by Mary Leo
“Only Helen can answer that.”
“Have you asked her?”
“I was busy shoring up my boys after the fair. Timing wasn’t right.”
“It all goes back to what I said. You think too much.”
“We have a date for Friday night. I’m taking her to Champaign Taste. We’ll talk then.”
Travis slung his arm around his brother’s shoulder. “What’s your plan?”
“Plan? Dinner’s my plan. She tells me what she wants to say then I drive her back to Milo’s. Anything more than that isn’t any of your business.”
“Maybe so, but if you’re feeling a little rusty, I can give you some pointers.”
“Getting pointers from you would be like getting pointers from a pup at his mama’s tit.”
Travis laughed. “Good one, big brother.”
“I thought so.”
* * *
“IS THAT WHAT you’re wearing?” Milo asked as Helen descended the stairs. She wore dark blue jeans, her tan Justin boots and a sky-blue Western maternity shirt. Her hair curled out of a black cowgirl hat.
“It’s just dinner in town with Colt. Nothing fancy, I’m sure.”
She’d stressed over what to wear ever since Colt had asked her on this impromptu date. She’d tried on everything in her suitcase. She’d even considered a long dress, but then thought it too fancy. Nothing seemed right so she stuck with her tried-and-true jeans and a shirt. She felt comfortable in jeans and a shirt, and tonight of all nights she wanted to be comfortable.
Milo stood next to his recliner, ready to attack it with his full-size body. It was his night off from Spud Drive-In, located on the outskirts of town, where he worked the concession stand a few nights a week during the summer. It got him out of the house and forced him to talk to his neighbors, which he sometimes didn’t like doing. Milo had no interest in a nine-to-five job due to an inheritance from his grandfather on his dad’s side, which made him “comfortable,” as he liked to say. On his free nights, he usually spent them catching up on his recorded shows.
“Did he say it wouldn’t be fancy?”
“No, but why should it be?”
“A man don’t ask you to dinner then take you for fast food. It usually means a tablecloth and a server. I’m just sayin’.” He shrugged.
“Fine! I’ll rethink my outfit.”
“Have you thought about what you’re gonna say?”
“Of course I have.”
She really hadn’t, but she didn’t want to get into it with Milo. He was a man of preparedness and believed you should always practice before you attempted anything that might be awkward, and that naturally included telling Colt about his baby.
“Try it out on me. I’m a good judge of these things.”
Helen crossed her arms over her chest and let out a frustrated sigh. “Colt, I’m pregnant with your baby.”
“And...”
“And nothing. That’s all I have.”
“It stinks.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Yeah, but you can ease him into it with small talk first.”
“For instance?” She shifted her weight to one hip and tapped her foot a few times.
“I don’t know... Tell him he looks good in his new hat.”
“What new hat?”
“The one he bought yesterday at Mad Hatter’s.”
“How do you know this?”
“It’s a small town.”
“Damn, it’s smaller than I thought. This is crazy. A guy can’t even buy a new hat without everybody knowing about it.”
“And a single girl can’t waltz back into town with a baby belly and not expect everyone to speculate on the circumstances.”
She sighed, unfolded her arms and plopped down onto the sofa, feeling as if the entire town knew every detail of her life and she hadn’t even told anyone a thing about it. “I give. Just tell me what I should say and I’ll do my best to make it sound as if I came up with it on my own.”
“Before I help you out, maybe you should girl up first. What time is your date?”
“‘Girl up’? Have you been hanging around with Amanda Fittswater again? You know that girl will be the death of you. She’s still wet behind the ears.”
“She’s just a friend.”
“She’s not even twenty-one yet.”
“Turned twenty-two three weeks ago, and we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you and Colt.”
She crossed her arms again. “There is no ‘me and Colt.’ There’s only his baby that needs to be discussed.”
“You make it sound as if you’re somehow not attached to that there young’un.”
“Believe me, I’m attached, just not to Colt.”
“You look mighty attached to Colt Granger from where I’m standing.”
“Well, stand someplace else ’cause we aren’t a couple, never have been a couple and probably never will be a couple.”
“You used the word probably.”
“Yeah? So?”
“That means—”
The doorbell rang and the sound startled Helen. “He’s fifteen minutes early.”
Milo peeked out of the side window. “It’s not Colt. You still have time to change.”
Helen headed for the door, but Milo beat her to it, whisking past her faster than she’d ever seen his cumbersome body move. She stood to the side of the door, not able to see who stood on the other side when Milo opened it. Immediately his face lit up as if he were a kid staring at a Christmas tree. Amanda Fittswater’s distinctive voice echoed through the living room. “Hey, cuddles. Are you ready?”
“Cuddles?” Helen whispered when Milo glanced her way.
He blushed.
“Hey, Amanda. Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
Helen came around to the front of the door. “Aren’t you going to invite her in?”
“Hey, Helen,” Amanda said when their eyes met. She still looked like a kid with a fresh scrubbed face, a lean body, mahogany hair streaked with pink highlights cut extra short, bright pink lipstick, red minishorts, a black long-sleeved sweater and tan cowboy boots. “Like, I can’t. The movie starts in less than ten minutes. But we’ll catch up next time. Come on over to Holy Rollers and I’ll give you a free muffin.”
