The Cowboy and His Baby

by Jessica Clare

  Being alone and without strings attached had lost its appeal overnight. Maybe he’d never met the right person until she’d come into his life. Maybe that’s how these sorts of things worked.

  He didn’t know, and he didn’t much care as long as Annie was happy.

  But she wanted to have a “conversation” tonight, and that worried him. He wondered what had come up. Was it something about the baby? About Theresa? He really needed to go into town and set that woman straight if she was still harassing his Annie. Protectiveness for his woman and his baby swept over him.

  He needed to make sure they were happy and safe, and if that meant giving the entire town a piece of his mind, he’d do just that. So as the others talked and laughed, Dustin pretended to listen, smiling when appropriate. In his mind, though, he planned. He needed to show Annie off to others more. He needed them to realize he was serious about her, and it’d take more than just one dinner in town to convince them of such things. It would need to be small gestures at first, so they seemed casual and normal. Tonight, for example, he could run to the mini-mart and pick her up some ice cream and pickles. That was what pregnant ladies liked, right? Gus would be behind the counter, and Dustin would make a joke about the upcoming baby and still show how proud he was of things. He’d make sure to talk about Annie and how much he cared for her. Tomorrow, he’d go see Hetty over at the souvenir shop and discuss what he needed to do to get a wedding band for his girl. They could be engaged for as long as she felt comfortable, but if he was asking around, people would know he was serious. Dustin knew he could just head in to Casper and look for a jewelry store, but if he did it here, in Painted Barrel, it’d be all over the town in a matter of days. They’d all be talking about how Dustin Worthington, cowboy “Lothario” as Annie had called him, was ready to settle down.

  Yeah, he could get this all working perfectly. And he’d stop by the pharmacy when Theresa was working and give her a piece of his mind.

  There was a magazine rack at the pharmacy, too. Maybe he’d see what he could find about babies so he could read up and not be so clueless.

  Annie looked over at him and smiled, her freckles lovely and bright across her cute nose, and his chest felt tight with how badly he wanted this to work out. He jumped to his feet, ready to put his plan into action. “You want ice cream, sweetheart?”

  “I . . .” She looked puzzled. “Like, right now?”

  Everyone was looking at him oddly. Well, except Eli. Eli just smirked as if he had an idea of what was going through Dustin’s mind.

  “Yeah, I need to get some gas for my truck. Figured I’d pick you up a snack.”

  “Okay?” She smiled faintly, as if still confused by his request. “Cookies, too?”

  Cass groaned at her side, rubbing her belly. “Oh man, I didn’t think I could eat anything else until you mentioned cookies. Now I want some.”

  “Isn’t there a whole plate of baked goods in the kitchen?” Jordy asked, confused.

  “Not the same thing,” Dustin said quickly, and was relieved when no one contradicted him. He went to Annie’s side, kissed her quickly, and then snagged his hat from the peg by the door. “Be back soon. Come on, Moose.”

  The big dog lumbered after him, tail wagging.

  Two hours later, Dustin was headed back to the ranch, several pints of Ben & Jerry’s tucked into a bag next to him, along with every kind of cookie the mini-mart had on its shelves. Gus had smirked at the sweets and joked that his wife had always wanted peanut butter when she was pregnant, and so Dustin picked up some of that, too. Gus had also asked Annie’s due date, and Dustin had given a vague answer. It bothered him that he didn’t know the details of that just yet, and he made a mental note to ask.

  He’d stopped by the pharmacy, too, but Theresa wasn’t there. A teenager—one of Rebecca Hill’s daughters from the nearby Hill Top Ranch—was working the register and gave him a blank look when he asked about baby magazines, then slapped a thick book onto the counter.

  What to Expect When You’re Expecting. He’d bought it, a little bewildered at how thick the dang thing was. He’d always thought of himself as a pretty smart guy, but the sight of a baby book that thick threw him for a loop. How much did one have to know about having a baby?

