by Leigh Riker
They were birthday cards, saved by Logan or Olivia from Nick’s first-, second-and third-year celebrations. She would have to send them back. Unlike the baby clothes, they weren’t hers to keep.
One card had a playful pony on the front.
It was an invitation to a party for Nick’s fourth birthday at the Circle H. There were more of the same, none of them sent. She guessed it was the time that Nick was so sick and the ranch road flooded, isolating them. After that, Olivia had left Logan, taking their son with her.
The date on the invitations was only a few days from now. It would be Nick’s seventh birthday this year. Had Logan remembered? She hadn’t heard him say a word about any upcoming plans. I don’t care much for birthday parties, he’d said, because of his parents.
She wondered how he and Olivia handled their son’s birthday now that they were divorced. They were still Nick’s parents. One day of the year, at least, should belong to him. Special.
He was an innocent child, like the one she carried now.
Blossom gently closed the box. And set it aside.
She’d cut her last ties tonight to Philadelphia—or Tammy had. But instead of thinking of her or Ken, she thought now of Logan, Sam and Nick. She’d made another mistake by leaving the Circle H. And what she was about to do was risky but...
Blossom went to bed early. Before dawn she rose and dressed, lugged her bag and the boxes out to her car, set the cartons on the backseat again, then approached the sleepy front desk clerk to check out of the motel. She bought a milk shake at the restaurant where she’d eaten dinner with the stranger last night.
Then, not seeing his truck this morning, Blossom, too, hit the road again.
She drove back the way she’d come, back to the Circle H.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
LOGAN STOPPED AT the open barn doors. A car was speeding up the driveway. Blossom’s car.
“Well, what do you know?” he said to Sundance.
He’d been about to saddle up. Now, with a grin, he went to greet her.
Blossom got out of the car, an expectant smile on her face. “I came back.” Then, as if uncertain of her welcome, she just stood there.
Logan had never been so glad to see anyone in his life—unless he included the helicopter pilot who’d come during the flood to fly Nicky to the hospital in Kansas City. Logan had thought he’d never see Blossom again.
“You forget something?”
“No, I brought something back.”
He shifted from one foot to the other. She’d gone to her car and was pulling out a box Logan recognized. “I gave you those baby clothes, Blossom. I don’t want anything ba—”
“Is Jack Hancock here?”
“Not yet. Bertie’s still in the hospital but has been doing a lot better. Shadow has gone through Jack’s references. I don’t know what to hope for—that Jack can come here or, even better, that Bertie can go home.” He held his breath. “In the meantime we can use a good caregiver at the Circle H. You want your job back?”
Her face broke into a smile. “If you’ll have me.”
That was a loaded question. “You’re looking at a desperate man.”
Blossom took a step toward him, and he took the box from her arms. Her whole body appeared to relax, and she beamed a wider grin at Logan. “Thanks. I’m just in time to start lunch. How does curry sound?”
“Almost good.” He could have stayed here all day just looking at her, which wasn’t where his attention should be. “After lunch I’ve got a cow to tend to. That bison with the Cesarean before you left? She had twin calves. I need to make sure they’re okay—and she is, too.”
For a long moment they shared another smile, or was it the same one?
“I think you like this ranch more than you let on,” she said.
He set the box down. “It’s got a lot of memories, that’s for sure.”
“You should try to focus on the good ones.”
Maybe she was right. Bringing Libby to the ranch after their wedding. Nicky’s birth. Those first few years before the flood... He had some even better ones, though, since he’d met Blossom. When he framed her face in his hands, she didn’t pull away.
“I kind of missed your curry.” He’d missed more than that but wouldn’t say so. “All I could think of was you driving west, getting farther and farther away from here.”
“I didn’t get that far.”
Logan said, “Maybe the Circle H isn’t a bad place to make a stand, if it comes to that.”
Blossom eased out from under his touch. She turned toward her car again to get the second carton.
“I have something to show you.”
In the house, Logan didn’t expect to see, of all things, a bunch of old birthday cards. At first he didn’t recognize them. Then he saw the invitation and remembered that Libby had picked it out for Nicky’s fourth party, which had never happened. “We had a great time planning the event, but then the rains came and after that she and Nicky were gone. Now I have a monster toy truck in the barn I don’t know what to do with, and Libby and my son are living in Barren.”
“When I found this invitation with the clothing you gave me, I wondered.” She added, “Thank you, by the way. The clothes are beautiful.”
“Won’t be needing them again,” he said with a pang of regret.
“What are you planning to do for him this year?”
“There’ll be something in town, I suppose. Libby’s call.”
“You don’t celebrate Nick’s birthday together? For his sake?”
He glanced at the blue sky. “I guess he had a big do last time with his friends from kindergarten at one of those bounce-castle places. Pizza, prizes, the works.”
“You should have gone.”
“And been a gate crasher?”
“You weren’t invited? Logan, he’s your child, too. How could she leave you out?” Blossom’s mouth had tightened. “I don’t like her for that. She hurt you.”
