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“Gah?”
He stepped out of his own sodden shoes, returned her to the crook of his arm, and walked back into the river.
She buried her face in his shirt.
“Don’t be a pansy. ”
She looked up and gave him a four-tooth grin.
“That’s more like it, you little she-devil.”
But when he tried to lower her into the water, she stiffened and dug her fingers into his arm.
“Relax, will you? I’m not going to put your face in.”
“Nuh-nuh-nuh!”
It didn’t take a degree in child psychology to translate that one. He realized he was going to have to do this with her, just as he’d done it with all his sisters. With a sigh of resignation, he put her to his shoulder and sank down into the muddy river.
She drew back and beamed at him. Oh, man, she was going to be a killer someday, with those baby blues and melty smiles. “Yeah, yeah. Save it for somebody who cares.”
She smacked his jaw with the flat of her hand, then turned and smacked the water. It splashed in his face. He blinked it away and lowered her into the current.
“What are you doing?” Nell came charging out of the bridge, a pregnant commando wearing khaki shorts, a blue maternity top trimmed with daisies, and small white sandals. Tendrils of hair as golden brown as summer wheat flew around her flushed cheeks, and those amazing blue eyes, exactly the same color as the sky, were blazing. “Get the baby out of that dirty water right now!” She flew down the slope. “Children can get typhoid from river water!”
He glanced down at the Demon, who seemed to be having a pretty good time as long as he didn’t let her sink too low. “I don’t think typhoid is too common in West Virginia.”
Lucy emerged from the bridge and stared down at them.
Nell stopped at the edge of the river, hand to chest, face pale. He realized she was genuinely upset and wondered how she’d react if she knew he’d almost let the baby drown. “Will you calm down, for pete’s sake? She’s fine.”
“She’s fully dressed!”
“Yeah, well, I’m a guy. Guys don’t think about things like that.”
“You’re fully dressed!”
“The whole thing was sort of an impulse.”
She looked down at his muddy shoes lying on the bank. “I’ll say.”
He went on the offensive. “I slipped and got my shoes wet. Then I figured, what the hell?”
“She’s going to catch cold.”
“It’s got to be eighty.” He pulled the baby from the water and stood.
“Nuh!” She gave a shriek of protest, then began to twist, trying to get back in the water.
“Distract her, or you’re really in for it.” Lucy called down from the top of the slope.
Her shrieks were building in volume. “How am I supposed to do that?” he asked.
“She likes animal sounds, especially cows. Moo.”
He shot Lucy a disgusted look, then shoved the screaming baby toward Nell. “Here. Distract her.”
Nell clasped her arms behind her back and stepped away. “I don’t know how.”
