell this secret thing was killing her.

Soon, the counter was littered with baby things. Fortunately, Jet knew enough about newborns to know they didn’t need rattles, teething toys or the high chair she’d stuck next to the counter.

In the end, he managed to get exactly what he needed, even picking up a thermal onesie suitable for winter weather and some sort of soft travel bassinet Cindy had sung the praises of. He’d have gotten a car seat as well, but it wasn’t sized for an infant. Other than that, Whipple’s One Stop truly had everything he needed for baby Lily.

He was just about to compliment Cindy Whipple when she interrupted. “I’ve thought about the expectant moms in town, and I’ve accounted for all of them. I think it’s someone from out of town. Am I right?”

“I can’t say,” Jet told her, swallowing his praise.

“Is it one of our teens? Some poor girl who has managed to keep her pregnancy a secret, even from her parents? I bet it’s Roseland Cooper, or maybe Jennifer Wells...or maybe it’s not either of them. I bet it’s one of them Century sisters, maybe Bess or Dani. Them girls always were wild...no mother to raise ’em and a dad who didn’t value nothin’ but his next drink. Just because they’re of age now doesn’t mean they’ve got a lick of common sense. Neither one of ’em could settle. Always movin’ ’round the country.”

Jet knew the Century sisters well, especially Dani Century, but he didn’t want to think about her now. That was over a long time ago, and bringing up her name only reminded him of a time in his life he didn’t want to relive, especially not tonight.

“They don’t live here anymore, Mrs. Whipple. They both headed out months ago.”

“Oh, that’s right. Time gets away from me,” she said as she bagged everything. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“I can’t, remember?”

“But it’s a baby. Nobody can hide a baby...unless...” She sucked in air and put her hand over her mouth.

“Unless what? Mrs. Whipple? What are you thinking?”

She leaned in closer over the counter, and whispered, “Some out-of-towner abandoned a baby at the jail, didn’t they? And your deputy is caring for it right now while you’re in here getting supplies. Child Welfare can’t do nothing about it in all this snow, and the road to the hospital is probably closed by now, so you’re stuck. I bet that’s it. You can tell me. My lips are sealed. Fort Knox.”

But Jet didn’t answer. Instead he picked up the two overflowing bags wondering how on earth Cindy Whipple could have gotten so close to the truth. The woman had a sixth sense about these things, and if Jet hung around any longer he was sure she’d figure out the baby’s name, gender and, even worse, that the baby was abandoned on Doctor Grant’s doorstep.

As he walked out of the store, he contemplated hiring Mrs. Whipple as a special investigator. Not that he ever could or would, but having her work with him seemed a lot smarter than having her working against him...of that he had no doubt.

Chapter Two

“Are we ever happy to see you,” Russ Knightly said as he opened the front door to Coco’s private residence above her clinic. The door to her clinic sat right next to her private apartment door, but despite the sign above it that touted Paws & Tails Animal Clinic, the sheriff knew her patrons managed to get the two doors confused, just as he had the first time he’d stopped by. They looked exactly alike but for the sign, which, in his opinion, should have been placed on the door itself.

Russ’s clothes looked disheveled and he wore a harried look on his cover-model face, as if the normally cavalier mayoral candidate had reached his breaking point. Even his habitually groomed dark hair was tousled.

Jet could only think of one question: Why was he here?

The shock of seeing Russ standing in Doctor Grant’s doorway instead of Doctor Grant herself threw Sheriff Wilson off his game for a moment. Of all the men in this town, Russ Knightly was the last person he ever thought he’d see anywhere near Coco Grant. For one thing, he’d thought she was a smart woman...but unless there was a really good reason for this lunkhead to be answering her door at this time of night, Jet had sorely misjudged Coco’s common sense.

“I got a call from Doctor Grant, but if you’re already here, I’ll just drop these off with you.” He shoved the bag of baby things into Russ’s hands, and placed a bigger bag of diapers and baby wipes just inside the doorway. “I’ll be on my way before the snow gets any deeper.”

Then he turned to go, angry that he’d been used as an errand boy.

“No. Wait. Aren’t you going to take the baby?”

The sheriff turned back around, detecting a hint of angst in Russ’s normally brazen voice. “Can’t. There’s nobody to care for her tonight.”

Jet proceeded down the three front steps off the wide porch, until Russ called to him again. The man had actually followed him, carrying both bags of baby things. Did Russ really think he was going to stop him from leaving?

“Well, we certainly can’t take care of it. We’re not authorized, but I know for a fact that you are. It’s your duty as town sheriff to take custody of this baby.”

