Page 74 of A Cowboy's Trust

Tansy’s uneasiness lingered far longer than the trip back to High Water. What were the chances two of their guests had stolen from each other?

ZenBaby made a strange noise for a moment, and Tansy tightened her grip on the wheel. She tapped the brakes lightly, but they seemed to engage. Still, not a good sign. Fine. She’d make an appointment for the poor thing at the shop ASAP.

She was just about at the ranch when her phone went off.

Tansy hit answer and sent it to hands-free mode. “Julia?”

“What are you up to this morning?” her friend asked.

“It’s Monday, so I was planning on going for a walk and maybe bugging my parents at the bookstore for a while. You need company?”

“Yup. There’s someone I want you to meet. Come over now.”

Julia hung up without a word of explanation.

Suspicions high, Tansy instantly contacted Petra. “Have you heard from Julia this morning?”

“Yes. I’ve been summoned.” The rush of voices in the background quieted slightly. “I was about to head over.”

“I’m turning into High Water right now. Jump in and we’ll go over together.”

Less than five minutes later, Petra was buckled up and Tansy laid rubber as she headed straight out to Red Boot ranch. “Julia’s either out of her mind with boredom or she had the baby.”

“We were over last night, and she never said a word,” Petra protested. “And we didn’t leave until after midnight.”

“A lot can happen in a few hours.”

Truer words had never been spoken. The sheer number of vehicles outside the small cabin Petra and Zach lived in was a dead giveaway that Tansy and Petra weren’t the only ones who had been called.

A slightly slimmer Julia answering the door with an armful of pink and blue blankets was the final answer. “Hey, you came.”

“Julia Sorenson, you take the cake.” Petra swooped in and hugged her tight. “Congrats. You look wonderful.”

“I feel wonderful, and I can see my toes again. It was a hard labour, but quick, thank God. I’ve already had a nap. This is Anneka, and one of you needs to take her because I need to pee.”

Which is how Tansy ended up with a newborn baby in her arms and laughter dancing on the air.

Thank goodness there were enough sound-minded adults around that one of them—Zach’s mother?—guided Tansy to a chair and got her settled. Which meant she got to examine tiny fingers and a wrinkled-up nose and tiny puckered lips without worrying about dropping her precious cargo.

Sydney settled on the arm beside her with Petra to her right.

“Pretty baby,” Sydney offered quietly.

“She’s beautiful.” Anneka wiggled, and Tansy tightened the bundling around her. “Did you do the delivery?”

“I did, little as I was needed.” Sydney offered a grin. “I think Zach’s been studying because when they called me at three a.m., he gave a complete report of dilation and contraction timing, and it wasn’t Julia’s doing because she was too busy swearing to answer the questions I asked.”

“My big brother always was an overachiever,” Petra offered dryly. “He caught the baby, didn’t he?”

“Absolutely. Best catcher positioning I’ve seen in a long time.” Sydney was still grinning. “Didn’t even twitch out of place when Julia started describing in graphic detail what she would do if he came near her in the next while even thinking about sex.”

Tansy snorted.

Petra made a vomiting noise. “Enough. It’s funny and all, but he is my brother, and ick on the sex talk.”

“You want to hold her?” Tansy asked, lifting Anneka toward her auntie.

“In a bit. You enjoy for now.” Petra glanced over her shoulder at the filled room. “Once you give her up, you won’t get her back for a while. Not with this horde.”