Beth found Jon and Lexie in the bathroom. He looked up from the tub of water where Lexie sat playing with a rubber alligator mother and her three babies.
“She had mashed potatoes in her hair. I figured a bath wouldn’t hurt.”
Beth smiled. “I see. It not only gets her clean, but playing in the water does wonders for helping her forget her little temper tantrum.”
Jon grinned and shrugged. “Sure. You want to put Stevie in here, too?”
“As soon as you get Lexie out. I’ve found I get a whole lot less wet when I do one at a time.”
“Good thinking.” Jon picked up a towel and held it out toward Lexie. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go bye, bye.”
As Jon took Lexie from the water, Beth moved deeper into the bathroom and got Stevie ready for her bath. Just as Jon stepped out into the hall, she stopped him. “I bought some new outfits for the girls the other day. They’re hanging in the closet.”
“How am I supposed to recognize them?”
“Easy. They still have the tags on.”
“Okay. Which one is Lexie’s?”
Beth shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. They’re just alike.” She called after him as he moved away. “And the same size.”
By the time Beth and Stevie got to the nursery, Jon had Lexie almost dressed. He spoke without taking his attention from the tiny buttons on the back of the white dress with red and blue stars of various sizes on it. “These are cute. Kind of patriotic.”
“That’s the idea. Red, white and blue for the Fourth of July. It’s early yet, but I thought they could break them in today. They should still fit in July.”
Beth pulled Stevie’s matching dress and diaper cover from the closet and soon had her dressed. She looked at the two babies. Except for their eye color and facial features, the girls looked remarkably alike in their new outfits. No wonder they had been switched without anyone suspecting. If their blood type hadn’t been so different, the error might never have been discovered.
“Are you ready to go?” Jon held Lexie. “Where’s the double stroller?”
“In the hall closet downstairs. I used it when we went shopping with Cecelia.”
Beth started to follow Jon through the door but paused as their conversation penetrated her mind. How domestic sounding could they be? Actually, far too much of their conversation when they were with the girls sounded this way. She hurried to catch up.
She took Lexie while he got the stroller and opened the outside door for her. Then together they walked to his van and Beth waited with the girls while he unlocked the doors. While he stowed the stroller in the back, she slipped Stevie into her car seat. By then Jon took over and fastened Stevie into the seat while Beth went to the other side and secured Lexie into her seat.
All of this was done as a matter of course. Just like their earlier conversation. Very much like a married couple. Beth shook her head. She needed to watch where her thoughts were headed. She got in front next to Jon and glanced at him as she buckled her seatbelt. Nothing had changed in their relationship. Why would she think of Jon as anything other than Stevie’s biological father? To make sure her mind didn’t stray into unwelcome territory again, she concentrated on the houses and buildings outside her window as they passed by.
At the zoo, Jon took Stevie while Beth got Lexie and together they buckled them into the double stroller. Beth noticed several people stop to smile at the babies. Although she had not intended to make them look like twins, She would have a hard time convincing a stranger now that they were actually no blood relation at all. For a reason she didn’t take time to analyze, she didn’t care. Instead, she enjoyed the second looks almost everyone gave them.
What did bother Beth was when she found herself daydreaming that she and Jon and the girls were a family on a Sunday afternoon outing.
“Let’s go see the lambs first.” Jon pushed the stroller while Beth walked beside him.
The petting zoo, located next to the main zoo, was not large. With only three or four fenced off yards, Beth figured it wouldn’t take long to pet every animal in the zoo. What she didn’t count on was the girl’s enthusiasm.
Jon took Stevie from the stroller and knelt beside a fluffy white lamb. “Mine housh.” Stevie grabbed an armful of lamb and held on.
“Housh?” Jon looked up at Beth. “What does that mean?”
Beth giggled. “I think it means she intends to take it home with her.”
Lexie wanted the same lamb. Beth set her down and knelt beside her.
