The Lawman's Baby. Patricia Johns
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the constellations she knew. But she could see only the brightest of the stars still visible. The mountains loomed like a black wall to the west, and she shivered as a gust of icy wind wormed its way against her neck.
Paige unlocked her car and got in. She turned the key and rubbed her hands together, then pressed them between her legs while the engine warmed up and the frost melted off her windows. Winter was coming—and soon enough the mountain snow would work its way down to them.
This really did feel like going to work, except for the casual dress, and she had to remind herself that this wasn’t. Not really. Mike had agreed to pay her a fair wage for the three weeks, but this wasn’t the job that had her heart in knots. This was a strange break—a newborn, a clueless guardian and a couple of weeks where she could put off making the biggest decision of her career. She sucked in a few deep breaths, counting four seconds in, holding it for four seconds and then releasing for four seconds. It helped to center herself in the moment.
“I’m fine,” she murmured to herself. “It’s early, and I’m tired, but I’m fine.”
Her phone dinged, and she looked down at an incoming text. It was from her friend Liv Hylton. She’d just gotten married and was both pregnant with her first child and running a successful bookstore in downtown Eagle’s Rest, but she’d made time to chat with Paige last night. For that Paige was grateful.
Speaking of new career ideas, ever think of running a day care? Eagle’s Rest could use one.
What were friends for, if not to help a girl brainstorm a whole new career? She was too young to call this a midlife crisis, but it was a crisis. She flicked on the heater in the car before she started texting back.
Not a bad idea actually. I’m looking forward to being a nanny for a few weeks. This baby is so adorable... 5 lbs of cute!
She was making light of things, as if a cute baby and three weeks with a ruggedly good-looking cop could solve her problems. They couldn’t, obviously, but neither could Liv, so Paige wouldn’t unload on her pregnant friend this morning. Paige might feel overwhelmed, but that was no reason to be a burden on her friends. She wasn’t even willing to call her brother this morning, and she and Nathan had always been close.
She tossed her phone onto the passenger side seat and put her car in Reverse. She didn’t want to be late.
Her phone pinged again, and Paige glanced at the incoming text from Liv.
The 250 lbs of cute can’t hurt, either.
“Har, har,” Paige said aloud, then chuckled as she backed out of her driveway. But Mike wasn’t quite the diversion from reality that Liv seemed to think.
The drive across town only took ten minutes, and most of that was stopping at empty intersections. This time of year, there were fewer tourists to clog the roads, but they still had the traffic lights that were so necessary in the busy season, and Paige seemed to hit every single red light. She stopped at the elementary school, the window already aglow this early, and then she stopped again at the corner with the laundromat and the diner. The next red light was by the bus station, and she watched a teenager sitting with a backpack inside the well-lit waiting area.
Going somewhere...alone. It sparked Paige’s instincts because she had dealt with a few runaways in her career. But then an older woman appeared at the girl’s side, handing her a can of pop and sitting down next to her. The light turned green, and Paige pressed on the gas again. Eagle’s Rest was her town, and she felt like one of the guardians here—keeping it safe and secure for everyone else.
When Paige pulled into Mike’s driveway, the sun had started to peer over the horizon, flooding the sky with pink, setting the snowcapped mountain peaks into a golden glow.
Lights shone from the windows of Mike’s little bungalow, and when she knocked on the side door, it opened almost instantly.
Mike stood in the doorway barefoot, Benjie wrapped in an afghan, his little eyes open wide and his downy hair standing up straight. Mike’s uniform shirt was unbuttoned and hung open, revealing a white undershirt beneath, and he looked like he’d had a rough night.
“Morning,” he said, stepping back. “Am I glad to see you.”
“How’d it go?” she asked. She closed the door behind her, then bent down to touch Benjie’s soft little cheek with the back of her finger.
“Long. He kept waking up hungry. Like, every hour.”
“I warned you,” she said. “That’s actually a good sign.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Mike yawned. “You want to hold him?”
“Sure.”
Mike eased the baby into Paige’s arms, and she looked down at Benjie with a smile. She smoothed a hand over his ruffled hair and sighed. This was soothing... She glanced up, expecting Mike to head back the bedroom to get ready for work, but instead he yawned again and opened the fridge.
“Have you eaten yet?” he asked over his shoulder.
“Not much,” she admitted.
“I fix a mean omelet,” he said. “Interested?”
“Will I make you late?” she asked.
“Nope, I’m cooking, anyway,” he said, pulling some ingredients from the fridge.
Paige peeked into the living room and spotted a few cloths strewn across the couch, three empty baby bottles sitting on a side table.
“How do you feel about me taking Benjie out today?” Paige asked. “I might want to go out for lunch or something. Are you comfortable with that?”
“Sure.” He glanced over his shoulder. “That’s not daunting for you?”
“Not really,” she said.
He turned back to the stove. “You weren’t the one up all night.”
“You could have called,” she said. “I actually expected you to.”
“Nah.” He stifled a yawn. “I’ve got to soldier through, right?”
Paige headed for the coffeemaker. “How do you take your coffee?”
“Black. Why?”
She poured a mug and slid it across the counter toward him. “Drink up.”
Mike accepted it without another word and gingerly took a sip.
“Here,” she said. “Take the baby. Drink your coffee. I’ll make breakfast.”
“It’s my home, I feel like I should do the cooking,” he said.
“This is also your baby, and I think he needs a change,” she retorted with a grin.
Mike chuckled. “Just you wait until I’m all the way awake.”
But he did as she asked, and took the baby from her arms. He blew on the coffee, took another sip, then headed into the living room. Paige started sautéing some mushrooms and onions for the omelets, and for a few minutes there was nothing but the hiss of frying food.
“There you go, buddy...” she could hear Mike say from the other room. “You’re awake now, aren’t you? Well, I’m not. No one lets me nap like they do for you. You could get away with murder because you’re smaller than a loaf of bread. I’m bigger than a loaf of bread, so there’s more judgment there.”
She couldn’t help but smile as she listened to Mike talk to the baby. He didn’t seem to have the regular baby talk that most people used on infants. His was earnest and logical...and he sounded exhausted.
By the time Paige poured the egg mixture into the pan, Mike emerged into the kitchen, the baby in one arm and wheeling the bassinet ahead of him.
“Almost done,” she said.
Mike laid Benjie in the bassinet, then straightened, stretching his shoulders