He removed his hand and tapped his chest. “This right here tells me so.”
Could he possibly be right? She thought again about the way she felt with a baby in her arms. She often sang a simple lullaby that her father had sung to her when she was a little girl and couldn’t sleep. For her thirteenth birthday he’d given her a music box that played the song. It sat on her dresser and had become part of her birthday ritual. She was about to turn the wheelchair into the room when she caught sight of Cade coming down the hall.
“She’s here and she’s perfect, and I’m a father,” he said loudly.
Nikki pushed Tag’s chair, and they followed Cade to the waiting room.
“And we’re the first to know,” Tag said. “Is that the same as catchin’ the bouquet at a wedding? Are we next?”
“Not unless we have another case of immaculate conception,” Nikki said.
Tag chuckled. “I reckon we could have a normal wild child.”
“Tag Baker, are you askin’ me to be your baby mama?” she teased.
“No, ma’am, I want more than a baby mama when I have children,” he answered.
“Our baby girl is here,” Cade announced to everyone in the waiting room.
“What’s her name?” Emily asked.
“How much does she weigh?” Otis wanted to know.
“Is Retta okay?” Justin asked.
“When can we see her?” Patsy clapped her hands.
Poor old Cade had trouble answering them.
“Right now I’d give up all my rebel ways to be in his shoes,” Tag whispered.
“Now that’s a line you should put in your little black book,” Nikki, leaning down, whispered in his ear.
“Didn’t think I’d ever say that or feel this way,” Tag said.
Nikki’s phone pinged. She pulled it out of her pocket to find a text from Rosemary. Two ambulances had been dispatched to a wreck north of town. They’d be bringing in six injured patients in a few minutes.
“Got to go,” Nikki said. “Keep that foot up and don’t be too macho to take the pain pills Dr. Richards prescribed.”
Tag stood up, balanced on one foot, and pulled her close to his chest. “It’s going to be a long weekend, but the light at the end of the tunnel is that I’ll get to see you Monday evening.” Then he tipped up her chin and kissed her, right there in front of everyone.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Any other morning, Tag would have simply crawled through the barbed-wire fence or hopped over it and walked from the cabin to the ranch house, but on Saturday he drove. He hopped on one foot from the truck to the porch and used the railing to help him maneuver the steps. Hud threw open the door and handed him a set of crutches before he reached the top step.
“Guess Granny was right to insist that we bring these with us,” he said.
“I never knew how much two toes could hurt,” Tag admitted. “When I busted my arm in two places, it didn’t hurt like this.”
“That’s because you were young. Kids heal faster than adults. It was Maverick’s turn to make breakfast. He’s still flippin’ pancakes if you’re interested.” Hud led the way to the kitchen.
“I thought maybe I could at least string barbed wire on one foot.” Tag sat down at the table and propped his foot on an empty chair. Maverick stacked four huge pancakes onto a plate and set them in front of him.
“You’d do it in a wheelchair to get out of all the paperwork, wouldn’t you?”
“Thank you. And you’re right. I hate to paint, too, but I’d do the whole barn to get out of what y’all are making me take on.” Tag slipped pats of butter between the layers and then covered the top with warm maple syrup.
“Too bad.” Paxton set a cup of coffee by Tag’s place.
“Thanks for waiting on me,” Tag said.
“We’ll drop in when we break for noon each day, and maybe if you go to church tomorrow, we’ll let you take time off if you talk Emily into inviting all of us to Sunday dinner,” Hud said. “Other than that, you’re going to spend an eight-hour day in front of the computer learning what Matthew does. Everything has to be input from cows to bulls to fence posts, and how much winter wheat seed we bought. After the initial input, the job shouldn’t take but a day a week, according to what Matthew told me this morning.”
“And I’ll be the only one, other than Matthew, who knows how to do it, right?” Tag groaned.
“You can always take care of that part of the business on Saturday when Nikki’s at work.” Hud refilled his coffee cup and sat down at the table.
