Page 108 of The Cowboy and the Baby

CADE

Four Months Later

A gigantic mop of hair, a pair of wickedly bright, dangly earrings, and smeared red lipstick appeared on my porch.

“Helloooo?” inquired a drawn-out, annoying voice. “Hello? Auntie Marsha is here! Noey? Cade?”

I inwardly groaned.

Noey? What kind of endearment was that?

From where Noelle stood at the stove, she illuminated. “In here, Marsha!”

I held Lily at the sink, not far from Noelle. A little heat emanated from the dying fire in the corner, but we didn’t need much anymore. Early April brought warmer temperatures and less fires. Lily, responding to the sudden rush of noise that was Marsha entering our world, kicked her feet.

I grinned, unable to help it. I loved when Lily responded to the world. She sat in my arms, her back pressed to my chest, my arm wrapping her torso so her limbs could flail as much as she liked. These days, she held her head up like a champion and worked her chubby arms and legs as fast as they could go.

Marsha sailed into the kitchen, wrapped her arms around Noelle, and practically bent her backwards with a hug.

“Oh you sweet thing!” Marsha cried. “I’ve missed you! How are you? You wouldn’t believe the family gossip that I bring. I have all the tea.” She paused, like a hound on a trail. Her nose went in the air as she pivoted, coming face-to-face with me.

A smile curled those overly painted lips.

“Why Cade Callahan. You sly, handsome thing! How are you?”

Before I could shake holy water from a vial and stop her, she barreled across the kitchen and had Lily and I in her arms. Her perfume made my eyes water, and I narrowly dodged a smear of lipstick on my cheek. This wasn’t the first time I’d borne such abuse, and it wouldn’t be the last. Marsha had visited the ranch several times since my arrival, and it had always been about as fun.

“Marsha,” I said.

She withdrew, put a hand on Lily’s leg, and cried, “Isn’t she the cutest thing! I swear, she looks just like you, Noelle.”

Noelle beamed brighter, and that made the whole ridiculous visit worth it. She didn’t have much family worth clinging to, and Marsha wasn’t great, but she was good. More importantly, Noelle wanted her around.

So I’d deal.

Not happily, but I’d deal. Because I’d do just about anything to see that smile on Noelle’s face.

Marsha set her manicured hands on her hips and spun in a circle, encompassing the kitchen.

“Well? What renovations do you have going on?”

I nodded toward the hallway. “We’ve finished the upstairs bathroom now, and it looks good. We’re moving onto the basement next.”

“I just installed and painted the trim in the hallway, too,” Noelle added as she pulled a pie from the oven. She set the steaming pie on the stovetop, which beckoned me with the smell of warm, spiced apples. Her peace offering and apology for inviting Marsha. There were a lot of things I’d do for fresh, homemade apple pie. Dealing with Marsha was also on that list.

Noelle sent me a wry smile. “I’m trying to convince Cade to bring the ranch into this century with more updated appliances and better wifi, but it’s a hard sell.”

“Is not,” I countered, a tad defensively. “I don’t mind updates, it just . . . needs to serve a function. We don’t need a screen on every wall. Or any screen at all, frankly. No one here watches TV.”

Marsha’s head ping ponged back and forth between us, a knowing look in her wrinkly eyes. A smile played on the edge of her lips.

“Where are the boys?” Marsha asked. She shook a hand, as if that would summon them. “I haven’t seen Wyatt and Cody in a long time!”

A grudging note of respect appeared in my chest at that moment. Marsha might be annoying, but she had an uncanny mind. For her to request seeing the boys was a point in her favor. Because I fostered them, I wasn’t always sure what her reaction to them would be. Sometimes, the boys took misery from uppity types, but Marsha showed none of that so far.

Noelle removed her oven mitts and leaned against the stove. “Wyatt is in a bull riding competition a few hours away. It’s the last of the season, and he’s trying to squeeze it in before he and Cody both take their GED exams to officially finish high school. Cody is there, supporting Wyatt.”

What an idiot Wyatt is, I thought, and not for the first time. But I had to admit that he knew what he was doing on the back of a bull. It was stupid, and risky, and not something I’d ever do, but that only made it more fun for Wyatt. He liked the thrill, the noise, the attention. He got little enough of it growing up, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was trying to soak it all up now.