A Baby on the Ranch

by Stella Bagwell

  “That’s understandable. I just hope you know that if you do decide to go, we’re all looking forward to meeting you. And your new little boy, too. My wife and I—Corrina—we’re trying to get pregnant. If she gets her hands on your little boy, you’ll probably have a time getting him back. She wants another son.”

  Katherine’s eyes drifted over to David. She would love another son, too, she realized. A tall, auburn-haired son with big hands and a slow, easy smile.

  “Another son?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he answered. “When the two of us married, Corrina already had Matthew, a twelve-year-old son. I’ve adopted him as my own, and now we’d like one or two more to go with him.”

  A nice family for a nice man, Katherine thought. She was glad for him. Just as she would be glad for anyone. But if he was thinking that she could be a part of his family, too, then he was sadly mistaken. Even if Amelia McBride was her true mother, Katherine was still from different stock.

  “I wish you luck, Mr. Ketchum.”

  “Katherine, I realize this is—”

  The rest of his words stopped abruptly as a male voice in the background relayed what sounded to Katherine like an urgent message.

  “Sorry, Katherine,” he said hastily. “An emergency has just come up. Thank you for talking with me. And take care.”

  “Yes,” she said, her throat tight. “Goodbye.”

  Katherine dropped the receiver back on its hook and then rose to her feet. She felt extremely weak and shaky and she realized the conversation with Seth Ketchum had affected her far more than it should have. And why was that? She’d told Lonnie she didn’t believe that incredible story about Amelia McBride being her mother. But days had passed since Lonnie had first appeared at her apartment door, and a lot had happened between that time and now.

  Being here on the Rafter C, away from the hustle and bustle of her life in Fort Worth, had given Katherine more time to think. And the more she thought about the whole Ketchum story, the more she believed that Lonnie was not the sort of man who’d go around telling tall tales without some sort of truth to verify it. Nor did she suspect for one minute that Seth Ketchum would lie.

  But to believe the two men would mean that Katherine would have to face the fact that Celia McBride had lied to her. That the woman who had mothered her had not really been her mother at all. The whole thing crushed her heart.

  Back in Hereford, Lonnie checked his watch then thoughtfully drummed his fingers on his desk. He’d worked through a major amount of paperwork this morning and thankfully there hadn’t been any felony crimes committed in the past few days to require his attention. As far as the Sheriff’s Department went, things were going smoothly. If he wanted to take an extra hour off for lunch, it wouldn’t hurt a thing. Except that he wanted to used that extra time to spend with Katherine.

  You’re really getting it bad, Corteen. You think about the woman from morning till night. And when you’re asleep, you’re dreaming about her. What are you going to do when she up and leaves? Heads back to Fort Worth where that job and that boss of hers is waiting?

  The little voice shouting in his ear put a tight grimace on Lonnie’s face as he leaned up in his chair and spoke into the intercom on his desk. “Mitch, could you come in here for a minute?”

  Almost immediately, a young blond deputy dressed in a tan uniform and a brown Stetson walked into the small room Lonnie called an office and stood before his boss’s desk.

  “You need me, sir?”

  Mitch wasn’t his chief deputy, but he was one of Lonnie’s most trusted men on the force. The tall, lanky guy had a quick wit and an arrogance that sometimes grated on his nerves. But Lonnie considered the man the same as he would a younger brother.

  “You have anything going on right now?” Lonnie asked him.

  “Filling out the paperwork for a domestic call last night. That’s all.”

  “You think you can keep a watch on things for a couple of hours? I need to make a trip out to the ranch.”

  The deputy shrugged both shoulders as if to say he could manage the task with both hands tied behind his back. “Sure, Sheriff.”

  Lonnie nodded his appreciation. “I realize it’s your lunchtime and you usually go down to the diner. But once I get back, I’ll see that you get your regular hour and then some.”

  “Thanks, sir. Bernie will appreciate that.”

  Lonnie’s brows lifted in question. “Bernie?”

  Mitch grinned. “Yeah, you know, down at the diner. The cute little brunette with freckles on her nose. She’s got the hots for me.”

