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  A smile played across Melanie’s face as she rubbed one of Elvis’s ears. She kept her eyes down, but she said, “I don’t know what Garrett told you...”

  “He didn’t tell me much. Truly.”

  “I’m on a safety plan with the social services people, and Garrett’s my attorney. When we went to court, he fought for me to get to keep my kids with a caseworker checking in on us every month.”

  “I don’t want to be nosy, but if you want to talk about it, I’m a good listener.”

  The young mom blew her thin bangs out of her eyes and shook her head as if she wanted to negate the memory itself. “My fiancé got high with his friends and came to the hospital when Nova was born. He got a night in jail and I got a caseworker. I had to choose between keeping my children or keeping him. Getting rid of him was the easiest choice I ever had to make.”

  Melanie had one hand deep in Elvis’s fur now, the other one smoothing the small hairs on his forehead. “What was hard was that our car was in my fiancé’s name. Without a car, I missed some of Nova’s well-baby checkups and that brought the caseworker back to my house.”

  “Oh, wow. That must be so scary.”

  “It is—was. The safety plan says I have to take the kids to the doctor and to their therapy appointments on time. The caseworker comes to visit. And we have to go back to court in six months.”

  “And where does the stroller fit in?”

  There was silence for a moment, the struggle to rein in her emotions once again visible on Melanie’s face. Finally, she looked up with a small shrug. “I couldn’t get on the bus with both kids because I couldn’t push Nash’s wheelchair and a stroller at the same time. And I couldn’t lift the wheelchair if I had Nova in a carrier. I just—I couldn’t do it. Someone at church let me borrow a double stroller, but Nash needs more support than a normal stroller can give him.”

  “What a rough time for all of you. Anyone would be reeling after all that.”

  “You think so?” Melanie’s shoulders slumped, but hope flared in her eyes. “Do you know how much that stroller was? Ten thousand dollars. I could never have bought that for him. And I guess I just worry how I can be a good mom if I can’t provide what my kids need.”

  “Melanie,” Abby said gently, “your kids need you, not what you can buy for them.”

  Melanie’s sigh turned into a sob. Elvis nuzzled her chin with his nose, eliciting a strangled laugh.

  A squeal of joy reached them from just outside the office. Melanie immediately straightened, swiped tears from her face and smoothed her shirt into place. “I don’t want Nash to think I’m worried.”

  As the boys came in the front door, Abby held out a business card to Melanie. “Write down everything you need to really feel like you have a handle on life. Then call and make another appointment with me. There are resources out there and my job is to connect you with them.”

  Hope flared in the young mom’s eyes. “You’re serious?”

  “One hundred percent.” She paused, looked back at the photos on the wall. “The people in those photos? You’re strong, just like they are. Things have happened that you need to take care of, but you’re still standing.”

  Nash shouted from the front door. “Mama! Come see!”

  Melanie tucked Abby’s card into her back pocket, swallowing hard before looking up. “Thank you.”

  Abby heard her laughing at the engine sounds Nash made as she walked back to meet him. She hoped Melanie would take her up on the offer. Their family, who because of circumstances mostly beyond their control needed help to get back on their feet, was exactly the kind Abby had been brought in to help.

  As Garrett walked Nash and Melanie to the door, Abby heard Charlotte waking up in the porta-crib in Garrett’s office and went to check on her. The baby girl had a decidedly crabby look on her face.

  “Hi, Charlotte. I bet you need a clean diaper after such a long nap, don’t you?” She reached into the crib and picked Charlotte up. The change was easy with Garrett’s office nursery setup, but clearly, a dry diaper was not what Charlotte wanted. Her cries were getting progressively louder and more annoyed.

  Abby picked her up again and tried the pacifier. Charlotte sucked it for a few seconds before spitting it out. “Oh, baby girl, you are mad, aren’t you?”

  From the door, Garrett held out a bottle. “She’s probably ready for this.”

  “I’d say so.” She took it from Garrett and offered it to the hungry baby.

