CHAPTER TWO
“How come it had to be a girl?” Cody, Abby’s six-year-old son, stood by the side of the crib. He sighed and turned to look at Colette. “There’s already too many dumb girls in this house. My Mom, and Maria and Aunt Belinda and you…” He thrust a thumb back at the crib. “And now this new one.” He shook his head ruefully. “Too many girls.”
Colette bit her tongue to suppress a smile, knowing Cody took this girl thing very seriously. In the ten days she’d been at the ranch, he still hadn’t quite forgiven her for giving birth to a girl instead of a boy.
She checked to make sure the baby was still sleeping, then walked with Cody out into the hallway. “You know, Cody, someday baby Brook might need a big strong cousin to protect her.”
Cody frowned thoughtfully, then scuffed the toe of his worn cowboy boot against the floor. “Brook is my onliest cousin, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she is.”
Cody’s blue eyes sparked and his chest puffed with pride. “I’m a cowboy, and cowboys always protect their cousins.”
Colette smiled. “That’s great, Cody. I feel much better knowing Brook can always depend on you.” She patted his back. “Now, why don’t you run on downstairs and see what Maria has made for breakfast this morning? I’ll be down in just a few minutes.”
“Okay. I’ll see you later, Aunt Colette.” He raced down the hallway, his boots clattering on the wooden floors. Colette watched until he disappeared around the corner, then went into her bedroom to check on Brook one last time before joining the others for breakfast.
She went to the crib, still awed by the fact that the child sleeping within was hers. Brook Ann Connor. She didn’t know where the name Brook had come from, only that it was the name she wanted for her daughter.
Brook was a good baby. It was as if she knew the tenuous hold her mother had on sanity and so compensated by being a contented, happy baby who slept long hours and rarely fussed at all.
Although no real memories had resurfaced over the past ten days, Colette had found a measure of peace simply being among people who obviously loved her.
Belinda had arrived four days before, and since her arrival the three sisters had spent hours talking. For Colette it was a study in frustration, to hear things from her past—names and events—and feel nothing. She cried when Abby and Belinda spoke of their parents’ funeral, mourning a mother and father not remembered and long dead.
Leaning down, she kissed Brook on the cheek, picked up the portable monitor, then left the room andheaded for the large dining room at the other end of the house.
“Good morning,” she greeted Belinda, who was already seated at the large oak table with a cup of coffee in hand. Cody sat next to her, focused on his plateful of pancakes. “Where’s Abby?” she asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee from the pot that sat on a warmer on the sideboard.
“She’s going over last-minute details with our foreman, Rusty. We’ve got a group coming in from Phoenix for a week. They’re supposed to arrive sometime this afternoon.” Belinda paused to take a sip of her coffee, then continued, “But she told me to tell you she hasn’t forgotten her offer to watch Brook for a couple of hours this morning so you can get out and see the ranch. She thinks maybe that will help jog something loose in your memory. Besides, you’ve been cooped up inside for too long. Fresh air and sunshine will be good for you.”
“Dr. Washburn feels that eventually something will jog my memory,” Colette exclaimed. “I just hope that something happens soon.” She sank into the chair across from Belinda. “There’s nothing worse than having big black holes in your mind.”
“I hate to have holes in my socks,” Cody quipped, causing both his aunts to laugh.
“At least we know it’s nothing physical,” Belinda said.
Colette nodded, then smiled a good morning to Maria, the cook, who entered the room with a plate of pancakes for Colette and Belinda. Cody kept up a steady stream of chatter, excited at the prospect ofnew guests and hoping there would be a boy his age. He finished eating and left the table in minutes.
“I wonder if we ate that fast when we were that age,” Belinda said as she poured syrup over her pancakes.
“Who knows?” Colette sipped her coffee, thoughtfully staring at her sister. “Belinda, I feel silly asking you this, but you don’t know who I was dating…who might be Brook’s father, do you?”
“No, I don’t. You weren’t involved with anyone before you left here, so it had to be somebody you met while in California.”
Colette sighed. She’d hoped Belinda would have answers, but she knew it had been a long shot. “What about you? Are you married…dating…in love?”
Belinda laughed. “None of the above.” Her smile faltered slightly. “Although I was once in love, but that was a long time ago and he doesn’t even live in the area any longer.”
“I’m sure I was in love with Brook’s father,” Colette said firmly. Any other scenario was unthinkable.
“Don’t worry, Colette. Dr. Washburn said your amnesia was probably caused by stress or some sort of emotional trauma. Now that you’re back here at the ranch, safe and sound, it will all come back to you.”
Colette nodded and stared down at her plate. Yes, that’s what Dr. Washburn had said, and that’s what scared her. Even being back at the ranch with the security of home and family, she was afraid. Somehow she knew she was far from being safe.
* * *
THE SUN WARMEDColette’s face and the air smelled like cattle and horses, fresh hay and sweet grass.Again she found it difficult to believe she’d chosen to leave the ranch and all its beauty behind for a job in California.