She’d worked at Holy Rollers, the local doughnut and pastry shop, ever since it opened. Her aunt owned the place and everyone knew she was grooming Amanda to one day take it over when she retired, that is if she could keep Amanda interested.
She grabbed Milo’s hand and the two of them walked out the door and down the street in the direction of Galaxy Theater, while Helen stood there and watched. Amanda jumped and skipped around him like a puppy vying for attention.
Oh, yeah, they were just friends all right.
That’s when she spotted Colt’s white SUV turning onto the street. She left the front door wide open for him, and raced up the stairs to change clothes and practice how she would tell him about their baby.
“Hi, Colt, I love your new hat. Colt, is that a new hat? Wow, that new hat looks great on you. By the way, did I happen to mention you’re the daddy to the baby I’m carrying?” She stomped up the last three stairs knowing that telling Colt about their baby was the single most difficult thing she’d ever had to do.
* * *
COLT PULLED HIS SUV over to the curb a block away from Milo’s place in order to give his boys one more talk before he picked up Helen for their date. He hadn’t planned on bringing his boys, but Dodge had a “previous engagement” that he neglected to tell Colt about until a couple hours ago. Mrs. Abernathy, the older, semi-retired nurse who Colt could always depend on as his backup babysitter, was also busy that night, and both his brothers along with Maggie and Scout
had tickets to a truck and tractor pull over in Idaho Falls, so he was stuck having to bring his boys.
If he’d had more time to tell Helen about the change in circumstances, he would have called her and broken the date. Unfortunately, he’d assumed his dad, who rarely went anywhere but the barn in the evening, would be available to look after his boys. He never would have guessed in a million years the old man wouldn’t be available. No way would he call Helen an hour before their date and cancel. Instead, he brought his boys and if she didn’t want to go—and who could blame her—he would merely take the boys down to Sammy’s Smoke House for burgers and milkshakes and call it a night.
He was dog-tired anyway.
“Why are we stopping, Dad? Milo lives up yonder,” Buddy told him.
“Yeah, Papa. I want to see Helen. Aren’t we going to see Helen?” Joey wanted to know.
“I like Helen, Daddy,” Gavin said. “I promise to be good.”
His three boys all sat strapped in the backseat with Joey in the middle. They were dressed in their best jeans, tucked-in pressed shirts and clean sneakers, except for Buddy, who only wore boots. Their hair was combed, their faces scrubbed and their nails were clipped smooth. They were duded up better than he was.
He’d been so concerned about how his boys looked that he hadn’t had time to polish himself. Everything he wore was clean and he’d taken a shower, but his clothes weren’t his best and his boots had seen better days. Still, he’d had the presence of mind to grab his new straw cream-colored cattleman hat, which at least made him feel as if he was somewhat dressed for the occasion.
Colt turned in his seat. “I’m stopping to make sure you boys know the rules. Can you repeat them for me?”
“No loud talking. No screaming,” Gavin said. “Always say please and thank you.”
“No going off without asking your permission first,” Buddy chimed in. “And no talking when the adults are talking. Even if we have a question?”
“Yes. Wait until there’s a break in the conversation.”
Buddy nodded.
Colt looked at Joey, who hadn’t said anything. “What else?”
Joey shrugged.
“What’s the matter?”
“I don’t feel so good.”
Colt cringed. Joey had been sluggish all day, but Colt assumed Joey was simply tired. “I need specifics, remember?”
“My head hurts.”
Colt reached over and touched Joey’s face and, sure enough, he felt hot. “You have a fever, son. Probably getting a cold. I’m sorry, but we need to take care of this.”
Tears instantly streamed down Joey’s cheeks. “But I don’t want to go home, Papa. I want to see Helen. I want a milkshake.”
“I know, but you need to rest to get that fever down.”
“I don’t want to go to bed. It’s too early. It’s still daytime.” The sun had just slipped behind the mountains.
“We’ll figure it out. I promise.”
But Joey couldn’t stop crying.
The first thing Colt had to do was cancel the date with Helen, and he didn’t want to do it on the phone. Seeing as how he was only a block away, he decided to drive to her house and tell her in person. It seemed as if he and Helen would never get the time they needed to talk.
“I’m sorry, son,” Colt said as he drove the block to Helen’s house, parked the SUV and got out. “I’ll only be a minute, but I promise we’ll stop and get you that milkshake, Joey. We’ll see Helen another time.”
Joey nodded, and wiped his tears from his face. His cheeks were turning a bright red. Colt knew he needed to make his excuses and get his son back home quickly.
When he walked closer to the front door he noticed it was open, which meant she was inside doing something. He’d known Helen for quite some time, and whenever he stopped by to an open door it meant that he should make himself at home while he waited for her, only this time he couldn’t wait.
He stepped inside. “Helen, are you here? My boy’s sick and I have to...”
