The Rancher Takes a Family

by Paula Altenburg

  “Uncle Jake has a surprise for you. I helped. Is that an action?”

  Lacey wondered what kind of surprise it might be—especially since he’d allowed a five-year-old to help out. “I’ll have to see the action first. Can I get back to you on that?”

  “’Kay.”

  He was having a difficult time keeping his lids open and his eyes no longer focused. Lacey kissed him good night. That seemed the least she could do. She turned out the light, left the door open, and went downstairs to find Jake.

  Actions might speak louder than words, but right now, she had a lot to say.

  *

  Lacey blew into the kitchen in full warrior princess mode. Her boots clicked on the tile floor and she flipped her hair over her shoulder, ready for battle. Chin up, she came at him.

  Jake sifted through the list of things he might have done to set her off and came up empty-handed. When he’d left them, she’d been reading a tractor catalogue with Finn. How could that have gone south?

  “Why does that child believe nobody loves him?” she demanded.

  Of all the transgressions he might have committed, this one wasn’t even on the list. “I have no idea,” he said.

  They were standing toe-to-toe now, and she had to tip her head to look up. Hazel eyes spouted fire. It made him want to laugh. This was like watching one of Finn’s kittens puff up.

  She jabbed his chest. “He says nobody tells him they love him, anymore.”

  “Guys don’t say things like that,” he replied, relieved it wasn’t something more serious.

  “That’s what he tried to tell me. I told him guys do so. He didn’t seem convinced.”

  “He knows we love him.” Jake didn’t get why she was making such a big fuss. Finn couldn’t possibly doubt that.

  “Okay, smart guy.” Lacey folded her arms. Her elbows poked against his stomach. “How do I feel about you?”

  “What?” There’d been a shift in the conversation somewhere and Jake missed it.

  “You believe you can tell how people feel without them having to tell you. If that’s true, then tell me how I feel about you.”

  Tread lightly, my friend. It’s a trap. “Right now, you seem kind of mad.”

  “But I’m not mad,” she said. “How can I be mad at someone who doesn’t know what he’s done wrong?”

  “Is there any way I can win this argument?” Jake asked.

  “We’re not arguing. I asked you to tell me how I feel about you without me having to say anything, and you can’t do it.”

  Jake had lost this round and he might as well accept it. “I’ll talk to him first thing tomorrow.”

  “Thank you.”

  Her arms crept around him and she pressed her cheek against his chest. He rubbed his hand up and down her back, wishing the kids were already asleep, but fairly confident Mac wasn’t. This whole year was going to be rough.

  “The night is young, Miss Anderson. Your thanks are premature.”

  Round two was coming up, because he had something to show her that was going to prove he was right, too. He’d deliberately kept her away from the family room and his mother’s garden at the back of the house. The garden had undergone a transformation with the help of the boys—Finn enthusiastic, Mac not so much.

  It had been a bittersweet operation. He’d explained to the boys that their mother had once helped him set up a similar surprise for Lacey. That had led to a ton of questions from Finn, focused primarily on whether or not she’d liked the surprise, and he’d found it impossible to tell the boys that she’d never seen it, because then, he’d have to explain. Instead, he’d changed the subject.

  His fudging-the-truth skills when it came to answering awkward child questions could use some honing.

  Now, as he ushered Lacey through the sliding doors from the family room and onto the stone slabs of the garden patio, he experienced that same sense of bittersweetness. He wished like hell that his mom and sister were here to be in on this. They’d been so disappointed for him the first time and he’d like them to know that everything had worked out in the end.

  At least he hoped it was working out. Lacey was pretty much an open book, so yes, he did have a good idea of how she felt about him. Hearing the words spoken out loud would remove any traces of doubt, however—which was why he was willing to concede that she was right, too. He’d talk to Finn first thing in the morning, as he’d promised.

  “What’s all this?” Lacey asked, stopping short.

  The garden, a large stone square surrounded by shrubs, with a round flower bed in the center, had served as a private getaway for his mother when she wanted peace and quiet. A chestnut tree stood at either far corner. They’d strung the tiny white lights between the trees and the house, creating a latticework of stars overhead. He’d placed the DVD player and the box of CDs on a small side table next to the doors. It was a stroke of good luck that his mom never threw anything out. Another table, draped in white cotton and with two matching chairs facing each other, had been set against the shrub border and under one of the chestnut trees.

  He crossed the stone slabs to set the baby monitor on the white cotton cloth. He turned back to Lacey, still in the doorway, and swung one arm wide to encompass the garden.

  “We missed our first dance fifteen years ago,” he said. “I thought I’d make it up to you.”

  “I’m sorry for that,” Lacey said. “I was spoiled and self-absorbed. I should never have expected you to put me ahead of your obligations. I’ve regretted it for years.”

  “You were beautiful, smart, and full of energy,” he corrected her. “You weren’t afraid to go after anything you set your mind to. That was what I liked about you the most. Well,” he amended, “what I liked the most was that this beautiful, smart girl, who smiled sunshine and could have had any boy she wanted, seemed to want me.” Jake leaned past her and flipped the power switch on the CD player already loaded with songs from the early 2000s. “I made a big error in judgment. You aren’t the one who has anything to apologize for.”

