he was going to get for now. Maybe Cody’s caution was justified. It wouldn’t hurt to wait a few more hours. He stood up.
“I’ll be waiting to hear from you, then.”
“By the way, who’s paying this private eye, if you hire one?”
Cord frowned at the question. “I am.”
“With the money you’ve been saving to buy a ranch?”
Cord nodded.
“Why?”
“Because what happens to that baby matters to Sharon Lynn,” he said readily. “And to me.”
Cody regarded him with approval. “That tells me everything I need to know about you, Cord Branson.”
“Then you don’t object to me spending time with your daughter?”
“It hasn’t mattered to you up until now whether I did or I didn’t, has it?”
“Truthfully, no,” Cord responded with a grin. “But it would be nice to know I have your blessing.”
Cody walked over to where Cord stood and held out his hand. “You have my blessing, son.” Then he grinned. “Not that it’ll matter a whit to Sharon Lynn one way or the other. The woman has a mind of her own.”
Cord laughed at the warning. “Yeah, but it can’t hurt to have one more Adams on my side.”
“Son, I may be her daddy, but it’s Grandpa Harlan who does the matchmaking around here, and he’s been on your side from the get-go. Now, go on and get to work. I’ll be in touch about the private eye before the end of the day.”
Cord nodded and went to find Harlan Patrick. The last time he’d seen him he was nursing a hangover and a broken heart. What they both needed was some good hard work to take their minds off their troubles.
Unfortunately an entire day in the bitter cold checking for downed fences didn’t do anything except come close to freezing their butts off. When they rode back in just before dusk, they found Justin waiting.
“Hey, cousin, you here to take me out to drown my sorrows again?” Harlan Patrick inquired hopefully.
“From what I’ve heard you did that last night,” Justin said. “Seems to me like a good night’s sleep is called for tonight.”
“I think I had every right to have a couple of drinks,” Harlan Patrick grumbled. “When did you turn so judgmental? Oh, wait, it was when you put on that uniform, wasn’t it?”
Cord watched Justin’s expression. He remained perfectly cool in the face of the taunt, though his eyes were unreadable behind his reflective sunglasses.
“Picking a fight with me won’t solve your problem,” Justin said mildly. “Besides, I’m here to see Cord.”
That brought Harlan Patrick up short. He stared at Cord. “You in some kind of trouble?”
“None that I know of,” Cord said, his gaze locked on Justin. “I suspect this is about a matter I discussed with your father this morning.”
Justin gave an imperceptible nod. “Can we go someplace and talk? Cody said his office would be empty.”
“Fine,” Cord agreed.
“I’m coming along,” Harlan Patrick said at once.
“No need,” Cord said.
“It’s not your concern,” Justin added.
“If it’s about that baby,” he began, then nodded when he caught their expressions. “I thought so. Then it concerns Sharon Lynn and that concerns me. Hell, it concerns all of us.”
Cord couldn’t argue with a brother wanting to look out for his sister. “Come on, then.”
In Cody’s office he and Harlan Patrick settled into chairs, while Justin stood behind his uncle’s desk. He slowly removed his sunglasses as if to assure that they got a good look at the glint in his eyes.
“The last thing we need is a private investigator poking around in this,” he declared.
Cord froze at his warning. “Why is that? You have a need to protect your turf?”
“No, dammit. I’m just afraid it’ll look to the court as if we’re using Adams money and influence to try to get this poor woman and steal her grandbaby from her.”
When Cord started to protest, Justin held up his hand. “Look, I know how you feel. Believe me, I was not impressed with this woman or with her sincerity. She’s the last person I’d want raising a kid of mine, but that’s gut instinct, not law.”
“What you’re saying is we need facts,” Cord said. “How else are we going to get those, if not by hiring a private investigator?”
“You seem to be forgetting that I’m a sheriff. I’m already investigating this case, because abandoning that child was a crime. I’ll get all the evidence we need if there’s going to be a fight for custody.”
Harlan Patrick fixed a hard gaze on his cousin, then seemed to reach a conclusion. “Maybe