Touch Me Boss: A Single Dad Office Romance

by Aria Ford

  It creaked open on protesting hinges and an aged man stood in the doorway. "May I help you, ma'am?"

  Justine nodded. "I need a place to stay the night and I have no money."

  The man stepped back to allow her inside. "All of God's children are welcome here, my dear." He replied.

  "Thank you." Justine whispered breathlessly. She hadn't realized how exhausted she was until she felt the warmth emanating from inside the church. She stepped inside gratefully.

  The priest motioned her to a small room at the back of the church where the stove was housed. "It is small, but warm."

  "It's wonderful."

  "Are you hungry, my dear?" He asked.

  "I am okay, but the baby, she won't stop crying."

  The priest’s face softened. "Bless her soul." He whispered. "I'll be right back, my dear."

  Justine nodded and sank down onto the small cot in front of the stove. She set down her suitcase and wrapped the well worn but warm quilt around her shoulders.

  The priest returned a few minutes later with a bottle of milk. "Perhaps this will fill her little stomach."

  Justine took it from him and held it out to the red-faced baby. She let out another weak and desperate cry before beginning to suckle from the bottle.

  "How old is the little one?" The priest asked.

  "I don't know."

  "You don't know?"

  Justine shook her head. "No, she's not mine. I...well I found her at the train station."

  "Oh! The poor dear!"

  "I couldn’t leave her there but I didn't know where else to go."

  "Are you all alone, my dear? Do you have any family here?" He inquired.

  "Not exactly."

  "You are more than welcome to stay here as long as you need, my dear." The priest offered.

  "Thank you, Father."

  "I'll leave you to rest, my dear."

  "But sir, do you take orphans like this? Or is there anywhere I can take her?"

  The priest paused. "The church does take in orphans when the need arises. We usually try to find a suitable foster home for the child to live in and pay to help support the child from there. It is better that they have a family structure than living alone with me in the church, you know."

  Justine nodded. "I understand. But I have no money to take care of myself, let alone a baby. I was supposed to be meeting my husband today."

  "Your husband?"

  Justine proceeded to tell him that she was a mail order bride and that her fiancé had not show up today, despite what was written in the letter.

  "What is the name of your fiancé, my dear?"

  "Noah Wilson. Do you know him?"

  The priest nodded. "Yes, I do. He is a regular attendee of this church. Gives regularly as well."

  "Then why wouldn't he show up?"

  The priest shook his head. "It must be something pretty big on his ranch to keep him. It certainly isn't like him to be late or forgetful."

  "Maybe he will finally show up tomorrow." Justine said as she lay down on the cot.

  "I can assist you in getting to his ranch tomorrow, my dear. It would be my pleasure."

  "Oh, thanks."

  "Not a problem. Get some rest now, child." The priest shut the door and left, the floorboards creaking as he walked away.

  Justine burrowed under the warm quilt and stared at the baby's now serene face as she slept. "This has been an interesting day for sure."

  *****

  Justine awoke to loud crying. She jerked her head up and stared straight into the face of a sobbing baby.

  "Oh great. You're hungry again."

  The baby kept screaming.

  Justine wrinkled her nose. "Oh, even better." She lifted the baby under her arms, staring in dismay at her bulging diaper.

  With a sigh, Justine carried the baby out of the room in hopes of finding the priest. "It's not like I'm equipped for all this baby stuff."

  She found the priest quite easily. She felt bad for interrupting his early morning prayer, but the baby's smell was more than enough to motivate him to help her. He cut her a piece of cloth and helped her fashion it into a diaper.

  Finally, the baby was cleaned and wearing a fresh diaper and Justine's nostrils were beginning to recover from their previous assault.

  "Thank you for your help, Father." Justine said.

  "You are most welcome, my dear." The priest replied. "If you are ready, I have some breakfast prepared."

  "Oh, thank you. Let me pack up everything and I will be out."

  "Of course, my dear."