Jet hesitated at the bottom of the steps on the snowy sidewalk and contemplated his options. According to the local newspaper, the Teton Valley Gazette, Russ Knightly was beating Mayor Sally Hickman by ten points. If he became mayor, he could make Jet’s life miserable, and even replace him if he so chose.

Despite all his complaints, Sheriff Jet Wilson loved his job and didn’t want to start over again in some other town...at least not yet.

“You’re right about that, Mr. Knightly. I must have been mistaken. I thought you and Doctor Grant wanted to keep that poor, destitute, abandoned child overnight, which would be fine, according to the law, as long as I approved it. Which I do.”

“Well, don’t, because we do not want to keep the baby overnight. We want you to take her. Coco...I mean, Doctor Grant, and I have other plans.”

Jet got it loud and clear. This charming snake and Doctor Grant were in a relationship. Russ might as well have sucker punched him right in the jaw. It would have made more sense than this tawdry relationship.

As much as it pained Jet, he walked back up the three steps, past Russ Knightly, then began walking up the flight of stairs to the doctor’s private residence, an apartment he’d never seen before, but had thought about many times.

“You could have carried some of this stuff, ya know,” Russ complained behind Jet as the two men made their way up the steps.

“I sure could have,” Jet said, offering no excuse, listening to Russ grunt as he tried to maneuver the steep stairs.

Jet’s guilt kicked in and he was about to turn back around and grab one of the bags from Russ when the door opened to Doctor Grant’s apartment.

She looked absolutely gorgeous, almost beatific, as if she was no longer human, but rather an angel that had come down from heaven. It was all there in her smile, a radiant, joyful smile not really intended for Jet, but coming from deep within her.

Seeing the doctor standing in the doorway, with that tiny baby cradled in her arms, wearing a beautiful black dress that hugged all her curves, her short-cropped, almost black hair hugging her face, showing off that lovely long neck of hers, earrings gently dusting her bare shoulders and the low light from her apartment bathing her body in its warm glow, took Jet’s breath away. Her steel blue eyes seemed brighter, her lips fuller, and that chiseled nose set everything off making her look regal. Doctor Coco Grant always stood up straight, proud of her six-foot height, which Jet loved considering he cleared six foot four easy.

No woman had ever had that kind of impact on him before. The world might as well have stopped spinning.

For the first time in his adult life, he knew what it meant to be tongue-tied. It was all he could do to keep from blabbing like a schoolboy.

“Thanks for coming out, Sheriff. I know it’s late, but we didn’t know what else to do,” the angel said, her voice low and enthralling.

“I...um...”

“Excuse me,” Russ said from just behind Jet, then nudged him out of the way. “But this stuff is heavy.”

That knocked Jet back into reality...the reality of an abandoned baby cuddled up against Doctor Grant, with bare shoulders exposed to the cold of the stairway.

Jet cleared his tight throat. “Not a problem,” he told Doctor Grant. “I picked up a few things on my way over.”

“More like the whole store,” Russ muttered.

All of a sudden, the baby started wailing. Jet figured it was the grating sound of Russ’s voice that set her off.

Smart baby, Jet thought.

“Why don’t you let me get some clothes on that little darlin’ while you make her a bottle. We can talk about how you found her after we get her settled,” Jet said.

From the look on Doctor Grant’s face, he could tell she hadn’t expected him to know much about babies.

“Are you sure?” she tentatively asked. “Because, I mean...”

But Jet had already taken the tiny bundle wrapped in a fuzzy white towel into his arms. She felt as light as a feather as he spoke to her in a soothing voice and gently rocked her. At once the wailing turned into tiny whimpers.

“How’d you do that?” Coco asked, but Jet wasn’t in the mood to answer her question. Instead he asked one of his own.

“Any bruises on the child?”

He walked past her and into the spacious apartment and immediately noticed all the lit candles on just about every flat surface in the large rooms, plus the open bottles of wine and scotch on the dining table that still held the remnants of what had to be a romantic dinner for two. A large bouquet of roses, undoubtedly a gift from her shining knight, sat in a clear glass vase in the center of the table.

Sheriff Jet Wilson could only imagine the disruption this little girl must have caused. He did a mental snicker.

“None that I could see,” the doctor answered using her official voice. “She looks well cared for, and she’s the appropriate size and weight for a two-week-old infant. I looked it up online.”

“That’s good. Now, where can I change her?”

“In my bedroom, down the hall on your right.”

Jet picked one of the bags of essentials that Russ had dropped on the floor and went off to make little baby Lily a bit more comfortable in this uncomfortable situation.

