The Rancher's Baby Proposal

by Barbara White Daille

  As she went down the hall to the kitchen, she could hear Reagan’s footsteps behind her. He was chasing her now.

  She wished.

  Before she could cross the room to go to the playpen, his voice stopped her. “That’s all right,” he said.

  She turned back. He hadn’t moved beyond the doorway.

  “I can see him from here,” he explained. “He’s sleeping soundly.”

  She nodded. “All right. Then what should we do next?”

  “You should go.”

  She frowned. “It’s not even suppertime yet. I thought I was on duty until the end of the night.”

  “When I’m working outside, yeah. But I’m inside tonight. I won’t be doing anything that requires an extra pair of hands. And I’ll be able to keep an eye on Sean myself.”

  Her heart started that slow, heavy thump again. “All right. Then I’ll pick him up from Mrs. Browley’s tomorrow afternoon, as usual.”

  “I’m keeping him home. It’s Sunday. Mrs. Browley’s day of rest.”

  She blinked, fighting her surprise. And more. Was this it? Had she already lost her chance with him? “It’s not a day off for you. At least, not while you’re here at the ranch. You said there’s so much to take care of. You said you’re in a hurry to finish up.”

  “I’ve got other things to do tomorrow,” he said vaguely.

  Other things that didn’t include her.

  “That’s fine,” she said briskly. “It’s a busy day for me, too. After church, my parents and I go to either the Hitching Post or SugarPie’s for brunch, and then I usually meet up with a few of my friends.” She forced a smile. “I’ll just get all my stuff together.” She gathered the plastic container she had rinsed and left on the counter, her water bottle from the refrigerator, her bag and sunglasses from beside the radio.

  Trying to hide her dismay at the way this day was ending, and not sure she could hold back frustrated tears, she refused to look at Reagan. She knew he still stood in the doorway. She could sense rather than see that he still had his gaze on her.

  She reached for the magazines she had brought from home this morning. Then she dropped her hand, leaving the pile untouched. The magazines would stay. She would be back on Monday.

  She glanced at the baby, then, finally, at Reagan. “I doubt it will get chilly down here, but in case Sean needs his blanket, it’s upstairs on the dresser.”

  “I’ll see to whatever he needs.” The side of his mouth quirked for a second, as if he’d fought a smile. As if he found it amusing she might think she knew better than he did what his own child would need.

  And what do you need?

  She wanted to ask but couldn’t make that move. Yet.

  She took a deep breath and let it out again. “All right, I guess I’ve got everything. I’ll see you on Monday.”

  To her relief, he nodded, though he didn’t quite meet her eyes.

  And again, her heart got another workout, this time when it seemed to swell inside her. The poor man was beating himself up for something he felt he shouldn’t have done. Something she had wanted more than anything in the world.

  Telling him that right now might only scare him away permanently.

  He thought she still was nothing more than the schoolgirl he’d paid no attention to years ago. She would have to prove to him how much she had grown up.

  * * *

  AT THE HITCHING POST, Reagan parked his truck beneath a tree near the corral. The shade would help keep the vehicle cooler.

  Yesterday hadn’t been as hot as Jed had heard in the weather reports. But now it was early in the afternoon, and in summertime in New Mexico, the heat was highest later in the day.

  Across the yard, he could see Jed over near the barn.

  After giving the man a wave, he leaned back inside the truck to transfer his son into the baby carrier. “Looks like we’ve got part of the reception committee waiting for us,” he told Sean.

  He had been grateful to wake up this morning and recall Jed’s invitation to Sunday dinner at the hotel—especially after what had happened last night.

  Giving in and kissing Ally had been a big mistake. The truth of that had become all too obvious the second he had wrapped his arm around her. Immediately following his body’s uncontrollable response, his brain reacted, blasting out another warning.

  Fortunately, that time, it acted like a slap of cold water to his senses.

  After his relationship with Elaine, it would be a while—a good long while—before he’d hook up with another woman.

  He needed to focus on the reason he’d come back to Cowboy Creek.

  Again, Ally had been the levelheaded one in their conversation, reminding him he wanted to get the property ready for sale and be gone.

  To do that, he would need to cut down on the time they spent together. She was too much fun to listen to, too much of a distraction. And while she might have been hell on some of his body parts, she was way too easy on his eyes and mouth.

  Last night, after he had told her she could leave early, he had been surprised but relieved when she hadn’t put up much argument.

  He lifted the carrier out of the truck and grabbed the bag he used for Sean’s baby stuff.

  Funny, just two days ago, he’d broken into a sweat at the idea of having Ally with him at the house all day long. Now, he couldn’t handle being there without her...

  He swallowed a groan. He had spent a good part of last night wondering what might have happened if he hadn’t backed away from her. Somehow, he had to stay away from those kinds of thoughts. Instead of wanting to hold her, he should be making sure he stayed well out of arm’s reach.

  “We’ll be gone from Cowboy Creek again soon, Sean,” he promised the baby.

  As they crossed the yard and approached the ranch owner, Reagan looked around him and gave an approving nod. “It’s been a while since I’ve been here, Jed, but except for the new signpost, the place seems to look just the way it always did.”

