The Kentucky Cowboy's Baby. Heidi Hormel

spoon of the pink goop. His daughter quickly made her way through the yogurt.

      “Neither of you were burned. Good,” Pepper said as she walked into the kitchen, giving him a professional once-over glance. Silence filled the room. Both Faye and EllaJayne remained quiet as he and Pepper stared at each other. He couldn’t turn his head. Her honey-brown hair lay on her shoulders in damp whirls. The scrubs, shapeless on anyone else, highlighted her curves and showed off the length of her thigh. His gaze landed on her toes, the nails with their cheery flowers and neon color.

      He’d promised himself that he’d mend his cowboy ways now that he was a daddy. No more women, at least until he got the hang of being a father, which meant his next date would be around the time EllaJayne left for college.

      “Do you want me to make you breakfast?” Faye asked Pepper. Finally, AJ could look away.

      “I can’t be late today. Dr. Cortez is in.”

      “Oh, my,” Faye said and turned to dig in the refrigerator. “Okay. I’ll make breakfast for Arthur John.”

      He’d rather face Tornado the bull again. “I’m good, ma’am.”

      He quickly got himself and EllaJayne into the truck. He’d stop somewhere for food, maybe take donuts for Danny as payment for his advice. In town, he drove by the Angel Crossing Medical Clinic. Why couldn’t he have met Pepper six months ago, before Baby Girl, before his life had gone from fun to grinding responsibility? Six months ago, he’d have taken her out for dancing and drinks and then back to his room. Well, maybe. If he was honest with himself, those anonymous hotel rooms and buckle bunnies had lost their allure. He’d just not figured out what else to do with himself. Now he had a new life, whether he wanted it or not. No use crying over spilled moonshine because he had EllaJayne to care for and was stuck at Santa Faye Ranch. Once he sold the property, he’d have the cash to make sure Baby Girl stayed with him permanently. Of course, until that happened he needed to make money. He didn’t care how, really, just so long as it put bills in his pocket and it was legal. Okay, cowboy, he told himself. Saddle up and get to work.

Chapter Five

      Pepper got into her purple SUV to look in on a patient before hitting the clinic. Many of her patients had a standoffish attitude toward her, but she didn’t let that stop her from trying to win them over. It was better than when she’d started at the clinic three years ago. From the beginning Daddy Gene had been embraced by Angel Crossing, maybe because he’d leased parts of the property to local ranchers or because he’d been known on the rodeo circuit. She and Faye had never quite fit in, starting with Faye homeschooling her, then sending her to high school with lunches filled with tofu and homemade wheat bread. Between being an EMT after high school and now treating the town, the attitude had been changing. More slowly than she’d like, of course.

      After checking her patient, she had plenty of time to get to the clinic, which meant plenty of time to mull over her situation. She figured what she had to work on next was finding day care for AJ’s daughter. Could Faye watch the little girl? Probably, except her mother’s idea of child rearing and AJ’s didn’t seem to be in the same universe. Could Pepper watch EllaJayne? Exactly how would she explain that to the doctor who came to the clinic two times a week? It wouldn’t come to that. She’d find him a list of women to choose from.

      A caregiver by nature, she knew she’d have to make sure she didn’t allow herself to get drawn into AJ and his daughter’s troubles. And there was trouble there. A cowboy like him didn’t set off across country on his own with a toddler if there wasn’t some sad story. She’d become a PA to help people. It was why she’d put up the ranch for the grant to start the community garden in the first place.

      Even after withdrawing her application, in another three weeks, she’d have her first crop from the greenhouse and cold boxes. She already had plans on how to get the word out and who would get the first veggies. So many of her patients should be on assistance but were too proud. With fresh veggies and eventually fruit, everyone would win. She wanted chickens for eggs, too. First the garden...no, first was getting the ranch into her hands. Daddy Gene had meant for it to go to her and her mother. He’d told them that. His time had just been shorter than they’d all wished and he’d never changed his will. She had to believe he wouldn’t have been upset that she was going to fight AJ for the ranch.

      Could she just threaten to go to court? Her attorney seemed like a go-getter. AJ, with his drawl and cowboy swagger, wouldn’t know what hit him.

      “Knock, knock,” a woman’s voice said as the door opened. “I know you’re not officially open but...”

      “Not a problem. Come in, Lavonda.”

      “I wouldn’t be here for myself, but I live with a big stubborn Scot who is about to die from coughing. I think you saw him, didn’t you?”

      “Yes. And I told him if the cough didn’t clear up to come in.”

      “Silly you.” Lavonda Leigh Kincaid laughed. “I would think that you’ve dealt with enough cowboys to know the routine.”

      Lavonda was Mayor Danny Leigh’s sister, and newly wed to Professor of Archeology Jones Kincaid. She’d also taken over a company that provided guided tours of the Arizona desert. She’d been friendly with Pepper, explaining that women under the age of sixty in this town needed to bond together since there were so few of them.

      “The routine being that unless he can’t lift his head from where it hit the ground after he fell down, he’s fine?”

      “Something like that. Really, if you could just give me something strong enough to knock him out, he’d get better. He just needs to sleep for a couple of days.”

      “Let me write a prescription for cough syrup. It’s not fancy but it’ll work and better yet, it should make him drowsy. Keep him from driving, operating machinery, and so on while he’s taking this.”

      “Bless you.” Lavonda watched Pepper write up the prescription. “How are you doing?”

      “I didn’t catch whatever the professor has.”

      “That’s not what I meant. The memorial. The relative who inherited the ranch.”

      Pepper reminded herself that she really did love Angel Crossing even if the gossip mill would give the NSA a run for its money. “It’s been tough. But having the service... I don’t know. It...it gets better every day.”