The Rancher's Baby Proposal

by Barbara White Daille

  So did he. He tore his gaze away and went back to his meal.

  “Um...I think the flowers are part of the pattern,” she said, indicating his empty plate. “Want seconds?”

  He shook his head.

  “Then if you’re done, I’ll take that.”

  And he’d get to sit back and watch her walk to the sink. He’d never survive the pleasure. He shot to his feet and grabbed the plate and the empty basket from the rolls. “I’ll help clear. It’s the least I can do, considering you made such a nice meal.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

  They set the plates in the sink, and she turned to rest one hip against the edge of the counter. “I hope you saved room for something sweet.”

  Dang. He would never survive standing this close to her, either.

  He was having a heckuva time trying to keep his gaze and his hands to himself. And that was her intention. He might have screwed up reading the signs in his previous relationship, but he wasn’t a complete idiot. Ally was leading him on.

  It was why she’d cooked dinner for him tonight. Why she’d made her hair even curlier, worn the spicy perfume and heels and short stretchy dress and, he’d be willing to bet, even why she’d picked that particular necklace with the shimmying tassel.

  Her plan was to get him to want her.

  She’d succeeded.

  He reached up to run his finger down one long curl that dangled almost to her waist.

  “Ally...”

  He’d tried to resist. He’d definitely tried. More than once. Claiming he didn’t have an appetite. Telling the truth about needing that shower. One more strike, and he’d be out of this game. But she was serving him a meal in his own candlelit kitchen, and she was dressed to thrill and obviously ready to start something and...

  And his willpower couldn’t hold out.

  He touched her cheek. She turned to him, settling her hands on his shoulders and her body against his. Her willing response confirmed it—he’d been right about everything he’d said to himself about her intentions.

  What he’d forgotten was to remind himself this was all wrong.

  “Ally.” He took her hands from his shoulders and held her fingers lightly. She looked up at him, starry-eyed in the candlelight, and he almost lost his nerve. “I think we’d better have some dessert.”

  She gave him a throaty laugh. “This is dessert.”

  Whoa.

  “You’ve planned everything, haven’t you?” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I’ll need to skip this course. For sure, you’re as sweet as any dessert could be. And in that dress you are one hell of a temptation. But this wouldn’t work out, for either of us. As much as I don’t like saying it, you’re a temptation I’ll have to fight to resist.”

  He hated seeing the sparkle leave her eyes and seeing that she, the girl who always had a good comeback, now had nothing to say.

  But if he took the dessert she offered, he’d hate himself even more.

  Worse, tomorrow, so would she.

  * * *

  ALMOST TWENTY-FOUR hours later, Ally still couldn’t believe she had so completely messed up. Reagan had turned down...everything she had offered. And she had made a fool of herself.

  She was lucky to have gotten herself home from the ranch in one piece last night.

  She wasn’t so lucky to be sitting here this afternoon, in the waiting room of Cowboy Creek’s only women’s health practice. But in a call to Tina that morning, she had learned her best friend had a follow-up visit with the baby’s doctor. And Ally had a need to talk to her best friend.

  Or maybe a need to delay her trip out to the ranch after work.

  On her way to meet Tina, she had picked up Sean at Mrs. Browley’s house, and there her luck had changed. Sort of. Mrs. Browley informed her Reagan had left a message for her. He would be working out on the ranch all day and would be late getting in at the house.

  He could have called her cell phone. That first day when they’d met at SugarPie’s, she had given him her number in case he needed to reach her. But obviously, after last night, he expected to feel as much awkwardness as she did when they spoke again.

  “I was sorry we didn’t have a chance to talk on Sunday,” Tina said, “or to catch up until now.”

  In the waiting room, they had taken seats in chairs placed between an oversize potted plant and the door to the examining rooms in the rear of the office. Both of these separated them from the rest of the patients in the room, which helped give the illusion of privacy. But it was only an illusion.

  Ally kept her voice low. “I was sorry, too.”

  “What’s going on? I could tell at dinner something was bothering you. Then you left so soon after Reagan took Sean home, I didn’t even know you were gone until Abuela mentioned you had said goodbye.”

  Across the room, a child Ally guessed to be about two, and who looked almost as frustrated as she felt, was having a tantrum.

  Tina gave her a small smile. “And I’m sorry about having to meet here.”

  “Don’t worry. After the day I had yesterday, what’s a little more torture?”

  Tina stared at her. “What happened?”

  “Nothing happened. Nothing is happening. That’s the point. I wanted to try to get Reagan to...to loosen up with me a little more, so I made him a nice supper last night.”

  “You cooked for him?” Even her best friend couldn’t hide her surprise.

  “If you’re worried I’ve killed him off, don’t be. No, I did not cook for him. He thought I did...but I brought over one of Mama’s lasagnas.”

  “Oh.” Tina smiled. “Well, you could have made that yourself, if you’d wanted to. Abuela taught Jane, and even she said it’s a piece of cake.”

  “The food was only step one,” she blurted. “I dressed up for Reagan to make sure he’d want to get up to something after dinner, and he...” She darted a glance around the room, then looked back at Tina and forced a laugh. “Well,” she murmured, “let’s just say, at this rate, I’ll never have to worry about needing a pediatrician.”

