he’d looked as lost as he had in his vehicle the other day.
Emma took a sip from her vintage Rocky Mountain National Park mug that had been in her parents’ cupboard for as long as she could remember, the tea’s subtle undertones familiar and soothing. When her parents had purged and moved out of state, she hadn’t been able to let the childhood memory go. Along with a few others.
“We’ll figure it out, Gage. You’re not alone in this. Might feel like it, but you have people willing to help. You have a tribe over here. We’re not going to leave you hanging.”
The faintest smile touched his mouth. “Thanks. I appreciate that. It’s just...usually I know exactly what needs to be done, and I just...do it.” He reached for his tea, downing a swig as if the liquid could right all that had gone topsy-turvy in his life. “But this...”
But this time, he knew what he should do and he was fighting it. Emma got that. She had a little feistiness in her, too. Not as much as her sister, Mackenzie, but still. It was almost never easy to do the right thing. The thing God was asking for that was too big, too hard.
But she also believed Zeke must have had a reason for choosing Gage as the baby’s guardian.
She’d help Gage with Hudson because she wanted to. Because it only made sense for her to lend a hand. But she didn’t plan to admit to Gage that she had ulterior motives. She believed this baby could heal something in him that his ex-wife had broken.
Gage might view himself as a temporary guardian for Hudson, but if Emma had anything to say about it, this situation would be permanent.
Gage strode out of Rita’s house on Friday morning with Hudson strapped into a mobile car seat. He half expected the police to show up with guns blazing and accuse him of baby stealing.
Since he’d said yes to assuming temporary guardianship, things had progressed quickly. The past three days, he’d visited Hudson at Rita’s to get better acquainted with him.
Gage had known the boy since birth, but during recent months he’d only seen Zeke a handful of times and the baby twice.
Thankfully, the ranch foreman who had worked for Gage’s uncle had stayed after his passing. Along with the other cowboys, Ford had been covering for Gage’s absence this week. The man had given Gage a crash course in cattle ranching over the last two years. Without his coaching, Gage would have failed a thousand times over.
Thankfully Emma had also agreed to help him out today by coming with him to pick up Hudson. When he’d asked her to consider accompanying him, she’d answered, “What’s there to think about? Of course I will.”
Her giving heart made his resemble a lump of coal.
They’d already loaded the car with piles of Hudson’s things. Toys. Clothes. Gage had baby equipment he wouldn’t have a clue what to do with up to his ears and mashed against the windows of his Grand Cherokee.
He couldn’t believe he was doing this. Taking a baby home with him. But his name was on the paperwork, so here they went.
You’d think with how much he’d loved Zeke, this would be second nature for Gage. He should be saying things like, Of course I’ll take the baby. This is what Zeke chose and I want to honor my friend. But their friendship didn’t mean he was the right person for this.
Which made him wonder why he’d said yes when Zeke had asked him to take care of Hudson. It had been shortly after Leila had passed away from complications from childbirth. Sounded medieval, but it still happened on rare occasions. Zeke had been a mess. Obviously with good reason. Gage had simply been trying to reassure him, never thinking that one day a casual promise would turn into this. Never thinking that Zeke would be killed in a plane crash when his son was just nine months old.
Now, not only was he grieving the loss of his friend, he was supposed to fill his shoes in his son’s life? And how, exactly, would he do that?
At least he had help in the form of the cheerful, capable woman currently opening the back door of his vehicle.
Gage slid the car seat in, and Emma climbed in after, securing it while he went around to the driver’s side.
After some adjustments—making sure the seat was snug, removing their jackets for the drive and buckling themselves in—they were on the road. Emma sat in the back seat with Hudson, talking to him in that soothing tone of hers until he cooed back at her.
A few miles later, Emma announced that Hudson had fallen asleep.
“Good.” Nap time Gage could handle.
“It’s going to be okay, Gage. I promise this is all going to work out.”
He met her bright eyes in the rearview mirror. “You can’t promise that, Emma.”
“It’s not a me promise, it’s a God one. He works things together for good. Even the kind of mountains that don’t appear climbable.”
Gage wanted to tell her that Hudson wasn’t a mountain and ask if she could turn down her optimism for the day so he could just stay worried and distraught. But asking Emma not to be positive and hopeful would be like requesting she forgo the use of her limbs. It was as much a part of her as the blood pumping through her veins.
“I know this isn’t what you wanted for Hudson. And that you plan to find another, better—” Emma’s version of polite sarcasm laced the last word “—home for him, but in the meantime, while you’re keeping him, you need to want him, even if it’s only temporary. It’s important. Especially with how he’s being uprooted. Babies can sense more than we realize, and he’ll know if you’re only halfway in. So at least be committed for the time you have him. Please.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing.” Gage said it more for himself than in answer to Emma.
“You don’t have to. Just love him. The rest is gravy.”
Gravy. Emma made it sound so easy when it would be anything but. His hands strangled the steering wheel, then loosened. But Emma was right. Gage had been raised in a fantastic home with parents who thought he hung the moon. It did matter what Hudson felt over the next few days or weeks or however long this situation lasted until they found a more suitable family for him.
“You can do this, Gage.” Did Emma have a cheerleading background he’d somehow missed hearing about? Did the woman hoard pom-poms in her closet? She was full of confidence in him that was undeserved. He’d already botched a marriage and could so quickly and easily mess things up with Hudson.
“Did I say too much?” The mirror framed Emma’s face as it contorted with concern.
“No. I needed to hear it. Thanks.”
She beamed in answer, and her attractiveness ramped up to a level that caught Gage by surprise. Her lightest-shade-of-brown hair was up in a ponytail today, and she wore skinny jeans, Converse shoes, and a charcoal sweater with a jumbo-sized white heart on the front. Emma had a simplicity about her. An even-keeled nature. She reminded him of...homemade chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven. That’s the
