The Maverick's Baby-In-Waiting

The delivery guys leaned the box on the porch, then went back for another box, this one a deluxe bouncer—the exact one she’d ogled and had on her wish list. Wait—what? The porch was soon full of baby paraphernalia—all items that looked very familiar.

“Um, Eva, this is bizarre. This is everything from either my layaway account or my wish list at Baby Bonanza.”

“Rich relative?” Eva asked.

“Not a one,” Mikayla said. She knew Brent loved her, but not this much, and besides, he could barely keep himself afloat.

The burlier delivery guy held a clipboard and walked over to Mikayla. “I assume you’re Mikayla Brown. No offense,” he added, gesturing at her huge belly.

She smiled. “Well, I am the likely recipient of all this, but I didn’t order any of it. I mean, it’s all stuff from my layaway and wish list, but I owe a ton more on layaway and the wish list is exactly that—just wishful thinking. There must be some mistake.”

The guy glanced at the order form on his clipboard. “Nope. No mistake. Paid in full, including delivery and our tip. You can thank—” he scanned the sheet “—Jensen Jones.”

Eva gasped.

Mikayla’s mouth dropped open. What?

“Where should we place everything?” the delivery guy asked. “The order includes white-glove assembly.”

“Of course it does,” Eva said with a grin. “I take back what I said, Mik. You don’t have a fairy godmother. You have a fairy godfather.”

Jensen Jones, any kind of father? Ha. Mikayla couldn’t see it. Hadn’t he run screaming—well, maybe not screaming—out of Daisy’s Donuts when he realized the woman he was trying to pick up was pregnant?

But hadn’t he also driven all the way to Kalispell to buy presents for his brother’s triplet toddler nephews and niece? Granted, there wasn’t a dedicated baby shop in Rust Creek Falls, but he could have bought three stuffed animals at Crawford’s General Store and called it a day. He hadn’t.

She bit her lip and recalled how she’d dashed off to the checkout, needing to put a little distance between them. He must have overheard her paying another week on her layaway, then gone and bought everything for her—including all the stuff she’d added to her wish list, items she’d never spend money on. A wipes warmer? Come on.

“Why would Jensen Jones have bought me all this?” Mikayla said more to the air than to Eva.

“Oh, I have a few ideas why.” Eva turned to the delivery guy. “Upstairs, first room on the right.”

“Wait a minute,” Mikayla said, holding up a hand. “I can’t accept this. Any of it.” She glanced at the deluxe bouncer that had almost had her in tears in the store. The huge container of wipes and the crazy wipes warmer so the baby’s tush wouldn’t startle from a chill. The diaper pail. The beautiful white spindle crib on the side of the giant box. The Exersaucer. A play mat. Crib mobile. Bassinet. Changing table with a deluxe pad. The lovely pale yellow baby carriage. The blanket with the bulldogs. And so many onesies and pajamas.