hands began filing in.
Amelia woke with a startled little sound when they were halfway up the stairs. After one quick gasp, she scrunched up her little face and let out an ear-piercing wail. By the time Ellie had reached the landing, Amelia had begun to cry in earnest.
Making soothing sounds, Ellie hurried to her room. Once there, she dropped the diapers on the bed and hurried to get Amelia out of the carrier. No amount of rocking or murmuring endearments would soothe her. But the instant Ellie pressed the baby bottle against her lips, Amelia latched on, drinking so fast she hiccupped.
“What a beautiful baby you are,” Ellie murmured, her heart full. “I’m so sorry your mama won’t get to see you grow up.”
Cradling Amelia while she finished her bottle, Ellie wondered at this newfound surge of maternal emotion. She hadn’t spent a lot of time around babies, and it amazed her how tiny this one seemed.
Once Amelia finished her bottle, Ellie burped her, again copying something she’d seen on television. Amelia let out a satisfied belch.
Ellie kicked off her shoes and climbed onto her bed, holding Amelia close. She propped up a pillow and leaned back, resting while she gently rocked her charge.
A few seconds later, Amelia had gone back to sleep. Smiling, Ellie watched her. Once, before her stalker, she’d settled into a sort of Bohemian existence working at a bookstore in Boulder. She’d had friends, she’d been happy, though she’d often felt like she was floating along through life. Her stalker had changed that, and the constant panic had forced her to go on the run. Now she’d landed here. She wasn’t sure why, especially since she’d always wanted to travel, but she hadn’t felt this content in a long time.
* * *
By the time the lunch hour was over, Theo had a newfound respect for the job of ranch cook. Since coming back home, he hadn’t had to do much, Mrs. Saul had worked in the kitchen for over twenty years. When the plump white-haired lady had come to him and announced she wanted to retire, the entire ranch was caught off guard. She’d promised to stay until he’d found someone to replace her, and so she had. The transition from Mrs. Saul to Ellie Parker had gone seamlessly.
One tiny baby and everything had been thrown off balance. That was okay, he told himself. Once Gram Dottie took over nanny duty, everything here would be right back on track. He’d just have to pitch in until then. At least he had plans. Big ones, actually. He just had to find the right stock to get his breeding program underway.
Most people didn’t realize that the majority of broncos in the rodeos were bred specifically for that role. The best buckers had good confirmation and breeding. Theo figured if he couldn’t ride ’em, he’d breed ’em.
Until then, he’d help out in whatever way he could, including cooking. The men had been surprised to see him in the kitchen, but they’d been hungry and dug into the chili. Theo had fixed himself a bowl, too, and taken a seat at the table in the other room to eat with them. All the talk was on the upcoming Tulsa State Fair and Rodeo in Oklahoma.
Pretending it didn’t bother him talking about something that had been his favorite activity in the world was something he had gotten better at. Theo laughed and joked, argued about who he thought was the best bull rider, hoping and praying they didn’t ask him about the bronc riders, whether saddle bronc or bareback. Bareback had been his sport, and even thinking about what he would be missing usually filled him with a brooding kind of anger.
Maybe they had heard this, or perhaps his hired cowboys had a lot of common sense, because bronc riding never came up.
Most of them had seconds, complimenting Theo on the chili. He smiled and told them to thank Ellie. No one asked about the baby, no doubt remembering the way the conversation had gone that morning.
Finally, one by one, they pushed back their chairs and headed out to get back to work. Relieved, Theo gathered up the dirty dishes, rinsed them off and put them in the dishwasher. He made sure the burner was off and left the pot on the stove to cool.
He made a quick call to a local alarm monitoring service and left a message on their answering machine asking for an appointment the next day to have motion detectors and whatever else came with a home alarm installed.
Someone called him back in two minutes, confirming the appointment for Monday afternoon. He imagined they didn’t get much business. Here in Dead River, the country folks rarely even bothered to lock their doors.
Theo had been the same. In the past. No longer. He planned to make sure the house was locked up tight each night before he went to bed. An alarm would be additional insurance. Whoever had broken in, whether he’d been after the baby or Ellie, wouldn’t be able to get in so easily next time.
As he tried to decide whether or not to take Ellie her lunch upstairs, his cell phone rang. The caller ID showed Gemma.
“Hey,” he answered. “I thought you weren’t going to call until after you got off work.”
“I wasn’t,” Gemma answered, sounding stressed and more upset than he’d ever heard her. “But Gram Dottie just came in.”
“Good. I told her to get her tail in there if she didn’t start feeling better.”
“Oh, Theo.” To his shock, he could tell his sister was on the verge of tears. “She walked in the front door, and then she collapsed. We’ve moved her back to the isolation area. The doctors think Gram Dottie has the same thing Mimi Rand had.”
Stunned, Theo wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. “What? I just talked to her and she didn’t sound that sick. Now you’re telling me... How is that even possible?”
“I don’t know. No one even knows what this disease is, never mind how it’s transmitted. Dr. Rand thinks it’s a virus. Either way, it’s not good. She’s in really bad shape, Theo.”
“I’m on my way down there,” he said, pacing the length of the kitchen. The rich smell of the chili now made him feel queasy.
“No. You can’t. There’s a reason we have the victims isolated. You can’t risk exposing yourself.”
“I don’t care about myself.” He swore. “You know how much Gram means to me.”
“We all feel that way,” Gemma said. “And you may not care about yourself, but you have to think of the baby. You can’t risk her.” She took a deep breath. “Right now you’d be denied entrance anyway. Only essential medical personnel are allowed in, and we have to put on protective-wear as a precaution.”
Theo cursed again. “How bad off is Gram?”
“Right now she’s stable.” Another shaky breath, the sound coming through as more of a warning than any words could be. “The CDC is sending a team. Flint knows this already, but they’re talking about a quarantine.”
Theo stopped pacing, trying to understand. “A quarantine? Of what, the clinic?”
“No. Dead River. The entire town.” And then Gemma, his normally unflappable sister, began to cry.
Theo did his best to console her, well aware she most likely hadn’t shared every detail
