Jingle-Bell Baby

After a few seconds, Alice Pernisky said, “My dear, if you don’t want to put the father’s name, that’s fine. Just take care of the rest. We see more of that kind of thing than we used to.”

Heat flushed from her toes to her head. They thought she was an unwed mother who had no idea who Sophie’s father was.

“My husband died,” she said, which was true, though Derek had been out of her life long before the car crash that killed him.

“I’m sorry,” Alice said automatically, although Jenna did not think the woman believed her.

Would people always assume the worst if she didn’t put Derek’s name on the birth certificate?

Of course they would. This document would follow Sophie all the days of her life. And Jenna would not do that to her daughter.

Taking a deep breath, Jenna bent to the form and began to write. After the divorce, her parents had insisted she return to Carrington and she’d gladly done so. Derek had humiliated her enough. But now, his name might be the one thing that could keep her and Sophie from being discovered.

If she was going to start her life anew with Sophie, she would do it correctly. She would lie only if she had to, and pray her family wouldn’t be able to trace her through hospital documents bearing only her married name.

As she handed over the form, another form appeared beneath. “Those are your release forms, your instructions on self-care, and of course your hospital bill. Do you have insurance we can file?”

Jenna gulped. Lie number one. “No.”

“How do you plan to take of this? We take check or credit card, of course, and if need be, we can set up a payment plan.”

“Cash. I’ll pay cash.”

The woman pulled back, startled. “Cash?”

“Yes.” Accessing her bank accounts or using her credit cards would be too easy to trace. Until she and Sophie were established and on their own, she would not even consider such a thing. Maybe never. Cash was the only way.

Jenna reached for her handbag, aware of how out-of-place the designer crocodile looked in the hands of a woman without health insurance. As she withdrew the funds from her wallet, she had the absurd thought that Alice might think she’d stolen the bag, along with the money. What if she called the police?

Jenna’s hand trembled as she counted out the correct amount and handed it over. She could feel the woman’s curious stare and almost hear the wheels turning in her head.

When the last paper was signed and the woman left the room, Jenna felt light-headed with relief. Before putting her purse aside so she could hold Sophie again, she counted the remaining bills in her wallet. A quiver of worry drew her brows together. Never in her life had she needed to consider money. A Carrington simply grew up knowing there was plenty. Discussing personal finance was considered vulgar.

But she was no longer a Carrington. She was no longer one of Pennsylvania’s old money debutantes with an endless supply of cash and credit cards. She was a single mother alone, scared…and nearly broke.

A tangle of nerves and hormones and uncertainty gathered inside Jenna a short time later as she leafed through two newspapers, including a national one, and waited to be dismissed from the hospital.

After careful scrutiny of each page, she sat back against the scratchy chair and let some of her tension ebb away. There was no mention of a missing heiress. At least, not yet.

She flipped to the classifieds of the local paper, the Saddleback Sentinel, and scanned the help wanted ads. After a couple of minutes, her lips curved in wry humor. If she could run a drilling rig or drive an eighteen-wheel truck, she’d be in business before nightfall.

“Looking for anything in particular?”

At Crystal’s voice, Jenna jumped. The nurse stood in front of her with a wheelchair, smile curious.

The newspaper crinkled as Jenna refolded it and placed it on the nightstand. Part of her longed to confide in the friendly nurse and admit she needed a job. She opened her mouth to do just that but Sophie chose that moment to awake with a startled cry. All thought rushed to her baby.

“Is she all right?”

Crystal chuckled. “Yes, Jenna. She’s fine. Baby’s cry. Get used to it. Real used to it. I probably startled her with the noise of the wheelchair.”

“Oh.” Jenna fought down a blush and gingerly scooped her daughter from the Isolette. “Shh, darling, Mommy’s here.”

To her joy, Sophie stopped crying immediately. Her scrunched-up face relaxed as she blinked up at her mother. A swell of love ballooned in Jenna’s chest.

“You two ladies ready for your free ride in a wheelchair?”

“Can’t we walk?”

“Hospital regs, I’m afraid.” Crystal patted the black seat. “Hop aboard the Wolf Express for the only free thing in this hospital.”

With a smile at Crystal’s humor, Jenna complied, jittery to think that in a few minutes, she and Sophie would be alone and on their own. She’d known when she left the estate that this would happen, but she hadn’t expected it to happen quite so soon. She’d hoped to be settled somewhere before Sophie’s birth, to have the trunk full of layette items set up and ready for the baby’s homecoming. She’d even had fantasies of a job where she could keep Sophie with her. Instead, she was down to her last few dollars with nowhere to take her newborn daughter.

Crystal guided the wheelchair down the long, pristine hospital corridor and out the exit toward the parking lot.

“So what did Dax have on his mind?”