“What’s she got to do with this?” Tag asked between bites.
“You’re in love with her. You might not know it yet, but you are, and in another year, two at the most, you’ll be the one coming to tell us about your new baby.” Maverick set a plate full of pancakes in the middle of the table. “You can fight it, but when a good woman grabs you by the heart, you’re a goner.”
“I’m not in love,” Tag protested. “I like Nikki a lot, and for the first time in my life, I’m calling someone my girlfriend, but we’ve only made out a few times, and gone out together twice. How does that mean the L-word, much less talk about babies?”
“It was obvious to some of us at Emily’s wedding. You looked across the room at her in that pretty blue dress and it was all over,” Paxton told him. “Just mark our words. And that idea of doing all the drudge work when she’s at the hospital is a good thing. Besides, it’ll keep you out of the bars, off bulls, and hopefully away from the hospital.”
Tag shot a dirty look his way but had to acknowledge, albeit silently, that Paxton was right. And it would give him something to do over the weekends when he couldn’t see Nikki. But that stuff about being in love—that might happen on down the road, like in a couple of years—but not now.
When things slowed down in the ER that morning, Nikki slipped into Retta’s room to find her sleeping. Annie was in a little portable crib beside her. Her eyes were wide open, but she wasn’t fussing. Nikki gently picked her up and held her close to her chest as she sat down in a rocking chair and began to sing to her.
They’d named her Annabelle and planned to call her Annie. Nice and simple. Nikki loved it and thought the name fit the little angel who had a full head of dark hair. She breathed in the clean baby-fresh scent and wished that she was holding her own child.
Cade slipped into the room and smiled down at Retta with so much love in his face that Nikki felt guilty for even sharing space in such an intimate moment. “Want to hold Annie?”
He sat down on a sofa and held out his arms. “I’m a little afraid of her, Nikki. She’s so little, and I’m such a big man. I’m terrified that I’ll hurt her. I’ve never been around a baby this small.”
Nikki settled Annie into the crook of his arm. “Just support her head and hold her close. She’s listened to her mama’s heartbeat the whole time, and hearing yours will bring her comfort. The fear is natural. All new daddies feel that way with their first child.”
“So you’ve been around lots of babies?” he asked as he gently touched Annie’s tiny hand with a forefinger. “She’s so beautiful that it almost makes this rough old cowboy cry.”
“I was never around babies until I had pediatric clinical training for my nursing degree. Sometimes I go down to the nursery here and help out. It calms me,” she admitted.
Annie wrapped her hand around his finger.
“Look!” Cade whispered. “How can someone so small make me feel like a king?”
“It’s called the miracle of life,” Nikki whispered.
“You are going to be a great mother,” Cade said, but he didn’t take his eyes off his little girl.
She was thinking about what Cade said as she climbed the stairs to her apartment that night. She didn’t notice the black Lincoln parked across the street until she heard a noise and turned to see it pulling away from the curb. If that was her father, she sure wished he’d just get out and talk to her. But then why would he if he though
t that she’d ignored him all these years? And if it wasn’t her father? A shiver went up her spine at the thought.
She stopped long enough to feed Goldie and then stripped out of her scrubs, put them into the washer with other laundry, and started the cycle. The load would wash while she slept most of the day. She took a shower and slid beneath the sheets. Her eyes were closed when her head hit the pillow. The last thing she remembered thinking was that she should have set the alarm.
When she awoke and glanced at the clock, it said three thirty-five. She’d been asleep more than twelve hours, but that wasn’t unusual for Monday. She threw back the covers, slipped on a robe, and was on the way to the kitchen when her phone pinged.
She dug through her purse and found three messages from Emily and one from Tag. The ones from Emily included pictures of Annie and Retta from Sunday morning when they had brought the baby home. Looking at them set Nikki’s biological clock to ticking loudly. Tag sent a selfie of him holding a whole sheaf of papers and a message that said: Save me!