“Can one of you please bring in the other bag?” Jet asked, not turning back around. He assumed Russ would carry in the bulky bag, and the less he saw and spoke to that man, the better.

Just last week he thought he’d seen Russ locking lips with a petite blonde woman over in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a town less than thirty minutes from Briggs. Jet had been there for a meeting with law enforcement officials when he spotted Russ through a restaurant window cozying up with a woman Jet had never seen before. And from the way they’d been eyeing each other, Jet had assumed they were an item.

Apparently he’d been wrong.

Apparently Russ Knightly liked to spread his affections around.

“You wouldn’t be taken in by that kind of behavior, would you, Lily?”

She blinked and pushed her spindly legs out from under the towel. He could tell she didn’t particularly like that heavy towel over her. Jet put her down on the bed, opened the box of diapers, pulled one out and quickly slipped it under Lily’s bottom and fastened it. Then he grabbed a white side-snap undershirt and slipped that on her. She at once looked much more comfortable and happy.

“There, now you can relieve yourself at will, and no one will be the wiser.”

Her little arms reached up as she let out a soft wail. “Aw, sweet cakes, don’t be cryin’. We’re gonna fix you up with a bottle, and I promise you, you’ll be well taken care of. No need to make a fuss.”

As he soothed Lily, his mind wandered back to Russ and Jackson Hole, pondering whether or not the good doctor knew about the other woman or, for that matter, if the other woman knew about Doctor Grant.

And if both women knew, were they okay with it?

Call him old-fashioned, but in Jet’s world, a relationship consisted of two people who only had eyes for each other.

Unfortunately, so far, those kinds of old-fashioned ideas hadn’t panned out so well. He kept falling for the wrong women, but dang it, after his last broken heart, he’d promised himself he would never do that again.

Until the next time.

“Seems like you’ve got it covered,” Doctor Grant said from behind him, her statement confusing him for a moment.

“Yes... I mean... You are referring to baby Lily, right?”

She came around and sat on the edge of the bed, facing him. Her forehead mirrored her confusion. “What else would I be referring to?”

He needed to change the subject, and fast, as he slipped Lily into a warm, long-sleeved, bunny-covered sleeper gown and zipped it closed. “Is that bottle coming soon?”

She nodded. “Right here,” she said. “I can feed her.” She held out her arms, but Jet was reluctant to give Lily up. Instead, he gently picked her up and cradled her in his arms. She felt warm and delicate against his chest, and he had to get over the thought that she might break if he held her too tight. It had been a while, a long while, since he’d held a two-week-old baby, but he had no problem remembering exactly what to do.

“Just point me to a comfortable chair, and we’ll be fine.”

“You want to feed Lily?”

“Sure,” he told her, swiping the bottle, testing the heat of the formula on the inside of his wrist, then gently enticing Lily to take it. She fussed, and wouldn’t suckle no matter how he tried to encourage her. “Maybe she’s used to her mama’s breast, and this won’t work. If that’s true, we really have a problem.”

He glanced over at Doctor Grant, whose breasts just happened to be at eye level and looking quite tempting spilling over that low-cut neckline.

“Well, don’t look at me,” she said, immediately standing.

“I wasn’t looking... I mean... I couldn’t help but see...” He stopped and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. “I only meant this could be a real problem if she doesn’t take the bottle.”

Jet kept trying, but Lily kept making a face and crying. He could feel the tension building down the back of his neck and in his shoulders. He never even considered that she wouldn’t take a bottle, and now he felt foolish for being so naive.

“You brought two kinds of bottles. Maybe she’ll take the other one. It’s worth a try,” Doctor Grant said.

She left the bedroom and he followed right behind, grateful that Cindy Whipple had sold him both types of bottles. If this worked, he’d have to go back and kiss her!

“So, everything’s good and you’re getting ready to leave with Lily?” Russ said to Sheriff Wilson as he and Coco headed for the kitchen. Russ sat on the sofa in the open living room, sipping on a drink, seemingly waiting for all this baby fuss to end so he could get on with his night.

“Not yet,” Jet said, trying to dismiss the vision of Russ and that blonde, seeming so cozy.

“Lily won’t take her bottle,” Doctor Grant told him, sounding concerned.

“Maybe she’s not hungry,” Russ answered, as if he knew something about babies. “A hungry baby will eat.”

“Where did you hear that?” Jet asked, but kept heading for the kitchen with Doctor Grant.

“I just made it up, but it sounds perfectly reasonable.”

Jet couldn’t help an eye roll. Fortunately, only Lily could see him, and when he gazed down at her, she seemed to appreciate the gesture as she sucked on her fist.

