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As a kid, Zach hadn’t experienced much stability with a mom who was forever moving to somewhere else. There was always another town, another school. He’d learned to stand up for himself, but that didn’t make him good parent material. This little girl deserved better.
Zach searched his memory. Perhaps there were other, more distant relatives. Nice people, who would give her a loving and stable home. But during all his years growing up, he’d met just a few of his relations, and right now he couldn’t think of a single one worthy of becoming Katie’s guardian.
What would happen to her if Janet turned up dead? The good Lord knew he wasn’t much of a choice as a substitute father. What he knew about kids could be summarized on the back of a credit card.
Katie whimpered and clutched her doll tighter. Then she raised her head and looked around with sleep-glazed eyes. Were those rosy cheeks a sign of fever? Zach moved quietly over to the couch and touched her forehead—cool, praise the Lord—then leaned down to rub her back. Soon she drifted back into a fitful sleep.
He hoped her dreams were happy ones, of sunshine and laughter and a loving mom who sang soft lullabies at night.
And wondered if those dreams had ever been true.
* * * *
“YOUR BOYFRIEND IS PULLING up in the parking lot,” Francie called out. “Should I send him back to your office?”
Dana sighed. Tom was a good man, an honest man. So why didn’t her heart beat a little faster whenever he came by? Maybe, she’d decided, that reaction belonged only to those in the early years of hormones and naïve passion. Maybe “comfortable” was good enough.
“Tell him to wait. I’ll be out in a minute.”
Clipping the last suture along Muffy Anderson’s belly, she gave the young calico cat a quick rub behind an ear and slipped her into one of the stainless steel cages along the wall.
“You’ve healed well,” Dana murmured. “And now you’ll keep your girlish figure for good. No worries about corralling kittens, either.”
The cat flew to the back of the cage and glared at her through slitted eyes.
A light knock sounded on the door of the room. “She doesn’t appreciate your efforts, apparently.”
“Hi, Tom.” Dana turned and smiled at the man she’d known since grade school. Pudgy and awkward as a child, he’d grown to nearly six feet, and now his stocky build was hardened by years of ranching. “Get those cattle shipped?”
“Jim left an hour ago. I needed to run into town for milk replacer for a couple of calves, so I figured I’d stop by and see about Saturday night.”
He looked at her expectantly, but she could only give him a weak smile. “Saturday?”
Annoyance flickered in his eyes, though his easy smile didn’t waver. “The Cattlemen’s Association dinner. We went last year, and the year before that.”
Had he asked her, or just assumed she would be available? “Um...”
“I’ll be by to get you at six-thirty. Wear something nice...that red dress with the silver buttons.” At her raised eyebrow, he added, “It’ll be a real special night.”
She stared after him as he walked out the door. With his blond, Nordic good looks, he was the kind of guy women looked at twice when he passed by. His hint at a special evening should have made her heart sing.
Instead, she could only imagine how tired she’d be by then, after another day of taking emergency calls and hauling hay. But though she could get along fine on her own, there were the kids to consider. They both were still young, needed a good, strong father figure to help them through the treacherous waters of their teen years. Didn’t they?
“You look,” Francie announced, “as if your favorite dog died. What happened, did ol’ Tom finally throw in the towel?”
“We’re just friends, and you know it.”
“Tell that to him. He left looking sorta upset.”
“I forgot about the Cattlemen’s dinner Saturday night, and I guess he just assumed I’d be going with him. Honestly, I’d rather not.”
Sagging against the wall, Francie lifted her wrist to her forehead. “You poor thing. A dinner date with a handsome guy, a great meal—that’s far worse than your dog biting the dust.”
“Thanks.”
Francie straightened and gave her a sympathetic smile. “Why don’t you cancel?”
“I shouldn’t let him down.”
