A Rancher's Honor. Ann Roth

      There was no reason to sugarcoat the truth. “As a matter of fact, he did,” Lana said. “He wanted a baby, and when we found out that I couldn’t give him one, he found a woman who could.”

      “That’s really jacked up. Is that why you want to adopt—because you can’t have a baby of your own?”

      Lana nodded. “I love children, and I’m so ready to be a mother. I know I’ll make a really great one.” Another long silence. “Tell me what you want to be someday.”

      “I’m not sure. Maybe a cosmetologist like my mom. She makes decent money.”

      “That’s a great career.”

      The waitress, a friendly woman named Dani, stopped at the table with a coffeepot. “Ready for your coffee now?”

      Lana considered asking for the check instead and putting an end to the uncomfortable meeting. But she wanted a chance to end on a more upbeat note. She smiled. “That depends on Sophie. Do you want something else to drink?”

      The girl cast a wistful gaze at the coffeepot. “Coffee, but now that I’m pregnant, I’m not supposed to.”

      “How about cocoa?” Dani asked. “We make ours homemade and it’s excellent.”

      “Yeah, sure.”

      “I’ll have that, too,” Lana said.

      “Two cocoas it is.” For the first time, Dani really looked at Lana. “You’re the woman in the paper. Lana Carpenter.”

      “That’s right.”

      “It’s very nice to meet you.”

      When Dani left, Sophie was grinning. “You’re kind of a celebrity.”

      “Am I?” Lana laughed. “I never thought of myself that way.”

      “You are. Because of your picture with that story, people know you.” Sophie fiddled with her napkin, then squinted slightly at Lana. “Can I ask you something?”

      “Anything.”

      “Do you ever wish you had a boyfriend?”

      Lana’s mind flashed to Sly. Now, there was a terrible choice for a boyfriend—as Amy and Sheila had pointed out. Lana hadn’t heard from him since he’d stopped by the day care several days ago. He wasn’t boyfriend material. Even worse, he was suing her cousin. At the very thought, she felt cold and sick at heart. Angry, too. Cousin Tim wasn’t the nicest person, but killing Sly’s cattle? No way would he do that.

      “Occasionally I get lonely,” she admitted. “But most of the time I’m fine by myself. Between the day care and home projects, I keep pretty busy. Now I want to ask you something.” She cupped her hands around her water glass and waited for Sophie’s nod. “How do you feel about a single woman raising your baby?”

      “It’s no big deal.” The girl shrugged. “That’s how my mom raised me.”

      And here she was, a junior in high school and pregnant. Lana silently vowed to closely supervise her child throughout his or her teen years—provided she got the chance to be a mother.

      “Do you ever see your dad?” Lana asked.

      The girl shook her head. “My mom isn’t even sure who he is.”

      Sophie seemed okay with that, but Lana was sad for her. She couldn’t imagine not knowing her own father. And what about my baby’s father? Lana was counting on her dad to help make up for that. Her parents weren’t supporting her decision right now, but she wasn’t going to lose hope. Once she had the baby, surely they’d rally. After all, she was family, and her baby would be, too.

      “You should know that I’m planning to bring my child to work with me every day, and when he or she is old enough—let’s call the baby a she for now—I’ll enroll her in my day care. Then when she starts kindergarten, I’ll cut back my hours so I can be with her after school.”

      “But if you do that, you’ll make less money. My mom has always worked ten hours a day.”

      Lana nodded. “Money is important, but to me, being there for my child is even more important. I have savings that will allow me to work a little less.”

      The girl appeared thoughtful. “I would have liked for my mom to be around when I got home from school. I could tell you’d make a good mom when I read the article. It’s why I picked you and Mr. and Mrs. Anderson as my top two choices.”

      “I’m not the only person you’re considering?” Lana said, her voice squeaking.

      She should have guessed as much, had cautioned herself to not make any assumptions. But she’d been so excited, so sure that today’s meeting would be perfect and that Sophie would like her, that the idea of other potential parents had never entered her mind.

      Dani returned with the cocoas. Unaware of the utter chaos her announcement had caused inside Lana, Sophie glugged down a great deal of her drink before replying, “My social worker said I should talk to more than one person so that I can make the best choice. I’m having lunch with the Andersons tomorrow, at Baker’s.”

      An upscale restaurant with fancy food that cost twice what it did at Big Mama’s, Baker’s was sure to impress the girl. “That’s um, nice,” Lana said.

      “I’ve never eaten there before, have you?”