The Sheriff's Mail-Order Bride (The Watson Brothers #2)(8)
“Gentle baby, there’s a good boy.” Gina crouched down and picked up the hat.
“Where’s his father?” Wide eyes locked onto his and he saw the moment the tension raced back up her spine. She bristled quite easily but Rory told himself that was to be expected, she didn’t know him and they hadn’t gotten off on the best foot.
“He died before Fisher was born.” Gina lifted her chin, stared at him.
“Don’t you have any other family that could have helped you out?”
She shook her head. “No.” Gina ran her tongue around her bottom lip and something moved inside of his gut.
The haunted look in her eyes tugged at his heart. Even though he made up his mind that she’d come here under false pretenses, Rory wasn’t mercenary or cold. There was still the chance they could work this out. The emotions in her eyes mirrored what he’d felt for the last few years. Lost and alone, but still well aware of the surroundings while not quite fitting in.
Luckily he’d managed to clean most of the garbage out of the house before Gina arrived but the last thing he’d expected was for her to arrive early and live here! The fact remained that she had lied, if only by omission, and lying was a big no-no to him; not that he considered he’d lied even though she did. Just because he stood in front of a house for a photo didn’t mean it was his place. “I’m sorry about the state of the house. I only just bought it and thought I’d have more done to it before you got here. I didn’t intentionally mean you to think my brother’s place was mine.”
“I, um, didn’t have any reason to stay in San Francisco once you made me the offer of a home and marriage.” She blushed beautifully and Rory’s annoyance at her lie began to shuffle away.
He glanced around the kitchen, saw her belongings placed around neat and tidy. The bathroom door stood open and a woman’s vanity bag sat on the counter. It looked as though she was setting in to stay which is what he’d expected. Just not with a child and four days early.
“We brought pretty much everything we owned with us, so it hasn’t been that bad.” She ran a hand over the clean-but-faded kitchen counter top.
He wiped a load of spit from Fisher’s chin with a clean tissue he pulled from his pocket.
“He’s teething.”
“Poor little mite.” Would his and Cindy’s child have been like this? All soft and smelling of baby powder? Rory had avoided other people’s babies up until now, knowing the pain was still too raw. The child rested against Rory’s shoulder, his thumb in his mouth. “I don’t know how much you’ve seen of the place but there are stables and a barn too. Let’s walk and talk. He may nod off. Those little eyelids are looking pretty droopy.”
Gina followed him out, picking her way through the trodden-down weeds he still had to mow over. Fisher snuggled in his arms, reaching out to point to the clouds floating in the pale blue sky.
“Do you want me to take him? He gets kind of heavy after a while.”
It felt strange holding Fisher, but a good kind of strange. One he knew he wanted to explore more. “Hey, I’m more than happy to carry him. Feels like the right thing to do, you know. Unless you’d rather I didn’t until you get to know me better that is.” He stopped and waited for her to take the child.
Fisher protested when Gina reached out and took him. He twisted his body back to Rory. The toddler held his arms out and opened his mouth to cry. Rory took the baby back before the noise made it past his lips. “I think you’ll find I’m trustworthy and won’t hurt him.” He hoped his job would at least waylay her worry for now until they got to know each other and he decided their fate.
“Looks like he’s taken to you, which is funny because he doesn’t really know any men.”
And I don’t know any small children like Fisher, more’s the pity. Guess that makes us even. Rory smiled and continued the tour, wondering if she’d put her touches on this space too. “The barn needs a bit of work but it’s sound enough, as are the stables. Most of the paddocks will need new fencing before I can buy any cattle. There’s plenty to keep you occupied with the gardens and the orchard if that’s what you want to do.” He turned and pointed to the chicken pen. “I can get you some hens in town if you want to gather your own eggs. It’s all up to you, Gina, if we decide to go ahead with this arrangement. You can choose. I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
She stopped and looked at him. “Why? Why did you advertise for a bride? It’s not like you couldn’t get a wife the normal way, is it?”
“I had a wife. We were in love, very much in love in fact so it’s not like I haven’t ever been happy. She was killed just as we found out she was pregnant. I put all of my focus into my job until my brother decided it was time I returned home to where we were born. I couldn’t go through the whole dating scene again. Figured it was too hard.” He looked away to the mountains that provided a spectacular backdrop to the ranch. “Chance found his bride through an advert, so I figured it wasn’t such a bad thing to do.”
She laughed, and he smiled a genuine smile for the first time in years. The sound made his heart flip just a little bit and he felt the bud of heat start to thaw out the cold lump in his chest. “So, what do you think?”