“Apparently you don’t know much about babies. According to Sheriff Wilson, they’re particular, especially if they’ve only been nursed. She may only accept a breast,” Doctor Grant told him, as she rinsed the other bottle, the one with a nipple that looked more like a woman’s breast.

“Then go find her one. There must be several women in this town who are nursing their babies.”

Doctor Grant stopped what she was doing and stared at Russ. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Well, what’s the alternative?”

“We have another bottle. It has a different nipple,” Jet said.

“And if that doesn’t work?”

“Pray that it does,” Doctor Grant said, her voice firm and filled with agitation. “Because if it doesn’t, we’re all in for a world of trouble.”

Lily began wailing again, louder than ever. Doctor Grant took the bottle from Jet and sped up the procedure.

Russ abruptly stood. “Well, I can see that the two of you have this covered, so I’m going to be on my way,” he shouted over Lily’s protest. “If you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call.”

“You’re leaving? Now?” Doctor Grant asked, as if his departure took her by surprise. Jet’s only surprise was that Russ hadn’t left when Lily first arrived.

“Sorry, baby, but I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow, especially if the snow keeps falling like it is,” Russ told Doctor Grant. “It proves my point that Sally Hickman isn’t fit to be mayor. When I’m the mayor there will be more than enough snowplows to keep our roads cleared.”

He shrugged into his coat that had hung on a hook by the door.

Doctor Grant handed Jet the new bottle, which she’d filled with the contents of the other bottle. Then she walked over to Russ. “But I thought we... I thought you and I...”

Then they disappeared out into her stairway, closing the door, leaving the sheriff to tend to the more important person in the room: baby Lily.

* * *

ONCE RUSS KNIGHTLY made up his mind about something, he was the type of man who couldn’t be budged...a trait that under normal circumstances, Coco admired...just not tonight.

He couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He’d left in such a hurry, she hadn’t even gotten the chance to kiss him goodbye before he was out the door and down the stairs.

“Are you sure you want to leave in all this snow? You might get stuck and have to walk back here, anyway,” she called after him from the open doorway, having followed him down to the front door of her clinic.

Without even turning around, he said, “I’ve got four-wheel drive, and a snowplow on the front of my truck. I can get through anything.”

And in the next few seconds he jumped into his oversize truck, turned over the ignition, lowered the plow and took off into the night.

She could have been upset as she closed the door, might have even thought that he’d been rude to leave so abruptly in the middle of things. She even could have decided that just maybe she might be dating the wrong man. But all she could focus on was the silence...the absolute and complete silence.

She quickly ascended the stairs to her apartment, wondering about baby Lily and worrying about the sheriff. Would he call the local hospital asking how to set up a volunteer nursing mom for Lily? Not that she knew exactly how that would work for an actual baby. She’d set it up for infant livestock before, but that was with the cooperation of local ranchers...

When she finally opened the door, somewhat out of breath from her rush to learn the truth, emotion gripped the back of her throat. She couldn’t help the tears that cascaded down her cheeks.

“Oh, my gosh! She’s taking it?” she whispered, fingers wiping her tears away. Seeing that tiny baby, eagerly drinking the bottle of formula, nestled in Sheriff Wilson’s strong arms, while he took up all the space on her tan-colored overstuffed chair, was almost more than Coco could take in. For all his bluster, Coco now knew he was warm and fuzzy on the inside.

And as a bonus, Punky had curled up at Sheriff Wilson’s feet, and aside from momentarily picking up his tiny head to watch Coco come back into the apartment, he seemed as though he wasn’t about to budge.

“Hope you don’t mind, but I let your dog out of the bathroom. I heard it whining so I figured it wanted out.”

“Meet Punky. And he usually doesn’t trust men. Did you give him a cookie or something?”

“Nope, just a little lovin’. He was lonely.”

Punky normally didn’t like strangers and tended to keep his distance. Heck, he didn’t even like Russ, so this was some sort of miracle to say the least.

She almost couldn’t believe what lay right before her eyes, and wondered if Russ could have been so gentle and loving with Lily if the sheriff hadn’t shown up. Maybe that accounted for Russ’s early retreat... He’d felt intimidated by the sheriff and would have been as compassionate if he’d only gotten the chance. Russ was a compassionate and caring man. He’d merely been in a hurry to beat the snow or he would be sitting in that very chair right now instead of the sheriff...who she had absolutely nothing in common with.

Except for baby Lily.

But other than that, they were as different as rain and sunshine.

“And what about Lily? Did you give her some lovin’, as well?”

