A Baby in His Stocking. Laura Altom Marie

echoed through the lofty space. “Cami said I’d find you in here.”

       “Are your kids in art?”

       “Yep. I should be grading, but yesterday’s sugar has me feeling hungover.”

       “I know the feeling.”

       Familiar with the basket drill, Josie stepped up to help. Tucking canned chili between pint-size blue jeans and a puzzle, she said, “Cami told me you were sick again this morning. Also that you let her in on your secret. What prompted you to finally share your news?”

       “I didn’t. Turns out she’d guessed a long time ago. Anyway, it’s not like I can keep my baby a secret much longer.”

       Josie attacked Natalie with a hug. Then she grabbed some more cans of food. “Have you been feeling any better?”

       “No. I’m tired, cranky and my body refuses to choose between ravenous or nauseous.”

       From down the hall in the choir room came muted singing.

       Natalie pressed her palms to her suddenly throbbing head.

       “Honey,” Josie asked, setting her cans on the stage floor, “what’s wrong?”

       Tears sprang hot and messy from nowhere. For weeks, Natalie had tried controlling her panic, but something about holding sweet Esther and that surprise dreamy kiss with Wyatt and then getting sick had her hormones about as stable as a four-wheeler on a pot-holed dirt road. “I—I thought I could be strong—you know, raising this baby on my own, but I’m scared.”

       “Everything’s going to be okay.” Being wrapped in another of Josie’s warm hugs should’ve made Natalie feel better, but if anything, her friend’s kindness only served as a reminder to how easily she’d given her heart to Craig only to have him crush it like a recyclable aluminum can. “Sweetie, you know I’ll be here for you every step of the way. Heck, our house is big enough to hold half the county. If you have this baby and feel overwhelmed, move in with us and we’ll all help out.”

       Her friend’s offer brought on fresh tears. “Why couldn’t Craig have been as perfect as you?”

       Josie laughed through her own tears. “Wish I knew. I’d offer to drag him back and knock sense into him, but one of these days, if and when you’re ready, you can do much better in the man and baby-daddy department. I want you to find someone as dreamy as Dallas. Not just for emotional support, but the little things like helping with late-night feedings and deciphering all those mysterious burps and coos.”

       Sighing, Natalie broke Josie’s hold to pace the center aisle. “I’m happy for you and Dallas—really, I am—but as much as I thought you two were made for each other, that’s how much I know I’m done with men. Before Craig, there was Neil. Remember him? The guy who took two dates to the same party? And who could forget Sam? The one who dumped me for a woman old enough to be his mother. Face it, when it comes to guys, my track record is one hundred percent awful.”

       “Granted. Which is why I’ll leave you in peace to lick your wounds.” Josie took a bag of peanut M&M’s from her skirt pocket. She’d suffered an addiction ever since her pregnancy with Esther. What other kinds of baby afflictions did Natalie have in store? Popping a green one in her mouth, Josie added, “But soon, all bets are off. You’re too beautiful inside and out to announce yourself a spinster before you’ve even turned thirty-five.”

       “Stop,” Natalie begged her supposed friend. “I know you mean well, but seriously, when it comes to dating, I’m done.”

      Chapter Two

      “Sure this is what you want to do?”

       Wyatt signed off on the last of the paperwork his attorney and friend, Brett Lincoln, had placed in front of him.

       “Yes, it’s what I want to do, but I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t have doubts as to what’s right for the company. Regardless, I’ve got to get out of here.” Here, meaning Oklahoma. Unbeknownst to Dallas, Cash, Daisy or Georgina, Wyatt sat in Brett’s high-rise Tulsa office, signing over the day-to-day running of the Buckhorn oil holdings to his more than capable second in command. Wyatt’s degree was in geology, and he couldn’t think of a more fitting way to get his head back in the proverbial game than to at least temporarily escape. Sooner the better.

       He’d spend the next month or so tying up loose ends and then join forces with a major player in the oil exploration field in Ethiopia’s Rift Valley basin. As part of their team, he’d break down geographical leads, checking everything from source rocks to possible hydrocarbon traps. The work would entail long, thankless hours in miserable conditions. Wyatt couldn’t wait. The task could take years. As far as he was concerned, it could take forever.

       Now, his only problem was telling his mother he wouldn’t be home for Christmas.

      “WEMEETAGAIN.” WYATT didn’t remember Natalie having such amazing curves in all the right places. But then, up until their epic kiss, he hadn’t much thought of her at all. They had always been casual friends. Nothing more.

       “What brings you to Weed Gulch Elementary on such a gorgeous Saturday morning?” she asked.

       “Truth?” he asked with a contagious grin, setting a box loaded with donated goods on one of the tables designated for the day’s rummage sale. “Mom’s more than a little miffed with me, so I’m worming my way back into her good graces by doing her grunt work.” In the week since meeting with Brett, he’d let his family in on his decision to leave. Not only were they all less than thrilled, his mother in particular was flipping out. Apparently, she had no desire for one of her babies to spend a few years in Ethiopia. Go figure.

       Eyeing the still-full load in the back of his pickup, Natalie noted, “You must’ve been really bad to warrant hauling all of that. Doesn’t she have employees for that sort of thing?”

       “Sure, but at the moment, she thinks more of them than me.”

       “Ouch.”

       “Tell me about it. I even got wrangled into helping at the Halloween blowout she and Josie are having.”

       “Me, too,” she said with a wince. “I’m already tired.”

       He laughed, surprised by how easy it was to shoot the breeze with his old friend.

       “Well—” she aimed a thumb toward the kitchen “—I should probably let you unload. I’ve been assigned to brew coffee.”

       Hands in his pockets, he nodded. “Sounds good. Nice talking to you.”

       “Likewise,” she said with a backward wave.

       Fifteen minutes later, the time it took Wyatt to haul all his stuff to its assigned places, Natalie had returned, bearing a coffee urn so tall she could barely see around it.

       “Let me give you a hand.” Wyatt took it from her, carrying it to the area designated for a bake sale.

       “Thanks.” She trailed after him. “That thing turned out to be a lot heavier than it looked.”

       “What are you all raising money for?” he asked, for some unknown reason not wanting to say goodbye.

       “Art and P.E. supplies. Our funding is perilously low. We barely have money for necessities like textbooks and paper, let alone the parts of school kids especially enjoy.”

       “Sounds like a great cause,” he said. “Having always been a patron of the arts, I’ll cut you a check.”

       She cocked her head, “Wyatt Buckhorn, last I remember of you in art class was when you and Owen glued everyone’s colored pencils to their desks.”

       “That was my experimental art phase. It turned out bad. Now, I’m more into the classics.”

       Their shared laugh was nice. Comforting in an odd sort of way. Around Natalie, he’d