  His expression wry, Lonnie said, “Oh? Her and how many others?”

  Mitch’s grin broadened. “I’m really not sure. I haven’t been counting here lately.”

  “No. I don’t imagine you have enough fingers and toes for that.”

  Ignoring Lonnie’s jab, Mitch cocked his hat back off his forehead and peered curiously at his boss. “What’s the matter? Are you feelin’ sick or something? You need to go lay down for a while?”

  Folding his arms across his chest, Lonnie gave the deputy a pointed look. “No, I’m feelin’ fine. I need to…bring Katherine and the baby into town.”

  Mitch’s brows lifted suggestively. “Ohh, this is time off for the houseguest, huh?” Without waiting for Lonnie’s reply, he went on with a wicked grin. “You know, I still don’t know how you ended up having a female houseguest—or whatever she is. How did you do it, anyway?”

  Lonnie’s brow puckered into a frown. “Do what?”

  “Get a beautiful woman from Fort Worth to follow you all the way out here?”

  Rising to his feet, Lonnie crossed the room and plucked his Stetson from a coatrack. “That, my good buddy, is none of your business.” He plopped the hat on his head and adjusted the brim on his forehead. “And how the heck do you know that she’s beautiful, anyway? Have people been talking?”

  Mitch rolled his eyes. “Just about every nurse in the hospital.”

  Lonnie’s grunt was full of humor. “And from the stories I hear, you’re acquainted with plenty of nurses, along with waitresses.”

  “A man needs to be prepared for all sorts of emergencies.”

  Lonnie pulled on a heavy jacket. “Well, hopefully none of those ‘emergencies’ will come up while I’m gone,” he said dryly.

  The young deputy straightened his shoulders. “Naw, that’s not likely to happen, Sheriff. You go on and don’t worry about a thing. You know I’ll handle it.”

  “I never worry when you’re in charge, Mitch.”

  Lonnie started out the door, and the deputy called after him. “Hey, Sheriff. Are you gettin’ serious about this woman?”

  Lonnie’s brow puckered as he glanced back at the deputy. “What do you mean, serious?”

  Mitch held up his hands in a way that said he couldn’t believe Lonnie was asking such a question. “I’m talking about love! I mean, are you crazy about her?”

  Crazy wasn’t nearly strong enough for the way Lonnie felt about Katherine. Yet he was going crazy wondering what he was going to do about his feelings. Clearly, she didn’t believe she was ready to fall in love. And even if she was, that didn’t mean she would fall in love with him. He was a fool to believe he might be able to change her mind. But Lonnie had to try. Otherwise, his heart was going to break.

  “Yeah, Mitch. I’m afraid I am crazy about the woman.”

  On his way to the ranch, Lonnie used his cell phone to call Katherine and alert her to be ready to make a trip into town. She’d assured him that she’d be waiting, but Lonnie had detected a strained note in her voice. Rather than question her about it over the phone, he’d ended the call and pressed his foot down on the accelerator. If a highway patrolman picked him up for going twenty miles over the speed limit, he’d just have to tell him that an emergency was causing him to speed. And as far as Lonnie was concerned, he wouldn’t be lying. If Katherine was upset, it was an emergency to him.

  Once he parked in fro
nt of the ranch house, his long quick strides ate up the ground from his truck to the front door. When he entered the living room, Katherine was sitting on the couch with David in her arms.

  Immediately Lonnie went to stand in front of her. “What’s wrong?” he asked without preamble.

  The concern on his face and in his voice took her aback for a moment, and all she could do was stare dumbfounded at him.

  “What do you mean? Nothing is wrong.”

  He looped his thumbs over his gun belt and studied her in a way that made Katherine want to squirm. Was this how he questioned the criminals who passed through his jail? If so, they were probably too afraid not to talk.

  “Don’t lie,” he said gruffly. “I could hear it in your voice when I called. Something has upset you.”

  She let out a long, weary breath. “I thought we were going to town. We don’t have time for this.”

  “Then something is wrong. You’ve practically admitted it.”

