Home on the Ranch--The Cowboy's Dilemma

by Pamela Britton

  “I love it, don’t you, Mav?”

  “I think any wedding I don’t have to plan is a good wedding,” said the handsome cowboy with the same blue eyes as his brother.

  “Maverick,” said his fiancée, swatting him in the arm.

  They loved each other, and for a moment Amy felt such a terrible pang of envy she had to look away. Stupid. She shouldn’t be jealous. Maybe one day she’d find a man who’d want her and her baby, despite the mistakes of her past.

  “Why don’t I give you a few days to think about it?” Amy said.

  “No, no. I like the idea.”

  Charlotte reached behind her for the purse hanging on the back of the chair. “How much should I write the check out for?”

  Amy felt her brows lift. “Nothing right now. I’m doing all the planning for free.” Which was either the best idea of her life, or the worst, because the money would have been nice. “All you’ll need to pay me for are the hard costs—the lights and cake and the flowers and whatnot. Or you could pay for them directly. Your choice. My time is free, and you won’t need to pay for any of the hard costs for a month or two, although I should probably order the lights as soon as possible. That will cost the most money, and we’ll need a lot of them, but I’ll let you know where to buy them.”

  “No. We can’t impose like that,” Charlotte said. “I insist on paying you for your time.”

  “I’m doing this in trade,” Amy said, although now that she’d paid her rent, she really didn’t need to work for free. Still, the Gillians had been so kind to her it was the least she could do—help out Charlotte and Maverick.

  “I’m still writing you a check,” Charlotte said, opening the plastic flap. “And if you say no, I’ll mail it to you.”

  “Tree,” said the little girl. “Want tree.”

  Charlotte and Maverick exchanged glances. “I can’t believe how quickly she’s learning new words,” Maverick said.

  “Yeah, but think about how far she’s come,” Charlotte said softly.

  Amy realized she fought a losing battle, watching as the two of them exchanged glances, making Amy wonder what silent words they’d exchanged.

  “This should cover the lights and anything else you need,” Charlotte said. “If you need more, let me know.”

  She ripped out a check and handed it to her, the amount causing Amy’s brows to lift.

  “You know, I have to admit, Amy, you were spot-on with this proposal,” Charlotte said. “I thought for sure you’d show me ideas that involved flowers and lace and pretty pink dresses, but you didn’t.”

  “Good,” Amy said, turning the tree so Olivia could see it better. “But you really don’t have to pay me right now.”

  “I want to. You’ve clearly worked hard. You should be paid for your time.”

  “Thank you.” She tucked the check away. “And I always try to do the unexpected. It’s what I hope to be known for.”

  “Anyone want something to drink?” Maverick got up and she realized that the Gillian men she’d met were all tall and broad shouldered, but Flynn seemed to be narrower in frame. His skin tone was different, too. More olive toned.

  “I don’t want anything,” Charlotte said.

  “Me, either,” Amy echoed. The women both stood up. “If you’d like, I can leave the tree here.”

  “It’s okay. You don’t have to do that.”

  “No, I’d like you to keep it.”

  “Tell you the truth, Olivia would probably drive us nuts trying to get to it. Go ahead and take it. It’s pretty enough it could be a decoration.”

  It filled Amy with pride to hear her say that. She’d worked so dang hard on the thing.

  “Then I guess the next time I see you will be to sign an official agreement, that is, if you’re okay with that.”

  “Of course.”

  “Terrific. I’ll text you when the contract is ready.”

  “Thank goodness we won’t have to do any of the planning,” Charlotte said. “The number of hours I’ve been working lately, I was worried we’d never get married.”

  “Yeah,” said Maverick. “Don’t take this wrong, but I’m glad you were late on your rent.”

  Amy smiled. “I won’t.”

  “It was nice of my brother to run interference with my dad.”

  “I heard he called in Jayden to help you, too.”

  The couple exchanged glances, and for some reason, Amy blushed. “He’s been very kind to me.”

  “Usually, all Flynn cares about are his horses,” Charlotte said, but she was teasing. They both were. Or maybe not. Did they know she was pregnant? Jayden had said only she and her dad knew.

  “I can’t remember the last time he went out on a date,” Maverick added.

  They couldn’t know. If they knew she was pregnant, they wouldn’t be teasing her like this—as if Flynn might be interested in her.

  “There was that horse trainer out of San Diego. Remember her?” Charlotte rolled her eyes. “I was so glad when he dumped her. Huge ego. No heart.”

  “And then that cute barrel racer from up north,” Maverick said. “But that only lasted, what, two minutes?”

  “Two months,” Charlotte said. “But you’re more his type.”

  “Uh...” Amy didn’t know what to say. “I doubt that.”

  She realized Charlotte was only trying to be nice. She even dismissed her words with a swipe of her hand. “No, you are. Pretty. Smart...”

  “Pregnant.”

  They both drew up in surprise. Amy nodded. “Nearly two months along. Trust me, your brother wouldn’t be interested in me.” She smiled and hoped it hid her embarrassment.

  “Oh, gee, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were involved with someone. Flynn’s been so concerned about you I just kind of assumed you were on your own.”