  One boot propped up on the corral fence rail, the older man chuckled and shook his head. “You’ll be changing your tune once you get the grand tour. Did you hear we’re back in the wedding business?”

  “I saw Layne at Sugar’s earlier this week. She mentioned Tina and your other granddaughters had all gotten married. I can see where three weddings in the family might have kept you busy. But I wouldn’t call that a business.”

  “No, I meant more than that. We started off with my three girls getting hitched, but now we’re catering outside weddings and receptions here again, too, just like we did years ago.”

  Reagan nodded. “I imagine your family is happy about that.”

  “They are, for sure.” Jed glanced at Reagan’s bare hands. “I take it you’re not married.”

  He laughed shortly. “I already told Ally I’m not. And I’m sure she told Tina and that info worked its way back to you.”

  “It did,” Jed said with a grin. “As it should have. I like to know what’s going on in this town.” He nodded toward Sean. “So what are your plans for this little one?”

  “Plans? You mean after he grows up?”

  “I mean when he starts looking for his mama.”

  “I’ll take care of him.”

  I’ll see to whatever he needs.

  He had said that to Ally last night, after she had told him about leaving Sean’s blanket upstairs. She wanted him to know where to find it in case Sean got cold.

  Crazy, but that statement of hers had gotten to him. In that one sentence, she had thought more about the baby, had shown more concern for Sean than his own mother ever had.

  But he still wasn’t hooking up with another woman, even one who’d had a fleeting, concerned thought about his son.

  “Sean won’t need a mother,”
he said flatly to Jed. “He’s got me.”

  The older man shrugged. “Son, a boy always needs his mama, for as long a time as he’s lucky to have her.”

  A beat of silence went by. He thought of good memories overshadowed by bad ones.

  “A few brothers and sisters would be a nice idea, too,” Jed said.

  Reagan didn’t at all like where this conversation was headed. It sounded like Jed was fitting him for a family.

  Ally would handle this with a laugh and a light reply. He tried to do the same. “You don’t think I’m here to sign up for your wedding services, do you? If so, I hate to disappoint you, but I’m a confirmed bachelor.”

  Jed laughed, too. “If you think that, I’ve got a handful of grandsons-in-law you can talk to.”

  “No, thanks.”

  “Well, suit yourself.” Jed consulted a silver pocket watch. “It’s about time we head in for dinner. We’ll have quite a few friends at the family table this afternoon. There’s you and Sean, of course. And then Wes Daniels. You remember him, don’t you?”

  “Sure. He sat behind me alphabetically in grade school and always complained I was too tall for him to see the front of the classroom. But he caught up to me in high school. We were on the basketball and baseball teams together.”

  Jed nodded. “He’s a widower now. Just lost his wife a year or so ago.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Yeah. It was rough on him and his kids, of course, and a big shock to us all. I’ve got his brother working for me now, and even Garrett has a hard time getting Wes to go anywhere much. It’s all I can do to get him and the kids out here to the ranch for Sunday dinner once in a while. With the two of you being both friends and single dads, you should have a lot in common.” They had reached the rear entrance of the hotel. “And then there’s Ally.”

  “Ally?” He almost missed a step on his way up to the porch.

  “Yeah. She’s here for dinner, too. Tina invited her,” Jed finished in a rush.

  Reagan frowned. Maybe the man thought he’d accuse him of trying to bring him and Ally together. Then again, maybe he already was in there swinging.

  Jed held the back door wide for him to carry Sean into the hotel. Remembering the layout of the place from previous visits here, he could have found the dining room on his own, blindfolded. Even if he hadn’t known the way, the smell of Paz’s good cooking would have directed him down this hall to the kitchen.

  He thought of Ally comparing her mom’s cooking to Paz’s.

  He thought of Ally way too often.

  Jed closed the door behind them and began walking down the hall.

  Reagan stayed in the entryway. He had looked forward to today’s visit as a way to distract him from thoughts of Ally, a way to keep her face and body and voice from his mind. So much for that idea. And there was no way he could get out of this. Accepting the invitation to dinner here had committed him to spending the afternoon in her company.

  A few feet down the hall, Jed stopped and turned back.

  “It’s all right, son,” he called with a laugh, “you can come along. I’m not so old that you need to give me a head start.”

  * * *

  A FEW MINUTES before dinnertime, Ally glanced around the Hitching Post’s large dining room.

  She had always loved the Old West decor of the hotel, the dark wooden tables and chairs, the wood and metal light fixtures above the tables, the Southwestern Native American and Mexican pottery sitting in niches or hanging from the walls. And after having eaten so many meals at the hotel, either here or in the big kitchen, she knew the routines.

  The Garlands and their friends occupied the long table in the center of the dining room. Hotel guests took seats at the tables of various shapes and sizes scattered around the family table.

  And before Sunday dinners, there was always some mingling, like a predinner cocktail party minus the cocktails.

  During her mingling moments now, she laughed and smiled and, she was sure, acted perfectly normal—which for her meant making everyone believe she never had a care in the world. Behind the mask, her thoughts were quite a few miles away. With Reagan.

