Rancher's Girl

by Jeanne Harrell

  That was exactly what Sandy was hoping she would say. Her tally of points was getting higher.

  “We’ll just watch her for a while and see how it goes. If she needs any help, here’s what we’ll do.” He explained the procedure to Lily so matter-of-factly that she felt capable of doing the task at hand. It was important… This was Sandy’s favorite horse.

  He decided Lily would definitely be helpful in any adverse situation. Even one in which she lacked experience. She was forthright, smart, and willing to do what needed to be done. Much had been done with less.

  Over a period of several hours, the mare had become increasingly restless. The rain finally stopped, so the incessant pounding on the roof had ceased. Sandy moved the other horses to another side of the barn. Anna needed to be alone and moved about, switching her tail and looking at her sides. When she began sweating all over her body, Sandy announced the birth would happen soon. Lily moved when Sandy gave her instruction and stayed out of the way when he didn’t.

  The horse started pawing at the ground and got up and down several times. She was trying to position the foal. He checked to see where in the birth canal the foal was and got quickly out of the way. Suddenly, a fluid was ejected from Anna’s behind. Sandy explained this fluid would help to lubricate the birth canal. The horse was probably four hours into the birth process by now and Lily was fascinated. Her eyes watched the horse steadily and she didn’t cringe with each new development.

  Anna’s abdominal muscles started contracting. She positioned herself to strain to push out the foal and then a miracle happened! Anna began pushing and to their amazement, the foal’s shoulder came out. This seemed to be the hardest part, since the horse rested a few minutes and easily pushed out the rest of the foal.

  Lily blinked away tears. The small horse struggled to stand up and the umbilical cord broke. Sandy took straw to wipe him down. The mare waited about ten minutes and then pushed out the placenta. Sandy checked to make sure it was all there because leaving in even part of it was considered dangerous for the horse.

  “We’ll need to watch Anna for a few days. Her discharge color could indicate an infection.” When Sandy looked at Lily, she had tears streaming down her cheeks. “Are you all right?”

  “Oh, sure. Don’t worry about me,” she gasped. “How are the horse and the baby?” Sandy reached over and gave her a tissue he found in his soggy jacket.

  “I think they’re doing better than you are. What’s the matter?”

  “What did she have? A boy or girl?” Lily continued crying.

  “It’s a boy. A colt we call them,” Sandy moved towards her. “Anna’s fine now and needs time with her foal. Let’s go over there and give them some space.” He walked with Lily over to a wider section of the barn. “Come sit by me.”

  He sat in a chair by the door and brought a chair for Lily too. She sat shakily brushing back tears.

  “Tell me what you’re not saying.” Sandy looked into her red-rimmed brown eyes. He took the tissue and patted her still flowing tears. “What happened to you? You’re not just crying because of the birth.”

  Lily paused so long that Sandy thought she wasn’t going to answer him. She mopped her runny nose with her jacket sleeve.

  “Colt would be a nice name for a boy, wouldn’t it?” Lily swallowed hard. Nobody knew about this. She started hesitantly, hiccupping a few times trying to get it out. And there, in a lonely barn in rural Nevada with a man she felt she could trust, her defenses came down at long last. She heard the hitch in her own voice…

  “I was married for a few years in San Francisco. Ron was an engineer in the City and I taught at one of the local elementary schools. I thought we had it made. I thought we were happy.” She looked at him. “Boy, I was kidding myself, apparently… Dad never really liked him, but I chalked it up to the ‘he’s stealing my little girl’ jealousy. But Dad was right. Ron was a bum.” She stopped and coughed, then hiccupped again. Another long pause…

  Sandy gentled encouraged her. “I’m here and I’m listening.”

  Lily turned to look at him. “That’s exactly what I didn’t have in that marriage. Ron was never home and he didn’t listen to me. He didn’t care for my poetry and hated to hear about my day.”

  She looked at the hands folded in her lap and continued reluctantly. “I finally caught him… cheating with a… colleague of his at the engineering firm. When I confronted him about it, he just laughed.” Sandy’s jaw dropped. She looked at him ruefully. “Oh, it gets worse.”

