Stream Ran Dry

by Jeanne Harrell

  He laughed and went over to grab their suitcases. “Let me get those for you…”

  “Thanks.”

  Ella and Rebecca walked into the house together with Wyatt bringing up the rear. He didn’t mind so much – that perspective gave him a nice view of his girl’s shapely behind.

  “Clint’s coming over soon to help with the furniture arranging. I thought you could tell us where to put the various pieces. That okay?”

  Rebecca stopped to look back at him. “I thought we’d decide that together.”

  “…That works too…”

  Clint arrived just in time for the beer and a sandwich. Ella and Clint scoped one another out…

  An arched eyebrow…

  …a quick intake of breath…a slight smile.

  For the next two hours, much grunting and groaning was heard as all four of them moved and arranged the sofa, chairs, tables, pictures, and rugs. And then they’d move a chair or table somewhere else. When they stopped for a water break, Ella and Clint took their bottles outside to catch the afternoon breeze. Wyatt went to the bathroom to splash water on his face, while Rebecca leaned against the door, counting on her fingers.

  “What are you doing?”

  “…Counting…”

  “I can see that. Counting what?”

  Rebecca’s face flushed, she slid her eyes away. He’d been watching her in the mirror. Curious now, he turned around.

  “What’s up?”

  She swallowed hard. Opened her mouth, closed it. Opened it and tried again… “Wyatt…” She went to the basin, turned on the water and cupped her hand to get a drink of water.

  “Dry throat?”

  “Yes…”

  “Must be all the dust we’re stirring up from moving the furniture.”

  “No, it isn’t that…”

  He frowned. “Then tell me what it is…”

  She shifted from one foot to the other. When she wiped off her forehead, Wyatt burst out, “What’s wrong?”

  Rebecca straightened and looked him right in the eyes.

  “I’m late, Wyatt.”

  “… Late for what?”

  She just continued to stare at him, until a light finally dawned – She could see it in his eyes and would know in a nanosecond what he really thought.

  “Are you… pregnant? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

  Rebecca grabbed a small towel to wipe her face before looking up at him and nodding. “…Yes, I think so. I’m never late.”

  The electric lights weren’t needed in the bathroom or anywhere in the whole house because of the wattage from Wyatt’s smile. He took a step and pulled her into his arms. “That’s wonderful, Becca.”

  Talking against his chest, her words came out muted. “…But I’ve had a period… How can it be? And we’ve used protection…”

  “Not always and definitely not on our first night together. Don’t you remember? And you complained later that your period was very slight.”

  Rebecca felt light-headed and sank down on the toilet seat.

  “Let’s move out to the bedroom, honey. You need some air obviously.”

  She moved into a chair in the bedroom… Wyatt crouched by her legs, holding her hands.

  “How do you feel?”

  “…Stupid…”

  “Don’t, Becca. I’m thrilled…”

  “We’re not even married yet.”

  His smile was a killer. “…That doesn’t stop lots of people, but we can get married tomorrow, if you like.”

  She pulled her hands away, standing up quickly. When she started pacing, Wyatt sat down in the chair with watchful eyes.

  “… We just got back together… my story is due soon…” She stopped and started pacing the other way. “I haven’t even moved in here… What about my apartment?” She blinked rapidly, shaking her head. “I don’t know anything about babies…”

  She stopped fretting and stood in front of him. “…Not sure I’m ready for this, Wyatt. In fact, I’m sure I’m not…”

  “We did talk about this, if you’ll remember. That night you went back to Vegas on the bus…”

  “Jeez, we were just kidding around. You were telling me my fortune and we were drinking beer.”

  “You might have been pregnant then.”

  Her eyes widened and her body started shivering. “…I’ve been drinking beer and sometimes wine! A woman can’t do that when she’s pregnant. Wyatt…”

  He stood up quickly and put his arms around her. He held on until the shivering calmed.

  “…It’s going to be all right. We’ll see a doctor soon and have you checked out. I’m sure everything’s fine.”