  Suddenly he felt as if he was falling down on the job of fatherhood. He needed to pay attention to these things, he realized. He needed to start preparing.

  Everything was going to change the night Morgan arrived. Or Lee. Whatever Annie wanted to call him. Or her.

  He went inside the ranch house, offered Cass her pint of ice cream and pick of the cookies, then headed in to his room. It occurred to him—so many things were hitting him tonight—that they didn’t have a place for a baby to sleep. There was no extra room, and Cass and Eli had turned the office into a room in anticipation of their baby. All right, he’d talk with Annie about it, and see what she wanted to do. Maybe they could make something work here at the ranch. If not, maybe they could rent a place in town and he could drive out to the ranch every morning.

  Unless she wanted to go back to LA. Dustin shuddered at the thought. He was a roamer, sure, but he’d never been much of one for crowded places like that. He’d gone to New York City once, on a whim, and then promptly left again. It was too busy, too packed, too dirty, too clustered. He preferred the open air of the countryside, the scenery of the mountains, and most of all, the quiet.

  He wondered which one Annie would prefer.

  The door to their room was shut, so he knocked politely, then stuck his head in. His woman—man, he liked saying that—was in bed, playing a candy game on her phone and she sat up at the sight of him.

  “Brought you ice cream.” Dustin set the now-drippy container on the nearest dresser and grimaced. “I’ll go get you a spoon.”

  “I’m not hungry,” Annie told him, and clasped her hands in her lap. “Dustin, are you avoiding me?”

  “What? No. Not at all. Let me put this away, then—”

  “Dustin—” she called, but he disappeared into the kitchen, sticking the ice cream in the fridge. Was he avoiding her? Hell, maybe he just didn’t want to hear whatever bad news bomb she was going to lob at him. He didn’t want to hear her talk about leaving him. He didn’t want to hear any of that, so yeah, in a way, he guessed he was avoiding her. He headed back to the room, and then shut the door behind him. Annie looked so pretty and so concerned that he moved to her side and pulled her against him.

  Maybe he could kiss that worried frown off her face. Tipping a hand under her chin, he lifted her mouth and captured her lips with his in an intimate kiss, a slow, thoughtful one that would tell her just how much he adored her.

  Annie pulled away from him, breathless, her eyes confused. “Are you trying to distract me?”

  Busted. He chuckled. “Maybe a little.”

  “I do want to talk.” Her gaze slid to his mouth and her fingers toyed with the front of his shirt. “We can kiss, but after we discuss some stuff, okay?”

  “All right.” Dustin braced himself, ready to hear the worst. He concentrated on memorizing the feel of her body against him, just in case this was the last time he got to hold her tight. If she wanted to go, he wouldn’t keep her, no matter how much it’d kill him, but it didn’t mean that it wouldn’t destroy him inside.

  But this wasn’t about just him and what he wanted, so he waited.

  Annie took a deep breath . . . and then began. “Dustin, I need to know what your plans are.”

  His plans? He wanted to laugh with relief. Was that what the urgent, private conversation was going to be about? He gestured at the fat book on the dresser. “Well, first I’m going to read up about pregnancies, and then I’m going to shower—”

  She patted his chest over his heart, frowning. “No, I mean . . . us. As a family. Or separate. What’s your plan? What do you want?”

  He captured her
hand in his, brought her fingertips to his mouth and lightly kissed them. “You have to ask? I want us to be a family. You, me, and Morgan. It is Morgan, right?”

  She nodded, a hint of a smile coaxing from her mouth. “I think so. And . . . I just want to be sure we both want this.”

  “I wanted you the moment I met you. That hasn’t changed one bit. If anything, it’s only intensified with every breath I take.” He nipped at her fingers. “The baby is just a wonderful surprise.”

  “And where are we six months from now?” she asked, gazing up at him.

  “Together, of course. Six months into a loving, happy relationship.”

