A Baby on the Ranch

by Stella Bagwell

  Surprised, Katherine looked at him. “But I thought you wanted to get home as early as possible?”

  “It’s already dark. Hurrying now won’t help matters. And you’re tired. A little break might help us both.”

  While he parked the truck, Katherine pulled on her coat, dabbed on a bit of lipstick and sent the quick flick of a brush through her hair. When Lonnie came around to the door to help her down, she was ever so grateful for the support of his arm.

  “Oh, my back. It feels like someone has been whacking it with a two-by-four,” she said with a groan. Stretching her shoulders, she planted both hands at the base of her spine and pushed. For a few moments she felt relief.

  “Here,” he said as they started walking toward the entrance of the restaurant. “Let me see if I can help.”

  Katherine groaned with pleasure as his hand came against her back and rubbed through the thickness of her coat. He seemed to know exactly where her muscles were aching and she wondered faintly if he’d been around a pregnant woman before. He’d said he’d never been married and he had no siblings. Maybe he’d had a pregnant girlfriend, she thought, as they approached the entrance. But that wouldn’t be the case, Katherine decided. If Lonnie Corteen had ever had a pregnant girlfriend, she would now be his wife. He was just that sort of man. Unlike Walt, he wouldn’t leave the responsibility of raising his child to anyone else.

  “I’m sorry I’ve been such a whiner,” Katherine apologized. “You must be getting sick of it.”

  Chuckling under his breath, he stopped the massage and opened the door to the restaurant. “You haven’t been whining, Katherine. Considering your condition, I think you’ve been making it like a regular trooper.”

  He ushered her inside the blessedly warm interior of the restaurant where the two of them were quickly greeted by a hostess who led them to an annex off the main dining room. Even though most of the tables were filled, the smaller area was quiet, the conversations around them muffled. Katherine wasn’t even trying to pick up on the words the couple behind them were exchanging, but, her ears perked with interest when she caught the phrase “winter storm approaching the pan-handle.”

  Leaning across the table, Katherine spoke under her breath, “Lonnie, the couple behind us were just saying there’s an ice storm coming.”

  Lonnie nodded. “I watched the weather on television today before I left the motel. The storm is predicted to hit by morning. If it wasn’t for the chance of being caught in ice or snow, I’d find a motel and let you rest here tonight.”

  With a dismissive wave of her hand, she hoped she could hide the weariness in her voice. “Don’t worry about me. It can’t be too far now. I’ll make it.”

  He smiled at her and there was a light in his eyes that said he was proud of her, that he commended her tenacity. The notion caused a sudden surge of pleasure to spiral through her, and Katherine found herself wondering why his approval was so important. She’d had other men compliment her for one reason or another. But somehow it was different coming from Lonnie. He was a sincere man. At least, from what she’d seen so far, she believed he was sincere. And he wasn’t trying to charm her for his own gain. He was simply being himself.

  “Well, if you don’t feel well enough to travel after we eat, just tell me. We’ll get a room and say to hell with the weather.”

  He turned his gaze back to the menu in his hands and Katherine was relieved. She could feel her cheeks growing hot and no doubt red. Just thinking of being in a motel room with Lonnie was enough to heat her senses.

  She said, “Oh, no. We don’t want to get stranded. And I’ll be all right. I’d much prefer to go on to your house.”

  He glanced up from the menu and gave her a brief, encouraging smile. “We’re only about an hour away from my ranch now, Katherine. We’ll be there soon.”

  Once they finished their meal, the two of them didn’t tarry in the restaurant. Lonnie paid the check, then helped her on with her coat. Out in the parking lot, the wind was whipping fiercely from the northwest. As Lonnie assisted her back into the truck, Katherine thought she felt a few drops of something moist hit her face, but she didn’t mention it to Lonnie. Like he said, they were only an hour away. They could travel that before the storm hit.

  Thankfully, the weather between Amarillo and Canyon remained dry, but just as they departed the Canyon city limits and headed south, drops of white mushy ice began to splatter the windshield.

