The Bachelor's Baby. Teresa Southwick
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was the very good friend she had told Tucker about. She had been there for Casey through everything. Including the night she’d met Tucker and the night she’d given birth to his son. Beside her in the booth, Jason slept peacefully in his car seat, while his mother had lunch with his godmother. Casey smiled tenderly as she tucked the receiving blanket snugly around him, a protection against the air-conditioning.
“Define interfere” Kim said, not in the least intimidated.
Reluctantly Casey pulled her gaze from her son to her friend. “You sent Tucker to the condo and told him I’d been let go from the firm. I think that’s interfering. Since when do you break company rules and give out the home address of an employee?”
“Rule, schmule. It was vague verbal directions.”
“I’m serious, Kim.”
She sighed. “I know you are. And you deserve an explanation.”
Casey looked at her and waited. When one wasn’t forthcoming she said, “Well?”
“I’m thinking. Technically, since you were canned, I didn’t have to withhold your address. Besides, you and Tucker have a lot to talk about.”
“You said the same thing to me a year ago when I met him.”
“I was right, too. The two of you chattered like magpies all night.”
“If we’d stopped at that, I wouldn’t be in this bind now.”
Kim sighed. “I’ll never forgive myself for talking you into going to that bar with me. It’s just that I couldn’t stand to see you wasting the best years of your life staying home night after night with TV and books.”
“What happened is not your fault.”
“I know how you are about blue eyes and dimples. I should never have left you alone with him.”
“You stayed until two in the morning, until you could barely keep your eyes open. I refused to leave with you. That’s ancient history, Kim. I’ve got bigger problems now.”
“What?”
“He’s making noise about his legal rights. He wants me to move to his ranch with the baby.”
“Boy, howdy!”
Casey couldn’t tell if that remark was sympathetic to her plight, or encouraging her to accept Tucker’s offer. She decided the latter. Part of the reason their friendship had endured since high school was that opposites attract. Kim was a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants sort of gal; Casey planned her life step by step. Moving to his ranch was not one of the steps she intended to take.
“My job contacts are here, Kim. Jason’s pediatrician is here. You’re here.”
“I could be talked into going with you, if he’s got any more at home like him.”
“Be serious.”
“I am. Dead serious.”
“This is all about him and what he wants. He can’t just swagger in here and get things his own way.”
“Case, I’ve got news for you. Cowboys don’t swagger. They can’t really. It’s sort of physically impossible with those bow legs from riding horses. They sort of sashay—”
“Kim! You’re splitting hairs, and I don’t really care how he walks.”
“Yeah, and I’m Princess Di.”
The server deposited a tray littered with burgers and drinks. When they were alone again, Casey looked at her friend.
“I know it sounds like a wonderful adventure to you. But I’m not the sort of person who just picks up and moves at the drop of a hat—not even a cowboy hat.”
“Why not?”
Casey sighed. Kim wasn’t going to make this easy. Drawing in a big breath, she willed herself to patience. “There’s a term for it, maybe you’ve heard. It’s called cautious.”
“You’ve got to learn to be a risk taker, Case.”
“I’d need a personality transplant to do that. Besides, I’ve got Jason to think about.”
“Come on, you’re just throwing down stumbling blocks. Quit being so contrary. You can find a pediatrician near the ranch. Dr. Olsen may be able to give you a reference. You can send out your résumé from there just as easily as you can from here. And while you’re at it, you won’t have to worry about a roof over your head and food on the table.”
Casey thought about that and knew Kim was right. She had someone more important than herself to worry about. Jason. If not for him, she’d have told Tucker Smith to take a flying leap. She stared long and hard at the woman across from her, happily chewing and swallowing the last bite of her hamburger. “Do you stay awake nights thinking of ways to complicate my life? Or does playing devil’s advocate just come easily to you?”
Kim grinned. “What are friends for?”
It was damned irritating that her friend made such good sense.
That evening Jason fussed long after he should have gone to sleep for the night. Casey couldn’t quiet him. She’d tried walking him until her legs were ready to fall off, and had rocked him in the chair until she was dizzy. No dice. Even his baby swing didn’t produce the usual tranquilizing effect.
She was exhausted. Now that Tucker had dropped into her life again, sending her on an emotional roller coaster with his proposition, the baby’s crying put her on the verge of tears herself. It hadn’t been this bad since Jason’s first night home from the hospital.
“What’s the matter, big boy?” she asked as he wailed into her ear.
He wasn’t wet, hungry or sick. He didn’t have a fever, she’d taken his temperature.
“Are you so tired you just can’t sleep?” she asked, wishing he could tell her.
Should she put him down and let him cry it out? It tore at her heart to listen to him, but she didn’t know what else to do. In his crib, she put him on his tummy and patted his bottom. His crying increased in volume and he lifted his head, leaned to the side and rolled over on his back. Wet with tears, his little face was blotchy and red.
“Sweetie, I don’t know what you want. Is your tummy upset? What is it?”
The doorbell rang. Casey looked at her watch… 9:00 p.m. Who would stop by at this time of night? She glanced quickly at the sobbing baby, then ran to the front door.
When she opened it, she wasn’t really surprised to see Tucker standing there. He glanced at the doorway where the wailing was coming from, took one look at her face and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Jason’s been crying for an hour, and I can’t get him to stop. I don’t know what to do—” She put her fingertips to her mouth, stifling the sob that threatened.
“Let me look in on him,” he said, frowning. He set something on the entry way floor and followed Casey through the condo to the baby’s bedroom.
Tucker reached into the crib and picked Jason up, without any of the awkwardness he’d shown the first time. Putting the child up to his shoulder, he patted his back and walked around the room, speaking in a deep, soft, calm voice. Casey watched him, torn between gratitude that he was there to relieve her and guilt that she had nearly come apart under the stress.
After a few minutes the crying lessened to an occasional moist hiccup. Finally Jason was quiet, with his face nestled into Tucker’s neck.
He looked at her and whispered, “What now?”
With hand motions, Casey indicated he should put Jason in his bed. He did, and the child stirred and snorted. Tucker, rubbed his back for a minute or two and finally he was sound asleep. Tenderly he pulled the light blanket over the