  He sounded so adamant, so disturbed, that she had to release a little laugh. “Lonnie, I’m fine. Yes, I did get a bit…well, shook up. But I’m over it.”

  Easing down beside her, Lonnie carefully pulled the blanket printed with lambs back from David’s cheek. “He looks fine. Has he been crying more than usual?”

  Katherine smiled wanly. “He hasn’t been crying at all. Not even during his bath. The baby is perfectly all right.”

  Lonnie’s gaze lifted to search Katherine’s face. “Are you going to tell me?”

  That he could read her so squarely on the button took Katherine by complete surprise. She’d always been a loner, so to speak, and she’d never been one to outwardly display her feelings. The fact that Lonnie knew her well enough to sense that something was wrong told her that the two of them were getting even closer than she’d imagined. And that wasn’t a good thing. Not for her.

  “All right,” she admitted a bit crossly. “I got a phone call.”

  “Not again! Who wanted to chew on me this time? Dave Parker? He just had a new saddle stolen from his barn and he swears that I know who did it, but that I won’t arrest the person. The man—”

  “Lonnie,” she interrupted with a shake of her head. “It wasn’t anyone living here in the county. It was Seth. Seth Ketchum.”

  His blue eyes opened wide, and Katherine realized she couldn’t have shocked him more.

  “Seth?” he returned. “Damn it all, the man wasn’t supposed to be calling here! Calling you! I told him—”

  Seeing he was getting all worked up, Katherine laid a hand on his arm. “Lonnie, it’s okay. I don’t mind.”

  That pulled him up short, and he looked at her in total surprise. “You don’t?”

  She shook her head. “Not really. I can’t blame him for wanting to talk to me. He believes—” she stopped and her chin dipped downward as she studied David’s sleeping face “—that I’m his sister. He didn’t say that exactly. But I knew that’s what he was thinking—I could hear it in his voice. Funny how I knew that about him, isn’t it?”

  “Maybe that’s because you truly are his sister,” Lonnie said gently.

  A pain struck her somewhere in the region of her heart. “I, uh, I don’t want to think about that now,” she mumbled, then, lifting her face up to his, she gave him a wan smile. “Can we go to town now? I don’t want to take up any more of your time than necessary.”

  He frowned with disbelief. “Damn it, Katherine, would you quit worrying about my time? Why is it that you don’t want anyone doing something just for you? Why does that make you uncomfortable?”

  Dropping her head again, she fumbled with the baby’s blanket. “No one said it did.”

  Lonnie groaned. “Come on, Katherine, do you think I can’t see it all over your face. It bothers you to depend on me for anything. Even helping you with David. Is it because I’m a man?”

  “No!” The word rushed out of her too quickly to be persuasive. But Katherine didn’t care. What else could she say? How else could she explain to this man that she was afraid to start depending on him? She was afraid to get too close, afraid she would start loving him. “Lonnie, I do appreciate your help. But I don’t want you to get the idea that while I’m here, I might take advantage of you, of all you’ve done for me. I wouldn’t want there to be any misunderstanding between us.”

  Lifting his forefinger to her face, Lonnie traced a gentle little pattern on her cheek. “In other words,” he said softly, “you want to keep things friendly but cool between us.”

  His touch burned like the hot summer sun and, like the sun, it felt good even though she knew it wasn’t good for her.

  “Lonnie,” she whispered desperately. “Don’t put me on the spot. I told you—”

  “Yeah, you told me,” he interrupted. Quickly he rose to his feet and then, bending at the waist, he reached for the baby. “Let me carry him out to the truck for you.”

  Flustered by the abrupt change in him, Katherine fumbled for a heavy baby blanket lying on the cushion next to her.

  “All right. Just a minute,” she told him.

  After she wrapped the pale-blue blanket around her son, she placed him in Lonnie’s strong arms. As he settled the baby comfortably in the crook of his arm, she gathered up her handbag and started for the door. Lonnie followed close on her heels.

  By the time her fingers closed around the knob, she couldn’t stand the flat, empty feeling inside of her. She turned to him, her expression anguished. “Lonnie, are you angry with me? If you are—I don’t want you to be. I—”

  “Oh, Katherine!” he gently scolded. “I couldn’t be angry with you. Frustrated maybe. But never angry. Don’t you understand that? Whether you like it or not, you and I have become more than friends. We’re partners.”