  “Worse?”

  “Yeah. The day before, I had just discovered that I was pregnant. When I told Ron about it, he suggested an abortion. An abortion! Can you believe it?”

  “No.”

  “I couldn’t either. I told Ron I was keeping it and he moved out the next day. He moved in with whoever he was sleeping with.” She mopped her wet face and looked hard at him. “Can you take any more?”

  Sandy winced, “More?” He shifted in his seat. “Let’s have it.” He had taken hold of her hands and grasped them tighter.

  “I had a miscarriage the next week. And the doctor told me it was a boy…” Lily trailed off, starting to cry again. “A little boy like Jesse! Sometimes… when I see Jesse’s face, I think of the boy I lost. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to dump this all in your lap.” She mopped her face again with the soggier-than-ever tissue. “The whole thing just reared its head when the b-b-baby horse was b-b-born,” she stammered.

  “And you haven’t spoken to anyone about this? Ever? Not even your dad?” Sandy looked stricken. His face blanched and he shook his head. “Why couldn’t you confide in your dad?”

  “I was expecting an ‘I told you so’ from him. I told him about Ron’s cheating, but I could never bring myself to tell him about the miscarriage. It was and is too painful a subject. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this now.”

  “Maybe you needed to talk about it and you’re know you’re safe with me.”

  “I am, aren’t I? I feel that way too.” She seemed to be feeling better. “Thank you for listening. Thank you for being here for me. I appreciate it more than you know.”

  Lily cupped his chin with her hand. She held on to him and looked into his handsome face. She just brushed his lips at first and then kissed him with more feeling when he eagerly kissed her back.

  This was an important moment and Sandy knew it. Not only was it their first kiss, but she was setting aside a few demons and he wanted to be careful.

  Hard to be careful when he wanted more. One sweet kiss melted into a sweeter kiss. Incredible! He would definitely have to read a few Jane Austen novels if romance was what she needed. Neither had kissed anyone for a long time and much passion spilled all over them and the barn floor. When they surfaced for a breath of air, Sandy and Lily stared at one another.

  “Um…I…you,” Lily gulped.

  “I totally agree,” said Sandy as he kissed her again, even longer this time.

  What was it about sweet, wet kisses that go on forever?

  Clutching Lily’s arms, he planted kisses around her lovely face and down her throat. Sandy had wanted to do that since he first saw her. He dropped little smooches on her eyes that made her moan with pleasure. Down… down… into their own little world they went.

  What does she like? Kissing her hand, he turned it over and kissed her palm sweetly. He knew they’d crossed into intimacy, a place he hadn’t been for so long with a woman. Lily placed her hands on either side of his face and kissed him lovingly everywhere—his nose, cheeks, and then zeroed in on his lips. Puffy lips, happy lips, excited lips. Lips that demanded more… Much more.

  Sandy took a ragged breath, pulled her to her feet and ran his hands down the sides of her body to her hips. He felt her shiver with delight.

  “More?” When she nodded and took her own ragged breath, he drew her hips into his body so she melded into him. There was no hiding his erection, but she didn’t pull away.

  “What do you
think? Is this okay?” When she looked down and shyly nodded, his finger brought her chin up to look at him. “We can wait, you know. I’ve been waiting for you a long time. I can wait a bit more if we need to.”

  “Sex can make or break us—are we ready?” All he could see was Lily. All he could smell was the clean fragrance of her lovely body. Her smell was unique and he would never confuse her with anyone else. Picking her out in a crowd would be easy with his eyes closed. Her special taste lingered on his tongue and lips.

  “After all,” she continued, “We are consenting adults, right?”

  More sparks were flying in the barn than from any of the lightning strikes that had happened during the storm. The strikes had undoubtedly started a few fires, but they couldn’t compare to the fire started here.

  Sandy took her gently by the hand. “We don’t want Anna to see this. After all, she just had a baby and probably isn’t ready for sex again so soon,” he joked.

  Lily giggled and followed him out into the sweet smelling air. They filled their lungs with that fresh rain air and she grinned at him as they entered the house.

  “My clothes are still so soggy.”

