Expecting His Brother's Baby (Baby Bonds #3)

by Karen Rose Smith

  A first pregnancy, Brock thought. Did that mean she was thinking about a second one? With someone like Seth? Maybe even with Seth?

  “You’ll forget about a first pregnancy with all the other firsts.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of, so I’ve been keeping a journal.”

  She had given Seth that information so easily, yet she had never told Brock she was keeping a journal.

  When Brock took a proprietary step closer to her, Seth acknowledged him. “Hi, Brock. Good to see you again. I hear you’re looking for a real estate agent.”

  Wild Horse Junction might have gotten a little bigger. Chain stores might be moving in. But the essential gossipy smallness of the town hadn’t changed. “I’ve spoken to a couple of people. Haven’t made a decision yet, though.”

  Kylie’s eyebrows arched and her gaze asked why he hadn’t told her.

  “I’m trying to find the right person for the job,” he said simply. “You want someone who’s experienced, honest and fair, don’t you?” he asked her.

  “That would be ideal,” she returned evenly, and he knew he was going to hear more about this later. They did have to talk it out because he’d have to set up an appointment soon. A month wasn’t all that long to finish what he had to do here, and then be on his way.

  “I’d better be going,” Seth interjected. “I have to drop off the pup for Molly around dawn tomorrow. Amanda insists she wants her there under the tree when Molly wakes up.”

  After a few more minutes of small talk, Seth hugged Kylie again, to Brock’s consternation, and then left the vestibule. Brock noticed Kylie looked after him.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked.

  Startled that he’d noticed, she answered, “He works too hard. He needs a partner so he can take some time for himself.”

  “If he had more time, maybe he’d be spending it with you.”

  “Brock, I told you before that we’re—”

  “Yeah, you told me that you’re friends. Lots of involvements get started with friendship.”

  “I once thought that was a good thing,” she confided. “I knew Alex for so many years. But that didn’t help us, did it?”

  Even tonight, or especially tonight, she was thinking about Alex. He shouldn’t be surprised.

  The steps were cleared of snow as Brock and Kylie exited with Garrett, Gwen, Tiffany and Amy. But he stayed close by her. As they walked around the side of the church to the parking lot, snow started to fall.

  Kylie extended her ungloved hand, letting the flakes land on her palm. “It’s a shame I can’t catch them,” she joked. “But I guess if I caught them, I’d examine them too closely. That’s the beauty of snowflakes. You have to see them while they’re falling. Or in that one instant they land and then disappear.”

  “Philosophical tonight, are we?” Garrett asked, warm affection in his tone.

  Kylie laughed. “I have more time to be philosophical these days.”

  In the parking lot, Gwen and Tiffany both gave Brock Christmas Eve goodbye hugs and Garrett extended his hand. “Merry Christmas.”

  Although Brock was surprised by the fact, he felt as if he’d known Garrett, Gwen and Tiffany longer than he had. Had he really somehow slipped into that circle Kylie had mentioned?

  Once they were in the new truck and headed back to the ranch, Brock glanced at Kylie. “Go ahead.”

  “Go ahead?” she asked ingenuously.

  “Yeah. I’m sure you have something to say about me searching for a real estate agent.”

  “Apparently I don’t have to say anything. Have a guilty conscience?”

  “No.”

  “Well, then, if you haven’t learned to respect my opinion yet, if you didn’t feel I’d be a helpful part of the process, then I guess there’s nothing to say. Is there?”

  “This has nothing to do with my respecting your opinion. I thought I’d just do some of the footwork for you while I was in town.”

  “I’m not going to argue about this, Brock. Not tonight. But let me tell you this. Alex cut me out of a lot of decisions that had to do with his life, mine and the ranch. The ranch is mine now. I’m responsible for it. Just as I’ll be responsible for it after you leave. If there’s a decision to be made, don’t think you’re going to do it on your own under the heading, ‘For Kylie’s own good,’ because I’m going to take care of my own good.”

