A Baby on the Ranch

by Stella Bagwell

  “No! Not at all,” she said flatly, and with a deep breath she went back to her stirring.

  Sensing her agitation, he placed his hands gently around her shoulders. It was all Katherine could do not to lean her head back against his chest, to sigh and simply let his warm strength fill her with pleasure.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. Why do you ask, anyway?”

  Because he was becoming obsessed with her, Lonnie thought. Because he couldn’t bear to think of another man doing the things that he’d been doing these past days for Katherine and baby David.

  Aloud, he said, “I just wonder about you and David once you get back to Fort Worth. You’re a lovely woman, Katherine. I’m sure there’s going to be plenty of men flocking around you.”

  Closing her eyes, she bit down on her lip. “No. You’re wrong, Lonnie. Not too many young men want to take on a ready-made family.”

  I would. The two words popped into his head so quickly he almost blurted them out to her. Thank God he’d caught himself in time. Since the baby’s birth, he’d felt a closeness growing between them. He didn’t want to say anything that might tear that friendly bond apart.

  “You might be surprised,” he murmured. “There are plenty of men who’d be proud to be David’s father.”

  Katherine stared at a spot on the range as Richard Marek came to mind. Several times he’d hinted to Katherine that he’d be more than happy to be a father to her baby. On top of that, Althea had urged her to go after the man. But Katherine hadn’t wanted Richard in any way, shape or form, and she wanted him even less now.

  “Well, I do know one,” she admitted. “But I’m not interested in him.”

  Jealousy stabbed Lonnie deep, but he told himself he had to be sensible. Katherine was a young, beautiful woman. She was going to need and want a man in her life. The least he could do was urge her to weed out the bad ones and hang on to a good one.

  “Why not?”

  She sighed. “For one thing, he’s my boss.”

  Lonnie was so surprised by her admission that his hands slipped from her shoulders. “Your boss,” he repeated slowly. “You mean—the tax assessor himself?”

  The incredulous tone of his voice caused Katherine’s lips to form a grim line. It probably sounded scandalous to Lonnie, she thought. A young, pregnant woman playing around with an elected official, and on county time to boot. But it hadn’t been that way. Nor would it ever be that way.

  “That’s him,” she conceded.

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh,” she said glumly. “Lately he’s been making my job really difficult. He’s made it pretty clear he wants to—share a life with me. I’ve tried to be clear with him that I’m not interested. But some men don’t seem to want to take no for an answer.”

  Turning away from her, Lonnie jammed his hands in his pockets and walked back over to little David. Just the sight of the baby’s face filled him with an overwhelming need to protect him. Maybe this tax assessor would be a wonderful father to David. But what if he wasn’t? This little guy might grow up unloved and unwanted, and Lonnie couldn’t bear that thought.

  “Well, he must be a good man,” Lonnie said, trying his best to be fair. “And in his position he could make a good home for you. Maybe you should give the guy a chance.”

  Whirling around, Katherine glowered at him. “Let me tell you, I don’t need Richard Marek to make a home for me. I’m not helpless, I can make my own home!”

  Seeing he’d stirred her ire, Lonnie held up both hands. “Sorry. I didn’t realize the male gender was such a sticky subject with you.”

  The anger on her face disappeared, only to be replaced by awkward confusion.

  “It’s—they’re not a sticky subject,” she countered. “I just don’t like the idea of you trying to marry me off to someone. How would you like it if I told you that you needed to marry someone because she was a good woman? Because she would make you a good home?”

  Put like that, it sounded so ridiculous that Lonnie had to grin. “I guess I wouldn’t like it. I have my own ideas about who I’d marry.”

  She heaved out a pent-up breath. Dear Lord, the man didn’t know just how sexy he was, Katherine thought. He didn’t have a clue as to how he made her heart race, her body stir with longing. And that was probably for the best. It would only put him in an uncomfortable position if he knew how much his houseguest was attracted to him.

  “So do I,” she murmured. “So lets talk about something else, okay?”

  He made a careful study of her face before he finally said, “Sure. How long till supper? I need to do my feeding down at the barn.”

  Even though she’d not been able to get out of the house these past three days to look around the ranch, she’d learned that Lonnie owned several head of horses and a modest herd of Hereford cattle. During the winter months, the pastures were dormant and the animals required feed and hay on a daily basis. Taking care of the livestock was the first thing Lonnie attended to in the evenings before he settled in for supper.

  “Thirty minutes. But don’t hurry, I’ll keep it warm for you,” she told him.

  His expression a little sheepish, he walked back over to where she stood and placed a hand on her shoulder. Katherine relished the closeness of his touch, the warmth in his eyes as his gaze caressed her face.

  “I’m sorry if I offended you, Katherine. I just want you and David to be happy, that’s all.”

  Lonnie made her happy. With each passing day she was realizing that more and more. Yet he hadn’t made any suggestion, not even a hint he was interested in having a relationship with her. Now he’d implied that her boss could give her a good home! That ought to be more than enough to tell her he wasn’t attracted to her in a romantic way.

  “By marrying me off?” she asked, trying to hide the weary frustration she was suddenly feeling.

  Lonnie’s eyes slipped to the toes of his boots. At the same time his hand slid from her shoulder. “I guess all women don’t want to be married. I really don’t know how I could have forgotten that.”

  He sounded bitter, almost to the point of being sharp, and Katherine suddenly realized she was seeing a side of this man that he kept mostly hidden.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Lonnie…what—”

  With a shake of his head, he interrupted, “Forget it, Katherine. I’ve got…things to do.”