  Partners. That sounded too much like love and marriage to her, yet the soft light in his blue eyes warmed her heart so completely that she couldn’t keep from smiling. She couldn’t keep from reaching out and sliding her hand into his.

  “If you say so, Lonnie.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Because David was still only a few days old, Lonnie thought it would be safer for him to keep the baby in the vehicle while Katherine did her shopping. But Katherine had assured him that with her breast-feeding David, the child’s immune system should be strong. Besides, the baby couldn’t live in a bubble, she argued.

  Lonnie had to finally concede, and the three of them entered the discount store only to be stopped by the greeter at the door, a thin, gray-haired man whom Lonnie had been acquainted with ever since he moved to Hereford.

  “Well, Sheriff Corteen, how’re y’all today?”

  “Dandy, George, just dandy,” Lonnie said to the older man. “I like this warmer weather, don’t you?”

  “Sure do, Sheriff. I can’t dance when my bones hurt.” He gestured toward the bundle cradled in Lonnie’s arms. “Whatcha got there, Sheriff? Looks like a baby to me.”

  Grinning, Lonnie leaned closer to the man and pulled the blue blanket down far enough to expose David’s face. “Just look at him, George. He’s named after me. Isn’t he a handsome guy?”

  The older man’s eyes lit up as he looked at the baby, then back and forth between Lonnie and Katherine. “Sure is. My, my. I wish I could peel back a few years so me and Hatti could have us another little one. She’s still a mighty sexy dame, but she might have to peel back a few years, too,” he joked, then leaning toward Lonnie’s ear, he whispered loud enough for even Katherine to hear, “You’d better marry her, Sheriff. She’s a pretty one.”

  Lonnie chuckled. “She might have something to say about that, George.”

  George cackled as he noticed the red embarrassment on Katherine’s face. “Yes, sir. She just might.”

  Sliding an arm around the back of her waist, Lonnie guided her away from George, toward a row of shopping baskets.

  Since he was still holding the baby, Katherine pulled one of the carts loose from the line and plopped her handbag into the front part
ition. “Do you know everyone in this town?” she asked Lonnie.

  “I’m the sheriff. I try to know most everybody.”

  She smiled. “And they all know that you’re single, obviously.”

  “They’d be pretty blind if they didn’t.”

  Although it was a sunny afternoon, the store wasn’t overly crowded with shoppers. Yet as Katherine guided the shopping buggy toward the children’s department, she sensed the curious stares of several people along the way. No doubt they were wondering what their county sheriff was doing going around with a woman and a new infant. Especially when he was carrying David and showing him off as if the baby were his own child.

  The last thought had her wondering just how it would be if Lonnie really were David’s father. Would he always be proud of him? Would he always want to guide and protect him? To teach him all the things a man needed to know when he went out in the world on his own? And what about her, she wondered. Would Lonnie be like the greeter and think she was sexy even when she was old and gray? No. She couldn’t imagine any man staying with her for the long haul. The majority of them always left a heartbroken woman behind. Like Walt. And like her father, whoever he was.

  “What’s the matter? You’re scowling. Did George offend you?”

  Shaking her thoughts away, Katherine glanced up at him and instantly her heart swelled with an emotion so tender, so full of longing that tears stung her throat. George hadn’t offended her. He’d made her dream for things she shouldn’t be dreaming of. He’d made her long for things that weren’t meant to be hers.

  “Of course he didn’t offend me. He seemed like a nice old man.”

  Amusement twinkled in his eyes. “Nice. But a little nosy, huh?”

  Her lips twisted. “You’re the one who has to live around here. By the time I leave, there’s no telling what people will be saying about you.”

  Lonnie shook his head. “You think that worries me?”

  She looked at him drolly. “No.”

  “You’re right. As long as I do my job as a lawman, that’s all the folks around here want from me. So let’s get to shopping and not worry about the people who might be gossiping about us,” he suggested with a little nudge against her back.