“She really pulls out all the stops, doesn’t she?” Kendry asked in a rough voice unlike the teasing tone she was used to.
Jared took a step forward, his hands balled up into fists. “Lady, she can have us any way she wants us, and that invitation includes her baby. Looks to me like you’re leaving here disappointed.”
Persistent as ever, Dorothy curled her lip and waved her hand as if shooing a pesky fly. “Well of course they could always swoop in and save you, and then you’d have all the built in help you need. Just like your daddy swooping in to save you, only with a few added benefits.”
“Wait,” the man, Jules, said. “You’re both wanting this gal? What in Sam Hill is goin’ on in this town?”
Presley Ann held up the remote call button for the nurse. “You’ve got two seconds before I ask the nurse’s station to call the sheriff and my brothers-in-law, who are city cops. I asked you to leave nicely. They asked you to leave nicely. I’m done being nice. Get out!”
“Well!” Marvelle gasped as she clutched her handbag to her and grabbed her husband’s arm nervously. “I never.”
“I can understand why,” Presley Ann said as she looked from one individual to the other. “But that’s not my concern. This baby is mine and you can’t have him.”
Tracey burst in through the doorway. “What’s going on in here? This is a new mother and infant. Honey, are you okay?” she asked, rushing over to stand next to Presley Ann. “I heard what you said. If someone’s taking a baby, they’ll have to come through me.” She glared at the entire group, looking ready to growl herself and said, “You need me to clear the room, honey? I will clear this damn room.”
Presley Ann wanted to hug Tracey for her kickass loyalty. “No, just these three,” she said, pointing at Jules, Marvelle, and her aunt. “And Aunt Dorothy, taking your advice over the years has brought me nothing but heartache and disappointment. Go now, before I call James and Vincent myself. I can’t believe you thought I would just hand my baby over to strangers.”
Tracey said, “Sheriff Hank is down the hall. I can get him right now.”
Marvelle and Jules lit out of the room so fast they practically left a vapor trail.
Tracey eyed Dorothy. “There are laws protecting new mothers from situations like this. You don’t just walk in with prospective adoptive parents and expect to walk out with a baby—at least not here you don’t. Mrs. Perkins, are you branching out from running a temporary employment agency to baby brokering? You’d better skedaddle before I call Hank. He’d love to hear all about your plan, I’m sure.”
Dorothy stood from her seat on the bed and cast an angry, bushy eyebrowed look at all of them. She hmphed at Presley Ann and said, “We’ll see how devoted a mother you are when you’re forced to spend money on that baby you’d rather spend on designer fashions for yourself. Good day!”
With her nose up in the air, she sailed out of the room, practically knocking Kendry and Jared out of the way with her girth.
Tracey snarled at her back and mimicked her. “Good day!” After Jared and Kendry closed the door, Tracey turned concerned eyes on her. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry they upset you.” In a whisper, she added, “Who are the hotties? Can I have one? I won’t break him, I promise.”
Presley Ann laughed so hard she nearly choked and Whit unlatched and started hollering.
“I’ll leave you be, honey. Hit that button if those people come back,” Tracey said with a wink and then gave Jared and Kendry big smiles. “Don’t you two tire her out now, you hear?”
Kendry’s eyes twinkled and he drawled, “Yes, ma’am.” After Tracey exited the room, he turned back to Presley Ann. “Looks like our kitten has claws. You okay?” All trace of humor left his eyes as he and Jared came close. She self-consciously lifted Whit to her shoulder while trying to maintain her modesty with the receiving blanket.
Reaching for the snaps on her hospital gown, she heaved a sigh of relief as they lined up and she pressed them into place. “They snuck in on me while I was napping with Whit.”
A smile broke out on Jared’s face. “Whit?”
Presley Ann nodded, all doubt about her son’s name gone, and said, “Yes. I’d like you to meet Whitman Merritt Woodworth, also known as Whit.”
The baby punctuated his introduction with a burp, and she felt a little more accomplished when she didn’t feel his meal running down the back of her shoulder. She repositioned the baby in her arms so they could see him, and the men’s eyes widened and they shared a glance.