  Stars, not sunshine, sparkled in her eyes tonight, not that it mattered. The effect on him was the same. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her forever. He wanted to see that smile first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

  “So, you’re okay with me going to the prom with Rob?” she asked.

  “Hell, no. I’m fine with you breaking his nose, though.”

  “I should have been more understanding when you told me you had to work.”

  “That’s just it,” he said, extending his hand in an invitation to dance. “I didn’t have to work that night.”

  She accepted his hand and stepped into his arms. “You’d better be kidding. I bought that dress especially for you and you never got to see me in it. I was so mad.”

  “You mean you were disappointed but didn’t know the difference between the two emotions yet.”

  “No, I was definitely mad.”

  “Yeah. Liz said you would be, but I was eighteen. It wasn’t the dress I was thinking about.” With a hand low on her back, and fingers twined tight with hers, he swung her into a simple one-step. “This was the night I had planned for you and me.”

  “Dinner with your family and then an evening of dancing under the stars with three little chaperones upstairs?”

  “It would have been dinner for two out here in the garden, and then after that, the evening of dancing under the stars. And there would have been two adult chaperones, not three little ones—although they’d promised to make themselves scarce. I was going to pick you up and bring you here. It was supposed to be a surprise.”

  “And I ruined it.”

  “No. I did that myself. Liz tried to warn me I was making a mistake, but I wouldn’t listen.”

  “Oh, Jake.” Lacey went all soft in his arms. She tilted her chin to look up at him. “Can I tell you how I’m feeling right now or would you rather I show you?”

  “I’m trying to show you how I feel first.” Th
e final strains of one song faded away, then another began. “But I might have to use a few subtitles to get my point entirely across.” He took a deep breath. “I’m in this for the long haul. I hope you are, too. I don’t have a whole lot to offer right now. You already know that, but I thought I should remind you. You won’t always come first. Sometimes the ranch will. Sometimes it will be the kids. But sometimes it will be you, too. And you’ll never come last.”

  “Where do you see us headed?”

  “In a few minutes? Out to the barn. One of the joys of staying home on a Saturday night is getting to monitor the computer systems.” He kissed her lips. She even tasted like sunshine. “The good news is, I have a whole barn full of fresh hay and a baby monitor with quite a range. That was why I asked you to dress casual.”

  But that wasn’t what she meant.

  “Another reason I brought you here is to tell you I’m not pretending for an entire year that there’s nothing between us. Never again are you going to turn to someone else when you need me to be there for you. It should have been me who drove you to Billings.”

  “You don’t get to be there for me unless I get to be there for you, too,” she said.

  “You’ve been there for me a lot more than you realize.” Jake kissed her forehead. “You’ve been exactly what I’ve needed. You make me think about life, and living, and the future. I don’t know how we’ll work everything out, but somehow, we will.”

  She smoothed her hands over his shoulders before meeting his eyes. “What if I told you I’ve already asked to be moved to a different grade and I won’t be teaching Mac, after all?”

  Relief was a heady sensation. And then he felt bad, because she was the one making all of the sacrifices. His mouth kept moving, determined to point out all of the road blocks they faced, when he should be keeping it shut.

  “I’d say that solves part of our problem. What if I said Luke and Zack are going to be underfoot until next summer no matter what?”

  “I’d say we take advantage of it and spend our private time at my house and family time here.” Lacey laid her cheek on his chest. “I want to be a part of your life. As long as you and I know where things are headed, we’re good.”

  She was so much more than he deserved. He hadn’t earned trust from her. But he planned to. “Not entirely, Miss Anderson. I went to a great deal of trouble to show you how I feel about you. The least you can do is tell me whether or not I got it right.”

  Lacey threaded her arms around his neck and gazed into his eyes. Light flooded hers so that he could read every thought.

  “One hundred percent. I love you too, Jake McGregor. Why don’t we go grab that baby monitor and head out to the barn so I can show you how much?”

  Epilogue

  Lydia’s fourth birthday party was well under way, with six of her little preschool friends in attendance and her brothers helping out. They’d kept the party small because Lacey was heavily pregnant with twins and supposed to be on bedrest, but she couldn’t imagine not celebrating.

  A girl only turned four once.

  Posey was here, as was Mara. Posey’s daughter Trixie was one of the six preschoolers. Jake, Luke, and Zack, however, were all working. They said they’d have their cake with supper. The cowards.

  “You aren’t supposed to be carrying that, Aunt Lacey,” Mac said, taking the vegetable tray from her hands.

  At twelve, he was already taller than her. Even worse, he was becoming more like his uncle Jake every day. He’d been appointed her sitter and he took his job seriously.

  They’d talked quite a bit as a family about what the children would call Jake and Lacey since the babies would be calling them Dad and Mom. Mac remembered his parents best and he was more comfortable with uncle and aunt. Finn called them Uncle Dad and Auntie Mom, but already, he was shortening that. Lydia usually settled for Dad and Mom. She knew they weren’t her birth parents but wasn’t particularly interested in the distinction.

