A Baby For The Sheriff. Mary Leo

I mean... You are referring to baby Lily, right?”

      She came around and sat on the edge of the bed, facing him. Her forehead mirrored her confusion. “What else would I be referring to?”

      He needed to change the subject, and fast, as he slipped Lily into a warm, long-sleeved, bunny-covered sleeper gown and zipped it closed. “Is that bottle coming soon?”

      She nodded. “Right here,” she said. “I can feed her.” She held out her arms, but Jet was reluctant to give Lily up. Instead, he gently picked her up and cradled her in his arms. She felt warm and delicate against his chest, and he had to get over the thought that she might break if he held her too tight. It had been a while, a long while, since he’d held a two-week-old baby, but he had no problem remembering exactly what to do.

      “Just point me to a comfortable chair, and we’ll be fine.”

      “You want to feed Lily?”

      “Sure,” he told her, swiping the bottle, testing the heat of the formula on the inside of his wrist, then gently enticing Lily to take it. She fussed, and wouldn’t suckle no matter how he tried to encourage her. “Maybe she’s used to her mama’s breast, and this won’t work. If that’s true, we really have a problem.”

      He glanced over at Doctor Grant, whose breasts just happened to be at eye level and looking quite tempting spilling over that low-cut neckline.

      “Well, don’t look at me,” she said, immediately standing.

      “I wasn’t looking... I mean... I couldn’t help but see...” He stopped and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. “I only meant this could be a real problem if she doesn’t take the bottle.”

      Jet kept trying, but Lily kept making a face and crying. He could feel the tension building down the back of his neck and in his shoulders. He never even considered that she wouldn’t take a bottle, and now he felt foolish for being so naive.

      “You brought two kinds of bottles. Maybe she’ll take the other one. It’s worth a try,” Doctor Grant said.

      She left the bedroom and he followed right behind, grateful that Cindy Whipple had sold him both types of bottles. If this worked, he’d have to go back and kiss her!

      “So, everything’s good and you’re getting ready to leave with Lily?” Russ said to Sheriff Wilson as he and Coco headed for the kitchen. Russ sat on the sofa in the open living room, sipping on a drink, seemingly waiting for all this baby fuss to end so he could get on with his night.

      “Not yet,” Jet said, trying to dismiss the vision of Russ and that blonde, seeming so cozy.

      “Lily won’t take her bottle,” Doctor Grant told him, sounding concerned.

      “Maybe she’s not hungry,” Russ answered, as if he knew something about babies. “A hungry baby will eat.”

      “Where did you hear that?” Jet asked, but kept heading for the kitchen with Doctor Grant.

      “I just made it up, but it sounds perfectly reasonable.”

      Jet couldn’t help an eye roll. Fortunately, only Lily could see him, and when he gazed down at her, she seemed to appreciate the gesture as she sucked on her fist.

      “Apparently you don’t know much about babies. According to Sheriff Wilson, they’re particular, especially if they’ve only been nursed. She may only accept a breast,” Doctor Grant told him, as she rinsed the other bottle, the one with a nipple that looked more like a woman’s breast.

      “Then go find her one. There must be several women in this town who are nursing their babies.”

      Doctor Grant stopped what she was doing and stared at Russ. “You’re kidding, right?”

      “Well, what’s the alternative?”

      “We have another bottle. It has a different nipple,” Jet said.

      “And if that doesn’t work?”

      “Pray that it does,” Doctor Grant said, her voice firm and filled with agitation. “Because if it doesn’t, we’re all in for a world of trouble.”

      Lily began wailing again, louder than ever. Doctor Grant took the bottle from Jet and sped up the procedure.

      Russ abruptly stood. “Well, I can see that the two of you have this covered, so I’m going to be on my way,” he shouted over Lily’s protest. “If you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call.”

      “You’re leaving? Now?” Doctor Grant asked, as if his departure took her by surprise. Jet’s only surprise was that Russ hadn’t left when Lily first arrived.

      “Sorry, baby, but I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow, especially if the snow keeps falling like it is,” Russ told Doctor Grant. “It proves my point that Sally Hickman isn’t fit to be mayor. When I’m the mayor there will be more than enough snowplows to keep our roads cleared.”

      He shrugged into his coat that had hung on a hook by the door.

      Doctor Grant handed Jet the new bottle, which she’d filled with the contents of the other bottle. Then she walked over to Russ. “But I thought we... I thought you and I...”

      Then they disappeared out into her stairway, closing the door, leaving the sheriff to tend to the more important person in the room: baby Lily.

      * * *

      ONCE RUSS KNIGHTLY made up his mind about something, he was the type of man who couldn’t be budged...a trait that under normal circumstances, Coco admired...just not tonight.

      He couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He’d left in such a hurry, she hadn’t even gotten the chance to kiss him goodbye before he was out the door and down the stairs.

      “Are you sure you want to leave in all this snow? You might get stuck and have to walk back here, anyway,” she called after him from the open doorway, having followed him down to the front door of her clinic.

      Without even turning around, he said, “I’ve got four-wheel drive, and a snowplow on the front of my truck. I can get through anything.”

      And in the next few seconds he jumped into his oversize truck, turned over the ignition, lowered the plow and took off into the night.

      She could have been upset as she closed the door, might have even thought that he’d been rude to leave so abruptly in the middle of things. She even could have decided that just maybe she might be dating the wrong man. But all she could focus on was the silence...the absolute and complete silence.

      She quickly ascended the stairs to her apartment, wondering about baby Lily and worrying about the sheriff. Would he call the local hospital asking how to set up a volunteer nursing mom for Lily? Not that she knew exactly how that would work for an actual baby. She’d set it up for infant livestock before, but that was with the cooperation of local ranchers...

      When she finally opened the door, somewhat out of breath from her rush to learn the truth, emotion gripped the back of her throat. She couldn’t help the tears that cascaded down her cheeks.

      “Oh, my gosh! She’s taking it?” she whispered, fingers wiping her tears away. Seeing that tiny baby, eagerly drinking the bottle of formula, nestled in Sheriff Wilson’s strong arms, while he took up all the space on her tan-colored overstuffed chair, was almost more than Coco could take in. For all his bluster, Coco now knew he was warm and fuzzy on the inside.

      And as a bonus, Punky had curled up at Sheriff Wilson’s feet, and aside from momentarily picking up his tiny head to watch Coco come back into the apartment, he seemed as though he wasn’t about to budge.

      “Hope you don’t mind, but I let your dog out of the bathroom. I heard it whining so I figured it wanted out.”

      “Meet Punky. And he usually doesn’t trust men. Did you give him a cookie or something?”

      “Nope,