Wyoming Rugged

by Diana Palmer

  He smoothed the damp hair away from her cheeks. She was almost otherworldly. He ached in inconvenient places and chided himself for that reaction to her. She was a child, compared to him, even if she was in college. “I think innocence is a rare and beautiful thing,” he said after a minute. “And that your husband will be a very lucky man.”

  She smiled shyly. “Thanks.” She pursed her lips.

  “A question?” he teased. “Ask away.”

  “Will your wife be a very lucky woman?” she asked outrageously.

  He burst out laughing. “No. Emphatically, no.” He searched her shimmering eyes. “You really are a pain, aren’t you?”

  She linked her arms around his strong neck. “I truly am.” She smiled at him. “What’s she like, your fiancée?”

  “Black hair, blue eyes, beautiful, sophisticated, very artistic,” he summed her up.

  “And you love her very much.”

  He smiled back. “She’s the first woman I ever asked to marry me. I’ve been too busy making money to think about a private life. Well, about a permanent one, at least.”

  “Is she nice?”

  He frowned. “What a question.”

  “I mean, will she take care of you if you get sick, and stay home and take care of the babies when they come along?” she asked, because she realized if she couldn’t have him, she wanted happiness for him, above all things.

  The questions made him uncomfortable. Elise was uncomfortable with illness. She avoided it like the plague. And she’d already said that if she agreed to have a child, there would be a price, and it would be years from now. Why hadn’t he considered that before? In fact, he’d been so busy that he’d fallen into the engagement without much consideration about compatibility or children. He was so hungry for her that he’d have done anything to get her, including getting married. She kept him at fever pitch, always backing away just in time...

  “Do you want children?” she asked.

  He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yes,” he said, but he sounded troubled.

  “Did I put my foot in my mouth?” she prodded when he scowled.

  “No. Of course not.” He smiled faintly. “I’d never considered those things. I’m sure she’ll take care of me when I’m sick, though.”

  “That’s good, then.” She smiled up at him. “You’ll be a good husband, I think.”

  He looked down at the torn dress and winced. “You poor little creature,” he said softly. “I’m sorry you had such a bad night.”

  “It ended better than it began,” she replied.

  The front door opened and Todd Ashton, Niki’s father, walked in. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his friend and his daughter in the big armchair. Niki was sitting in Blair’s lap. Her dress was torn. And she looked...

  “My friend Laura set me up on a blind date with Harvey the Horror,” she told her father, not budging out of Blair’s lap. “He dragged me in here, after I refused to go to his apartment with him, and if Mr. Coleman hadn’t been here to stop him, he’d have...” She stopped, swallowing hard.

  “I’ll have my lawyers contact his parents,” Todd said icily.

  “I offered to take her to the emergency room and call the sheriff,” Blair sighed. “She wouldn’t.”

  “My poor girl,” Todd said, grimacing. “I’m sorry. I should have been home, but this damned budget crunch drew me into an emergency meeting at work.”

  “I know how that feels,” Blair agreed. He looked down at the girl in his lap. “Better now?” he asked softly, and he smiled.

  “Much better. Thank you for what you did,” she added as she got reluctantly to her feet. It was nice, being held.

  He chuckled. “I’m glad to know I haven’t forgotten how to punch a man,” he said.

  “You hit him? Good for you!” Todd said shortly.

  “I’m going on up,” Niki said wearily. “I really am tired.”

  “You shouldn’t have gone back to classes so soon,” Todd said.

  “I couldn’t afford to miss finals,” she protested. “I did the last one today. Just before Laura hooked me up with Harvey for a dinner celebration.” She sighed. “Some celebration.”

  “When you graduate, Elise and I will take you out for champagne and lobster,” Blair promised.

  She forced a smile and tried to pretend that her heart wasn’t breaking. “That won’t be for another year or two, but thanks. That would be nice.”

  “Elise?”

  “My fiancée,” Blair said with a chuckle. “We’re getting married in two months, in Paris. I’ll make sure you two get an invitation.”

  “I doubt we can make it. But I’ll send a present,” Todd said, grinning. “Something tasteful, I promise.”

  “Good night,” Niki said.

  They echoed the words.

  “Damned bounder,” Blair muttered when he and Todd shared snifters of cognac. “I brought him to his knees and made him apologize. She was pretty shaken.”

  “I haven’t been much of a father,” the older man confessed. “She’s been on her own a lot. Too much, probably.”

  “How old is she?” Blair asked.

  “Nineteen. Almost twenty.”

  “I remember being nineteen.” The other man chuckled. He put aside the brief hunger he’d felt while Niki was in his arms. She was years too young. And besides, he was getting married. “Back in the Dark Ages. She’s a nice girl. You’ve done a good job raising her.”

  “Thanks. And thanks for saving her from the football hero.”

  He shrugged. “What are friends for?” he asked, with twinkling black eyes.

  * * *

  IT WAS A year later when Blair came back to the ranch to spend a few days. He and Todd had seen each other socially on occasion, but he hadn’t come to the ranch since the night Niki had her bad encounter.

