He wasn’t sure if Sharon Lynn totally understood exactly what having Harlan Adams as a benefactor was all about until they reached the room he’d filled with everything from a set of white baby furniture with pink gingham sheets and comforter to every stuffed toy he’d been able to order straight from the biggest department store in Dallas. Even Cody had been bowled over by the assortment he’d assembled practically overnight. Melissa’s mouth was agape as she surveyed the room.

“Did he buy out the store?” Melissa asked.

Before Cody could respond, Sharon Lynn was trying to scramble down, her gaze fixed on the rocking horse.

“Mi’ty, Mi’ty,” she called joyously as she dropped from unsteady legs to her knees to crawl toward it. She pulled herself up beside it and tried to climb on. Cody lifted her up and settled her on the seat, keeping a firm grip on the waistband of her pants as she rocked enthusiastically.

He grinned at Melissa. “Told you she was going to be a natural on horseback.”

“I think this one is a little more her size,” Melissa retorted dryly. “The distance to the ground isn’t quite so far.”

Before he could comment on that, something else caught Sharon Lynn’s eye and she twisted around and tried to clamber down. Cody lifted her off the rocking horse and set her back on her feet.

“How about you walk wherever you want to go this time?” he suggested.

Sharon Lynn clamped her fingers around his, wobbled precariously, then took an unsteady tiptoe step forward. With each step her confidence obviously mounted, though she kept that tight grip on his fingers.

“She’s going to ruin your back,” Melissa observed. “You’re bent practically double.”

Cody didn’t give a hoot. This was the first time he’d witnessed his daughter’s faltering, tentative footsteps. He’d bend over the rest of the afternoon and ache for a week, if she wanted to keep walking. With every minute he spent with her, every experience they shared, the powerful sense of connection he felt with her intensified.

Just then she stumbled and fell. Her eyes promptly filled with tears. Certain that she must have broken something to be sobbing so pathetically, Cody knelt beside her and gently examined ankles, arms, knees and elbows. He even checked for a bump under her hair or on her forehead, though he knew perfectly well she hadn’t hit her head. She’d landed squarely on her well-padded button.

Finally satisfied that she was more scared than hurt, he scooped her up, only to find Melissa grinning at him.

“And you thought I was overreacting. At this rate, you’re going to be a wreck in a month,” she chided, sounding smug. “Either that or you’ll drive the emergency room staff at the hospital completely wild. They’ll flee when they spot you coming.”