With both hands reaching, Lexie squatted beside the baby lamb. Before Beth or Jon realized what she had in mind, she slapped the little animal on its side with her open hands. The lamb jerked and squirmed free from Stevie, letting out a sound guaranteed to bring his mother if she had been nearby. Stevie’s face crumpled and she wailed. Lexie looked from the lamb, now on his feet running away, to Stevie and she began to cry.
With both babies crying at the top of their lungs, Jon and Beth became the center of attention. Beth stood with Lexie clutched close and wished she could disappear.
“Now what?” Jon looked like he shared her thought as he tried to quiet Stevie.
“I think we make a rapid exit before we’re thrown out.” Beth reached for the stroller and Jon’s hand closed over hers.
Jon jerked his hand away. “I’m sorry.”
Was he apologizing for touching her? Beth carried Lexie and pushed the stroller away from the enclosed area to the center of the zoo. By that time the girls’ tears had subsided so they buckled them into the stroller.
“Do we risk another encounter or go home while we’re ahead?”
By encounter, Beth didn’t know whether Jon meant holding hands or petting animals. Her hand still tingled where he’d touched it. She decided to play it safe and assume he meant the animals. She grimaced. “This was your idea. You decide.”
Jon looked around the zoo and shrugged. “I’m willing to try again if you are. Should we go with a larger animal or a smaller one?”
“Maybe a larger one could defend itself better.”
Jon indicated the pen holding a few goats, calves, one large camel, and several other similar animals. A sign advertised a pony ride for three dollars. Several children and their parents moved from one animal to another. “Maybe one of those?”
Beth nodded. “That might be safe enough if we wait a few years on the pony ride.”
Jon grinned. “I agree. I don’t know what we would do if our daughters started a stampede.”
“Can a person die of embarrassment?” Beth’s question brought a chuckle from Jon.
“I think they just wish they could.”
When Beth reached the gate, Jon leaned around her to open it. She felt his hand touch her waist as if to guide her as she pushed the stroller into the pen and wondered if he realized what he was doing.
After the episode with the baby lamb, Jon and Beth kept a closer watch on the girls. Stevie and Lexie took turns sitting on a calf and touching one of the goats. They were both afraid of the camel when it turned to look at them. After that, Jon decided they could pet the smaller animals. So they held rabbits, kittens, and puppies. Then, Beth held a down-covered duck in her hand and let the girls take turns touching it with Jon’s supervision.
“Have we petted, touched, squeezed, and hit enough animals yet?” Jon grinned at Beth.
She smiled. “Probably so. I’m seeing some droopy eyes. Maybe a quick drive will finish the job.”
Jon laughed. “Why do I get the feeling you’re avoiding the terrible three-letter word that begins with ‘n’?”
“Because I am.” Beth’s heart sped up when Jon’s eyes met hers. Still, both girls fell asleep before they left the parking lot.
On the way home Jon glanced toward Beth. He finally spoke when he stopped at a stoplight. “Do you ride?”
Thinking of the animals they had just seen, Beth assumed he didn’t mean in an automobile. “If you mean horses, the answer is probably no, but
I have before.”
“Yes, I meant horses. My family goes to a dude ranch in Kansas every year in June. I thought you might like to go with us. You don’t have to know how to ride. Just be willing to sit in the saddle and let the horse walk. They have some pretty tame horses.”
“What about the girls?”
Jon grinned at her. “Our parents don’t go. They want the girls for the weekend. And Robbie.” He laughed. “They don’t have any idea what they’re getting into.”
Beth smiled. “That’s true, but—”
“It also gives Mrs. Garrett a chance to get away for the weekend. She always looks forward to us being gone.” Had Jon interrupted to keep her from turning him down?
“Did Cecelia tell you to ask me?” Beth knew the answer before she asked.
The light changed and Jon drove through the intersection. He shrugged. “She suggested I ask, but I really want you to go.” He turned just enough so she could see his dimple when he grinned. “Please.”
