How could a single night be so wonderful and yet so awful?
Lilly had anticipated a chilly reaction from Jake’s daughters, but it still cut to the quick. Not for herself—she could survive being the bane of the girls’ existence, right up there with their stepfather—but the baby would be their little brother or sister. She’d expected more from Briana, given her caring attitude toward the people from Horizon.
Excited chattering roused her from her ruminations. A dozen or so guests milled near the gate to the corral, watching a trio of young ranch hands bring out and saddle the horses they’d soon be riding. Dressed in spanking-new cowboy hats and boots, their jeans bearing designer tags, the guests looked every inch the greenhorns they were. One of the ranch hands went around to each person, passing out bright yellow plastic ponchos in case the weather turned bad.
The sight of so many people took a little getting used to for Lilly. Bear Creek Ranch had closed down after New Year’s Day and had reopened this week on Valentine’s Day for the new season. She and the center’s clients had gotten used to having the place pretty much to themselves for the past six weeks. Lilly hadn’t minded in the least. The ranch in winter was breathtaking with its snow-capped trees, wreaths decorating every door and smoke billowing out of the lodge’s redbrick chimney.
If not for the cold, she’d almost want winter back.
A young child wailed despite his mother’s attempts to calm his fear of horses. Lilly knew she should go check on the group from Horizon and see how they were doing, but she had trouble motivating herself to do more than sit and observe the goings-on. Since reaching her fifth month recently, her pregnancy had wreaked havoc with her energy levels. In the mornings, she felt she could tackle ten things at once. But by the afternoon, she was completely exhausted and fighting fatigue.
The golf cart’s distinctive chugging sounded from up the road. Lilly automatically checked to see if Jake was in it and jumped off the log bench where she’d been sitting as soon as she recognized him.
So much for fighting fatigue.
She immediately began fussing with her pullover sweater and slacks. She’d started wearing maternity clothes since announcing her pregnancy and, silly as it might be, she wanted him to see her in them. To her great disappointment, Jake hailed Gary Forrester instead, and the two of them disappeared into the stable office. Ranch business, Lilly thought glumly. Well, she’d just have to catch him on his way out.
Jimmy Bob emerged from the barn and meandered toward her, his demeanor pitiful. This was his first trip to the ranch in almost a month, and now Briana wasn’t here. No wonder the poor guy was depressed.
“How’s Mr. Deitrich doing?” Lilly asked. The older man’s Alzheimer’s hadn’t gotten better since he had started coming to Bear Creek Ranch, but his family reported that he’d become a little more cooperative at home and they were happy with any improvement.
“Fine,” Jimmy Bob answered distractedly. “Cleaning out the stalls.”
“Good. What are you up to?”
“Looking for Mr. Forrester.”
“He’s in the office with Mr. Tucker. What do you need?”
“The keys to the tractor.”
“Did Mr. Forrester say you could drive it?”
“That’s why I need to find him.”
Lilly was relieved to learn that Jimmy Bob was seeking permission. He’d become surprisingly skilled at driving the tractor, but she didn’t want him thinking he could take it any old time.
“You should probably wait a few minutes until they’re done.”
“Okay.” With a heavy sigh, he plopped onto the bench.
Lilly bit her tongue, more to suppress a chuckle than to stop herself from reminding him that was where she’d been sitting. Besides, it was a good excuse for her to go check on the clients and staff. Anything to take her mind off Jake.
“You stay right here,” she instructed Jimmy Bob. “Don’t move.”
“I promise.” He nodded enthusiastically.
“I’ll be back in three minutes.”
Jimmy Bob had proven himself to be reasonably responsible and, as a result, they’d gotten accustomed to giving him a little more freedom than the other clients.
She went first to the barn, intending to chat with Austin and see how he was doing with Mr. Deitrich. The older man had a tendency to slip away and wander off. One time, they’d found him in a stall brushing down a horse. Luckily, the old mare was quiet and not the high-strung gelding Gary Forrester used for endurance riding.
Loud footsteps echoed through the barn aisle. Lilly stopped and spun around. For a brief second she thought Jake might be hurrying to meet up with her. Instead, the child who’d been crying earlier tore into the barn, his mother and an older child in hot pursuit. They caught up with him at the first stall—where he’d mistakenly tried to hide—and carried him kicking and screaming back to the group of guests waiting to mount up.
Lilly tried not to be judgmental of parents and how they handled their children but in her opinion the heated swimming pool or a game of Ping-Pong might be a better afternoon activity for that family.
Mr. Deitrich was emptying a wheelbarrow of manure into the Dumpster and happily carrying on a conversation with someone only he could see. Lilly would rather he talk with Austin, and went to find out why the rookie caregiver wasn’t within visual distance of the older man.
A high-pitched scream brought Lilly to a halt. It was closely followed by a woman’s angry shouts. A sense of dread came over Lilly and she changed direction, rushing back the way she’d come. Had something happened to one of the center’s clients? Who was the last one riding Big Ben? If only she could remember.