  “Oh, Ally,” Tina said, not even attempting to hide her sympathy.

  “It doesn’t matter. You already know how babies feel about me. And how I feel about them.” She adjusted the edge of Sean’s sleeve. When his eyes blinked open, she smiled down at him and stroked his cheek.

  “Ally,” Tina said, “you remember when you were always telling me I needed to lighten up and brighten up—”

  “Of course I remember.” She smiled at the memory, too. “I was trying to be helpful, chica. Color’s a beautiful thing.”

  “I know you were. And you even managed to change my mind about it.” Tina nudged her with her elbow. “See? I’m wearing a pink shirt.”

  Ally rolled her eyes. Granted, she was the one who loved bright, bold clothes and jewelry and everything else, but Tina had always worn some colors...along with her boring beiges and tans. “You’re just showing me that shirt to try to make me feel better.”

  “Why wouldn’t I? You lighten up and brighten up everyone’s lives.”

  “Obviously not Reagan’s. But...? Come on, I can hear it in your voice.”

  “But...well, maybe light and bright isn’t what he needs.”

  “Why? You suspect the man’s color-blind?”

  “Be serious for once,” Tina said softly. “I’m just saying, neither of us knows what’s happened in Reagan’s life since he left Cowboy Creek.” Automatically, they both looked down at Sean. “We don’t know anything about the mother of his baby, or where she is, or why she’s not with them.”

  “They’re not together. I know that, at least. You remember, I told you he said he’s not married. Besides, he ki—” She snapped her mouth shut. He might have turned her down last night, but the other
day, he had kissed her. And liked it.

  Tina eyed her.

  She sighed. “You’re not going to let that almost-slip slide, are you? Fine. The truth is, a couple of days ago, he kissed me. A kiss says he’s interested. Right?”

  Tina looked troubled. “It might. But most guys are interested in making out, given half the chance.”

  A few feet away, a baby let out an impatient cry, instantly setting off a chain reaction. Ally felt tempted to join in. With all the noise, who would notice?

  “That’s the thing,” she said, almost whispering now despite the chaos surrounding them. “I did give him a chance to make out with me. And to do a lot more. And he didn’t go for it.” She forced a laugh. “Unbelievable, huh?”

  “It’s his loss.” Tina lowered her voice even more. “You’re my BFF, Ally. I know you better than anyone. And I know, back when we were in junior high, you only turned yourself into a flirt in the first place because you wanted Reagan Chase to notice you.”

  “Well, I fizzled out then,” she said. “But I sure failed spectacularly last night.”

  “And that’s my point. If he doesn’t like you the way you are, then he doesn’t deserve you.”

  “That’s the problem, Tina. He does like me. He said so. But for some reason—probably connected to whatever happened to him while he was gone—he’s fighting it.”

  “Well, then...your advice to me basically boiled down to trying something else. Maybe that would be worth a shot.”

  Ally thought for a few moments, then shrugged. “It couldn’t hurt, could it?”

  This time, they both laughed.

  * * *

  ALLY SPENT A long afternoon and evening alone with Sean.

  By the time she had gone upstairs to change the baby and put him into his pajamas, there was still no sign of Reagan. She had begun to worry something might have happened to him out on the ranch. Whether or not the man wanted her didn’t matter. She would still be concerned for his safety.

  She couldn’t say any of that aloud. Sean was very easy to talk to, but she had to be careful what she said to him. She didn’t want him to hear anything negative from her about Reagan.

  “Maybe I should try your daddy’s cell phone,” she said. “I have a feeling he thinks resisting me includes not making any phone calls.”

  She lay the baby on a blanket on Reagan’s bed. “We wouldn’t want to mess up this pretty quilt while I’m changing you, now, would we?”

  Restless during the afternoon, she had washed a load of the baby’s clothes and changing blankets, then a set of sheets from the linen closet. She had stripped the double bed and replaced those sheets with the fresh ones, along with the quilt she had found that would look perfect in Reagan’s room.

  This had to have been his quilt. She examined the fine, even stitching and the artfully arranged squares and rectangles of cloth. “Somebody put a lot of love into making this, Sean. And look at it—all sports equipment. Baseballs, bats, footballs, hockey sticks and more. I’ll bet this was your daddy’s favorite quilt when he was growing up.”

  Not that Reagan would ever tell her that. As she had confessed to Tina, he didn’t want to tell her much of anything.

  “Well, anyway, this will be yours one day, so we need to keep it nice.” She smiled at him. “No problem. I’ve gotten pretty good with all the diapering and changing clothes and feeding and burping, haven’t I?” She ruffled his hair. “I do believe your peach fuzz has grown some since you’ve been here. Must be all the healthy bottles I’ve been giving you.”

  He squirmed on the bed.

  “You’re very welcome. Glad you like them. Your daddy likes my cooking...well, my reheating, too.” She glanced at the bedside clock and was shocked to see it was past eight. “Where is that man, anyway?”