  He and Elise were having problems. Big problems. He was broody and wouldn’t talk to Todd. But he talked to Niki. It was the Christmas holidays, and the tree was glorious. Despite a few sick days, Niki had managed to do all the decorating herself. The tree was nine feet tall, decked out in red beaded strands and red velvet bows, with every sort of ornament imaginable, especially mechanical ones. There were trains that ran, dancers who danced and starships that made blast-off noises. It was glorious.

  “I’ve never had a Christmas tree,” Blair had to confess. “But I’m tempted, after seeing this one.”

  Niki laughed softly. “You should have Elise decorate one for you.”

  His face closed up. “She’s not much for the holidays.”

  She cocked her head and looked up at him with warm, curious eyes. “Aren’t you?”

  He shrugged. “I like Christmas. It was my mother’s favorite holiday. She was forever buying decorations. I still have them, in storage.”

  “You sound sad,” she said.

  “She died over a year ago. It’s been lonely.”

  “No brothers or sisters?”

  He shook his head. “My...father died ten years ago.” Again, that odd hesitation. “It was just my mother and me.”

  “Now it’s Elise and you,” she said, lowering her eyes. “So you still have family.”

  “Yes.”

  His tone wasn’t pleasant. She wondered why. He’d been so happy the last time they’d seen each other, talking about his upcoming marriage, bragging about his fiancée. And now he was somber, quiet.

  “They say marriages sometimes start rocky and end happy,” she blurted out.

  He glanced down at her, his black eyes twinkling. “Do they, now?”

  “Okay, I’m no authority on couples. You might remember my first and last attempt at that,” she added with a little laugh.

  “Don’t tell me you haven’t been out wit
h anyone since,” he said, surprised.

  She grimaced. “Well, I was sort of afraid to try again,” she confessed. “I wasn’t sure you’d be around to rescue me when my date brought me home,” she added with a smile. She couldn’t confess that no man in the world could compare to Blair, in her mind or her heart.

  He stuck his hands in his pockets. “How did the football hero fare?” he asked.

  “He went back East rather suddenly after my father’s attorney had a talk with his father,” she said. “Strange, isn’t it?”

  “Very.”

  “If he tries it again, I hope the girl’s father belongs to the mob and they find him floating down some river in an oil drum,” she said firmly.

  He laughed under his breath. “Vicious girl.”

  “You’re right. That wasn’t nice at all. Can you put this on for me? I can’t quite reach.” She indicated a spot high on the tree where she wanted one last red velvet bow.

  “You can reach.” He caught her small waist and lifted her easily within reach of the branch. She was so slight, it was like lifting a feather. The feel of her, the scent of her, was disturbing.

  She laughed. “You’re awfully strong,” she remarked when he set her down again.

  He moved away from her rather quickly. “It comes from wrestling with my board of directors,” he replied drily.

  She moved back and looked at the tree. “Will it do, you think?”

  “It’s lovely.” He frowned. “Do you and your father have any other family?”

  “Not really. He has an aunt, but she lives overseas. He didn’t have brothers and sisters. My mother did, but her only brother died when I was in grammar school.” She looked up at him. “Didn’t Elise want to come with you?” she asked. “I’d love to meet her. I’m sure Daddy would, too.” She was lying through her teeth. She never wanted to meet Elise, if she could help it.

  “She’s in Europe with some friends,” he said.

  “Oh.” She didn’t really know what else to say. She went back to her decorating.

  His voice sounded raspy.

  “Are you all right?” she asked.

  He drew in a breath and grimaced. “My chest feels a bit tight. I think it’s allergies. I get them this time of year.”

  “Me, too,” Niki confessed. “But mine usually lead to pneumonia. I had it in my early teens. I guess it repeats. It’s so unfair. I don’t even smoke.”

  “Neither do I,” Blair replied. “People around me do, however. I came here by way of Saudi Arabia. I was coughing before I got on the plane. It’s probably just the allergy.”

  She nodded. But he sounded the way she did when she was coming down with a chest infection. Men never seemed to want to admit to illness. Perhaps they thought of it as a weakness.

  * * *

  BLAIR DIDN’T GET up for breakfast the next morning. Niki was worried, so she asked her father to look in on their guest. She wasn’t at all sure if he wore pajamas, and she didn’t want to walk in on him if he didn’t.

  Her father was back in a minute, looking concerned. “I think I’d better ask Doctor Fred to come out and check him. He’s got a fever, and he’s breathing rough. I think it’s bronchitis. Maybe something more.”

  Niki didn’t have to ask how he knew. He’d seen her through pneumonia too many times to mistake the symptoms.

  “That might be a good idea,” she agreed.

  * * *

  DR. FRED MORRIS came out and examined Blair, prescribing a heavy cough syrup along with an antibiotic.

  “If he isn’t better in three days, you call me,” Fred told Niki’s father.

  “I will.”

  “And you stay out of his room until the antibiotic takes hold,” Fred told Niki firmly. “You don’t need to catch this again.”

  “It might not be contagious,” she protested.

  “But it might be. Humor me.”

  She managed a faint smile. “Okay, Dr. Fred.”

