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Once she gave her last name, he offered to come right away. There were, on occasion, a few advantages to having the last name of Maxwell.
At eight o’clock, she called Irene and told her not to pick up Mandy on her way to work, then she called Matt’s place. Mandy answered on the fifth ring.
“I’ll be by in a half hour to pick you up for work,” Jolie said. “Can you be ready?”
“Whereareyou? I woke up, and everyone was gone.”
“We all probably thought the same thing—that you needed your sleep. At thirty-five weeks, you’re probably exhausted by the end of the day. Right?”
Mandy yawned into the receiver. “I never had any idea pregnancy would be like this. My feet are swollen, my back hurts, my skin is itchy...who said pregnant women are beautiful?”
Jolie tried for a chuckle. “Maybe the husbands who are still hoping to be served supper? See you soon.”
As she bustled through her cabin, picking up strewn clothing, replacing dresser drawers scattered across the floor, Jolie felt a whisper of longing to know what being married and pregnant would be like.
She’d delivered babies and provided pre- and post-natal care. But what would it be like to hold your very own baby, and experience the miracle firsthand?
Her thoughts slid to Matt, imagining how tender he would be with a newborn.
And then to what it might have been like to be his wife.
A truck door slammed.
Startled, she spun around and raced to the window, her heart leaping in her throat. She hadn’t heard a vehicle rumble over the cattle guard at the end of her lane. Who could drive up the lane like that without warning?
Seeing Rafe striding up to the cabin did little to slow her rapid heartbeat.
She unlocked the door to let him in, but he stood outside, his face grim. “I was hoping you’d decided to stay at Matt’s place after getting back from Bozeman.”
“I thought about it, but I can’t just give up my home. How,” she added after a moment of thought, “did you even know?”
“Louie.”
“Who?”
“When you called the electrician, he told his assistant, Louie, who walked over to the courthouse and told me. If you took a vote, I’d say seventy-five percent of the population thinks you should stay at the Dawson place.” One corner of his mouth tipped up. “And at least eighty percent of the women think you two would be a perfect couple. The other twenty want him for themselves.”
“You told the whole town that he kissed me?”
“Of course not.” Rafe studied the horizon. “Just Herman. And...maybe Mona Rangel. But only because she heard about the situation at your cabin. She was worried.”
Remembering Mona’s cool reception when she and Matt had gone to Grizzly’s, that didn’t seem likely.
“I’m touched by the concern, given that so many people in Garrett Bluff didn’t even want me here a few months ago. Have you found out anything more about the break-ins? Any suspects?”
“The preliminary results on the fingerprints arrived. Matching prints were on the doll and found in various places in your cabin. But they didn’t match anything on file at the local sheriff’s department.”
“Where is the doll?”
“It’s in my office, where I’ll keep it in case something else turns up. You just never know.”
“Keep me posted, okay?”
“I can’t convince you to stay with someone for a while?”
“How long could that be? Days—weeks—months? I appreciate your concern, but I’m staying here. I’m not my father’s daughter for nothing.”
“I’ll drive up this way now and then. I won’t bother you, I’ll just blink my headlights to let you know it’s me, and then be on my way. Okay? I’ll call every now and then, too.”
