by Amy Lillard
He stood and stretched out his long legs, then tossed his line into the water.
“Seth, I—”
He turned. “Are you going to fish or just sit there?”
She shook her head. “Is that a trick question?”
“No.” He smiled and started to reel in his line.
A hundred questions crowded into her mind. “I—I . . .” She had nothing.
He pulled his line from the water and took her hand into his own, tugging her to her feet. “We’ve got our entire lives to make this marriage work. We don’t have to rush into anything. Just relax and enjoy the ride.”
She ran her gaze over his handsome features. No deceit hid there. No dishonesty or pretense. Was it as simple as he said? Could it be? She wanted to find out. More than anything she wanted that truth for herself.
Finally she gave a small nod. It was as if the dam broke and the tension between them fell away.
Seth tossed his line back into the water and Jessie did the same. They settled back into their chairs and whiled the afternoon away doing absolutely nothing but being together.
* * *
Damn it.”
Jessie sat up in the truck seat a little straighter, trying to see what was upsetting him. “What’s going on?”
Seth pointed toward the gauges, though she couldn’t see what he was referring to. “Truck’s overheating.”
She looked out the front, but unlike last time, no billowing smoke poured from under the hood. “Are you sure? It looks okay to me.”
Seth nodded and pulled the truck to the side of the ranch road. “I’m sure. We need to give her time to cool off or we won’t make it to the house.”
Jessie wasn’t sure exactly where they were, but she knew for a fact that they couldn’t be more than half a mile from their new home.
He put the truck in park and cut the engine. “Sorry about that.” He turned toward her, running one hand along the back of the seat while the other was braced on the top of the steering wheel. “Maybe it won’t take too long.”
Was that a sparkle of mischief she saw in his eyes?
“So we’re stranded?” she asked, studying his expression as he responded.
“Afraid so.” His dimple flashed, but for the most part his expression remained the same.
“I see,” she said.
“Too bad.” He gazed out the front window, drumming his fingers along the top of the steering wheel. “Not really sure how long we’ll be out here.”
His look was so innocent she almost laughed. “I would have never gotten into this truck with you if I hadn’t thought you’d had the radiator looked at.”
He shot her an “oh, please” look, but she could see the humor twinkling in his eyes. “I told you this is a fine truck.”
“Yeah, when Lee Majors was on prime time.”
He chuckled.
“Tell me, Sheriff.” She slid across the seat closer to him. She wished she was brazen enough to tip his hat from his head and toss it onto the dash, then lean in and kiss him until his toes curled. But the art of seduction was completely new to her. “Did you do this on purpose?”
His grin widened. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Well, which is it?” She scooted closer still.
“I’ll never tell.”
“So you did.”
“Are you basing my guilt on the fact that I won’t tell you that I’m innocent?”
“Something like that.”
He gave a nod. “I see.”
“Would you like to prove me wrong?”
“No.” He shook his head and swallowed hard. “Maybe I just wanted to be alone with my girl.”
Her heart gave a crazy jump. Was she his girl? “Weren’t we just alone for hours at the ranch lake?”
He shrugged. “I guess.”
She could almost touch him now. All she had to do was reach out and run her fingers down the side of his face.
“But?” she prompted.
“There’s something about being stranded.”
She sat back, doing her best not to laugh. “You mean you didn’t have the radiator fixed on purpose so that it would overheat and we’d be stranded?”
“Or maybe I pretended that it overheated so I could do this.”
Before she could suck in a surprised breath, he pulled her to him.
His kiss was like firecrackers and candy—explosive and sweet. And she wanted it to go on forever.
Had it only been a month since she was in this truck with him, unable to get enough of his lips, his touch? It seemed like years and yet she knew his hands as if his caress had been a part of her since the dawn of time.
He cupped her face in his palms, holding her in place as he deepened the kiss. His tongue swept into her mouth, searching and exploring. She whimpered as he took his time learning every recess and crevice.
Where was that explosive need? She could feel it simmering just below the surface. He held himself so carefully in check that his hands were shaking. She was shaking, wanting—needing—more from him than he was giving.
“Seth,” she protested, scooting even closer to him. If nothing else, they had this. They had volatile passion, the one thing that connected them above all else. It wasn’t a lot, but it was a start.
He broke their kiss and leaned his forehead against hers. She touched her lips with the tip of tongue, relishing the taste of him.
He groaned. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”
“Make what easy?” she asked.
A small part of laughter escaped him. “Courting you.”
Even though she wanted to be as close as possible, she couldn’t help drawing back. She needed to see his eyes. “Courting me? Is that what you’re trying to do?”
He shook his head, that dimple flashing in the corner of his mouth, and he shot her a look of dread. “If you have to ask, I guess I’m not doing it right.”
She shook her head. “We’re married.” She held up her left hand to show him the ring he’d placed there just yesterday, which was winking in the Texas sun. “Remember?”