  She was just about to give in and get her cell phone when she heard a door close downstairs, followed by heavy footsteps. For a moment, her hands stilled and her throat tightened.

  When she could chance speaking normally, she murmured, “Well, guess what? Daddy’s home.”

  The words triggered a funny feeling in her stomach.

  She scooped the baby up from the bed and snuggled him against her. “And I guess we need to go face the lion in his den, huh?”

  The house didn’t have a den, but when she went halfway down the stairs, she found Reagan sitting in the living room. He had his head resting back against the couch, and in the lamplight she could see his eyes were heavy-lidded.

  She continued down the stairs and into the room. “Hi. You’re h-here.” To her surprise, instead of his usual jeans, he wore a pair of khaki shorts. “You worked out on the ranch all day in those?”

  “No. I was too filthy even to walk into the house in the clothes I’d worn. I had the shorts in the truck, so I stripped down and showered out in the barn.”

  Putting those words into pictures in her mind sent another kind of feeling to her stomach.

  “What did you do that got you so dirty?” she asked, needing to distract herself. All she wanted to do was to climb up on that couch and curl up beside him.

  He exhaled heavily and raised his head. Then he rested it against the couch again. “I had to clear out part of a stream that had gotten choked with weeds and silt. It was a slow job with only the shovel and small ax I carry in the truck, but the stream feeds into other ranches and provides some of the water for their herds.”

  “Well, that was very neighborly of you. But we rent equipment at the store that would have helped do the job a lot easier.”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t mind the work.”

  You didn’t mind staying away from the house.

  She swallowed those words and said instead, “There’s some rotisserie chicken and a salad from the L-G in the refrigerator.”

  “You didn’t have to buy that.”

  “Just being neighborly.”

  “Well, thanks. Maybe later.” He stifled a yawn. “The workout wore me out. And with not getting any sleep last night—” He stopped, and now his eyes were fully open.

  “Sounds like the same kind of night I had,” she said lightly. “Must have been something in the lasagna.”

  He cleared his throat. “Ally, about yesterday—”

  She shook her head. “Yesterday’s over. We don’t need to talk about it. I understand perfectly.”

  “You do?”

  “Of course. You spelled everything out plainly enough for an eight-year-old to follow. You and I together wouldn’t work. The timing’s just not right.”

  “I’m glad—”

  “I have to feed the baby.” Cradling Sean against her, she went quickly down the hallway to the kitchen.

  She knew Reagan would come after her, but she needed time to get herself together. At that moment, she couldn’t handle hearing any more reasons for his rejection. She had a feeling surface conversation was still all she would get from him right now.

  I’m glad—what?

  I’m glad there are no hard feelings.

  I’m glad you’re taking it so well.

  I’m glad you’re behaving like an adult about this.

  She took a deep breath. She would not risk letting herself get upset or having her blood pressure go up or her hands shake. None of that would be good for Sean.

  Reagan hadn’t appeared yet.

  “It’s okay,” she told the baby. “We’re going to get your bottle ready. And when your daddy walks in, I’ll be cooler than an ice-cream soda.”

  By the time Sean drained every drop of formula from his bottle, she did feel cooler. And calm and collected and steady again.

  “You’re my hungry, growing little boy, aren’t you?” she cooed. As she patted his back, he brought up a couple of loud burps that left them both smiling.

 
When she held him close, he cuddled against her, one arm resting against her as if he were giving her a tiny hug. She kissed the top of his head and whispered, “Someday, Sean, I want a baby just like you.”

  And...and right now, that was as far as she dared to go.

  Chapter Nine

  Reagan awoke with a start. Both groggy and disoriented, he pushed aside the blanket covering him. He had no idea where the blanket had come from or how long he’d been out, but he somehow knew it hadn’t been long enough. Considering he’d paced the floor all last night...

  He remembered doing that. And he recalled confessing it to Ally, just before he’d crashed.

  After shaking his head as if he could fling away the grogginess clouding his thoughts, he rolled himself upright on the couch.

  Ally sat curled up in the big leather club chair, almost within reach, with his son resting against her.

  His grogginess evaporated. He fought reactions even a long, cold shower couldn’t cure, because they weren’t physical. But they were reactions. Not that F-word. Feelings. He didn’t do feelings. He especially didn’t do feelings since he’d learned how much they could hurt.

  Reactions, though, he had thought he could handle. He hadn’t realized until now that they were worse. They could scare a man half to death.

  “You’re still here,” he managed.

  “You noticed.” She smiled.

  “Guess I zoned out. What time is it?”

  “Almost eleven.”

  “Jeez.” He scrubbed his face with his palm. “I didn’t mean to keep you this long.”

  “You didn’t. Sean had his bottle later than usual, so I brought him in here to sit with me, and we both got comfortable.”

  “You could have settled him in his crib and headed out,” he said. “You’ve got a long drive home.”

  “It is a hike,” she agreed. “I have to tell you, I really see some advantages to living in town.”

  “If it’s too much of a hassle to drive out here—”

  “No, it’s not that. I just meant that when I’m at home, I’ve got the L-G and the department stores and SugarPie’s all so close by.”