  Leaning forward in the seat, Katherine studied the dark glass in front of her. “Is that snow?” she asked anxiously.

  “Looks like it.” He turned on the windshield wipers. The rubber arms pushed crystals of ice to the bottom of the glass. “Damn it!” he muttered. “The storm must be moving faster than the weather service anticipated. I just hope we don’t hit ice. Snow I can deal with.”

  Katherine pushed her nose against the passenger window and peered into the darkness. She couldn’t see anything but the occasional light from a distant house. To the front of them, beneath the high beams of the headlights, the snow was growing thicker each second.

  “Does your truck have four-wheel drive?” she asked hopefully.

  His gaze focused on the highway, Lonnie nodded. “Yes. And that will help in the snow. But nothing helps on ice. Except maybe tire chains, and I don’t have any of those with me. I wasn’t expecting to stay in Fort Worth but just a night—and, well, I didn’t bring any chains along.”

  Katherine suddenly felt awful. This man had already sacrificed his time and money to track her to Fort Worth. If she hadn’t been so contrary about coming out here with him, they could have left yesterday and missed this dangerous storm.

  “I’m sorry, Lonnie. Looks like I’ve gotten you into a mess,” she said glumly.

  He shot her a wry smile. “Don’t be silly. You didn’t get me into anything.”

  He’d gotten himself into this situation, Lonnie thought. In the first place, no one, including Seth, had made him go to Fort Worth to find Katherine. No one had made him stay there an extra day. And when she’d called and asked him to wait until she could travel with him today, he could have said no. He could have told her it was too late, that she’d missed her chance. But he and God both knew he couldn’t have done that to her. Or to himself. Because once he’d heard her voice on the phone, telling him she was going home with him, he’d been filled with a gladness that had saturated his entire being. It was a scary admission. Especially for a man who’d done nothing in the past but strike out with women.

  She let out a shaky breath. “Do you…think we’ll be okay?”

  He favored her with another smile. “Sure, Katherine. Don’t worry. We might slip and slide a little. But I’m going to get you there safely. Come hell or high water,” he chuckled as he attempted to allay her fears. “Or maybe I should have said hell and a snow bank.”

  She smoothed a weary hand across her brow, and Lonnie glanced back toward the highway. He didn’t want her to see the uneasiness he felt. It would only upset her. And in her condition that was the last thing she needed.

  “Maybe I should turn on the radio and try to find a weather report,” she suggested.

  Lonnie nodded. “Good idea. But before you do that, dig my cell phone out from under the passenger seat and I’ll call my office in Hereford to see how the weather is there. It could be that we’ve just hit a snow shower and we’ll drive out of it in a few minutes.”

  Once she’d fished the instrument from beneath the seat, she turned on the power and pushed the digits he called out to her. After it began ringing, she handed him the phone.

  Lonnie knew something was amiss when a dispatcher answered his private line. Under normal conditions a deputy always took his calls.

  “Scarlett?” he asked, recognizing the young woman’s voice. “What in hell is going on down there?”

  “Sheriff Corteen, is that you?”

  “It is. I’m on Highway 60, just west of Canyon.”

  “Oh,” she said with obvious dis
appointment. “I was hoping you were home. We tried you there and tried your cell phone, but you didn’t answer.”

  Lonnie frowned. “I didn’t have it turned on. I told Lester this morning that I’d be coming home tonight. So what’s the matter?”

  “Uh, well, it’s just—” The telephone shrilled in the background, interrupting the female dispatcher. “Just a minute, Sheriff.”

  Lonnie looked over at Katherine and frowned. “They’re having some kind of trouble. I—”

  The dispatcher suddenly came back on the line, and Lonnie turned his attention to the voice in his ear.

  “Sorry, Sheriff, but it’s hell here right now. Ice has covered everything and there are fender benders everywhere. Plus, there are two serious wrecks out on the highway south of town. Ambulances are trying to get to the scenes now. All your deputies are working and it’s the same with the city police.”