  With a sigh, Brock thought about those fifty head of Angus. When he presented her with the bill of sale, she might stuff it down his throat. That didn’t matter. She needed them to get the ranch going again. She’d see that eventually.

  He hoped. He didn’t want to leave Saddle Ridge with a rift between them. He didn’t need more regrets to carry along with him.

  Since they hadn’t returned from Christmas services until almost 1:30 a.m., Kylie was a late riser on Christmas morning. After her shower, she dressed in a green maternity top and slacks, and took Brock’s present from her closet.

  As soon as she came into the hall, she smelled the coffee and toast. Bacon, too? Had he waited for her to have breakfast?

  Descending the steps, Brock’s present in her hand, she suddenly felt as if it were inconsequential. A pair of socks, for goodness sakes. He could buy dozens of pairs of socks if he wanted.

  Sunlight streamed through the kitchen windows. It was reflecting off the snow outside and seemed twice as bright. Brock was taking bacon from a frying pan.

  “Merry Christmas!” she said cheerily, hoping they could put aside any differences they had to have a peaceful day.

  “Merry Christmas!” he returned with a slight smile. “Did you actually sleep last night?”

  “I guess the baby got tired out by the services and singing. I actually did get a good night’s sleep.”

  “Well, come on, then. Breakfast is ready. And I have a surprise for you afterward.”

  “A surprise as in—”

  “A surprise as in—you’ll just have to wait and see.”

  So she waited. Throughout breakfast they talked about Gwen’s wedding coming up in a couple of days, the New Year’s Eve celebration in town, how Molly would love her pup.

  Finally when they were finished breakfast, Brock directed her, “Put on long underwear, heavy socks and boots.”

  “Are we going hiking?” she asked with a laugh.

  “Nope. Not in your condition. It’ll take me about fifteen minutes to get this ready. Is that enough time for you?”

  “That’s fine.” She was thinking about her parka and not being able to get it zipped. She’d just have to put on plenty of layers.

  Going to the pantry closet, he took out a large box wrapped in red foil and green ribbon. “You’re going to need this for our excursion.”

  With trembling hands she took the box from him and found it heavy. Setting it on the table, she removed the bow and then the paper. When she lifted the lid, she gasped at what she found inside. Unfolding the wrap, she saw a hooded red wool cape lined in black velvet. “Oh, Brock, you shouldn’t have.”

  “Don’t say it and don’t think it. I knew you wouldn’t invest in a coat to get you through your last weeks of pregnancy. Well, this will work now and later. Seemed like a good idea to me.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. Setting the cape on the table in its box, she went to him and hugged him. There was so much emotion in the hug. It was filled with gratitude, but so much more than that. “How can I ever thank you for all you’ve done?”

  “You don’t have to thank me,” he replied gruffly, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. “It’s Christmas. I wanted to give you something you’d remember and be able to use, too.”

  “Remember?”

  “That’s the second part of my present.”

  “I have a present for you, too, but it’s…it’s small.”

  “A present is a present. It doesn’t matter if it’s big or small.”

  Crossing to the living room, she picked up the box and brought it to him. In a few moments he
had the package opened. Inside, he saw the socks and smiled. “Did you make these?”

  She nodded. “When I did your laundry, I didn’t see any wool socks. If you put them on top of your others when you’re in the barn, they should keep your feet warm.”

  “Thank you, Kylie. They’re just what I need. I’ll put them on now because I need to keep my feet warm this morning. If you have wool socks, you’d better wear them, too.”

  He was making the smallness of the gift unimportant, and she loved him for that, along with everything else. The cape was way too extravagant, but it was obviously a gift he had wanted to give her and she wouldn’t make light of it. Or reject it. Not with him smiling at her that way. Not with that almost joyful look in his eyes that she didn’t see there often. Maybe today they could forget about everything…except Christmas.

