for the kitchen. Russ sat on the sofa in the open living room, sipping on a drink, seemingly waiting for all this baby fuss to end so he could get on with his night.
“Not yet,” Jet said, trying to dismiss the vision of Russ and that blonde, seeming so cozy.
“Lily won’t take her bottle,” Doctor Grant told him, sounding concerned.
“Maybe she’s not hungry,” Russ answered, as if he knew something about babies. “A hungry baby will eat.”
“Where did you hear that?” Jet asked, but kept heading for the kitchen with Doctor Grant.
“I just made it up, but it sounds perfectly reasonable.”
Jet couldn’t help an eye roll. Fortunately, only Lily could see him, and when he gazed down at her, she seemed to appreciate the gesture as she sucked on her fist.
“Apparently you don’t know much about babies. According to Sheriff Wilson, they’re particular, especially if they’ve only been nursed. She may only accept a breast,” Doctor Grant told him, as she rinsed the other bottle, the one with a nipple that looked more like a woman’s breast.
“Then go find her one. There must be several women in this town who are nursing their babies.”
Doctor Grant stopped what she was doing and stared at Russ. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Well, what’s the alternative?”
“We have another bottle. It has a different nipple,” Jet said.
“And if that doesn’t work?”
“Pray that it does,” Doctor Grant said, her voice firm and filled with agitation. “Because if it doesn’t, we’re all in for a world of trouble.”
Lily began wailing again, louder than ever. Doctor Grant took the bottle from Jet and sped up the procedure.
Russ abruptly stood. “Well, I can see that the two of you have this covered, so I’m going to be on my way,” he shouted over Lily’s protest. “If you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call.”
“You’re leaving? Now?” Doctor Grant asked, as if his departure took her by surprise. Jet’s only surprise was that Russ hadn’t left when Lily first arrived.
“Sorry, baby, but I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow, especially if the snow keeps falling like it is,” Russ told Doctor Grant. “It proves my point that Sally Hickman isn’t fit to be mayor. When I’m the mayor there will be more than enough snowplows to keep our roads cleared.”
He shrugged into his coat that had hung on a hook by the door.
Doctor Grant handed Jet the new bottle, which she’d filled with the contents of the other bottle. Then she walked over to Russ. “But I thought we... I thought you and I...”
Then they disappeared out into her stairway, closing the door, leaving the sheriff to tend to the more important person in the room: baby Lily.
* * *
ONCE RUSS KNIGHTLY made up his mind about something, he was the type of man who couldn’t be budged...a trait that under normal circumstances, Coco admired...just not tonight.
He couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He’d left in such a hurry, she hadn’t even gotten the chance to kiss him goodbye before he was out the door and down the stairs.
“Are you sure you want to leave in all this snow? You might get stuck and have to walk back here, anyway,” she called after him from the open doorway, having followed him down to the front door of her clinic.
Without even turning around, he said, “I’ve got four-wheel drive, and a snowplow on the front of my truck. I can get through anything.”
And in the next few seconds he jumped into his oversize truck, turned over the ignition, lowered the plow and took off into the night.
She could have been upset as she closed the door, might have even thought that he’d been rude to leave so abruptly in the middle of things. She even could have decided that just maybe she might be dating the wrong man. But all she could focus on was the silence...the absolute and complete silence.
She quickly ascended the stairs to her apartment, wondering about baby Lily and worrying about the sheriff. Would he call the local hospital asking how to set up a volunteer nursing mom for Lily? Not that she knew exactly how that would work for an actual baby. She’d set it up for infant livestock before, but that was with the cooperation of local ranchers...
When she finally opened the door, somewhat out of breath from her rush to learn the truth, emotion gripped the back of her throat. She couldn’t help the tears that cascaded down her cheeks.
“Oh, my gosh! She’s taking it?” she whispered, fingers wiping her tears away. Seeing that tiny baby, eagerly drinking the bottle of formula, nestled in Sheriff Wilson’s strong arms, while he took up all the space on her tan-colored overstuffed chair, was almost more than Coco could take in. For all his bluster, Coco now knew he was warm and fuzzy on the inside.
And as a bonus, Punky had curled up at Sheriff Wilson’s feet, and aside from momentarily picking up his tiny head to watch Coco come back into the apartment, he seemed as though he wasn’t about to budge.
“Hope you don’t mind, but I let your dog out of the bathroom. I heard it whining so I figured it wanted out.”
“Meet Punky. And he usually doesn’t trust men. Did you give him a cookie or something?”
“Nope, just a little lovin’. He was lonely.”
Punky normally didn’t like strangers and tended to keep his distance. Heck, he didn’t even like Russ, so this was some sort of miracle to say the least.
She almost couldn’t believe what lay right before her eyes, and wondered if Russ could have been so gentle and loving with Lily if the sheriff hadn’t shown up. Maybe that accounted for Russ’s early retreat... He’d felt intimidated by the sheriff and would have been as compassionate if he’d only gotten the chance. Russ was a compassionate and caring man. He’d merely been in a hurry to beat the snow or he would be sitting in that very chair right now instead of the sheriff...who she had absolutely nothing in common with.
Except for baby Lily.
But other than that, they were as different as rain and sunshine.
“And what about Lily? Did you give her some lovin’, as well?”
“It was just a matter of getting everything lined up right. The little sweetheart here was hungry. That tummy of hers probably hurt, plus I think it took her a while to settle into not having her mama feeding her. I don’t want to speculate on why a woman gives up her baby, but whatever the reason, it sure is tough on the child.”
“That goes for animals, as well. They get depressed, sometimes to the point of not wanting to eat. Plus, they cry a lot.”
“Exactly like Lily.”
“Well, she’s not crying now.”
“She’s
