The Cowboy and the New Year's Baby Read Online Free Page A

pace.
    “Newborn,” he said, then drew in a deep breath and announced, “I delivered her.”
    Lizzy stopped and stared. So did the nurse who’d been running alongside.
    “You delivered a baby?” Lizzy echoed. “Where? Why?”
    “Just help them. Make sure they’re okay,” he said. “Don’t you need a stretcher or a wheelchair or something?”
    “Got it,” the nurse said, grabbing a wheelchair.
    Lizzy raced past him. Outside, they found the baby squalling and her mama just coming awake. Hardy helped Lizzy get the two of them into the wheelchair, then stood back as she whipped them inside.
    Suddenly feeling useless, Hardy stayed where hewas. He sucked in a deep breath of the cold air and tried to calm nerves that suddenly felt strung tight as a bow. It was over now. The woman and her baby were in the hands of professionals. He could go on home, just as he’d planned.
    But for some reason he couldn’t make himself leave. He moved the truck to a parking space, then went back inside. He grabbed a soda from a vending machine, then settled down to wait for news.
    He watched the clock ticking slowly, then stood up and began to pace. There was no sign of Lizzy or the nurse. Seconds ticked past, then minutes, then an hour.
    Hardy was just about to charge into the treatment area and demand news, when the nurse returned.
    “Everybody’s doing fine,” she assured him. “They’ve checked the mother and the baby from stem to stern and there are no complications. You did a great job, Dad.”
    Hardy started at her assumption. “I’m not the father,” he informed her quickly. “I don’t even know the woman.”
    The nurse didn’t seem to believe him. She regarded him with amused skepticism that suggested she recognized him and that she’d heard tales about Hardy Jones. Since he’d dated quite a few people on staff at the hospital, it was entirely possible she had.
    “Really,” he insisted. “I found her by the side of the road. Her car had skidded into a snowdrift.”
    “Whatever you say.”
    “No, really. I’d never seen her before tonight.”
    She grinned. “Young man, you don’t have to convince me. I believe you.” She winked. “Of course, I also believe in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus.”
    Hardy sighed. Word of this was going to spread like wildfire. He could just imagine what the rumors would be like by morning. He’d never live it down.
    “I have some paperwork here,” the nurse said. “If you’d just fill out these forms for me, I’d appreciate it.”
    His frustration mounted at her refusal to take his word for the fact that he didn’t know the woman in the back room. “I can’t help you. I don’t know her. I don’t even know her name. I don’t know where she’s from. I don’t know what sort of insurance she has. Ask her.”
    “She’s pretty well wiped out,” the nurse said.
    “Then look in her purse. She probably has ID in there, an insurance card, whatever you need.”
    “I can’t go through her purse,” the nurse retorted with a touch of indignation. “I just thought, given your relationship, that you could provide the necessary information.”
    “There is no relationship,” Hardy said tightly. “None. What about that word don’t you understand?”
    The nurse withdrew the papers with a heavy sigh. “They’re not going to like this in the billing office.”
    Hardy whipped his checkbook out of his back pocket. “How much?”
    The nurse blinked. “What?”
    “I asked you how much. I’ll write a check for it.”
    “I don’t know the charges, not yet. She’ll be here overnight at least. There will be routine tests for the baby.”
    “Then give me something to sign and send me the bill.”
    “You said you don’t know her.”
    “I don’t, but I wouldn’t want your precious paperwork messed up. Just send me the bill, okay?”
    The bright patches of color on the nurse’s cheeks suggested embarrassment, but she popped some papers in front of him, anyway. Hardy