Rancher's Perfect Baby Rescue

Nathan ran his hands through his hair. “Hell. Why can’t you sew her up? You take care of the rest of us and our little cuts and bumps on the ranch just fine.”

“Nothing I’ve tried has helped the baby. She needs a doctor.”

“Who’re we gonna call?” He sounded frustrated, and his voice was growing louder. “Old Doc Jones quit making rounds through Cold Plains a year ago. And don’t say you’ll call one of those Devotee people to come out. Not on this ranch.”

Susannah’s whole body grew tense. “No, please. No doctors.”

Maria came over and bent to smooth a hand over her hair. “There’s a new man, sugar. Just came to town a while back. Don’t know it for a fact, but local people claim he doesn’t belong to the group. He’s supposed to be a good doctor without ties to them. Or at least he don’t spout that crud like the rest. I think we need to try. For Melody’s sake.”

She wasn’t thrilled to hear Maria bad-mouthing the Devotees’ philosophy. What was so wrong with becoming a great new person? But the idea that her daughter needed medical attention was the central most important thing to her right now.

Looking to Nathan, Susannah pleaded, “Please help my baby. I know you won’t let any of the Devotees take her from me. But Melody needs a doctor. We have to call this new man now.”

“I’ll call. But afterward, you remember what I said.”

“Of course. We’ll leave as soon as Melody can travel.”

“The child shouldn’t travel for at least ten days.”

“What?” Nathan barked at the doctor. “Why not?”

Before he’d called the man, Nathan had dialed up May Frommer for a recommendation on the doc and also for a brief discussion of his current uninvited guests. May had said it was still up in the air as to whether Dr. Rafe Black was secretly a Devotee or not, but her best guess was he was not. And then she went on and on about how Nathan should be gentle with Susannah and the child—as if he was ever too rough on any woman. He simply wanted her gone.

“The baby seems lethargic because she’s dehydrated,” Dr. Black answered and brought him back to the moment. “I’ve given her electrolytes, but this kind of thing takes a toll on infants. Babies take cues from their mothers. In this case, the mother is anxious and exhausted, so the baby is, too. Stress can kill a child that small.”

Hell, he was no ogre. He couldn’t throw them out now.

“Have you treated the mother yet?” He wondered what Susannah would have to say about the doctor’s orders. “Have you talked to her?”

“Not yet.” The doctor picked up the second case he’d brought into the house and looked ready to go back into the bedroom.

But he turned first and asked a question of his own. “Is this woman a Devotee? She looks familiar, like I’ve seen her in town. But Devotees don’t often come to me.”

“She was a Devotee for a few months. Having the baby seems to have changed all that.” Nathan hoped to hell that what he just claimed would turn out to be the truth.

He had no intention of having a practicing Devotee on his ranch, in his house, in his damned bed.

“But she lived in Cold Plains during the past six months?”

It was an odd way of putting the question, but Nathan nodded his head.

“Very well. I’ll go back to treat her now. Your housekeeper tells me her name is Susannah and that she has a few cuts that qualify for suturing. I’ll check them out.”

Nathan let him go and then headed off to find Maria.

He didn’t have to search long. He found her where she was most of the time: in the kitchen.

“Looks like you’re going to have houseguests for the next couple of weeks,” he told her. “Hope you’re ready.”

“The doctor says they have to stay? Good. We’ll handle it. I’ll fix you up a spot in one of the guest rooms.”

Damn. “Why can’t they move to a guest room?”

“Rooms are too small and there isn’t one that’s connected to a bath. This won’t be forever. Don’t whine about it.”

Gritting his teeth, Nathan got his temper back under control. “What did you think of Rafe Black? The way he talked to me about the Devotees, I got the distinct impression that he wasn’t one of them.”

“Naw. He’s no Devotee. He don’t stink like they do.”

That made Nathan chuckle. All right, so he was stuck with Susannah and the kid for a couple of weeks. He’d make the best of it. For quite a while now, he’d been wondering if it was possible to deprogram a Devotee. Actually, he guessed what he would be doing in this case was called exit counseling since Susannah left of her own free will. Once, before circumstances made him give up the idea, he’d been sure he could accomplish the steps necessary.

