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driver’s side. “We’re going for a ride.”
    â€œI don’t want to go anywhere with you!” Sniffling, Roni wiped her tears on the hem of her knit shirt and tried to glare at him. “What’s so all-fired important about taking a ride?”
    â€œRead it somewhere,” he muttered, starting the vehicle. “Supposed to be soothing to cranky kids or something.” He threw the truck into gear and tore down the dusty drive as if all the demons of hell were after them.
    â€œThat’s if the baby has colic!” Roni shouted over the engine noise and Jessie’s continued bellows of rage.
    â€œWhat have we got to lose?”
    â€œFine. Suit yourself.” Crossing her arms, Roni stared mulishly out the window and said nothing further.
    Nearly thirty miles later, Jessie’s screams had turned to soft snores. Sam slowed to a more reasonable pace, made a U-turn and headed back toward the ranch.
    â€œI didn’t mean it, you know,” he said finally.
    Roni clamped down on her bottom lip to hide a betraying trembling, then forced herself to speak honestly. “It’s true anyway, and I apologize. I overstepped my place. She’s not my responsibility.”
    â€œRoni, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.” Sam squinted against the orange globe of the sun resting on the western horizon and ran his free hand down his square jaw. “The way you’ve pitched in, you’ve got a right to say whatever you think.”
    Roni stroked Jessie’s plump fist, taking care not to wake the sleeping baby. If Sam was offering an olive branch, she would be foolish not to accept it. “Neither one of us has any experience dealing with a little heifer as stubborn as this one.”
    â€œShe’s put me through the wringer, all right. It makes me wonder...” He fell silent.
    Something in the tone of his voice made her glance at him sharply. “What, Sam?”
    He sighed, bouncing his fist on the steering wheel. “If I’m doing the right thing. That social worker, Mrs. Veatch, asked some pretty tough questions.”
    A trickle of fear made Roni’s voice querulous. “Like what?”
    â€œLike if I’m ready to be a single parent. If taking Jessie, even with the best of intentions, is right for her.”
    â€œWhat else would it be?” she demanded, her eyes growing wide with a premonition of disaster.
    â€œSelfish.” Sam’s blue gaze flicked to Roni, then snapped back to the highway. “Am I doing this for myself or for her? Maybe Jessie deserves a real family, with a mother and father, somebody who can offer her something more stable than a cowboy’s life.”
    â€œWhat are you saying?” Roni whispered. “You’d put her in a foster home?”
    â€œThat was one suggestion. But there are plenty of couples who’re dying to adopt. She could have all the advantages....”
    â€œGive her up completely?” Roni couldn’t hide her dismay.
    â€œIt’s not something I’d do lightly. But, dammit, Curly, I just don’t know if I’m cut out for this, and Jessie needs two parents.”
    Rather desperately, Roni said, “You might get married again.”
    â€œOld bachelor like me?” Sam grimaced. “Not likely. And I don’t exactly have a sterling record in the marriage department anyway.”
    â€œThat wasn’t your fault,” she muttered, chagrined anew that her presence might have played a part in his failure to find another partner. And now Jessie could pay the price, as well. “And what about your promise to Alicia?”
    A muscle worked in Sam’s lean jaw, and his eyes narrowed, picking out the turn to the Lazy Diamond. “I said I’d take care of Jessie. Finding a stable home environment where she can grow up secure and loved is the best way for me to keep that promise.”
    â€œYou don’t have to