It was immediately apparent when she emerged from the barn that the young child she’d seen earlier was the one screaming and his mother was the one yelling. In the next instant, a ranch hand hauled the boy off the horse he’d been sitting on and placed him in the woman’s arms. Sobbing hysterically, the child clung to her, wrapping his legs around her waist. The outraged mother lit into the poor man, raising her voice even louder to be heard over her child’s cries. To his credit, the ranch hand merely stood there and took it.
The other guests backed away slowly, as if the scene was too ugly and too embarrassing to be part of. Lilly decided they had the right idea and turned toward the barn.
She glanced back over her shoulder. The few remaining guests were meandering off. In their wake stood a lone young man, his head hung in shame.
“Oh, no!” Lilly’s eyes darted to the bench, though she knew it would be empty, and her stomach dropped to her knees. This was her fault. She shouldn’t have left to go find Mr. Deitrich.
Breaking into a run, she hollered, “Jimmy Bob!”
He raised a miserable face to her.
Short of breath and near frantic, she took him by the arm. “What happened, honey?”
“Is this your son?” The woman redirected her anger at Lilly.
“No, but he’s in my care. I’m the administrator of the local adult day care center. Jimmy Bob is one of our clients.”
“Well, you need to keep better track of them,” she said with a sneer. “My boy was almost injured because of him. If that horse had reared…well, you can bet my attorney would be in contact with yours.”
“Please.” Lilly did her best to remain calm. Firing back at the woman wouldn’t help the situation. “Tell me what Jimmy Bob did.”
“Is there a problem?” Jake stepped from between two people who had stopped to gawk, Gary Forrester on his heels.
“Who are you?” the mother asked. Her son had stopped crying and began kicking his legs to get down. She frowned but held tight.
“One of the owners here. How can I help you?”
She seemed quite pleased to be talking with someone in authority. “This…person—” she indicated Jimmy Bob “—took my boy when my back was turned and put him on that horse. Any…idiot could see he’s scared to death and didn’t want to ride.”
Jimmy Bob began to stammer. “I d-didn’t m-mean nothing, Ms. Russo. I just w-wanted to help. Like I help Samuel and Joey and Miranda ride B-Big Ben.”
“It’s okay, Jimmy Bob.” Lilly patted his shoulder.
“Excuse me, but it’s not okay.” The mother finally let go of her son, who hit the ground and dashed off to join his brother. “People like him shouldn’t be allowed near young children. They certainly shouldn’t be allowed to wander around a guest resort unsupervised.” Her laser-beam glare traveled from Lilly to Jake. “I can’t believe that you, as one of the owners, would permit it.”
“Please accept my apologies,” Jake said cordially, every bit the businessman. “I’d like to invite you and your family to stay an additional night, compliments of the ranch.”
“We’re leaving tomorrow. I have to be back at work.”
“Another time, then. The front desk will issue you a gift certificate good for a year.”
“I expect a full refund for the ride, since we’re not going.”
“Of course. If you’d like to take your sons fishing, I can have someone drive you to our private fishing hole.”
“I suppose we could do that.” Appeased, the woman called to her sons.
While she and Jake made the arrangements, Lilly escorted a distressed Jimmy Bob over to the bench. When he finally calmed down, she reminded him of the rules and his promise to stay put.
Austin appeared about the time she finished. “What happened?”
“Where have you been?”
“The bathroom. Joey had an accident.”
“Where’s Georgina?”
“With Mr. Deitrich now. She was with me. Joey threw a fit and wouldn’t let me clean him up. Georgina had to help.”
Obviously, they were becoming too comfortable at the ranch and too trusting of their clients.
Lilly also owed Jake an apology. The boy’s mother might have been rude and insulting, but she’d also been right—the people from Horizon did need constant supervision and she had failed to provide it.
“Hey, Jimmy Bob.”
She jumped at Jake’s voice. What if he’d come to tell her their deal was no longer working and she had to find a new home for Big Ben?
“Are you okay?” He approached Jimmy Bob and clapped the young man’s shoulder.
“I didn’t mean to hurt that kid.”
“You didn’t hurt him. But from now on, let Little José help with any of the children, okay? That’s his job, not yours.” Jake reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He held them out to Jimmy Bob. “Can you hook the flatbed trailer to the tractor by yourself or do you need help?”
Jimmy Bob exploded into a huge grin. “I can do it.”
“Gary will meet you behind the barn in ten minutes. There’s a lot of hay to load.”
“Thanks.” He threw himself at Jake, hugging him fiercely.
Jake returned the hug. “See you later, pal.”
Just when Lilly thought she knew the father of her child, he’d surprised her. “You didn’t have to do that,” she said, her mouth curving into a smile. “Jimmy Bob was left alone, and he shouldn’t have been. Trust me, it won’t happen again.”
“The truth is that woman is nothing but a pain in the rear. The front office has received four complaints from her already.”
“Still, Jimmy Bob shouldn’t have taken her son and put him on that horse.”
“No, he shouldn’t have. But he meant well, and he only beat Little José to it. Both boys went riding with their father yesterday and loved it. The kid was pitching a fit for his mother’s benefit.”