  Justine went back into the stove room and straightened up the room, making sure everything was packed away in her suitcase before accepting the priest's invitation for breakfast.

  There was a bowl of hot cornmeal and a biscuit for her. Justine tucked into it hungrily. The priest handed her a bottle of milk and she fed the baby. She drank it just as hungrily as Justine had eaten her breakfast.

  "You were hungry again, weren't you little one?"

  The baby burped in reply. Justine sighed but laid her on her shoulder to burp her after the priest gave her a cloth.

  "You have taken very good care of her, my dear."

  Justine stared up at him. "I can't keep her. I don't know the first thing about babies."

  Besides, I never signed up for this. I belong on horseback, not burping babies!

  The priest nodded. "Of course you can, dear. You're doing a wonderful job. The church will help support her."

  Justine shook her head. "I can't. I have no money, no place of my own and possibly no husband."

  "I will take you to Noah's ranch and see what is going on. Perhaps we can decide from there."

  "Alright." Justine conceded.

  "Give me a minute and I will meet you out at the stable."

  Justine nodded and walked outside. The very mention of horses drew her. She walked into the small stable that housed two bay Morgan mares. "Hello there, beauties." She whispered, stroking one of their velvety noses.

  The mares snorted and stamped their hooves, eager to be out of their stalls. Automatically, Justine grabbed a curry comb and began brushing the mares. When their bay coats shone, she carefully lifted their harnesses from the rack and tacked them. She was leading them out to the carriage when the priest walked out of the church. He stopped and stared at her.

  "You are quite skilled with horses, my dear." He said finally.

  Justine nodded. "I have much more experience with horses than babies."

  "You do well with both, my dear. You are a talented young woman."

  "Thank you, Father."

  He stepped over to the carriage and helped her in. Justine took his hand and sat down, holding the baby in her lap. She had thankfully fallen asleep. The priest climbed into the carriage and gave the reins a little tap across their backs and the mares trotted off at a quick pace.

  "These are fine mares." Justine observed.

  "Oh yes. Dear Mr. Bedricks, bless his soul, donated them to the church a few years ago."

  "That was very kind of him. These mares would sell for a small fortune."

  The priest nodded. "Yes, he was a very wealthy and always generous man. When my beloved old gelding died, he didn't hesitate to give me these mares."

  Justine sat in silence for the rest of the ride, wondering if her fiancé had any horses as fine as the priest's mares. If he was a rancher, she highly doubted he had any flashy horses, but a good stock of rough but sturdy cow ponies.

  The ranch came into view long before they actually reached the small ranch house. Justine squinted, staring across the horizon, trying to make out the other buildings. She saw a barn and a small shed as well.

  The priest reined in the mares in front of the ranch house. Justine took a deep breath and stepped out of the carriage, the baby still in her arms. The priest grabbed her suitcase and carried it up to the front door. He knocked on the door and waited for a few minutes, but there was no answer.

  "Perhaps he is a
lready out on the range today."

  "Maybe." Justine strode onto the porch and peered through one of the windows. She saw nothing but a dying fire in the fireplace and a clutter of dishes on the table.

  "You don’t have to wait here all day until he returns, Father."

  "I would not feel right leaving you here, my dear."

  "I will be okay. Noah is a good man. You said so yourself."

  The priest nodded. "I am not worried about that, my dear. I simply wished to explain the child."

  "I can handle it, Father. I know you have many responsibilities back at the church. There are many others that need your help."

  The priest sighed. "I suppose if you are truly alright if I leave, my dear."

  Justine nodded. "Yes, I will be fine, Father. Thank you for all your help."

  The priest stepped back into carriage and had barely disappeared when a lone rider appeared on the horizon. Justine cupped a hand over her eyes. The figure was riding towards the ranch house.

  Justine held the baby in one arm and waited for the rider to arrive. When he drew close enough, she saw the brim of his dusty hat and the stubble along his jaw line. He reined in a chestnut gelding with a wide blaze across his face.