She sent one back that said: Hang on until 8. I’ll bring supper.
He sent back an emoji blowing kisses to her.
She sang as she cleaned Goldie’s bowl and then fed her, hummed as she stripped the bed, tossed her scrubs into the dryer, and threw the sheets into the washer. Then she cleaned her little place. Never would she let herself get into a habit of doing anything by the clock or the day of the week like her mother did.
She was starving by the time she finished her chores, so she made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That would have to do until she picked up some tacos to take out to the cabin for supper. She watched a rerun of Law & Order while she waited on her mother’s call. The show ended and she did a countdown from ten. When she got to number one, the phone rang.
“Hello, Mother,” she said.
“Why are you callin’ me that? You’ve always called me Mama before. You wanted me to be honest with you and I was, so why are you acting like this? You know it raises my blood pressure when you are ugly,” Wilma said.
“Let’s start all over,” Nikki said. “Hello, Mama. How’s your week been?”
“Well, for starters, Mrs. Thomas got a cat and it’s been walkin’ on my porch and leaving footprints. I have to go out there every day and shoo it away, and then take a dust mop to the porch. If she has to have a pet, she should keep it in her own house,” Wilma said. “And I’m down to seventeen nerve pills, so you need to call the pharmacy because they said they can’t refill it until they’re all gone. What if I’m short one on a day when things are going bad for me like that rotten cat traipsing across my porch?”
“How many do you take each day?” Nikki rolled her eyes and thought about the difference in cat prints and getting kidnapped.
“I take three a day. I can’t be without them. You should call the pharmacy tomorrow and demand that they bring me a new bottle.”
“I’m sure they’ll bring your medicine as soon as they can,” she said. “What else has been going on?”
“That man you hired to mow my yard left a whole lot of grass on the sidewalk again. You just can’t get good help anymore,” Wilma said.
“Were you worried when I was kidnapped?” Nikki asked.
“Did you flirt with that man? Is that why he stole your car and made you drive him way out there to West Texas? You must’ve done something to encourage him,” Wilma said. “You’re like your daddy that way. He flirted with every woman he saw.”
“Oh, yeah? What did he do that made you think that?”
“He used to smile at every single woman who checked us out in the stores and chat with them. And he always smiled at all the women in church like he wanted to get to know them better. He said he was just being cordial. I told him I hated it when he did that, but did he listen to me? Oh, no! Not your daddy! I bet you smiled at that man, didn’t you?” Ice dripped from Wilma’s words.
Nikki closed her eyes tightly and reminded herself: Think about Sue Ann. Don’t let her negativity get to you.
“Are you still there?” Wilma yelled.
“I’m here, Mama. Did you go out today? It’s been up in the nineties.” Nikki changed the subject. Surely the weather wouldn’t be something that would get her in trouble.
“Lord, no! I don’t go out on Monday.” Wilma went into her normal tirade about everything, and all Nikki had to do was murmur now and then.
Her mother finally brought their conversation to an abrupt end. “It’s eight o’clock and I have things to do. Good night, Nikki. We’ll talk again next week.”
“Love you, Mama,” Nikki said.
“Okay, goodbye.” Her phone screen went dark.
You tried, her brother Quint’s voice whispered in her head. That’s all anyone can do. He’d told her the same thing so many times when they were kids that his words were burned into her brain.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She tossed the phone into her purse and headed for the door. “Hold the fort down, Goldie. Don’t wait up for me. I might be late.” She swiped at her tears with the heel of her hand. A swing by the drive-through netted a bag full of tacos and burritos. She made another stop at a convenience store for a six-pack of beer and one of root beer. Then she drove out of town straight for the cabin.
When she arrived, she carried the bag and beer up to the door and started to knock with the edge of the six-pack. Tag startled her when he swung the door open before her knuckles even hit it.
