Page 40 of The Cowboy and the Baby

“Want me to hold her while you eat?” Cade asked.

“Thank you, but she can go in her bouncer for a bit. Marsha was going to send me a swing, but she’s probably forgotten to order it.”

Cade reached for Lily with an adorable smile.

“We know lots of people with babies,” Wyatt quickly said. “We’ll get you a swing, Miss Noelle.”

“Oh, you can?—”

Predicting what I was about to say, Cade sent me a quelling stare.

“—call me Noelle,” I finished in a whisper.

“Miss Noelle,” Cade countered.

I mouthed, “Cowboy Code?”

He nodded.

This ranch had rather strict codes.

Grabbing a spoon, and hastening to dish my portion because the two boys looked as if they hadn’t eaten in days, I asked, “Do you really think it’ll be that much money to repair the house?”

Cade sent them another irritated glance, but he didn’t reprimand them. I couldn’t decide if he took exception to the fact that they spoke about money in front of me, wielded wild guesses, or gave me something to worry about while sick. Cade didn’t strike me as old-school strict, where women didn’t get to have eyes on the finances, but he did seem rather protective of me while I was down.

“I don’t know,” Cade said as he lowered into his seat, Lily between us. He elevated a toy for her to look at. “I’m starting to suspect that all of the exterior walls are built with doors, pole barn style.”

Wyatt said around a mouthful of soup, “You live in a barn, Noelle.”

Cade confirmed with a grunt.

My mind spun with residual fever, the delicious, salty soup, and the idea that this house held secrets. Big ones. A massive money pit, too. The most dominant feeling, amidst all of these other ones, was heady and massive relief. This place was a bigger mess than even Marsha had comprehended—and I had almost inherited the job of fixing it. If it were willed to my family, I could have been living here alone, with skunks in walls made out of doors and freezing pipes and uninsulated walls.

Cade had done me one of the biggest favors of my whole life, and I hadn’t realized it until now.

It made me want to laugh and laugh.

I thought I could tough it out here with a newborn?

Was I insane?

I kept these thoughts to myself as I ate, thanking Cade for the soup, chuckling when Wyatt and Cody argued over who Lily smiled at first. My attempts to not stare at Cade and the way his throat worked, or how he fought to hide a smile when Wyatt and Cody’s antics escalated, failed. They failed drastically, in fact.

Cade’s eyes met mine. With a lopsided smile, he reached a hand across the table, set it on top of mine, and squeezed.

My fingers curled into his, like they belonged.

15

CADE

Days later, I stood in a local building supply store, looking at plumbing fixtures, carrying three tubes of caulk beneath one arm, and contemplating the stupid-high price tags on foam board insulation. Good gracious, what would this renovation project cost?

My head still spun with monetary figures from a meeting with the bank earlier that morning. Words like HELOC and construction loan and compounding interest and balloon payments still worked through my head.

I understood what the advisor said; I just hated it.

Inheriting the ranch granted me a massive asset, but that asset had a dwindling return, including a home equity line of credit with limited fund availability—thirty thousand in credit. Thirty thousand wouldn’t cut it if these prices were any indication. Maybe, if I bought in bulk and up front . . .