Leaning over the basket, he muttered, “Don’t cry.”
The baby continued to wail.
“Look, baby,” Jasper said as gently as he could. “I don’t know anything about babies. They all seem to think I’m just going to pick you up and suddenly be able to take care of you, but listen...”
The baby had ceased his wailing and was looking up at him with dark eyes. Watching. Like he really was listening.
“I don’t want to break you, all right? So if you could just stay settled down, then I won’t have to pick you up and then I won’t drop you. Because as mad as I am at Emma Jane for getting us into this situation, I don’t want any harm to come to you.”
The baby reached a hand toward Jasper, and Jasper couldn’t help but reach in to touch the hand. So tiny. Fragile.
No, he couldn’t possibly pick up the baby.
“Were you just lonely, little fella?”
The baby blinked up at him.
“You’re probably missing all the pretty ladies fussing over you, aren’t you?”
Jasper shifted his position slightly, so he was kneeling beside the cradle, and the baby’s head seemed to move in the same direction, as if to follow him.
“I suppose they’re taking good care of you. Emma Jane sure has taken a shine to you.”
Jasper frowned. He had to admit, the baby was pretty cute, if you liked wrinkly faces, dark hair that didn’t seem to go in any particular direction and big dark eyes that didn’t seem able to stay focused on anything.
“What do I do about her, little guy?”
“You could try talking to her and working through the uncomfortable moments, instead of shutting down or walking away.”
Jasper jumped at the sound of Emma Jane’s sweet voice.
“I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Perhaps I should leave, so you could keep talking to Moses and I can hear more of what’s in your heart.” She knelt beside him. “He likes you.”
Her words warmed him. They shouldn’t have. After all, she’d gone and taken in this baby without his consent. Worse, he was starting to find that despite all of his frustrations in her lack of respect for his wishes, somehow Emma Jane was finding a way into his heart.
“Why do you want to know more of what’s in my heart?” he asked, his voice catching as he spoke.
Emma Jane looked at him, the dark specks in her blue eyes mesmerizing him, as though they were a puzzle waiting for him to solve.
“You were the one who suggested we start over and get to know each other.”
If she had been any other woman, he’d have complimented the beautiful smile lighting her face far better than the fire burning gently in the fireplace. But every time he told her of her beauty, it made her uncomfortable. She’d probably heard him compliment all the other ladies in town, and now it was probably difficult for her to ascertain his sincerity.
In truth, any compliment he’d want to pay her far outshone any he’d ever given. Emma Jane had a quiet loveliness, like an unexpected flower in... Jasper shook his head. He was known for that sort of compliment, and it clearly wouldn’t work on Emma Jane. He’d need to think of another way to think about her.
“You’re right,” he said slowly. “Thank you. I appreciate you making the effort.”
“Why did it take you so long to answer me?” Her words were gentle, not an accusation. But a deeper probing into the recesses of his heart.
He hadn’t meant for their courtship to enter such troubled waters. Jasper was quite adept at maneuvering through all the small talk that occurred when courting a young lady. But Emma Jane... It was like diving into a place he’d never been.
“Because I don’t know what to say.”
“Whatever’s in your heart.” Her expression was guileless, and he hated how it immediately made him suspicious. Everyone always wanted something from him, and since Emma Jane knew his weakness, it almost made it harder to open up.
“I don’t know how to do this.” The words were hard to say, burning in his throat as they came out.
“It’s all right.” Emma Jane patted his knee and reached into the cradle, picking up the baby. “Just put your arm out, like mine, and I’m going to set his head in the crook of your elbow.”
Jasper hadn’t been talking about the baby. But as Emma Jane’s soft hands placed the downy head against his arm, he had to wonder if it would have been safer to simply confess the longings and confusion in his heart. Having the baby in his arms, it made him feel...
“Please, Emma Jane, I know you mean well, but...”
“Look at him. He likes you.”
Her voice was so soft and tender he couldn’t help but obey. How could this baby look at him with so much...was it love?
“I don’t understand.” Jasper turned his gaze to Emma Jane. “He doesn’t know me. Why would he?”
She looked down at the baby and smoothed the hairs on his head. “Because that’s what babies do. All they ask is for someone to care for them and give them a loving touch.”
Then she turned her face back up to Jasper, her eyes looking deep into his. “That’s all any of us needs, really. But somehow we get it all mixed up as adults. Babies love automatically and unconditionally. We turn love into this complicated thing that seems to be unattainable. But it’s not. We just have to be willing to trust as blindly as a baby.”
Trust. He’d asked that from her, and she seemed to be asking that from him. Except Emma Jane was asking for trust on a different level. To jump into completely unknown territory and give her his heart, not just his fortune. Fortunes were easily gained and lost. But his heart...?
He’d never risked that before. Never even offered it.
Which was why, when he leaned in to kiss her, it wasn’t with the teasing look, flirtatious comments or flattery he’d
