Malloy nodded. “I read the dosage on the bottle’s label and gave the antibiotic to him right after breakfast and then again after lunch.”
“You seem to know a lot about taking care of a child,” she commented, wondering if he might have one of his own. She felt a little let down that he might have a significant other somewhere, but she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why.
“I have a ten-month-old nephew and a six-month-old niece,” he answered, as if reading her mind. “But other than watching their parents take care of them, I’m a trial-and-error kind of guy. That’s why I had to change this little guy’s sleeper and my shirt after lunch.” Malloy grinned. “I tried to let him feed himself and quickly learned that was an error.”
Heather smiled at the visual image as an unfamiliar emotion spread throughout her chest. There was something about a man being unafraid to hold and nurture a child that was heartwarming.
Not at all comfortable with the fact that the man drawing that emotion from her was T. J. Malloy, she asked, “Would you mind watching him for a few minutes while I take a quick shower?”
“Not at all,” he said, shaking his head. “Take your time. You’ll probably feel a lot better.”
“I’ll feel better when we get home.” She stared down at the jeans and sweatshirt she still held. “Seth is going to need diapers and we both need clean clothes.”
“Not a problem,” Malloy answered. “I had one of my men drive up to Stephenville this morning to pick up a few things I thought you would need. I had him get both of you a change of clothes, as well as diapers and some kind of little kid food.”
“How did he know what sizes to get?” That explained where Seth’s new pajamas came from.
“I told Dan to take his wife along for the ride.” Malloy looked quite pleased with himself. “They have three kids under the age of five and I figured if anyone would know what you both needed, it would be Jane Ann.” He pointed toward the dresser. “Your clothes are over there in the shopping bag.”
“I’ll reimburse you for everything,” she said, thankful to have clean clothes to put on after her shower. “Do you still have the sales slip?”
“No, I don’t and no, you won’t pay me back,” he said, firmly.
“Yes, I will.” She didn’t have a lot in reserve and hoped it didn’t cost much, but she did have her pride. She wasn’t the gold digger her fiancé’s parents had once accused her of being when she’d called to let them know about Seth’s birth. And besides, considering her past with Malloy, she wasn’t inclined to have him complaining about some other way she’d been negligent.
Malloy released a frustrated sigh. “We’ll discuss it later.”
“You can bet we will,” she vowed.
Deciding there was no reasoning with the man at the moment, Heather tugged at the shirt she was wearing to make sure it covered her backside as she got the bag of clothes from the dresser, then walked into the bathroom and shut the door.
When she looked in the mirror, she groaned. Her long hair resembled a limp mop and other than the few freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheekbones, she was the color of a ghost—and a sickly one at that.
But as she continued to stare in the mirror, the weight of reality began to settle across her shoulders like a leaden yoke. A shower and clean clothes could make her feel a little better physically and T. J. Malloy could offer as much neighborly help as he wanted, but nothing could wash away the worry or the hopelessness she faced when she returned home.
Unless something miraculous happened between now and the end of the January, she and her son were going to be homeless. And there didn’t seem to be a thing she could do to stop it from happening.
* * *
When Heather went into the adjoining bathroom and closed the door, T.J. sat down on the rocking chair with Seth and released the breath he had been holding.
What the hell was wrong with him? The woman looked thoroughly exhausted, was just getting over the flu and, without a shadow of doubt, was as irritable as a bull in a herd full of steers. So why was he thinking about how sexy she looked wearing his shirt? Or how long and shapely her legs were?
Earlier that morning, he had damned near dropped the breakfast tray he had been carrying when she opened the door. She hadn’t bothered with the top couple of buttons on the flannel shirt he’d given her to sleep in and he’d noticed the valley between her breasts. What was worse, she had been too ill to even try to be enticing and she had still managed to tie him into a knot the size of his fist.