Colton Family Showdown Read online

  “You’re great at talking. I’ve seen videos of your lectures.”

  “I can talk horses and genetics until people pass out from boredom. People themselves, small talk and all the rest of it, I’d rather avoid,” he confessed.

  “Wow.” She blinked several times. “That’s... Wow.”

  He decided he didn’t want any clarification on the “wow.” “I’m overtired and overwhelmed.” He took a deep breath. “Like I said, don’t worry about the budget. Let’s just get in there, do what needs done and get back to the ranch.”

  She straightened her shoulders so abruptly he thought she might give him a salute. “Count on me.”

  He carried Baby John in the car seat, hoping that would make it easier for her to gather what she deemed necessary for baby care. He sure didn’t know the difference between one type of bottle and another or the benefit of zipper pajamas over the ones with a thousand snaps.

  The last time he’d been this close to baby gear was when his sister had been expecting. For Wyatt and Bailey, he’d shopped online and had the gift and a gift card delivered to their house. He’d never thought he’d be bringing baby gear into his home.

  He followed Kelsey through the store section by section as she added items to the cart. This wasn’t at all how he’d shop for a baby, given the choice. This wasn’t how he’d do anything, actually. He preferred to research, skim consumer reviews and dig deep into product testing and results. After several minutes of watching her, he realized she wasn’t just shopping according to her list. She seemed to be mentally going through her anticipation of Baby John’s day. She chose more bottles, similar to what had been dropped off with him. She found diapers in his size and picked up a box of the next size up. They had a quick debate about the convenience and necessity of a changing table. He finally agreed because it looked like the shelves would be a good place to stow the baby’s supplies.

  Cruising through the bedding options, she turned to him. “I don’t think you should invest in a real crib and he’s too big for a cradle.”

  “You want to keep him in the hay bin?”

  “No.” She drew out the word and then her rosy lips pursed. “I’m thinking one of these things.”

  He belatedly realized they were standing in front of a display of portable cribs that boasted all sorts of features and colors. He wanted to cover his eyes or run away.

  “It’s safe, removes the hassle of assembling a real crib and we can take it to and from the office. Also saves you money and a potential fight later.”

  “Fight?” What the hell was she talking about?

  “Well, the safe bet is that someday your wife will want to decorate a nursery without hand-me-downs.”

  “I’m not married.” Wives typically expected children and he had no intention of taking that leap.

  Kelsey cocked her head. “Not now. I just...”

  He latched onto the more immediate concern of having the baby in the office. “Get two,” he said brusquely. “One for the nursery and one for the office. We’ll get tired of packing up that thing and hauling it up and down the stairs.”

  Her lips parted and closed. “Okay. Do you have a color preference?”

  “Lady’s choice.”

  “All right.”

  As she turned around to study the options, he studied the mass of glossy, rose-gold hair that was twisted into a bun and secured just above the column of her neck. Her skin reminded him of sweet cream. He yanked his gaze back to the chubby-cheeked baby.

  Kelsey chose two sales tags from the display and moved on without another word. Surely they had enough by now. He was wrong. She paused in an aisle filled with bright colors and happy babies pictured in and around various bath seats. What fresh hell would he be asked about now?

  To his immense relief, she made her choice without quizzing him. She selected towels and washcloths, soap and lotion. He saw a hooded towel with a goofy horse face and added it to the cart. She didn’t notice.

  “Do you have a rocking chair?” she asked as they walked by a row of over twenty rockers in various colors and fabrics and styles.

  “If you count the one on the porch,” he said. “I can clean it up for you.”

  “That works. Thanks.”

  He noticed the way her hand lovingly caressed a glider with simple curves in a clear, walnut stain. It reminded him of an antique bentwood rocker, despite the bold daisy-print cushions.

  “Bailey obsessed about the rocker in her nursery,” he said. He spotted a glossy white finish with a jungle-print fabric. “I think that’s the one she chose.”

  Kelsey reached over and tucked the baby’s pacifier back into his mouth. “Bailey?”

  “My sister-in-law,” Fox said. “She delivered their son two days ago. Hudson Earl Colton.”

  “A stately name.” Kelsey smiled up at him.

  He hadn’t thought of it that way before. “It is. Earl is in honor of our grandfather.”

  She nodded, her gaze clouding over before she looked away. “Most moms spend hours in these.”

  “Not nannies?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

  “Depends on the client,” she said. “And the age of the child.” She moved on, apparently unconcerned about rocking chairs now that she knew he had one.

  Fox plucked the tag from the rocker she’d admired and followed in her wake. At last they seemed to be done, just as the baby started fussing.

  “You’ve got this?” Kelsey asked, lifting the baby from the seat.

  He nodded, and she carried the baby and the diaper bag away. He worked with the checkout clerk, somehow surviving the constant stream of happy chatter. “These too,” he said, handing over the tags for the portable cribs, a changing table and the rocking chair.

  “One for Grandma’s house, right? That’s smart.”

  He didn’t bother to correct her. “Thanks.” His parents were long dead and he’d never thought of Mara as grandma material, though she happily doted on the grandchildren she had.

