Normally, Gage had very few flashbacks about his mom. He was having more now because he was hanging out with Josh. That much was obvious. But after all these years, they shouldn’t pack such an emotional punch.

He didn’t like it, especially because Emma’s concerned expression told him she’d noticed. Time to change the subject. “Will you be ready to go back in when the break’s over?”

She took a moment to answer, as if she was onto his avoidance maneuver. Luckily she didn’t press the issue. “I’m ready to go back in, but Josh is due for a nap.”

“How do you want to handle that?”

“I managed to cram one of his thin blankets and his favorite stuffed animal into the backpack. I’d like to find a spot where we can put him down on the grass for a little while during the second half.”

“I know just the place.”

“Great. Let’s go tell Roxanne that we’ll take him when her time is up.”

“Follow me.” Taking her hand, he worked his way through the crowd until he stood next to Roxanne. “Hey, sis. When your time’s up, we need to take that little guy. Emma thinks we’d better put him down for a nap.”

“With all this commotion? How would that work?”

“We have a plan.”

“Oh. Did you hear that, Josh? They have a plan to get you to take a nappy-poo.” She leaned forward and rubbed noses with him, which made him giggle. “I hated naps. I’d pretend to be asleep, but as soon as they left me alone, I’d get up and play.”

“Don’t go giving him ideas, sis.”

“But that’s what aunties do, big brother.”

“Did I hear that somebody’s going down for a nap?” Ryker walked toward them.

“If he doesn’t, he’s liable to get cranky,” Emma said.

“This sweet little darlin’?” Badger came over and joined them. “The one who’s always smilin’? Your mama doesn’t know what she’s talkin’ ‘bout, does she, Josh?”

“Ma-ma.” He reached out both hands toward her.

“Aww.” Roxanne gave him a kiss. “If you want your mommy, then over you go.” She passed him to Emma.

Gage glanced at her. “How about asking my dad and Kendra if they’ll watch him for a bit after we get him settled? Then we could play some more.”

“That would be great, if they want to.”

“I’ll bet they will.” With Emma by his side, he headed toward his dad and Kendra. As he’d predicted, they were delighted with the plan.

Scooping up the baby backpack, he led Emma and Josh over to a quiet spot under a maple tree. It was a fair distance from the field so the noise would be somewhat muted. The leaves were just starting to turn, with a few bright spots of red in the thick foliage. The grass underneath was still green and soft.

He glanced back at Emma. “How’s this?”

“Perfect. If you’ll hold him, I’ll get out the stuff. I want to give him some water in his sippy cup once we have him on the blanket.”

He put down the backpack and took charge of the baby. “You know what, Josh? Your mom’s very organized. I’ll bet that’s one of the reasons you’re so calm. You know you can depend on her.”

“Thanks for that.” Emma shook out the blanket, soft blue with rainbows on it. “Bartending taught me a lot. If you don’t plan ahead and make sure you have everything you need, you get unhappy customers. And lousy tips.”

“I can’t believe you ever got a lousy tip.”

“A couple of times, but that was on them, not me. Some people are just cheap.” She poured a little water in Josh’s sippy cup and snapped on the lid. “You were always generous.”

“As I’ve established, I was trying to impress you.”

“Well, it worked.” She gave him a quick smile.

“Yeah, but you quit that job. How am I supposed to impress you, now?”

She glanced up. “Do you want to?”

He’d been joking around. She’d gone and tossed that joke back at him, giving it significance he hadn’t intended. He knew the answer, though. “Yes, ma’am. I do.”

She held his gaze. “Then just keep doing what you’re doing.”

Oh, boy. He had absolutely no clue what he’d been doing, but if he said so, he’d look like a doofus. After the first shock of discovery, he’d been playing it by ear, going with the flow. He had no plan. Maybe she thought he did and if so, he wouldn’t disabuse her of that.

He took a deep breath. “Okay, I will.” Whatever that meant.

She smiled, so it must have been the right answer. “Here’s what I’m thinking for Operation Nap. You sit him on the blanket and I’ll immediately hand him his sippy cup to give him something to do. If we plop down on either side of him, we can grab him if he decides to crawl off. Once he finishes his water, I’ll give him his birdie.”

“His what?”

“It’s a little plush toy, a bluebird of happiness. He loves birds so much I got him this when he was about six months old. It’s his favorite and he sleeps with it.”

“Huh. That’s cool. Okay, let’s see what happens.” He lowered Josh to the blanket so he was sitting squarely in the middle of it. Emma gave him the sippy cup and he started drinking.

Gage sat on the baby’s left. “So far, so good.”

Emma eased down on the opposite side. “I have no idea if he’ll sleep.”

“Well, yeah. The game’s kind of loud, but I don’t know what we can do about that. Take him back to the car, I guess.”

“I’d rather not. It’s so nice out here. If we once get him to sleep, noise won’t bother him. One time he was taking a nap and a neighbor decided to cut down a tree with a chainsaw. Josh slept right through it.”

“Amazing.”