Disappointment dampened Beth’s eagerness to spend an entire weekend with Jon. Knowing the invitation had not originated with him warned her she would not actually be with him. Still, her desire for whatever crumbs he handed out overrode what little common sense she had left in his presence.
Beth’s lips twitched as a smile formed. “All right. I’ll go. But someone will have to help me stay on the horse if I go riding.”
“Oh, you’ll go riding. We always go on a trail ride on Saturday morning.” Again his dimple flashed her way. “Don’t worry. I’ll see that you stay in the saddle.”
~*~
Cecelia called Thursday morning. “Hey, are you ready to go shopping again?”
Beth laughed. “Shopping? I thought we’d be going to the park.”
“We can do that, too. After we shop.” Cecelia’s voice bubbled over the line. “I’ve already talked to Mom. She’s agreed to watch our little darlings while we find some great cowgirl clothes. Come on, we’ll have fun. And just think—no strollers.”
“All right.” Beth gave in. “If you promise we can pick the kids up afterward and take them to the park.”
Cecelia laughed. “You are a glutton for punishment, Beth.”
“Only when it comes to my two girls,” Beth said.
“Yes, and Jon’s a lucky man this time around.”
Beth wondered if she’d heard right. “I think you lost me on that one.”
Cecelia’s laughter came over the line. “Don’t worry, I’ll explain myself later if you haven’t figured it out by then.”
Beth changed into a pair of slacks and short-sleeved top. She pulled her checkbook out and looked at the balance. Jon’s generosity, and the fact she seldom found anything to spend money on, had brought her account to an all-time high. Working as a nanny had its advantages. She frowned. Falling in love with the boss wasn’t one of them.
Stevie had grown to love her mamaw and papaw over the past few months. They doted on her and Lexie both. Beth watched Jon’s mother gather the girls and Robbie into her arms as if she hadn’t seen them in years instead of days. She knew they would be fine, yet she felt a stab of disappointment that neither girl seemed to mind when she and Cecelia left.
An experienced shopper, Cecelia took Beth to the best stores. Before the morning was over, with Cecelia’s encouragement, Beth had purchased several new outfits including a pair of designer jeans and one red plaid, snap-front Western shirt.
She held up the shirt. “Do you really think I need this? I mean, it’s only one weekend. The cost of my purchases today would have kept me in groceries for a month in Bolivar.”
“But it won’t be just one weekend.” Cecelia explained. “I told you we go every year and besides you can wear it anytime you want to. You look great in red with your dark coloring.”
Beth still wasn’t convinced. “You go every year. That doesn’t mean I will.”
Cecelia smiled. “Oh, yes, it does. A wife always goes with her husband.”
She laughed at Beth’s shocked expression. “Oh, come on. You may as well admit it. Jon is in love with you. Just as much as you are with him.”
Beth shook her head even as her heart pounded with hope. “I think you’re seeing things. Jon is not in love with me.”
“He invited you to go to the ranch, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean he loves me. He only invited me because you wanted him to.”
“Did he say so?”
“No, but—”
“I know what I see. Jon has changed so much since you and Stevie arrived on the scene. I’ve never seen him so alive since his pre-Sharolyn days. Jon loves you. Just give him time to figure it out for himself.”
Beth didn’t argue further. Time would tell and then Cecelia would realize she had been wrong. There was no sense in getting either of their hopes up.
Chapter Fourteen
Beth surveyed the room she’d been assigned at the Triple T Dude Ranch in western Kansas. In the center of the room, a braided rug made from wool strips of various autumn colors, covered the wood floor. The double bed, covered with a Lone Star quilt that repeated the warm tones of orange, yellow and brown, hugged one wall. The dresser against the opposite wall looked as if it had been there for generations. Its chipped mirror returned a wavy image although Beth could see anticipation and fear in her own eyes well enough.
Along with the antique furnishings, the lack of either telephone or TV gave the appearance of a time gone by. Beth smiled. She’d never been on a ranch before, but she liked her room. It certainly beat the image she’d had of them sleeping out in the bunk house next to the horses.