Lilly stared at Jake in disbelief. “Then why did you give her a complimentary night?”
“I didn’t like the way she talked about Jimmy Bob.”
“Me neither, but that’s no reason to reward her.”
“It shut her up, didn’t it?”
“Jake.” Lilly’s throat tightened. For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, she cursed her out-of-control hormones.
“Hey.” He tugged her into his arms.
She knew better than to let him hold her in front of the ranch employees, and she sure as heck shouldn’t let him do it with Georgina, Austin and the clients nearby. It violated every professional standard she held herself to. But Jake had defended Jimmy Bob and treated him like any other person.
More than that, Jake’s arms felt good wrapped around her, as if they belonged there.
“What’s this?” He set her aside with a lingering once-over. “New shirt?”
“Yes.” She laughed and turned to give him a view of her silhouette.
“I like it. Shows off your baby bump.”
“I like it, too.”
“Are you free on Saturday night?”
“I could be.”
“It’s my aunt Millie’s sixtieth birthday. We’re having a private party for her in the dining hall after dinner. Will you come?”
She hesitated before accepting. This wasn’t a simple dinner invitation. Jake was, in essence, bringing her home to meet his family. All of them. Including his daughters, who, as far as Lilly knew, were still unhappy about her and the baby.
He’d evidently read her mind. “We can’t go on avoiding the girls.”
“You’re right. I just don’t want a scene to put a damper on your aunt’s party.”
“Several of my tenants are going to be there. You’re bound to have met some of them. You can use them for cover.”
She laughed. “It does sound like fun.”
“I’ll pick you up at five-thirty.”
“Okay.”
He gave her a quick, almost platonic kiss on the lips. The tingle coursing through her, however, was a solid ten on the Richter scale.
“I hate to leave,” he said. “I have an appointment back at the office.”
“And I have to find Mr. Deitrich.”
Jake had hardly disappeared before Lilly began having second thoughts about going to the party with him. Until now, her biggest concern had been his children. She hadn’t worried much about the rest of his family, assuming they were like hers, loving and supportive.
But what if the Tuckers weren’t? What if they felt just as strongly about her and the baby as the girls did? Could that be the reason Jake had said so little about his parents?
Now she wished she’d asked him before he left instead of letting herself become distracted by his kiss.
Chapter Ten
Lilly had met most of the Tucker family before, many of them at the Labor Day cookout just before she’d started dating Jake. But she hadn’t been wearing maternity clothes then, and he hadn’t introduced her as the mother of his child.
It did make a difference.
There were wall-to-wall Tuckers at Millie Sweetwater’s birthday party, and the vast majority of them didn’t know how to take Lilly. Reactions ranged from hostility to friendliness, uncertainty to curiosity, with Jake’s daughters clearly at the negative end of the spectrum.
Jake’s mother fell somewhere in the middle. She sat across from Lilly at one of the large tables, trying hard to include Lilly in the dinner conversation, showing an interest in the baby by asking questions—questions that most expectant mothers would be delighted to answer. Questions that indicated Jake’s failure to mention Lilly’s medical history.
“Have you picked out a color for the nursery?”
“Not yet.” Lilly nibbled on her barbeque chicken.
“That’s right. You don’t know the baby’s sex.” Mrs. Tucker’s glance took in Jake as well as Lilly. “Have you decided on any names?”
Lilly shook her head. “We’re still tossing ideas around.”
Mrs. Tucker’s expression showed signs of strain. She’d gotten similar answers when she’d asked if Lilly had scheduled a maternity leave and enrolled i
n a labor class.
How could she explain that she was waiting to learn the baby’s health?
“Are your parents coming out when the baby’s born?”
“My mother is. She should be done with school by then.” Lilly relaxed. Here was a safer subject.
“School? Is she a teacher?”
“No, she’s studying to be one. She and my dad came out over Christmas during semester break.”
“Yes, Jake mentioned that. You must miss them, living so far away.”
“I do.”
Jake reached for her hand under the table. “Unlike the Tuckers. We tend to live on top of each other.”
“Which is just the way I want it, young man.” Mrs. Tucker’s scolding was filled with warmth and affection. She turned her attention back to Lilly. “I hope to meet your mother when she comes.”
“I’m sure she’d like that, too.”
“If you need anything, please call me.”
“I will.”
It was a promise she very much hoped to keep—because Mrs. Tucker, despite her obvious reservations, was the type of sweet, kindhearted woman Lilly wanted as a grandmother for her child. Especially because her own mother was so far away. Lately, she’d been missing her parents. Their visit at Christmas had been too brief for Lilly and she was thrilled her mother had agreed to return when the baby was born.
Jake remained by her side at dinner and for most of the party that followed. But eventually, duty called. His cousins had planned a This Is Your Life activity to celebrate their mother’s birthday that required Jake’s participation. For the last half hour, Lilly had sat in the audience, convinced that if she listened hard enough, she’d hear her name on everyone’s lips.
If she thought this was bad, how would Jake’s family react after the baby was born?
How would they act if the child had severe birth defects?
Waiting for Baby Page 12