  “It’s that bad?”

  He could feel Katherine’s anxious gaze bore into the side of his face, and he cursed himself for not choosing his words better. No doubt she was listening carefully to every word he uttered. But there wasn’t any way he could sugar coat what was ahead of them. A few more miles down the road and she was going to see for herself.

  “Real bad,” Scarlett answered. “The New Mexico and Texas Highway Patrol have issued travel warnings for people to stay off the roads. If it keeps up, they might even close I-40 from Tucumcari to Adrian.”

  He glanced grimly over at Katherine. She was staring out the windshield at the pellets of ice reflected in the beam of their headlights. The woman had to be exhausted, he thought. He desperately wanted to get her home and settled safely in a warm bed.

  “Do you have any idea how much of Highway 60 is iced over?”

  “No. Maybe—” The phone rang again to cut off the dispatcher’s words.

  “Scarlett? Isn’t anyone there to help you?”

  The dispatcher answered, “I, uh, just a minute, Sheriff.”

  While she worked the other phone, Lonnie said to Katherine. “I’m afraid it’s bad news. We’re going to be hitting ice soon.”

  Katherine glanced at him with dark, worried eyes. “I’m not surprised. It looks like we’ve run into a wall of sleet right now.”

  Already Lonnie was being forced to slow the truck’s speed. Soon they would be traveling at a crawl.

  “Are you holding up okay?” he asked Katherine.

  She nodded bravely and gave him a tired smile. “Fine. Just a little back ache from all this riding.”

  He was about to tell her not to worry when Scarlett suddenly came back on the line.

  “Sorry, Sheriff,” she apologized again. “Lester is supposed…to be…with me. But he’s having trouble getting…on…ice.”

  “My phone is breaking up, Scarlett. I’ll try to call later.”

  He pushed the off button and tossed the instrument to the floorboard. Katherine leaned back in the seat and placed a protective hand over her mounded stomach.

  “Scared?” he asked.

  She looked at him and tried to smile. “Not with you.”

  Lonnie’s heart swelled until he thought his chest would burst. And before he could stop himself, he reached over and took hold of her hand.

  “We’ll get through this, Katherine. Together.”

  Chapter Six

  The next two hours were a living nightmare. The snow turned into rain, which quickly froze on everything it touched. Lonnie was forced to slow the truck to a virtual crawl. And even then, the vehicle slid this way and that over the heavy sheet of ice glazing the highway.

  Katherine tried to relax, but it was impossible with the truck either heading for the ditch or the opposite side of the road. Their only saving grace was the lack of traffic. They’d met only a handful of cars heading north. And from their creeping speed, it was obvious they were having the same sort of problem that she and Lonnie were experiencing.

  By the time they reached the turnoff to Lonnie’s ranch house, Katherine was shaking with fatigue.

  “Thank God,” Lonnie said as he maneuvered the truck onto the gravel road leading up to the house. “We should be there in a minute or two.”

  “I’ve never been so glad to get somewhere in my life,” she told him.

  Regret brought a twisted frown to his face. “I really got you into something, didn’t I?”

  She tried to laugh, but she was so tired the sound came out more like a croak. “I think it’s the other way around. I really got you into something.”

  “I’m sure you’re wondering why you ever agreed to come on this trip,” he said.

  A wry smile touched her lips. “I would have been wondering that even if we hadn’t got caught in an ice storm.”

  Two minutes later, he pulled the truck to a stop next to a small stucco house with a ground-level porch running along the front. Since the weather made it difficult to see, Katherine couldn’t tell much about the place, but she could make out a huge hardwood tree of some sort standing at one corner of the building and two tall cedars directly in front of the truck. The branches of evergreens were so heavy with ice, Katherine wondered how the limbs kept from snapping. As for the huge shade tree, she could only hope it didn’t topple onto the house.

  “Don’t try to get out until I come around to help you,” Lonnie ordered. “I figure it’s going to be heck standing up out there.”