  “I want that.” Annie shook her head slightly. “But I mean . . . where are we together? Where is our location? Where do you envision us?”

  “Ah.” He held her hand over his chest. “Well, my thing is I don’t rightly care where we are as long as I’m with you and the baby.”

  “Do you want to stay in Wyoming?”

  “If my other choice is LA? Yeah, I’d rather be out here.” He grinned to take the sting out of his words, stroking his thumb over the back of her hand. “If you want to go back to California, I’ll pack up here and go with you, but there’s not a lot of cowboy work in that area, I hear.”

  “No, I imagine not.” Her lips twitched with amusement.

  “It’d make more sense for us to stay here in Wyoming,” he ventured slowly, and then squeezed her hand. “I have steady work here, and there’s room enough for both of us here at the ranch. But only if that’s what you want to do.”

  Annie bit her lip. “I like the ranch. I like the people here, but adding another person and their dog is a change for everyone. Adding a person, their dog, and a newborn baby? That’s going to be rough on everyone. Are you sure it’s all right with Eli and Cass and Jordy and Old Clyde? I don’t want to impose on them.”

  “Eli won’t care. Cass will be thrilled. Old Clyde likes you, so he’d be fine with it, and he’s good with babies, or so I hear.” He rubbed her back, tucking her against him. “And Jordy, well, much as I like Jordy, the kid has different plans.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yep. Told Eli a few weeks ago that he’s joining the navy. We thought he was going to ship out in spring after calving, but it seems that there’s some sort of incentive for him to join sooner, and so he leaves in about a month. We could always use his room as the baby’s room once he moves out and then decide what to do if and when we get another ranch hand. It always takes a bit of time to replace someone.”

  “I see.” She looked thoughtful, resting her cheek against him. “No one would mind if I stayed? You’re sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure.”

  “Because I’m training the dogs?”

  Because I want to marry you, he wanted to tell her, but he bit back the words. Not yet. He wanted the proposal to be a surprise—and he wanted to do it in public so everyone in Painted Barrel would know that Annie was his. “Because you’re with me,” Dustin said, instead. “And nothing else matters. You don’t have to train the dogs if you don’t want to. You can take time off. If you want to do nothing but sit around and grow a baby for the next year, I’m totally fine with that.”

  She patted his stomach. “Wow, you really do need that baby book if you think it takes a year more to gestate a baby.”

  He laughed. “I’m just joking. In all seriousness, I want you to be happy. You said you were done with movies for now. Take time and figure out what you want to do. Write a script. Train more dogs. Hell, train the cattle to do tricks. I don’t care as long as we’re together.” Dustin squeezed her hand again. “If you’re worried about money, I have some. I have a nest egg I’ve been saving up for a while. It’s more than enough to cover anything that’ll come up for a while, so relax and let me take care of you for a bit.”

  For some reason, the mention of money just made her look even more worried. “What about you?”

  “Well,” he drawled, teasing, “I was kind of hoping I was still included in all these plans I’m talking about.”

  Annie blushed, glancing up at him. “You know what I mean. Doesn’t this go against everything you wanted? Settling in one place? Staying in one location for a long time? Starting a family?” She hesitated, then continued. “Cass told me about the boat. How you’d been talking about it for a long time. I don’t want you to abandon your dreams for me and the baby.”

  The boat.

  Huh.

  Funny, he hadn’t thought about the boat in days now. It always seemed like an interesting idea for the future, something to do to alleviate the boredom of settling down in one place. He didn’t feel that way anymore, though. The nagging, itching boredom was gone. Instead, all he could think about was the baby and Annie and a sense of anticipation for the future. They’d be shorthanded at the ranch come spring with Jordy leaving, but he was all right with that. Annie would be here, and Morgan would be here.

  Just the thought of that brought a fierce happiness to him. “Plans change, Annie sweetheart. We go with the flow.” And he leaned in and gave her another kiss.

  She smiled up at him, but the uncertainty was still in her eyes.

