The Gentrys: Cal. Linda Conrad

engaged to another charmer—and that one really brought home the point.

      Given a choice, she’d rather stay a hundred miles away from an attractive and lady-pleasing man like this gringo, but right now she saw no other alternative. She would not leave a sick child, no matter what.

      Without turning around, she finally asked a couple of questions of her own. “Do you have a flashlight and a baby thermometer?”

      “What? Why?” He came close and looked over her shoulder. “What’s wrong with Kaydie?”

      “I told you, she has a fever. I’m trying to determine why and how bad it might be.” Bella never looked up at him, though she could feel his body’s warmth seeping through her thin clothes, making her wonder if she might be running a fever, too. “Where is the child’s mother?”

      A long, deadly silence followed her question, and Bella realized the baby had quieted down.

      “My wife, Kaydie’s mother, was killed in a car accident a couple of months ago.” His voice was so hushed, Bella could barely make out the words.

      He laid a firm hand on Bella’s shoulder. “Who are you?”

      Keeping both hands on the baby’s warm body, Bella turned her head to answer him. “I’m sorry for your recent loss, señor. My name is Isabella Maria Fernandez. But please call me Bella.” She managed a half smile, trying to ignore the brushfire he’d ignited inside her with his touch. “Can we have our discussions later? Right now your daughter’s welfare should be your first concern.”

      “She is my first concern.” His fingers dug lightly into her shoulder. “Where are you from, Bella? Who sent you?”

      “No one sent me.” Did this man not realize how potentially serious a high fever could be? “Please. I will tell you everything just as soon as I am satisfied the baby is not in immediate danger.”

      “What do you know about this kind of thing? Do you have children of your own, or are you a doctor?”

      His hold on her shoulder tightened, and she winced involuntarily. “In my country I am a licensed nurse. I received training in the United States to be what you call a practical nurse.” She tried to twist free of his grip. “Por favor, you’re hurting me. Let me do what I can for your daughter. Then we will talk.”

      He eased his hand from her shoulder, but his six-foot frame towered over them as he continued to keep a steady watch on his daughter. Bella thought he must truly be concerned and aware of his duty to his own flesh and blood, but he didn’t seem to know the first thing about how to care for a sick child.

      “Do you have a flashlight and a baby thermometer?” she repeated.

      “I saw a flashlight in this drawer.” He pulled open a cabinet drawer and handed her the heavy metal light. “There may be a thermometer in Kaydie’s things in the front room. I haven’t had a chance to unpack yet.”

      He hesitated while Bella coaxed the baby to open her mouth. With one free hand she held the child’s head and with the other Bella pointed the light down her throat.

      The father looked as if he wanted to pace the floor, but his obvious leg injuries held him back. “I’ll go look through her things for a thermometer. I think the boxes are marked.” He took his crutch and began to limp toward the doorway but turned before he’d gone through. “Will she be all right?”

      “Yes. Your daughter should be okay. Her throat looks fine and she doesn’t seem to be in as much distress as she was when I arrived. Let’s just take her temperature to be sure, though. Okay?”

      The norteamericano father nodded once then disappeared on his mission.

      “Ah, niña,” Bella cooed to the child. “What are you doing way out here with a man who can barely help himself, let alone take care of a baby? Why is there no woman to attend to you?”

      Bella had been struck by the lack of emotion in the gringo’s voice when he’d mentioned his wife’s death. Perhaps he was still so grief-stricken that he dared not even speak of her in case he broke down. Bella knew lots of men in Mexico who would act in that same way. She vowed not to mention the baby’s mother again unless he brought her up first.

      Bella felt sure that the fever had already lessened its grip on the child’s body. “Kaydie, wasn’t it?” The baby’s light-blue eyes stared up at her in that curious way some babies had. “Well, Kaydie. Let’s see if we can make you a little more comfortable.”

      After turning on the water tap, Bella waited a few minutes for the water to reach the right lukewarm temperature. Carefully she placed the baby in the sink, but not directly under the water’s stream. Cupping her hand, she put a bit of the water on the baby’s chest and tummy, then let the water fill the sink.

      “How does that feel?” she asked in Spanish.

      Kaydie responded by widening her eyes and hiccuping. She seemed to understand the language—or perhaps it was the tone that Bella used. Or maybe the baby just liked the feel of the tepid water on her heated skin. Bella turned off the water faucet and held the baby in the sink while the water turned colder.

      “Are you giving her a bath?” The father’s voice startled Bella as he dragged himself back into the room. “I found a thermometer, and I brought her diaper bag.”

      “Good. Set the bag down on the table, then come here and hold Kaydie while I take her temperature.”

      “Yes, ma’am,” he grumbled while he did as she’d asked.

      Bella knew a disgruntled tone when she heard one, but she didn’t care. He had an air about him that, like many norteamericano men, said he was powerful, rich and accustomed to getting things done his own way.

      But right now he needed her help. And he could darn well do things her way to get it.

      She dried Kaydie off and wrapped her in a clean towel. Instructing the child’s father to sit, she placed her in his lap. While he held the baby, Bella stuck the digital thermometer in her ear to take her temperature.

      “You know my name, señor,” she asked as she held the thermometer in place. “May I ask for yours?”

      “Gentry,” the man bristled.

      When Bella continued to watch him expectantly, this Gentry fellow seemed to realize he had more of a name than just that.

      “Cal Gentry.”

      Bella shrugged a shoulder. A nice name, she thought. But not one she’d ever heard before. Cal had said it as though she should definitely be impressed. She wasn’t.

      “Well, Cal, your daughter’s temperature must have subsided with the cool bath. This thermometer says 101 degrees.” Bella put aside the thermometer and lifted the baby back into her arms. “Does she have a change of clothes in that bag you brought?”

      “I guess so.” He picked up the bag and scooted it over the tabletop toward her. “I think I saw some clothes in there. But I didn’t pack it, so I’m not positive.”

      She could’ve guessed that this father would be unsure about his daughter’s care. When Bella had first held her, the baby’s pink dress was buttoned backward and the tabs on her plastic diapers dangled dangerously below it.

      She held Kaydie against her left shoulder. With her other hand, Bella rummaged through the duffle. She found powder, creams and antibiotic wipes in one of the side pockets. Inside the main compartment were several changes of clothes, plastic diapers and a few small bottles filled with juice and water. Another pocket revealed baby-strength liquid aspirin substitute, vitamins, a few bottles of rehydration fluid and jars of processed baby food.

      What Bella wouldn’t have given for such a fantastic stash when she’d worked with the small bands of Mexican families on the border. She’d been making do with whatever was handy for so long that she almost didn’t recognize some of the things.

      Jealousy and