“It was just a matter of getting everything lined up right. The little sweetheart here was hungry. That tummy of hers probably hurt, plus I think it took her a while to settle into not having her mama feeding her. I don’t want to speculate on why a woman gives up her baby, but whatever the reason, it sure is tough on the child.”

“That goes for animals, as well. They get depressed, sometimes to the point of not wanting to eat. Plus, they cry a lot.”

“Exactly like Lily.”

“Well, she’s not crying now.”

“She’s one content little girl who’s getting sleepy. But I have to make sure she doesn’t have any gas in that tummy of hers before she sleeps.”

Coco watched as six feet four inches of muscled alpha male expertly tucked tiny baby Lily onto his receiving blanket–covered shoulder and rubbed her back as she squirmed and fretted over the loss of her food. Within moments a couple of hearty burps erupted, and Sheriff Wilson once again cradled Lily in his arms to feed her the rest of her bottle.

“Seems like you’ve done this a few times before,” Coco told him, amazed at his gentleness and ease with Lily. She was certain she’d be all nerves and frets if she had to feed her. Feeding a kitten or a baby goat or an abandoned foal was one thing, but a fragile baby was something entirely different.

“A few,” he told her, but she could tell he didn’t want to talk about it.

That never stopped her before. “Younger brothers and sisters?”

“None.”

“Nieces and nephews?”

“No siblings of any age.”

Coco perched herself on the edge of the sofa, intrigued now. “Then how...”

“One of the families I lived with consisted of a baby and a toddler, along with several other children. The older kids, like me, knew how to take care of themselves, but neither the baby nor the toddler got very much attention, which caused them to cry a lot. It was merely a matter of necessity. In order for me to get any of my homework done, I learned how to keep them content.”

“Where were their parents?”

“Like me, and like Lily here, their parents, for whatever reason, had abandoned them.”

Coco’s heart instantly shattered. She’d had no idea. “So you grew up in foster care?”

“Yep. From the time I was six years old, but that’s not anything to concern yourself with. What we need to think about now—” his voice spiraled down into a whisper “—is Lily.”

“The snow hasn’t let up at since you got here,” she whispered, thankful that Lily had finally fallen asleep. “I know you want to get her to Child Welfare or maybe to Valley Hospital, but the roads look treacherous.”

“What are you proposing?” He asked the question, but didn’t take his eyes off Lily.

She knew the sheriff was a stickler for the law, but she was hopeful that maybe he could bend the rules if she framed her idea exactly right. Besides Lily, her menagerie of animals downstairs was definitely not legal within city limits. Maybe if she offered to keep Lily for the night, he wouldn’t go snooping around her clinic, and even if he did, he’d let her slide without a fine...at least for now.

“Since it’s not safe out there for either you or Lily, you both can stay here for the night...if you want. Of course, I’m not trying to step on your toes when it comes to your authority. All I’m saying is, it’s a long way to Valley Hospital and then back to your apartment. Instead, I can put Lily down in her soft bassinet on my bed for the night and make up the sofa for you. I have a spare bedroom, but it’s for storage.”

He thought about it for a moment, as if his brain had to wrap itself around the idea that her proposal might come with illegal strings he couldn’t see.

“While you think about that,” she said, “can I get you anything to drink? Water? Coffee? Milk?”

“Actually, I’d take a shot of that scotch if I was going to stay. It’s been one heck of a night on a lot of counts.” He stood. “But I can’t stay. I tell you what. I’ll leave Lily in your care for the night, but I should get going while I can still do that. I’ll come by to pick her up in the morning once the roads are clear and I know for certain who will take her.”

“You don’t know that yet?”

“No. With the weather being what it is, the person I spoke to wasn’t really sure how to handle it.”

No way was Coco willing to let that baby go under those ambiguous circumstances.

“Then I’d be more than happy to take care of her tonight, and again, you’re more than welcome to stay, as well.”

“Thanks for the offer of your sofa.” He gazed over at it, looking skeptical.

“Okay, so maybe you wouldn’t be comfortable on my sofa. But if you slept on your side and bent your knees, five feet would be a perfectly acceptable fit.”

“I appreciate the offer, but that SUV can get through just about anything. Now, let’s get Lily settled in her bed.”

Coco picked up Lily’s cloth bassinet by the handles and made her way to the bedroom, where she placed it on the bed. Then, ever so carefully, the sheriff put Lily down on her back and expertly swaddled her with the blankets. Lily didn’t even stir, but let out a long sigh.

Then he did something she’d seen her own dad do a million times to each of his children, always feeling the love her dad had for his family. The only difference now was what the sheriff said...

He leaned over and gently kissed baby Lily on the forehead, tenderly stroked the top of her head and whispered, “Sleep well, Lily. You’re safe now.”