  She pulled away from him, eyes darting back and forth. “Should… should we tell Clint and Ella? What will they think? I…I….”

  “First,” he said as he sat down and pulled her onto his lap, “you need to calm down. We don’t need to leave this room until you’re ready.”

  She swallowed hard and glanced around. “…We haven’t gotten the new furniture arranged in here yet, Wyatt…” Then she looked at his bright eyes, took a breath, and stroked his handsome face. Finally, she grinned. “…And I want to sleep on that new mattress tonight.”

  “And so you shall, sweetie.” He kissed her nose. “Feel a little better?”

  She snuggled into his warm embrace. “…Some… Can we just stay here a while like this?”

  “We can stay here indefinitely. Ella and Clint are getting acquainted – They don’t need us right now…”

  It helped to be held in strong arms and by a man who loved her. Rebecca’s breathing slowed… her eyes lost their frantic look as he softly stroked her back. Up… down… Her eyelids closed… When she actually fell asleep, Wyatt almost laughed. She could be in a frenzy one moment and zonked out the next…

  He vaguely wondered how motherhood would change her… And would he get a little girl exactly like her? That would be something – two Rebeccas. He was lucky to keep up with one. Better to hope for a little boy… Maybe he’d grow up a rancher, like his dad.

  While Wyatt had sweet thoughts about a child with dark brown hair, blue eyes and Rebecca’s pretty face, she stirred in his arms.

  Yawning, her eyelids fluttered open, long lashes blinking. Sleepy brown eyes met smiling blue ones…

  “Did I fall asleep?”

  * * *

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  “Yes, you did,” he smiled, smoothing her hair back. “You obviously wore yourself out with worry and needed to take five.”

  “Incredible…” She stretched and wrapped her arms around his neck. He contentedly pulled her closer to him. When they kissed, it was sweet, warm and loving at first. Then Wyatt angled his lips on hers demanding more, getting it… He put on hand on her breast, massaged it… she sighed into his mouth. Rebecca moved to straddle him – He helped put those shapely legs on either side of his eager body, as she ground into him, his waiting erection.

  “…Honey…” he said against her lips. “…Let me unzip your…”

  “Knock, knock…Hey, you guys in there?” yelled Clint outside the bedroom door. “Let’s finish this furniture arranging.”

  Rebecca rubbed the bulge in his pants, grinning. “Sorry, handsome. The fun’s got to wait…”

  “Jesus…I need a cold shower now.”

  She moved off him, running a hand through her messy hair. He got up tentatively, testing his walking with difficulty. “I’ll get Clint for this…”

  “We’re coming!” she yelled. “…Be right out.” She laughed taking his face into her hands and kissing him. “I love you, Wyatt…”

  “…Love you too.”

  Wyatt went into the bathroom to arrange…things, while Rebecca joined Clint and Ella in the kitchen.

  Ella handed her the beer she’d been drinking earlier. Rebecca’s eyes widened. “No…no, thanks. I…I think I’ll have water instead.”

  Ella shrugged and put the bottle down. Something was off, but she w
asn’t sure what it was.

  They finished the rest of the furniture moving, including the new mattress in the bedroom. Rebecca stood still, admiring it.

  “Going for a test drive soon?” teased Clint.

  “…Just as soon as humanly possible.” Rebecca and Clint looked at one another and burst out laughing.

  “…I’d better take off soon and Ella showed me her earplugs. You two should be set.” Rebecca playfully punched him in the shoulder. He winced and rubbed where she’d hit him.

  “…Yow! Your almost-wife hit me, Wyatt.”

  “…Better you than me.” Wyatt glanced over at Ella who laughed out loud.

  “She doesn’t usually resort to violence, but it has happened…”

  “Now, Becca,” soothed Wyatt. “Violence should always be a last resort.”

  “…Well, you know how I like to wade into the middle of it all…”

  “Yeah, sweetheart. We know.”

  Later on, after Clint and Ella had decided on dinner alone the next night, Clint had left and Ella’d gone to bed. The setting sun had left traces of pinks and oranges swirling around the far-away horizon. A bird made his final call out for the night, and a hint of honeysuckle crept into the room.

