At the Rancher's Request

by Sara Orwig

Nine

  Sunshine spilled into the room when she stirred and Mike’s arm tightened around her. She turned to slide her fingers across his chest and kiss his shoulder lightly. Was she going from one disaster at home to an even bigger loss and upheaval in Texas?

  She had too many questions and no answers for them. One thing she did know—Mike would not marry again any time soon. She had helped bring him out of his grief, but he wasn’t ready for commitment. Mike was deep in lust and open to companionship and was coming to life again, but he wasn’t thinking about love or commitment.

  Mike’s world revolved around Scotty and his ranch. She was merely a fun interlude, excitement, hot sex, nothing more. She had no illusions about his heart.

  Even so, Mike had helped her get over the pain of her breakup. It wouldn’t hurt if she stayed a few more days and then left for California. Either way, it would be hard to leave. How could a little three-year-old boy she had known only a short time so ensnare her heart? She loved Scotty and she was going to miss him terribly. She was ready for him to come back from Lindsay’s. She hoped her baby was as adorable and cheerful as Scotty.

  She turned to look at Mike. Running her finger along his jaw, she felt the faint stubble as she leaned over him to shower light kisses on his chest.

  His arm tightened around her again and he pulled her to him. When she looked into his eyes, she felt hot and tingly all over as he wound his fingers in her hair and kissed her.

  It was hours later when they ate breakfast. She had only a couple of bites of bagel and couldn’t take another bite. “Mike, how soon will Lindsay bring Scotty back? I miss him.”

  “You’d rather play with a little kid than with me?” he asked, looking amused.

  “He’s just so cute.”

  “And I’m not?” he said, teasing her.

  She slid onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You, darlin’, are just the most handsome, sexiest man I have ever known in my entire life and you just make my heart go wild. Of course, you’re cute,” she said.

  He laughed and pulled her close to kiss her and in seconds their teasing play was forgotten as she clung to him tightly while she returned his kisses.

  * * *

  That afternoon Savannah was in bed again with Mike. His arm wrapped around her and held her close against his bare side. His cell phone rang and he stretched out a long arm to pick it up.

  She listened as Mike told Lindsay that Scotty could stay another night if he wanted. Mike talked to Scotty then for ten minutes, listening to the boy tell him what he had been doing. Finally, Mike turned to look at her. “Yes, you can talk to Miss Savannah.”

  Surprised, she sat up, pulling the sheet beneath her chin while Mike handed her his cell and she heard Scotty’s childish voice as he began to tell her what he had been doing with his Aunt Lindsay.

  As they talked, Mike sat up and lifted her hair off her neck. She felt his warm breath on her nape when he trailed light kisses over her. He began to kiss and caress her and she turned her back to him, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

  While she continued to try to talk to Scotty, Mike showered kisses on her, caressing her, distracting her. She stood up and stepped away, turning to glare at Mike who smiled and caught the bottom of the sheet she held in front of her. He tugged lightly, rolling the sheet into a ball. She pulled harder to hang on to the sheet which covered her. With a yank she got it away from Mike and walked away to talk to Scotty while she heard Mike laugh.

  When she finally told Scotty goodbye, she gave the phone to Mike. He told Scotty goodbye and then Lindsay.

  As soon as he turned off his phone and set it on the table, Savannah pounced on him. “You’re really a nuisance sometimes.”

  “You loved the attention,” he said, laughing. “Scotty is staying with her tonight and he’ll be home tomorrow afternoon.”

  “I’ll miss him.”

  “I’ll try to keep you too busy to think about it,” Mike said, pulling her down and moving over her to kiss her.

  * * *

  The next morning she stepped out of bed, wrapping the sheet around her while he pulled a light blanket over himself.

  “I’m going to shower and get dressed. Millie and maybe Baxter will be downstairs. I’ll get ready for Lindsay and Scotty,” she said.