But he stopped dead silent when he saw Helen descending the stairs wearing a long floral dress, heels and a deep pink shawl over her shoulders. She didn’t say a word, but from the way she was dressed—combined with the warm smile on her face—he knew whatever she wanted to tell him about had to be serious. They had a connection, he and Helen, and he had no intention of ignoring it, despite the fact that she was carrying someone else’s child.
He’d only seen Helen in a dress maybe a handful of times, and two of those times were at funerals. She looked positively glowing. He’d sometimes forget what a true knockout she was and the vision of her descending those steps left him muddleheaded and confused.
“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long,” she said as she glided toward him.
Colt couldn’t move or speak. He felt about as useless as a four-card flush until Buddy’s voice brought him back to reality.
“Dad, Joey just puked all over the backseat.”
* * *
AN HOUR LATER, Joey was cleaned up and dosed with the children’s medication that Colt had picked up at Angie’s Pharmacy after he’d called the doctor to describe Joey’s symptoms. The doctor would stop by Colt’s house in the morning to check on Joey, but until then the medication brought down his fever and settled his stomach. He was now resting in Milo’s recliner. He looked so tiny and innocent in the massive chair all snuggled up with a thick blanket, head nestled on a pillow and his blond curly hair tousled around his sweet face. Anybody looking at him would never know what a handful he could be.
The cheese pizza Helen ordered for her and the boys, along with a pizza with everything on it for Colt, had arrived and she arranged the fast-food blitz along with plates, milk and napkins on the double-wide coffee table in the living room. She’d also mixed up a batch of hot cocoa with tiny marshmallows, the cup rimmed in chocolate syrup she figured the boys would love. At first they’d all wanted milkshakes, but when she described her hot cocoa, there was no contest.
She’d changed out of her fancy dress and slipped back into comfortable jeans and a loose-fitting maternity tee, pulled a couple beers out of the fridge for Colt, downloaded a movie for the boys and intended to spend the entire night on the sofa snuggling with Colt’s boys. A vision she’d always thought would be impossible. She had the notion that his boys never relaxed for one minute. It was comforting to know they had a downtime.
She felt peaceful. Her stomach seemed to like cheese pizza and her heart enjoyed having Colt nearby.
“I’m really sorry about all of this,” he whispered for about the hundredth time. “This isn’t what I’d planned.”
Colt sat at the end of the sofa next to the chair she was in, surrounded by pillows and blankets. Gavin sat with her in the oversize chair, while Buddy was stretched out on the sofa with his head resting on Colt’s lap. It felt as natural as when she rode Tater in competition, and it made her wonder if she could ever settle for a more sedate lifestyle.
A lifestyle of evening movies, pizza and Colt Granger. She gazed over at him as he watched the movie. That chiseled face of his, his sun-streaked hair that looked like silk as it skimmed the back of his shirt collar, those broad shoulders and knowing how good he made her feel caused her to want to take him to her bed all over again.
Her baby kicked, throwing her out of her romantic trance. The reality of living with Colt Granger was sprawled out around her in the form of three little rascals. No way could she ever handle his boys nor did she think she could ever truly love Colt. The man was a dyed-in-the-wool rancher. Tied to a stationary lifestyle whereas she was a free spirit who loved the circuit, loved to compete and loved her freedom.
She knew parts of that vision would have to change because of the baby, but taking on more than her one child was simply out of the question. She could see hers
elf doing more nights like this after the baby was born. Anything more and she’d feel confined. No, she and Colt would share custody, and the boys would have another sibling, but that was as far as she wanted it to go.
“Don’t worry about it,” Helen told him. “It’s fun spending time with you and your boys, especially when we’re not all running after piglets at the fair.”
He chuckled. “I’ll second that.”
“This is the good part,” Gavin said. “We have to be really quiet so we can hear it.”
“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Helen whispered. “We’ll be quiet so you can hear.”
“Thanks,” he said, as polite as pie.
Gavin took after his grandpa, Dodge. When either of them wanted another person to do something or clarify a truth or a task they had a respectful way of asking that made the person want to cooperate. They found ways to gently let the person know their wishes without being heavy-handed.
Helen was nothing like that, which was probably a failing on her part, especially in her situation. She wanted to blurt out her news. Tell Colt this was his child, and let it go at that. She didn’t need anything more than him just being there for her and the baby, being a good dad, which she knew he already was, and helping out financially whenever their baby needed it.
She blew out air knowing sure as rain her ideas of parenthood and his were going to be the exact opposite. Still, she realized she had to take Milo’s advice and break it to him gently, so to speak, without dropping it like a ton of bricks.
Of course, that information wouldn’t be coming out tonight with the boys so close by. Once again she’d have to wait until a more appropriate moment. Which made her wonder if that appropriate moment would ever be right. Could she possibly go her entire pregnancy without telling him? Was that even remotely possible?
No, she had to tell him. Tonight. She would ask him to follow her into the kitchen and she’d tell him while they stood under the elk antlers that hung over the doorway. She’d be up front and lay it out there as if it was just another fact of life.