  "Hello, Noah." Justine said.

  Chapter Four

  Noah Wilson

  The man sat up straighter in the saddle. "Justine?"

  She nodded. "So you did remember you were gonna marry me. I wondered if you got cold feet."

  His jaw dropped at her words. "I...I did not forget." He answered weakly.

  "Then why was I left at the train station all day?" Justine's pent up anger would not be contained any longer.

  Noah's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. "You arrived a day early." He whispered.

  Justine frowned. "What?"

  "Your train was supposed to arrive today, not yesterday."

  "Oh." Justine snapped her jaw shut and looked down at the ground.

  Noah swung down from his horse and dropped the reins, ground tying the gelding. He closed the distance between them. "Perhaps we could start over?"

  Justine nodded.

  "As you already know, I am Noah Wilson. It's a pleasure to meet you, Justine."

  Justine glanced up at him, meeting his blue eyed gaze. "It's...it's nice to meet you too."

  Noah's eyes roamed to the sleeping baby in her arms. "Your letter did not mention a er...a child."

  "That's because I don't have one."

  Noah's eyes widened in confusion. "I am afraid I do not understand."

  "She's not mine. I found her at the train station."

  "She was abandoned?"

  Justine nodded. "I couldn't just leave her there. I figured the church would take her, but your priest seems to think I'd do a good job caring for her."

  Noah nodded, but the expression on his face showed he was still processing all the information she'd just dumped on him.

  "He wants you...us to care for her?"

  "He said the church would help pay to care for her." Justine replied.

  Noah swallowed hard. "I uh...didn't think I'd be getting to babies so soon." His face reddened.

  A smile played at Justine's lips and she smothered a laugh. "Well it seems we are."

  The young cowboy stared at her and the baby for a moment before remembering his chivalry. "Oh, please, come in." He reached for her suitcase.

  "I got it." Justine followed him inside, leaving him to open the door for her.

  Noah led her back to a small room with a cot on the floor. "It's not much, but I figured until we are married..." He trailed off, his face turning red again.

  "Yeah, thanks." Justine replied. She set down her suitcase on the floor and glanced around the bare little room. Besides the cot, there was literally nothing on the walls or on the floor. But she could tell the cot was freshly stuffed with straw and the faded quilt had been recently washed and hung out to dry in the warm Texas sun.

  "How many horses you got?" She asked.

  Noah cocked his head at the question. "How many horses...?"

  Justine nodded. "Yeah, I asked how many."

  "Four right now." He answered quietly.

  "May I see them?"

  "I suppose so." He sounded so confused that Justine almost felt bad for him. But she wasn't about to act as though all she cared about was cooking and cleaning and raising babies.

  Noah led her outside and gathered the reins of his chestnut gelding. "This is Blaze. The others are in the barn and corral."

  Justine followed him out to the barn, taking in the other three horses grazing in the corral. One was a stocky sorrel mare that surely had draft blood in her. The other was a bay gelding with a ratty mane and tail and the third was a black mare with a tiny snip on her muzzle.

  "Do they have names?"

  Noah nodded. "That's Dusty, Joker and Snip."

  Justine smiled. They were just the uncreative and practical names she had expected from a cowboy. Except Joker was a bit strange.

  "Joker?"

  Noah ducked his head and pulled the brim of his hat down.

  "What?"

  "Nothing. It's...not something you tell a lady."

  Justine snorted. "I'm not exactly what you'd call a lady."

  Noah stared at her. "Of course you are."

  "What, did you win him in a card game?"

  Noah nodded, looking back down at the ground.

  "No big deal. He seems like a pretty good prize."

  He swallowed hard, obviously uncomfortable. "Father Grant says that gambling is a sin. I don't anymore."

  Justine shrugged. "I suppose it is. But just playing cards isn't a sin, is it?"