  When he went to the sofa, he sank down on it and pulled off his boots, slipping the socks over the ones he was wearing. He grinned at her. “Perfect fit.” Then he pulled on his boots once more.

  When he stood, they just gazed at each other for a few moments, and neither seemed to know what to say. After he approached her, he tipped up her chin and kissed her forehead.

  “Fifteen minutes,” he said huskily. Then he grabbed his sheepskin jacket and went outside.

  Fifteen minutes later, Kylie was ready. She’d donned a double layer of sweaters, put on her heaviest pair of slacks and two layers of socks.

  As she stood on the front porch in her new cape, she couldn’t believe what she saw. There was Brock at the end of the walk with a horse-drawn sleigh! She knew her smile was as wide as her face.

  As she hurried down the path, Brock warned her, “Careful.”

  At least three inches of snow had fallen on top of what hadn’t melted from before. Brock had cleared the concrete for them and she could walk on the bare spots.

  When she reached the sleigh, he said, “I thought we needed something special to do today.”

  All she wanted to do was throw her arms around him. This gift was so thoughtful, all of her words lodged in her throat and she couldn’t get them out.

  Tethering the reins to a cedar near the walk, he came very close and before she knew it he’d swept her up into his arms.

  Laughing, she held onto his neck. “I could have climbed in.”

  “Maybe. But if I put you in the sleigh myself, I know you won’t fall.”

  The sleigh was black, the seat for two upholstered in red leather. Bells were attached to the reins and she felt as if she’d stepped into a Christmas card. Sun glittered off the snow, stretching for miles as the crisp, cold air brushed around her.

  “I was hoping the wind wouldn’t be too bad today or this wouldn’t have worked. I didn’t want to give you frostbite.”

  After he climbed in beside her, he jiggled the reins, the bells jangled and they were off.

  “Where did this come from?”

  “A guy in town has about five of them. He rents them. When he delivered it the other day, I was hoping you wouldn’t come outside. I’ve kept it in the storage shed covered in tarps.”

  “It’s a wonderful surprise. You went to a lot of trouble.”

  “I thought we both needed to make a new memory on Christmas Day.” Brock had tossed two blankets into the sleigh and he insisted she cover up with them.

  The ride was exhilarating and exciting…and joy-filling. Except for thoughts of her baby, she hadn’t experienced true joy since way before Alex had died. It seemed she had been constantly distracted by their problems and how to work them out. But today, she almost felt free.

  That was because of Brock and the stability he’d brought back into her life. Was she mistaking gratitude for deeper feelings?

  Glancing over at him, his profile backlit by the sun, she knew she felt a whole lot more than gratitude.

  “When I was in town earlier this week at the feed store,” Brock commented, “John Bartholomew told me mustangs were spotted in the Painted Peaks.”

  John was Shaye’s brother, and Kylie knew he was a reliable source.

  “One band or more?” The mustangs roamed in bands that were their families.

  “He said one band of four was spotted.”

  “Do you know where?” Excitement filled her that the mustangs had returned to the mountains here.

  “Near Wild Horse Canyon.”

  “Can we go see them?”

  Brock laughed. “I knew you’d ask that. We probably can if we don’t get more snowfall. If the weather’s good tomorrow, we can try it. But if we can’t see them from one of the fire roads, forget hiking.”

  She laughed. “I’ll be satisfied to use binoculars.”

  “Until spring,” he murmured.

  In some ways, he did know her well. Yep, after the baby was born, she’d be near the canyon—hiking, observing, learning.

  “Is that cape warm enough?” he asked.

  Brushing the hood back a little, she assured him, “It’s perfect.”

  Their gazes met and she knew today was a day they’d both always remember. She loved this man in a way she’d never loved Alex. That thought filled her with guilt. It also made her wonder, if anything developed between her and Brock—really developed—could she make a relationship work? Would she even consider jumping into marriage when her last had been so disastrous?

  Pulling her gaze from Brock’s, she looked out over the open fields. She was an idiot for even thinking about marriage when Brock wouldn’t even abide the thought of staying.

