by Liz Isaacson
Embarrassment flooded him, as it had been doing since he’d marched out of April’s room. He’d ended things with her because of his impatience, and he didn’t even know it at the time. He wondered if she did, if he could apologize for such a huge personality flaw.
He didn’t know what to do, so he didn’t do anything beyond asking the information desk for the number of a hotel and getting a room for the night. He’d left his cabin without a bag, a toothbrush, anything. He had his wallet and his truck, and the thought of his dogs drove him from the chapel to make another phone call.
Landon answered on the first ring, and Ted realized from the tense tone of his boss’s voice that he should’ve called earlier. “She’s doing fine,” Ted said when Landon asked.
“You realize Megan’s here, going crazy, right?”
“April has her phone.”
“She’s not using it,” Landon said. “Is she keeping the baby?”
“Yes,” Ted said with a sigh.
“Why aren’t you happy about that?”
“I am,” Ted said. “I am. I want her to marry me and take her and the baby back to my cabin. She…didn’t want to talk about it.” He swallowed, tired of the bitterness that he hadn’t been able to rid himself of.
“She just had a baby and decided to keep it.” Landon murmured something not meant for Ted. “Give her some time.”
“I don’t want to give her time,” Ted said. “I don’t want her to go back to your basement with her baby. I—”
Landon laughed, which silenced Ted. “All she’s thought about for nine months is that baby,” he said. “So while she’s been with you and kissin’ you, and you’ve fallen in love with her, she needs more time to get there. So you have to decide: do you want to give her time or walk away?”
Ted wiped his free hand down his beard. “Well, I walked away once and that was a mistake….”
“Definitely premature,” Landon agreed, which didn’t help the humiliation that kept piling up and spilling over inside Ted’s chest.
“How much time?”
“She’s been through trauma, Ted. How long did it take you to recover from your accident?”
“A while,” Ted confessed.
“Nine months from what I understand.”
Ted was starting to regret making this phone call. “What’s your point?”
“And how long did it take you to get over Barb?”
Ted sucked in a breath. He didn’t discuss women with Landon. With anyone. “That was years and years ago,” Ted said.
“And there’s my point.”
“What’s that?”
“You must’ve forgotten that we traveled the rodeo circuit together for eight years. I was there when you dated Barb, when you were engaged, all of it. I was there when she broke your heart, and I know you haven’t dated since.”
“I have been perfectly content without a woman in my life,” Ted said.
“Until now,” Landon said, vocalizing what Ted had been thinking. “Look.” He sighed. “Just think about how you’d feel, how you did feel, after a long-term relationship ended. It took you a long time to recover emotionally, and April has had to deal with all of that, plus the enormity of a pregnancy. If you really love her, give her time.”
“Landon…did you go feed my dogs?”
“I brought them over with me when you left. I’ve about got Megan convinced that we need an indoor dog.” He chuckled and Ted hung up, grateful for good friends and good advice.
He maneuvered down the halls until he found an elevator. He arrived back at the maternity ward, ready to give April all the time she needed.
Chapter Sixteen
April thought she was tired before the baby came. But with everyone coming in and out, and learning how to nurse Emma, April didn’t catch more than twenty minutes of sleep. Night came, and the nurses thinned. Ted had arrived near dinnertime, and he took a long time coming back.
When he finally poked his handsome face back into the room, he wore a gentle smile. “Hey.” He advanced slowly, wiping his palms down the front of his jeans. “She’s sleeping, it looks like.”
April pushed herself up with her elbows, glad he’d returned. “There you are. Cafeteria must have good food.” She tried to smile, but her exhaustion made it difficult.
“I found the chapel.” He eased his huge frame into the chair next to her bed. He spoke in a quiet, calm voice that barely tickled her eardrums. “And I called and updated Landon and Megan. And I got a hotel for tonight.” He exhaled and reached for her hand. “April, I’m sorry for being so impatient with you. I hope you can forgive me.”
“Not necessary.” She smiled at him, a sleepy, soft smile that made his eyes melt too. She’d never labeled him as impatient, just more the type who knew exactly what he wanted in his life, and how to get it.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead and said, “See you in the morning?”
“If you don’t bring me a cup of coffee, I don’t want to see you.”
He chuckled. “I shall return with coffee and cream then.”
April slept on and off, and not only because Emma woke every few hours needing to be fed. She couldn’t stop thinking about Ted’s proposal. Marrying him would solve several of her current problems. Housing problems. Job problems. Money problems.
She’d tossed, turned, gotten up and pushed a sleeping Emma around the maternity ward as her mind churned about Ted. She did love him, but she didn’t want to use him just to make her life easier.
Because of her restlessness, she woke to the sound of his voice the next morning. She slitted her eyes and watched as he set two coffee to-go cups on the rolling tray in her room. He turned toward Emma’s cart and bent slightly to lift the baby into his arms.
“Hey there, Emma Hope,” he cooed in a voice she’d heard him use on his horses, and a couple of times on her. “Did you have a good night? Were you nice to your mama?” He swayed, shifting his weight from foot to foot, his head bent toward the little girl. He glanced at her and April slammed her eyes shut. “She seems tired. Should we let her sleep?”