“Hey, are you ready for supper?” Cecelia stuck her head in Beth’s doorway.
“Supper?”
Cecelia giggled. “Yes, that’s what we call dinner when we play cowboy. Here we eat breakfast, dinner and supper, in that order.”
“Let’s go, then.”
“Do you like your room?” Cecelia gave Beth just enough time to nod before she began a steady stream of chatter lasting all the way downstairs and into the large dining room.
The others were all there including two couples Beth hadn’t seen before. As the guests moved toward the long oak table, Cecelia joined her husband, Rob, leaving Beth alone.
“Hi.” Jon reached past Beth to pull out a chair. He motioned for her to sit. When she did, he took the space next to her.
After they ate, everyone gathered on the wide front porch overlooking the long drive to the road. Beth could see a line of trees in the distance and a few shade trees stood in the yard, but most of the land surrounding the house stood open. White wooden fences ran as far as she could see in either direction from the drive and formed holding pens for the horses near the barn and other outbuildings.
All evening, Beth had been aware the guests were paired off. All but she and Jon. Was that why Jon sat with her at supper? If so, why had he moved so far away now? She looked across the porch where Jon sat leaning against a post, one knee drawn up with his arm resting on it. She wished she had enough nerve to join him. But if he’d wanted to be with her, he would have stayed by her side after supper.
The rest of the guests sat in chairs or on the floor of the porch by twos. Gene and Carol Timmons, the ranch owners, occupied the porch swing. Some couples held hands, others cuddled, but all touched. A breeze ruffled Beth’s hair before moving on. She sat on the porch railing and leaned against a corner post. Over a dozen people filled the Timmons’s front porch, and she felt more alone than she had in a long time.
A couple of ranch hands strummed guitars while they sang some songs that Beth imagined had been heard long ago on the range while cowboys camped on the long cattle drives. When they sang “Home on the Range” and “Get Along Little Doggie,” everyone joined in with the words they knew.
They sang several songs while the sun sank below the western horizon, throwing out rays of orange and red against the wispy clouds overhead. Beth watched the spectacular sunset for s
everal minutes before looking across the porch at Jon. He didn’t smile, but held her gaze. She felt as if they were together in the night as the music faded into background noise and her vision narrowed to include only Jon. How she would love to know what his thoughts and feelings were at that moment.
“Well?” Cecelia’s voice beside her brought Beth back to reality.
She looked at Jon’s sister and saw a smug expression on her face. So she’d witnessed Beth’s preoccupation with her brother.
“The rest of us are heading to bed.” Cecelia held her husband’s arm as he talked to another man. “You probably didn’t hear Carol say morning on a ranch comes early.”
No, Beth hadn’t heard. She hoped the darkness hid the flush covering her face. “Why is that? Why do we get up early, I mean?”
“The trail ride starts about mid-morning. Before that, we have to check the horses and do some ranch-type work. Don’t worry, it’s fun to pretend you’re a real ranch hand.” Cecelia cupped her hand around her mouth to whisper to Beth. “Actually, we don’t have to get up all that early. Just because we are from the city, they think we sleep till noon every day.” As Robert turned his attention to his wife, she said, “The country air makes it easy to get to sleep, though, so I’m heading upstairs.”
Beth watched Cecelia and Robert go inside and then turned to look for Jon, but found the porch almost deserted as everyone heeded Mrs. Timmons’s promise of an early morning. Jon had gone without waiting to walk with her. A stab of disappointment pricked her heart as she followed the other guests inside.
As Cecelia predicted, Beth had no trouble getting to sleep. When she awoke at six the next morning, she listened for the usual sounds of two little girls playing in their cribs and heard nothing. Then the call of a bird outside her window caught her attention. Somewhere below, probably at the barn, a man yelled something she couldn’t understand. The house remained quiet so Beth assumed the hired hands got up even earlier than the guests.
She threw back the light sheet she had used for a cover and sat up. If she hurried, she could get in and out of the shower before anyone else awoke.
This Child Is Mine Page 13