“Nah, I understood. Better for me to stay home than for Nicky to see us fight in front of everyone.” He thought of their run-in in town before Blossom had left.
Her eyes took on a gleam he hadn’t seen before.
“Well, this year is going to be different.”
“How so?”
“We’re going to throw the party. Right here at the Circle H.”
“Blossom, I just told you. That’s not a good idea.” Neither was his urge to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless. He was leaving for Wichita as soon as he could—as soon as Sam could take over management of the ranch, if not before. Maybe Willy and Tobias—and Jack Hancock—could handle things after all. Blossom was still carrying Ken’s baby, and that wouldn’t change. She might feel the need to head off again. But for now...he was glad she was here.
Blossom cut off his thoughts. “The first person we’ll invite is Olivia.”
He almost rolled his eyes.
“I’m serious. It’s time you both stopped snarling at each other.”
“I don’t snarl.” But Libby sure had yesterday outside her new office.
“You have to make some kind of peace between you.”
“I’ve tried to tell her that. We don’t sound like good parents, do we?” Logan gazed at her. “You’re going to make that baby of yours a real fine mother, Blossom.”
“I am,” she agreed without any hesitation. “But for now, let’s work on this party. We have a lot of planning to do.”
* * *
BLOSSOM CALLED OLIVIA right after lunch. Sam had given her the phone number for Logan’s ex-wife, but she hadn’t been prepared for the way their conversation was going.
“Excuse me? A party at the Circle H?” Olivia said again.
“We’d love for you to be here.
”
Another silence, longer this time.
“Olivia, please.” Blossom tried to maintain a friendly tone even when her patience was dwindling. “This is important—for Nick.”
“If you’ve become part of the household out there, then you must know I don’t like Nick coming anywhere near that place.”
“But he was here not long ago. We planted flowers. How dangerous was that? I understand what happened before, but that was three years ago.”
Olivia’s tone hardened. “It will take the rest of my life to forget being stuck at the end of the world. With Logan gone, of course. If it wasn’t for Sam, I’d have been completely alone with a very sick child.”
“Nick will turn seven next week. He looks healthy to me.”
“Who do you think you are? I’m his mother. This phone call is over—”
“Olivia, wait. Nick isn’t a toddler anymore. He’s a little boy who needs his father, too. I’d hoped things were getting better between you and Logan.”
“Logan—and you—may be planning a party, but he’ll leave the Circle H for Wichita again any day now. I assure you, that’s all he thinks about. Flying.” Blossom knew that wasn’t true. Olivia drew an audible breath. “I don’t know what your relationship with him may be—”
“I work for him,” Blossom said. “Nothing else.”
“That’s not what I hear in town—and I told him so. My ex-husband has a pretty, young woman living in that house. A woman who apparently knows very little about giving care, at least to Sam.”
Blossom blinked. The only person she knew in Barren was Shadow Moran, who didn’t seem like the type to gossip. If she’d been the one to spread that kind of speculation, Blossom wouldn’t see her as a potential friend any longer. Or had the woman who owned the children’s clothing shop been talking? She’d seemed overly curious. Or even the clerk at the pet store? The market. Blossom had encountered more people here than she’d thought.
Was Olivia really jealous?
“The gossip mill often gets everything wrong.” That gave her the idea for another tack. “Maybe you should come see for yourself. I don’t have time for intrigue—or romance.” She paused. “I hope you’ll reconsider, Olivia.”
Blossom hung up and found Sam standing in the kitchen doorway.
“No good?”
“I left her to think about it. We’ll see.”
Sam shuffled over to a chair and sat down. “I’m awful glad to have you back.” He laughed. “That party could be full of fireworks, all right. But if you can pull it off, it’ll be the first time Logan’s spent a birthday with Nick since the divorce.”
“We’ll pull it off.” Blossom had even more ideas. “Since this is a working ranch with plenty of livestock, what if we give pony rides?”
“No ponies,” he said. “Logan was going to buy one for Nick’s fourth birthday, but by then he was living in town. Got a few gentle old horse souls here that would work just as well, if not better—ponies can be ornery—but, believe me, they’ll seem too dangerous to Libby. She’s kept Nick off a horse so far.”
Sam had gained back a bit of strength and confidence in his abilities, and spent more of the day on his feet again. His mind also seemed better. Which, of course, would mean she’d be out of this temporary job soon, even without Jack. But she wouldn’t think of that now.
“Dangerous?” She poured Sam some coffee. “Then maybe not.”
“You should have been here in the flood, then you’d understand why she’s so overprotective when it comes to Nick and the ranch. The water reached the house and up the porch to the front door. Seeped in underneath. All the rugs were done for. Some of the furniture, too, including the dining room chairs Libby had just bought. We had to lay all new wood on the first floor.” Sam gazed out the kitchen window. “Those horses were swimming in their stalls. We lost our power for a week.”
“Yet Nick survived. That’s the important thing, isn’t it?”
“Sure is. Thanks for trying to change Libby’s mind, but I wouldn’t count on that. Still...” He rose from the chair. “Think I’ll go make a list. Pick out those ‘ponies’ for you.”
