Tall, Dark, Texas Ranger / Once Upon A Christmas Eve. Patricia Thayer

door swished opened again and his new employer, Alex Casali, walked in with an attractive redhead he knew to be his wife, Allison Cole Casali.

      Alex spotted him and excused himself. “Cooper, what are you doing here?”

      “I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was the only one who had a vehicle close by to drive Jenny to the hospital.”

      Casali smiled. “Welcome to small-town living.”

      CHAPTER TWO

      “IT’S a boy!”

      Lilly looked up to see Evan Rafferty, dressed in hospital scrubs, in the waiting-room doorway. Several of the others in the group jumped up and offered their congratulations.

      Sean was hugging his son when Lilly approached. “It’s wonderful news, Evan.”

      The handsome new father grinned. “Yeah, it is. I wanted a boy, but another girl would have been great, too.”

      Lilly felt tears of joy, recalling the happiest days of her life had been when she had her children. “How is Jenny doing?”

      “She’s a champ,” Evan said. “Not one complaint. Jade was with her, and I was her coach.”

      Lilly thought about her good friend. Jade was a nurse at the hospital and had recently married ranch owner Sloan Merrick. “I’m glad. How much did the baby weigh?”

      “Sean Michael is eight pounds and six ounces.”

      Grandfather Sean appeared. “Did I hear right?”

      Evan nodded. “Jenny wants our son to have a family connection so we thought what better way than his grandfather and great-grandfather’s names? We thought we’d call him Mick.”

      Lilly could see that Sean was touched. The big burly man didn’t have a problem showing his emotions as tears filled his eyes. “My dad would have liked that.” Sean looked down at his granddaughter. “What do you think, Gracie? Doesn’t that sound like a good Irish name?”

      The ten-year-old nodded. “I like it. When can we see him, Dad? He is my brother.”

      The group laughed and Evan said, “Come on, I think family has some privileges.”

      Lilly watched as the threesome walked down the hall together. She felt envy for what she used to have, and had lost. What her kids had lost. Sadness engulfed her, but she refused to give in to it. She’d spent months trying to figure out what had happened with her marriage. What had happened between her and Mike. She never came up with any answers.

      She shook off the sad thoughts, knowing she needed to get home. She turned toward the window and found Mr. Cooper leaning against a pillar.

      She nearly groaned. Why was he still here? Well, she would soon find out as he started toward her.

      “I take it everything’s okay?”

      She nodded, not wanting him to see that his presence bothered her. “A healthy baby is always the best news.” She finally made eye contact with him. He did have great eyes. “You didn’t need to hang around. I can get a ride back.”

      “Not a problem. I was hoping to find out when I can move into the cottage.”

      She still wasn’t sure she wanted a stranger so close to her kids. “You’ll have to ask my mother.”

      “I did, she said it depends on when you finish cleaning. Not that I can’t finish the rest on my own.”

      “I was planning on cleaning the carpets. No one has lived in the place since my uncle stayed a few years back.” She sucked in a breath and caught his scent. A tingle of awareness she hadn’t felt in a long time went through her. She quickly got back on track. “Oh, and there are still some boxes I’ll need to move into the garage. I haven’t made the bed, and there aren’t any towels.”

      The sound of his phone interrupted her rambling. He grabbed his cell off his belt, checked the number, shut it off, then looked back at her.

      He seemed far too comfortable, while she couldn’t even manage to put a sentence together. “I can move boxes and make a bed,” he told her. “I have a few towels in my duffel. Tomorrow I can shop for whatever else I need. So when do I move in?”

      Never! Lilly wanted to scream. She didn’t need the complication, but for now they could use the extra income from renting the cottage. That was if she ever wanted to get out of debt. And thanks to her mother, she and the kids had a roof over their heads.

      She glanced back at Mr. Cooper. “I guess now is fine.”

      He nodded and they started toward the exit, but she detoured and stopped by her mother first. “Are you ready to go home?”

      Beth glanced past her daughter and saw Noah Cooper. “Well, I wanted to get a glimpse of little Mick. Why? Do you need something?”

      “Mr. Cooper wants to move in right now. So I need to finish up a few things.”

      “Okay, I’ll be home in about an hour.” Her mother went to the new tenant. Lilly watched the two in conversation, then Beth came back smiling.

      Great. Was she the only one who was suspicious of strangers?

      Coop was careful not to push for conversation on the drive back to the Staley house. He already knew Lilly Perry wasn’t exactly happy to have him in the cottage. One wrong move and she would find an excuse to cut him loose. He needed to be here. It was a perfect place to possibly learn more about Delgado.

      A long shot maybe, but it was the best he had.

      Lilly instructed him to pull into the driveway and park on the far side of the garage. “There’s enough room for all our vehicles.”

      “Thank you. That’s a lot more convenient.” He got out and grabbed his duffel from the truck bed.

      He waited until Lilly came around and together they walked to the cottage. She took out a set of keys.

      “I thought small towns were safe enough to leave your houses unlocked.”

      Coop watched a panicked look mar her pretty features. “It used to be that way. Things change.”

      From the information he had about Mike Perry’s death, Lilly’s home had been broken into. Shortly after that she’d lost the house to creditors and moved herself and the kids back here. Probably the safest place for her. But he wondered about that, too. Not with Delgado out there.

      They walked inside. This time he took a better look at the rental. It was small, but homey and the furniture looked comfortable. He carried his bag into the other room where a queen-size bed took up most of the space.

      He peered into the bath. A small shower stall and a pedestal sink and toilet were accounted for. “Everything I need,” he said.

      “There’s a television, but only basic cable.”

      “That’s more than I expected.”

      “Tell that to my kids. They seem to think they’re deprived without the premiere channels.”

      “With you as their mother, and Beth as their grandmother, I’d say they’re pretty lucky.”

      That seemed to frazzle her. “Well, having a mother who’s the school principal doesn’t exactly make them the most popular kids.”

      It beat the heck out of having a mother who didn’t care about anything but the next man in her life. After two bad marriages, Cindy Morales was still looking for the elusive husband. That meant leaving her two boys alone. “They’ll live,” he said.

      That comment got him a smile. “Well, I’ll let you get settled in. Holler if you need anything.”

      “Wait.” He pulled out his wallet and took out five one-hundred-dollar bills. “Here’s part of the deposit. Tell