Page 19 of The Cowboy's Miracle Baby

Reluctantly, Dominic read the note with a frown.

Izzy spoke up. “Have you heard of a thing called kinship care, Deputy?”

“Uh, no. But—”

“It’s where family members or… or friends of the family step up to care for children whose only other alternative is the foster care system. Kinship care is something that’s being utilized more and more, when possible, with the courts in every state as its often much better for the child than an overburdened foster situation.”

“But you’re not kin. Any of you. Isn’t that right?”

“Technically,” Izzy said, “that’s true. But she does have the request of the birth mother.”

“And what exactly do you know about this business?” he asked Izzy. “This kinship business?”

“Before I moved to Montana, I worked as a child advocate in the Texas court system. I don’t think the situation is any less burdened here.”

Cami hoped that Izzy’s experience in the Texas courts would one day come in handy. But she wasn’t sure Izzy’s intervention would change Dominic’s mind about what she’d done last night.

“Look, Deputy, I know you have a job to do, but there has to be a different way to look at this. It’s Christmas. Families are getting ready for the holidays. Fosters are probably full up and we are all here, more than willing to look after this child until at least after the holidays or until we can make some kind of a plan. You know us. You know our family. We’ll take good care of her. Isn’t there any way to make this work for her?”

“It’s not actually up to me,” the deputy said. “But… let me make a phone call. See what can be possible.”

Relief leaked into her. Surely reasonable people would see what was best for Lolly, and it wasn’t taking her away from the Hard Eight today.

Gus moved beside her. “None of this is fair.”

Silently, she agreed. “Thank you for standing up for me. You didn’t have to get involved in this.”

“Tell that to Eloise.” The little girl was on the floor petting Shay’s puppies who had rolled over on their backs for belly rubs. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I am already in pretty deep. And I don’t want to see Lolly go into a bad situation any more than you do. But you know there are great foster families out there. Families that would take her in happily and work toward adoption even.”

“I know. But how long before she finds that? What if she’s unlucky? And why did her mother choose me? Somehow, she trusted me to work things out for her.”

“But even if they let you keep her temporarily, she’ll need a long-term plan. The court will need that, too.”

“I know.” A headache was working its way up the back of her neck. “One step at a time. That’s all I can manage.”

Sarah wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “I know the sheriff well. He’s a reasonable man. If we need to, I’ll talk to him myself.”

Cami hugged her. Somehow, in the last twelve hours, her mom had apparently come over to her side on this issue. But her choices here affected all of them. And right in the middle of a huge upheaval in the workings of the ranch, as well. Was she asking too much to take this on?

Liam walked in the door returning from his chores with the cattle with an eye on the deputy in the yard. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes,” they all said in a grim chorus.

“Damn.” Liam bent near the baby and ran a finger over her silky hair. “I was just getting used to the little munchkin’s chaos.”

“Yeah, well, we might just have him on the rails,” Cami said. “Andwe outnumber him.”

The baby fussed again on her shoulder and began to cry. Sarah pulled a bottle from the fridge and warmed it.

“I would think twice before taking on law enforcement,” Liam said. “Even ol’ Dominic out there. He may be a rookie, but he’s a by-the-book kind of guy.”

Lolly’s cry suddenly had that newborn desperation to it. “Do you think she’s wet?” Cami asked.

“Just changed her,” Izzy said. “She’s just hungry.”

Sarah pulled the bottle out of the warmer and Cami sat down in the overstuffed chair near the fire to feed her. Almost instantly, she began chugging the formula and calming down. “She’s a good eater. That’s a good sign, isn’t it? I mean, even a baby this small must be a little traumatized without her mama.”

“Maybe she’s too young to know,” Liam said.

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