  Any dreams she entertained had better concern her baby, not Brock. Or when he left, she’d be devastated.

  When he left, the bottom was going to fall out of her world. There was nothing she could do about that.

  Chapter Ten

  Kylie remembered the rush of wind against her face, Brock’s solid body beside her as she started dinner after their sleigh ride. Both the sleigh ride and the cape he’d given her showed her he cared. But how much did he care? After she finished in the kitchen, she sat on the sofa to take off her boots. The front door opened and Brock came inside. “Something smells good,” he said with a smile.

  “I braised a brisket. It’s simmering.”

  When his dark eyes found hers, she knew the brisket wasn’t the only thing that was simmering. They ignored the chemistry between them. They tried to deny it. They tried to work around it. But it was there, whether they were outside or indoors. The problem was that not only was Alex a barrier between them but so was her love for Saddle Ridge. The ranch was a barrier because Brock saw it as a prize he could never attain. His father hadn’t let him.

  Until Brock could let go of that hurt, Kylie knew he’d never be happy. Saddle Ridge just reminded him of all of it, and so did she.

  Breaking eye contact, he took off his coat and hung it in the foyer closet. Then he came to sit beside her as she absently rubbed one foot.

  “Still cold?”

  She hadn’t felt cold while she was in the sleigh skimming over the snow, loving just sharing the experience with Brock. But as she’d returned to the house, she’d realized how cold her nose, fingers and toes were. Her nose and fingers had warmed up as she’d moved about the kitchen. But her feet…

  Nodding, she responded, “I can’t seem to get my feet warm.”

  Crossing to the fireplace, he opened the screen, touched a match to the wood he’d already positioned there and watched as it crackled to life.

  When he came to the sofa, he sat near the arm and patted his legs. “Swing around. Put your feet up here.”

  Although she didn’t know exactly what he intended, she did know if he were going to touch her this probably wasn’t a good idea. Still, she simply couldn’t resist. She’d shed one of her sweaters but was still wearing both pairs of socks. Now he peeled them from one foot and laid them on the end table. Then his large hand was covering her cold skin, and more than her foot was getting warm.

  “That feels so good,” she murmured.

  Keeping one h
and along the side of her foot, he stroked it with his other. “Do you need help preparing dinner?”

  “Not really. Unless you want mashed potatoes rather than baked. We’ll have to peel.”

  “I can do that.”

  “I made a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing yesterday.”

  His eyebrows arched. “How did I miss that?”

  “Maybe because I stowed it in the laundry room where it will stay cooler.”

  “You just didn’t want me to get at it before today.”

  She laughed, but the laugh soon faded into a contented purr as his fingers did delicious things to her feet. His thumbs stroked up the arch of her foot, massaged the heel, then slid to the instep.

  After a few minutes he said, “I think this one’s warm.” He slipped a sock back on and worked on her other foot.

  His thighs were taut, powerful and muscular under her legs. Today he was wearing a navy flannel shirt with a black T-shirt underneath and black jeans. She was overwhelmed by her desire to wrap her arms around him, lay her head against his chest, stroke his jaw. She could imagine them together so easily.

  Because she loved him? Because she’d finally accepted Alex’s betrayal and what it had meant? Because, whether or not Alex had been willing to put their marriage back together or not, she had doubts that he ever could have given up the rodeo life he loved to stay at home and be a husband and dad?

  Brock, on the other hand…

  He must have felt her staring at him. When he looked at her, there was so much turmoil there, she could hardly stand to see it.

  “I shouldn’t even be touching you,” he said gruffly.

  “Why did you offer?”

  His hands fell from her feet as he blew out a sigh. “I want to do a hell of a lot more than rub your feet. I chose that to pacify myself.”

  Shifting her feet from his lap, she let them drop to the floor and moved over next to him. “You don’t want to feel anything for me.”

  “You were Alex’s wife.”