A Baby of Her Own (Dundee, Idaho #1)(34)
Author: Brenda Novak

They’d all been good to her, but because of the coming baby and her job situation and her strained relationship with Aunt Millie and Uncle Ralph, Delaney had too much on her mind to tolerate their slow pace today. She’d meet the newest addition to their group, whoever was driving the white pickup, eat and help clean up, then grab a newspaper and head home, she decided. She needed to keep looking for a way to make some additional income during the next few months. Certainly there had to be something she could do while the library was closed.

“There you are,” Uncle Ralph said as soon as she set foot on the doorstep. He’d spoken very little to her since she’d told them about the baby, but he seemed congenial enough today. Delaney wondered what had happened to soften him, then saw Vern hovering behind him at the door.

“We were just coming to fetch you,” he added.

“Am I late?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Vern said.

“Then, what’s the hurry?”

“There’s someone here we want you to meet.” Uncle Ralph took one of her pies and held the door.

Delaney hesitated on the stoop, surprised by their apparent eagerness. “Who is it?”

“This is the fella who—” Ralph started, but Aunt Millie’s voice rang out from the living room, interrupting him.

“Laney? Come in, dear. Hurry. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Were Aunt Millie and her friends up to their old matchmaking tricks? Surely not while Delaney was pregnant! Aunt Millie had once mentioned wanting to introduce her to Preston Willigut, her piano tuner. Maybe they’d invited him to come for dinner. But the only pair of young eyes that looked up when she entered the room didn’t belong to Preston. Golden-brown and framed with thick lashes, they belonged to Conner Armstrong.

Oh, no. Delaney stopped abruptly.

“We have a special guest today,” Millie announced, her round face positively beaming. “And he’s going to help us out with your…little problem.”

“My little problem?” Delaney repeated, hearing the words echo in her head.

“You know, with the library closing? You don’t have to worry about that anymore. Conner says you can come out and work for him at the ranch while Dottie goes to Utah to be with her daughter. Isn’t that nice of him?”

Delaney’s knees buckled, and she put a hand on the piano so she wouldn’t sink to the ground like a deflated balloon. “I don’t need his help,” she said.

“Is that any way to respond to such a kindness?” Millie said disapprovingly.

“He’s Clive Armstrong’s grandson,” Lula supplied, as though that might make a difference. “And don’t worry, he isn’t going to tell anyone about the baby.”

Lula knew about the baby? Had Aunt Millie told everyone? What happened to keeping the baby a secret?

“Nope. I won’t tell anyone,” Conner confirmed, his voice calm and low.

Even in her panic, Delaney could see he liked having her at a disadvantage. He smiled, but there wasn’t a hint of warmth in his eyes, and for the first time she felt worse than guilty about what she’d done. She felt uneasy. What was he up to?

Standing, he extended his hand. “Conner Armstrong. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

She accepted the handshake but avoided his steely gaze, going along with the pretense that they’d never met; she was reeling too badly to do otherwise. Aunt Millie had obviously taken her entire circle of friends into her confidence about the baby and Delaney’s job situation, and now they were determined to solve her problems, whether Delaney wanted their help or not.

“Your secret’s safe with us, too,” Ruby put in, but if Aunt Millie couldn’t keep news of the baby to herself even when she thought it could cost Delaney her job, Delaney had no faith in the rest of them. By this time tomorrow, all of Dundee would be talking about her.

“I thought you didn’t want me to tell anyone about the baby,” Delaney said.

“That was before,” Aunt Millie answered. “Now it doesn’t matter because Conner here is very understanding. Aren’t you, dear?”

“Very,” he said.

Delaney barely suppressed a groan. “So, everyone ready to eat?” she asked, breaking eye contact with Conner. Fortunately, almost everyone present, except Delaney and Conner, read the newspaper with the aid of a large magnifying glass. So if there was anything in her expression or manner to betray the fact that she already knew Conner—intimately—no one seemed to notice. The last thing she needed was to have that secret revealed now, in front of the entire geriatric society of Dundee. As far as she was concerned, there was no need for anyone to know those details. The two of them had to get together and talk, decide whether or not Conner wanted to pursue his rights as a father.

“Don’t you want to talk about the job?” Ruby asked.

“I don’t need a job,” Delaney said, a little too quickly.

Aunt Millie peered at her in surprise. “You’ve found something?”

“No, but I will.”

“Why keep looking? This is perfect,” she argued. “Dottie’ll be gone for at least four weeks. And Conner says you can stay on even after she returns, till Thanksgiving, if the city won’t take you back. You won’t get a more generous offer than that.”

Thanksgiving was nearly eight months away. The significance of that particular number terrified Delaney. In other words, he’d let her stay until after the baby was born—his baby. What was he trying to do?

“We can talk about the job over dinner,” Aunt Millie finally conceded. “Ruby made a turkey, and we don’t want to let it sit for too long. It’s going to be dry enough as it is.”

“My turkey’s never dry,” Ruby said.

“It’s always dry,” Aunt Millie insisted. “That’s why I asked you to bring a meat loaf. But you couldn’t do that. Oh, no. You had to bring your dry old turkey.”

Ruby drew herself up to her full five feet two inches. “I make the best turkey in the world. And you’d know it too, Millie Lawson, except you can’t cook your way out of a paper bag, which is why you always ask me to bring the meat in the first place.”

Delaney almost intervened to keep the peace—it was her usual role—but today she was actually grateful for the distraction. Conner was staring at her, his dislike thinly veiled, and she didn’t want to think about what might be going through his mind.