GI Cowboy. Delores Fossen

of using artificial insemination to get pregnant.

      Now, that would get him running. But it would also be revealing a secret wish that she wasn’t ready to reveal to anyone. Time to switch gears to something more palatable, but Parker changed it for her.

      “Who’s that?” he asked and got to his feet.

      She looked out the window and spotted the familiar dark-haired man making his way toward the porch. “Sidney Burrell, the handyman. He’s putting in that bathroom Charlotte told you about.” Bailey checked the date on her watch. “Though he wasn’t supposed to work today. He only works after hours, after all the children are gone.”

      Parker stood at the window and studied him. “When he’s here, he has access to the entire building?”

      “Of course. Why?”

      “You trust him?” Parker fired back.

      Bailey was about to say yes, but she hesitated. “He moved to Freedom about four months ago so I don’t know him that well, but he had good references. And he hasn’t done anything to make me distrust him.” She noticed his alarmed expression, and that alarmed her. “Why all the questions?”

      Parker didn’t take his attention off the man. “I think he’s carrying a concealed weapon.”

      She jumped to her feet. “What?”

      “Look at the slight bulge around the ankle of his jeans.”

      She did look, and yes, there was a bulge. “You think that means he has a gun?”

      “Wait here,” Parker ordered, and he hurried out the room and toward the front door.

      Bailey had no intention of doing that. Ahead of her, Parker disengaged the security system and threw open the front door just as Sidney was coming up the steps. Even though Parker didn’t draw his own gun, Sidney stopped in his tracks. His eyes widened, and he volleyed glances between Parker and her.

      “I heard about the car everyone’s looking for,” Sidney said. “It’s all over town. I came over to check on you.”

      “I’m fine,” Bailey lied.

      Parker stepped out onto the porch and would have shut the door in her face, if she hadn’t caught onto it. Parker shot her a warning glance over his shoulder, probably so that she would go back inside, but Bailey went on the porch with him.

      “This is Parker McKenna,” she said, trying to make it sound like a casual introduction.

      Parker didn’t wait for Sidney to respond. “Are you carrying a gun?”

      Sidney pulled back his shoulders. “What business is that of yours?”

      “Are you carrying a gun?” Parker repeated. He took a single step closer to Sidney, but that step along with his expression had a menacing feel to it.

      “Yeah.” Sidney’s expression took on a menacing feel, as well. “I am. But I have a permit to carry concealed.”

      Since Bailey’s emotions were already running high, she forced herself to put this in perspective, though she didn’t like the fact this man had been in her day care with a weapon strapped to his ankle.

      Except Parker had a weapon too, she reminded herself.

      “Why carry a gun?” Bailey asked.

      Sidney shrugged and softened his glare when he looked at her. “My house isn’t in town, and a time or two I’ve come home to find coyotes in my yard. It’s easier to have the gun on me than in the glove compartment of the truck.”

      She nodded, accepting that. “I’d prefer if you didn’t wear it in the building,” she simply stated.

      Sidney’s mouth tightened. “If that’s the way you want it.”

      “It is,” Parker answered for her.

      For a moment she thought Sidney might argue with that, but he finally smiled and tipped his fingers to his forehead in a mock salute. “I’ll be seeing you around.”

      For some reason, that sounded like a threat. Or maybe it was just the nerves getting to her. Parker and she stood there and watched Sidney walk away. The man got into a blue pickup truck and drove off.

      “You should call Bart and ask him to run a background check on this guy,” Parker suggested.

      That was a good idea, and Bailey made a mental note to be more careful about the people she hired. When had her life gotten so complicated?

      Her phone rang, and even though she’d been expecting and even praying for this particular call, her heart began to pound when she saw the sheriff’s name on the screen. Her hand was shaking too, but she pressed the button to answer it and put it on speaker so Parker could hear.

      “Did you find the car?” Bailey immediately asked.

      “No,” Sheriff Hale said after several snail-crawling moments. “We looked hard, Bailey, but that car isn’t on any road in this county. I figure the guy knows we’re onto him, and he’s long gone.”

      Bailey tried not to react, and on the outside she probably didn’t. Inside was a different matter.

      “We’ll keep looking, of course,” the sheriff continued. “I’ll review each new security tape. And I’ll have one of the deputies drive by Cradles to Crayons at least every hour. We got this situation under control, Bailey, and I don’t want you worrying about it.”

      “Thank you,” she told him, and she clicked the end call button.

      She didn’t move. Bailey just stood there, even though the July heat was brutal. Sweat was starting to trickle down her back.

      “Okay,” Parker mumbled. “That’s that, then.” He extended his hand for her to shake.

      A farewell shake, no doubt.

      Bailey stared at his hand. Then at Parker himself. And she had the sickening feeling that her life depended on the decision she was about to make.