  Noah shook his head. "I don't play anymore. I don't want to be tempted by the Devil."

  Goodness, he is pious, Justine thought to herself.

  The cowboy cleared his throat and motioned towards the house. "The baby should probably be back inside."

  Justine reluctantly nodded and followed him back inside. Noah sheepishly showed her his kitchen and the rest of the small house, apologizing for the mess.

  He expects I'm going to clean all of this up. Thanks Anabelle. Justine grumbled to herself.

  When he had finished the tour, Noah told her to get some rest and showed her back to her room. Justine followed him so as to not be rude, but everything in her ached to be out with the horses, galloping across the wild Texas plains.

  It was then that the baby decided to awaken and start crying. Noah spun around and stared at her.

  "She's hungry."

  "What does she eat?"

  "The priest gave me a bottle of milk for her."

  Noah disappeared and came back a few minutes later with a makeshift bottle. "This is all the milk that is left from this morning, I'm afraid."

  Justine took the bottle from him. "This will be fine." She held the bottle up to the baby and she immediately began to drink greedily.

  Noah watched her as though it were the most fascinating thing in the world. "She's very small, isn't she?"

  Justine nodded. "I don't understand how anyone could simply abandon her."

  Noah shook his head. "She is blessed that you found her."

  She looked up at him in surprise. "She is?"

  "Of course. Otherwise who knows what would have happened to her. You are her guardian angel."

  Justine glanced down at the baby in her arms. "I never thought of it that way."

  *****

  Noah's gelding had barely disappeared over the horizon when Justine left the house. She ensured the baby was swaddled and lying comfortably on her cot before she hurried out to the barn. It had been too long since she had ridden.

  She grabbed a bridle from the rack and surveyed the horses for a moment. Each of them held promise, but her gaze settled on Joker. He was nothing to look at, with his long legs and ratty mane and tail, but he was lean and muscular, promising a swift ride.

  Justine quickly caught him and led him to the railing. She threw a
leg over his back and gripped his sides tightly. Joker snorted and tossed his head. She nudged him and he responded. His long legs did not disappoint. He quickly moved from a choppy trot to a lope and into a full out gallop. Justine let out a wild whoop of sheer joy.

  She and Joker flew across the Texas landscape, the lanky gelding's stride eating up the ground as his legs snapped in and out. Neither horse nor rider noticed that they were being watched by a cowboy sitting dumbfounded on his chestnut gelding.

  *****

  Chapter Five

  Sleight of Hand

  "I do not think this is a good idea." Noah protested.

  Justine waved a hand through the air. "It'll be fun."

  Noah shook his head. "I am not so sure. Father Grant said it-"

  "We won't be playing for anything. Just for fun." Justine held the deck of cards out in front of him.

  The young cowboy swallowed hard and then sighed. "Alright. Perhaps just one short game. But how is it that you play cards again?"

  "It's a long story." Justine replied as she dealt the cards.

  Noah picked up his cards, shaking his head slowly.

  "What?"

  "You are unlike any woman I have ever met."

  "You still agreed to marry me."

  Noah nodded. "I did not say it was a mistake. But there is much I do not know about you."

  "You'll learn it all eventually. Right now, I have a game of poker to win."

  Noah went silent as he stared at his cards. Justine studied hers as well before declaring it was his turn.

  He took his turn and Justine took hers. She placed her chips in the center of the table, which was nothing more than dried mud patties.

  Noah stared at her as she defeated him hand after hand. His stack of mud chips was quickly dwindling.

  "I feel I should simply fold."

  Justine smiled. "Make it interesting and go all in. What have you got to lose?"

  Noah shoved his three chips into the center of the table with a sigh. Justine pushed all hers in as well.

  The cowboy stared at his new wife. "All in too?"

  She nodded. "I wanted to make it interesting."

  Noah studied his cards silently for a moment before peering up over them at her. "You know, this is never how I imagined spending my first night with my wife."