Matters of the Heart Read Free

the bottle. So tiny and fragile. He smiled at
her and couldn’t help but notice that her nose and forehead looked a lot like
his. Her eyelids began to flutter which he guessed meant she’d be asleep very
soon.
    Damn, that
was something else he hadn’t thought about. He didn’t have a crib so what was
she going to sleep in?
    ****
    Sadie put the
bread rolls and cheese into the cart and looked outside. It was still snowing.
She was supposed to be back at the Perfect Pairing office later today but the
roads were slick so her friend had suggested that she stay another day. She’d
offered to go to the store and pick up some items for their lunch. As she stood
in line she reached for one of the tabloids in the rack beside her and paged
through it while she waited.
    According to
one report, former Perfect Pairing client, Evie Summers, had been spotted with what looked like a baby bump at one of the
recent award shows. Sadie smiled while slipping the magazine into her cart for
later reading. If it was true, it meant that Evie and
Kyle’s offspring would officially be the first Perfect Pairing baby. Maybe
she’d start a collection of photos on the wall. Which
reminded her she still needed to find a match for Lucy.
    Come on universe send me someone for her.
    The bell over
the door rang and in walked the sheriff carrying a screaming baby. The poor
thing looked flushed and uncomfortable, and the sheriff didn’t look in much better
shape. In fact, Sadie guessed he’d gone without sleep for a couple of nights.
Although he was handsome, the dark circles under his eyes and slightly unkempt
hair said it all. New
Dad on Duty.
    “Bob, can you
direct me to the diapers? I used the last one a few hours ago.”
    “Aisle two,
top shelf,” said a balding man behind the counter at the front of the store.
    “Thanks and I
apologize to everyone for the odor,” said the sheriff venturing further inside.
    He was right
about that. Sadie almost went cross eyed when he whizzed past her with the
crying baby in his arms. A few minutes later the sheriff joined the line with
two packages of diapers tucked securely under one arm, and the baby under the
other.
    “Brad, why
don’t you go and change her first and then come back in to pay for the
diapers?” the clerk at the check-out called to him.
    “Could I?
Thanks a bunch.”
    The bell rang
again as the sheriff dashed outside. Sadie stood on tiptoe so she could look
out the side window of the supermarket. She watched him open up the back of his
truck and set the baby down inside it. He looked so dashing in his cowboy hat
and boots, and the shiny sheriff’s badge glistening on his sheepskin jacket
was, in Sadie’s opinion, the icing on the cake. Some lucky girl had obviously
nabbed him.
    “Anyone want
to get some air freshener and give the place a spray? It’s aisle three, middle shelf?” suggested the clerk.
    “I will. Just
hang tight everyone,” said a young man, waving his hands in front of his nose.
    “Poor Brad. I
hate to gossip but the whole town’s talking about him. That model he was dating
dropped that sweet baby on his doorstep. I said that girl wasn’t any good for
him, or anyone else for that matter. I knew he’d be better off with a
Montana
girl,” said one
of the two ladies standing in front of Sadie.
    “And he’s
such a sweet guy. I don’t know how he’s going to manage with being the sheriff
and looking after a baby. They said he’s taken her to work for the last two
days,” said the second lady.
    Sadie looked
outside again and saw that the sheriff was zipping up the baby’s snowsuit.
    Universe, is this the one?
    “So the
sheriff isn’t married?” asked Sadie, turning around and diving into the
conversation.
    “Nope, he got
mesmerized by some big city model who was in town for
a shoot. She hooked up with our sheriff, but then she realized a hick, as she’d called him, wasn’t for
her, nor was a little old town that didn’t have at least one Abercrombie