The crying stopped abruptly, and both Tyler and Mamie turned to look at Eva. She felt their gazes resting on her like a ten-ton sledge. The sudden quiet was unnerving to all of them. Especially Eva. Because she’d done something unthinkable. The one thing she’d vowed never to do. She’d wrapped the baby up in his blanket, clasped him close against her heart and sang him a soft lullaby.
* * *
Tyler stared as Eva rocked the baby gently. The child stared up at her with wide eyes, seeming enraptured by her. She was singing softly, her voice high and sweet. A song Tyler remembered hearing his own mother sing on more than one occasion.
He couldn’t take his eyes off Eva. Long strands of her red hair swept past her shoulder and she tucked them back behind her ear. Afternoon sunlight streamed through the window, glinting off her auburn highlights. With her pristine skin and soft brown eyes, her profile looked delicate and petite. In fact, he couldn’t remember ever seeing a more beautiful woman.
“Why, Eva, I had no idea you knew how to calm an angry baby,” Miss Mamie said.
Eva looked up, her eyes filled with wary amazement. “I didn’t know it, either. I haven’t held a baby since I was a teenager.”
Mamie pursed her lips and gave a nod of satisfaction. “Well, that’s settled, then. We need a nanny, and you fit the bill. You’re hired.”
Eva’s mouth dropped open in stunned surprise. “What? But I...I can’t.”
“Of course you can,” Mamie said.
The baby began to fuss, and Eva started rocking again, back and forth. Cody immediately quieted. And something about her standing there snuggling the baby close against her chest pulled at Tyler’s heartstrings. Her delicate white hands looked so small and fragile against the blue blanket, yet so gentle and loving.
“You’re just what Cody needs. I can’t think of a better fit.” Mamie touched Tyler’s arm. “Come on, Dr. Grainger. I’ll walk you out.”
Before Eva could argue, Mamie turned and led Tyler toward the door. He reached for his hat and medical bag, carrying them in his left hand. Miss Mamie took his right arm, talking nonstop about Ben and Grady and how thrilled she was to have a new great-grandchild.
Tyler vaguely listened, his thoughts on Eva. She hadn’t said much, but he’d read volumes in her silence. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw her face flush pink. Her eyes looked wide and wary beneath her thick dark lashes. Her slender body vibrated with nervous energy. If he hadn’t known better, he would have said she was absolutely terrified by the thought of caring for the baby. Surely that was his imagination running wild. She was obviously a natural. And aside from crying in the evenings, Cody was an adorable little baby. But Tyler got the impression that Eva didn’t want to be anywhere near the child. He could see it in her tensed shoulders, in the way her gaze followed him to the door in an uncertain look of desperation. He had an overpowering urge to comfort her. To tell her she was doing fine and everything would be okay.
Ah, what was he thinking? Other than serving as the baby’s pediatrician, he didn’t want to get involved. He’d graduated high school with Ben and Grady Stillwater. They’d all been good friends, playing sports together, competing on the rodeo circuit. But Eva was a different matter entirely.
She was several years younger than he was. The twins’ tag-along cousin. In the past, Tyler had thought of her as nothing more than a baby sister. A nuisance he’d helped watch out for. After all, she’d been gangly and freckled and too silly for him to take seriously. Now for the first time, he saw her with different eyes. The years had matured her into a lovely woman he couldn’t ignore, no matter how much his heart still ached over his own recent loss.
Carrying the baby, Eva followed them outside and stood on the wide wraparound porch. Tyler had heard about her fiancé leaving her at the altar six months earlier. The whole town had been abuzz about it, but no one seemed to know why it’d happened. Eva apparently hadn’t said a word about it to anyone. They all assumed her fiancé had got cold feet. Or they’d had a fight. Or they’d realized they weren’t really in love. Lots of possible reasons, but Tyler wasn’t one to judge. After all, he’d been dumped himself, right before he’d moved to Little Horn a year earlier. His fiancée hadn’t wanted him to come here. She’d refused to understand that he had obligations and promises to keep. The local Lone Star Cowboy League had given him a hefty scholarship to go to medical school. In return he’d pledged to open a medical practice here for at least one year. It was a matter of honor for Tyler. Right or wrong, he’d given them his word and he couldn’t break it. Even if it meant losing the woman he’d planned to marry.
“Well, thanks for coming out,” Mamie said finally.
He inclined his head. “Anytime. I’m on call night or day.”
Mamie nodded and went back inside. Eva stood there holding the baby. Cody released a soft sigh of contentment, then made little sucking sounds with his rosebud lips.
Tyler met Eva’s eyes. A look of loss covered her face. A look of reluctant acceptance. As if she realized, whether she liked it or not, that Cody had chosen her. And she couldn’t turn her back on him no matter what.
“You gonna be okay?” Tyler asked her.
“Just dandy,” she said in a crisp tone.
Tyler almost smiled. He liked her spunk. She’d always been determined to do whatever he and her cousins did, sometimes with disastrous results. With no mother or siblings of her own, she’d clung to Ben and Grady like a little sister. And they’d let her. Because she was family. Because they loved her like their own.
Placing his hat on his head, Tyler stepped off the porch. “I’ll check back with you in a day or two to make sure Cody’s doing all right.”
She took a hesitant step toward him, as though she didn’t want him to leave. “Yes, please do.”
He caught a note of anxiety in her voice. She looked so sad and vulnerable, as though she wanted to be anywhere but here. But surely he imagined it. Most mature women loved holding a tiny baby. But not Eva. Not right now.
“Good night, then.” Tipping the brim of his hat, he crossed the yard and climbed into his truck, turned the key and put the vehicle into gear. As he pulled out of the gravel driveway, he knew one thing for sure. Eva did not want to be Cody’s nanny. And Tyler couldn’t help wondering why.
Eva didn’t sleep much that night. Aunt Mamie helped her move her things into the bedroom adjoining the nursery, but she tossed and turned, fretting that she wouldn’t hear the baby if he woke up. But she did, her eyes popping open wide the moment he began to fuss. Snatching up her bathrobe, she skedaddled for his room.
Peering at him in the darkness, she took a deep breath and tried to settle her nerves. Okay. What should she do first? His diaper. He might be wet and need changing. She hadn’t done it before, but no big deal. With only a small lamp to see what she was doing, she retrieved a disposable diaper, then copied what she’d watched her aunt Mamie do on numerous occasions. Everything went fine until the plastic tabs got stuck on her fingers. She fought with them for a moment, finally getting the diaper sealed in the right place. Hmm. Not bad.
Until she picked up the baby and the diaper fell off. Eva groaned and tried again. Cody just cooed at her and waved his arms, as though cheering her on. Finally she got the thing attached so it would stay put.
Once Cody was re-dressed she carried him to the kitchen. They’d installed little green night-lights in the hallways so they didn’t have to turn on every light in the house and wake up everyone. Martha Rose said the baby would go back to sleep easier if he didn’t have lots of stimuli.
Padding barefoot across the cool tiled floor, Eva opened the refrigerator and squinted at the bright light. She