Maverick Christmas Surprise. Brenda Harlen

Or maybe he was grateful for any excuse to leave her with the baby that he didn’t believe was his.

      Maybe he was right to be skeptical.

      Maybe Leighton had been mistaken.

      And maybe, after having spent a couple of days with Cody, he understood now how much time and attention a baby needed and would willingly accede to her request to take her nephew back to Dallas.

      When Wilder returned with the warm garments, Beth quickly dressed the baby in a red top that had an appliqué reindeer head with Christmas lights looped around its antlers and a pair of dark brown corduroy pants.

      “Very festive,” Wilder noted.

      “He has a lot of holiday outfits,” she confided. “Every time I was out shopping, I seemed to find another one that I just couldn’t resist.”

      “And all those Christmas gifts in the back seat of your car—more things you couldn’t resist?” he guessed.

      “He’s my only nephew,” she said, by way of explanation. “And it’s his first Christmas.”

      “Do you want me to bring the presents inside?”

      She shook her head. “Thanks, but I’d rather celebrate with Cody at home. And since I’m rested now, thanks to you and your kind hospitality, we can be on our way.”

      Now it was Wilder who shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

      “You can’t want us to stay here,” she said.

      “Nothing has been about what I want since Leighton left her baby on my doorstep,” he acknowledged.

      “And considering what an inconvenience that’s obviously been for you, why would you object to us leaving?” she asked coolly.

      “Because I still don’t know why your sister brought her baby to Rust Creek Falls instead of leaving him in Dallas with you,” he said.

      “No one but Leighton knows what she was thinking,” Beth said.

      “Maybe you don’t know, but you can probably guess,” he suggested.

      Beth didn’t respond to that. Because yes, she probably could guess. But she had no intention of sharing her suppositions with this man who might or might not be Cody’s father and who, in any event, had no right to pry into the painful details of her often difficult relationship with her sister.

      A relationship that she’d been certain was turning a corner—before recent events proved otherwise.

      “And until you can answer that question to my satisfaction, the baby isn’t going anywhere,” Wilder said.

      An assertion that, of course, put her back up.

      “Who put you—a cowboy who clearly doesn’t have the first clue about parenting and might not even be Cody’s biological father—in charge?” she demanded.

      “Your sister,” he answered. “When she left her kid with me.”

      “My sister obviously wasn’t thinking clearly,” Beth said.

      “I don’t disagree, but that doesn’t change the fact that she brought the baby here.”

      She hated that he was right. Even more, she hated that Leighton hadn’t trusted her enough to talk to her about her plans. Instead, she’d snuck away, leaving only a cryptic note that did nothing to alleviate Beth’s worries. And thinking about it now only made her head hurt. She lifted a hand and pressed her fingertips to her temple, as if that might assuage the ache.

      “You’re probably hungry,” Wilder said, his tone more conciliatory than confrontational now.

      She frowned. “What?”

      “I’m guessing that your head hurts because you haven’t eaten,” he clarified.

      “How do you...oh.” She dropped her hand away.

      “When did you last have a meal?”

      “I grabbed a burger last night when I fueled up my car outside of Bozeman.” But she’d only managed to choke down a few bites of the tasteless patty before she’d wrapped it up again and tossed it back into the bag.

      “Well, according to the schedule I was given, it’s time for the baby to have a bottle, so let’s get you something to eat, too,” he suggested.

      “I’ll be down in a minute,” she said, reaching for the duffel bag. “I just want to change my clothes first.”

      “Did you want me to warm yours in the dryer, too?”

      Though she didn’t relish the idea of wriggling into cold undergarments, it was preferable to handing her bra and panties to a stranger. Especially a sexy stranger who had undoubtedly removed sexier undergarments from her sister’s body.

      “Thanks, but I’ll be fine,” she told him.

      “Okay, I’ll get started fixing the bottle.”

      She didn’t ask him to take Cody and he didn’t offer. She did wonder if his reticence was a result of not knowing what to do to take care of a baby or not wanting to acknowledge that Cody might be his.

      And she had no intention of pushing him outside of his comfort zone. As far as she was concerned, the sooner he realized that he couldn’t handle taking care of an infant, the sooner she could be on her way back to Dallas with her nephew.

      When she was changed, she retraced her steps—as best she could recall—from the night before. But it had been dark then, and she’d been focused on Wilder’s form moving ahead of her, unable to see much of anything else. In the light of day, she could appreciate the warmth and design of the home that Wilder lived in with...well, she had no idea who else lived in this house. Obviously she had more questions about the man than answers, but hopefully that would change over lunch.

      Her stomach growled in support of that plan.

      She reached the bottom step and turned—apparently in the wrong direction. Because she found herself in a family room with a grouping of leather furniture around a stone fireplace and a towering Christmas tree that almost touched the vaulted beam ceiling.

      “Look at that,” she said to Cody, her voice a reverent whisper as she moved closer. “It’s almost as big as the tree at the mall where we saw Santa.”

      Of course, Cody didn’t understand what she was talking about and would have no memory of the event even if he did. By the time they’d got to the front of the line and it was his turn to see the jolly man in the red suit, he was fast asleep. Beth hadn’t wanted to wake him and risk ending up with a photo of an unhappy or crying baby. Instead, she had a beautiful photo of her nephew, decked out in a red velvet Santa sleeper and matching hat, peacefully tucked into the crook of Santa’s arm.

      She’d bought two copies of the photo and had framed and wrapped the second one as a Christmas gift for her sister. Of course, she’d invited Leighton to go to the mall with them, but her sister had waved off the suggestion, insisting that Cody was too young to even care. It was undoubtedly true, and yet, Beth couldn’t let the occasion of his first Christmas pass without a visit to Santa.

      She pushed the memory aside to focus on the tree in front of her now. It wasn’t just big, it was beautifully decorated in what she would call “country chic,” with burlap ribbon, handcrafted wooden ornaments, home-sewn felt shapes, crocheted snowflakes, tied clusters of dried fruit, sprigs of berries and striped candy canes.

      And unlike the plastic tree in the mall, this one was real. She could smell the rich, fragrant scent of pine in the air.

      “Did you get lost?”

      She started, turned. “What?”

      A smile twitched at the corners of Wilder’s mouth, somehow making him look even more unbelievably handsome, and making her wonder what was wrong with her that she could