Eve sipped her coffee, gazing at Roddy’s friendly, lined face across from her. “Weren’t you out separating cattle for the auction with Hayden this afternoon?”
“Yep. But we found an orphaned newborn calf.” The old cowboy scratched the back of his neck, looking worried. “These things can be touch and go. Hayden’s over at the feed store, getting formula and bottles. I hope it makes it.”
The nurse in Eve perked up. “What can I do to help?”
Roddy stared at her as if taking her measure. “He’ll need to be bottle-fed several times a day, including in the middle of the night.”
“I can do that.” Adding one more task to her day might help keep her heart in line where Hayden was concerned.
“Do what?” Hayden sat down next to Eve, his hip brushing hers. He swiped her coffee and took a drink, as if they were indeed a couple, intimate and in love.
It’s all make-believe.
Eve lifted her chin and reached for that smile that said all was right with her world. People were watching, after all. “I was just telling Roddy that I can help nurse a baby cow. Do you want to order a coffee of your own?” Eve tried to give her husband a look that said her coffee was off limits, but when he smiled at her, she couldn’t quite pull it off.
Honeymoon fog.
“No time for a coffee of my own. Got to take that calf home.” Hayden took another sip of her latte. “Just came to collect Roddy. I didn’t know you planned to come into town this afternoon.”
“Your grandmother needed a few things,” Eve said in the warm voice a loving wife would use with her beloved husband.
Hayden gave her a lopsided smile.
Irene and Katie finished flying around the room. Irene shed her wings and put them back on Katie. She and Eve’s mother gushed over how adorable Katie was. But the star of the show had been Irene as far as Eve was concerned. Even with her memories compromised by a stroke, Irene embraced life in an enviable way.
She wouldn’t be wishy-washy about trying to win her temporary husband’s heart.
Several coffee customers paid for their drinks and drifted toward Hayden and Eve’s table.
Hayden draped his arm over Eve’s shoulders.
Perversely, she leaned into him.
Just to make a memory.
“Congratulations!” That was one of the bank tellers, a man wearing a tie. “You two are making the town believers in true love.”
“Happy ending guaranteed,” another bank teller added, tugging down her suit jacket. “If you guys need anything financially, come on by.”
Eve stared at the woman in confusion. “I’m sorry. What?”
“You know, in case you want to start a college fund for the new baby.” The woman patted her stomach.
Hayden choked on Eve’s latte, coughing as if his sip went down the wrong pipe.
Eve whacked him on the back, perhaps harder than need be. “Thanks, but we’re—”
Hayden turned Eve’s face to his and kissed her. Just a peck on the lips.
But, however short, that kiss was enough that the group from the bank moved back toward the pickup counter.
“Not the most romantic kiss I’ve ever seen.” Roddy’s grin revealed gaps in his teeth. “But I think you gave the gossips a lifetime supply of feed.”
Mom came over to sit next to Roddy. “I love having you home, Eve. I can’t get enough of my adorable granddaughter. Look at this.” She turned her cell phone screen toward Eve, revealing a photograph of Katie grinning at the camera, face framed by those silver fairy wings.
“She’s more photogenic than I was.” Eve reached for her coffee cup, intending to take a sip. But it was empty. She frowned at Hayden. “Really?”
“What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours,” he said, shrugging adorably. “Besides, you were a very photogenic teen. I’ve seen the evidence in real time.”