The question startled Jenna. She’d tried to put the rugged cowboy out of her thoughts. “I’m not sure.”

“What did he say?”

“He asked if Sophie and I were all right and then he left.”

Crystal chuckled. “He’s not a big talker.”

“I noticed.”

“Hunky, though, huh?”

“I suppose.” She really didn’t want to talk about the cowboy. “I think I scared him off.”

“Nah. He’s just quiet. I don’t think anything scares Dax Coleman except his ex-wife.”

“He’s divorced?”

“Yep. For years, but as far as I know, he’s never dated again. Reba did a number on him, the witch.”

Jenna, in spite of herself, tilted her head in question. “Was she?”

Crystal hitched one shoulder. “I never liked her much, though some folks think the divorce was Dax’s fault.”

He wasn’t exactly Mr. Congeniality, but after the way he’d helped her, she felt compelled to take his side. “Outsiders seldom know the full story.”

She knew that from personal experience.

“Too true. And Dax has always been one of the good guys. Or he used to be.”

Jenna let the subject of the cowboy drop. Something about him unsettled her in the oddest manner.

Wheels clattered over the concrete parking lot as Crystal pushed her and Sophie into the weak sunshine. The fresh air felt good on Jenna’s skin after the stuffiness of the hospital.

Holding her pink-wrapped daughter snuggled close to her body, a few free baby supplies compliments of the hospital stuffed between her side and the arm of the chair, she couldn’t help thinking how different this dismissal would have been in Philadelphia. Surrounded by masses of flowers, a private nurse, and at least two burly bodyguards—one for her and one for Sophie—she would have been gently hustled into a waiting car driven by Fredrick, the family chauffeur, and driven home to the nursery suite especially commissioned and furnished by her mother. There, in the stark white nursery, a nanny would have whisked Sophie from her arms and taken over every nuance of the baby’s care. If Jenna was lucky and made enough fuss, she might get to hold her child occasionally.

No, she’d made the right decision, even if she had no idea where she would go or what she would do now.

The wheelchair slowed. “Which way is your car?”

“Out to the left, I think. It’s a faded blue.” She scanned the parking lot, hoping she’d recognize the still-unfamiliar vehicle. Was it only four days ago when, in an effort to conceal her true destination, she’d taken the train as far as Baltimore and purchased the car from a classified ad?

“There.” She pointed, gripping Sophie tighter as Crystal picked up speed.

When they reached the car, the nurse held the baby while Jenna dug out her keys and unlocked the door.

“Someone washed my car,” she said in wonder, gazing into the backseat. Someone had even cleaned the interior, which now smelled of vinyl cleaner instead of dust and designer perfume.

“Interesting,” Crystal commented. “Must have been Dax.”

“Why would he do that?”

The nurse shrugged. “Don’t know, but it sure is interesting. Visiting you at the hospital and washing your car. Maybe he has a thing for new mothers.”

Shocked, Jenna’s snapped around to stare at the nurse. Crystal burst into laughter. “Girl, you should see your face. I was only teasing.”

“Oh.” But Jenna got that fluttery feeling in her stomach again. What was it about the mention of Dax Coleman that stirred her so?

“Where’s your car safety seat?”

“My what?”

“Texas has a child safety seat law. You can’t leave the hospital with Sophie until you have one installed.”

One more thing she hadn’t thought of. “Where can I get one?”

Crystal studied her from beneath black eyelashes. “The hospital sells them. If you’d like I’ll run back inside and get one for you.”

“Do you mind?”

“Not a bit.” She named a price and Jenna extracted the required bills from her wallet.

“Cute purse,” Crystal said. “Is that real alligator?”

“Crocodile. It was a gift,” she hurried to say, downplaying her ability to purchase such a bag. What she really wanted to say was, “Want to buy it?” The cost of the handbag would go a long way toward apartment rent.

“Wish somebody would buy me gifts like that.”

“No, you don’t,” she nearly said to the nurse’s retreating back. You don’t want someone to try to control you with money and things and fear.

While Crystal was gone, Jenna thought of her dwindling resources, spirits ebbing lower and lower. Even during her short marriage, they’d always had her considerable bank account, a fact that had changed her average Joe husband to Joe Millionaire in a matter of weeks.

She tasted the bitterness of his betrayal on her tongue. Before her name was dry on the marriage license, Derek, who had sworn he was not at all interested in Jenna’s inheritance, had begun flashing her credit cards, living the high life and leaving her at home when she refused to play along.

“Here we go, Jenna.” Crystal reappeared to pop open the back door and installed the car seat in short order. She held out her arms. “Give me the princess.”

Jenna complied, happiness replacing the gloom. She wasn’t alone anymore.

As the nurse settled the baby and strapped her in, Jenna watched, learning. She wasn’t stupid. She was just inexperienced.

