Love Inspired January 2016, Box Set 1 of 2 (5 page)

Once again her former attraction to him bubbled to the surface.

Then Chloe felt another flicker of nausea.

She pulled back, turned away from him, the feeling a stark reminder of the main reason she couldn't encourage him. Couldn't be with him.

The child she carried. The child conceived with her ex-husband.

CHAPTER FOUR

“H
ave you seen Vanessa this morning?” Mamie asked, beating some eggs in a bowl.

Grady looked up from the laptop he had propped on the eating bar of the kitchen. Ben had all the livestock records, all the bookkeeping, all the information on the Future Ranchers in files on the computer, and Grady had been poring over them in an attempt to get up to speed.

“No. I thought she was sleeping in.”

“I had to get something from the closet in her room and knocked on the door but when I opened it, there was no one in the room. Her bed was empty.” Mamie beat the eggs, the frown on her face clearly expressing her concern. “I'm glad we hired Chloe to help us.”

“I am, too.” Grady's thoughts skipped back to that moment last night in the nursery. Seeing Chloe standing by the crib, smiling down at Cody, had created a mixture of emotions he had a hard time processing. He knew he was attracted to her. And he sensed something building between them.

But all it took was one shift of his weight on his leg, one look at the crutch to remind him of the foolishness of letting these feelings take over. He wasn't the man he once was.

No. She deserved better than this.

Just as he made this resolution, she came into the kitchen, Cody cuddled up against her. The baby still wore his sleeper. He was rubbing his eyes, his rosy cheeks holding the imprint of one of his chubby hands, his blanket tucked under one arm.

Grady felt a warmth kindle in him at the sight.

Trouble was he knew it wasn't the sight of Cody that caused it, but the woman holding him.

“Good morning, Chloe,” he said, giving her a wary smile.

She just nodded at him, suddenly impersonal. Clearly he had stepped over some line she had drawn last night.

“Hey, sweetie.” Mamie reached for the boy, beaming at the sight of Cody holding out his arms to her in answer. “Did you have a good sleep?”

“He woke up once early this morning,” Chloe said. “I went to see what was wrong and Vanessa was in the nursery. I thought she was picking him up, but she just stood by his crib and then left. I found this on his night table when I got Cody this morning.” She tugged an envelope out of the back pocket of her blue jeans and handed it to him.

Grady frowned as he slit it open and pulled a single piece of paper out.

“Dear Stillwaters,” he read aloud. “I decided to leave. You were right. Cody's not my kid. But I'm guessing he is Grady's, because that's what you Stillwaters are like. Love 'em and leave 'em. Have a good life. Vanessa.”

“So why did she write that now?” Mamie asked, her fingers pressed against her lips.

Grady folded up the letter and put it in the envelope. “I told her that a simple DNA test could easily prove if she was the mother or not. I'm guessing she knew we would find out the truth.” He thought of the cruel things Vanessa had thrown at Chloe as she'd left, yet was thankful Chloe wouldn't have lingering doubts about his relationship with Vanessa.

But Chloe was filling up a bottle with formula for Cody and not paying attention to him. Clearly that moment he thought they had shared was over.

Not that he blamed her.

“When Cody is down for his morning nap, I thought we could start doing some therapy,” Chloe said to Grady, her entire focus on getting the milk into the bottle. Obviously the job required intense concentration.

“I need to talk to the kids this morning. Maddy Coles is coming to do some work with our horse trainer.”

Chloe gave him a sharp look. “Is Maddy the girl who Vanessa referred to?”

“Yes.” Grady ground out the single word, still angry at Vanessa's insinuations.

“Vanessa can be thoughtless,” Chloe said, screwing the lid on the baby bottle. “I don't think she always realizes what she is saying.”

“I can't believe you can defend her,” Grady said. “Especially after what she said about your father. Her comments were uncalled for and unkind.”

Chloe's gaze shot to his, the surprise in her eyes shifting to gratitude as she took Cody from his grandmother. “Thanks for that. Dad was... He had his difficulties.”

One of them being Vanessa's mother, Grady was sure. “Your father was a good man who had some bad things happen to him. And I should know. My father had his own issues after his injuries.”

