“Wow! Even though she has red hair and I’ve got black, we’re going to be alike?” Gracie asked.
“Oh, yes, you are,” Jamie said. “And now supper is ready, so go wash your hands.”
“Roast and potatoes?” Gracie asked.
“You got it, kiddo, but only after you wash up.” Jamie pointed to the bathroom.
Amanda got up from the sofa where she’d been resting. “I’ll take her so you can go eat.”
“You go first and let me hold her awhile longer. I had a midafternoon snack, so I can wait awhile.” Kate smiled.
Amanda eased up off the sofa. “I’m glad she didn’t weigh nine pounds. I wouldn’t be able to walk for a month. And I’m very happy they didn’t make me stay in the hospital another day. Whatever they brought on the supper tray wouldn’t be as good as Jamie’s pot roast and hot biscuits.”
Kate started humming when the baby whimpered, and she quieted right down. “She likes music.”
“I listened to it a lot when I was carrying her,” Amanda said. “Aunt Ellie said it was good for a baby.”
Listening to the chatter at the supper table, Kate realized that she did not want to leave Bootleg. She didn’t want this baby or Gracie, either, to grow up and only know her as the aunt who came on holidays or sent money in a Christmas card. She wanted to be a part of their lives, to go to church with them and be there when they went out on their first dates.
I don’t want to just be a part of their lives with pictures on the mantel and seeing them a few times a year, she thought. I need to be involved with everything, or I will regret it when they are grown. Time slips past quickly.
Kate sighed when someone knocked on the door. She wanted to explore this idea of a drastic life change a little longer. Carrying the baby in one arm, she crossed the living room floor and slung open the door to find Hattie and Victor with big grins. Victor held up an enormous gift bag and stood back while Hattie pushed her way past him into the house.
“We came to bring the baby a present. Y’all just keep your seats out there in the kitchen,” she called out. “I’m going to steal this baby from Kate and rock her a spell. She needs to get to know me real good so she’ll be comfortable with me when her mama goes to work.”
Kate waited until Hattie was settled in the rocking chair before putting the baby in her arms. “She’s a good baby. When Amanda finishes her supper, she’ll come in here and open the present.”
“Thank you!” Amanda called out. “I hope I’m not being rude, but I am going to eat first and open later. This is too good to let it get cold.”
“I understand. Take your time,” Hattie said. “I’m good right here. She’s a beauty, with this mop of red hair.”
“You think it will stay that color or all fall out and grow in dark like Gracie’s?”
“She’ll be a redhead, mark my words.” Hattie began to hum a lullaby. “This is what I’ve missed about having my grandkids live so far away. I can’t just pop in and see them for a little while and then go home.”
Kate touched Victor on the arm. “Come on in the kitchen and have a glass of tea or some pot roast if you haven’t eaten.”
“I’m not sure I can get away from staring at this little princess,” he said. “You looked pretty good with her in your arms.”
“It felt good, but there’s no use wishing for miracles,” Kate said.
He followed her into the kitchen. “I’ve eaten, but I might have one of those biscuits with some honey.”
“Sit down and help yourself,” Jamie said. “There’s plenty of everything if you change your mind. And Kate is a natural when it comes to babies. Most people in her position wouldn’t be that comfortable with one.”
“In my position?” Kate put a thick chunk of roast on her plate and covered it with gravy. “What does that mean?”
“That you haven’t been around kids,” Amanda answered for Jamie. “And that you are a career woman, not a mothering type. But I got to say, if any woman could have it both ways, I believe you would be able to do it.”
“Do what?” Waylon poked his head in the door after a brief knock.
“Be a mother and run a business both,” Amanda said. “Come on in and see Lia Beth.”
Waylon removed his hat and laid it on the coffee table. “In my opinion, Kate could run a ranch, plus an oil company and a houseful of kids all at the same time.”
“Where’s my Supergirl cape?” Kate laughed. “Truth is that I’d trade it all if I could have a baby.”
“There’s other ways to get one than birthin’ her,” Amanda said. “There’s adoption.”
Kate shook her head. “That’s a possibility, I guess, but my age might be a hold up for adoption.”
“Forty is the new thirty.” Jamie chuckled. “Or you could buy a dozen.”
“Now that might be a possibility.” Kate laughed with her. “Except Waylon tells me that’s against the law.”
It was the perfect time to tell them all in one fell swoop that she was taking a year to sort things out. She had no idea what she’d do, other than keep working part-time at the ranch. But she wanted to hold the decision close to her heart for a few days, be selfish with it and wait until that perfect moment to tell them and Waylon. Tonight was all about Amanda and the new baby, and she didn’t want to steal their thunder.
Waylon held out his arms toward Hattie. “It’s my turn to do some rocking.”
“I’m an old woman,” she protested.
He wiggled his fingers. “I bet Victor hasn’t even gotten to hold her yet, has he?”
“No, I have not,” Victor called out from the kitchen. “But you go on. I can take her away from you easier than I can get her away from Hattie.”
“Oh, all right!” Hattie handed the baby to him. “You could have had a dozen of them if you hadn’t been so busy chasing bad guys.”
“Can’t do a recall on that decision. Besides, you met my ex-wives. Which one would you pick to be a mother?” Waylon asked.
Hattie shook her finger at him. “Neither one. They were both too self-centered to ever have children.”
“And there you have it.” Waylon sat down and stretched his long legs out in front of him.
“Here, you can come and sit beside me, Gracie.” Hattie patted the sofa. “Tell me what you think of your new sister.”
Gracie snuggled up next to Hattie. “I thought she’d be big enough to play Barbies with me when she got here, but Amanda says that first she has to learn to crawl and then walk and talk and that all takes time. I guess I like her, but about all she did all day long when we got her home from the hospital was eat and sleep.”
“You did that when you were a baby, too,” Hattie said.
“Mama told me that. It don’t sound very exciting, does it?”
Kate listened to them with one ear, but she couldn’t take her eyes off Waylon. There was something extremely sexy about a big, muscular man with a tiny newborn in his arms. His eyes sparkled when he stared down at her, and when she wrapped her little fist around his forefinger, he absolutely beamed.
“What?” He looked up and caught her staring.
“You look pretty good with a baby in your arms, too,” she answered.