  “Good girl. I’ll be in my office until late, if you need me,” he told her father as they shook hands.

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  * * *

  NIKI INSISTED THAT her father call Elise and tell her that Blair was sick and needed her. Todd was reluctant, but he badgered Blair until he got the number. He called her.

  Niki never knew what was said, but her father came out of his office cold-eyed and angry.

  “Is she coming?” she asked.

  Her father made a rough sound in his throat. “She said that’s what doctors are for, getting people well. She doesn’t do illness, and she doesn’t want to be exposed to what he’s got anyway. There’s a ball tomorrow night in Vienna. A friend is taking her.”

  Niki felt sick to her stomach. What sort of woman had Blair married, for heaven’s sake?

  “It’s not our business,” her father reminded her.

  “He was so kind to me, when Harvey attacked me,” she recalled. “I thought he’d found a nice woman who’d want to have children and take care of him.”

  “Fat chance, that woman ever having a child,” her father scoffed. “It might interfere with her social plans!”

  She sighed. “Well, we’ll take care of him.”

  “Mrs. Hanes and I will do that, until he’s no longer contagious,” her father emphasized. “I’m not risking you. Don’t even ask.”

  She smiled and hugged him. “Okay, Daddy.”

  “That’s my girl.” He kissed the top of her head. “Poor guy. If it’s this bad and they’ve only been married a year or so...” He let the rest of the sentence taper off.

  “Things might get better,” she said. But she didn’t really believe it.

  “They might. Let’s have Mrs. Hanes fix us something to eat.”

  “I’ll ask her.”

  * * *

  EDNA HANES HAD been the Ashtons’ housekeeper for over twelve years. She was as much a mother as a housekeeper to Niki, who adored her. When Niki had her sick spells, Mrs. Hanes was the one who nursed her, even when her father was home. He was a kind man, but he was out of place in a sick room. Not that he’d ever been unkind to his daughter. Quite the opposite.

  “She’s not coming, then?” Edna asked Niki about Blair’s wife.

  “No. There’s a dance. In Vienna,” she replied with a speaking glance.

  Edna made a face. “He’s a good man, Mr. Coleman,” she said, pulling out pans to start supper. “I hate to see him married to someone like that. Wants his money, maybe, and not him, as well, but had to take the one to get the other.”

  “He said she was beautiful.”

  “Beautiful isn’t as important as kind,” Edna replied.

  “That’s what I think, too.”

  “Pity you aren’t older, my girl,” Edna said with a sigh.

  “Why?” Niki asked, smiling.

  Edna forgot sometimes how unworldly the younger woman was. “Nothing,” she said quickly. “I was just talking to myself. How about mincing some onion for me, and I’ll get this casserole going!”

  “I’d be happy to help.”

  * * *

  BLAIR WASN’T DOING WELL. Niki managed to get into his room the next day while her father was out talking to his foreman and Edna went shopping.

  His chest was bare, although the covers were pulled up to his diaphragm. He had a magnificent chest, she thought with helpless longing, broad and covered with thick, curling hair. Muscular and manly.

  He opened bloodshot, feverish eyes to look at her as she touched his forehead. “You shouldn’t be in here,” he said in a gentle tone. “I might be contagious.”

  “I’m not worried. Well, not about me. You should be better by now. When an antibiotic starts working, you can feel the difference.�
��

  He drew in a raspy breath and grimaced. “He gave me penicillin. It usually does the trick.”

  “Maybe not this time. I’m calling him right now.”

  She went out the door and phoned the doctor.

  He was perturbed that she was trying to nurse Blair. “Listen, if you get it again, it might go into pleurisy,” he argued.

  “Now, Doctor Fred,” she teased softly, “you know I’ve just finished a course of antibiotics. I’m not likely to pick anything up. Besides, there’s nobody else to do this. Edna has her hands full just with meals, and Daddy’s in the middle of a business deal. Not that he’s a nursely sort of person,” she laughed.

  He sighed. “I see your point. Isn’t Coleman married? Where’s his wife? Did you call her?”

  “There’s a ball someplace in Europe where she has to go dancing,” she said, the contempt in her voice unmistakable.

  “I see.” His tone was noncommittal. “Well, I’ll phone in another prescription, something stronger, and a stronger cough syrup, as well. Try to get some fluids into him. And I don’t want to have you wind up in my office...”

  “I’ll be very careful, Doctor,” she promised, thanked him quickly and hung up.

  * * *

  LATER, SHE SENT one of the ranch’s cowboys into town to get the new medicines, which she’d coaxed out of the poor, harried pharmacist, a friend from high school.

  Blair grumbled when she came in with more medicine. “Niki, you’re going to come down with this damned stuff,” he complained.

  “Just be quiet and take the nice tablet,” she interrupted, handing him a glass of orange juice with crushed ice.

  He frowned. “How did you know I like this?” he wondered.

  She laughed. “I didn’t. But I do now. Come on, Blair. Take the pill.” She coaxed his mouth open and dropped the large tablet in.

  “Bully,” he muttered in his deep voice.