Accidental Father. Lauren Nichols

lap. “Not as fine as frog hair, but things are coming along.”

      “Heard you shut down the bed-and-breakfast.”

      Sarah smiled wryly. Why was she not surprised that Ruby already knew? “Who told you?”

      “Who didn’t?” Ruby harrumphed. “You know this town better’n most.”

      Yes, she did. Marrying Vince had made her the target of gossips for years. Kylie’s birth had given them even more to talk about. Sarah glanced around the room where rotating ceiling fans cooled too many customers who might overhear. “Actually,” she said, softening her voice, “that’s what I’d like to talk about. When you have time.”

      Ruby paused for an instant, then clicked on the coffee-makers and turned from her task. “Got time right now. Will you be wantin’ lunch?”

      Sarah shook her head. “Just French fries and apple juice for Kylie.”

      Motioning for Sarah to follow, Ruby grabbed a booster seat and strode to a back booth, calling the order to one of her waitresses. “And bring us two cups of regular,” she added.

      But once there, Sarah put Kylie in the booth with her toys, and she and Ruby took seats at the adjacent table. Sarah didn’t want Kylie overhearing their conversation.

      When Kylie was engrossed in her French fries and happily humming along to the nursery rhymes coming from her “boom box,” Sarah met Ruby’s gaze over their coffee cups.

      Some days, Ruby Cayhill was as no-nonsense and brittle as a pan of rock candy. But she had one of the warmest hearts and truest stares Sarah had ever known. She’d always been a good friend. Since her mother’s death, Sarah had come to depend on Ruby’s counsel even more.

      “Thank you, Aunt Ruby.”

      “Ain’t done nothin’ yet, honey. What’s the trouble?”

      Sarah drew a fortifying breath. Whoever said that confession was good for the soul had exaggerated badly. “It’s the new sheriff.”

      “The sheriff?” Ruby chuckled, and her pale eyes lit with mischief. “From what I’ve seen, he’s no trouble a-tall. Takes all his meals here, and the women can’t keep their eyes off him. That young fella’s been dang good fer business.”

      “Has…has he been in today?”

      “Not thirty minutes ago.”

      Good. Then he wouldn’t be walking in while she and Kylie were here. Sarah stirred cream into her coffee and watched Ruby bring her cup to her lips. There was no point in sugarcoating the announcement. She might just as well spit it out. “I slept with him, Aunt Ruby.”

      Coffee sloshed over the rim as Ruby clattered her cup back into her saucer. After a moment, she took several napkins from the chrome dispenser and mopped up the spill. “Well, I’m no expert on such things, but if that’s what you call trouble—”

      “It was three years ago,” Sarah continued quietly. “Right after that horrible mess with Vince. Jake is Kylie’s father.”

      Periodically checking on Kylie, she told Ruby all of it—how she’d been crying, tired of people whispering behind their hands about her, hating their pitying looks. Then how Jake had found her like that, and he’d been just as low as she was.

      “So, mutual commiserating became something else,” Sarah concluded. “Now…” She smiled tightly, but with love, as she watched Kylie triple-dip a mangled French fry in the puddle of ketchup on her plate. “Now I have a precious little daughter.”

      “Does he know?”

      “He suspects. And he deserves to know, but I’m afraid to tell him. You remember Betsy Chappell, don’t you?”

      “Moved up to Helena a while back.”

      Sarah nodded. “I saw her last week when I was there helping my aunt Vera after her back surgery. Betsy just lost a custody battle with her baby’s father. He was married, and when he went back to his wife, Betsy had some emotional problems. Unfortunately, the man’s a respected doctor with influential friends. Now he and his wife are raising Betsy’s son.”

      Ruby’s sober gaze studied Kylie. “Afraid the sheriff’ll git himself a lawyer?”

      Sarah nodded again. “He never knew his father, and he was raised by a single mother with a gypsy life-style. After she died, he spent some time in foster homes. Aunt Ruby, this man has wanted a real family all of his life. Yes, I’m afraid he’ll get a lawyer.”

      “More dip-its, Mommy?”

      Sarah rose to squirt more ketchup on Kylie’s plate, then returned to her seat. “I can’t lose her. Even joint custody would be a horror.” Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “He’s a stranger,” she murmured. “How can I tell him he has a daughter when I don’t know anything about him?”

      Ruby chewed her lower lip for a time, then settled her gaze on Sarah’s. “First off, I don’t think you’ll lose her. But Lord knows I been wrong before. Once when I voted fer Cy Farrell, who turned out to be a low-down skunk, and once when I swore up and down I could raise watermelons.

      “That said, I think he’s a decent sort. No fella without a conscience woulda stopped to make sure you were okay that night. Plus, he’s been here twice a day since he arrived, and I’ve watched him close. After the last fool we had wearin’ a badge in this town, I need t’ be sure this fella deserves my vote come November. If he keeps up the way he’s goin’, he’s got it.”

      “So what do I do?” Sarah asked. “What would you do?”

      “Think on it some, I reckon. Trust that the Lord knows what He’s doin’, bringin’ Jake Russell to this town. I’m fresh out of magic wands, Sarah. If I’d had any years ago, I’da zapped that cheatin’ husband of yers clear to Jupiter. Best I kin do fer you right now is offer you a piece of apple pie and freshen that cold coffee in front of you.”

      “Thanks,” she said through a sigh. “But I—” Sarah stopped abruptly as the door opened, and Jake walked inside. To her shock and mortification, her skin began to tingle and warm, and a disconcerting airiness wafted through her stomach.

      He was a light that dimmed every other man in the room—ruggedly handsome and well-built in a tan uniform that fit nearly as well as his jeans did. Removing his Stetson, he crossed to the lunch counter to speak to Jeannie Baker, the waitress who’d brought their order. Instantly, the girl’s posture was better, her smile brighter and her attention rapt.

      “I thought you said the sheriff had already been here,” Sarah said nervously, irrationally bothered by Jeannie’s interest.

      Ruby turned to peek toward the front of the café. “Could be he changed his mind about dessert.”

      Oh, please, don’t let it be that, Sarah prayed, staring into her coffee cup.

      “Nope,” Ruby continued. “He ain’t sittin’ down. Looks like he’s handin’ Jeannie one of them lunch vouchers. Must be holdin’ somebody over at the jail.”

      Slowly, Sarah ventured a look. But Jake chose the same moment to scan the room, and Sarah felt her face flood with heat as their gazes met and locked.

      At the front of the café, Jake frowned thoughtfully as Sarah jerked her gaze from his. He’d been racking his brain for two days trying to think of a way to reestablish some sort of friendship with her. He’d really screwed up, pressuring her the way he had.

      Now, as he considered his next stop, he wondered if a partial solution to his problem might be in his shirt pocket. He’d planned to ask a salesclerk for help. But talking to Sarah about something that had nothing to do with Kylie might just ease some of her insecurities where he was concerned, and pave the way to some honest conversation.

      He didn’t want to resort to demanding a paternity test.

      “I’ll