“I remember,” he all but growled. “But we did it all backward.”
Truer words had never been spoken. She sat back farther into her seat to allow them to sink in.
She and Seth had done everything backward. They had known each other their entire lives, it seemed, and yet they had never been on a date. They had never made love in a bed. They had never just made out in the movie theater. So many things that normal couples experienced that had never been theirs. How could they make it to forever?
“I think you’re doing all right.” She shot him a mischievous smile.
“Just all right?” He had the cheek to look disappointed.
She gave him another smile, one she hoped would come across as a little seductive. “Well, try kissing me again, see if that helps.”
Only in his dreams had she ever uttered that remark. “Oh, yeah? You think that will help?”
She scooted a little closer and clasped his face in the palms of her hands. “I don’t know,” she said. “But it never hurts to try.”
* * *
Jessie felt his kiss from her lips all the way to the tips of her toes. Sweet and sassy and not too far from a certain kiss in a certain truck that had dumped them into the situation they were in now.
Yet now it was different. They were married. Having a baby. There was nothing standing in their way. Not even Chase.
In a heartbeat she was straddling him, enjoying a closeness with him that she hadn’t felt since the afternoon after Wesley’s birthday party.
She ran her hands down his chest, tugging at his buttons as she went. She wanted to touch him. So badly.
He pulled away, groaning as her fingers found skin. “Jessie,” he rasped. “You hav
e to stop this.”
She smiled. “I do?”
He winced and shifted in his seat, increasing her need for him. “You do.” Before she could utter even one protest, he set her back into her seat and adjusted his crotch. “I’m not going to do this here.”
She sighed. “Then take me home.”
He shook his head. “We’re courting, remember?”
Surprise flooded her. “And people don’t make love when they are courting?”
He started the truck and put it in gear. “Nope.”
She wanted to ask if she could get a second opinion, but she had been forward enough for one afternoon. And there was something special about him putting the brakes on their make-out session. As if he was in it for more than just sex. . . .
Maybe forever was in their grasp after all.
Chapter Fourteen
Are you nervous?” Jessie asked two days later as she and Seth sat side by side in the doctor’s office.
“No, why?” he asked, though he was bouncing his knees to some unknown rhythm and thumping his thumbs against his thigh.
She placed one hand on his leg to stop his incessant movements. “You seem a bit agitated.” And that was the understatement of the year.
“I’m fine.” He glanced nervously around the office. “I didn’t realize Doc Stephens was still delivering babies.”
Jessie used her forefinger to mark her place in the three-month-old magazine she was reading and shook her head. “His son took over his practice.”
“What?”
Several heads turned in their direction.
Seth nodded, then lowered his voice. “Your appointment is with Gary Stephens.”
“He’s the only obstetrician in Cattle Creek.”
Seth was on his feet in an instant. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Jessie frowned at him but remained seated. “Go where?”
“Somewhere else.”
“But it’s almost time for my appointment.” She checked the clock hanging on the wall behind the reception desk. “Past time,” she corrected.
“You are not going in there.” At least this time his voice was at a level that only drew a couple of looks of consternation.
“Will you sit down?”
“No,” he said. “We have to find you another doctor.”
“Sit,” she said sternly.
Surprisingly enough he did, though he perched on the edge of his seat as if he wanted to spring up at any minute.
“He can’t be your doctor,” Seth protested. “I went to school with him, and I know he cheated on his biology tests. And I can’t tell you how many times he copied my homework. We need to get you out of here and to San Angelo or Midland.”
“We aren’t going anywhere, Seth.”
“Jessie—”
She leaned in closer. “I don’t have a car. I can’t go to another city to a different doctor. Gary Stephens is a perfectly fine doctor. He’s been delivering babies here for years.”
“But this is my baby.”
“Our baby.” The words sent her heart pounding.
“But—” he started again.
“No buts, Seth. Everything’s gonna be fine.”
“Jessie?” the nurse called from the door.
She stood and tossed the magazine into her vacated chair.
Seth was back on his feet in a heartbeat.
“You’re coming in with me?” she asked.
“I think I should.” The look in his eyes said he wasn’t backing down.
Jessie sighed. “Come on.”
* * *
Hey, Sheriff,” Millie greeted as Seth stepped into the office later that afternoon. He had taken Jessie home after the doctor’s appointment, arguing the entire way about going to Midland for her prenatal care. Her main point was that she didn’t have a car to get to and from the appointments without someone taking her and that there’d be a chance he would be too busy or unable to get away. Not to mention, she might not be able to make the hour trip once the labor pains started.
Finally he had relented, though he still wasn’t sure he trusted Gary Stephens with the lives of his wife and child. But what choice did he have?
“Hey, Millie. Anything happening today?”
She shook her head. “How’d the appointment go?”
