She met his gaze and took a deep breath. “I guess you’re right. I don’t need to work myself into a frenzy over this.”
“Exactly,” he said, and the moment stretched between them. The warmth in her eyes gave him a strange feeling in his gut. Realizing that his hand was still covering hers, he quickly pulled it away. It was one thing to try to comfort his daughter’s nanny, but he didn’t want Coco to misconstrue his sympathy as something else.
He cleared his throat. “Well, I should hit the sack,” he said and rose to his feet.
“Me, too,” she said, following him to her feet. “I’ll take care of the mugs.”
“Thanks,” he said, wondering why his voice sounded so rough. He headed toward the doorway.
“And, Benjamin, thank you for talking me down from that cliff I was climbing,” she said to his back.
He smiled at her description of her emotional state. “No need to scale a cliff unless it’s absolutely necessary. G’night.”
“G’night,” she said as he entered the hallway. He felt another twitch at the sound of her soft voice, and he rubbed his stomach. He’d better take some antacid.
* * *
Two days later, as she was about to feed Emma, Coco saw Benjamin enter the house. Midlift of the spoon, Coco thought about the fact that Benjamin had been avoiding his daughter once again. She couldn’t allow this to continue.
She pulled the spoon back from Emma. “Benjamin,” Coco called as the baby frowned at her in confusion. Emma’s soft, plump lips puckered in disapproval.
Benjamin poked his head in the doorway. “Yeah?”
Coco immediately stood. “Emma’s ready to be fed and I...uh...I need to powder my nose.”
Benjamin wrinkled his brow. “Powder your nose?”
“Use the ladies’ room,” she said.
Realization crossed his face. “Oh, okay. You want me to watch her?”
“I actually want you to feed her,” she countered.
He frowned. “Feed her?”
“It’s not that hard,” she said and reached for his Stetson, but he was faster. “She hates your hat.”
“I like my hat,” he said.
“You don’t need to wear it in the house while you’re feeding a baby,” she said and held out her hand for him to give her his hat.
“I’ll put it on the table in the foyer,” he said, lifting his hat from his head.
“Ah!” Emma called.
“Oops, better hurry. She’s getting impatient,” Coco said.
“Well, she can wait one minute,” he said.
“Not unless you want her to start screaming so much she can’t stop,” she said. “Gotta go,” she said, covering her ears as she ran to the upstairs bathroom. She wasn’t sure she could hear Emma’s screams at full blast and not respond.
She went into the bathroom closed the door behind her and turned on the fan. “La-la-la-la-la,” she said as she covered her ears, determined to prevent herself from hearing Emma’s screams. She continued for several moments then stopped her la-las. No baby shrieks pierced the sound of the fan. Giving in to her curiosity, she cut it off.
Still no sounds of alarm. Gingerly, she opened the bathroom door and listened. Silence greeted her. Coco felt a spurt of hope and tiptoed down the stairs.
“There ya go,” Benjamin said. “Another bite. You’re getting stronger. You’re a Garner. You’ve got to be ready for everything.”
Coco couldn’t help smiling at Benjamin’s words. When Emma gurgled, she had to cover her mouth to keep from giggling. She knew that sound signaled they were nearing the end of mealtime.
Peeking around the corner, she watched Emma give a huge raspberry, sending her latest bite of food and drool all over Benjamin’s shirt.
“Whoa,” he said and glanced down at his shirt. “What’s up with that?”
Emma shot him another raspberry. This time, he had the sense to back away. “You got some power with that,” he said, laughing as he wiped off his shirt with a napkin. “Do you do this every time you eat? It’s a wonder Coco hasn’t quit. I guess this means you’re done.”
He dabbed at her face with a napkin and she scowled and screeched at him. “Ah, you don’t like the cleanup. Well, that’s what happens when you’re messy. You gotta get clean.”
He wiped at her face and she screeched again.
Coco decided it was time to intervene. “I usually sing a song right now.”
He glanced at her. “Nice of you to show up.”
She bit her lip, but couldn’t conceal a smile. “Well, it looks like my timing is perfect. Seems that you two worked it out,” she said.
“Temporarily,” he said. “She sure can spit.”
“I try to cut it off before that point. Once she starts gurgling, it’s the beginning of the end.”
“What’s the magic song?” he asked.
“Wash your cheeks,” she sang in a soft voice. “Wash your mouth. Shine like a sparkly star. That’s what you are,” she said and tapped Emma on her nose. “A sparkly star.” Feeling sheepish, she shrugged. “I’m a triple threat with my deep lyrics, incredible vocal range and the ability to clean a baby’s face at the same time.”
“But can you dance and lasso cattle?”
“I don’t know. If I tried to lasso cattle, then it might look like I was dancing,” she said. “You want to pull her up from her high chair?”
He shot her a blank look. “Why would I want to do that?”
“Because she’s finished eating and needs to get out of her chair, and the two of you need to get used to each other,” she said.
Benjamin sighed and she noticed that his eye twitched slightly, but he unfastened Emma from the high chair and picked her up in his arms. The baby stared at him for a moment, then looked away and started making babbling noises.
Benjamin glanced at Coco. “What does that mean?”
“She’s allowing you to carry her,” Coco said and couldn’t withhold a chuckle. Benjamin appeared as if he were carrying a live grenade and it would go off at any moment.
“What do I do now?”
“She’s probably due for a diaper change,” Coco said, goading him just a bit.
He shot her a dark glance. “I think the smashed pea shooting is enough for one day.”
“In that case, carry her upstairs and I’ll join you in a minute or two,” she said.
“What am I supposed to do for that minute or two?” he demanded.
“Bond with her.”
Benjamin groaned and walked into the hallway.
Coco cleaned up Emma’s messy high chair and counted to three hundred. Carefully, she crept up the stairs to stand outside the nursery. She heard Benjamin talking. Peeking inside, she saw Benjamin pick up one of Emma’s bunnies and move it from side to side in front of the baby.
Emma reached for the stuffed animal and squeezed it for a few seconds then dropped it.
“Oops,” Benjamin said, reaching down to scoop up the bunny. Emma reached for the bunny again and dropped it again. “Fickle little