  His eyes nearly crossed when the register displayed the final total as he pulled the credit card from his wallet.

  “The guys in the warehouse will pull the big items for you. What cushions did you want for the rocker?”

  He stared at her, having no idea how to answer.

  “It’s included in the price.”

  “Right.” He looked around, but Kelsey and the baby weren’t in sight. “I guess something basic.”

  Clearly this wasn’t her first time with an overwhelmed shopper. “Here.” She smacked down a binder full of fabric swatches and flipped open the cover. “Basics are these.”

  None of the fabrics looked basic, but he found what he considered neutral in shades of brown with flecks of forest green. “This one is fine.”

  “You got it.” She finished the sale and handed him his receipt. “Just pull around to the side of the building and they’ll get those large pieces loaded for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  He took the cart out to the truck and stashed the bags next to Kelsey’s solitary suitcase. She was only a couple years younger than him. His patience with dorms and short-term housing assignments had run out in his early twenties. How had she put up with the nomadic lifestyle for so long?

  Of course he was able to buy acreage and had the space and support to build a business thanks to Wyatt. Fox knew he was lucky. Time and again he’d landed on his feet after one of life’s ugly curveballs.

  Locking the tailgate, he returned the cart to the corral in front of the store.

  “Fox!” Kelsey stepped out, her arms full of the baby and her cheeks pink as she rushed across the parking lot. “I tried to hurry. Have you been waiting long?”

  “Not at all,” he said. Up close, he could see her eyes were damp, as if she was holding back tears. “You’re upset. Did something happen?”
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  “No.” She took a big breath and let it out in a rush. “No. I just—” Her smile wobbled. “I just got myself worked up. It wasn’t my intention to keep you waiting. I know you have other things to do besides outfit a nursery.”

  “I really don’t.” She seemed to need the reassurance. “The breeding is done so it’s just basic care and monitoring right now. The only thing I’d call pressing is finding this little guy’s family.” He took the baby from her arms and buckled him into the car seat. The process went smoother this time. Maybe there was hope for him after all.

  When they were ready, he drove around to the loading dock. “Wait here,” he said. He got out and double-checked the items as the warehouse team loaded the big items into the truck bed. He wondered what had set her off. They were hardly more than acquaintances and yet he couldn’t leave it alone.

  “Did you really think I’d leave you behind?” he asked when he settled behind the wheel again.

  “You? No. Not really.” She looked at everything except him. “This really is a nice town,” she said. “You’ve lived here all your life?”

  He ignored her attempt to distract him. “But it’s happened,” he pressed, unwilling to let this go.

  She sighed. “It has. More than once,” she confessed in a small whisper.

  “Care to elaborate?”

  “It’s silly, but it turned into a silly fear.”

  Now he had to know. “Tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.”

  At last she turned his way. “Seriously?”

  He nodded once. “As serious as a baby on a doorstep.” The comeback made her giggle and relax into her seat. He felt like a conquering hero. “So tell me.”

  “I was probably seven or eight the first time. We’d gone to town for supplies and I wandered off, consumed by reading every label on every product. My mother says she called me back to the cart and I refused to obey.”

  Her parents had left her behind for being a kid? It was all he could do not to ask for names and addresses. Which was an outrageous response to an old hurt he couldn’t fix. “You must have been terrified.”

  “Yes, I was. I still remember the colors and words first and then the fear. But in my family, disobedience was dealt with swiftly.”

  “Harshly, too?” he queried. His face heated, recalling the weight behind his father’s strikes.

  “On occasion, yes. My dad never struck me. He made Mom do it.”

  Fox swallowed. Not his place to judge her parents, and he had his own demons.

  “In any event, I didn’t lose track of my parents, or time, again.”

  “Then who else left you?”

  “Once in high school a few of us missed our bus. At least I wasn’t alone that time.”

  She was an adult, caring for a child in his protection. There was only one reason he could think of that she’d freak out this time. “You’ve had an employer leave you stranded.”

  “Yes.”

  He curled his fingers around the steering wheel, wishing there was a way to alleviate the pain haunting that single syllable. “I won’t do that,” he began. “Well, the odds are low anyway.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Not proud of it, but I actually did the stranding a time or two with my brothers. Got caught up in whatever puzzle was in my head and left them behind to go solve it.”

  She laughed and the carefree sound put an extra glow in the sunny day. “That’s not the same thing at all.”

  “You’ll never convince my brothers. I was the one with the vehicle both times.”

  “Well, consider me warned,” she said. “I won’t go out with you when you’re in problem-solving mode.”

  Then they’d never go out at all. He wasn’t great at turning off his mind. Of course she wasn’t here to date him. She was here for the horses and the baby. And at the moment, the only puzzle that mattered was finding Baby John’s father.

  Once they got the nursery put together, he would have to go talk with his brothers. He’d rather walk over hot coals than ask if they had been out fathering children, but it had to be done. Baby John Doe could not stay with him indefinitely.