“I heard you drive up. That stuff smells wonderful.” He stood back and let her enter the cabin; then using one crutch, he followed her to the table. “But seeing you beats all the food in the world. You are gorgeous.”
She turned around to find that he’d laid the crutch down and opened his arms.
“I missed you,” he said.
She took two steps and his arms wrapped around her. Rolling up on her toes, she cupped his face in her hands and brought his lips to hers. One kiss and it didn’t matter what Wilma had said or what she was afflicted with. Nikki was at peace for the first time in her life right there in Tag’s arms.
He hopped over to the sofa and pulled her down onto his lap. One kiss led to another, going from a sweet brush of the lips to something deeper and deeper, until they were both panting. His hand slipped under her shirt up to her bra, and in one swift motion, it was undone, and he began to massage her back. She unbuttoned his shirt and slid it from his shoulders.
“Honey,” he nibbled on her ear, “we either need to stop this or take it to the bed.”
“Bed.” In one swift motion, she pulled her shirt and bra off and tossed them toward the end of the sofa. His soft hair against her breasts felt just like she thought it would, and the touch of it sent tingles from her scalp to her toes.
“I’d carry you, but I’m afraid I can’t hop that far,” he said.
Nikki pulled him up and draped his arm around her shoulders. “I’ll be your crutch. You sure you…”
Together they made it to the bed, where he pulled her down and the make-out session started all over again. “I don’t need my toes to make love to you.”
She wasn’t sure when her jeans and underpants came off or even her shoes. But they were both naked and his blue eyes were staring into hers as he stretched out on top of her. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she reached between them and gasped when she realized how ready he was. She drew him into her and began to rock with him. On that miraculous night, he brought her to heights she’d never known, taking her right to the edge of a climax and then backing off until finally he said her name in a growl and together they reached the mind-blowing end.
“There are no words,” he panted as he collapsed on top of her.
“Yeah, right. As many notches as you’ve got on your bedpost, you can’t say…” Her breath came out in short bursts.
“Honey, what we just had deletes all those notches.”
“Are you serious?” she asked.
“More than I’ve ever been in my whole
life,” he said.
“Ready for round two.” She rolled over on top of him.
“Kiss me, darlin’. One kiss and I will be,” he said.
The next morning, Nikki awoke to the smell of coffee and bacon. Sun rays flowed through the window and onto the quilt that covered her. That meant it had to be at least seven o’clock. “Good mornin’,” she said.
“Awww, I meant to wake you with a kiss and breakfast in bed. I was trying to figure out how to hop over there with a tray.” He smiled.
She sat up, wrapped the quilt around her body, and eased her feet to the floor. “If you’ll share it with me, I’ll do the carrying.”
“And then we might see if morning sex is as good as it was at midnight, right?” he asked.
“I’ve got a feeling that whenever we have it, it’ll be fabulous.” She tiptoed for a kiss.
“Me too, darlin’, me too,” he said.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I spent the last two nights with Tag.” Nikki held Annie close to her chest and rocked the baby in an antique chair.
“You’ve done that before,” Retta said as she sipped from a cup of hot chocolate. “The way you are with babies, you should have a dozen.”
“I would love that.” Nikki’s thoughts went back to the short conversation that she and Cade had in the hospital. She’d been on her own for so long that somehow she’d thought she’d have to raise a child without help if she ever had one. But seeing Cade and Retta together, both so eager to help with little Annie, had changed her mind. Even with her tough schedule, with help, she could have a career and a family both—just like her friend Rosemary.
“Time isn’t our friend to have that many.” Emily brought a plate of cookies to the living room and set them on the table. “And you’ve got to have sex to have a baby—at least in the normal way.”
“Tag and I had sex the past two nights. I think it was a little better than plain old normal.” Nikki bent to kiss Annie on the top of her head.
Retta spewed hot chocolate on her shirt. “You mean you didn’t before?”
Cowboy Rebel--Includes a bonus short story Page 21