This might be a good time to find out for sure.

“There’s only one wound I see that might need a couple of sutures. But it’s probably been too long to keep it from scarring.” The doctor spoke softly to Susannah even though Maria had taken the baby into the kitchen.

“Which wound? Where is it?”

“On the back of your arm. It won’t show unless you wear sleeveless blouses or bathing suits.” He opened his bag and took out the necessary equipment. “I’ll make a couple of quick sutures to be sure it heals without any trouble.”

“Thank you.” She bit the inside of her cheek and waited for him to numb the area.

While he worked, Dr. Black said, “Haven’t I seen you around Cold Plains? Have you lived there long?”

Was he asking her because he was a Devotee or because he wanted a new patient?

“I lived there for a while. But I’m leaving town tonight. Why?” She held her breath, waiting for his answer.

“Afraid you can’t leave the ranch just yet. As I told Mr. Pierce, the baby needs at least ten days’ rest and regular feedings before you two can travel.”

“You told him that? What did he have to say?”

The doctor’s eyebrows went up. “He didn’t seem pleased, but he agreed.”

Well, that was a relief. However, if the two of them were staying on the ranch, she would have to find some way of getting around Nathan. They couldn’t conduct World War III between them for the next couple of weeks. It wouldn’t be good for Melody.

“I’ll give you instructions before I leave.” Dr. Black finished working on her, and whatever he’d done hardly hurt at all.

But as he put his things away, he seemed to have more to add. Was there something very wrong with the baby that he hadn’t told her?

“Could I ask a favor?” he asked softly.

“I guess so. What is it?” This was an odd way for a doctor to start a conversation, but she waited to hear the favor.

“While you were living in Cold Plains, did you happen to meet a woman named Abby Michaels? She was a new teacher’s aide at the day care center. She disappeared from town a while back, and I’m trying to find out if she had a baby with her.”

“The name kind of rings a bell.” Susannah had been told by the Devotees that she was to become the new teacher’s aide at the day care center after Melody’s birth. Guess they would need to find someone else now. “But sorry. I didn’t know her. And I never heard anything about a baby.”

A sad look crossed the doctor’s face for a second. “Well, thanks anyway for trying. You can put on your shirt while I jot out a couple of prescriptions.”

Out of the blue it occurred to her that this man was definitely not one of the Devotees. But wasn’t it strange that any doctor would come to Cold Plains without intending to join the group?

Still … “Um, can I ask a favor now?”

“Yes.” He looked over warily.

“I don’t want the Devotees to know I’m here. I would prefer that they think the baby and I have already left town. Is there any other way besides writing prescriptions with our names on them?”

He gave her another wary look, and then his features relaxed. “I have samples of the necessary medications in my office in town. If the ranch can send someone for them, I’d be happy to offer what you need.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, she nodded. Then she filed the info about him being so helpful away in her mind—just in case Melody might need more of his help.

“Would you like to go for a walk?” Nathan had waited until the baby was napping and Maria had time to sit with the little girl. “It’s been a couple of days since you came to the ranch, and I thought you’d like to look around. Maria can keep an eye on Melody for a while.”

Since the doctor had issued his orders yesterday afternoon and finished up with his patients, Nathan hadn’t seen much of Susannah. She’d slept for almost twenty-four hours straight, and Maria delivered her meals on a tray.

But Nathan had stayed busy, studying his books and manuals on how to best manage exit counseling for ex-cult members. He just wished she had other family members whom she already trusted. The process of exit counseling depended entirely on establishing a reasonable and respectful level of communication with the ex-cult member.

The two of them had hardly gotten off to a reasonable and respectful start. But he would try. He thought she was worth the effort, and the baby deserved a whole mother who could think clearly.

“I’d enjoy a little walk. I’ve always wondered what a working ranch would be like.”

“Get your coat.” He waited at the bedroom door as she pulled on her tattered jacket.