  Lacey waddled out to the garden behind Mac. It was late September but the day was sunny and warm. In a few weeks, it would be Finn’s turn for a party. He’d be eight. He was hoping she’d hang on to the babies long enough that they could be born on his birthday, but the Braxton-Hicks contractions had been getting stronger of late, keeping her up at night, and she suspected she wouldn’t make it even though her due date wasn’t for another five weeks.

  Everything out here was in order. A table with a pink cloth and a bouquet of helium balloons had been pushed to one side of the stone patio. Mac eased the vegetable tray onto the table next to the princess cake Posey had made. Finn was waiting for the cake to be cut so he could hand out the slices.

  Posey and Mara were playing a game with the girls. Side-by-side the two women were night and day. Posey’s hair was so blond it was white, and her skin, very fair. Mara had her Mexican father’s dark hair and skin, but her Dutch mother’s high-boned, rosy-cheeked features and vibrant blue eyes. Both women were stunning, and if Lacey didn’t love them so much, she’d really resent them right now. She was so short, and her belly so big, she hadn’t seen her feet in three months.

  She wedged into a chair at the table so she could watch. As she sat down, she felt a puddle of warmth. Water dribbled onto the stones under her chair.

  Posey and Mara’s head swiveled toward her. Their faces wore identical expressions of surprise mixed with concern.

  “My water broke,” Lacey said, stating the obvious, every bit as surprised. She hadn’t felt a single contraction in over an hour.

  “Go get your uncle,” Posey said to Mac. He dashed off, cutting around the corner of the house in a jackrabbit sprint for the barn.

  Mara, too, sprang into action. “Finn, you make sure the girls get their party treats. I’ll call their parents to let them know the party’s over and I’ll be bringing everyone home.”

  Lacey worried for a moment that Lydia might be upset because her party was ending so abruptly, but when Lacey checked, the little girl wore a huge smile.

  “I’m getting the babies for my birthday,” she beamed, clapping her hands.

  *

  Jake tiptoed into his wife’s hospital room, trying hard not to wake her.

  Lacey was exhausted. It had taken almost forty-eight hours for the babies to come. The doctor had wanted her to hang onto them for a little while longer so he could give them meds for lung development. Lydia was mad because they hadn’t arrived as fast as she thought they should, and now they weren’t sharing a birthday with her. All three kids were anxious to meet them.

  The twins, a boy and a girl, were in the neonatal care unit, and would be there for the first few days, but they were healthy. He’d already stopped by to see them. They were so small—tiny, yet perfect. They’d named them Liam Blair, after Jake’s dad and brother-in-law, and Mary Elizabeth, after his mother and sister. The names were Lacey’s idea. He was okay with it because he agreed that naming the babies after Mac, Finn, and Lydia’s parents and grandparents was a great reminder they were all one big, happy family, but Mary Elizabeth…

  That name was so old-fashioned and such a big mouthful. He’d already started calling her Mel for short.

  Lacey’s lashes fluttered a few times, then opened. Sleepy hazel eyes drifted up to meet his. Love for her squeezed his heart so hard it was impossible to get any words out the first try. She was so beautiful and he was the luckiest man alive. Five kids and counting. There’d be more in the future. They had a big house to fill.

  “How are the babies?” she asked, with all the anxiousness of a new mother.

  “They’re fine, Mrs. McGregor.” He loved saying that. It always earned him a smile. “I’m taking you down to see them in a little while. The nurse said you have to use a wheelchair, though.” First, however, he had a surprise in the waiting room for her. “There’s somebody here who wants to see you. Are you up for a few visitors?”

  “The kids can come whenever they want,” she said. “You don’t have to ask.”

 
He helped prop her into a sitting position and tidied her hair. He’d gotten good at making topknots for Lydia because they were easy—a few twists of an elastic band, and voila.

  “Back in a sec,” he said, and ducked out the door.

  A few minutes later, he ushered three people into the room—Clayton, his wife Cherise, and their five-month-old son, Seth.

  Lacey looked up, saw who was with him, and started to cry.

  Jake was used to the tears. They’d freaked him out at first, but pregnancy hormones had her welling up over everything from Lydia’s morning cartoons to the evening news. Clayton, however, hung back a little, ill at ease to begin with even though Jake had assured him that Lacey would be thrilled to have him here.

  Cherise, on the other hand, strode straight to the bed without any hesitation at all, the baby perched on her hip, her hand extended.

  “Hi, I’m Cherise,” she said, ignoring Lacey’s sniffles as the two women shook hands. She grabbed a tissue from the box on the stand beside the bed and handed it to her. Then, she settled the baby in Lacey’s lap. “And this little guy is your nephew, Seth.”

  “Hello, Seth.” Lacey dabbed at her eyes with the tissue. She looked across the room at Clay and the tears welled again. “I’m so very glad you came.”

  “He should know his family,” Clay said, his voice gruff.

  Lacey smiled so wide through her tears that Jake thought his heart might explode.

  The McGregor clan had just grown by three more.

  The End

  The Montana McGregor Brothers series

  Book 1: The Rancher Takes a Family

  View the series here

  Book 2: The Rancher’s Secret Love

  Coming soon!

  Book 3: Coming soon