The Baby Truth (12 page)

“Oh. Well. Looks like we won’t be seeing her for a while.” Knowing there was probably a telling look on her face, she quickly stepped around him and hurried over to the oven.

As she peeked in at the casserole, Jett walked up behind her.

“Sassy, you don’t have to run from me.”

Nervously licking her lips, she closed the oven door and turned to face him. “I’m not running or leaving for a hotel in town.”

For long, taut moments his gaze swept over her face, then finally he said, “Good. How long until we eat? I’d like to shower and change.”

“Twenty minutes. I’ll have everything on the table by then.”

By the time Jett returned to the kitchen, Sassy had prepared a tossed salad, along with a basket of tortilla chips to go with the casserole. After adding two glasses of iced tea to the cozy table, he helped her into her seat then took his place across from her.

“It’s good to see you eating real food again.”

“I’m starving. I even made a pie. I found a can of cherries in the pantry. I hope you weren’t saving them for something special.”

He looked across at her and smiled. “This meal is something special.”

It was certainly special to her. For the past week she’d not felt well enough to really enjoy his company. Now she was going to have him all to herself. “Maybe you’d better reserve that comment until after you eat,” she said jokingly.

After they’d both filled their plates and began to eat, Jett said, “Bart caught me and Orin going through some of the old files this afternoon.”

Her fork paused in midair. “Oh. What happened? What did you tell him?”

“Orin told him we were hunting some old income tax files. That we needed some past numbers to compare with recent profit figures.”

“Did he believe you?”

“I doubt it. He didn’t look convinced. He just turned on his heel and left the study.”

Sassy shook her head ruefully. “Jett, is it really necessary for you and Orin to do all this searching? I don’t want Bart to get sick again. And the DNA will eventually tell us if I’m a Calhoun.”

“Yes. But, like you said, it won’t tell you who gave birth to you. Or why you were left on the orphanage’s doorstep,” he reminded her. “And Orin isn’t stopping with searching the files. He’s been calling old acquaintances and asking if they remember any baby rumors connected with Bart or anyone in the family twenty-four years ago.”

“Have either of you found anything?”

“We’re not sure.”

Surprise once again stopped her fork before it reached her mouth. “You mean you might have found something? What?”

He reached for his tea glass. “Two canceled checks written by Bart about six months before you were born. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a specific name in the recipient line—they were made out to ‘Cash.’ One check was for five thousand dollars, the other for ten thousand. And no reason was listed on the ‘For’ line.”

She ate a forkful of salad before she commented. “Jett, I don’t see anything suspicious about that. People write checks solely for cash all the time. Especially before debit cards came into use.”

“That’s true. And even back then fifteen thousand would’ve been peanuts to the Calhouns. But there is no sign of the withdrawals listed in the ledger book. Orin tells me that back during that time Claudia did all the family bookkeeping, but once Darci became ill and passed away, she quit and Bart took over the job.”

“But that doesn’t make sense, Jett. If Bart didn’t want anyone knowing about the withdrawals, he would have destroyed the canceled checks. Wouldn’t he?”

“Orin and I have been batting that theory around, too. And our thinking is that by the time the canceled checks came in a month later, he simply forgot to do away with them.”

Sassy shook her head. “Okay. Even if he was hiding something, it doesn’t mean it pertained to me.”

“You’re exactly right. But the checks do have us wondering. Orin doesn’t want to question his father yet. But later on I expect him to.”

She’d already swallowed a bite of food, yet her throat felt thick and tight. She looked down at her plate as she tried to clear away the uncomfortable feeling.

“What’s the matter, Sassy? Is the food upsetting your stomach?”

Looking up, she did her best to smile at him, but her effort only produced a weak semblance of one. “No. It just—well, everything you’re saying—that would mean Bart paid off someone to keep me out of the family. Isn’t that the way you see it?”

Understanding filled his eyes as he reached across the table to touch his fingers to hers. “I’d say we could stop this whole thing and forget it, Sassy. But it’s gone too far to stop now. And you’ve always recognized the fact that someone gave you away. It’s not like you believed you came from a pair of perfect parents.”