The baby made a guttural noise that painted April’s heart with love, and Ted took that as a yes. “All right then. Let’s go.” He stepped out of the room, his cowboy boots barely making any noise on the tile floor.
April’s heart swelled, and with the room quiet, she finally fell into a deep sleep. She wasn’t sure how long it lasted. She only knew she woke to the sound of two female voices. They spoke quietly, so she kept her eyes closed and hoped they’d check her quickly and go.
“Did you see the cowboy with the baby?” one asked.
“So precious,” the other said. “And it’s not even his.”
“Well, he’s smitten.”
“Wish I could get me a cowboy like that.”
Soft giggles followed, and April shifted in bed. “Shh,” one of the nurses said, brushing her fingers across April’s forehead. She opened her eyes and looked into the face of an older woman. “Go back to sleep for a little while. We have Emma in the nursery and your boyfriend is taking your mom to lunch.”
April’s adrenaline started pumping. “My mom’s here?”
“Not anymore, I’m sure.” The woman smiled. “Ted met her, and he introduced her to Emma. They spent some time together in the nursery, and now they’re going to lunch.”
“It’s lunchtime?” April didn’t even feel the least bit hungry.
The other nurse in the room pulled the curtains closed. “Go back to sleep while you can.” They left, and April pulled her blanket higher. She wasn’t going to argue if they wanted her to sleep.
Emma returned before Ted did. She was fussy, and April’s urge to help her felt so natural though her heart pumped like crazy. “I’m awake,” she said, scooting up and reaching for the controls that would raise the bed. “I can feed her.”
“Sorry to wake you,” the same nurse from earlier said. “We gave her some formula in the nursery, but she didn’t take much.” She passed
Emma to April and busied herself checking charts. “How are you feeling?”
“Good,” April said. “When can I go home?”
“Has Doctor Johns been in to see you today?”
“No.” April finally got Emma nursing and covered herself with the sheets.
“I’ll let him know you’re ready.”
“I—” The nurse left before April could say she wasn’t ready. She didn’t even have a crib for Emma to sleep in. Her mother was supposed to come a week before Emma did, help April get all the supplies she needed. A sudden sense of complete inadequacy choked her.
She’d just finished feeding Emma and was patting her back to get her to burp when her mom entered the room. Relief like April had never known washed over her. Tears sprang to her eyes. “Mom.”
Her mom’s eyes were kind and full of emotion as she crossed the room and hugged April. “Oh, lets not crush baby Emma.” She beamed down at the infant and took her from April. “She looks just like you. Same straight nose, same high cheekbones.” She glanced at April with a smile.
And April did have that to be grateful for. When she looked at Emma, maybe she wouldn’t be reminded of Liam quite so strongly. “I heard you went to lunch with Ted.”
Her mother’s jaw twitched and her eyes were sharper when she looked at April. “I sure did. You never once mentioned that you had a boyfriend in Brush Creek.”
That was the second time someone had referred to Ted as her boyfriend. Hers. “I could barely keep track of what day is was, Mom. Don’t take it personally.”
“And he’s obviously more than a boyfriend. He’s here, walking around with Emma, singing her lullabies while you sleep.” Her eyebrows rose suggestively. “How serious is it?”
“Pretty serious, I guess,” April said, thinking of Ted’s suggestion that they get married. She remembered the way he said, “I love you,” and a smile sprang to her face.
“I thought you didn’t like cowboys. Or small towns.” She bounced Emma and patted her bottom.
“I don’t,” April said. “But that doesn’t matter, because Ted’s not a cowboy.”
“We’re talking about the same man, right? Big, tall, dark beard, huge black cowboy hat?”
“He’s a bronc rider.” April lifted her chin, wanting nothing more than to brush her teeth.
“And what about you finding a big city and blending in?”
“I think I blend in just fine in Brush Creek.” She especially would if she married Ted and settled into his cabin on the ranch.
“Sounds like things with Ted are a lot more than ‘pretty serious’.”
April swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I’m going to brush my teeth and wash my face. You okay with Emma?”
“Oh, we’re just fine, aren’t we?” Her voice pitched toward the rafters. “Yes, we’re just so fine.”
April smiled and shook her head. “Hey, where’s Ted?”
“He went to make a couple of phone calls.”
April picked up her toothbrush and loaded it with toothpaste, glad she’d thought to bring those two things.
“I like him,” her mom continued. “Very handsome. Articulate. Charming.”
April brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth. “He asked me to marry him.”
Her mom nearly dropped the baby. Not really, but the way she spasmed made April lunge forward just in case.
“He did?” Pure surprise reflected in her mom’s eyes.
“He says he loves me and wants to adopt Emma.”
“And how do you feel about him?”
April turned on the water in the sink and pushed the handle to hot. Her mother came over to the bathroom doorway, her eyes meeting April’s in the mirror. “Oh, I see. You want to be with him, but you haven’t said yes yet.”
“What if I’m doing it for the wrong reasons?”
“What wrong reasons?”
“He has a lot of money. I wouldn’t have to work.”
April’s mom held up her hand. “I don’t need to know. Do you love him or not?”
