The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby by Carolyn Brown Read Free Book Online

bucket from the back porch, tossed the sleet pebbles
     out of it onto the ground, and started toward the hen house. Henry had taken her and
     Joshua on a very short walking tour of the backyard, pointing out the hen house, the
     dog pens, and the nearest barn after Jack left to follow the ambulance to the hospital.
     It wasn’t set up so very different than the farm she’d grown up on south of Silverton.
     There were more trees in north central Texas and fewer crops and more Black Angus
     cattle, but ranchin’ was pretty much the same no matter where it was located.
    “I’ll hurry so you don’t turn into a Popsicle,” she told Joshua.
    The bitter north wind stung her face, and her boots made a crunching sound with each
     step. The trees were covered in a thick layer of ice, and there wasn’t a single peep
     coming from the chicken house. Yes, sir, she should have made the sheet cake and not
     taken her baby boy out in the horrible weather. If he came down with a cold, she was
     going to blame Hazel.
    The door squeaked in protest when she opened it and a dozen beady little eyes looked
     up to see who the intruder was. Thank God they hadn’t all frozen to death. Two old
     speckled hens tucked their heads back under their wings when they realized it was
     a human and not a coyote.
    She removed a leather glove and tucked it up under her arm. The first hen didn’t even
     cluck when she shoved her hand under the warm feathers and found two eggs. The second
     one didn’t appreciate a cold hand and let out a high-pitched squeak.
    “Sorry, old girl, but thank you for the egg.” Natalie giggled.
    She had thirteen eggs in the bucket when she left the hen house and hurried across
     the yard. She was more than halfway back to the house when Lucas rounded the end of
     the house, stopped in his tracks, and crossed his arms over his chest. She stopped
     just as fast and almost dropped the bucket with the eggs inside.
    “You scared the bejesus out of me,” she snapped.
    “Well, you damn sure didn’t do anything for my blood pressure either,” he shot right
     back.
    He’d been sexy as hell as a soldier, but as a cowboy—Lord, women would stand in line
     just to get to gawk at him for five minutes. They’d pay good money for the privilege
     of touching the merchandise. Hell, she could probably get a thousand dollars a night
     from any blue-blooded woman if she could shuck her clothes and crawl into bed with
     him.
    ***
    Lucas wanted to take another step toward her, but his feet were glued to the ground
     just as surely as if every drop of sleet was coated in superglue. He opened his mouth
     to say something but then clamped it shut.
    He could see eggs in the galvanized bucket, but what was inside that plaid thing around
     her neck? Surely to God she didn’t carry around a baby in that thing. And why in the
     hell would she go gather eggs with a pink pistol strapped to one of her long, long
     legs?
    “What?” she asked without breaking stride.
    “Why would you take a pistol to the hen house?”
    “Varmints. Things like coyotes or snakes or rats the size of house cats. I don’t take
     too kindly to any of those things messin’ around the hen house.”
    He pointed to the sling. “What is that thing?”
    “It’s a baby. He is not a thing. He’s a tiny human being. His name is Joshua and he’s
     two months old. And before you ask, there are thirteen eggs in the basket, the hens
     are all doing well, and there is a roast in the oven for dinner.”
    She breezed past him, leaving him still stuck to the ground.
    Warm air filled with the aroma of food in the oven, bread rising on the counter, and
     a crackling blaze in the fireplace met him when he opened the back door. He stomped
     the sleet from his boots, hung his hat and coat on hooks, and scanned the kitchen.
     The bucket of eggs was on the counter, but Natalie had disappeared. He poured a mug
     of coffee and held it in his hands to warm them.
    He had just taken the