to do the honors of changing his niece, he heard the door of the coat room open. “Thank God,” he muttered, hoping it was someone who knew more about the intricacies of a disposable diaper than he did. “Would you mind giving me a hand here?”
“Having a bit of a problem, Mr. Price?” a familiar female voice asked. Relieved that help had arrived, Brad couldn’t work up the slightest bit of irritation at the obvious humor in Abigail Langley’s tone.
Turning to find his lifelong nemesis standing just inside the door, a knowing smile curving her full coral lips, Brad released a frustrated breath. They had been rivals for as long as he could remember and for the past several months bitter opponents for the coveted office of president of the TCC. At any other time her perceptive expression would have no doubt had him grinding his teeth. At the moment, he couldn’t feel anything but gratitude.
“How are you at putting these things on a baby?” he asked, holding up the offending object.
Laughing, Abby hung up her coat. “Don’t tell me the mighty Bradford Price has run into a problem he can’t solve with his superior logic.”
Not at all surprised that she took the opportunity to make fun of him, he gave her a sarcastic smile. “Cute, Langley. Now will you get over here and help me out?”
She walked over to stand beside the plush sofa, where his niece lay nibbling on her toes as she stared happily up at them. “You don’t have the slightest clue what you’re doing, do you, Bradford?”
Her use of his given name never failed to cause a slow burn deep in his gut. He knew she was using it to taunt him, much as she had done when they were in school. But he couldn’t afford to retaliate. If he did she might not help him, and there was no point in denying the obvious anyway. They both knew he was in way over his head. Besides, arguing with her wouldn’t get him any closer to getting the damned diaper changed.
“Isn’t it apparent?” The familiar irritation he always felt when they were together had replaced his earlier relief at seeing her. “Now, are you going to help me or am I going to have to go in search of someone who will?”
“Of course I’ll change Sunnie,” she said, as she set down her purse and seated herself on the couch beside the baby. “But I’m not doing it to help you.” She tickled the baby’s rounded little tummy. “I’m doing it for this little angel.”
“Fine. Whatever.”
He didn’t care who Abby was doing it for, as long as his niece was changed and dry in time for him to make arrangements for someone to watch her while he gave his closing campaign speech to the TCC general membership. Then, when all of the candidates had finished speaking and were asked to leave the room for final comments from the members, he fully intended to take Sunnie home for a much-needed nap for both of them.
The day had barely begun and he was already exhausted. Taking care of a baby was proving to be a lot more work than he had anticipated. Aside from the feedings at the most god-awful hours of the day and night, there was so much to take along when they left the house, it was like moving.
“Why didn’t you leave the baby with your housekeeper?” Abby asked as she tucked her long, dark red hair behind her ears and reached for the diaper bag Juanita had packed before leaving on her trip.
“She got a call early this morning that her youngest daughter has been scheduled to have a Caesarian delivery tomorrow. She’s on her way up to Dallas to be there for the birth,” he answered, absently. “She won’t be back for a couple of weeks.”
Fascinated by Abby’s efficiency, he watched her line up baby wipes and powder, then lift Sunnie to place a white pad with pink bunnies on it beneath her. How did women automatically know what to do? Were women born with an extra gene that men didn’t have?
That had to be the reason, he decided. He and Abby were the same age, and up until Sunnie came into his life they had both been childless. Yet taking care of a baby seemed to come as naturally to Abby as drawing her next breath, while he was at a loss as to what he should do about everything.
In what Brad would judge to be record time, Abby had the old diaper off of Sunnie and the new one in place. “These are what you use to fasten the diaper around her.” She pointed to the tabs on the sides he hadn’t noticed before. “They are a softer version of Velcro so as not to scratch her tender skin. All you have to do is make sure it’s snug, but not too tight, then—”
Fascinated by the sound of her melodic voice and wondering why he suddenly found it so enchanting, it took a moment for Brad to realize Abby had stopped speaking. “What?”
“Pay attention, Price. You can’t be assured that someone will always be around to come to your rescue whenever Sunnie needs changing.”
“I am paying attention.” He had been listening—just not to the crash course on diapering a baby that Abby had been delivering. He wisely kept that bit of information to himself.
Looking doubtful, she asked, “What did I just tell you?”
Abby had to have the bluest eyes in Texas, he decided as she stared up at him expectantly. They were the color of the blue bonnets that grew wild in the spring, and Brad couldn’t help but wonder why he’d never before noticed how vibrant and expressive they were.
“Well, Mr. Price?” The diaper successfully changed, she picked up Sunnie and stood to face him. “Your niece and I are waiting.”
He cleared his throat as he tried to remember what she had said. But the sight of her holding Sunnie, tenderly pressing her lips to the baby’s soft cheek, was one Brad didn’t think he would ever forget, and he couldn’t for the life of him think of one single reason why he found it so compelling.
“Uh … well … let’s see.”
What the hell was wrong with him? Why all of a sudden was he having trouble concentrating? And why did his lapse of attention have to happen in front of her?
He never had problems focusing on a conversation. Why then, couldn’t he think of anything but how perfectly shaped Abby’s lips were and how soft they would feel on his skin?
“Get it snug. Fasten with Velcro. Avoid pinching tender skin,” he finally managed with no small effort. “Got it.” He gave himself a mental pat on the back for at least remembering that much.
“It took you that long to remember something this simple?” she asked, giving him an accusatory look. “Lucky guess.”
“Yup.” He shrugged. “But it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that I got it right.”
She shook her head. “You have to do better than that, Bradford. You can’t just guess. You have to learn how to do these things for her.” Abby slowly swayed side to side the way he’d seen many women do when they held a baby. “You’re her daddy now. You’ve got to step up to the plate and hit a home run on this. Sunnie is depending on you to know exactly what you’re doing and to do it when it needs to be done.”
Abby was right. At times he found the responsibility of adopting his late brother’s child and raising her as his own to be overwhelming. “Let me assure you, I’ll do whatever it takes to see that Sunnie has the best of everything, including the care she needs,” he said, irritated that she thought he would do anything less. “I think you know me well enough to realize that I never do anything halfway. When I commit to something,