  Wyatt lay in bed, an elbow propping up his head, eagerly waiting for Rebecca to come out of the bathroom. When she finally did, his eyes popped wide and his lips parted.

  “Wow…”

  “Do I look all right, Mr. Washburn?”

  “You look gorgeous. Come here…” And he patted the space in the bed close by him.

  She stood backlit in the doorway, hands on either side of the doorframe, wearing pale pink lingerie that flowed to the floor, like a forties movie star. It was made of the sheerest lace that really didn’t cover up much -- As Wyatt soon learned, sweeping his hungry eyes over her attractive body. He took in every intricate detail, memorizing and imprinting her image in his mind…

  A sultry look… The soft sound of quiet footsteps… each step bringing her closer to him.

  Rebecca was breathtakingly beautiful – She’d darkened her eyes with eyeliner, giving her a gypsy look. Her full lips a pale pink… Lovely dark brown hair that cascaded down her shoulders and back, like a wild waterfall… As she approached, he smelled a subtle perfume and thought he might lose his mind, if he couldn’t touch her soon.

  The bed creaked only slightly when at last she put her weight on it – Her deep eyes never leaving his. He’d quit breathing and when she reached for him, he gulped in some air. She was impossibly beautiful… What on earth was she doing with a cowboy like him?

  He moved her gently into the pillow, just admiring the lovely view before him. She was sensual and sexy… any problems momentarily forgotten. He had to have her and he had to have her now.

  But placing her soft hands on his chest, Rebecca gazed up at him with hooded eyes. She smiled slyly, like she knew something he didn’t…

  He froze…

  …froze in the moment…

  Froze with his arms around the body he loved, the woman he loved. Then she playfully arched an eyebrow and he laughed. She raised her hands and placed them on either side of his eager face.

  “Kiss me, cowboy,” she whispered and that was the green light he needed.

  He planted his firm lips on hers with wild urgency. Running her fingers through his tousled hair, she nipped his lower lip, making him crazy with desire.

  He kissed all over her lovely face and left a trail of kisses down her throat and along her shoulders. Reaching the sheer lace, he gently moved it aside to touch the warm skin he craved. When she raised her arms, Wyatt took off the negligee to have full access. He suckled her firm breasts, making her moan and then cupped between her legs, making her moan again. Sucking, nibbling down her smooth belly right to the soft underside of her legs and beyond…

  Her body arched in response and he took what he wanted, made her feel what he wanted her to feel. Wild with need, she panted slightly, opening her legs. Wyatt slipped inside her quickly, needing her now… right now. She breathlessly thrust up into him, meeting him thrust for thrust.

  He could feel his erection pulsating as he inhaled her desire and loveliness. Wait. Build on it. Layers of sensations steadily increasing… She rose higher and higher with him until, reaching a precipice… her quick intake of breath pushing her right over… A long, lovely fall – for them both… Jerky movements. Contented sighs…

  Breathless, he fell back, as she unlocked her legs from around him. She groaned softly as he slowly slipped out of her and he rolled back onto the bed.

  They lay there looking at one another, breathing heavily.

  “Well… that… didn’t do much… for me. How about… you?” she kidded.

  “Nah. Maybe we… need more… practice.”

  “I’m game… if you are.”

  He reached over to stroke her pretty face. “…I missed you, honey.”

  “…Missed you too.” She raised an eyebrow. “…Ready yet?”

  He laughed and reached over to pull her into his arms. “No… You have to give me a few minutes at least…”

  “How many?”

  “Five, ten?”

  “Perhaps you need a little help,” she teased as her hands found what they were looking for.

  “…Perhaps I do…”

  After making love again, Wyatt tucked Rebecca close to him and watched as her pretty eyes slipped into sleep. He couldn’t remember ever being so happy in his life and took that as a sign that he’d turned a corner. As his eyes tugged downward too, he thought of the bright future he glimpsed when he’d turned that corner.