  Over the bottle, Charlotte scowled as if she couldn’t possibly understand what took Abby so long to get it right. Abby laughed. “Hey, I’m not the one in charge of the bottles.”

  “She’s opinionated.” Garrett dropped into the chair behind his desk. “Wow. Nash wore me out. Did you and Melanie have a good conversation?”

  “I think so. Elvis is kind of a genius at getting people to talk.” She studied Garrett’s face, so handsome with that quick smile that went all the way to his eyes.

  “I’m sure it’s all Elvis.”

  “Melanie’s doing her best to take care of her kids. That’s gonna be a lot easier with that fancy stroller you got her. How’d you pull that off?”

  “It’s just a stroller.” He picked a file up from his desk and spun around to put it away.

  “A ten-thousand-dollar stroller?”

  He glanced back at her. “Where did you get that idea?”

  “Melanie.”

  “Oh.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal. I called in some favors. Asked for some donations. Got a small grant. It was a little legwork, but the end result is that Melanie can get her kids where they need to go.”

  “A car would’ve been cheaper.”

  “Yeah, but then it would’ve been for Melanie and she probably wouldn’t have accepted it. A gift for Nash and Nova is a little harder to turn down.”

  “Smart and thoughtful.”

  “It’s all part of the service. Plus, you’re gonna get her the rest of the way. We make a great team.” He shot her a nonchalant grin.

  He wasn’t fooling her, though. There was nothing nonchalant about him. He was a full-out idealist and she could feel herself getting sucked into his life, bit by bit. How could she not? He genuinely cared about people and wanted to help. If anyone could understand that, she could.

  Garrett was a great guy. A sweet guy. She liked him, but she had to be careful. Because if she wasn’t, he would pull her into his windmill-tilting plans and she’d been down that path. Had the bullet wound to prove it.

  And that was the last thing she needed right now.

  Chapter Five

  Garrett got out of his SUV at the ranch, where he was supposed to be meeting his brothers for a look at the current finances. After a scare the year before, when the ranch almost got foreclosed on by the bank, the brothers had solidified their pact that they were in this together. Brotherly competition and ribbing aside, nothing happened on this ranch that didn’t get run by all three of them first.

  He popped the baby carrier out of its base. Charlotte was out like a light. Frantic bleats sounded from the goat pasture. His first goats, Thelma and Louise, had been joined by siblings and they had a good little crew going. He loved those ornery little rabble-rousers. The first two had been a gift from a client, but the other four he’d adopted just because he got a kick out of them. He scratched Mason’s head and pushed Dixon back with a laugh when the persistent goat tried to get into Garrett’s pants pockets. “Sorry, guys, no treats today.”

  And when all of them turned away, he shook his head. “I know you only love me for food, but you could at least pretend.”

  Brushing his hand off on his pant leg, Garrett crossed the drive, taking the porch steps two at a time. By the number of cars in the yard, he was pretty sure he’d stumbled unwittingly into Lacey’s Bible study night. In fact, he thought he’d spotted Abby’s car in the mix. He paused to glance back. And Wynn’s?

  The door flew open. Devin stood in the doorway, with a baby on one hip, the other strapped to his chest and his cane in the other hand. “Well, are you coming in or not?”

  “Wow, I think someone missed their afternoon nap and it wasn’t the babies.” Garrett strolled into the house, slowly stumbling to a halt as he realized the entire place was decorated in a sickening shade of pink. Balloons, streamers... His eyes lingered on a lace-edged banner hanging above the kitchen door. Slowly, he turned back to face his brother. “Surprise?”

  With that, people came pouring out of the farm office, the kitchen and the hall, yelling, “Surprise!”

  He staggered backward, his right hand grabbing his heart. Abruptly woken from her nap, Charlotte let out a wail. With an apologetic smile, Abby reached for the carrier. “I’ll take her.”

  His sister-in-law Lacey appeared in the kitchen door with a big plate of pink frosted cookies, followed by Jules Quinn carrying a tower of pastel confections.

  “I think I’m starting to sense there’s a theme to this gathering.” Garrett laughed, shaking his head.