  “They won’t be here for hours, but Millie is probably downstairs now. All right, I’ll shower with you—”

  “No, you won’t, or we won’t get ready now.”

  He slipped his arm around her waist. “Stay this week, Savannah. We can have fun. You don’t have to go. Stay just a little longer.”

  She looked into his dark eyes and in that moment felt she never wanted to leave. A few more days with Mike and Scotty couldn’t hurt. “All right, until Thursday. I’ll check the weather and see if that will work.”

  “Good,” he replied, smiling at her. “See you downstairs.”

  Gathering her clothes, she left to go to her suite to shower and dress. All the time she thought about staying longer, she questioned her feelings for Mike. Was she really in love with him, or had he simply been a relief from the emotional upheaval she had just gone through at home?

  Whatever she felt, she had to move on soon. Mike had not asked her for any kind of commitment beyond a few more days with them. When the time came for her to go, she expected him to kiss her, wish her well and say goodbye forever.

  Just the thought of telling him goodbye hurt. Hopefully, when she got away from him, out of Texas, she would get over the strong feelings she had right now when she was with him, but she suspected it was not going to happen.

  She looked at the ring on her finger. That ring would forever remind her of Mike and Scotty.

  * * *

  It was late in the day when Lindsay brought Scotty home. He ran to Mike who swept him up to hug and kiss him. “Look what Aunt Lindsay helped me make,” he said, and tossed a paper airplane that soared and then crashed into a potted plant.

  “Aunt Lindsay should have told you to be careful where you fly those,” Mike said, and Lindsay smiled and shrugged.

  “As if you didn’t lob those and worse all over the house when you were much older than Scotty.”

  “And good morning to you, too,” he said to his sister. Scotty held out his arms and looked at Savannah. Smiling, Mike carried him closer and Scotty leaned out to wrap his arms around her neck.

  She took him, but Mike wouldn’t let go of him. “He’s too heavy. You’ve hugged Miss Savannah, Scotty. C’mon.” Mike pulled him away.

  “Mike, I’m sure I can carry him. I’m not fragile.”

  “He’s heavy. End of argument.” He set Scotty on his feet. “Come in, Lindsay.”

  “Thanks, but I need to get back. And thanks for letting him visit. He’s always fun to have. Good to see you, Savannah. Bye, Scotty.”

  Scotty ran to her to hug her when she leaned down. Lindsay hugged him and then straightened as he scampered away. “He is one busy kid,” she said. “See you, Mike. Bye, Savannah.”

  Lindsay left and Mike stepped outside to walk to her car with her. Savannah closed the door behind him, suspecting the two of them would talk a few more minutes.

  She went to find Scotty and play with him. She had only a short time left with the adorable little boy.

  * * *

  On Wednesday afternoon Mike worked on information to give his accountant. While Scotty napped, Savannah got out her bag and backpack and carry-on to pack. She had her car and it ran fine, so there was no reason for her to stay other than Mike and Scotty wanted her there and she wanted to be with them.

  It was time to go and she tried to not even think about how much she would miss them when she left tomorrow.

  She was halfway through filling her suitcase. She came out of her closet with so
me folded sweaters and walked toward the bed where she had the open suitcase and backpack.

  Startling her, Scotty stood at the foot of the bed. His sleep-filled eyes looked at her suitcase, and then at her, and back to the suitcase.

  “What are you doing, Miss Savannah?” he asked. His green corduroy shirt was rumpled, his hair in a tangle, and he held his brown bear tightly in his arms.

  “I’m packing, Scotty,” she said firmly while she placed sweaters in her suitcase. “It’s time I go on to California as I had planned. I’ll go tomorrow morning.” When he didn’t reply, she glanced at him. His mouth turned down and tears filled his eyes. Her heart hurt as if she had just been struck.

  “Scotty, I can’t stay here forever. You and your daddy have your lives. I have to go to California.”