He stared at the patched coat. Obviously, she needed a few decent things to wear. But she’d been ordered not to leave the ranch to go shopping. Nathan supposed they could order clothes off the internet, but that would still leave a few days for shipping. He came to the conclusion his original idea for gaining her trust might prove to be the perfect trick for solving both problems.

“Most of the work on the ranch happens well before dawn,” he told her as they moved through the house toward the kitchen door. “Not too much going on late in the afternoon. But you’ll probably get a glimpse of the stock as they settle for the night.”

She nodded as he opened the door and escorted her out into the sunshine.

“There’s also a couple of important people you haven’t had a chance to meet yet, and I thought now might be a good time.”

“Oh? Who are they?”

He slid her arm through his as they strolled out into the yard. “That’s a long story. Mind if I talk while we walk?”

“Not at all. But we’ll have to take it slow, I’m afraid. I didn’t realize how weak I’d be.”

Turning to her, he tried to keep his voice calm and reassuring. “Are you sure you feel well enough to walk?”

Her facial expression suddenly drew down in a frown. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin your walk. I can try harder. Or you can take me back so you can go alone. I’m really sorry.”

There, that was the first sure sign of cult programming. He’d just finished reading about the typical signs: anxiety, paranoia and constant fear of not pleasing the person in charge.

But why was this particular former cult member affecting him differently? Why was the idea of giving her counseling and trying to help her overcome her issues becoming so important to him? All he knew for sure was that seeing her weak and trembling, and knowing she had no one to trust, gave him an ache deep in his chest the likes of which he had never felt before.

Certainly he had a few trust issues of his own, but he felt positive he could get past them long enough to help her open up. He might not trust her completely, and he’d found himself fighting his base impulses where she was concerned. Impulses such as the way his heart thundered whenever her eyes welled up—or the way his gut clenched each time they touched. But his every instinct told him she would be worth all the effort.

He unwound their arms and then placed his arm around her shoulders to hold her upright. “You’re the reason for the walk. When you get too tired, just let me know. All we’ll do today is stroll to the fence to see the cattle and then back to the house for a short visit. Okay?”

“I’m sure I can make that. And I want to hear your story. What’s it about?”

“Um … me, I guess. Or rather, about the ranch and my family.”

“Oh, good. Go on.”

“See, it was my granddaddy who first came to this land as a young man. He built the ranch from a few acres into the place it is now. But when his daughter, my mama, died young, he tried his best to give the rest of us a deep love of the land and the animals.”

Susannah looked thoughtful, and he knew she was hearing between the words. Good. At least she was still capable of analyzing situations. Maybe her cult training hadn’t had time to completely overpower her mind.

“Granddaddy’s lesson took with me. I love everything about the land and the place and wouldn’t want to ever live anywhere else. But I can’t say as much for my siblings or my father.”

“Is that who we’re going to meet? The rest of your family?”

“Sort of. My father is still out of town on a buying trip, and my brother may or may not turn up for supper tonight. He has his own interests. And my little sister …”

Nathan tried to find a way to phrase this properly. “Well, Tara never did care much for the ranch. She was always a little wild. And she became lots worse after Mama died. When she was nineteen, she had a baby and didn’t know who out of her many lovers should be named the father.”

“Oh.” Susannah’s expression seemed to say she might be sympathizing with the woman she’d never meet.

“I don’t think Tara tried all that hard to figure it out, frankly. She was happy letting Maria and her older brothers take charge of her baby’s welfare.”

“Lucky she had family to count on.”

Interesting comment. Didn’t she ever have family to count on?

“Yeah, I’ll say,” he agreed. “You see, her little girl was diagnosed with autism when she was only two years old. Not three weeks went by after that before Tara hooked up with a new fellow. They left on the back of his motorcycle in the middle of the night. A few months later, we were notified she’d been killed in a motorcycle accident.”

“Goodness. What happened to the baby?”

“That’s who we’ll be meeting. My niece, Sara. I’m her legal guardian. She’s a wonderful little girl but needs a lot of help. I give her as much time as I can, and we’ve hired a woman who works with her and lives in her quarters.”