  “It’s a baby shower.” A big laundry basket full of gifts wrapped in pink and white landed in the center of the living room, dumped there by his older brother Tanner.

  “I gathered.” When Garrett looked up, he caught a glimpse of Abby standing against the wall, about as far as she could get from the hullabaloo and still be in the room, calmly unbuckling his screaming baby from the car seat. Bless her. She wasn’t used to this bunch of rowdies. She looked so pretty, an island of calm in this sea of chaos. He took a step toward her.

  Wynn appeared in front of him, holding a shiny pink metallic crown with giant faux jewels glued to the points.

  “Whoa.” He put up a hand to stop her. “I will never get the glitter out of my hair if you put that thing on me.”

  His partner shrugged, unconcerned. “Suck it up, cowboy. Penny made it for you. You have to wear it.”

  He searched out Wynn’s eight-year-old daughter Penny. “You made this crown for me?”

  The little girl’s eyes shone, her blond curls bobbing as she nodded her head.

  “It’s quite lovely,” Garrett said, in a British accent, which elicited giggles from his buddy. And since he had no choice, he bent down to let Wynn attach the atrocious thing to his head.

  Someone pushed him into the big chair and someone else tossed a gift in his lap. A pink plastic cup filled with some kind of frothy liquid appeared on the table beside him. He sought out Abby again, his eyes meeting hers. He mouthed, “Help?”

  A wail went up from one of the many babies in the room. Instantly, attention was diverted from Garrett as all the parents searched out their kids.

  “Mine! No worries—happens all the time.” Wynn scooped up her toddler, who’d somehow gotten caught underneath the coffee table. She slid into a seat and motioned for Abby to join her, waving a hand at the chair between her and Garrett.

  He was pretty sure that the last place Abby wanted to be was at this raucous excuse for a baby shower, much less this close to the center. She gamely joined the group, though, laughing as one of his brothers shouted from across the room, “Just open the presents already.”

  “Okay, okay,” he grumbled. “Nothing like a little de-stressing with a surprise baby shower for your surprise baby after a long day of lawyering.”

  He wasn’t sure but he thought he heard a little snort from Abby.

  Ripping into the first package—from Devin—Garrett pulled out a hot pink T-shirt. He read the slogan out loud. “Tea Parties and Tiaras.”

  He laughed and a shower of glitter landed on his face and shoulders. “Well, Dev, I’ve got this crown and I think I have a stash of Earl Grey somewhere in my house, so if anyone wants to join in, it’s BYOT. Bring your own tiara.”

  “All that pink glitter is definitely you,” his brother Tanner said dryly as he handed over the next package. “This one’s from Wynn.”

  Garrett tore open the box to reveal a necktie covered in pink pacifiers. “Wow! Thanks, partner. The other lawyers are going to be shaking in their boots when they realize I’m man enough to wear this tie.”

  Beside him, Abby giggled. He glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow. “Did you know about this?”

  Her eyes widened, cheeks staining pink. “Nope.”

  “Why don’t I believe that?”

  The next gift, from his pal and pediatrician Ash Sheehan, revealed a set of tools with pink rubber handles. He couldn’t help but laugh. “I see how this is going to go.”

  From Abby, Lacey and Ash’s wife Jordan came the basic necessities: pink bottles. Pink pacifiers. Pink blankets and baby onesies.

  So. Much. Pink.

  Finally, Wynn’s husband Latham handed Garrett a card. Inside was a photograph of a beautiful crib. He glanced up. “You made her a crib?”

  Latham shrugged. “Least I could do. Everyone pitched in for the materials.”

  “Also,” Ash spoke up. “You shouldn’t be surprised if you find a truckload of diapers on your front porch when you get home. My mom told the Ladies’ Auxiliary about the baby and they asked what you needed.”

  “And you said Cubs tickets but they decided on diapers anyway?”

  Ash laughed. “Very funny. You need the diapers more. Trust me.”

  For the next few minutes, he was inundated with questions and well wishes. It was fun and he was touched, but he hadn’t slept in over a week and the noise in here was making his head ache. He was desperate to sneak out the front door for a few minutes of silence.

