Another note—this one containing instructions—lay on top of an assortment of diapers, wipes, jars of baby food and bottles. Nash shook it out and read the bulleted items.
He shoved the paper into his back pocket and rubbed his hands together. “Piece of cake.”
He returned to the baby and unsnapped the harness on his car seat. “Ready to get out of there, buddy?”
Wyatt reached out both arms and Nash picked him up, holding him in the air and wiggling him back and forth. “You’re a good little dude. We can do this for a few days while we wait for Mom, right?”
Wyatt gurgled and some white gunk bubbled from his lips.
Still holding him at arm’s length, Nash hustled into the kitchen and yanked off a length of paper towel from the roll on the counter. He wet it under the faucet and dabbed at Wyatt’s chin and his little outfit with a sheep on it.
Wyatt grabbed his finger and gave him a toothless grin, moist with drool. Between the baby and the dog...
Nash spun around and lunged for the back door. He tipped back his head and called out, “Denali!”
Clay’s husky appeared at the far reaches of the backyard, where the lawn tumbled into a grove of pecan trees.
“C’mon, boy. Dinnertime.”
Clay and April had left him in charge of their dog when they traipsed off to get married. He’d agreed readily enough, but that was before he knew he’d have a baby under his care. Was this some kind of test? Some conspiracy to make him responsible?
Denali scampered out of the trees and raced across the backyard, skirting the pool. When he reached Nash holding Wyatt, he circled Nash’s legs, wagging his tail and sniffing the baby’s feet.
Wyatt’s face crumpled and his bottom lip quivered.
“It’s just a dog. Denali’s a good boy.” Nash dipped to show Wyatt the dog, and Denali lashed his tongue right across Wyatt’s face.
Bad idea.
The baby wailed, and Denali barked and pranced around on his hind legs.
So much for his nice, relaxing evening. He strapped Wyatt back into his car seat and put him on the floor of the master bedroom and shut the door while he fed Denali. He’d have to keep the two of them apart. Denali had no more practice with babies than he did.
He shooed Denali back outside, where he was only too happy to roam, and then retrieved Wyatt from the bedroom.
He sat on the couch with Wyatt in his lap and pulled things out of the diaper bag, examining each item as if it were an object from an alien planet. They might as well have been.
Even for a few days, the baby needed baby stuff. Jaycee had reminded him in her note that a room in the guesthouse had been outfitted as a nursery for the last tenants his parents had before moving to Florida. He couldn’t relegate Wyatt to the guesthouse, but he could drag the crib, playpen and high chair over here. He shouldn’t need much more than that. Jaycee had dropped her baby off with a supply of toys and bottles and diapers.
He eyed the package of diapers he’d pulled out of the bag. Surely, that had to be enough for a little baby.
After using one of those fresh diapers on the baby, Nash secured Wyatt back in his car seat and trooped over to the guesthouse, swinging the car seat by his side. He settled the baby in the corner of the nursery and surveyed the room, hands on his hips.
He’d have to take apart the crib and reassemble it if he hoped to get it through the bedroom door. The high chair and the stroller he could wheel over and the playpen in the living room looked collapsible.
On his way to the front of the house, he poked his head in the other bedroom and crossed to the far side of the bed with a spring in his step. A little bassinet with a canopy sat snugly beside the bed. Wyatt could sleep in this, saving him the trouble of moving the crib. That would be comfortable enough for a few days. The people who’d lived here obviously had used it for their baby.
A few hours later, all the baby accoutrements in place, Nash kicked up his feet on the coffee table and flicked Denali’s ear. “We did it, boy. Wyatt’s fed, changed, had a bottle, sleeping. And it’s only for a few days.”
THREE DAYS LATER, Nash slammed down his phone after another failed attempt to reach Jaycee.
Wyatt pounded his little fist on the tray of his high chair in solidarity and Denali barked twice.
“I’m glad we’re all in agreement. Your mama is a flake.” Nash leveled his finger at Wyatt and snatched it back when the baby’s lip trembled. Three days and he knew that sign.
Nash had considered calling Department of Child Safety, but he didn’t want to get Jaycee into trouble and Wyatt would be better off with him than in the system. He’d called in sick for two days now, and he had to start thinking about making some kind of arrangement for Wyatt’s care if he hoped to get back to work anytime soon. He could check with his housekeeper, but she wouldn’t be here for a few days and he didn’t want to lay this on her.
He reached behind Wyatt’s neck and undid the Velcro on his bib. “You ready to go for a ride, big guy?”
Denali waved his tail in the air, tickling Nash’s leg with his long fur.
“Not you. There’s only so much I can take of the two of you at once.”
He grabbed the diaper bag with all of Wyatt’s stuff in it and slung it over his shoulder. He hadn’t been out with him yet. He didn’t need any questions from his friends or coworkers, but he had to pick up some essentials in case Jaycee planned to take a few more days of vacation or
