Say Yes To The Cowboy. Vicki Thompson Lewis

got itchy.”

      “I completely understand.” Damon pulled a bandanna from his back pocket and mopped his sweaty face. “That’s one reason I don’t have a beard, the other being Phil wouldn’t like it. Listen, we really want to get the second coat finished before lunch but Sophie has other ideas.”

      “No problem. I’ll watch her for you.”

      “Great. Her high chair’s set up in the kitchen and there’s a box of Cheerios on the counter if you want to sprinkle some in her tray. That’ll keep her busy for a while.”

      “Do you care if I take her outside for a little walk around the place?”

      Damon laughed. “You can walk her all the way into town if you have the energy.”

      “But put on her bonnet if you’ll be in the sun,” Phil said.

      “We’ll stay in the shade, won’t we, sweetheart?” Zeke wasn’t taking a chance on burning her fair skin. She was her mother’s mini-me when it came to coloring—same red hair and eyes blue as a Wyoming sky. But although she hadn’t ended up with Damon’s brown eyes, she had his chin. Damon didn’t think so but Zeke could definitely see it.

      “Thanks, bro,” Damon said. “I owe you a beer for this.”

      “I’ll put it on your tab. By the way, have either of you talked to Rosie today?”

      “No,” Phil said. “Why?”

      “Just wondered.”

      Damon’s eyebrows lifted. “Is something going on that we should know about?”

      “Yeah, but it can wait until lunch. Come on, Sophie. I’ll show you around your famous uncle’s ranch.”

      She bounced in his arms and made a grab for his hat.

      “Oh, no, you don’t.” He left his hat in her playpen and headed down the hall and out the front door. When she pointed to the sparrows hopping around in the tree in the front yard, he walked her over so she could look up through the branches.

      She stared at everything as if memorizing it for a test later. She solemnly studied the leaves moving in the breeze, the chattering birds and a caterpillar she spotted on the trunk. Zeke held her close enough to the insect so she could see but not grab it. She’d try to eat it for sure.

      Then he walked with her around to the back of the house where they startled a rabbit hiding under a bush. As it scampered away, Sophie crowed with delight and clapped her pudgy hands together. Such a simple thing, a cute little bunny, and she acted as if it was the most amazing experience in the world.

      Because she soaked up her environment like a sponge, Zeke got a kick out of showing her things. He crouched so she could get a better look at a beetle pushing its way through the scrub grass. When a hawk soared overhead, he pointed to it and she watched it until it was a tiny speck in the sky.

      A downspout was dripping from the brief rain they’d had during the night. He let her catch the drops on her finger and laughed with her as the cool water tickled her skin. That was where they were when Phil came looking for them.

      Phil gave him an amused smile. “I almost hate to break this up. You’re one heck of a babysitter.”

      “Beginner’s luck. I haven’t spent much time with little kids.” He handed Sophie over to her mother and they started back toward the front of the house.

      “No one would ever know it.”

      “Maybe it’s because I click with Sophie.”

      “Nah, I don’t think that’s it. I’ll bet you’d be fine no matter whose kid it was.” She climbed the porch steps. “Damon’s fixing lunch so I hope you’re okay with turkey sandwiches.”

      “Love ’em.” He opened the door for her. So she thought he had a talent for taking care of little kids. Interesting.

      But playing with Sophie once in a while was a long way from assuming total care for a child. Tess didn’t think he was temperamentally suited for it, and she could be right. He couldn’t argue with her logic that he was untested and that his lifestyle hadn’t prepared him to be a dad. But prepared or not, he was a dad, or would be in another six months.

      Phil cut up some melon and a banana for Sophie to eat with her fingers. That and the cereal kept her content while the adults ate their sandwiches and chips.

      Zeke grabbed a kitchen stool out of a closet and Damon and Phil each took a folding chair. Damon adjusted the old straw hat he liked to wear while he was working and looked across the card table at Zeke. “So, what’s up?”

      “I got somebody pregnant.”

      “Get outta town!” Damon’s eyes widened. “Didn’t we teach you better than that?”

      Zeke lowered his voice even though Sophie was too little to understand. “I used condoms, okay? And turns out she had a five percent chance of getting pregnant, so this baby never should have happened, but he did.”

      Phil put down her sandwich. “Did you say he? You already know it’s a boy?”

      “They have this blood test. Didn’t you guys use it?”

      Damon shook his head. “No way, no how. There are so few cool surprises anymore that we both decided to wait and see. Anticipation is half the fun.” He winced, and Zeke suspected Phil had kicked him under the table. “Not that there’s a thing wrong with finding out in advance, if that’s what you two decided. It makes the naming thing way easier and you don’t get a bunch of yellow baby clothes.”

      “I wasn’t part of the decision.” Now Zeke wished he had been because he liked the idea of waiting. “She didn’t notify me of this until yesterday and she’s already three months along.”