Free Catch Me a Cowboy by Katie Lane Page B

who was more surprised.
    “Well,” she breathed as she leaned back against the pillows. “That wasn’t so hard.”
    Since Billy had grown up around plenty of children, he knew that peace was a fragile thing—kids were always just one poopy diaper or empty bottle away from chaos. Still, he kept this knowledge to himself.
    “So whose kids are these, anyway?” He moved over to the mattress and pushed the pig out of the way so he could sit down.
    “I don’t really know the woman. Her delinquent son, Jesse, is the only one who hangs around town much.” Ms. Dalton adjusted the bottle in the baby’s mouth.
    It was strange, but unlike most women he knew, Ms. Dalton didn’t cuddle the child close as she fed her. There was no cooing or brushing back the curly hair that fell over the little girl’s forehead. Instead she held the baby like she was a stray dog with fleas and stared at the doorway as if counting down the seconds when she would be able to race through it. It was strange. Or maybe not so strange, considering she was a spoiled gold digger who seemed to be worried about only one thing.
    Herself.
    That didn’t explain what she was doing out on Grover Road again. If he didn’t know better, he might be worried that Shirlene Dalton was spying on him. But before he could broach the subject, she shifted the baby in her arms and glanced over at Brody, who seemed to have more chocolate on his face than inside his stomach.
    “According to Jesse, they live here.”
    Billy’s gaze snapped over to her. “Here?” He pointed down at the saggy mattress. “As in this trailer?”
    “Exactly.” She glanced around the sparsely furnishedroom. “Which is why the door was locked, and why Jesse and Brody tried to scare me off last night.”
    Billy attempted to look duly surprised. “The chainsaw psycho?”
    “The same.”
    “Well, if that’s the case, I guess there’s nothing left to do but call Sheriff Winslow.”
    Ms. Dalton’s gaze flashed over to him, and suddenly Billy found himself sympathizing with Lyle Dalton. Ms. Dalton’s eyes were the exact color of a meadow in early spring—a vast expanse of crisp, dewy grass that invited a man to leave behind the cold blues and dull browns of ordinary women and lose himself in the lush, vital green of this woman. One glance of those peepers and the poor old coot probably hadn’t known what hit him.
    “You think that’s what I should do?”
    Her question jerked Billy out of the meadow and back to the trailer. Except it took a while for his mind to catch up. “Huh?”
    “Sheriff Winslow? You think I should call him?” Ms. Dalton glanced down at the baby who had finished the bottle and was now sucking air.
    “Who else are you going to call?” He reached over and pulled the bottle out of the baby’s mouth so the kid wouldn’t end up with a bunch of gas. Didn’t the woman know anything about kids?
    Once the bottle was gone, the baby just stared up at Ms. Dalton with wide, blue eyes set in a chubby, little face that Billy had to admit was pretty darned cute. Except Ms. Dalton must’ve had a heart of stone. She quickly handed the baby over to Billy.
    “Here, your turn.”
    He would’ve handed the kid right back if the baby hadn’t started to fuss. And since there was no more milk in the bottle, he figured he didn’t have much choice but to comfort her. He tucked her against his chest and patted her back, which resulted in a burp that was louder than Rye Pickett after he’d downed a Dr Pepper.
    The rigid lines on Ms. Dalton’s face finally eased, and they both laughed. Even Brody giggled. Of course, it sounded more like a deep chuckle.
    “Where did that kid get his voice, anyway? James Earl Jones?” Billy asked.
    Ms. Dalton’s laughter cut off as her gaze lowered to the floor and the locks of blond hair. She reached up and tried to smooth the longer strands over the shorter. It didn’t work, and Billy couldn’t help grinning at her partial mullet.
    “So