“Thanks for understanding.” Chloe's smile wormed its way past his defenses.

“Did you want some breakfast, Chloe?” Mamie asked, dipping bread into the egg mixture. “I'm making French toast.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Chloe said. “I'll feed Cody and then I can help you.”

“You just sit down and take care of that little boy,” Mamie said, patting Cody on his cheek and giving Chloe a warm smile. “I'll take care of breakfast.”

Wasn't too hard to see that his grandmother liked Chloe, Grady thought. Most likely one of the reasons she'd hired her.

Against his will his mind returned to last night. To that brief connection he and Chloe had shared. And then to her sudden turn away from him. It was a vivid reminder of his situation.

He finished his breakfast and got up.

“I'm going out to the barn,” he said, balancing his plate and mug in one hand as he maneuvered past the table to the kitchen counter.

“Will you be coming back to the house later on?” Chloe asked.

“For lunch, maybe.” Grady knew she referred to the therapy she wanted to do. But he didn't want to spend more time with her than he had to. Didn't want to be reminded even more clearly of his shortcomings.

* * *

“Do you mind if I go out to the barns?” Chloe stood in the doorway of a small room just off the master bedroom where Mamie slept. The older woman was bent over a sewing machine sitting to one side of the room. She was making quilt squares from what Chloe could tell.

The older woman looked up and pushed her glasses back down on her nose. “No. That's not a problem.”

“Cody is down for his afternoon nap. He'll be good for at least two and a half hours.”

“Are you going to try to talk to Grady?”

“
Try
being the operative word,” Chloe said with a wry smile.

Mamie sat back in her chair and folded her arms over her chest. “I think you'll be able to charm him,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

“I was hoping to set up downstairs in the recreation room, if that was okay? I noticed some exercise equipment in there that I might be able to use.”

“That's fine. Do you need any other equipment for him?”

“Some mats and foam rollers once I do my own assessment. I've already spoken with Salma, the physical therapist at the hospital. She said she would be willing to rent some of what I need, if that's okay with you.”

“Whatever you need,” Mamie said with a wave of her hand. “You just let me know.”

“Thanks.” Chloe was about to leave when Mamie spoke up again.

“He's a good man,” Mamie said, her voice almost pleading. “I know the war has changed him. I know he feels less of a man than he was. He's pulled into himself, but deep down I know he's still the same honorable and loving man he was when he left. And you know that he and your stepsister were never...”

“I know and I understand,” Chloe said, holding up one hand to stop the dear woman's defense of her grandson. It was hard to listen to because she spoke Chloe's own thoughts aloud.

Last night, after she and Grady had shared that moment in the nursery, she had lain awake for too long, one hand resting on her stomach where her baby grew, the other on her chest to ease the sorrow in her heart.

“I want to ask another question,” Mamie said. “And you can say no if you're uncomfortable, but we'll be attending church tomorrow—”

“I'd love to come,” Chloe said.

“Wonderful.” Mamie gave her a bright smile, then turned back to her sewing.

Chloe grabbed a jacket and headed out the door. As she left the shelter of the porch, a chill wind snatched her breath away and tossed her hair around her face. She shivered and hurried down the path toward what she guessed was the horse barn.

Muted voices echoed down the long alleyway, her footfalls softened by the wooden floor. Chloe inhaled the scent of the barn, so familiar it created an ache. While her father had never been able to afford a facility such as this, the old barn they'd used for the horses had held the same smells—oil, leather, old wood and horses.

A horse nickered at her as she passed, poking its head over the top of a stall.

Chloe smiled at the mare, took a moment to pet her, then reluctantly left, following the voices to the end of the barn. She turned a corner to a large area that was roofed in but open to the weather.

Grady held the halter of a palomino, stroking its neck while a heavyset man with a shock of white hair was bent over one of the hooves he had tucked between his legs. Chloe recognized Saul Bateman, the local farrier and one-time friend of her father. The sight of him hurt. Though Saul and her father had been friends, Saul hadn't attended her father's funeral and she hadn't seen him until now.

A young girl—Maddy Coles, Chloe guessed—stood beside Saul, her head tilted to watch him work. She was small, slender with a darker complexion and black hair. A pair of earbuds dangled from a cord hanging out of the chest pocket of her worn denim jacket.

