Free The Cowboy's Little Surprise by Barbara White Daille Page A

counter, pressing his point home. “As of now, I’m staying right here in this hotel. If you won’t check me in, I know someone who will.”
    * * *
    “I’ M TELLING YOU , Paz, you should’ve seen the look on those kids’ faces when I told Tina to book Cole into the hotel.” Jed laughed and slapped his hand on the kitchen table.
    “You were careful, I hope?”
    “Well, of course, I was.” He took the baby from Paz’s arms. “After all, I didn’t tell her to give him a room in our family wing, did I? Now, that would have been a dead giveaway.” He looked down at the baby. “Your great-granddaddy’s got more smarts than that, hasn’t he?”
    “Tina has smarts, too,” Paz said.
    “And plenty of them,” he agreed. He shook his head. “It’s not easy getting anything past that girl. She already questioned me. You’d have thought I wanted to bring a live bull into the hotel, instead of just a cowhand. But my answers satisfied her.”
    “And now?”
    “Now we sit back for a bit and watch the fun. It won’t do to rush things, or for sure Tina will think something’s up. Cole, too. Although I do need to make a note to see Pete tomorrow.”
    Paz was already well into her menu for tonight’s supper, but she looked up from her preparations. “Did you talk to Cole at all?”
    “I did. After you left the dining room I tracked him to the sitting room. He tells me he doesn’t want to settle down.”
    Her eyes widened. “You asked him that already?”
    “Yep. I figured it’s best for us to find out what we’re up against as soon as we can. And along the way in our conversation, I planted a few seeds.” He smiled down at the baby again and chucked her under her chin. “Wait and see. We’ll have a bunch of little ones like you running around here in no time.”
    * * *
    W HEN A LLY CALLED late that afternoon with an urgent request to meet after work, Tina had jumped at the chance. She needed the exercise to relieve her stress and the space from her family. Most of all, she needed to leave the hotel. Thanks to Cole, the home she had always loved suddenly seemed more like a prison. And he hadn’t even moved into the Hitching Post yet.
    As if she could outrun her thoughts, she picked up her pace.
    It took Ally a moment to catch up. “Guess who I saw today,” she said.
    Thinking she meant Cole, Tina almost missed a step. But, no, her best friend wouldn’t tease her about him. “Your cute wrangler?”
    Ally rolled her eyes. “I saw the wheels turning, Tina. You analyze the fun out of everything. But you’re right—and he’s cuter than ever.”
    “And by my analysis of your grin, I’d say you finally got him to look your way.”
    “Right again. I gave him the come-hither look, like in all those old movies my mama loves, and he couldn’t resist.” She batted her mascaraed lashes. “His name’s Stan, he’s from Dallas, and he’s working at Rollins Ranch.”
    “Permanently?”
    “For the season. Unless I can get him to change his mind.”
    Would Cole change his mind about some things, too, now that he knew he had a child? She wondered how long he expected to keep his room at the hotel. How long he planned to work for Jed.
    How long he would stay in town.
    And she couldn’t help wondering whether he would make a genuine attempt to get close to Robbie.
    “Hello?” Ally said.
    She blinked. “Sorry. I’m just tired.”
    “And...?”
    She sighed. “And...Cole’s taking a room at the Hitching Post.”
    “What?”
    She gave her friend an abbreviated version of what had happened over the past few days.
    Ally came to a halt on the sidewalk. “
No.
Now what are you going to do?”
    “I have no idea yet. But keep moving,” she directed over her shoulder. She had tossed and turned all night. If she stood in one place, she might fall asleep on her feet.
    “I don’t see him hanging around for very long,” Ally said in that uncanny way she sometimes had of reading Tina’s mind. “After all, he