Fortune's Secret Baby. Christyne Butler
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with those deep brown eyes of his.
Kelsey swallowed hard against the sudden lump lodged in her throat and pushed the words out of her mouth. “You’d be perfect for each other.”
Chapter Three
Cooper wasn’t interested in Kelsey’s sister.
Still, he wasn’t sure if that’s where the pretty horse trainer was going with her insistence yesterday that he and Jessica should meet. Heck, he’d been in a brain fog thanks to a lack of sleep and finding out the beautiful woman he’d seen on horseback was real and working right here at Molly’s Pride.
A woman who’d quickly put him in his place, he thought with a smile as he watched Anthony snoozing on a quilt in the middle of the living room floor.
After returning from the barn yesterday and thanking Isabella again for watching his son, he’d decided getting some sleep was more important than cleaning the house. It hadn’t been as easy as he thought. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Kelsey’s long dark hair or her pretty smile.
She’d been so easy to talk to and hadn’t seemed upset about his clumsy attempt at a line. He’d checked out her ring finger, happy to find it empty. He was even happier about her “no dating coworkers” rule. At least that cut down on the competition.
Because he was definitely interested in Kelsey.
So he’d smiled at the “hooking up with her sister” remark and headed back to the cottage. The rest of the day had been relatively uneventful, not counting the handful of phone calls from his siblings and cousins that had interrupted his nap. Obviously, they were all checking up on him. Later, he and Anthony had joined JR and Isabella for dinner. It wasn’t hard to get JR to talk about his ranching operations, and Cooper soon learned his cousin thought the world of Kelsey Hunt and her horse-training skills.
He also learned Kelsey lived in an apartment on the second floor of the stables.
Which was why he’d started today with a morning visit to Solo, although he told himself he was only taking Anthony to meet his best friend. The baby had been fascinated with the horse and all the sights and smells of the stables. Cooper held Anthony in his arms, pride filling his chest as the little boy clapped and giggled.
No sign of Kelsey though, so they’d returned home for another bottle and the baby’s midmorning nap. Cooper sat nearby, reading the chapter on helping your baby to learn to sit when the cell phone attached to his hip vibrated. He rose from the chair and went into the kitchen.
“Hello?”
“Cooper? It’s Lily Fortune.”
Lily was his Uncle William’s fiancée, but she was also a Fortune having been married to William’s cousin, Ryan, until his death years ago of brain cancer. William had lost his beloved wife a few years later, but now William and Lily had fallen in love and had planned to marry.
But William had disappeared on their wedding day.
“Hi, Lily.” He wondered how she got his phone number. “Is everything okay? Is it Uncle William?”
“Oh, no, sweetie, William is … fine. His memory and his emotional state, or lack thereof on both accounts, are the same.”
Lily’s unsteady voice filled his ear. She then paused to take in a deep breath before she continued. “He’s calmer now and seems more at home here on the ranch with each passing day.” She sounded calmer now herself. “I’m sorry if I worried you by calling.”
Cooper released the breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. “Ah, no, that’s fine. What’s up?”
“I heard about you moving out on your own with the baby, and I wondered if there was anything you needed? Is there anything I can do for you?”
Lily Fortune was an amazing woman. She ran the Double Crown Ranch and chaired numerous charities supported by the Fortune Foundation, all while doing her best to help the man she loved regain his memories—of his family, and the life they’d planned to live together.
He found himself wishing he’d been lucky enough to have this lady for a mother instead of the self-centered woman who probably had no idea that she had another grandchild living here in Red Rock.
“Thanks, but we’re doing fine.” Cooper peeked around the doorway to check on his son. “It’s a pretty steep learning curve, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.”
“Of course you are. I don’t have any doubt you’ll be a terrific father.”
Her words had him standing a bit taller. “Thank you, Lily. You know, I was planning to come out and visit the ranch soon, but Jeremy recommended we not overload William with too many visitors at once.”
“Oh, you’re welcome anytime. I can’t say for sure what kind of mood your uncle will be in. Sometimes he’s fine and other times he’s a bit cranky, but I think that’s frustration more than anything else.”
They spoke for a few more minutes, but then Anthony started to fuss. Cooper ended the call, having learned his son tended to wake up fast and loud.
“Easy there, partner.” He looked at the baby lying flat on his back, arms and legs flailing. “No need to get all excited.”
Anthony didn’t agree because he let loose a howling cry just as a knock sounded from the door.
Cooper picked him up and the smell and weight of Anthony’s diaper told him exactly why the kid was upset. “Whew, you stink!”
The knock came again, and he went to answer, mentally cringing as he hefted the baby into his arms, the diaper flattening against his forearm. He opened the door to find Kelsey standing on his front porch, wearing the same outfit he’d seen her in yesterday.
He appreciated the curves beneath her clingy T-shirt and snug-fitting jeans. A ball cap shaded her eyes and her hair was once again pulled up in a ponytail. He was suddenly struck with an urge to see her hair down around her shoulders. Naked shoulders would be even better, as she leaned over him—
A softly cleared throat caught his attention, and he noticed a pretty lady standing next to Kelsey. They looked so much alike, he knew instantly they were related. The three little kids with them told him she must be Kelsey’s sister.
Boy, she really was serious about her matchmaking.
He didn’t know if he should be amused or bothered that Kelsey had brought her widowed sister, kids in tow, over to meet him.
Had he been the only one to pick up on the instant connection they’d shared yesterday? A connection that had him opening up to a perfect stranger about how much his life had changed in the last month?
“Hey there. Hope we’re not catching you at a bad time,” Kelsey said, a smile gracing her kissable lips.
Yeah, perfect.
“Ah, no.” Cooper patted Anthony’s bottom lightly, sending tiny bursts of a foul odor into the air as if to punctuate where his priorities needed to lie. His nose wrinkled. “The little guy just woke from a nap and I was heading off to do diaper duty.”
“Don’t let us stop you,” the other woman said with a smile. “He’ll probably be happier once he’s clean and dry.”
“Well, come on in—” Cooper stepped back “—and make yourselves at home. I’ll be right back.”
He hustled to the baby’s room and laid a still-crying Anthony on the changing table. Replacing the messy diaper took longer than he planned. Boy, who knew a body as tiny as this could put out so much … stuff.
Finally done, he put a new one-piece sleeper on Anthony, noting the dwindling supply of baby wipes seemed to be in direct correlation to the dirty laundry filling the nearby hamper. Looked like a trip to the grocery store was next on his list.
Despite