“All set.” Crystal slammed the back door. Sophie’s little arms jerked upward but before Jenna could rush to soothe her, she’d resettled.

“Thank you for everything, Crystal.” Jenna slid behind the wheel, uncertainty overtaking her again. What now?

“You are as welcome as summer.” Crystal, holding the driver’s door open, leaned in, her dark eyes soft with concern. “Honey, are you going to be all by yourself with this new baby? Do you have anyone to help you?”

“Oh, certainly, I’ll have plenty of—” Jenna lifted a hand to wave off the suggestion that she had no one and then let the hand fall against the warm steering column.

“No,” she admitted, suddenly needing to talk to this young woman who was kindness personified. “My husband died. I’m alone, looking for a place to start fresh. I thought Sophie and I would be happier somewhere new, away from the memories.” She gave a pathetic little laugh. “So here we are.”

That much was absolutely true.

Crystal draped an arm over the top of the car door, all her weight on one hip. “So that explains it. I knew something was not right, but bless your heart, all alone. That’s awful.”

The woman’s compassion was almost Jenna’s undoing. She fought back a wave of self-pity, and then, angry at herself, she refused to acknowledge the emotion. She’d chosen this route even if things hadn’t gone quite as smoothly as she’d planned. Starting fresh was the best thing for Sophie, no matter how difficult the first few weeks might be. She could do this. She wanted to do this. For her baby girl and even for herself. Alone was better than lonely and utterly dependent, with your life mapped out before you were out of diapers. Now that she had Sophie, she would never be lonely again.

Stiffening her spine, she said, “Can you direct me to a hotel?”

After a moment’s consideration, Crystal took a scrap of paper from her uniform pocket and scribbled on it. “There’s a little B and B over on Second Street, not fancy but decent and clean. Terri Wallace runs it. We graduated high school together. Nice gal. Tell her I sent you. I put my phone number on there, too. Call me if I can do anything. Or just to talk. I can always use a new friend.”

A friend. Crystal couldn’t begin to comprehend how much the offer heartened Jenna.

“Could I ask one more favor?”

“Name it.”

“I need a job.” She swallowed her pride and said the rest. “In a hurry. Do you have any suggestions?”

The darkly pretty face twisted in thought. “Can’t think of anything right off.”

Jenna’s hopes fell. She pressed her lips together in dismay. Maybe Saddleback wasn’t the right town. Maybe she should drive on to Austin or even on to Los Angeles, where she and Sophie could get lost in the masses. But she was too tired and shaky from childbirth to drive that far today.

“Listen,” Crystal was saying. “The county employment office is located here in Saddleback. It might be worth a try.” She rattled off an address. “In a few days, when you’re feeling rested, just drive down Main Street. When you see the boot store—you can’t miss it, there’s an enormous sign out front shaped like a big red cowboy boot—the employment office is right across the street. Shirley McDougal runs the place. Sweet as pie. She knows everyone and everything in Saddleback. Go talk to her. Tell her I sent you.”

“I don’t know how I’ll ever repay your generosity.”

Crystal patted her shoulder. “Just take care of Princess Sophie and give me a call when you get settled. We’ll have lunch or something.”

Still stunned by the kindness of strangers in this Texas town, Jenna could only nod, fighting back the tears that suddenly clogged her throat.

Crystal stepped back from the car, lifting a hand to wave as Jenna slammed the door, cranked the engine and pulled out of the Saddleback Hospital parking lot.

CHAPTER FOUR

TEN DAYS LATER, Jenna knew she’d recuperated as long as her limited finances would allow. Twice during that time, Crystal Wolf had stopped by the B and B, spreading her brand of Texas hospitality, but Jenna had been afraid to tell her new friend just how desperate things were becoming.

After a sleepless night of baby care and worry, Jenna now stared at a pile of unfamiliar forms at the county employment agency while the woman named Shirley cooed and hummed to Sophie. From the moment she’d started the paperwork, Jenna had been stumped. About the only thing she could fill out easily was her name. She’d finally scribbled the address of the Red Rose Bed-and-Breakfast as her residence, but she had nothing to put in the experience and reference forms.

“What kind of work are you looking for, Jenna, sugar?” Shirley asked, never looking up from Sophie’s sleeping face.

“I’m not at all particular, but I would like to secure a position where I could keep my baby with me.”

“Hmm. Well, that leaves out the fast-food places. I send a lot of folks to them. The junior high is always looking for substitutes, though you’d have to leave this precious one with a sitter.” She glanced up, brows drawing together over her black plastic glasses. “Don’t suppose you have a degree in education or computers?”

Jenna shook her head, hopes tumbling. “No.”

She’d spent one semester at Brown University under the watchful eyes of her grandparents. Unfortunately, neither they nor her ever-present bodyguards were as watchful as her mother would have liked. She’d met Derek there. Heads had rolled but Mother’s fury had come too late.