Then he exited the room, leaving Coco to wonder: Who are you and what have you done with by-the-book Sheriff Wilson?

* * *

WHEN JET STEPPED back outside into the quiet night, leaving the warmth of Doctor Grant and baby Lily behind, the cold wind instantly sent a shiver down his spine. The thought of trying to drive through all this heavy snow only to get back to the drafty, lonely jail made him a combination of angry and sad.

Angry at himself for not taking the doctor up on her kind offer to sleep on her sofa, and sad that his life had come to sleeping inside a jail cell on a hard cot.

He shook his head as he made his way to his rig, which was somehow completely packed in snow. Still, he told himself if Russ could make it out of there, so could he.

One problem.

He would need a good-sized shovel to dig his way out. It looked as though a snowplow had purposely shoved snow all around his SUV, making it impossible for him to get out.

But who would do such an inconsiderate thing to the sheriff’s rig?

At this point it didn’t matter. What did matter was that he’d made a big deal about not spending the night with the doctor.

He corrected himself. Not with the doctor, but at the doctor’s apartment. Was that the reason he didn’t take her up on her offer of the sofa? Didn’t he trust himself? Maybe he didn’t trust her? If she and Russ had an “open relationship,” would she try to seduce him?

He told himself that was plain silly.

He’d merely done the stand-up thing and left. Nothing more to it.

But now he was in a pickle, and had no choice but to take her up on that sofa offer.

“Fine,” he said aloud as he trudged back to her front door, the snow and cold wind blasting his face and hands with its bitter sting. He hated nights like this, nights when Mother Nature reminded him of her power, and when memories of his childhood came crashing back. He wished he could talk to Lily’s mom and tell her of the life that Lily more than likely would have. He’d like to somehow help Lily’s mom with whatever reason brought her to abandoning her child. But most of all, he hated that Lily would now be a ward of the state and he would be the one to hand her over.

The irony was too real. By the time he’d graduated from high school he’d lived with twelve different families. Most of them were good people, but a few of them were borderline abusive or simply neglectful. Those were the kinds of households that he hoped Lily would never run across, but he knew the odds were stacked against her. Once she went into the system, there was no telling who would be her temporary parents.

Life sure could stink at times, he thought as he made his way back up the three steps to Doctor Grant’s front porch, but before he was able to ring the bell for her apartment, she swung open the door and handed him that shot of scotch.

“Thanks,” he said after he drank it down. “I really needed that.”

“I figured as much,” she said, her voice low and sultry, feet bare, pretty little toes painted a bright pink.

No doubt about it, he was in for it now.

Chapter Three

“I know these animals legally aren’t supposed to be here, but there was nowhere else I could take them, especially after it started snowing,” Coco told the sheriff as he helped her clean out their cages and pens.

Coco had slipped out of her lacy black dress, and instead donned jeans, rubber boots and an oversize red plaid shirt. She wore rubber gloves and had offered a pair of gloves to the sheriff, which he surprisingly took. She’d set up one of her many portable baby monitors, which she used for her animals, inside her bedroom, so she had baby Lily in her sights at all times.

As for the sheriff’s part, he’d left his gun holstered and locked in a dresser drawer in the spare bedroom, his badge and cream-colored cowboy hat sat on a side table next to her sofa.

Medium-sized cages lined one wall of the room, where sibling calico kittens played with a brown-and-white bulldog puppy, who eagerly rolled around with each of them, while a large tortoise watched the activities from the shelter of its hard shell. Fortunately, aside from the need of an occasional heat lamp and a meal of greens and maybe a strawberry or two, a tortoise was low maintenance. Unlike the rest of her critters, which required not only basic needs but some loving and human interaction. Otherwise they’d never be comfortable around people.

The area smelled of a combination of manure, fresh hay and animal fur, a scent that had lost its impact on Coco some time ago. Since her renovation, this part of the clinic was now separated from her apartment on the second floor of the original main building. This new clinic took up most of the empty lot that had been behind her house. She’d bought this property precisely because she knew she’d be able to expand her business. The closest house on her street was at least fifty yards away.

“I understand,” the sheriff said as he scooped up goat dung and hay from the large pen at the end of the large room.

Those two words caught her by complete surprise as she stared at him and dumped the waste material into a big plastic trash can.

“Thanks,” she told him, but she wanted to give him a big hug.

“Don’t tell me you take care of all these guys by yourself?”

The piglet and all the other critters required time and care. She could never do it alone.

