A Secret Colton Baby. Karen Whiddon

had quit and they needed to find a new one as soon as possible.

      Theo had done so gladly, setting up multiple interviews and planning to find a new cook within days. The instant he saw Ellie, with her innocent eyes and her sensual mouth, he’d known he’d like having her around. Hell, maybe in more ways than one.

      As long as she understood he couldn’t be serious. He enjoyed women’s bodies, and dedicated himself to pleasuring them with as much zeal as he applied to the rodeo.

      Women he spent time with knew up front what they were getting. A few laughs and a damn good time. They always left satisfied. No one ever got hurt, at least as far as he knew.

      The situation with Mimi Rand had come as a complete shock. Theo had known she still shared intimacy with her ex-husband, Dr. Rand. She’d sought Theo out after a particularly spectacular win in Cheyenne. They’d had a couple of drinks and a night of fun.

      In the morning when he’d woken, she was already gone.

      He had to confess he hadn’t paid much attention to what she did after that. Instead he’d done what he always did, focus on the rodeo.

      And then he’d been hurt, come home to recuperate, and bam—Mimi showed up at his door with an infant, claiming he was the father. He’d been flabbergasted, asked her point-blank how she knew and instead of answering, she’d gotten a funny look on her face and collapsed.

      Leaving him with a newborn and no idea what to do.

      Now she was dead. And he figured since her ex had an equal chance of being the baby’s father, Dr. Lucas Rand needed an equal opportunity to care for Amelia.

      Back in his own room, Theo clicked off the light and tried to sleep. But, just as it once had the night before a big rodeo, his mind kept whirring.

      Somehow he must have fallen asleep. He woke to the ringing of his phone. Judging from the wealth of sunlight streaming in from behind his window blinds, it was probably mid to late morning. He squinted, trying to read the caller ID, then gave up and answered.

      “Hello,” he rasped.

      “Theo, you need to call Gemma. She’s at work at the clinic. She’s been there all night, ever since Mimi Rand died.” The urgency in Flint’s low voice had Theo sitting up straight. His brother was normally the most nondramatic person he knew.

      “Why? What’s going on? Is she all right?”

      “Yes.” Flint exhaled. “But more people are ill. And it’s not the flu. The CDC is involved. It’s some kind of virus, a strain no one recognizes.” He started to say something more, but someone else spoke to Flint, interrupting him. “I’ve got to go,” he said to Theo. “Call Gemma. She can fill you in.”

      Immediately after hanging up, Theo dialed his sister’s cell. Sounding harried and stressed, she answered, clearly keeping her voice pitched low and speaking quietly so no one else could hear.

      “Is this a bad time?” he asked.

      “Right now any time is a bad time. We’ve got old Mr. Thomas here, sick with the same type of thing that Mimi Rand had. His family is freaking out, worried he’s going to die. And two children just came in.” She took a deep breath. “The waiting room is packed and the phones have been ringing off the hook. People are getting paranoid. It’s bad, Theo. Really bad.”

      “Flint said something about the CDC.”

      “Yes. Dr. Rand is working with them right now, despite being pretty broken up about losing his ex-wife. I think he still cared for her.”

      “Yeah.” Theo scratched his chin. “I need to talk to him about that. You know she claims this baby is mine.”

      “So I’ve heard. Theo, everyone in town was talking about that before people started getting sick. Apparently she told more than one person.”

      “I barely knew her,” he began.

      Gemma cut him off. “I don’t have time right now,” she said. “You and anyone who came in contact with Mimi Rand need to get checked out. And you especially need to get that baby examined. Something like this would be deadly to an infant.”

      “I will,” he said, but she’d already ended the call.

      Pushing himself up out of bed, he felt a flutter of worry in his chest. But he’d never been one to look for problems before they arose. Damned if he’d start now.

      Twenty minutes later, having showered and dressed, he made his way down the hall toward Ellie’s room. Halfway there, he heard the sound of the baby—Amelia, he reminded himself—wailing.

      He increased his speed. Two steps in and the sound stopped. Did babies do that? Frowning, he pushed the bedroom door open, only to see Ellie gently rocking Amelia back and forth.

      “Morning.” She flashed a tired smile. “She’s been kind of restless. She had a bottle an hour ago, but I’ve used the last can of formula that her mother had in the diaper bag she left, and we’re almost out of diapers.”

      “I’ll drive to the store,” he promised. With a nod, she turned her attention back to the baby. Even with dark circles under her eyes and her hair a mess, she managed to still look beautiful.

      “Have you had breakfast?”

      She bit her lip. “No. Neither has anyone else. I overslept and I haven’t had time to make it into the kitchen and cook anything, so you probably have a bunch of hungry ranch hands.”

      He realized he’d need to find either a new cook or a nanny, at least until this thing was resolved. “I’m sure they understand,” he lied. “I’ll get in there and take care of their morning meal. Heck, I’ll tell them it’s brunch, since it’s nearly lunchtime. They’ll survive. And I want you to make sure to get yourself a plate.”

      A shadow crossed her blue eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just with everything that happened and taking care of the baby—”

      “No need to apologize. After I fix breakfast, I’m going into town to talk to Mimi’s ex-husband, Dr. Rand. If you’ll write down for me what kind I need, I’ll be sure to pick up formula and diapers while I’m there.”

      She nodded, gazing at the tiny infant in her arms. “What do you think is going to happen to her?”

      At her question, he dragged his hand across his mouth. “That’s what I want to talk to Lucas Rand about.”

      The rest of the morning flew by swiftly. Still carrying Amelia, Ellie followed him down to the kitchen and directed him in the nuances of preparing the morning meal for six hungry cowboys. She couldn’t help but wonder how he managed to look rugged and sexy, even in this setting.

      He used two dozen eggs, an entire loaf of bread and two huge slabs of thick-cut bacon. A jug of milk, a huge carafe of fresh, hot coffee and another jug of orange juice completed the setup.

      “I usually make them biscuits and gravy, too.” She sounded apologetic again.

      “They’ll just have to make do,” he said, shaking his head. “Extraordinary circumstances.”

      Nodding, she crossed to the exterior door and pulled the bell cord, sending the brass bell that hung outside chiming.

      Almost immediately after, Theo’s hands began filing into the kitchen. A few of them appeared surprised to see their boss there, but once they spotted the food set out on the long wooden table in the adjoining room, they shrugged, grabbed a plate and dug in. If they wondered why the food was so late in coming, no one said anything.

      Theo had saved back some of the eggs, bacon and bread and made Ellie and himself a plate. He indicated one of the chairs at the smaller kitchen table and slid her breakfast over to her.

      She climbed up, carefully holding Amelia, and once settled, eyed the plate, making no move to pick up a fork.

      With a flush of embarrassment, he realized she