The Baby Compromise. Linda Ford

“Come along, Heidi. We’ll go to the store first.”

      Before she could take a step, he planted himself in her path. “Now, wait just a minute.” He tried to form a plan, mount a convincing defense, but her steady consideration of him and the way she held her head high left him scrambling for reason. “Look, maybe we can work something out.”

      She quirked an eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”

      He didn’t have anything concrete planned, but perhaps they could share the responsibility. The idea immediately appealed to him. “There’s plenty of room at the ranch. You and Heidi and the baby could live there. I could help care for the baby and make sure he’s okay.” As he spoke, the idea took shape in his mind. “You wouldn’t have to stay at the hotel any longer.”

      Rebecca smiled, though the brittleness remained in her eyes. “That’s a lovely idea.”

      He heard the but before her smile faded.

      “But I have to stay in town to see why the materials haven’t been delivered. I have to make sure this building is complete before the orphans come to live here. Wyatt will return any day with children.” Wyatt Reed was the newly appointed U.S. marshal charged with tracking down the orphans Baxter had hired out. The marshal had recently married Charlotte Miller and they’d adopted Sasha, one of Rebecca’s young charges. If Wyatt hadn’t discovered how Felix Baxter was getting rich by hiring out orphans from earlier trains, those poor children would still be suffering. “It makes me angry to think how the children have been mistreated.” Felix had robbed those children of any chance at a normal life.

      Colton jerked his attention to the frame of the building beyond her shoulder. The only thing he could offer was his help. “I came here this morning to pitch in on the construction.” An idea took root and blossomed. “If you take care of the baby at the ranch, I could do more work on the orphanage.”

      The doubt that clouded her eyes did not clear.

      He had to convince her. It was the only way he could think to get her to give up or at least share the care of the baby. “I’ll take over supervision of the construction work. Personally see that this building gets completed in a timely fashion.” Surely a few words in the right ear and an occasional trip to town would be sufficient. The task wouldn’t require much time away from the ranch. It was the ideal solution.

      But she shook her head. “I am not prepared to abdicate my task to someone else.”

      He got the clear feeling that that was her final word on the subject. Was there anything that could be said to change her mind?