A Family For The Soldier. Carolyne Aarsen

pulled back, turned away from him, the feeling a stark reminder of the main reason she couldn’t encourage him. Couldn’t be with him.

      The child she carried. The child conceived with her ex-husband.

       Chapter Four

      “Have you seen Vanessa this morning?” Mamie asked, beating some eggs in a bowl.

      Grady looked up from the laptop he had propped on the eating bar of the kitchen. Ben had all the livestock records, all the bookkeeping, all the information on the Future Ranchers in files on the computer, and Grady had been poring over them in an attempt to get up to speed.

      “No. I thought she was sleeping in.”

      “I had to get something from the closet in her room and knocked on the door but when I opened it, there was no one in the room. Her bed was empty.” Mamie beat the eggs, the frown on her face clearly expressing her concern. “I’m glad we hired Chloe to help us.”

      “I am, too.” Grady’s thoughts skipped back to that moment last night in the nursery. Seeing Chloe standing by the crib, smiling down at Cody, had created a mixture of emotions he had a hard time processing. He knew he was attracted to her. And he sensed something building between them.

      But all it took was one shift of his weight on his leg, one look at the crutch to remind him of the foolishness of letting these feelings take over. He wasn’t the man he once was.

      No. She deserved better than this.

      Just as he made this resolution, she came into the kitchen, Cody cuddled up against her. The baby still wore his sleeper. He was rubbing his eyes, his rosy cheeks holding the imprint of one of his chubby hands, his blanket tucked under one arm.

      Grady felt a warmth kindle in him at the sight.

      Trouble was he knew it wasn’t the sight of Cody that caused it, but the woman holding him.

      “Good morning, Chloe,” he said, giving her a wary smile.

      She just nodded at him, suddenly impersonal. Clearly he had stepped over some line she had drawn last night.

      “Hey, sweetie.” Mamie reached for the boy, beaming at the sight of Cody holding out his arms to her in answer. “Did you have a good sleep?”