  Since their kiss, he was almost all she could think about. She wondered how things would be between them when she went out to the ranch again tomorrow.

  On the other side of the room Tina was chatting with a group of the hotel’s guests. Ally saw her best friend glance in her direction, her expression puzzled.

  The man standing beside Ally shifted his feet. Realizing she had let her mind wander for too long, she turned to Wes Daniels.

  Wes had been a couple of years ahead of her in school, in Reagan’s class. “How are the kids? You didn’t bring them with you today?”

  “They’re doing fine. And I did bring them along. My kids and all of Jed’s great-grandkids, except for Tina and Cole’s new baby, are over at Pete and Jane’s.” Pete was Jed’s ranch manager, and his wife, Jane, was Jed’s oldest granddaughter. They lived in the manager’s house on the property.

  “I should have realized,” she said. “It’s so quiet in here—besides the adults talking, I mean.”

  He smiled briefly. She realized how infrequently he had smiled lately. And how infrequently anyone had seen him at all since his wife had died.

  “Kids do make a lot of noise, don’t they?” he asked.

  Sean doesn’t. Granted, other than when she visited the ranch, her time around children was limited to next to nothing. And Sean was just an infant. Still, he was the quietest baby she had ever seen.

  Maybe that meant he didn’t like her.

  She couldn’t let her mind go off in that direction. She had enough to worry about with his daddy, whose kiss certainly seemed to prove he liked her. A lot. Too bad that kiss told her one thing, but his actions said just the opposite.

  A second glance from Tina told her she needed to get her thoughts back to where she was and the person she was with. “I’ve seen Garrett at the Cantina quite a bit lately.” Wes’s older brother was frequently one of her dance partners. “I don’t see you in town very often, though.” She rested her hand on Wes’s arm. “How are you doing?” she asked quietly.

  “Fine,” he said. Short and simple and without any hint of emotion in his voice.

  The way Reagan had sounded yesterday afternoon. She tried her best but couldn’t keep from replaying his words in her mind.

  You should go.

  She heard his voice again—only this time, it was here and now. She snapped her gaze to the doorway of the dining room.

  Reagan stared back at her.

  Her hand tightened reflexively on Wes’s arm. To cover the reaction, she smiled at him and said brightly, “I think an old friend of yours just walked in. Have you seen Reagan Chase since he’s been home?”

  “No, I haven’t. Didn’t know he was back.”

  “Well, he is. And now’s your opportunity.” Her mask firmly in place, she turned to wave Reagan toward them.

  Judging by his expression, he wasn’t overjoyed to see her. She felt the same about seeing him.

  Tomorrow afternoon would come soon enough, and she still hadn’t had time to figure out what to do. At least here, surrounded by her friends, she wouldn’t have to face him on her own.

  Chapter Seven

  “What do you think of my scheme now, girl?” Jed asked.

  After their meal, folks had begun making their way to the sitting room just off the Hitching Post’s lobby. Seeing Tina was going to be the last to leave the dining room, he had hung back, too.

  They walked slowly down the hall together.

  “Giving Ally lessons in taking care of a baby is one thing,” she said in a low voice. “Helping you match her up with someone is another story. But I still don’t have a problem wit
h your plan—as long as she doesn’t figure out I’m part of the planning committee.”

  He laughed.

  They halted at the T where the hallway met the stairs and the lobby. Tina looked across the lobby toward the sitting room doorway. The sound of voices, Ally’s among them, came from the room. But he knew his youngest granddaughter well, and he could see she continued to feel some concern. “What’s got you troubled?”

  “I don’t know... I guess it’s just, Ally doesn’t seem like herself.”

  “She had a fine time at dinner, same as she always does, making us all laugh at almost everything she said. I’m glad to say she even got a few smiles out of Wes.”

  She nodded. “I saw, and I’m glad, too. But her own smile doesn’t look right to me.”

  “Well, you know her best. We’ll keep an eye on her. Let’s get in there and see what’s up.”

  “You go, Abuelo. I’ll be there in a few minutes. I want to check on the baby.”

  “Sounds good.”

  He ambled toward the sitting room.

  Inside the wide doorway, a glance and a quick listen informed him the hotel guests gathered in one corner were discussing tomorrow morning’s trail ride. In a short while, he would move over there to take up his hosting duties, a task always more of a pleasure to him than a chore.

  Meanwhile, he had some matchmaking to do. And that always pleased him equally well.

  The family guests—Ally, Reagan and Wes—had taken over another corner of the room. Ever since Tina and Ally had become friends, Ally had spent almost as much time here in the hotel as she did at her own home. He took a fast but close look at her. Maybe Tina had been right about the girl not behaving like herself.

  The trio in the corner sat on a couple of the comfortable couches grouped in that area, but Ally’s stiff posture didn’t make her seem the least bit at ease.

  Reagan’s expression had him coming in a close second.

  Only Wes, who had taken one couch by himself, and Reagan’s baby, in his seat between Ally and Reagan, looked completely relaxed.