Tags jingling, she trotted toward him and shoved her wet muzzle in his hand.
“Come on, girl. You’ve been sprung.” He held the door open for the dog, then closed it securely after her. Fleafarm was of mixed ancestry. She had the rusty coat of a setter, four white socks and a temperament that hinted of a Border collie lurking somewhere in her background, and the body composition of a retriever.
Sebastian had found her wandering on the road, bedraggled and pregnant, eight years ago. Barbara’s impulsive nickname had stuck, but Sebastian often wished he’d insisted on a more flattering handle for the animal. Fleafarm was one great dog.
She glanced back at him as if asking for permission to go into the house. With a stab of guilt, he realized Matty had been right. The dog had thought she was being punished.
“Go on. It’s okay.”
With a little whine of delight, Fleafarm bounded up to the back door and stood there wagging her plume of a tail, her breath making clouds in the cold air. Sebastian felt like a total heel.
And he felt damned cold, too. The warmth of the house wrapped around him like an embrace when he went into the kitchen with Fleafarm. He rubbed his hands together and blew into them.
From the dining room came the sound of Elizabeth fretting. She wasn’t crying, thank God, just fussing. Fleafarm stopped dead in her tracks and lifted her floppy ears.
“It’s a baby.” Sebastian hung his hat on a peg by the door and laid a hand on the dog’s head. “Don’t reckon you’ve ever been around one.”
Fleafarm gave a sharp little bark and advanced slowly toward the sound that obviously fascinated her.
“Hey, Fleafarm!” Matty called. “Come and say hello to Elizabeth.”
The dog moved warily into the dining room. Then she cocked her head and gazed at Matty sitting in a dining room chair, Elizabeth cradled in her arms.
Sebastian had a moment of uneasiness as the dog drew closer. “Do you think it’s okay?”
“I think it’s essential. You want Fleafarm to be protective of her, don’t you?”
He hadn’t gotten that far in his thinking. “Does it matter? Elizabeth might only be here a few days.”
“She might.” Matty glanced at him. “Or she might be here a whole lot longer. Unless Jessica mentioned a specific time frame for this caper?”
“Not exactly. The note only said she wanted me to be a godfather to Elizabeth until she could return for her.”
“Which leaves this operation completely open-ended. You’d better prepare yourself for more than a few days. I’m not sure you realize yet that your life has just been turned upside down.”
“Oh, it’s beginning to sink in.”
“Good. Facing reality is admirable.” Matty watched the dog edge closer. “It’s okay, Fleafarm. You’ve been a mommy, so you know about babies. This is like a puppy, only bigger. And less hair.” She glanced up at Sebastian. “Maybe you should come on over here and pet Fleafarm while she gets used to the idea of this baby. We don’t want jealousy getting in the way of bonding. And we don’t want Fleafarm to slobber over Elizabeth and scare her to death.”
Sebastian walked over and scratched the dog behind her ears. Then he crouched down and wrapped an arm around the silky neck, restraining her gently. The dog’s coat was cold, and Sebastian was still shivering from his jaunt outside, but he worked to control it so Matty wouldn’t have cause to say she told him so.
He turned to the dog. “You wouldn’t be jealous of that little baby, would you Fleafarm?”
She whined and licked his face.
“Oh, yes, she would,” Matty said. “But if you make sure she knows you still love her, she’ll probably guard this baby with her life. At least that’s the way it worked with my nieces and nephews and the dogs they had. You have to make sure you don’t appear to be giving more attention to Elizabeth than you do to Fleafarm.”
“This sure is getting complicated.”
Matty looked into his eyes. “You still have a choice.”
He gazed back at her. “No, I don’t.”
Elizabeth made a soft, cooing sound, like a dove on a summer morning.
Sebastian glanced at the baby in surprise and pleasure. Now there was a noise he could grow fond of.
Elizabeth stared at the dog and her little fists waved in the air. For the first time Sebastian admitted she was sort of cute, with her fuzzy crop of light-colored hair and round baby face. She cooed again.
Fleafarm whined and wagged her tail.
“Love at first sight,” Matty pronounced.
“No such thing,” Sebastian said. He wasn’t even sure what love was, period. He’d thought he was in love with Barbara, but she hadn’t been in love with him, at least not for very long—and certainly not when she was carrying on with Butch for all those years.
“Maybe love at first sight is rare for people, but for dogs and kids, it happens all the time.” Matty leaned down and kissed Elizabeth on the cheek. “Well, I think that’s enough dog-baby communication for the time being.” She picked up Elizabeth and cradled her against her shoulder. Then she turned her face toward the baby and gave her another kiss. “We can work on it later, okay, sweetheart? Right now I know a little girl who needs her diaper changed.”
“I was hoping you’d done it while I was out getting the dog.”
Matty grinned. “I’m sure you were. You’d better go wash your hands, and use hot water to warm them up. No lady likes to be touched with cold hands.”
Damned if that comment didn’t get him to thinking of touching Matty, which he’d done before, but only as a friend. Now he was wondering how it would be to touch her like a lover.
She’d said Fleafarm might be jealous of the attention the baby was getting. Well, Sebastian found himself mighty jealous of the way Matty was cuddling Elizabeth, giving her kisses and nuzzling her. He’d never known Matty to be so openly affectionate, but then he’d never seen her with a baby, either.
He wondered if she’d been playful and snuggly with Butch when the two of them had been alone. If she had been that open and vulnerable, his heart ached for her, because she’d been married to a faithless man.
“Oh, don’t scowl like that.” Matty laughed. “I doubt if changing a diaper is going to be any worse than mucking out a stall.”
“Says you, the person who has no more experience than I have.” He wiped the frown off his face and was glad she’d misinterpreted it. Pushing himself to his feet, he clucked to Fleafarm and got her settled under the table, one of her favorite spots.
“Don’t worry,” Matty said. “You’ll be a diapering fool in no time.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
She gazed at him. “Are you worried that you’ll ruin your macho reputation with the guys?”
He grimaced, and her soft laughter taunted him as he headed into the kitchen to wash up. To be honest, he hadn’t thought of himself as doing this sort of chore if he ever became a parent.
With her usual dexterity, Matty had exposed another uncomfortable truth about Sebastian Daniels. Whenever he’d imagined being a father, he’d sort of skipped the baby stage in his mind. He’d pictured buying the kid a pony, helping with homework, flying kites. He hadn’t pictured changing diapers. Apparently he’d unconsciously assigned baby care to the mother. Not very enlightened.
Well,