by now, though, and then—what might happen after dinner didn’t bear thinking about. So she wouldn’t.
But she did think about it. Maybe she’d have to switch banks. It would be worth it to drive all the way into Canon City just so she didn’t have to lay eyes on Charlotte Crabtree and her smug smile. Yes, that was what she’d do. She’d move her account to Canon City on Monday and find a bank that was offering free stuff for opening an account. Maybe she could get herself a new toaster oven or a set of dishes out of the deal. Or one of those bitty color television sets. She’d always wanted—
The ringing phone made her jump and she knocked over her bench. It landed with a clatter on the hardwood floor, startling Sadie, her Great Dane, out of her snooze near the loom. Nobody called at this hour on a Friday night unless it was an emergency. Heart pounding, Matty hurried into the kitchen. As she picked up the phone, she prayed it was a prank or a wrong number, and not some family disaster.
“Matty?” Sebastian sounded frantic.
Matty frowned. Unless she was mistaken, that was a baby crying in the background. She couldn’t put that together with Charlotte Crabtree and the dinner date, but yes, there was definitely a very young baby close to the phone. “What’s going on?”
“It’s…complicated. Can you come over?”
Not while Charlotte was still there, she wouldn’t. “Why?”
“Because I need you to help me.”
“With what?”
“I’ll explain when you get here. Please, Matty. Come quick.”
“Is Charlotte still there?”
“How did you know about Charlotte?”
“Sebastian, everybody with an account at Colorado Savings knows Charlotte came up to your place for dinner. Is she still there?”
“No. Can you come over?”
So Charlotte had left and a tiny baby was there instead. Matty was burning up with curiosity. Wild horses couldn’t have kept her off the Rocking D tonight. “I’ll be right there,” she said.
2
NO UNFAMILIAR VEHICLES sat in the circular drive in front of Sebastian’s place, but Matty noticed two large cardboard boxes next to the front door when she climbed the steps to his porch. And sure enough, a baby was crying inside the house. As near as she could remember, there had never been a baby at the Rocking D, even though folks around here thought the ranch’s brand looked a lot like a cradle.
She pounded on the front door, figuring she’d better make a lot of racket to be heard above the screaming baby.
The door opened almost immediately and Sebastian stood there looking frazzled. It was a novel sight. Matty couldn’t remember seeing him frazzled before. The notion that he even could get frazzled pleased her immensely.
He’d always been in charge of himself, his feet planted firmly on the ground, his broad shoulders ready to take any weight, his gray gaze steady and sure. Over the years, his self-reliance had both thrilled and maddened her. She found that sort of confidence sexy, but it didn’t leave much room for a woman to feel needed.
But tonight, he definitely needed someone, and she happened to be handy.
“Thank God you’re here.” He stepped back from the door. “You must have driven like a snail.”
“Actually, I broke the speed limit.” She imagined even five minutes would be an eternity with that caterwauling going on. She walked into the house, shucking her jacket as she went. “Where’s the kid?”
“Over there.” He gestured toward the sofa in front of the fire, where an infant seat held a squirming and very loud baby.
Matty had a thousand and one questions revolving around the sudden arrival of this baby at Sebastian’s house on a Friday night, but she decided there was no point in asking even one of them until they got the noise level down a bit. “What have you done for it?”
“Nothing. It’s a she. Elizabeth.”
“Nothing?” Matty crossed to the sofa, where the baby had tangled her blanket around herself as she flailed her little arms and legs. She had on some sort of one-piece pink suit and a pink hat, which was nearly off, plus the blanket. She looked hot.
“I was afraid I’d do the wrong thing,” he said. “I don’t know anything about babies. So I built up the fire.”
“I can see that.” The heat danced off Matty’s flannel shirt and jeans. She tried to ignore the pair of wineglasses on the coffee table and the distinct odor of Charlotte’s perfume that still stunk up the place. In between the baby ruckus came the soft sounds of some easy-listening country music on the CD player. Sebastian had fixed himself quite a little seduction pit.
“Where’s Charlotte?”
“Gone. She doesn’t know anything about babies.”
Well, that was something. The baby had driven Charlotte away. “I don’t know much, either,” Matty said. “But I think we should get her out of those clothes or away from the fire.”
“You pick her up, then, okay?”
Matty glanced at him and held back a smile. Finally, finally she’d found something that scared the hell out of big bad Sebastian Daniels. “Okay.” She hadn’t handled many babies, but she seemed to remember when they were this young you got one hand under their bottom and the other one under their head, because they were still sort of floppy.
This one was pretty rigid, though, probably from crying herself into a complete frenzy. Feeling awkward, Matty scooped her up and cradled her in her arms, rocking her gently. It felt like holding a noisy five-pound sack of potatoes. Matty didn’t know if her technique was any good, but the hysterical pitch of the cries softened, although the steady crying didn’t stop.
Matty carried the baby away from the fire. “Settle down, Elizabeth,” she instructed the baby. “Everything’s okay. No need to get worked up.” Matty had no idea if everything was okay or not, but the kid couldn’t understand her, anyway. She sat in the old maple rocker that had been around the Rocking D for as long as Matty could remember. Holding the baby in her lap, she took off the knit cap and began unzipping the fleece suit.
“What should I do?” Sebastian asked.
“She might be hungry.”
“Don’t look at me!”
Matty glanced up. “There’s no one else here to look at. Whose baby is this?”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Um…we can discuss that later, after we get her settled down.”
Interesting answer. She noticed his hair was a tousled mess. Either he’d been shoving his fingers into it a lot, or someone else had. Matty didn’t want to think about that possibility, although she could understand the temptation. Sebastian had the kind of thick, dark brown hair that made women dream of burying their fingers in it.
“I don’t know how we’re going to get her settled down if you’re not prepared to feed her,” she said. “Did her mother leave you some formula or something?”
He looked stunned. “God, you would think she would have, and diapers and clothes, and stuff! Babies need stuff.”
“Sebastian, you’re going to have to tell me before my curiosity kills me dead. How in hell did you end up with this kid tonight?”
“She was left on the porch.”
Matty’s hands stilled and she stared at him. “You’re kidding.”
“No.”
“I thought that sort of thing only happened in books.” She was fascinated that Sebastian wouldn’t look her in the eye. He was usually a look-you-in-the-eye sort of