  He looked around for Abby to see if she wanted to join him, but she—and Charlotte—were gone.

  * * *

  Abby rocked the porch swing idly with her toes as Charlotte took her bottle. The quiet was a relief after the hubbub inside. She was healing, but the crowd and the noise inside had made her feel claustrophobic and more than a little desperate to escape. A few random raindrops tapped on the tin roof above her head.

  It was peaceful here, the rhythmic squeak of the swing and the sounds of the animals drifting on the misty breeze. She could see why Garrett chose to live on the ranch with his brothers instead of in town.

  The front door opened and Garrett stepped out, closing the door quickly behind him. From the look on his face, he’d felt the need to escape as keenly as she did. His eyes searched the dim porch and she could see him smile when he spotted her in the swing.

  He sat down, stretching his arm out behind her. “Little too rowdy in there?”

  “I don’t get out much.”

  He barked a laugh. “Neither do they. It’s why they’re so loud. Plus they have a lot of kids.”

  “A lot of kids,” Abby agreed. “She’s ready for a burp.”

  As Abby handed Charlotte to Garrett, he brought her to his chest, kissed her little head and whispered something Abby couldn’t hear.

  The sweetness of the gesture made her throat ache and she looked away, instead watching the glimmer of raindrops in the circle from the pole light by the barn.

  Patting Charlotte’s back, Garrett said, “It was nice of you to come tonight.”

  Abby leaned back against the seat and brought one knee up to her chest, wrapping her arms around it. “Wynn made me come. She said you celebrate everything in this town.”

  “Yeah.” His chuckle made her smile. “A lot of my friends, like Wynn, are either foster parents or have adopted kids. When they started fostering, they realized that no one really celebrated foster babies the way they do biological babies. So they decided to make it a thing.”

  “It’s really sweet. Every baby should be celebrated.”

  “I agree.”

  They sat in silence for a few seconds, the rhythmic squeaking of the swing and the rain on the roof making Abby feel relaxed and sleepy. “Did you always know you wanted to come back to Red Hill Springs to practice law?”

  He glanced over at her with a smile. “I guess I did. Devin left home at eighteen and competed on the rodeo circuit. I went away to school, thanks to some scholarships, but I never seriously considered living anywhere else. My roots are here.”

  The stab of longing surprised Abby. She had no roots, not really, and there was a part of her that wondered what it would be like, what kind of deep confidence that kind of belonging would inspire.

  “I sold my house in town last year. First, because we needed the money so we could hang on to the ranch and then... I guess it’s not really true what they say about never going home again. My cabin was a ramshackle dump, but it felt more like home than my place in town ever had.”

  “You guys manage the ranch together?”

  “Yep. Lacey and Devin run the farm stand, which has been way more successful than we ever thought it would be. Tanner’s the one who got the farming gene.” Charlotte started to fuss and Garrett shifted her to his arm.

  “And you?”

  “I mostly manage the finances...and raise the goats.” He sent her a sideways glance, the perpetual amusement that was so much a part of him twinkling in his eyes.

  “What?” She laughed softly. “I never pictured you as a goatherd.”

  “Oh, there’s no herding involved. All I have to do is walk into the field with a box of raisins in my pocket and they’ll do my bidding.”

  “That’s hilarious. I had no idea the depth of your talents. I’ve eaten goat but I can’t say that I’ve ever had any as pets,” Abby mused.

  He gave an exaggerated look over his shoulder. “Shh—they’ll hear you.”

  She laughed again. “My apologies to your goats.”

  “They accept.”

  With the baby drifting back to sleep in the crook of his arm, he stretched the other one out behind her again. His fingers played with the ends of her hair, sending shivers down her back.

  The rain was coming down harder now and she sighed. “I think it’s settling in for the night and I’ve got to get back and let Elvis out. I’d love to bring him out to the farm sometime though. It’s good for him to be exposed to new sights and sounds. Keeps him from being spooked when we’re in the field.”