His Baby No Matter What by Melissa Senate

Author:Melissa Senate
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-08-09T17:39:18+00:00

Chapter Ten

The next day, Ava was in the kitchen stirring the pitcher of iced tea she’d made for lunch with Vivi and Maria when she heard a car coming up the drive.

The sound reminded her of the last time she’d heard a vehicle coming, going out to find Colt Dawson behind the wheel of his fancy black SUV. Asking questions. A question.

That felt like eons ago. But it had been just days.

She put on her down jacket and headed out to greet them, the alpacas in their pasture looking up at the sound of the doors and inching closer to the gate in case there was a treat coming.

“Of course we have treats for you girls!” Vivi called as she got out of the car, her shoulder-length red hair glowing in the afternoon sunshine. Ava would say she was in her late forties. “You think we’d come to our favorite alpaca ranch without apples and carrots?”

“We’ve missed you, darling gals,” Maria added, waving a baggie of treats. Maria was around sixty with a dark pixie and sparkling dark eyes behind red-frame glasses.

Aw. They were clearly such kind, warm women. Ava instantly felt bad that she hadn’t invited them before now.

As they all arrived at the fence, Maria asked, “Okay to give them a little love? Iris always let us spoil these darlings.”

Ava smiled. “Of course.”

Once the treats were chomped, Vivi and Maria looked around.

“Wow,” Vivi said. “The ranch looks so festive. We were oohing and ahhing as we came up the drive.”

“The wreath on the barn—so beautiful!” Maria said. “And the garland. With the snow on the ground and the roofs, it’s like a Christmas wonderland.”

“You’ve done an amazing job here, Ava,” Vivi added. “I can’t put my finger on it, but the entire place just looks refreshed.”

“I’ve been working hard,” Ava said. “But I admit I’m lucky that I’m bartering with a cowboy. He’s done a lot of repair work and got that giant wreath up there,” she added, pointing to the barn.

“I tell everyone—what every woman needs is a cowboy,” Maria said with a wink.

Ava laughed—though she absolutely agreed—and they headed inside.

Maria put her quiche Lorraine in the oven to heat up and Vivi gave them a peek of the pumpkin pie she’d made and Ava served the iced tea. They sat at the table, Maria’s dark eyes going straight to the baby bottles on the counter.

“Okay, call me nosy, but is there a baby here? I can’t resist a baby and I have six grandchildren—all under three.”

Ava grinned. “The bartering I mentioned? The cowboy is a widowed father. The baby is just four months and precious.”

“Oh gosh,” Vivi said. “Four months and lost his mama?”

Somehow, when these kind, warm, chatty women were talking about it, she suddenly saw the situation only from Ryder’s point of view, and her eyes welled with tears. “We’ve known each other a long time so we’re helping each other out. It is wonderful to have a baby in the house.”

Vivi patted her hand.

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