He left the room, and Blossom went back to her work. She wasn’t done yet with Olivia. Nick would have a perfect birthday this year—with both of his parents.
* * *
LOGAN EASED THE truck into a parking spot in front of the ag store. Today was go-to-town day again. The weekly shopping junket with Blossom was becoming a habit, one Logan wasn’t sure how he felt about. Not that he spent much time examining his feelings.
He’d learned three years ago to keep a tight lid on them. If not, his sorrow and guilt over Nicky would have killed him by now. He didn’t trust there’d be a repeat of Nicky’s visit to the ranch to plant flowers, especially after he and Libby had argued again the last time in town.
Blossom sat close to him now, her light scent teasing his senses, as it had all the way from the Circle H into Barren. That shouldn’t seem right but—
“Oh!” Blossom covered the now-visible swell of her abdomen.
Logan sent her a sharp look.
The memory of his urge to kiss her when she’d shown up at the ranch a few days ago tightened his gut again.
“The baby. Aaron kicked—a real kick,” she said with the kind of smile that belonged on a Madonna.
Logan got out of the truck. “You so sure it’s a boy?”
“Pretty sure.”
He almost smiled. She’d already given her baby a name as she had the barn kitten. And even her car. “Has it moved before?”
“Flutters, that’s all. This is amazing.”
He rounded the pickup to her side. “You haven’t seen a doctor.”
“I’ve been meaning to, but then I left the Circle H and didn’t think I was coming back.” She lifted one eyebrow. “I guess I need to do something about that. I just haven’t gotten around to it.”
But there was more to it than that, and Logan could guess what it was. He opened the passenger door then handed her out. “Libby went running to Doc the minute she suspected she might be pregnant.” He didn’t mean to accuse Blossom of neglect, but that’s how it came out. “For you, better late than never.”
“You know why,” she said.
“You didn’t want a medical history that Ken might be able to access.”
“I’ve tried to be careful—no caffeine, no alcohol—and except for that one horseback ride you and I took, I watch where I go and how I step.”
“That was more of a slow walk than a ride,” he said. “Libby rode until a few months before she had Nicky.”
Blossom met his gaze head-on. “She grew up on a ranch. I’m not Olivia.”
Wow. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to compare.”
They made their way along Main Street until Blossom suddenly stopped.
“I thought you had to go to the feed store.” She looked across the street toward the market and Shadow’s agency. “Where are we going now?”
Logan kept walking. “To Doc’s office. He’s trying to sell his practice then retire, but he still sees patients. I bet he’ll have a morning slot for you today. His client list has gotten pretty small. If he doesn’t, I’ll convince him to find one.”
Blossom hung back. “I promise, I’ll see someone—maybe in Kansas City but not here in Barren.” Too close to the Circle H if Ken came searching.
Logan didn’t listen. He steered her around the corner onto Cottonwood Street. He needed to know that she and her baby were all right. Period. He wouldn’t risk having her go into premature labor at the ranch during another flood or with the drive blocked by fallen trees after a tornado. If she was staying for now, she needed a clean bill of health.
Doc’s office was the third building on the street. “You’ve waited long enough
. Isn’t this...baby—Aaron—your first priority?”
“You know he is. He’s why I ran from Ken in the first place.”
“Ran for yourself, too, I’d hope.” He opened the door to the small office, where Doc’s wife, Ida, reigned at the reception desk. “I’ll check you in.”
As he closed the door behind them, Blossom insisted, “Since we’re already here, I can check myself in.” Leaving him standing in the middle of the waiting area, she marched over to the reception desk and spoke to Ida, the most opinionated woman Logan had ever met. Ida, who loved to talk, kept glancing at him with that measuring way of hers that made Logan feel like a kid called into the principal’s office. Blossom had told him about her conversation with Libby—that the town gossip mill was having a field day about him and Blossom. Surely, Ida didn’t think he was the baby’s father?
“You can go in now.” Ida eyed him again. “You too, Logan.”
“I’ll stay here. I’m not—”
“Doc is ready for you.”
Blossom reached for his hand. “Please. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I don’t want to be alone.”
He took a deep breath. “Bison calves are more my style these days—not human babies.” Especially one that’s not mine. But she looked white-faced, and he had bulldozed her into coming here.
In the exam room with Logan, Doc took her history, chatting away, then told Blossom to lie flat on the table. He shot a look at Logan. “Turn your back.”
Logan was all too happy to obey. He sat on a stool and studied Doc’s framed diplomas on the wall while he examined Blossom. Finally, Doc stood back with a nod.
“Young and healthy. That’s how I like ’em.”
Yet for some reason Logan’s stomach churned. Not seeing what was going on with the physical exam had made this worse somehow. He wanted to support Blossom—this one time—the way she was trying to support him about the birthday party, and she didn’t have anyone else, but getting up close and personal here made him sweat. He sensed Doc’s gaze on him again.
He’d never liked these visits with Libby, who’d had a rough pregnancy with morning sickness the whole nine months, pains here and there, and then a tough delivery.