  Amy took a deep breath. Might as well confess it all.

  “I am alone. The guy who knocked me up dumped me for another woman. He’s convinced someone else is the father of our child, which is kind of ironic given he was the one cheating on me, not the other way around.” She patted her belly. “So it’s just me and Junior here. But don’t worry. It won’t affect the planning of your wedding. I’m not due until a couple of months after you two tie the knot.”

  Charlotte closed the distance between them, touching her gently. “Amy, we had no idea. I’m so sorry if we upset you. We didn’t know.”

  And there they went again, her damn eyes filling with tears, like some kind of spontaneous spigot. Super annoying.

  “No, no. It’s all right. I’m flattered. I’m just...pregnant.” She tried to make a joke out of it, smiling brightly. “Not many men want to date a woman who’s knocked up.”

  “You don’t know that. There might be someone.”

  Oh, she doubted that. Who the heck wanted to date a woman carrying another man’s baby? Even if she was ready to date again, which she very definitely was not.

  “Anyway, I’ll get started on researching lights right away. And I’ll have the contract ready for you to sign ASAP. I have a template I use. Super easy to find and replace names. I’ll just have to change the payment part to reflect what you just gave me.”

  She was rambling, and she nearly tripped in her hurry to grab the tree, which set Olivia off, the little girl’s gray eyes filling with tears, cheeks instantly flush.

  “Tree,” she cried out.

  “Sorry, honey,” she told the little girl. She snatched up her tablet and, juggling the tree, backed out of the kitchen. Charlotte scooped up Olivia in an attempt to soothe her as Maverick rushed forward.

  “Let me get the door.”

  “Thank you,” she said, but the words were barely audible because her throat had gone thick with tears, and the crazy part was, she didn’t know why. It wasn’t like she was about to start dating anyone, so w
hat did it matter if they silently agreed Flynn would never be interested in her?

  It did matter, though, and damned if she knew why.

  Chapter 9

  “What do you mean she seemed upset?” Flynn asked his brother the next morning. They were saddling up some horses to ride out and check on a sick calf Maverick had spotted early in the morning.

  “We were just teasing her, you know. Talking about how you hadn’t been out on a date in a long time.”

  “What?”

  It was a testament to how guilty Maverick felt that he actually appeared a bit sheepish. “We didn’t mean anything by it. Charlotte and I were just happy with her proposal and I think we both sort of thought she’d make a great girlfriend for you, and then she let the baby bomb drop and I think our reaction upset her.”

  Flynn rested a hand on the pommel of his saddle, trying to gather his thoughts for a moment because what he wanted to do was close his eyes and groan. Just what she probably didn’t need...a reminder of everything she was facing and the fact that she didn’t have a boyfriend because of her piece-of-you-know-what ex.

  “We didn’t mean to upset her, bro. We were just having some fun.”

  “She was upset?”

  Maverick shrugged. “Yes. No.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. She just got out of there in a hurry. So if you bump into her, let her know we didn’t mean anything by it.”

  If he bumped into her.

  The whole time he rode with his brother, though, he wondered if he shouldn’t “bump into her” today. There was really no reason to make a pest of himself. He was sure she was fine. His brother and Charlotte had loved her proposal. That would put her in a good mood. And yet when he finished riding, he found himself worrying about her. Not because of Maverick and Charlotte, but because... Well, just because. He’d just pop in for a few minutes, check to ensure she was all right, then be on his way.

  She sat on her front porch in the exact same spot she’d been sitting when he’d first met her. She’d probably straightened up when she heard his truck because he had a feeling she’d been sitting there for a while, her purse tossed to one side, her black jacket, leggings and tall boots telling him she’d either been somewhere or was about to go someplace.

  “Hey,” he said, climbing out of his truck, reminding himself he would just stay for a few minutes.

  “Hey,” she echoed.

  She’d left her hair down, wisps of it catching a slight breeze and blowing across her face. She forced a smile, but it was half-hearted at best. Even so, it changed her face in the same way sunlight could transform stained glass, her eyes brightening, her lips parting to reveal a friendly smile.

  He found her attractive.

  No sense in denying it anymore. Petite chin. Wide green eyes, the kind that almost seemed to change colors, and that were accentuated by wide, sweeping brows.

  “You going somewhere?”

  “Yes.” She sighed. “No.”

  And once again he found himself sitting next to her and wondering what it was about her that made him want to pull her into his arms. Was it the pregnancy? Was there some kind of weird physiological thing going on? One that stirred his male psyche and roused latent protective instincts?

  “What’s the matter?”

  She looked away from him, staring up at the tree he’d found her climbing the other day. “Doctor’s appointment,” she said. “I’ve been trying to drum up the courage to leave for the past ten minutes, although at this point, I’m going to be late and so now I’m wondering if I should even go.”

  “Why not?”

  His heart had started to pound as he waited for her to answer. He took a deep breath, and lifted the brim of his cowboy hat. When she didn’t say anything, he hooked his thumbs in his jeans.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She took a deep breath, too. “It’s just that today is the day where I’ll be seeing the baby for the first time and I’m kind of freaking out about it.” She smiled ruefully and looked him in the eye. “I think it suddenly hit me that this is really happening. I really have a baby inside me. I mean, I knew that already, of course I did, but I guess on some level I didn’t really know that.” She peered up at him in question. “Does that make sense?”

