The Cowboy's Baby(3)

But if she could have them for someone else…someone willing to pay all the medical expenses and a little something extra beside…well, why not? She’d be giving someone a gift she didn’t think she’d ever desire, and besides that, at least she’d get to experience the magic so many people gushed about without caring for the child itself.

She took down the number at the bottom of the screen, shaking her head as she did so. She had no idea how surrogacy agencies worked. At one time, Esme thought she might have been offered a chance to get in contact with her biological mother, but she had declined. Christine Carter had always been enough for her - a loving mother and a close friend. Would any child she had have that option? Would she have to find prospective parents herself, or would it be done for her?

It was something she’d have to discover, she decided, if she even got through the screening process; which, despite her good health, she doubted she would. There was probably some sort of psychological evaluation involved as well, and any psychiatrist that interviewed her would quickly find that she was out of her mind. After all, who willingly went into the restaurant business? Who spent hours in the kitchen working on a recipe no one else would taste for personal satisfaction?

No one she knew.

Sighing, Esme took a bite of her stew, savoring the thick, velvety texture. This was one recipe she would have to keep in mind. If this surrogacy thing didn’t work out – if she didn’t find some kind of job she could accept soon, her recipes might be the only thing she had to keep her warm.

A daunting prospect, to say the least. Even for someone who loved food as much as she did.



**



He did it without thinking.

Roping steers came as easily to Daniel Hartsford as breathing. A flick of his wrist sent the loop flying through the air a calculated fifteen foot distance to encircle the horns of a particularly ornery bull. The animal bucked and turned as the noose slowly tightened about his horns until he was drawn taut.

Daniel maneuvered his horse within easy range of the animal as it slowly calmed. He’d been tracking this one along the outskirts of the ranch for almost two hours. It was breeding season, and Dante was one of his most fertile animals.

Now that he had him in hand, he could end his long day and head back to the house. As Daniel steered Dante in to step beside his horse, his phone rang, startling the huge animal slightly. Frowning, Daniel took another five minutes to calm him to the point where he walked calmly once more. Then, retrieving his phone from his pocket with his free hand, he glanced at the missed calls screen.

At the sight of Alyssa’s name, he groaned. He’d told her he would be out all day working with the cattle and that his phone ringing may spook them, so she should refrain from calling him. It was only three in the afternoon – far too early for him to be finished working – and so it was obvious she had completely ignored his warning. He didn’t know how many countless times he had reminded the woman that his life was on the line when he was dealing with animals as big as the ones on the ranch, but his words seemed to pass completely over her head.

He called her back, careful to keep his voice low when he spoke. “Hey darlin.” Despite having lived in South Dakota for the last Decade, Daniel maintained the southern twang his youth in Texas had trained into his speech. “What’s the problem?”

“Problem?” Alyssa’s high, sweet tone came back somewhat irritated. “Why would there be a problem?”

“Well, sweetheart, I’m out with a particularly difficult steer that could up and gore me if the notion struck him. And I wouldn’t want to worry you.” He attempted to keep the sharpness out of his voice and failed miserably

“What the hell is that tone for, Daniel? If you didn’t want to speak to me why did you even call me back?”

Daniel repressed a groan, reminding himself to be tactful. It was one of the most important qualities he’d picked up in the time he’d been with Alyssa. The gorgeous Dominican could be an angel when she wanted, and the spawn of Satan when something upset her. “Honey, it’s not that I didn’t want to talk to you. I want to talk to you.” He tugged at Dante’s lead to redirect the bull, trying to keep his voice low. “What’s going on?”

There was the customary silence while Alyssa decided if she actually wanted to talk to him or not before she spoke. “Honey, I was just thinking…we should go on vacation together. I’ve been looking at this really nice town in Greece with villas overlooking the sea. They’ve got fantastic shopping and the social scene is amazing.”