  Chapter 4

  Kelsey listened attentively as Fox pointed out various landmarks around Roaring Springs. Behind them, the baby babbled and gurgled happily in his car seat. Though she believed Fox’s claim that he wasn’t the father, she couldn’t help noting how much he generally enjoyed the little guy.

  They drove by the garage Fox had called to pick up her car and she was surprised to see it was already unloaded. How long had they been in the baby store? “Your friends work fast,” she said. It was a tremendous relief that this time she wouldn’t be worried about how to cover the repair costs. “The Colton name does indeed make a difference.”

  She’d never experienced that kind of attentiveness on reputation alone, primarily, because she’d done her best to blend in and fly under the radar after leaving home. Standing out was akin to posting a neon sign of her whereabouts to her brothers, and while she wanted to earn recognition in her field, ultimately she couldn’t afford to take any unnecessary risks.

  “Unfortunately, you’re not wrong,” Fox said, breaking into her thoughts.

  “Why is your name unfortunate?” Fox Colton and the Crooked C Quarter Horses were legend in her mind. No one was perfect, but in her opinion, he came close.

  He shifted a bit in his seat and when the baby squealed, he checked the mirror. She marveled at the smile that softened his expression. Did he realize Baby John had already won him over?

  “I try not to abuse the influence. Not everyone is fond of the family, or the way the Colton businesses impacted the town and the area. My elders made some enemies along the way,” he added. “Some days it still feels awkward.”

  She tried to retreat to the safe side of the line she’d crossed. “I can’t imagine.” When she’d left home, she hadn’t changed her name, only her address. She stopped discussing the family she’d been born to and focused on making new friends and connections. For Fox it seemed like just the opposite.

  “My sister had an easier adjustment at first. Our aunt had three boys already when we joined the family.” He glanced at her as he stopped for the last traffic light in town. “Here I am, thirty-three years old and there are days I still miss my mom.”

  “I’m not sure anyone truly puts that kind of loss behind them.” Good or bad, parental relationships affected so much. Kelsey missed her mother on occasion, usually when her brothers had done something stupid to try to take her back to the farm. She could hardly tell Fox all of that.

  “What about him?” Fox aimed a thumb over his shoulder at the baby. “Will he adjust?”

  “I doubt he’ll have any recollection of anyone other than the family who raises him,” she replied. “That family will have to choose how much they tell him about this time in his life.”

  Fox grunted. She didn’t know him, but she’d bet her first fat paycheck his mind had moved back to the puzzle of the baby’s paternity. She didn’t envy him that task. Asking her siblings about the sudden appearance of a baby would make her edgy, too.

  “I suppose that’s good,” he said as they made the turn to the ranch road. “Better to know a father and family wanted him than to dwell on the mother who didn’t.”

  The bitterness in his voice sparked all kinds of questions in Kelsey’s mind. Questions a new employee really shouldn’t be asking the boss. He hadn’t pressed the issue about her car or her lack of worldly possessions. And, in turn, she wouldn’t press him on the issues of parents and abandonment.

  It seemed like a fair trade.

  * * *

  A couple of hours later, Fox tightened the last screw on the changing table and set it upright. “How’s that?” He wasn’t exactly sure how he’d wound up with so much baby gear or how Kelsey had kept the little boy qu
iet and happy through it all.

  At his query, she stopped folding freshly laundered clothing and crossed the room. Nudging the table and leaning on it a bit, she grinned. “Looks just like the picture,” she said. “Well done.”

  He felt his lips curve in an answering grin. “Guess my skills go beyond analysis and microscopes.” Lame. Handing out compliments wasn’t in her job description.

  Thankfully, his awkward comment didn’t seem to faze her.

  “Let’s put it over here, under the window.”

  He moved the changing table into place and wondered what to do next. Kelsey had set up one portable crib after he moved the hay bin out. He supposed it was time to bring in the rocker. The hungry baby had made sure she hadn’t seen it when he unloaded the truck. Would she give him one of those stunning smiles or that slightly baffled expression she had when he did the unexpected?

  Gathering up the tools and trash, he lectured himself while he put things away. Her reactions shouldn’t concern him one way or the other. And besides, the odds of him having a family of his own were slim to none. Kids were fine in small doses. But kids started as babies and those gave him trouble. Babies couldn’t talk or communicate what they needed. He’d never felt entirely comfortable with his niece and she was already two. If he’d had any affinity for parenthood, it would’ve surfaced by now.

  Of course Wyatt’s newborn would give him another gauntlet to run in the months and years ahead. As long as no one asked him to babysit for more than a few hours, he could handle being the cool uncle. He would have the nerdy collections, know all of the fun trends and still breed the best horses in the state. Fox walked back into the temporary nursery and picked up the slipper chair his sister had suggested when he’d outfitted the guest room. For lack of a better solution, he put the chair in his bedroom. Once the cushions were in place, he carried the new rocking chair into the room and put it between the portable crib and the changing table.

  Kelsey’s hazel eyes rounded a moment before a frown marred her expression. “Why?”

  “It’s a good thing to have. You said so.”