  “Sure.”

  She huffed. “No, it doesn’t. You’re just saying that.”

  He found himself smiling. “Okay. All right. I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. You’re either pregnant or you’re not.”

  “Yeah, but seeing him or her for the first time...”

  Her words dribbled off and she looked away again, her expression suddenly sad. “Trent should be here for that.”

  The mention of Trent raised his hackles. “That piece of you-know-what shouldn’t go near you or the baby. He doesn’t deserve you.”

  She met his gaze again, and he could tell his words had touched her in a way that elevated his heart rate again. “Thank you,” she said softly.

  “No problem.”

  She took a deep breath. “I guess I can’t avoid it any longer. Might as well set off.”

  “I could go with you.”

  What? What was he doing?

  “Oh, no. I couldn’t impose. I was just being a coward by sitting here. I really should get going.”

  She grabbed her purse. He stood up before her, offering a hand. She smiled and took it, but when he pulled her up, when she was damn near up against him again, they both froze. He saw her eyes search his own and out of nowhere came the urge to kiss her, only he knew that was a bizarre and crazy idea, so when his head dropped, he found himself kissing the top of her head instead.

  “It’ll be okay.”

  It was as if she were a toy and someone had taken the stuffing out of her. Shoulders that had been bravely squared before suddenly slumped, and before he could stop himself, he was pulling her into his arms, holding her one more time. She didn’t cry this time. That, at least, was progress, but he could feel her trembling and it damn near broke his heart. No woman should have to go through this alone. The thought was a beacon in his head that couldn’t be ignored. That was why he’d popped in to see her. He felt sorry for her.

  “Come on.” He drew back, grabbing her by the shoulders. “We are going to the doctor together.”

  “But...don’t you have to work?”

  “I’m self-employed. Sort of. I make my own hours. Besides, the horses won’t mind an afternoon off.”

  “But I couldn’t—”

  “Shh.” He scooted around behind her, placed his hands on her shoulders and started to guide her toward his truck. “Just tell me where we’re going and I’ll take you.”

  * * *

  What was she doing?

  She shouldn’t be so quick to accept his offer of charity. None of this was his problem, and yet whenever he offered a shoulder to cry on, she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

  “Where are we headed?” he asked, turning onto old Highway 21.

  “It’s by the hospital,” she said. “There’s a medical building right next door.”

  He nodded, his face in profile beneath his cowboy hat. “I know the one. My sister-in-law practices medicine at the hospital.”

  She turned and stared out the window, at the passing trees and pastures, the grass burned brown by the California summer sun, but with patches of green coming up thanks to the recent rains. In a month or two everything would turn green. Seasons would change and by the summer she’d have a baby.

  Her hands tightened in her lap. A baby and a life she hadn’t planned for.

  “The good news is your brother and sister loved my proposal,” she said, uncomfortable with the silence in the truck.

  “I heard.”

  She turned in her seat. “You did?”

  He nodded. “Maverick needed help this morning with a baby
calf. He told me Charlotte hasn’t stopped talking about it. And that they’re sorry if they made you feel uncomfortable there at the end.”

  She shook her head. “They didn’t.”

  They lapsed into silence again and the closer they got to town, the more her heart raced. She had no idea why she was such a nervous wreck. It wasn’t like today’s doctor’s visit would make her uncomfortable or anything, at least she didn’t think so. She’d never had an ultrasound before, but they didn’t look scary on TV.

  “What was wrong with the calf?” she asked.

  “Weak. As far as we could tell, didn’t get up to nurse. We’ve got her in an empty stall back at the stable. Had to bottle-feed her.”

  “You do that? Give baby cows bottles?”

  “Yup. Part of living on a ranch. Sometimes the babies need help.”

  And he helped them. She turned toward the window again. The man was a prince, a genuine, bona fide knight in shining armor.

  As they neared the hospital, Amy’s palms started to sweat. Just an easy doctor’s visit. They’d confirm what she already knew and she’d be on her way. But as Flynn pulled into a parking space, she felt the familiar tingling in her belly.

  Panic attack.

  Come on. Suck it up. It’s just a simple doctor’s appointment.

  “You okay?”

  “Yup, fine,” she lied.

  “I thought I’d go in with you.”

  “Nope. No need to do that.” She forced herself to pull on the truck’s door handle. “I’ll text you when I’m done.”

  She slipped out of the truck and started walking toward the doctor’s office before the panic attack hit full force. Today was the day when she’d finally see the baby, when it would go from a faceless creature living inside her belly, to something alive and growing and that she’d have to give birth to at some point.

  Dear God. Birth. She didn’t even want to think about that.

  “Amy.”

  She’d been concentrating so hard on not hyperventilating that she didn’t even realize Flynn had slipped out of his truck. That he was right behind her.

  “Come on,” he said, rushing ahead and grabbing the clinic’s door. “Let’s do this together.”