edged toward the basket to consider the contents, letting Heidi follow in her shadow.
Thankfully, Heidi reached around her and searched through the items. “I found one.” Her voice remained low, not wanting Colton to hear her. “And here’s a note.” She handed the piece of paper to Rebecca.
Her heart quivering, Rebecca unfolded the page.
I’m so glad there’s going to be an orphanage where my little boy can be safe. Please take good care of my darling. His name is Gabriel.
She pulled the baby close to her heart. The orphanage wasn’t ready, but she’d take care of this child until it was. But now she had Heidi and the baby in her care. And an orphanage with stalled construction. The baby cried and she jiggled it in a vain attempt to soothe it.
It was a lot to manage. She drew in her chin. But she would do it.
Chapter Two
Rebecca handed the note to Colton, felt his concern even before he read the words.
Heidi tugged at Rebecca’s arm. She bent to catch the child’s soft words. “What does it say?”
She told Heidi that the baby had been left behind.
Little Heidi’s big brown eyes filled with shock. “His mama and papa are gone? Are they dead?” Sorrow hollowed out each syllable.
“I don’t know what’s happened to them.” A number of possibilities came to mind, but none she wished to share with a ten-year-old, especially one who knew all too well the agony of losing her parents.
“Poor little baby.” Heidi reached out and tenderly stroked the tiny cheek.
The baby stopped crying long enough to swallow hard, then began again. He sounded so distressed that Rebecca’s heart threatened to weep in response.
Heidi offered her the diaper.
Rebecca simply stared.
“You want I should do it?” Heidi’s voice carried more eagerness than Rebecca had heard since shortly after they left New York. At that time Heidi had been full of hope for a new, loving family. But at every stop, people had seen her scarred face and turned away.
Perhaps helping care for the baby would ease Heidi’s hurt. “If you’d like.”
Heidi didn’t have any younger siblings, yet she knew what to do. Were some people born with that knowledge? If so, what was she born for? Her mother’s voice answered, Rebecca Gwendolyn Sterling, there is no greater privilege than to run a home, entertain guests and be an asset to your father’s station in life. And when you marry, provide the same for your husband.
The lessons she had learned about maintaining flawless etiquette, organizing superb dinner parties and dressing to the most fashionable degree were all well and good in New York, but here they proved utterly useless. She couldn’t help but wonder if those lessons were truly any more useful in the big city. Certainly her fiancé had found her lacking, despite her rigorous training to be a high-society hostess. She shoved the thought away. She’d vowed not to think about Oliver once she boarded the train on this trip.
At her father’s request—insistence, really—Rebecca had left New York two months ago with thirty children. As an agent under the auspices of the Orphan Salvation Society, she had assisted the late Mr. Arlington in placing children at the various towns in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. They had been on their way to Greenville—the final stop on their itinerary—when tragedy struck.
She tried to stop the horrifying memories from filling her mind, but they came with brilliant sharpness. The holdup of the train. The bandits making impossible demands. The children crying. The chaos that broke out when the thieves couldn’t open the safe and then the shock of a gunshot echoing through her head and heart. Her mouth still grew parched at the memory. Poor Mr. Arlington. His life ended a few miles from Evans Grove. But good had come even from the darkest of days, since the loss of Mr. Arlington had caused her and the children to settle—temporarily at first—in Evans Grove. If they’d gone to Greenville, most of the children would have ended up in Felix Baxter’s orphanage, farmed out for slave labor. Instead, nearly all the children had found good homes in Evans Grove. All but Heidi, who looked as happy as Rebecca had ever seen her with little Gabriel to care for.
Heidi spread a blanket on a clean board and indicated that Rebecca should put the baby down.
Colton moved closer, peering over Rebecca’s shoulder as Heidi tenderly folded back the quilt until the baby lay exposed in a white flannel gown.
Rebecca could not believe how tiny he was.
Colton whistled. “You ever see such a small baby?”
Heidi jerked back at his voice. She gave Rebecca a pleading glance before the baby’s cries drew her attention back to him. Rebecca let out a gust of air, thankful that Heidi hadn’t gone into hiding the way she often did with strangers.
She answered Colton’s question. “Never.” A fierce protectiveness filled her heart. She tore her gaze from the baby to Colton’s face and blinked at the way his green eyes glistened. As if he found the sight of the baby as incredible as she did. For a heartbeat she let herself share the sense of pleasure and possibility with him. Though she couldn’t have explained either if anyone asked.
She shifted her attention back to Heidi, carefully memorizing everything the child did. Rebecca might be inexperienced when it came to caring for babies, but she had proven over and over that she could learn new things very quickly. She’d learn how to care for this tiny newborn and provide for his every need.
Heidi put a dry diaper on the baby, then swaddled him in the quilt. She pulled at Rebecca’s skirt, urging her closer so she blocked Colton’s view. Then she sat cross-legged on the board, took the bottle from Rebecca’s hand and began to feed the baby. She indicated that Rebecca should lean closer and she did. “You have to wait until he stops crying so he won’t choke.”
Rebecca filed that information alongside the steps on changing the baby and swaddling him in a blanket. Then her brain raced with all the things she needed to do. “He’s going to need fresh milk. I’ll speak to Mr. Gavin about it. At the same time I’ll ask where the building supplies are. I’ll arrange for a crib or cradle to be put into our room at the hotel.” Somehow she’d care for the baby and oversee the orphanage construction at the same time. How hard could it be? She turned back to Colton to assure him that she could manage.
But she did not see approval in his face. She saw resistance. He opened his mouth, but she wouldn’t let him voice his argument. She might be a city girl, but she could handle a lot more than people gave her credit for.
“The orphanage should have been finished by now. That’s obviously what the mother of this little boy expected.” She tipped her head toward the note he still held. “As the person responsible for the building project, it’s only reasonable for me to care for him until he can be safely sheltered under this roof.” She indicated the building under construction.
He shook his head. “Not this baby.”
She stared at him. What did he mean? Was he suggesting that she wasn’t up to the challenge?
She tipped