“How about the medical field? There’s always a need for that. Nurses, paramedics, lab techs…”

Again Jenna shook her head. An overprotected heiress was a useless human being.

Shirley studied her beneath thick blond bangs. “Do you have any training? Any experience at all?”

Jenna’s hopes fell even further as she bowed her head to the application and didn’t answer. She could plan a dinner party for fifty, direct servants and organize a charity auction; none of those skills appeared all that useful in Saddleback, Texas.

Even if no one recognized her here, she might have to move on. Yet, Saddleback’s friendliness and easy pace drew her. She wanted to remain in this remote place where her daughter had been born and where people treated her as just another person.

Shirley pushed her glasses up with one finger. “You don’t seem the type, but would you mind doing domestic work? We get a few calls for that.”

Domestics? As in a maid? Or a cook?

An idea popped into her head. She and Mother had taken a gourmet cooking class from a well-known chef. She’d loved it.

“Could I possibly keep Sophie with me?”

“That would be up to your employer, but I think most people would be all right with a little one around as long as you did the work.”

“Then,” Jenna said, suddenly thrilled at the idea, “I am a fabulous chef and quite amenable to domestics.”

Surely, cleaning a house couldn’t be that difficult. She’d watched the maids dozens of times.

Shirley grinned. “My dear girl, I think I may have something for you. A family outside of town needs a cook and general housekeeper. Want to check it out?”

A renewed zip of energy had Jenna sitting up straighter. “Absolutely.”

The woman returned a still-sleeping Sophie to Jenna’s arms and then riffled through a set of files, pulling out a card.

“Here you go,” she said, handing the information to Jenna. “I’ll call and let him know you’re coming for an interview.”

Jenna was beyond delighted, though admittedly a bit nervous as she gripped the index card in her fingers. This was her opportunity to start life all over again, to make a life for herself and Sophie, to finally be her own person.

With held breath, she glanced at the name and address of her prospective employer.

The information she read froze the smile on her lips.

Southpaw Cattle Company. Dax Coleman.

Dax slammed the telephone receiver down, then looked around the living room to be sure no one was listening before letting out a curse.

Last night, he’d dreamed of the little mama and her baby. Again. Then he’d lain awake, staring up at the dark ceiling as he listened to a north wind rattle the trees outside and wondered if the fragile pair was all right.

They haunted him. He couldn’t get them out of his head, a fact that infuriated him.

Now a phone call to the hospital told him exactly nothing. What had he expected? The day he’d visited her, he hadn’t even thought to ask her name. He’d just asked for the mother and baby he’d brought into the emergency room. How stupid was that? All the receptionist would tell him was that mother and baby had been discharged, but unless Dax was next of kin, and she knew danged well he wasn’t, no other information could be shared.

A distant relative of Reba’s, the hateful old biddy had never liked him anyway. She’d enjoyed putting him in his place.

“Fine,” he said to absolutely no one. The little mama and her baby were gone. They were all right. He could forget them. They were not his responsibility. He had enough of that to choke a horse already. End of topic.

No use fretting over a baby girl he’d never see again when he had his own problems to contend with. Shirley down at the employment office was sending him a new recruit this morning.

He laughed, a mocking sound. Good old Shirley had warned him she was sick and tired of finding him housekeepers only to have him run them off with his cranky-butted attitude. Her words. Cranky-butted. He could almost see her shaking her finger in his face.

He’d laughed when she’d said it. Now he wondered. Was he cranky-butted? Was he a bitter man with a bad attitude? Was that why Reba had walked out, leaving behind a new baby, a husband who’d adored her and an easy life?

He kicked a chair leg. Reba and her betrayal was not allowed in this house.

Dax snatched up the two empty glasses and a corn dog wrapper from the coffee table, toting them to the big, silver, step-levered trash can in the kitchen. Silly to feel nervous about interviewing a prospective housekeeper, but he needed to get this woman on board right away. Rushing home to meet Gavin’s school bus each evening took a bite out of his productivity.

He trailed back through the living room, wiping a shirtsleeve over the fireplace mantel then grimaced to discover his shirt was now covered in dust. He batted at it and sneezed when the dust flew upward, dancing in the overhead light.

The doorbell chimed.

As he strode across the carpet toward the foyer, he noticed two of Gavin’s miniature cars and a sock sticking out from under the couch—along with a dust bunny the size of a jack rabbit.

He gave up. He was a rancher. This was why he hired housekeepers.

With a final slap at his dusty shirtsleeve Dax yanked the front door open. His mouth also fell open as he looked down into a familiar face. A very young, slender and decidedly pretty face.

Blast it.

What the devil was the little mama doing on his porch? Please, please. Surely not to apply for the housekeeper position.

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