A dark cloud crossed over Susannah’s eyes, and she got a glassy look. “I’m not … I don’t know if …”

Ah, hell. He hadn’t given any consideration to the idea that meeting a child with special needs might make her worry about her own daughter’s future. But he felt sure that was the fear he was seeing in her eyes.

What an idiot he was. He’d hoped to add to her trust by showing her how well loved and taken care of Sara was.

But how could he have hoped she would trust him about this when she obviously didn’t trust him enough to tell him the whole truth about her background? Trust took time. He got that. But saving her was too important to give up.

“Trust me, Susannah. It’ll be fine. You’ll see.”

“I want to trust you. Really, I do.” Her face was a mask of indecision. Then she said, “I’m glad you told me about your sister. I have something to tell you, too. I wasn’t completely honest when I said my ex-boyfriend, Melody’s biological father, was a traveling salesman.”

He felt his jaw tighten but he couldn’t help it.

“Uh, well, he did travel.” Susannah’s eyes grew large as she watched his reactions carefully. “And he was selling stuff. But the stuff he sold was drugs. He told me he was a wholesale dealer.”

Nathan took half a step back. He should’ve known there was more to her story. He’d been right not to trust her completely.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole story before,” she added quickly. “I just didn’t think we’d be staying on the ranch long enough for it to matter. And I never got involved in his business. Really. I never saw him take the drugs, either. He could’ve been selling anything for all the difference it made in our lives.”

It was easy to see how sorry she was about lying. And the longer he stayed silent, the more her eyes welled up again. Ah, hell.

“It’s okay,” he finally managed, and was surprised to find he meant it. “I believe you weren’t involved in his business. And that maybe your relationship had just been a bad choice. Let’s put it behind us and go on from here. I still want to help you, and I still want you to meet my niece. Okay?”

She nodded and blinked her eyes a couple of times. She looked so vulnerable and afraid that his gut turned over again. Apparently, she still hadn’t told him the whole truth. But whatever this new little untruth was would have to wait.

Jeez. Why he was so determined to help her was still a mystery. But, by heaven, he vowed she would be free of her cult programming before she and her child had to leave the ranch for good.

Maybe helping her would make a good start to easing his guilt over the death of his ex-wife. And a start, but by no means the end, of what he intended to do in the memory of all the women who’d been taken in by that slippery con man Samuel Grayson.

Chapter 4

Trembling, Susannah followed Nathan down a winding path ringed with rosebushes. Had she done the right thing by telling Nathan about Melody’s father? She’d almost confessed the whole ugly truth of her past. But the look on his face when she’d told him about the drugs made her hold back.

Luckily, he’d seemed to overcome his shock about her confession fairly quickly. The rest of the past would have to stay buried. It wasn’t that she thought he would force her to leave if she told him. She trusted him not to rub it in her face. Somehow she knew he wasn’t that kind of man.

Still, what good would it do to blurt out everything? She and Melody would not be staying on the ranch for good. It was impossible. So why take the chance of upsetting him for no reason?

He was a beautiful, honorable man. She had lots of feelings about him. Some just as honorable, some not so much. And she had no intention of ruining whatever temporary relationship they could have by shoving unnecessarily hurtful truths about her past in his face.

They were making their way to what appeared to be a new wing. Low slung and cozy, the construction made it look more like a cottage rather than part of the ranch house itself.

She set her shoulders, not at all sure she was ready to meet a special-needs child. But then, she didn’t know what to expect. All she knew was that the Devotees would not be happy knowing such a girl lived in close proximity to their perfect world.

The more she’d been thinking about the Devotees’ stance against any imperfections, the more uneasy she’d become. How dare the Devotees shun people who weren’t like them? Surely Samuel couldn’t know about this way of thinking.

And what about the rumor of their selling imperfect babies? To whom? And for what? The very idea gave her the chills.

“Here we are.” Nathan stood on the stoop with one hand on the doorknob. “Kathryn wants to meet you, too. She’s offered a few things for you to wear if the two of you are the same size. You’re not too tired?”

