Their first half-hour together went smoothly, but shortly after, everything went to hell. At the ninety minute mark, Cody was crying like it was an Olympic sport and he was in gold metal contention. Whimpers and sniffles interspersed with endless minutes of all out screaming. His little face was red and blotchy, and clear boogers flowed freely from his nose. Each time she wiped his upper lip clean, he cried harder.
She closed her eyes as she held the wailing baby and swayed back and forth. Anything to relieve the pounding in her head keeping sync with each piercing cry. She’d fed him as Britt had instructed, changed his diaper, and then tried to lay him down.
Only he was having none of it. She’d tried the rocking chair…she’d tried walking…rocking while walking—and anything else she could think of. Nothing worked.
It was nearing seven-thirty, and she was on the verge of calling Britt, when cries became sniffles, then the occasional hiccup, and finally, the infant’s wet, spiked lashes began to droop.
Ah. Blessed silence.
Five minutes after he’d fallen asleep in her arms, she started for the stairs. Once he was in his crib, she was going to take some ibuprofen and make her rumbling stomach something to eat.
Her foot hit the third step when the ringing of the doorbell startled both her and the sleeping infant. His little arms and legs jerked, and his face scrunched up as he began to wail again.
Shoulders sagging, she turned for the door, fighting the overwhelming urge to cry herself as her headache intensified.
She rocked Cody while glancing out the long, narrow side window to see who was on the other side of the door.
Dean?
His gaze was focused on the ranch yard and horse-dotted pastures beyond, but she’d recognize his profile anywhere. He turned back toward the house, and her stomach flip-flopped as she unlocked the door and swung it open. When he saw her, his polite smile widened for a moment, then faded at the sight of the crying baby.
She rocked from one foot to the other and raised her voice above the noise. “Hey.”
“Hi.” His gaze lifted from the baby and fixed on her face. Or more accurately, on the bruise that’d spread and now included a black and blue eye.
The warm spring air of the day had quickly cooled after the sunset, so she moved aside and took a step back. “Come on in.”
As he passed through the doorway, she swept her gaze over his attire. The man wore nice jeans and a tan, printed T-shirt under a darker brown sport coat and still managed to look classy. She, on the other hand, had tucked loose strands from her ponytail behind her ears more than once, and was wearing old, ripped jeans and a sweatshirt.
Nothing she could do about it now. Biting back a sigh, she shut the door and turned to face him. “What are you doing here? How’d you even know where I was?”
“You’d mentioned the ranch last night, so I looked it up.”
“But…Liz said you guys had a business dinner tonight.”
“I didn’t feel like going.” He shrugged as his attention dropped to Cody again. “Liz and Mike can represent the company just fine without me. Is he okay?”
She nodded, then released a huff of suppressed frustration. “I don’t know, I think so. Britt and Joel left over an hour ago, and he hasn’t stopped crying since I fed him. Well, actually, he had started to fall asleep, but then you rang the doorbell.”
He grimaced. “Sorry.”
She shrugged again and walked into the living room, trying to rock and soothe the infant at the same time. Unfortunately, even she could hear the tension in her voice, and she certainly felt it in her shoulders.
Dean took off his coat and laid it on the back of the couch before coming to stand in front of her. “Give him here.”
She paused to glance up at him. With him wearing shoes and her in socks, their height difference was more pronounced than ever. At the cessation of movement, Cody turned it up a notch, prompting her to start rocking again.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“Just let me help.”
“I don’t know.”
Arms spread out from his sides, he bent his knees to meet her gaze. “Trust me, okay?”
She glanced down at the red-faced infant once more, then gingerly handed him over while cautioning Dean to support his head.
He didn’t reply because he was already talking in a low, soothing voice as he comfortably cradled the tiny little boy against his broad chest. Slow, measured steps carried him once around the room, then twice. By then, Cody had quieted to sniffles and stared up at the man holding him in wide-eyed wonder.