A Buckhorn Baby by Lori Foster

Author:Lori Foster
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2017-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

ONCE IN THE middle of the night, June awoke. She didn’t fuss overly, and Noel was able to walk her around the house until she drifted off again.

But he couldn’t hold her away from him without her protesting.

Fearing she’d wake Amber, he finally drew her close to his chest. Snuggling in, the baby idly touched his jaw, sleepily exploring his face. At one point she got her tiny fingers inside the neck of his shirt, tangling them in his chest hair. When she tugged, he quickly readjusted her. Little by little, her big blue eyes went drowsy and finally closed. Trustingly, her body went limp, her head slumped over his arm.

So tiny, he thought, studying her parted lips, the teensy button nose, the long lashes and round, rosy cheeks. She was so soft and she smelled indescribably good. Carefully, Noel touched his nose to her hair.

When he thought of what she’d lost, he wanted to hold her close and promise her everything would be okay. But she had Amber, and knowing Amber as he did, he trusted that she’d somehow make it okay.

His gaze shifted to where she’d passed out on the couch. She was every bit as boneless as June Bug.

Earlier when she’d whispered his name, he’d played possum. He didn’t want to leave her and figured she wouldn’t wake him.

Yet he hadn’t slept. Instead, on every level, he’d been aware of her, the quietness of her barefoot walk, the heat of her cobalt gaze, that iron will to do what she could, the best that she could, regardless of the odds or obstructions.

He didn’t need Amber to give him the nitty-gritty details to know what had happened.

She’d been a rock.

He imagined the grief of Peggy’s parents, and without a single doubt he knew Amber had shouldered as much as she could to spare them.

She would have given comfort, but had she received any?

Amber wasn’t a woman to give in to tears...except that she had cried in the shower. Her puffy eyes proved it.

That had to mean she trusted him, and at the moment, her trust felt like an enormous gift.

At the very least, he could be here for her now to help with the transition. Tomorrow she’d have her whole family pitching in.

How would Rookie feel about a baby? Given the size of Amber’s family, he already knew that the dog loved kids, but he was used to it just being him and Amber at home.

Wondering about it, Noel gently returned June to the playpen.

Amber hadn’t stirred.

Maybe, his thoughts continued, that was where he could help out, spending more time with the dog, taking him to the park and for walks so Rookie could gradually get used to June. That’d take him away from her family’s prying eyes, and also keep him out of contact with the baby.

Curled up on her side at one end of the couch, using the armrest like a pillow, Amber had drawn her long legs close to her chest. It was a protective posture, one that showed a vulnerability she’d never share while awake.

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