“Easy, just like a real baby. Sort of.” He held the bottle between the slats of the stall. Dopey went at it, as easily as he’d gone at her clothes. She melted at the sight of Cole taking care of the helpless thing. He’d make a great father, wouldn’t he?
She cringed at the direction of her thoughts. She’d never had those thoughts about West before, but then again, she’d never seen him act particularly paternal, even with his own kids.
Give him a break already! West is just learning how to be a father.
And yet, Cole seemed to spend more time with Pip and Charlie.
She sighed as Cole waved her over. “You want to try?”
Of course she did!
The offer threw out her disloyal thoughts. Her fingers twisted through Cole’s as the bottle exchanged hands. The calf sucked greedily all the while. She leaned down, rubbing the calf’s soft head as Dopey quickly adjusted to the height of the new feeder. The enthusiastic baby knew exactly what to do, although in the very next instant, he sucked so hard that she lost her grip. Crying out, she adjusted both her hands on the bottle in a type of tug of war. She laughed, realizing she didn’t have her phone on her to take a picture. Cole’s phone was broken. This was a moment solely for the three of them.
“He loves you,” Cole said after a minute. “You think you can handle being Dopey’s mother until we find the real one?”
Eva nodded eagerly. “I would love that.” Seeing that Dopey had finally settled down, she scratched his ear. “What do you think, cutie? You think you can put up with me for a few days?” Dopey’s big eyes blinked up at her. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’” she said.
“Good,” Cole said. “Maybe you can take care of Momma’s flowers in the greenhouse, too. She’d be devastated if anything happened to her babies while she was gone. She loves her roses, especially her Beloved.”
“Oh, I heard.” Eva had sneaked into the greenhouse that morning to get another peek at the famous Beauty and the Beast flower, though she was a fan of the plucky snapdragons that grew on the wayside. Her eyes lifted to Cole’s. “I bet she loves you more.”
He squinched up his nose. “I think it’s a tie,” he joked.
“Hmm, sounds like an important job then. Count me in.” This was fulfilling another lifelong dream. “I always wanted to do this kind of thing, ya know,” she said. “Live on a ranch, drive a pickup, be a cowgirl.”
“What?” Cole’s lips quirked up. “No one actuallydreamsabout that.”
“You bet people do! I blame country music—and I grew up on it in Nashville. There’s just something nice about forgetting the cares of the fast city life and just concentrating on the basics and being present.” Not having her phone on her at all times also helped with that. “I wanted to live out in the middle of nowhere. Oh, and finding myself a hot cowboy, of course, was the real draw.”
“You think West is a cowboy?” Cole asked, tweaking her with his smug smile. “If you’re looking for a cowboy, there are actually some real ones around here you can meet.”
Instead of letting Cole get her back up this time, she let him have it. “You offering?”
That shut him up, but not for long. “Someone should take you country dancing. We should go to Mo’s. You’d like the men over there.”
She cringed. He really wasn’t giving up on trying to talk her out of his brother. All those times she’d tried to set him up with Ashley were now coming back to haunt her. She kept her cool. “I have my man… I know you don’t get… us or our relationship, but we have an understanding.”
In other words, West had asked her to marry him and she was going through with it.
Cole didn’t seem convinced that there was anything between her and West at all.
Oh, West! Get back here and prove him wrong… before he turns any more convincing.
Dopey stepped back and lost his hold on the bottle. Eva twisted and squirted the milk at Cole to show him not to mess with her anymore. Cole let out a shout and tripped backwards. She returned the bottle to the calf’s impatient mouth, all the while chuckling.
“Woman!” Cole complained. “You’re just going to do that in front of the kid? Dopey’s going to start playing with his food just like his momma.”
A laugh escaped her lips, quite without her permission.
Man, I like him.
There was a little something about Cole that melted her very bones to butter, especially with that intense blue-eyed gaze that seemed to fix her in place. It must remind her of his brother.
Definitely!
If things were different, her mind would be in the clouds, building them a castle for two by now… if she hadn’t met West, which shehad.
Eva relaxed and cocked her brow at Cole. “His daddy’s coming home soon. He’ll straighten our boy out.”