“But he’s never taken a nap outside, so I don’t know if the unfamiliar surroundings will keep him awake. This spring and summer he played outdoors quite a bit, but I’ve always taken him in when it was nap time.”

“Then let’s try it and see what happens. If he won’t go to sleep, then there’s always the car.”

“Good strategy.”

He watched as dappled sunlight played over Josh’s blond hair. And Emma’s. All his previous memories of her were nighttime ones. This was nice. “Sitting here reminds me of camping. Do you think Josh would like that?” Would you?

“I have no idea, but probably. You’re talking about a tent, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, he loves it when l make a tent for him in the house with a sheet and a card table.”

“I used to love that as a kid, too. Then I bought myself a tent and sleeping bag when I was around twelve. I don’t know what happened to it. Dad gave me the box of my stuff that he packed up when the ranch sold, but nothing was said about my camping gear. I’ll have to ask.”

“I camped as a Girl Scout. Haven’t done it since. I remember it being fun, though.”

“It is fun.” He gazed at her, on the verge of asking if they could go sometime and take Josh. He could always buy new camping equipment. Probably should, anyway. “Maybe we—”

“Da-da!” Josh dropped his cup, got onto his hands and knees and started toward Gage.

“Whoa, buddy.” He blocked the baby’s progress. “Stay on the blanket, okay?”

“Here’s his birdie. Catch.” Emma threw it to him.

He snagged it and held it out to Josh. “Look what I found, sport.”

“Ba-ba!” Pushing himself back to a sitting position, he reached for the soft little bird. Its plush fur was matted in places, as if he’d been sucking or chewing on it.

“Here you go. Here’s your birdie.” Gage handed it to him.

The baby’s voice dropped to a whisper as he took the bird in both hands. “Ba-ba.” Then he held it out to Gage. “Ba-ba!”

“I see it, buddy. That’s a really great birdie you have there.” He glanced at Emma. “What now?”

“Let’s lie down on either side of him. He loves mimicking people’s behavior. He might just lie down, too, since he has his birdie.” She stretched out on her side in the grass. “Ah, Josh, I’m sooo sleepy. Time to go sleepy-bye, Josh.”

“Me, too, sport.” Gage settled down and rested his head on his outstretched arm. “Sooo tired. Time to go to sleep.”

Josh studied him for several seconds. Then, his birdie clutched against his chest, he rolled to his side. “Ba-ba.”

“Sweet dreams, little guy.”

Slowly Josh’s eyelids drifted down.

Gage waited until he was sure the baby was asleep. Then, as stealthily as he could manage, he propped himself up on his elbow and looked over at Emma.

It took great self-control not to suck in a breath. She was so beautiful lying there in dappled sunlight, her gaze soft and a tender smile on her lips. But he clamped down on his natural response. Nothing he wanted to do right now was appropriate to the circumstances.

Instead he mouthed the words he’s asleep.

She gave a slight nod.

Be right back.

She nodded again.

He did his best to move quietly as he got to his feet, although the chainsaw story gave him hope they could pull off this nap now that they’d achieved the critical step. He gave Emma a smile before turning and walking toward the sidelines.

His dad and Kendra sat in folding chairs talking with Faith and Roxanne.

Kendra glanced at him. “Did you get him down?”

“Sure did. Emma says once he’s out, he can sleep through anything, so monitoring him shouldn’t be a big deal.”

“I’m not worried about it.” She got up. “Come on, Grandpapa Quinn. It’s our first babysitting gig.”

“Can’t wait, Granny Ken.”

Gage laughed. “Granny Ken? Where did that come from?”

“It’s my grandma name. When Faith and Cody made their big announcement, I decided to choose my own so I wouldn’t get saddled with one I didn’t like. Now I just need to make it stick.”

“And I intend to help her with that project,” his dad said.

“Alrighty, then. Do you want to take your chairs?”

His dad smiled at Kendra. “Hey, Granny Ken, do you think these old bones of ours can handle sitting on the grass?”

Kendra stooped a bit and added a quiver to her voice. “Lord-a-mercy, I don’t know, Grandpapa Quinn. My lumbago’s been acting up something fierce. How about you?”

His dad pitched his voice an octave higher. “I don’t rightly know what lumbago is, but if you’ve got it, I’m sure I’ve got it, too, my little muffin top.”

“Get out of here, you two.”

“We’ll endeavor to totter over there without falling down, son.” His dad winked at him before taking Kendra’s hand and ambling over toward the tree.

Once they’d relieved Emma, she came hurrying over. “What’s the score?”

“Tied,” Roxanne said.

“Gage and Emma!” Wes called out. “You’re up!”

Emma flashed him a big ol’ grin. “Let’s go win this thing.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Maybe he was impressing her a little, but she was impressing the hell out of him.

She was resourceful, resilient, loyal and gutsy. Nineteen months ago, he’d been fascinated by her beautiful eyes, silky hair, and lithe, responsive body. But he’d barely skimmed the surface. There was so much more to Emma Green.