“You might want to put that fancy new iPod away before you drop it on the ground,” Grady was saying.

“Sorry, Mr. Stillwater,” she said with a shrug and a grin. “I don't want to lose it.”

“I still find it interesting that iPod and all that other stuff just showed up at your place,” Grady said. “Did you ever find out who brought it?”

Chloe stopped where she was, remembering the buzz about how Maddy's foster parents, Judd and Ann Derring, had received some cattle, farm equipment and some clothes for the children, as well as the iPod Maddy now tucked back into her pocket. Maybe Maddy would say something Chloe could pass on to Lucy.

“Not a clue,” Maddy said. “Though it was exciting. Timmy hasn't had his nose out of those books since he got them.”

“I think it's weird,” Saul commented as he dug into the hoof of the horse. “Weird and wrong to steal from people. Then to give other people gifts. Can't figure out why Lucy hasn't found whoever is doing it.”

“It can't be easy. It seems to be so random,” Grady added. He turned back to Saul. “So why don't you tell Maddy what you're doing, Saul?” Clearly Grady was done talking about the thefts and wanted to move on.

“Of course.” Saul shifted his weight to accommodate the sudden movement of the horse. “You need to make sure you get all the dirt and snow out of the hoof before we trim the hooves and then shoe them,” he said to Maddy. “We use this hoof pick for cleaning.”

The horse Grady held looked up and whickered at Chloe. Grady glanced back, frowning when he saw her. “Hey, you,” he said with a nod. “Cody sleeping?”

“Which is why I'm here,” she said, wishing his frown and dismissive attitude didn't bother her as much as they did. “I thought we'd get started on your exercises today.”

“I'm kind of busy right now,” he muttered, turning back to the horse.

Saul looked up and gave Chloe a half smile. “Hey, girl. How you doing?”

“I'm good.”

“I heard Vanessa is gone.”

“Yes.”

“I'm sorry about the funeral.”

Chloe only nodded her acknowledgment of Saul's comment. It had hurt that her father's old friend hadn't attended, but she suspected it had much to do with the falling out the two of them had had over his marrying Etta and the consequences thereof.

Saul had warned her father not to get involved with Etta Vane. But her father, lonely and grieving, had jumped too quickly into another relationship and cut Saul out of his life. “And I'm sorry,” he said, holding her gaze, his expression full of regret. “Sorry about your father. He didn't deserve what happened to him. That Etta woman was pure poison.”

“Well, Vanessa is gone and I doubt she'll be back,” Chloe said. “But for now I have work to do. Grady, are you able to come?” She didn't want to talk about her father and the circumstances of his life. He hadn't been all that happy in this life; she knew he was much happier now.

“I can hold Charger and watch Mr. Bateman work so you can go,” Maddy offered, her voice eager.

“It's okay. I'm fine,” Grady said. “Just keep going.”

Chloe tried hard not to sigh, but his reluctance to let her help him was annoying.

“I'm not going anywhere,” Chloe said.

“Great. You hold Charger still while I get the next horse.”

“Okay.” She took the halter rope and almost laughed at the surprise on his face. She wasn't leaving him alone until he agreed to start therapy.

“Fine. Then I'll get the next horse.”

“Sure. You do that.”

He frowned at her as if wondering if she was poking fun of him, which she was. He grabbed his crutch and headed out into the paddock.

“You taking care of Cody now?” Maddy asked, carefully digging at the hoof with the pick under Saul's tutelage. “I thought you worked at the hospital.”

“The job was only temporary and so Mrs. Stillwater offered me a job here.”

Maddy bent over and the earbuds of her iPod fell out of her pocket again. “Whoops,” she said, tucking them back in.

Chloe thought of Lucy's request to keep an eye on things at the ranch. “Have you received any other anonymous gifts?” she asked, hoping she sounded more casual than she felt.

“No. Just this stuff.” Maddy shrugged and buttoned the pocket this time. “Makes me feel kind of special and creeped out at the same time.”

“Have any of your friends at school gotten anything?”

“No.” Maddy grunted and dug at the hoof with her pick.