again, she stepped back and gave him a wobbly smile.
“I seem to be doing that a lot lately.”
“What?”
“Crying on your shoulder.”
“I offered.”
“But it’s not fair. I need to handle things on my own, not be relying on you.”
“You are handling things on your own,” he commented. “You’ve taken on the care of a new baby without even having a moment to prepare for it. You’ve fit her in with your life with no promise that she’ll stay and the very real danger that she’ll go. That’s an enormous amount of stress to be under. Seems to me it only makes good sense to share a little of it with whoever’s handy and willing.”
She regarded him with curiosity. “You really don’t mind, do you?”
He decided on a little dose of straightforward honesty. “To tell you the truth, it feels good to be needed. Being an independent loner has its merits, of course, but it’s always seemed to me that the good Lord put us on this earth to go through life two-by-two so there’d be someone to count on when times got tough.”
“I can’t let that happen,” she protested. “I can’t count on you.”
“Why not? I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You can’t guarantee that. No one can.”
She was thinking of Kyle Mason, of course, the man who’d promised to love, honor and cherish her all the days of their lives, only to leave her in fewer than twenty-four hours. How could any woman allow herself to have faith in the future after that?
“No,” he agreed at last. “I can’t guarantee that, but I can swear that as long as it’s in my power to be here for you, I will be. No human being can do more.”
“That’s just it,” she said wearily. “It’s not you I don’t trust. It’s fate.”
Her bleak, worn-down expression was almost more than Cord could bear, but she was right. He didn’t have an argument to counter that. Only time would prove to her that he meant what he said and even a dozen tomorrows or a thousand wouldn’t be enough, when the day after that remained uncertain. That required a huge leap of faith and she wasn’t yet ready to take it.
It was possible, he admitted with regret, that she would never be able to take such a leap. But he would wait, he promised himself and her, just in case the time came when she could.
Chapter Thirteen
Sharon Lynn had fallen asleep the instant she got home from work on Friday. She was awakened by the sound of raised voices on her front porch. Familiar voices. Lizzy’s, Justin’s, Dani’s and then Cord’s. There could only be one topic that would have stirred them all to such a frenzy. Panic whipped through her, followed by a whispered cry of denial. Finally she forced herself to cross the room and fling open the front door.
“If this has anything to do with me, don’t you think you should bring it inside?” she inquired politely.
Four startled, guilt-stricken faces turned her way.
“I thought you were going to take a nap when you got home from work,” Cord muttered, coming to stand beside her in what struck her as an almost symbolic show of unity.
“I did, but all the chattering out here woke me up.”
“Sorry,” Justin said. “We’ll come back.” He looked all too eager to make a break for it.
She latched on to his arm. “Oh, no. You’re not getting away that easily. Inside, now! All of you,” she added when it looked as if Dani might creep right on back to her veterinary clinic via the entrance on the opposite side of the house.
Everyone dutifully trooped inside.
“Sit down,” Cord encouraged, guiding her toward the sofa.
Sharon Lynn sat and was promptly surrounded. Cord sat on her right, Dani on her left. Lizzy took up guard behind her. That left Justin as the outcast.
“I need coffee,” he grumbled and headed for the kitchen.
“I thought he’d be better at breaking bad news by now,” Sharon Lynn observed wryly. “That is what has you all in a tizzy, right? The blood test results came back?”
Lizzy nodded. “It’s a match, at least enough of a match to take into court. Hazel Murdock is Ashley’s grandma.”
Sharon Lynn had been telling herself she was prepared for this, but she’d been lying. She felt as if she’d just taken a blow to her midsection. She swallowed hard against the bile rising in her throat.
“What happens now?” she asked, folding her hands together tightly in her lap. Cord reached