The Cowboy Wants a Baby. Jo Leigh

As a friend, he was even more important. Only five years older than Lily, he’d been a playmate, a tease, a strong shoulder to lean on.

       “So are you going to open the presents or what?” Ashley checked her watch impatiently. “I’ve got a game at four.”

       “Your game can wait.” William walked over to the big leather couch and eased down, a contented sigh escaping the moment he was off his feet. “It’s not often we have the two of them home on this special occasion.”

       “They’re going to live here forever now,” Ashley said. “We’ll have hundreds more birthdays to celebrate.”

       “But none like this.” Lily took Ashley’s arm and maneuvered her to the couch, next to their father.

       Now that she had everyone’s attention, Lily cleared her throat. “This isn’t an ordinary day. Aside from it being our thirtieth birthday—which, by the way, I feel is totally unbelievable since I don’t feel twenty-five, let alone thirty—today marks a new beginning for me.”

       Her brother’s right brow arched in a silent question.

       “You’ve all had to put up with a lot from me for the last seven months. I want you to know that I appreciate your patience and your generosity.”

       Ashley’s eyes widened. “You appreciate us? It’s a rare day indeed.”

       “Hush, Ashley, and let me finish.” Lily moved to the center of the room and glanced up at the second floor for a moment. She cleared her throat, then went on with the speech she’d prepared that morning. “The construction on the new offices is nearing completion, which should be a relief to everyone.”

       Ashley clapped, prompting Lily into giving her younger sibling one of her better glares.

       “Finders Keepers is well on its way to becoming the success we knew it would be,” Lily went on. “There’s a need for what we’re doing. Too many people are lost and lonely, longing for what we have in abundance in this very room. It’s a cold world out there without someone who loves you. Someone to love. And it’s part of our legacy to help.” She hesitated, wondering if she had the nerve to say the rest. But then she looked into her father’s eyes.

       “I also want to let you guys know that as of this day, I won’t be griping about Jason Gill anymore. In fact, I won’t even bring up his name.”

       Ashley’s phony choking earned her a pinch from Dylan. Lily didn’t let the episode shake her.

       “I’m finished with that,” she continued. “My entire focus is going to be on the agency and nothing else. But I will say one last thing. I know there’s a lesson in this. There’s a reason I fell for the rotten son of a bitch, and a reason I didn’t know he was married. Unfortunately, I have no clue what that reason is. But I figure if it wasn’t for endings, there wouldn’t be new beginnings, right?”

       Tears came to her eyes, but she blinked them back. The speech, the sentiment, were totally unlike her. She prided herself on her no-nonsense approach to life. Maybe it was turning thirty. Maybe it was the heat. She had no idea what had prompted her to get all mushy. But enough of that. She pushed her shoulders back, took a deep cleansing breath, then made the mistake of looking at Dylan.

       His eyes seemed focused on something far away. She had a good idea what he was thinking about. Last year had been tough for him, too. He’d lost a part of himself while he’d been in Dallas. She wished with all her heart that she could take away his pain as well as her own. At least they were home, where they could rebuild their lives and find some peace.

       “This is what’s important,” she said, mostly to Dylan, but to herself as well. “Being here with the people we love, and who love us. That’s the best present of all.”

       “Uh, Lily?”

       She was almost afraid to respond. “Yes, Ashley?”

       “Does that mean you won’t be wanting the sweater I got you?”

       Laughter shifted the mood, and when Lily walked over to strangle her little sister, things got even livelier. Although she didn’t hurt Ashley, she did pluck her gift from the pile on the coffee table. “Sweater, eh?”

       Nearly tearing off the white bandage on her hand, a reminder not to save feral puppies without thick gloves, Lily ripped into the purple-and-white package that Ashley most assuredly had paid someone to wrap. Lily flipped open the box underneath. But there was no sweater. Instead, she pulled out a Sherlock Holmes hat, a meerschaum pipe, and a magnifying glass.

       Dylan cracked up and Ashley’s cheeks turned pink.

       “This is so cool!” Lily plopped the hat on her head and stuck the pipe in her mouth, then turned to her brother. “Watson, bring me my violin.”

       Dylan got up off his perch on the side of the couch and approached her, a sly smile tugging the corners of his mouth. “Watson?” He swiped the hat from her head. “I don’t think so.”

       She reached to grab it, but Dylan held it too high. “Give that back. It’s mine!”

       “Finders keepers,” he said, dangling the woolen cap tauntingly in front of her.

       “I’ve got your finders keepers right here, buddy.” She jumped for the hat and caught the bill. They tugged back and forth, causing much hooting and laughter from Ashley and Max, until, at William’s urging, Dylan gave up. Lily put the hat on, grinning at her victory. They hadn’t tussled in years. It reminded her of their childhood. There had been lots of roughhousing, but very little ill will. Well, except for the time he’d broken into her diary. But since that had happened fifteen years ago, she might be ready to forgive him.

       “It’s my turn,” Dylan said, taking the second of the purple-and-white packages. He, unlike Lily, took his time opening the gift. First the ribbon, then each piece of tape. It was maddening. Finally, though, he hit a box. He opened it and grinned as he pulled out a mahogany door plaque that read Finders Keepers in beautiful gold script.

       “For the new office,” Ashley said.

       “It’s a knockout, Ash.” Dylan passed the plaque to Lily, then kissed his little sister on the cheek. “You did good.”

       “Was there any doubt?”

       Lily didn’t respond. She was too busy admiring the beautiful workmanship on the plaque. The investigative agency was as real as the wood in her hands. Their intervention had brought three couples together and reunited two mothers and their children—everything Dylan and she had talked about when they’d decided to carry on the Trueblood legacy.

       She couldn’t wait until the offices were finished. Maybe she’d even open a bottle of champagne when they put this plaque on the door.

       Max cleared his throat, getting her attention. He nodded at the other presents on the table. She plucked a pink bag from the pile and read the card first. It was from her father, and the message was as sweet and corny as he was. Inside she found a jewelry box.

       She could sense, even before opening the lid, that she needed to sit down for this one. She settled on the couch, forcing Ashley to squeeze against the arm. When she opened the box, her heart stopped. She recognized the necklace instantly. It had been her mother’s.

       “We thought you ought to have that when you turned thirty.” William squeezed her hand. “She’d be so proud of you.”

       Lily lifted the elegant teardrop diamond on the slim gold chain. She’d seen her mother wear this on the most special of occasions. It had been her pride and joy. “Help me?” she asked, turning her back to her father and lifting her hair. His fingers trembled slightly as he struggled with the catch, but she didn’t mind the wait. It gave her time to settle her own emotions. She still missed her mother so much.

       “There you go, darlin’.”

       She let her hair loose and rose to look in the hallway mirror. The diamond hung beautifully on her neck, just