“Not exactly. One of my neighbors, Drew Gillian, helps out whenever she can. Normally she’ll take in the cats and a couple dogs if we have them, but this time, she already has two pups and a kitten. I couldn’t burden her with any more, so I’m keeping them here for a few days, at least until the weather clears up.”

“You did what you had to do, Doctor Grant,” he said, sounding official. This new attitude of his had to stop if they were going to make it through the night without her thinking that perhaps the sheriff was redeemable.

“Why don’t you call me Coco,” she told him, wanting to be on more friendly terms. After all, the man was helping her clean out the cages for animals that he knew being here were completely illegal.

He gazed over at her, a smile lighting up his normally stern-looking face. “And you can call me Jet, at least for tonight.”

“And after tonight?” She stopped cleaning and looked over at him, grinning while the two goats kept rubbing up against him, wanting the bottles of milk she’d been warming in the large bottle warmer she kept in the other room.

“Protocol dictates the more formal name, and I wouldn’t want you to think that just because we spent the night together...er, I mean, just because we slept... Yes, Jet will be fine.”

She chuckled under her breath at the sheriff’s—at Jet’s—obvious awkwardness with the situation. It was almost as though he’d never spent the night with a woman before, at least not on a platonic basis. The thought caused her to snicker even more.

“Am I missing something?” he asked, obviously catching her hidden laughter.

“It’s the llamas. They keep nipping at my shirt collar.” Which they were.

The pen was fairly large, about fifteen by eighteen feet, but it wasn’t enough room for them to run and play in, so she was getting all their extra energy. They kept rubbing up against her, then running around in a circle only to do it again. One was chocolate brown, the male, and the other almost pure white, a female.

“They seem kind of aggressive. Shouldn’t they be in a barn somewhere, instead of cooped up in that pen?”

Jet was absolutely right, but she’d had no choice. They’d been left on her doorstep at a most inopportune time.

“They’re not aggressive, more playful than anything else. Llamas are the sweetest animals you can ever have on a ranch. Plus, they’re better protectors against coyotes or hawks or even possums. They only arrived this afternoon or I would have brought them out to my parents’ ranch until I could find a home for them. Problem was, I couldn’t risk driving all the way out there and getting stuck on my way back, so instead I decided to keep them here for a bit. I should be able to move them out tomorrow or the next day at most.”

He gave one of the goats a pat on the head before it danced off, then loved up the other one when it nudged his leg. From all that she’d seen so far that night, Sheriff Jet Wilson was not the brute she had made him out to be. Jet Wilson seemed to be as soft and cuddly underneath that hard outer shell as any of her critters. A fact she would try to remember the next time he fined her for one of her forbidden country animals.

“No worries. Really. I understand.”

Now she really didn’t understand him, not even remotely. Who was this guy? How could she have misread him so badly?

“Why the change of heart? Why aren’t you writing up a ticket? What changed?”

He turned to her and shrugged. “It’s not your fault the people of this town have decided to abandon their animals...and now their babies...on your doorstep. I guess I never understood what that meant before. These little guys deserve a break, deserve a new start, and apparently the townsfolk think you can give it to them. You’re quite the protector, Doctor...I mean Coco...and everyone seems to know that.”

“Does that mean you’ll dismiss my pending fines?”

Now that he’d seemed to have a change of heart, she felt hopeful about asking for those dang fines to go away.

He stood up straight and looked directly into her eyes, wearing his official deadpan expression again. As if he could switch that authoritarian look on and off at will. “No,” he said with certainty. “It just means I won’t give you another fine for this group... That’s contingent upon your finding a place for the goats and llamas as soon as the weather clears up. A place outside city limits.”

She stuck a fist to her hip, somewhat peeved he couldn’t let those fines go, but underneath all her hope, she was beginning to understand his tough position.

“Well, that’s something. I guess.”

“It’s the least I can do seeing as how you’ve taken in Lily.”

She didn’t want him getting any ideas about her caring for Lily. Sure, she felt sorry for the poor little thing, and Lily had already made an inroad into Coco’s heart, but she couldn’t allow herself to spend too much time with the child or she would never want to let her go.

“Just for the night or until the weather clears up and the roads get plowed. With my schedule, I certainly can’t take in a baby.”

Which was true, so she latched onto that thought and held it close. It would allow her to hand Lily over to the authorities without breaking her heart. The abandoned animals were fine, but an abandoned baby caused her way too much internal grief, a grief she wasn’t prepared to spill anytime soon...especially not in front of Jet Wilson. Sure, he had a softer side, but that outer shell was as hard as steel and she had no intention of going up against it.

“Nor are you qualified to take her.”