  “You don’t like us?” he whispered, his lower lip quivering.

  “Of course I like you.” She walked to the rocker. “Scotty, come here.”

  Giving her a sorrowful look, he crossed the room. She picked him up to put him in her lap, and he wrapped his arm around her waist, turning his face against her as he cried. “I don’t want you to go. I love you.”

  Her heart turned over and she couldn’t speak for a moment as she fought her own emotions and tried to hold back tears.

  “Scotty, I have to go. When I first came, you knew that someday I would leave.”

  He sobbed, clinging to her. “Please don’t leave us,” he cried.

  “What the hell—” she heard and looked up to see Mike in the doorway. He crossed the room. “Scotty.” His forceful voice didn’t stop his son as Scotty continued to sob.

  “Mike, he’s just hurt because I’m leaving. I’m touched and I don’t mind holding him.”

  “Scotty, come here,” Mike said, his voice becoming gentle, picking him up. “I’ll talk to him.”

  “I don’t mind holding him a while. I understand if he cries and wants to be in here with me.”

  “He can come back,” Mike said, a muscle working in his jaw as if he hurt for his son. He stopped to look at the bags on her bed. “Don’t carry any of that down. I will.” He left the room and she hurt for all of them. She didn’t want to leave, either, and she was sure Mike would hurt even more because Scotty was unhappy. Probably the sooner she left, the better. Once she was gone, Scotty would go on to other things and be his usual happy self.

  * * *

  Mike picked Scotty up and carried him to his room to sit in a big rocking chair. He held Scotty tightly and rocked.

  “Scotty, Miss Savannah has to go. You knew that someday she would go. She’s just here because she had car trouble in the storm.”

  “I want her to stay with us. I love her.”

  Mike’s insides twisted and he hurt. He held his son close. He didn’t want Scotty to suffer, but he wasn’t ready for a commitment and Savannah wasn’t, either. If he asked her to stay or even to marry for convenience, she wouldn’t do it. She was battling the pain from her broken engagement and from discovering she was pregnant and that her fiancé didn’t want their child.

  Mike didn’t want to see her go, either. They weren’t ready for commitment, but he wished with all his heart she was only going to Dallas where he could keep seeing her.

  “I want her to stay, Daddy.”

  Mike’s insides ached again as if he had been stabbed through the heart. “I know, Scotty. It’s nice having her here. We can talk on the phone to her. Maybe she’ll come back and see us.”

  “No, she won’t,” he bawled. “Please make her stay.”

  “I can’t do that. She has her life just as we have ours. If she asked us to go to California with her, we would have to say no. Our home is here and our lives are here.”

  “She doesn’t love us?”

  “Scotty, I’m sure she likes us, but she has her own life and she has to go. Someone is waiting for her in California.”

  “He doesn’t love her as much as I do.”

  “It’s her aunt and yes, she does love her.”

  “Don’t you love her?”

  “Scotty, I like Miss Savannah, but I still have to let her go. And sometimes you let someone go because you love them, when you know that they really need to go.”

  “I don’t want her to leave us.” Scotty cried, burying his face against Mike’s chest. Mike stroked his son’s head and back.

  “Scotty, I love you more than anything else or anyone else in this whole world. You have all my love. That should count for something.”

  Scotty looked up at him. “She is going no matter what we do?”

  “That’s right.”

  He started crying again. Mike held him and rocked and gradually Scotty stopped crying. “I want to go see her.”

  “Can you see her without crying? And without pestering her to stay?”

  Scotty wiped his eyes and nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  “Okay. We’ll do something fun later. Okay?”

  Scotty nodded and then he jumped down and walked off. Mike watched him go. He would miss her and he hated seeing Scotty hurt. The sooner she was on the road, the better off they would be.

  * * *

  Savannah finished packing, certain if she tried to carry things downstairs, Mike would be unhappy. She sent a text to her mother, another to a friend. As she closed her phone, Scotty came into the room. He looked solemn and still carried his bear tightly in his arms when he crossed the room to her. She placed him in her lap, and he lay back against her.

