Page 19 of Rancher to the Rescue

Rather than wake Prudence, he shouldered the diaper bag and headed downstairs to the kitchen, unsure how he was going to pull off making a bottle while holding Angel.

The light was on. The smell of coffee wafted down the hallway. Had Miss Olive come back early? She was due today, but four in the morning was a stretch.

His brother Brax’s back was to Adam as he entered the room.

“Hey, what are you doing here so early?” Adam asked, thankful for an extra pair of hands.

“Wanted to check in with you before the day took off.” Brax turned around.

Out on the land, cell service could be spotty and it was easy to get lost in the work, forgetting all sense of time.

“Mind helping me make a bottle?” Adam could manage a diaper change. Based on the grunt followed by a rank smell, she needed one.

“Tell me what to do.” Brax was the second oldest and the two of them had always been close.

Adam rattled off instructions and Brax had the bottle ready by the time Angel’s diaper change was finished. “Do you want to do the honors?”

“Feed her?” Brax wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “I’d rather take that thing outside to the trash.”

“It’ll sure keep pesky critters out of the bin.” Adam laughed. No rummaging around in there with that smell. For something so tiny, she sure could clear out the place. It dawned on him what Casey had said about mixing formula. His son’s must not be the one she was used to.

Brax grabbed the folded-up diaper and headed out the back door. He returned a minute later. “What’s the story?”

“Best we can tell is that Prudence came into possession of her and was trying to get to me when I found her lost on the property,” he said.

“Why you?” Brax’s eyebrow shot up.

“That’s the question of the day,” Adam admitted. “There was a note tucked inside her blanket with a scribble of my name on it.”

“Huh.” Brax reclaimed his mug and took a sip of coffee.

“Mind pouring a cup for me?” Adam asked. He could use a caffeine boost to clear his head.

Brax did before walking over and setting it down on the table next to where Adam had planted himself. He studied the baby for a long moment. “Any chance she’s yours?”

“I haven’t been with anyone since Libby and I doubt she is the type to keep something this big from me,” he said. “The timing doesn’t work because we hadn’t…” He glanced up at his brother, figuring there was such a thing as too much information and it was a line he was about to cross. “Anyway, I don’t see how it would be possible.”

“Have you reached out to her?” Brax’s question was logical.

“She didn’t return my calls before. Why would that change now?” Adam shook his head.

He examined the little girl’s features. So she had black hair. There wasn’t much of it. And her eyes were blue, more the color of Prudence’s than his. An unfamiliar emotion stirred in his chest when he really looked at her.

“What do you plan to do with her?” Brax asked.

“Nothing,” Adam answered a little too quickly. “What I meant to say is, the sheriff will find her parents and we’ll get a call any minute now.”

“Wouldn’t that have happened already?” Brax glanced up at the clock on the wall. “If they were alive.”

The reality Adam had been trying to avoid smacked him square in the chest.

“To be honest, I didn’t want to consider that as a possibility. She has to have some relative who would want her,” he said. It would be a mistake to get too attached to her no matter how adorable she was. This little nugget wouldn’t get past his defenses.

“I’m surprised there isn’t an all-points bulletin for a missing child. Aren’t you?” Brax asked.

Adam nodded, but he needed to change the subject. “What about the Marshall? Any word on the will?”

Brax compressed his lips.