stepdaughter and daughter. The relief that moved through Emma was so strong it made her light-headed, as if she’d been out in the sun too long.
The heavy thud of boots sounded on the steps behind her and Jake Ross joined her. As they stepped into the dusty street, she started for the wagon, but he halted.
“Miz York, would you like something to drink before we head back?”
She hesitated, wondering if he realized the baby would have to come, too.
“Do you like lemonade? Pearl makes a good one.”
“Lemonade?” she asked in surprise. She loved lemonade, thought longingly of her mother’s. “Yes, I like it.”
“I’m thirsty and you probably are, too. Let’s have us a glass before we head back to the ranch.”
She supposed she could refuse and wait for him in the wagon, but lemonade… “All right.”
He gave a sharp nod and gestured to the right.
As they walked to the Pearl Restaurant, Emma wondered what his feelings toward the baby really were. She didn’t think she’d misread him, but she needed to be sure. She was no good at coaxing information out of people, but she wanted—needed—to know if Jake Ross was the one who should raise Molly.
As they stepped up on the plank walk in front of the restaurant, he stopped abruptly, calling out to a sturdy, red-haired man walking toward them. “Hoot!”
Emma halted beside Jake, keeping her head bent toward the baby. The fewer people who got a good look at her, the better.
The man stopped several inches away. “Jake. Ma’am.” He extended his hand. “Hoot Eckert.”
“This is Miz York, the baby’s nurse.”
“Hello,” she murmured, shaking his hand.
Eckert’s face was as round as his body and the red mustache and long sideburns gave him a jovial look. He peered at Molly. “So, this is the little girl you found.”
“Yeah,” Jake said. “I was wondering if you’d had any replies to that ad yet.”
Emma’s spine went to steel. This man ran the newspaper and Jake Ross was asking if a family had been found for Molly. Anger hummed through her.
“No, not yet. If I hear anything, I’ll come out to the Circle R or send Chesterene.”
“I’d appreciate it.” Jake shook hands with the man, who tipped his hat to her and walked on.
Emma didn’t know who Chesterene was and she didn’t care. All she cared about was the disappointment in Jake Ross’s taut voice that he was still responsible for Molly. Emma had to keep her mouth shut—the baby was supposed to be only a job to her.
The lanky rancher held open the door to the Pearl, his expression neutral until she passed in front of him with the baby. Then his face closed up like a coffin.
His reaction to the little girl was so obvious that Emma was unable to stop a flare of temper. “If you hadn’t found someone for the job, would you have sent Molly to that orphanage?”
Surprise flashed through his eyes before they went hard. Emma braced herself. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—do anything in front of these people. And, if he tried, she had her derringer in her skirt pocket.
Jaw clenched tight, he stood in the doorway of the restaurant, looking away. “I would’ve figured something out.”
What did that mean? Emma was afraid she knew. As much as she wanted to stay out of Jake Ross’s way, she had to find out if this was the place for her to leave her half sister. She had to learn as much about him as she could. Without giving away anything about herself.
If you hadn’t found someone for the job, would you have sent Molly to that orphanage? Damn if it was any of her business.
They’d left Whirlwind about an hour ago and that question had been sawing at Jake ever since. He wouldn’t have been able to send the kid there. Still, he didn’t like Emma York asking questions like that. She worked for him. She didn’t need to know any more than that.
But there was something about her. He couldn’t stop staring at her, though he’d managed to keep from it in Davis Lee’s office. The Pearl had been another matter. He’d ordered their lemonade and been surprised by Miz York’s reaction. She didn’t just like the sweet drink; she loved it. The first true smile he’d seen from her spread across her face and chased away the shadows in her eyes. And, just like that, Jake was staring again.
She wore a pink calico dress that hung a little loosely on her slender frame. Her long, dark hair was up today, not down as he’d seen it last night. As the wagon rocked along the hard-packed road toward the ranch, his mind seemed stuck on their meeting in the kitchen. The lamplight had gilded her hair with amber. He had wanted to touch the silky thickness. Because he still did, he tightened his grip on the reins.
Still, thinking about Emma York was a sight better than thinking about his brother-in-law, whom he’d glimpsed as they’d left town. Quentin hadn’t seen Jake and Jake hadn’t stopped to remedy that. He didn’t want to think about his brother-in-law so he turned his thoughts to the visit he’d paid to the sheriff.
He’d been planning to let Miz York go in alone to see Davis Lee, but she’d been trembling. There had been as much apprehension on her face as there had been embarrassment. As difficult as it had been for her to tell Jake about the theft of her corset, it had to be at least that hard to tell another man. No one at the ranch knew why he and the baby nurse had gone to Whirlwind. He didn’t see any reason to deepen her embarrassment by telling his family, who couldn’t do anything about it, anyway.
Knowing her corset had been stolen and observing how tightly she wrapped that shawl around herself had Jake figuring she didn’t have on a corset. Just as she hadn’t last night.
Coming upon her in the kitchen had torched something inside him, something he hadn’t felt in a lot of years. Bathed in the soft amber light, Emma York had looked like an angel. He hadn’t been able to see anything bare save her dainty feet, although that hadn’t stopped him wishing he had.
“The sheriff and his wife are good friends of yours?”
He sliced a look at her. She hadn’t said a word since they’d left town. Or, well, since they’d stopped a half mile back to make a pallet in the wagon bed for the baby, who’d fallen asleep. Miz York had held the child all day.
“Yeah, I’ve known Davis Lee my whole life. He and his brother, Riley. Miz Josie moved here only last fall. She’s a real nice lady.”
“Did she come here to marry the sheriff?”
Jake chuckled. “No. Those two danced around each other for a while on account of Miz Josie coming here to kill one of Davis Lee’s prisoners.”
“What?” The nurse’s jaw dropped.
Jake wasn’t much of a storyteller, but he seemed to hold her attention as he told her about Ian McDougal, the outlaw who had murdered Josie’s parents and fiancé. “He was part of a gang of brothers. They also killed a man from Whirlwind