  “They won’t bother you much longer,” Sandy whispered as he drew her into his bedroom and quietly closed the door.

  * * *

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Sunshine shone through the open window in Sandy’s spacious bedroom. Birds chirped, the wind was softly blowing and… Lily yawned while stretching on the huge bed. Boy, did she feel good…

  Where am I? Memory came crashing down.

  Yikes! What did we do? Did I lose my brain in the thunderstorm last night?

  She heard Sandy in the bathroom as she grabbed the down comforter around her and desperately sought her clothes. Wet or not, she’d better get them on and hightail it out of there, as the cowboys say. With her jeans pulled up halfway, Sandy came back in the bedroom with a toothbrush in his mouth and stopped.

  The sight was pure comedy – Lily had the comforter draped over her head, and was pulling on her jeans while shuffling around for her shoes.

  “Going somewhere?”

  Her feet stopped shuffling and she shyly pulled the comforter off her head to look at him. Her usually neatly combed dark hair stuck out in every direction, where it wasn’t matted to her head. She peeked one eye at him.

  “This has got to be an I Love Lucy moment. Remember that show?” Sandy laughed so hard, he almost choked on his toothbrush.

  “You know more about movies and television than I do,” grumbled Lily. She kicked her jeans to the floor. “They’re still wet. Don’t jeans ever dry?”

  “You grow up with a movie nut like my mom and see what you know about movies. And yes, it takes a while to dry out a pair of jeans.” He paused and smiled at her, “You could just leave them off, you know.”

  She looked confused and he started laughing again, heading back into the bathroom. That man can be exasperating, which is hard to do when he’s wandering around in his sexy underwear. God, do all cowboys wear boxers?

  Sandy came back in with his robe and laid it on the bed by her. “Put that on for now. We’ll put your clothes in the dryer first thing.” She motioned for him to turn around. “Really? After last night?” Her eyes narrowed and he turned around smirking.

  Wiggling into his robe, she sputtered, “Sandy, I need to get out of here before Jesse shows up. What if someone sees my car here? What will you say? What will we say if anyone starts asking questions?”

  “I can understand about Jesse, but I don’t care what anyone else thinks. You and Jesse are the only ones that matter to me now. Accept it or not, it’s the truth.”

  “Sex can be either binding or breaking, Sandy,” Lily whispered.

  “Was that just sex, Lily? I thought we were making love. And which do you want it to be? This is literally the day after and I, for one, am thrilled. How do you feel? Take a deep breath and tell me.” He looked at her so earnestly that she took that deep calming breath and then another. She took several more to calm her quaking nerves.

  Lily sank back down on the bed and Sandy sat beside her. “Tell me. What do you think? We have to learn to communicate. I know we don’t know each other very well right now, but I want to know everything there is to know about you.” Sandy stroked her face softly with gentle fingers. “I never expected to feel this way ever again after my wife died.”

  They had discussed his wife’s death last night. He’d told her that losing his wife with Jesse just a baby had about done him in. Meeting Lily was the best thing that had happened to him in a very long time. He smiled slowly, “What do you think?”

  She looked at him in resignation and closed her eyes. His touch on her face brought back all the sweet memories of last night. Last night in the barn… Last night in his bed... This morning in his bed. She sighed… Lily had seriously never wanted a man so much in her life.

  “I…want…you.” That’s all she needed to say and he was kissing her again. Kissing her lips, her throat, her shoulders.

  Much later, she pushed away from him and struggled to get up from the bed. “I’m so hungry! I could eat leftover red velvet cake!”

  “I think we can do better than that. We can always continue this later.” He winked at her. Lily felt her face flush. “Okay, let’s get up and get the day moving.”

  After doing various bathroom necessities and getting into some of his clothes that were too big, Lily joined Sandy in the kitchen. Bacon was sizzling and he was scrambling eggs. The aromas made her stomach rumble. “What about Jesse? Won’t he be home soon?”

  “Nope. I called Mom to keep him until 4:00 this afternoon. I figured we could have breakfast and lunch before we return you to your humble cottage. How about it, Cinderella? Maybe before the clock strikes two?”

