open the door—” the young woman pointed to the side closest to the infant seat “—I’ll strap your little guy into his seat for you,” she offered.
Relieved, Eli immediately swung the rear door open for the nurse. “I’d really appreciate that. Thanks,” he told her heartily.
“Nothing to it.” With a nod in his direction, the nurse turned her attention to the baby in her patient’s arms. “If you’re lucky,” she said to Kasey as she eased the infant from her arms, “he’ll just sleep right through this.”
Cooing softly to the baby that Kasey had just released, the nurse leaned into the Jeep’s backseat and very deftly strapped Wayne Eli Stonestreet in for his very first car ride. Eli moved closer, watching her every move intently and memorizing them.
“You’re all set,” the young woman announced, stepping back onto the curb and behind the wheelchair. She took hold of the two handlebars in the back. “Time to get you into your seat, too,” she told Kasey.
Eli offered Kasey his hand as she began to stand. Feeling slightly wobbly on her feet, Kasey flushed. “I didn’t think I was going to feel this weak,” she protested, annoyed. “After all, it’s been three days. I should be stronger by now.”
“You will be,” Eli assured her. Getting her into the front passenger seat, he paused to thank the nurse again. The latter, holding on to the back of the wheelchair, was all set to leave. Eli flashed her a grateful smile. “Thanks for your help with the baby. I figure it’s going to take me a while before I get good at all this.”
The nurse released the brakes on either side of the wheelchair. “It won’t take as long as you might think,” she told him. “It’ll all become second nature to you in a blink of an eye. Before you know it, you’ll be doing all that and more in your sleep.” She smiled as she nodded toward the back of the Jeep. “These little guys have a habit of bringing out the very best in their parents.”
He was about to correct the woman, telling her that he wasn’t Wayne’s father, but the nurse had already turned on her heel and was quickly propelling the wheelchair in front of her, intent on going back and returning the wheelchair to its proper place. Calling after her wasn’t worth the effort.
And besides, he had to admit that, deep down, he really liked the idea of being mistaken for Wayne’s father, liked the way someone thinking that he and Kasey were actually a family made him feel.
You’re too old to be playing make-believe like this, he upbraided himself. Still, the thought of their being an actual family lingered a while longer.
As did his smile.
With his passengers both in the Jeep and safely secured, Eli hurried around the front of his vehicle and slid in behind the steering wheel. A minute later the engine revved and he was pulling away from the curb, beginning the fifty-mile trip to Forever. More specifically, to the small ranch that was just on the outskirts of that town.
His ranch, he thought, savoring the burst of pride he felt each time he thought of the place. He was full of all sorts of big plans for it. Plans that were within his control to implement.
Unlike other things.
Because he didn’t want to disturb the baby, Eli had left the radio off. Consequently, they drove in silence for a while. There was a time that Kasey had been exceedingly talkative and exuberant, but right now she was quiet. Almost eerily so. He wondered if it was best just to leave her to her thoughts, or should he get her talking, just in case the thoughts she was having centered around Hollis and her present chaotic state of affairs.
If it was the latter, he decided that he needed to raise up her spirits a little, although what method to use eluded him at the moment.
It hadn’t always been this way. There was a time when he’d known just what to do, what to say to make her laugh and forget about whatever it was that was bothering her. Back then, it usually had something to do with her verbally abusive father, who only grew more so when he drank.
Eli was about to say something about the baby—he figured that it was best to break the ice with a nice, safe topic—when Kasey suddenly spoke up.
It wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear.
“I can’t let you do this,” she told him abruptly, feeling woven about each word.
“Do what?” he asked. The blanket statement was rather vague, although, in his gut, he had a feeling he knew what she was referring to. Still, he decided to play dumb as he stalled. “Drive you?” he guessed.
“No, have me stay at your ranch with the baby.” She turned in her seat to face him. “I can’t put you out like that.”
“Put me out?” he repeated with a dismissive laugh. “You’re not putting me out, Kasey, you’re doing me a favor.”
She looked at him, unconvinced and just a little confused. “How is my staying at your place with a crying newborn doing you a favor?”
“Well, you might remember that I grew up with four brothers and a sister,” he began, stating a fact tongue-in-cheek since he knew damn well that she knew. Growing up, she’d all but adopted his family, preferring them to her own. “That made for pretty much a full house, and there was always noise. An awful lot of noise,” he emphasized. “When I got a chance to get my own place, I figured that all that peace and quiet would be like finally reaching heaven.”
He paused for a second, looking for the right words, then decided just to trust his instincts. Kasey would understand. “Well, it wasn’t. After living with all that noise going on all the time, the quiet got on my nerves. I found that I kind of missed all that noise. Missed the sound of someone else living in the place besides me,” he emphasized. “Having you and Wayne staying with me will help fill up the quiet. So you see,” he concluded, “you’re really doing me a favor.
“Besides,” he continued. “What kind of a friend would I be, turning my back on you at a time like this when you really need someone?”
“A friend with a life of his own,” she answered matter-of-factly.
“You’re right,” he replied with a nod of his head. “It is my life. And that means I get to choose who I want to have in it.” He looked into his rearview mirror, angling it so that he could catch a glimpse of the sleeping infant in the backseat. “And I choose Wayne. Since he’s too little to come to stay with me by himself, I guess that means that I have to choose you, too, to carry him around until he can walk on his own power,” he concluded with a straight face.
Repositioning the mirror back to its original position, he glanced toward Kasey. She hadn’t said anything in response. And then he saw why. Was he to blame for that? “Hey, are you crying?”
Caught, she had no choice but to nod. Avoiding his eyes, she said evasively, “My hormones are all over the map right now. The doctor who delivered Wayne said it’s because I gave birth, but it’s supposed to pass eventually.”
She was lying about the cause behind the tears and he knew it. He could always tell when she was evading the truth. But for the time being, he said nothing, allowing her to have her excuse so that she could have something to hide behind. It was enough that he knew the tears she was crying were tears of relief.
Shifting and taking one hand off the steering wheel, he reached into his side