  It’d disappear when he gave her a ring, he figured. Dustin made a mental note to slip away from the ranch tomorrow and have a word with Hetty in town, kill two birds with one stone.

  The sooner his Annie had his ring on her finger, she’d rest easier. And him?

  He’d be so damned happy. His Annie. His baby.

  For once in his life, it felt like that was all he needed, and that was a great feeling.

  * * *

  • • •

  They made love gently and sweetly that night, and Annie was exhausted when she finally curled up in her nest of pillows, Dustin’s big body behind her as they drifted off to sleep.

  Well, he drifted. She remained awake, her mind worrying over their conversation. He told her not to worry about the boat. That it didn’t mean anything to him now. That he was focused on her and the baby. It sounded wonderful, and just what she wanted to hear . . . which was why she worried about it, of course. She remembered a conversation with Dustin months ago, where he’d told her about his father and how he’d had to settle down once he’d gotten Dustin’s mother pregnant.

  Dustin had hated the thought of settling down so very much that he ran away from home.

  And here they were, about to repeat history.

  He couldn’t be happy about it. No matter what he said to her, it had to be a big change to how he viewed his future, and the thought made her ache. It might not bother him right now, but in two months? Four? A year? If he was already talking about leaving the ranch in the spring and was staying now? She worried he’d come to resent both her and the baby for holding him back.

  Annie loved him, she realized. It was fast, and it was messy—like much of their relationship—but she really, truly loved him. And because she loved him, she wanted his happiness . . . even if it wasn’t with her. Even if it meant that they’d have to go their separate ways. He said this was what he wanted right now, though. He told her she was being silly and worrying over nothing.

  Her heart hurt. She didn’t know what to do. She knew she should leave and prompt him to leave, too. That if she was back in LA, he’d follow his dream of boating and exploring the coast. He could come visit them a few times a year, she figured. The baby would have the best of both worlds. Dustin would have his dream.

  And Annie? Well. She’d figure something out, eventually. She wouldn’t be happy with him gone, but she also didn’t want to be the reason he felt trapped.

  There was no right answer. She hugged one of the pillows against her chest and tried not to worry too much just yet.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Life settled into an easy, comfortable pace for the next week. Annie loved being at the Price Ranch. There was always more t
o see and do, and the ranch chores were never-ending and always interesting. One day she and Cass took one of the all-terrain vehicles and hunted down the location of a few wandering cows while the men fixed the fence. One day they worked on setting up a beautiful changing table that Cass had ordered online, and it showed up with no instructions and thirty-two different pieces. They’d ended up giggling hysterically at the monstrosity they put together, and then turned the project over to Eli to finish.

  It was nice to have a friend outside of work, and it was especially nice that they were both going through pregnancy at the same time. They shared advice and discussed things that they felt comfortable only talking about with each other and not their men. Cass gave Annie clothes, and Annie worked with Joy, who now went to her mat in the corner of the kitchen, tail politely wagging as she waited to be gifted cheese—every dog’s favorite treat.

  The others at the ranch didn’t seem to mind Dustin’s announcement that Annie would be staying for a while. In fact, they didn’t even look surprised, which made Annie wonder if Dustin had perhaps had that conversation with them prior to having it with her.

  Kitty texted Annie all day long, demanding pictures of her “fat belly” and then cooing over them. Cass referred Annie to an obstetrician in Casper that she went to. Cass was going to have a home birth and Doc Parsons—the vet at a nearby ranch—was going to attend her. No one thought this was weird, so Annie just rolled with it (though privately she still wanted a hospital and a doctor on hand).

  Spidey had settled in, too. His nervousness had disappeared and he loved having the other dogs to play with. He followed Joy around all day as if she were his big sister, and when the cowboys came home at night, Spidey curled up with Moose and they shared toys as if brothers separated at birth. Moose, patient, silent soul that he was, tolerated all of it with the occasional meaningful look toward Dustin.