a princess,” he said, with a hint of horror in his eyes.
Coco scoffed and jiggled Emma as she fussed at the sight of Benjamin. “Oh, that’s ridiculous. I’m no princess, that’s for sure. I’m sure there’s no inheritance for me. They would have mentioned that right off the bat,” she said and took in his doubtful expression. “Wouldn’t they? After all, I’m illegitimate. They’ve probably got all that sort of thing covered. I can’t believe Edward was the first man in the Devereau family to spread his seed. I mean, some men just can’t keep it zipped and—”
She stopped when she realized Benjamin might construe her words as criticism of him. “I mean, he fathered, or sired, eight children. That’s different than one or two or—”
“It’s okay. Let me know when you want to get in touch with the Devereaux,” he said.
“When?” she said. “That will never happen. They don’t really want me. Their father never wanted me, either.” She suddenly felt vulnerable because she’d been so sure before that she was alone in the world. She’d coached herself to believe that she would be okay. Now she could hardly believe what she’d just been told—at the same time, she sensed that her newfound family wouldn’t welcome her. “I have enough going on in my life. I don’t need to—”
“You’ll change your mind,” he said.
She scowled at him. “You can’t know that.”
He hooked his thumbs in his pockets. “I know you will. At some point, at some time, you’re going to want to meet those brothers and sisters. Anyone would want to know their relatives, especially if they thought they had none. I would,” he said.
“Would you?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’ve got three brothers. Two in town and one up in Claytor Junction, Colorado. They’ve always been important to me. More so after my dad died and my mom took off for Costa Rica.”
“Costa Rica?” she echoed.
Benjamin shrugged. “Mom always wanted to travel. Except for a few vacations, she just waited until after my dad died to do most of it. It’s her way, she’s running. One day, she’ll stop.”
Coco gnawed the inside of her lip. “You don’t resent her? Don’t you wish she was here?”
Benjamin laughed. “Hell, no. She needed to go. My dad’s death was hard on her. I’m glad she had the guts to get out of town. Everyone has to mourn their loss in their own way.”
“Is that why you got involved with Brooke?”
He paused a long time then sighed. “Maybe. I had to be strong for a while there. None of my brothers wanted to take over the ranch and it was going to be a big job.”
“Why didn’t they want to help?” she asked.
“They don’t have ranching blood in them. One is a lawyer in town. One is an investment specialist. The other’s a computer specialist. That left me,” he said.
“I don’t know much about ranching, but it looks like you’re doing a pretty good job.”
He cracked a half grin. “Thanks. I am doing a pretty good job.”
Emma made an unhappy sound. “And if I can get my daughter to stop crying every time she sees me, I’ll be in good shape.”
“You can start by taking off that hat,” she said.
“I don’t know if that makes a difference,” he said.
“Give it a try,” she said.
Sighing, he removed his hat.
Emma stared at him in silence.
“I can’t believe it’s the damn hat,” he said.
The baby extended her hand out to his face.
“Lean closer,” Coco said.
He slid her a doubtful glance, but bowed his head toward the baby. Emma gave a disapproving growl. Yet, the baby extended her hand to Benjamin’s chin.
“Ah!” Emma said.
“Improvement,” Coco said, unable to withhold a trace of victory in her voice.
Enduring the baby’s probing strokes across his mouth and chin, he grimaced. “That’s a matter of opinion.”
“She’s not screaming,” Coco said.
“True,” he said, gumming at Emma’s tiny finger.
The baby’s eyes widened and she pulled back her hand.
“Don’t scare her,” Coco scolded.
“How ya’ doin’, darlin’?” he asked Emma.
Her rapt gaze held his and she waved her hand at his face. “Ah!”
“Ah!” he echoed and caught her hand within his. “You’re my girl. Don’t ever forget that,” he said and kissed her hand. “Ever,” he said.
Emma kicked her feet and stared into his eyes, but for the first time in forever, she didn’t scream. Maybe Coco was right. Maybe the hat had frightened her. More important, maybe Coco was right and he needed to chill and just love his child. That assignment could be a bit more difficult than he planned.
* * *
Over the next few days, Coco tried to ignore the new information she’d received about her birth family. Her birth parents had never wanted her. Her half brothers and sisters weren’t truly interested in her. If so, wouldn’t one of them have come to meet her? And what about her full brother? He apparently couldn’t give a flying fig about her existence.
The knowledge stung, but after her father had died, a part of Coco had always been fearful. One day, her mother would die. She knew that one day she would be all alone in the world. For a while she’d believed that was a long way off, but then her mother had gotten cancer and everything had gone downhill.
Staying with her mom during her last days had been the most important, yet the hardest thing she’d ever done. Coco had hoped it would give her peace, but since her mother had passed, she’d felt restless. She’d wake up in the middle of the night in a panic.
Taking the job with Benjamin and Emma had given her a strange sort of relief. Emma had immediately responded to her as if there were already a bond between the two of them. Even though Emma was jittery, there was a sense of calm to the daily routine. Although Emma screamed and cried, she also smiled and cuddled. Something about the baby soothed Coco’s sadness. She wanted to help heal Emma’s fear. In the short time she’d spent at the Garner ranch, she’d grown extremely protective of Emma and was determined to bring peace between the baby and her daddy.
At this point in her life, nothing else was more important.
Each hour, however, she felt herself grow a little more curious about the royal family. In her few spare moments, she checked out the Devereau family and Chantaine online. Most
