by Danni Roan
Reese felt the blood rush to his face, as he turned crimson. “Mae, please stay home with me.”
Mae took her foot out of the stirrup and turned toward her husband. “Reese, I don’t see any reason I should stop doing the things I love just because I’m pregnant.” She ran a hand suggestively along his chest.
“Women have babies all the time,” she continued, “they don’t stop living just because they’re big around the middle.” She rubbed her cumbersome tummy and smiled.
“I promise I’ll take it easy.” She turned her dark eyes up to his. “I promise I won’t ride when Mel and Carl come to visit,” she added, kissing him lightly on the chin.
Reese knew when he was beaten. “I’ll get a horse,” he sighed.
“Here ya go, son,” Walt walked back into the barn, leading a saddle mount.
“Did you really stop riding after Mel came?” Meg asked.
“Yes. We were too busy by then, anyway.” She smiled again. “Help Nona with these two will you?” She looked to her lean willowy sister. “And you two behave,” she said as she kissed the twins again and headed out the door.
Mae loved being a mother. It was fun, exciting, and heartwarming, but sometimes she loved to get out on the range and ride. Today she had taken Callie, but the little mare was getting old and they stayed to an even pace instead of the wild gallop of their youth.
She’d traveled about four miles when she saw her husband, his lean gray gelding an easy mark in the bright spring sun. Mae smiled as he lifted a hand in recognition.
Callie cantered down the hill and nickered at her stable mate, as Mae reined her in next to the leggy gray and leaned in for a kiss, letting it linger until the horses shifted.
“Rough night?” she asked, turning the pinto in the direction her husband was going.
“Not really. Mr. Strickland dislocated his shoulder and I had to put it right. I just hope he’ll listen and not overdo it before it heals.” He scowled. “His wife looked tired. They have four children all under the age of five and…” he trailed off, leaving the rest to Mae’s imagination.
“Not everyone can have a ready-made crew for a family,” she said, reaching out to take his hand as they rode.
“Are the kids with Nona?” Reese knew they must be.
“Uh huh,” Mae replied anyway. “We can have a nice long ride home with no interruptions.” She smiled her wickedest grin.
“Mae Lynn, are you trying to get me alone?” Reese raised his brows in mock surprise.
“Trying? I thought I’d already succeeded.” She smiled and headed for a stream and the shade of a sprawling cottonwood tree.
Reese lay on the blanket and looked up through the leaves at the golden sunlight above. Mae snuggled closer, making him smile.
“What are you thinking?” Mae asked sleepily.
“I was just wondering how I got so lucky,” he said, expanding his bare chest with a deep breath of prairie-fresh air.
“And how lucky are you?” Mae lifted herself on her elbows and rested her chin on his warm chest.
“When I came out here, I was a love struck sap,” he said. “I’d left my sister behind, turned my back on my family business and figured I’d be a lonely, miserable old man.”
Mae laughed. “You mean you aren’t a miserable old man now?” she teased.
“Mae.”
“Reese, I never believed anyone could ever love me other than my family, yet you do. Somedays I find that completely overwhelming.”
Reese pulled her close and kissed her. “Life is strange. Sometimes it goes a completely different way than you plan.”
“Is that bad?” Mae asked, her eyes growing soft.
“No, as a matter of fact, it’s beautiful, just like you,” he answered, pulling her to him and kissing her again. “Love seems to find a way, doesn’t it?” he whispered into her ear.
“It does,” she hummed, turning his head for access to his lips.
The End
