A Baby on the Ranch. Marie Ferrarella

at Kasey’s face told him she was thinking the same thing.

      As he strode toward the door, Eli struggled to ignore the deep-seated feeling of disappointment flooding him.

      Kasey followed in his wake.

      But when he threw open his door, it wasn’t Hollis that either one of them saw standing there. It was Miss Joan and one of her waitresses from the diner, a tall, big-boned young woman named Carla. Miss Joan was holding a single bag in her exceptionally slender arms. Carla was holding several more with incredible ease, as if all combined they weighed next to nothing.

      “Figured you two had probably gotten back from the hospital by now,” Miss Joan declared. Her eyes were naturally drawn to the baby and she all but cooed at him. “My, but he’s a cutie, he is.”

      And then she looked up from the baby and directly at Eli. “Well, aren’t you going to invite us in, or are you looking to keep Kasey and her son all to yourself?”

      Eli snapped to attention. “Sorry, you just surprised me, that’s all, Miss Joan,” he confessed. “C’mon in,” he invited, stepping back so that she and the waitress had room to walk in.

      He watched the older woman with some amusement as she looked slowly around. Miss Joan made no secret that she was scrutinizing everything in the house.

      As was her custom, Miss Joan took possession of all she surveyed.

      “I don’t recall hearing about a tornado passing through Forever lately.” She raised an eyebrow as she glanced in his direction.

      Eli knew she was referring to the fact that as far as housekeeping went, he got a failing grade. With a shrug, he told her, “Makes it easier to find things if they’re all out in the open.”

      Miss Joan shook her head. “If you say so.” She snorted. “Looks like this could be a nice little place you’ve got here, Eli.” Her eyes swept over the general chaos. “Once you get around to digging yourself out of this mess, of course.” She waved her hand around the room, dismissing the subject now that she’d touched on it.

      “Anyway, I got tired of waiting for an invite, so I just decided to invite myself over.” Pausing, the older woman looked at Eli meaningfully. “Thought you might need a few things for the new guy,” she told him, nodding at the baby in Kasey’s arms.

      “Oh, I can’t—” Kasey began to protest. The last thing she wanted was for people to think of her as a charity case.

      “Sure you can,” Miss Joan said, cutting Kasey off with a wave of her hand. Then she directed her attention to the young woman who had come with her. “Just set everything down on the coffee table, Carla,” she instructed. She shifted her eyes toward Kasey. “I’ll let you sort things out when you get a chance,” she told her. “Brought you some diapers and a bunch of other items. These new little guys need a lot to get them spruced up and shining.” She said it as if it was a prophesy.

      Miss Joan was right. She couldn’t afford to let her pride get in the way, or, more accurately, Wayne couldn’t afford to have her pride get in his way.

      “I don’t know what to say,” Kasey said to Miss Joan, emotion welling up in her throat and threatening to choke off her words.

      “Didn’t ask you to say anything, now, did I?” Miss Joan pointed out. And then the woman smiled. “It’s what we do around here, remember? We look out for each other.” She nodded at the largest paper bag that Carla set down. Because she had run out of room on the coffee table, Carla had deposited the bag on the floor beside one of the table legs. “Thought the baby might not be the only one who was hungry, so I brought you two some dinner. My advice is to wait until you put him down before you start eating.”

      “What do I owe you?” Eli asked, taking his wallet out.

      Miss Joan put her hand over his before he could take any bills out. “We’ll settle up some other time,” she informed him.

      Kasey wasn’t about to bother asking Miss Joan how the woman knew that she was here, at Eli’s ranch, rather than at her own ranch. Even when things were actually kept a secret, Miss Joan had a way of knowing about them. Miss Joan always knew. She ran the town’s only diner and dispensed advice and much-needed understanding along with the best coffee in Texas.

      Joan Randall had been a fixture in Forever for as long as anyone could remember and had just recently given in to the entreaties of her very persistent suitor. She and Harry Monroe had gotten married recently in an outdoor wedding with the whole town in attendance. Even so, everyone still continued to refer to her as Miss Joan. Calling her anything else just didn’t feel right.

      Having done everything she’d set out to do, Miss Joan indicated that it was time to leave.

      “Okay, Carla and I’ll be heading out now,” she announced, then paused a moment longer to look at Kasey. “You need anything, you just give me a call, understand, baby girl?” And then she lowered her voice only slightly as she walked by Eli. “You take care of her, hear?”

      He didn’t need any prompting to do that. He’d been watching over Kasey for as long as he could remember.

      “I fully intend to, Miss Joan,” he told her with feeling.

      Miss Joan nodded as she crossed the threshold. She knew he meant it. Knew what was in his heart better than he did.

      “Good. Because she’s been through enough.” Then, lowering her voice even further so that only Eli could hear her, she told him, “I ever see that Hollis again, I’m going to take a lot of pleasure in turning that rooster into a hen.”

      Eli had absolutely no doubts that the older woman was very capable of doing just that. He grinned. “Better not let the sheriff hear you say that.”

      Miss Joan smiled serenely at him. “Rick won’t say anything. Not with Alma helping me and being his deputy and all. Your sister doesn’t like that bastard any better than any of us do,” she confided. Then, raising her voice so that Kasey could hear her, she urged, “Don’t wait too long to have your dinner.” With a nod of her head, she informed them that “It tastes better warm.”

      One final glance at Kasey and the baby, and the woman was gone. Carla was right behind her, moving with surprising speed given her rather large size.

      “I didn’t tell her about Hollis” was the first thing Eli said as he closed the door again and turned around to face Kasey. He didn’t want her thinking that he had been spreading her story around.

      Kasey knew he hadn’t. This was Miss Joan they were talking about. Everyone was aware of her ability to ferret out information.

      “Nobody ever has to tell that woman anything. She just knows. It’s almost spooky,” Kasey confessed. “When I was a little girl, I used to think she was a witch—a good witch,” she was quick to add with a smile. “Like in The Wizard of Oz, but still a witch.” At times, she wasn’t completely convinced that the woman wasn’t at least part witch.

      He grinned. “Out of the mouths of babes,” he quipped. “Speaking of babes, I think your little guy just fell asleep again. Probably in self-defense so that he didn’t have to put up with being handled.” He grinned. “Carla looked like she was dying to get her hands on him.” He had noticed that the waitress had struggled to hold herself in check. “But then, I guess that everyone loves a new baby.”

      The second the words were out, he realized what he’d said and he could have bitten off his tongue.

      Especially when Kasey answered quietly, “No, not everyone.”

      He could almost see the wound in her heart opening up again.

      Dammit, he would have to be more careful about what he said around Kasey. At least for a while. “Let me rephrase that. Any normal person loves a new baby.”

      Kasey knew he meant well. She offered Eli a weak smile in response, then looked down at her son.

      “I’ll try