Before coming here they’d only gone a little ways past the yard and around the barns out to the nearest wooden fence. From there, in the distance she’d seen a field full of reddish-colored cattle, milling about in tall grasses and making soft noises. It’d been interesting, especially when Nathan told her how much work it took to raise a herd in Wyoming winters.

But now he was waiting for an answer to his question. “I’m okay.” She wanted to do this to please him.

In the sunshine, for the first time since she’d come to the ranch, she was able to breathe deep. With Nathan standing beside her, she’d felt really safe for the first time in weeks.

As he’d talked about the cattle, she’d casually glanced over at him. The sun had hit him just right, and glints of gold bounced along his body like spotlights. The sudden rush of sensual awareness caught her by surprise.

She had no business checking him out like that. Closing her mouth, she tried to concentrate on what he was saying.

But heaven knew he had a body that could make any woman weep. Tall and lanky, his arm muscles bunched under the long-sleeved shirt. Here was a man who worked hard outdoors and came by his muscles naturally. She’d never met anyone quite that rugged before. Her fingertips longed to run along the plains of his well-honed body.

Still, she fought the unwanted urges and chided herself for even thinking such things about a man who temporarily had control of both her and her child’s well-being. And in addition to that one very important fact, she was also a brand-new mother with an infant and not a woman on the prowl for a man.

Nathan’s only reason for being nice to her had to be Melody. She felt sure of it. He’d taken them in and agreed they could stay because he was a decent person who couldn’t turn away a sick newborn. Susannah had done nothing but give him trouble thus far.

So, if he wanted her to meet his niece, then she would do it despite her reservations.

He pulled off his Stetson and led her inside the house to a small living room, like something out of an ancient TV sitcom set back in the fifties. “Kathryn? We’re here.” He ran the rim of the Stetson through his fingers and waited for acknowledgment.

“Come on back.” A pleasant female voice came from somewhere unseen. “We’re just finishing afternoon floor time.”

Nathan motioned for her to go ahead through a set of double doors. On the other side, she found another great old-school-style room with little girls’ toys spread all over the floor. And in the middle of the mess sat a pretty little girl of six or seven with long blond hair.

The girl didn’t turn when they came through the door. In fact, she didn’t acknowledge their presence at all.

Not so was the case of the woman with her. The nice-looking woman of about forty was getting to her feet, smiling at Nathan as they came closer.

“Glad you could stop by this afternoon before she gets too tired. Sara’s made a couple of emotional connections today, and I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.” Then the woman turned to Susannah and stuck a hand out. “Hi. You must be Susannah. I’m Kathryn Robards, and this is Sara Pierce.”

“Good to meet you.” Susannah took Kathryn’s hand but noticed the little girl did not even turn at the mention of her name.

Was this child mad that a stranger had come to visit?

Nathan dropped his hat on a nearby table. Then he folded all of his six-two or six-three body up and sat on the floor directly in front of the child.

“Hi, Sara. What are you playing with today?” He picked up a nearby doll and brought it up to his face. “This little princess? She’s one of your favorites, isn’t she? Want to play?”

Sara looked up at Nathan, and her eyes widened. She reached for the doll, still not smiling, but more animated than she’d been since they’d come into the room.

“Uncle Nat-ton. Jasmine, p … please.”

Nathan chuckled and handed her the doll. For a few minutes, he spoke softly to her about the toy. His voice stayed low and slow. But his face spoke volumes about how well he loved this child.

“Do you know much about autism, Susannah?” Kathryn spoke in a quiet tone while Nathan and Sara continued talking and playing on the floor.

“Nothing. She doesn’t look physically injured or ill in any way.”

“No, many autistic kids seem like perfect children on the outside, though unfortunately Sara is one who has gone through her share of physical challenges. But we’ve got most of those managed now. You might not know, but it’s a fact that some autistic children have high functioning intelligence. We think Sara may well be one of them. However, everything is all locked up inside her head. Nathan hired me a couple years ago as her companion and to work with her on ways to expand her abilities.”

“Does she go to school?”

“No, not yet. But we’re hopeful that someday she will. Would you like to talk to her?”