Shaking away that glum thought, she lifted her chin. “I can take the truth, Jett. It might not be easy. But, like I told you earlier, I’m not going to let anything get me down. Not even Bart Calhoun.”

He smiled. “Good girl. Now, eat your supper. I don’t want those roses in your cheeks to fade.”

A half hour later, after finishing pie and coffee, Sassy rose to her feet to clear away the table.

Standing up, Jett said, “You did the cooking. I’ll do the cleaning up.”

“It feels great to be up and doing, Jett. I’ll have this done in no time. But if you insist on helping then I won’t argue.”

Jett gathered up a few of the dirty dishes and was following her over to the cabinets when a knock sounded on the door.

“Now, who could that be?” he wondered out loud.

Leaving the armload of dishes on the end of the bar, he went to the door.

“Hey, Noah, come in,” he said warmly. “I’m glad you stopped by. I want you to meet Sassy. And we just finished eating. You can have the leftovers.”

Sassy looked around to see a big man near Jett’s age stepping into the house. A chocolate-brown hat covered longish black hair and shaded part of his dark features. A tan ranch coat covered broad shoulders, and the spurs on his boots jangled as he moved farther into the room.

Curious, she walked over to where the two men stood.

“Sassy, this is Noah Crawford, my friend first and my hired hand second,” Jett introduced. “And this is Sassy Matthews, Noah, the woman from New Mexico I told you about.”

Sassy extended her hand to the big man. “Nice to meet you, Noah. I’ll get you a plate. I hope you like enchiladas and cherry pie.”

“Sounds good, ma’am, but I’m in a hurry.” He turned a serious look on Jett. “Sorry to interrupt, Jett, but I found a cow down in the second wash near that band of Joshua trees. I need some help with her.”

Even before the other man had finished talking, Jett was pulling on his coat and hat. “Calving?”

Noah nodded, and Jett said, “I figured we had at least two, maybe three more weeks before that started.”

“Mother Nature moves whenever she wants,” Noah replied.

Sassy looked eagerly to Jett. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to come along.”

Clearly her request had caught him off guard. “It might not be a pretty sight, Sassy,” he hedged.

She grabbed her coat from the hall tree and began pulling it over her jeans and sweater. “I’ve seen tough births before,” she assured him. “I might even be able to help.”

He hesitated, but then seemed to understand that she needed to join in. “All right. Let’s get going,” he said.

Several minutes later, the work truck came to a halt at the bottom of a narrow gulch still muddy from the snowmelt of a few days before. A few yards beyond the vehicle, the distressed cow lay near the twisted trunk of an ancient juniper tree, and Sassy’s eyes misted over at the sight of her.

“Do you have any idea how long she’s been here?” Jett questioned the other man as the three of them made their way over to the distressed animal.

Noah answered, “This morning, when I fed her, she was with the rest of the herd. After that it would be hard to say. I left this area to go patch fence.”

“Well, let’s hope we can help her without having to call out a vet,” Jett said.

Once they reached the cow it was obvious the birthing process had begun, but the calf had stuck in an awkward position.

Careful to position herself behind the cow’s head, just in case the animal decided to jump to her feet and lunge forward, Sassy knelt by the Hereford and stroked her between the ears and down the side of her neck. Behind her, the two men began to pull on the calf with all their strength.

She whispered to the cow, “It’ll be okay, girl. Just relax and let them help you.”

After about five minutes with no results, both men were heaving for air.

“This isn’t working, Jett. She needs a C-section.”

“Too late for that, man. We’ll have to get this calf out ourselves. I’ll get the puller from the truck.”

Sassy jumped to her feet. “I’ll get it.”

She raced off to the truck, and as she lifted the device from the bed of the truck, she prayed that the men wouldn’t have to use it. And her prayer must have been answered immediately, because as she hurried over to the men with the birthing tool, she heard Jett’s strained voice saying, “It’s coming now, Noah! One more heave and I think we’ll have it!”

She was thankful Jett’s prediction was correct, and Sassy let out a cry of sheer relief as a little red calf slid clear of its mother.