  Katherine nodded and he climbed out of the truck. As he carefully worked his way around the hood of the vehicle, she wearily pulled on her coat and picked up her handbag.

  When Lonnie opened the passenger door, pellets of ice and wind smacked her in the face. Beneath her chin she gripped the edges of her collar together and tried to keep her teeth from chattering.

  Lonnie leaned inside the open door and his big frame blocked the ice and wind. “If you’ll pardon my language, Katherine, it’s slick as hell out here. You’re going to have to hold on to me and we’ll inch our way to the house. Are you up to it?”

  She nodded. “I’ll do my best to stay on my feet.”

  His frown was full of concern and regret. “I wish I could carry you. But I’m afraid if I try that, I’ll slip and drop you.”

  She reached for his hand. “Don’t worry, Lonnie. We’ll make it. Just let me hang on to you.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of letting you go,” he said. Putting his other hand beneath her elbow, he gently helped her down to the ground.

  As soon as Katherine’s feet hit the ice, she slipped, but thankfully it was straight into his arms. Her cheek landed against his chest, and for a moment as he steadied her, her face was nestled warmly in his down jacket. The pleasant scent of him was embedded in the fabric and for a wild second or two, she longed to push the fronts of the jacket apart and circle her arms around his waist.

  “Are you steady? Think you can go now?” he asked.

  His questions jerked her back to reality quicker than even the icy wind could have, and she looked up at him and nodded. “I’m ready.”

  Before they took any steps, Lonnie wrapped his arm securely around the back of her waist and then with his free hand, he took a firm grip on her forearm. Katherine could feel the iron strength of his muscles against her and she realized if she were to slip, he wouldn’t allow her to fall.

  “Just take it slow and steady,” he instructed as the two of them took baby steps toward the porch.

  “You left the truck door open,” she said. “It’s going to get wet inside.”

  “Don’t worry about the truck. I’ll get to that later.”

  The porch was made of concrete and was much slicker than the bare ground had been, but they managed to make it to the door without any mishaps.

  Once Lonnie guided her into the warm house, Katherine could feel her legs turning mushy, and she gripped Lonnie’s arm for all she was worth.

  “Oh, dear, I’m so…tired,” she said weakly. “Could you help me to your couch?”

  His answer was to quickly bend down and scoop her
up into his arms. “Put your arms around my neck, Katherine. I’m going to carry you to bed.”

  Bed! At the moment she was so exhausted she’d even be willing to share the mattress with him, she thought, as she curled her arms around his neck and buried her face there.

  He took long strides through the house, which was dark but blessedly warm. After several twists and turns, he paused and fumbled with a switch just inside the door.

  Light flooded the room, and she caught a glimpse of a bed with four tall, skinny posts and a white bedspread.

  When he laid her down on the soft mattress, she sighed with weary relief. “I’m sorry I’m being such a burden,” she said. “I guess the trip took more out of me than I thought.”

  He sat on the side of the mattress. “The last two hours were rough. I’m even drained.” He motioned for her to rise up. “Let me help you out of your coat.”

  Placing her palms flat against the mattress she pushed herself to a sitting position, and Lonnie helped her ease the coat off her shoulders. Once he’d placed it on a nearby wooden chair, he came to stand beside the bed. “I’m going to go get our things from the truck. After that, I’ll find us something to eat and drink. You just lie here and don’t get up. Unless you need to go to the bathroom. It’s right over there.” He pointed toward one corner of the room where a door stood partially open.

  She nodded in agreement and he started to move away from the side of the bed. Quickly Katherine grabbed his hand, and Lonnie paused to look down at her, his brows arched in question.

  “I just wanted to know if you’re always this good to everybody?”

  His lips curved faintly as his eyes wandered gently over her pale face. “I couldn’t tell you. I’ve never had anyone to be good to, Katherine.”

  He left the room and Katherine blinked as tears collected at the back of her eyes.

  I’ve never had anyone to be good to.

  At one time Katherine had believed she’d had someone. But then Walt had walked out on her and left her all alone, except for the baby growing inside her.