“Yes.” April nodded, the sincerity of her feelings pushing past her fears. “Yes, I love him.”
“Then that’s all you need to know.”
“But—”
“April, you’ve always complicated things. Don’t do that here. Ted seems terribly uncomplicated, and I can’t imagine he’ll want to talk through—”
“Actually, Mom,” April said, her frustration rising. “Ted likes to talk everything to death. Not me.”
“Ouch.” Ted’s laugh followed his words, and April’s heart took a giant leap off a towering cliff. “But I guess if that’s my biggest fault, I’ll take it.” He stepped a little closer. “Is that my biggest fault?” His eyes burned like dark fire, and April couldn’t tear her gaze away. She was very glad she’d brushed her teeth so she could kiss him hello properly.
“One of them.” She put her emotions and desires in check and washed her face before joining everyone in the small hospital room. Since she wasn’t dressed properly, she climbed back in bed and pulled the blankets up. “So where did you guys go to lunch?”
“A Mexican restaurant next to a giant dinosaur,” her mom said.
Ted leaned down and kissed her quick on the mouth. “Did you get some rest?”
She melted under his touch, and she hoped she always would. “Yes, thank you for taking Emma.”
“Anytime.” The smile he gave her was as genuine as any he ever had. He moved to the counter by the door and leaned against it as her mom had taken the chair next to the bed. Silence fell between the three of them, and April’s thoughts started up again.
Thinking so hard was what exhausted her.
“Ted?” she asked.
He trained his eyes on hers, and he looked tired. “Hmm?”
“I think I’m going to be able to go home tomorrow.” She swallowed and sat up straighter. “I can’t move in with you before we’re married, and I’m just wondering if—I mean, how long would it take for your father and brother to get up here for a wedding?”
He pushed away from the counter, his bootsteps deliberate as he approached. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying yes.”
“To what?”
“I think you asked me to marry you yesterday. Didn’t you?” She glanced at her mom, who wore a surprised yet joyful expression on her face.
“I did.” Ted wore a mask, not a single hint of how he felt getting through.
“Well, I’m saying yes.” She swallowed her fear, but it rebounded right back up her throat. “I—I love you, and I want us to be a family. Me, you, and Emma.”
He blinked; his mouth twitched. “Don’t forget about Lolly and Stormy.”
Happiness sang through April. “They don’t sleep with you, do they?”
“They have their own beds,” he said.
“Then sure. Me, you, Emma, Lolly, and Stormy.”
He leaned closer, the mask cracking. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
She pushed herself up, her lips coming within inches of his. “Very.” She didn’t look at her mom when she asked, “Mom, could we put a wedding together by Christmas?”
Ted flinched, and his breath shuddered in his chest. Her mom said, “I think we can, yes.”
“Christmastime?” she asked Ted. “Does that work?”
“Of course it works.” He touched his lips to hers, not hanging on long enough to satisfy her. “I love you, April-May.”
She pressed closer to him, capturing his mouth and really kissing him the way she wanted to, in a way he’d know how she felt about him.
One month later:
“The flowers will be late.” Megan stood in the mouth way of the hall, her anxiety bleeding into the living room, where April sat with a checklist on the coffee table in front of her and Emma rocking in an automatic swing beside her. “The trucks can’t get through the storm.”
April sighed. “It’s okay. We don’t need flowers to get married.” She did want them
, and a blip of disappointment stole through her. At least her parents and her two younger brothers had arrived ahead of the bad weather. “What about the cake?”
“Alison said she has what she needs and it will be ready tonight, as promised.”
April scanned her list. “I suppose the island is out.” She didn’t need to look at Megan to know. “Pastor Peters said we could use the church in case of inclement weather.” She should’ve expected snow in December in Utah. She’d made contingent plans just in case. They just weren’t the plans she wanted.
She checked something on the list and scribbled a note in the margin.
“What else?” Megan asked.
“Ted’s picking up his father at the airport right now. He just texted to say the flight is delayed, and he thinks they’ll have to stay in Salt Lake tonight.”
“So the groom isn’t going to be here on his wedding day?”
April jerked her eyes to Megan’s. “My stars. What if he can’t make it?” The thought of standing at the altar by herself brought pure, unadulterated horror to her.
Megan laughed. “He’s going to make it.”
April scrambled for her phone and sent a text to Ted, asking him if he was going to be able to get back to Brush Creek in time for the wedding the following afternoon.
Yes, he sent back immediately. Nothing will keep me away.
She knew it had been pure torture for him this past month with her and Emma sleeping in the basement while he had to go back to his cabin. He stopped by before he went out to the ranch, and he spent lunchtime with them, and he stayed as long as he felt proper in the evenings. He’d told her a hundred times that he couldn’t wait to be married to her, to come home to her all the time, to be hers.
Ted knew how to say all the right things, and the best part about him, April had decided, was that he meant the things he said.
“Groom, check,” Megan said. “Preacher, check. Family, check. What else do you need?”
“You’re right,” April said, turning toward Megan. “I’m really marrying Ted Caldwell, aren’t I?” Giddiness pranced through her bloodstream.