  “Oh, ha. You’re a regular riot, you know that, Mr. Johnson? What would your cows say if they heard you talking so frivolously? Really…what kind of cowboy are you?” Lily walked up behind him and put her arms around his waist. Sandy leaned back and kissed her.

  He didn’t hesitate. “I’m a cowboy in love. And what are you, Miss Teacher?”

  “Oh, Sandy, can it happen this fast?”

  “Yes.”

  “Really?” She thought for a minute and grinned. “Well, then, I’ve got a song for you and it’s from that wonderfully romantic movie South Pacific. You remember South Pacific, don’t you?” She rolled up the sleeves of his Western shirt and waved her hands in the air.

  “How can I forget it? Between you and Jeanne, it’s all I hear about. So sing me the blooming song already,” he grumbled, going back to his eggs.

  Lily took a deep breath and sang,

  “I’m as corny as Kansas in August.

  High as the flag on the Fourth of July.

  If you’ll excuse an expression I use,

  I’m in love with a wonderful guy!”

  She danced gracefully around the kitchen while she sang, twirling a few times and spreading her arms out wide like the actress in the movie did at the end of the song. Her lovely singing voice echoed through the bright kitchen and struck him in the heart.

  Sandy openly stared at her.

  With a lump in his throat, he croaked, “I’ve always loved that musical.” He took her in his arms and kissed her for all he was worth. Smoothly back her pretty hair and glancing into her smiling, raven eyes, Sandy was hooked for sure. He thought they’d make a good couple, as solid as that one hundred year-old oak growing in his back yard. Strong… unwavering and that’s what he wanted, needed deep in his soul where it really counted.

  * * *

  CHAPTER NINE

  Lily sat at her desk at lunch on Monday. What was going on? She had passed two fellow teachers who obviously snubbed her. At first she thought she had imagined it but when it happened a second time. Uh-oh…Maybe it would pass, whatever it was.

  She sat eating her lunch thinking of Sandy. Life can be wonderful, can’t it? He’s just what a
man should be – kind, thoughtful, incredibly good-looking, sexy. Wow. Was he ever... She had never had a relationship with a man before like with Sandy. Her marriage obviously had been a pretty poor example of what a relationship should be. What’s that expression about hitting the jackpot? Staring off into space, a sigh escaped her. Taking another bite of her sandwich, someone interrupted her reverie.

  “Penny for your thoughts.” An image of Sandy floated before her eyes. She focused and there he was in worn jeans, the shirt she was wearing Sunday morning and those great talking boots.

  “Don’t you have to work?” She smiled up at him. Huh. He looked good in clothes too. She felt her face warming.

  “I had to bring Jesse’s lunch and thought you might like some too. Dessert, actually.”

  “Oh, no. Not the infamous red velvet cake.”

  “The very same.” He winked as he put a small bag on her desk, raised his eyebrows. “And how do you like my shirt?” If this was seduction, she was all for it.

  “I noticed. You really are trying to put me off my game today, aren’t you? Remember I have four children coming back from the lunchroom any minute. Do you want them to see us in a delicate situation?” Lily winked back at him. He was also a lot of fun. Being with him made her feel terrific.

  Sandy was having the same kind of thoughts. She was a long drink of cool water, as the cowboys say. Being with her made him feel like a man again. A sensual man… This pretty lady had him imagining things he hadn’t in many years. His sexual appetite had been dormant too long as well. That had been awakened for sure…

  “Okay. I’ll get out of your hair. I wanted to let you know that my brother, Bill, and I have some family business to do and I’ll be gone until Friday.”

  “Friday? We just met,” she felt her face blush again, “And now you’re leaving town? Where are you going?” She actually pouted.

  Good. She’d miss him—a welcome sign. “Vegas. We don’t much like going there, so we try to make our time count. Lots of meetings, lawyers and financial dealings… The Johnson Family Trust is a pretty big business. Bill and I try to keep on top of things.” He slowed and looked deeply into her eyes. “Believe me when I say I’m not wild about going right now. I’d rather spend more time with you, sweetheart.” He smiled his sexy smile.