“Thank God, you won’t have to use this now!” She tossed down the puller and moved in for a closer view of the calf. “Is the little fella going to be okay?”

“Don’t know yet, ma’am,” Noah answered.

Jett quickly untied the bandana around his neck and used the green square of fabric to clean the calf’s nose of birth debris and mucus.

“It’s not breathing,” Jett said bleakly. He opened the baby’s mouth and cleared away more mucus, yet the calf continued to lie motionless.

Sassy elbowed her way between the two men. “Let me try.”

Before either of them could guess her intentions she knelt over the calf and positioned her hands just behind its shoulder. In a firm, up-and-down motion she began to pump the calf’s side, and after several long moments, the baby began to splutter and mew with signs of life.

Noah said in an awed voice, “Would you look at that!”

“I am looking,” Jett replied.

Whooping with joy, Sassy leaped to her feet and flung her arms around Jett. He hugged her close for a brief moment, then purposely set her at arm’s length.

“Where did you learn how to do that? I’ve never seen it done. Have you Noah?”

“Nope. I’ve seen old ranchers blow in a calf’s mouth, and I’ve watched them hold a calf up by its heels and shake it. But not this.”

Feeling happy and proud of herself, Sassy let out a breathless laugh. “Well, I learned it from a girlfriend back on the ranch. She’s an assistant to the resident vet there. Well, actually, Lauren is his wife. And she’s worked with him for so many years that she’s almost a vet herself. Anyway, I’ve seen her do this more than once.”

Jett’s head swung back and forth with amazement. “You told me you were learning about ranching during your off time on the Chaparral, but I had no idea you’d learned this much!” Jett exclaimed.

The proud smile on her face belied her indifferent shrug. “I especially like helping Lauren with the sick and injured animals—learning how to care for them.”

Noah said, “Hey, Jett, did you hear that part about the resident vet? Must be a fancy place.”

“I wouldn’t call it fancy,” Sassy declared. “The Chaparral has everything a ranch needs. The house is big but it’s not lavish or anything. And the Cantrells are great folks. You’d never guess they’re worth millions. They even own a gold mine.”

“I’d say your job is secure,” Noah said with a chuckle.

She glanced over at Jett and noticed an odd look had come over his face, but before she could figure what that was all about, he stepped around her and said to Noah, “We’d better see how the cow is faring.”

The three of them waited until both mother and calf were on their feet and the baby had enjoyed its first meal before they climbed into the truck and headed back to the ranch. By then, nearly two hours had passed. Darkness had settled in, and without the sun, the temperature was rapidly dropping.

When they arrived at the ranch yard, Sassy left the two men to finish the last of the chores around the barn and walked on to the house. Inside, she went to work putting away the leftover food and placing all the dishes in the dishwasher.

After she’d fed Walter a can of salmon, then wiped down the table and countertops, she went to the bedroom to change out of her clothes. Mud and stains from handling the newborn calf were smeared down the front of her jeans and along the hem of her sweater. As she tossed them into a wicker hamper, she doubted either garment would come out of the wash spot free, but that hardly mattered. Mother and baby were going to be fine, and that made Sassy feel very good.

Mother and baby. The connotation of those two words caused her to pause and walk over to the dresser mirror. With only a lacy bra and panties covering her intimate parts, she turned sideways and carefully studied her image.

These past few days she’d been noticing the subtle changes in her body. The extra fullness to her breasts, the faint bulge at the lower part of her belly. Touching her fingers to the slight bump, a sudden rush of love overwhelmed her and brought a mist of tears to her eyes. Her own little baby was growing there, and he or she depended entirely on Sassy—now and for long into the future.

The reality of that meant she would need extra income. Not just for the first few months after the baby arrived, but for years to come. As of yet, she had no idea how she was going to deal with that problem. But, somehow, she would. For now, she wasn’t going to worry about the financial ramifications. She simply wanted to relish the fact that she and the baby would be a family and she would do everything in her power to give it a good home.

She might not ever learn the truth of her own parentage, Sassy thought ruefully. But, at least, her own baby would know the truth. It would never have to doubt or wonder about the identity of its mother and father.

“Sassy! Sassy, where are you?”