  Rebecca, a family… It was a future that he was ready for and couldn’t wait to begin. And it was all made possible by Rebecca dropping into his life – and hanging in there with him.

  Or was it fate? Whatever the reason, he thanked his lucky stars and fell into a deep, contented sleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  In the bright light of day, Rebecca and Ella took a calculated look at the furniture arrangement from yesterday. How’d it really look?

  An overstuffed couch with matching chairs in a bright blue-red plaid sat in the middle of the living room on a huge, braided rug on wooden floors. Glancing around, Ella saw the unvarnished pine walls that reached high into the cathedral ceiling. An intricate metal chandelier hung down giving soft lighting to a room as comfortable as it was functional. Hanging the photos of Western scenes in different places around the room seemed to bring out their simplicity, something Rebecca hadn’t noticed before. With a scent of sage and a slight breeze rustling in from the screened front door, the house was truly becoming her home. She picked a few framed pictures from a small box to place around on tables.

  “Where’s Wyatt?” Ella went into the kitchen to pour another cup of coffee. “I sure hope you don’t want to move any more furniture today. I wore out all my best muscles yesterday.”

  “Nope, I sure don’t. I really shouldn’t…”

  Ella peeked back around the corner, cup in hand. “…You shouldn’t, did you say?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  She came back into the living room to watch Rebecca fluff several new cushions for the couch and arrange them, not quite meeting her eyes.

  “Rebecca…”

  “Yes?” Meeting Ella’s inquisitive stare at last, Rebecca smiled.

  “Anything to tell your oldest and dearest friend?”

  “Yes, Miss Nosy… I might be pregnant.”

  Ella’s eyes bugged out. “I knew it! I knew last night that something was up! How excited are you on a scale from one to ten?” She walked over to give Rebecca a big hug.

  “I…I’m not too sure yet, Ella. It’s kinda scary actually. And what will I do about my job?”

  Ella waved a hand. “Oh, poof on the job. Just concentrate on writing your book. What did Wyatt say?”

  “Oh, he’s over the moon… Excited. Wants to tell the world and get married today.”

>   “Today? Are you going to?”

  Rebecca shook her head, fluffing another cushion. Then she plopped down on the sofa. “I haven’t adjusted to moving in with Wyatt, much less getting married and having a baby. Too much, too soon…”

  Ella sat on a chair next to her and took her hand. ‘Oh, honey… What are you going to do?”

  Rebecca blew out a breath, straightened her shoulders. “I’m going to concentrate on getting that interview today with Gareth Howard and then the other interviews from various people around the town. That’s the only think I can really process right now.”

  “What’s the only thing you can process right now?” asked Wyatt, smiling big coming from the bedroom, hair still damp from the shower.

  “…Getting that interview, Wyatt. It’s super important.”

  “Okay. Want me to drive you two over there?”

  Rebecca looked to Ella. “…You ready to go?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Let’s do it! Got your tape recorder? I need to gather my materials and get my camera.”

  They stood to leave. Rebecca scurried down the hallway toward the den and her tape recorder. Wyatt caught Ella’s arm before she went the other way.

  “Ella… I know she told you.”

  “…About the… Yes, she did.” Ella grinned. “Congratulations, Wyatt. That’s wonderful news.”

  Wyatt sighed and glanced the way Rebecca had gone. “It sure is to me, but Becca’s not taking it well. I’m worried.”

  Ella shook her head. “She was just surprised. She’ll come around and be thrilled.”

  “I was surprised too and was thrilled immediately.”

  She looked into eyes that seemed uncertain. “It’s a whole lotta new for her… New man… new home… new job change and now a baby. It’s a lot to take in all at once.”

  Wyatt’s eyes fell to the floor. “Maybe you’re right.” Looking back at Ella, “Do you think I’m pushing her too much?”

  Ella laughed heartily. “…I think if Rebecca didn’t want any of this, she’d have told you to get lost weeks ago.” She patted his arm. “No, she wants all this too, Wyatt. She just has to come around on her terms.”