When he returned to the kitchen, Marissa was sitting in the rocker with Autumn. While she fed the baby, he called his foreman, Rusty Bratton, to tell him that he wouldn’t see him today. They talked about ranch matters for a while and then David replaced the receiver.
“You’re not staying here to help me with Autumn, are you?” Marissa asked. “If you are, you don’t need to.”
“Nope.” He poured a cup of coffee and crossed the room to sit near them. He tried to keep from staring at Marissa, but he liked looking at her. Her hair was tied behind her head with a red ribbon, and he wanted to go untie the ribbon, and run his fingers through her silky hair.
She had put him off last week about a Saturday night date. He wasn’t going to let that happen again.
“I’m going to town, so give me a list of anything you need or anything I should get for Autumn,” he said.
“I’ll do that before you go. I’d like you to pick up a Chutes and Ladders board game if it’s convenient. My nephew Mitch will have his fourth birthday soon.”
“Sure, that’s an easy one,” he replied, still thinking more about running his hands through her hair than the day ahead of him. “Get your list. I’m going to make some phone calls before I go,” he said, and left the room before he did reach for her.
Less than an hour later, dressed in jeans, boots, a shearling jacket and a broad-brimmed Western hat, David left, glancing back over his shoulder to see Marissa standing at the window, holding Autumn close to her shoulder. She waved and he returned the wave.
In town after he had run his errands, David stopped by the hospital to talk to whomever was guarding Jane Doe. On Jane Doe’s floor, nurses passed David with soft steps while farther down the hall, a door wheezed shut. He saw a familiar jeans-clad figure at the end of the hall. Clint nodded in greeting and came toward David.
David shook hands with Clint. “I had to come into town and I thought I’d stop to see if there’s any change.”
“Nothing,” Clint replied, glancing at his watch. “Ryan will relieve me soon. And I talked to Alex and he still hasn’t come up with any significant leads on her identity or the money. The police don’t have anything on the missing persons list, either, that fits her description. No change. No progress.”
“Damn, that’s bad.”
“How’s the baby?” Clint asked.
“She’s fine. She likes her nanny and vice versa, so no problem there. So there’s nothing?”
“There was one little incident that might not have anything to do with Jane Doe,” Clint said, rocking back on his heels with his hands jammed into his pockets.
“What was that?” David asked.
“Ryan was on watch in the early hours of the morning today. He went to the pop machine and was out of sight of her door for maybe less than a minute because it’s right down there a few yards,” Clint said, pointing behind David. “When he stepped back into the hall, a man was almost to her door. When Ryan appeared, the guy turned and left in a hurry.” Clint shrugged. “It may mean something and it may have been sheer coincidence. Had it happened in the middle of the day, Ryan wouldn’t have thought anything of it.”
“If someone who’s searching for her has found where she is,” David said, “that’s not good news, either.”
“I agree with you, but we may be jumping to the wrong conclusion.”
“Under the circumstances, you guys take care,” David urged, glancing down the hall and seeing nurses and aides bustling in and out of hospital rooms. Two visitors strolled along the hall, looking at room numbers and disappearing into a room.
“We’ll be careful and we’ll keep watch over her,” Clint promised.
“Can I do anything?”
“Nothing besides taking care of the woman’s baby,” Clint replied. “That’s enough.”
“I’m heading back to the ranch now. I hope something changes here or someone learns something. Our Jane Doe didn’t just come out of a void. Someone must be searching for her. Someone must know her.”
“Yeah, there may be a lot of someones.”
David nodded and left, striding through the hospital and to his car with an uneasy feeling. The minute he stepped outside, he looked at his surroundings. His skin crawled as if he were being watched, yet he knew that was probably a foolish feeling. Still, his basic instincts about danger had protected him often in the past.
He sat behind the wheel of the car and waited, his gaze searching the hospital grounds and parking lot as he watched for anything unusual. People came and went in the most ordinary way. Finally he switched on the ignition and left.
It was late afternoon when David returned home. Marissa was in the family room on the floor changing Autumn, who was lying on a blanket. As David passed the open door, he called a greeting. His arms were ladened with boxes, and for a few minutes she could hear him making more trips to his car and returning with sacks. Then Marissa heard him talking to Gertie in the kitchen.
Finally he came into the room, his green gaze meeting hers with the force of a blow. She was breathless, staring at him, reacting to nothing more than his gaze, but that was enough. The navy sweater and jeans complemented his black hair, and made him look very sexy.
Knowing she shouldn’t stare, Marissa turned to pick up Autumn. When she did, David crossed the room to take the infant from her. “Let me hold her for a little while. I missed both of you,” he said quietly.
“Did you get all your errands run?” she asked him, trying to ignore his remark about missing her. She smoothed her pale blue T-shirt into her jeans and then caught him watching her.
“Yes, and I got that game you wanted for your nephew,” he said, mentioning the game she had on her list.
“I can’t believe that you never played it,” she said, recalling their discussion earlier. “You don’t know some of the basic kid stuff. You didn’t know Bo-Peep. What kind of childhood did you have?”
“Maybe not your run-of-the-mill nursery-rhyme-filled one,” he said lightly, “but I had a childhood.”
“I’m beginning to doubt it. I need to get Autumn a bottle,” Marissa said, and David walked with her to the kitchen, which was filled with enticing smells from Gertie’s afternoon cooking. Marissa’s appetite had taken a nosedive, brought on by a running current of excitement over being near David, a condition she wished she could control.
“I’m through now,” Gertie said, shedding her apron and getting her coat. “The table is set, everything is dished up and covered and ready. I’ll go, unless you have anything else you’d like done before I leave.”
To David’s amusement, Gertie said all this to Marissa without once glancing in his direction. How had Marissa become the boss in his kitchen when he had been in charge here for years now?
“No, thanks so much,” Marissa said. “Anything else that you want, David?”
“Oh, no. Thanks, Gertie. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
In seconds, she was gone, cold air wafting in from the door being opened. David stepped to the door to watch her walk to her house. He studied his surroundings until he was satisfied everything was safe.
Autumn stirred and Marissa took the baby from him.
“It’s time for her to eat. If you’re