  “How would you like chocolate cookies?”

  “I’d like it better if you stayed here.”

  “Well, I have to go to California. But before I go, I can bake some cookies and you can help. How would that be?”

  He sat up to look at her. “I get to help?”

  “If you want to.”

  He nodded. “I want to. Will Ms. Millie say okay?”

  “Yes, she will. She’ll be happy to see you learn how to bake cookies.”

  Scotty smiled at her. “When?”

  “When do you want to? How about now?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, hopping down, and then placed his bear in an empty chair.

  Savannah took his hand and they walked to the kitchen where Millie was making casseroles to put in the freezer for the weekend.

  “Millie, when will be a good time for us to bake some chocolate-chip cookies?” Savannah asked. She held Scotty’s hand and glanced at him to see him waiting for Millie’s answer.

  “Whenever you’d like because you won’t be in my way and we have four ovens in this kitchen.”

  “Good. We can get started,” Savannah said. “First thing, Scotty, is to wash your hands.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said and ran off. She smiled, glad he had temporarily stopped thinking about her leaving. Hopefully, that would be the last until she drove away. Mike would deal with him and probably had already figured some way to cheer him or to get Lindsay to come over.

  Savannah gathered all the ingredients, utensils and bowls, and Scotty came back and helped grease the cookie sheet and make the dough. He was eager to do anything Savannah would show him how to do.

  She watched as he stood on a chair and stirred the mixture while she held the big bowl. When she heard boots approach, she watched Scotty because she didn’t want him to step off the chair and fall.

  When Mike entered the room, she glanced at him. For seconds she couldn’t get her breath. She wanted him to step close and put his arms around her. Looking handsome in spite of a slight frown, Mike was in his heavy fleece-lined jacket and had on his hat. “What’s going on? I thought Scotty might want to play in the snow.”

  “Yes, I do,” Scotty said, without looking up. “When I get through.”

  Mike smiled. Scotty’s tongue stuck out the co
rner of his mouth and he carefully tried to stir the way Savannah had showed him.

  “Very good, Scotty,” she said, watching him, but aware of Mike’s arm around her shoulders pulling her against his side.

  “Looks like all is okay here.”

  “Very okay for now,” she said. She frowned and gasped.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know—just a cramp. I haven’t had anything like that before and hope I don’t again,” she said. She was aware of Mike’s steady gaze on her. “I’m okay, Mike.”

  “Tell me if that happens again.”

  “Sure,” she said. “Other than the morning sickness, I’ve been fine.”

  “I think I might as well put away my hat and coat.”

  “No,” Scotty said, turning. Mike grabbed him before he fell off the chair.

  “Watch what you’re doing. We’ll go out when you’re through here.”

  Scotty smiled and went back to stirring. Mike looked at her. “Why don’t you go sit and I’ll help him finish making the cookies.”

  “Go put up your hat and coat and then—”

  She stopped as another painful cramp tightened low inside her.

  “You go sit.”

  She started to protest, but decided Mike was right and left to go to a comfortable chair in the adjoining family area.

  “That is a great job, Scotty,” Mike praised his son and then watched while Scotty rinsed his hands.

  Mike read the recipe. “Looks as if we add chocolate chips now. I’ll open the package and you can pour them into the bowl and we’ll stir them into the mix.” They worked together quietly until Mike put the first batch into the oven.

  As he set a timer, he glanced at Scotty. “Now we wait for those to bake. Be quiet in case Miss Savannah is asleep.”

  Scotty jumped down and ran out of the kitchen to his toys on the other side of the family room. She heard Mike’s boots on the hardwood and then he stood in front of her. “Any more cramps?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll call the doc who delivered Scotty. Okay?”

  “Mike, I should wait a little while. This may be a very temporary thing.”