Seth shrugged. “Fine, I guess. It’s too early to hear the baby’s heartbeat. So it was just a lot of talking about due dates and that sort of thing.”
“And?” Millie rolled one hand as if to keep him talking.
“April second.”
“A spring baby. That’s nice.” She smiled. “Oh, did you order something? This package came for you today.”
Seth took the padded envelope, noting it was from an online bookseller. “Yeah.” His very own copy of Your Body, Your Baby, a pregnancy book that was all the rage. Or so he had been told. “What do you think of Gary Stephens? As a doctor, I mean.”
Millie pulled her reading glasses a little farther down her nose. “I’ve only been back in town for a few weeks, so I can only go on past experience. He wasn’t much of one when we were ten.”
Seth propped his hands on his hips. “Be serious. Jessie wants to use him, but I think she should go into San Angelo or Midland.”
“Why?” She leaned back in her seat and waited for his answer.
“I think she would get better care.” He was crazy worried about her and the baby. “What if something happens and Stephens can’t take care of it?”
“Seth,” Millie gently started, “you might get better care in a bigger town or with a different doctor, but it’s not going to guarantee Jessie’s or the baby’s health.”
She was right. Damn, he hated that she was right. Jake’s wife, Cecelia, had gone into Midland and died. There were no sure bets when it came to babies and doctors. “You think Jess will be okay here, then?”
Millie nodded. “Just keep an eye on her. If she needs better care, then you can switch doctors later.”
“Okay,” he grudgingly agreed.
“You haven’t given Jessie a lot of control over how things are going to be during this pregnancy. Let her have this.”
Damn if she wasn’t right again. “Fine,” he all but snarled. He grabbed his package and headed for the door. “Call me if you need anything. I’m headed over to the Ford dealership.”
“They having a problem today?” Millie asked, slipping her glasses back in place in order to get back to the filing.
Seth shook his head. “I’m going to buy my wife a car.”
He ignored the shocked look on Millie’s face and headed out once again.
* * *
Are you looking for anything special?” Bill Coleman asked as Seth eyed the brand-new cars all lined up neatly in the parking lot. Overhead, the vinyl banners flapped and snapped in the wind.
“Something for Jessie to drive,” Seth said, trying to give the man his full attention, but unable to stop his gaze from looking down the line of shiny new Fords.
“Jessie McAllen?” Bill asked.
Nothing like small-town gossip. “Jessie Langston.” He liked the sound of that. Especially since the name change was associated with him and not his brother.
Bill thoughtfully stroked his chin. “Yeah, I heard something about that.”
“We need something reliable and big enough for a family.”
“I’ve got just the thing.”
He and Bill walked down the rows of new cars, but Seth couldn’t picture Jessie driving any of them. She needed something smart and dependable, big enough for the baby, but small enough that she could maneuver it easily. Bill showed him all the new models with televisions and Wi-Fi connections, and as much as he would love to give her the world, he knew he had to tread lightly with this gift. She was going to have a hard enough time acce
pting the car itself, but she surely wouldn’t want to be driving around in one that cost more than the house she grew up in.
Seth took one look at the brand-new shiny red Edge and shook his head. “You have anything less . . . fancy? I want Jess to have something she’s comfortable in.”
Bill thought about it a moment. “I might have something.” He led Seth around the side of the car lot to the service department. Sitting next to the garage doors was an older-model Jeep Liberty. Dust and grime covered most of the outside, but Seth was pretty sure the vehicle was a beautiful, conservative, navy blue.
“This just came in this morning. I got it in a vehicle trade. It’s got less than a hundred thousand miles, and for an ’04 that’s outstanding. Of course it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that they put in cars today, but she’s solid. Runs like a top.”
“How much?”
Bill named a price that was fair, but Seth pretended to think it over.
“Throw in a tune-up and you’ve got a deal.”
Bill smiled and stuck out his hand. “I’ll throw in a tune-up and a car wash.”
Seth shook his hand and returned his smile. “That sounds fine.”
“Give me just a minute, and I’ll get the papers together.”
“Take your time.”
With a quick nod, Bill was gone.
Seth walked around the little SUV, noting any cosmetic problems. There weren’t many, and the tires looked relatively new.
“I thought that was you.” Darly Jo Summers-Eden Burnett eased out of the garage, a surprised smile stretching her pink painted lips.
“Hi, Darly Jo.” Inwardly Seth cringed, but somehow he managed to keep his true feelings from showing on his face.
“I hear congratulations are in order.”
He nodded. Ever since word of his and Jessie’s wedding ran through the town, most of the casseroles and pies had stopped coming, but Darly Jo still managed to stop by the station at least once a week with some sort of foodstuff in tow.
“Now, ain’t that something else?” She took a step closer to him, smiling as she did. He couldn’t help noticing that her smile seemed a little put-on as she grabbed his hand and studied his wedding ring.