Coco’s internal antenna went up. Did he know something about her? Was there gossip going around that she didn’t know about? “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He stepped out of the goat pen, to the dismay of both goats, slipped off his gloves and headed for the next room that contained a refrigerator, a large bottle warmer and some supplies. “Not what you’re thinking,” he shouted back. She heard him open the lid on the bottle warmer. “Idaho has rules about who can be a temporary guardian for an abandoned baby, and you aren’t certified. I checked.”

She relaxed a bit. He’d merely been referring to some law she knew little about.

“And I suppose you are?”

He stepped back into the main room, holding a large bottle of warmed milk in each hand. Large nipples cupped the tops of the bottles.

“By default, yes. But I also had to take a few classes.”

The goats bleated at the end of the pen, their heads hanging over the wire mesh, mouths open in anticipation.

“But I thought you said you knew all about caring for a baby from growing up in foster care?”

“I guess it’s a combination of both.”

He held both bottles down so the kids could nurse. They pulled down the milk as if they’d been starving, which they weren’t. She’d fed them in the morning before she’d begun her day, and now before bed. Twice a day was sufficient for these little guys. The good thing about these two was that their owner had at least disbudded them well, so their horns wouldn’t grow, a problem for domesticated goats.

“I wish I knew more about caring for babies. I only know animals,” Coco told him.

The goats pushed and knocked their bottles, wanting the milk to come out faster, but Coco had given them the appropriate nipple with the appropriate slice in the top for a controlled flow. Anything more and they’d choke.

“It’s the same thing. Neither a baby nor an animal can tell you what’s wrong. You have to use your intuition and your expertise, and hope that you’re right. I mean, look at these little guys. You manage to keep them all healthy, right?”

“Most of the time, but even with them, I can sometimes get it wrong.”

“But you strike me as the type of doctor who keeps trying until you do get it right.”

“Thanks. I like to think that I do. Yes.”

She appreciated his confidence in her. Where he’d gotten it, she didn’t know, but she sure liked it. Aside from her brother, Carson, her sisters, Kenzie, Callie and Kayla, her dad and mom, and a handful of the local ranchers, she didn’t always get that kind of respect. There were times when she’d get outright skepticism. Not that she minded it, or resented it. She understood. Those animals meant thousands of dollars to the ranchers. Sometimes a healthy animal or a sick animal stood between a rancher and bankruptcy. A vet could, at times, make or break a ranch depending on his or her diagnosis. So it had better be the correct one.

“Have you always wanted to be a vet?”

She nodded. “I think for as long as I could remember. I love my job and I’m blessed that when Doctor Graham retired, he left his practice to me. What about you? Have you always wanted to be a sheriff?”

He chuckled. “Absolutely not. I wanted to be a bus driver, or a truck driver, then a fireman, a cowboy or a rodeo star, and for a short time I wanted to be a rock star. I play a mean guitar.”

She smiled, envisioning Jet in tight black leather pants, no shirt and eyeliner. He clearly didn’t fit the image. “Then how on earth did you end up being a sheriff?”

“When I got out of the military, I didn’t know what to do with myself until I met Sheriff Perkins over in Chubbuck, who was looking for a deputy. The pay was good enough to keep me off the street, and I liked the sheriff, so I applied and got the job. He trained me, and a couple years ago when this job came up, he pushed me out of the nest and gave me a good reference. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“So, does that mean you like it?”

“For the most part, it suits me.”

“When doesn’t it suit you?”

The baby goats emptied their bottles, their tails wagging like mad, indicating that their bellies were nice and full before Jet pulled the bottles away. They fussed for a minute, then went about bumping heads and playing.

He turned to her, looking sullen. “When I have to deal with an abandoned baby.”

“That’s exactly how I feel when someone abandons an animal on my doorstep. But a baby is a hundred times worse.”

“So, it’s safe to say, Lily is tough for us both.”

“She’s breaking my heart in more ways than I want to admit.”

“Mine, too,” he said, and in that moment, he took her breath away.

* * *

THE SNOW HAD crept up above his knees, and he could no longer feel his feet or fingers. Every tree, rock and surface around him was covered in thick, heavy snow that continued to fall in great big lacy flakes, making visibility virtually impossible.

How he’d gotten out on a hillside, he didn’t know.

With each breath, a billow of steam surrounded his face. His entire body shook from cold, but Jet couldn’t stop moving forward. He knew he had to keep going, keep walking, one foot in front of the other. He had to keep going. Had to get to Doctor Grant’s house.

He could barely make out a structure in the distance, a log cabin, blanketed in snow, with smoke swirling up out of the chimney and bright yellow lights glowing from the three windows, beckoning him forward.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.