  For one second, as he turned away from her, Katherine almost reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him. But something held her back. Instead, she watched him slap his hat back on his head and step out the door. A few moments passed before she heard him crossing the porch, and she knew he’d paused long enough to shrug on the old work jacket he’d left hanging on a nearby peg.

  When the sound of his footsteps finally faded away, she turned back to her cooking and firmly told herself that she didn’t need to know the inner workings of Lonnie Corteen. If he’d had woman problems in his past, that was none of her business. Still, Katherine didn’t want to think that some woman had hurt him. He was too good, too precious, to be treated unkindly by the opposite sex.

  Chapter Nine

  Two hours later Katherine sat curled up on the couch in the living room, in front of the crackling fire Lonnie had built in the fireplace. While he cleaned the kitchen, the heat from the flames was working wonders to relax her muscles. She stared drowsily at the glowing embers while, a couple of cushions away, David slept peacefully in his basket.

  “Surely I don’t have to tell you that you can turn on the television anytime you like. I don’t watch it much, but you’re welcome to help yourself.”

  She glanced around to see Lonnie bringing in two steaming cups of coffee. He brought the drinks over to the coffee table and sat down between Katherine and the baby.

  “I hope you don’t mind me wedging in between you two,” he said. “I like sitting here in front of the fire.”

  “I don’t min
d at all,” she murmured as she took the nearest mug. “It was very nice of you to build it for me. Especially when I know firewood is a scarce commodity out here on the plains.”

  After Lonnie was settled between her and the baby, his long legs stretched comfortably out in front of him, he said, “I usually go back to East Texas each fall to do some hunting with an old friend. He lets me cut all the firewood I want on his place. So I pull a flatbed trailer and load it and the truck with wood before I head home.”

  “I’ve never lived in a house with a fireplace,” Katherine admitted. Then with a contented sigh she said, “It sure makes the room warm and inviting. And I like it quiet—like now—without the television. You can hear the flames crackling and the wind blowing. That’s much nicer than car horns, squealing tires and revving motors.”

  Lonnie took a careful sip from his coffee mug as he watched the glow of the firelight flicker over her lovely profile. She seemed to enjoy being here on the ranch, and he could tell she’d taken to the solitude like a duck to water. Yet she’d only been here a few days, he told himself. A few more and the place might begin to grate on her nerves.

  “You know, several times you’ve mentioned the quietness out here on the Rafter C. It makes me wonder why you ever moved to Fort Worth in the first place,” he mused aloud. “Why didn’t you stay around Canyon or move back here to Hereford. This is where you and Celia originally lived, isn’t it?”

  Cradling her mug with both hands, Katherine shrugged. “Yes, we lived there when I was a baby. Then, by the time I was in elementary school, Mother decided, for some reason, to move us up to Canyon,” she said thoughtfully. “As for me living in Fort Worth, well, with Mother gone, I knew it all depended on me to keep things going monetarily. You see, right before she died, when she became very ill, I had to quit the part-time job I had between college classes in order to take care of her. And her medical bills pretty much depleted the money we’d saved between us. I desperately needed a good job and I figured it would be easier to find one in Fort Worth. And I…I guess I hoped that a large city would make me not think of Mother so much. She was the only person I had and it’s pretty tough to be out in the world all alone.”

  Lonnie studied the brown liquid in his cup. “Katherine, you’ve had a lot to think about the past few days and I—” He stopped as the baby began to squirm and emit a fussy cry.

  Quickly Katherine rose to her feet, and Lonnie pulled his legs up and out of her path as she moved to the end of the couch and peered into the makeshift bassinet.

  “Hello, my little darling,” she crooned to the baby. “Are you hungry again?”

  Little David’s arms flailed the air as his face turned the color of a ripe tomato. Katherine gently lifted him out of the basket and placed him on the cushion next to Lonnie.

  “I’m not necessarily trying to run you off, but you might want to get up and move to another part of the room,” she suggested. “I’m going to change his diaper and I’m pretty certain it’s really dirty.”

  Lonnie didn’t have to be told twice. He bolted from the couch and went to stand by the fireplace. Turning his back to the flames, he asked, “Can I get you something? Diapers? Wipes?”

  Reaching beneath the coffee table, she pulled out a little box that she appeared to be using as a makeshift diaper bag. The squared cardboard was crammed with disposable diapers, powder, oil, wipes, all the things needed to care for a baby’s hygiene. Lonnie made a mental note to go by the store and buy her a regular diaper bag. The box served the purpose, but she could hardly carry it out anywhere.

  “Thanks,” she said, “but I have it all right here.”

  She cleaned and diapered the baby with gentle thoroughness, then bundled him back in a thin blue blanket. Once she was finished, she carried him over to the rocker and momentarily turned to one side as she fumbled with her clothing.

  With her back still turned to Lonnie, she mumbled, “This will be much easier when I finally get some nursing bras. I hope I can get to a store soon. There are so many things I need.”

  “You should have told me sooner that you needed to go to the store. Whenever you think you’re up to it, I’ll drive you into town.”

  Finally she straightened back around in the rocker and Lonnie saw that the baby and part of her breast were covered with a receiving blanket. The other part, a hint of white flesh just above the blanket, was exposed to his eye, and it was all Lonnie could do to keep from staring at the exquisite mound of flesh.

  “If the weather holds fair maybe we could go tomorrow or the next day,” she suggested. “But I don’t want to interfere with your work. I could drive your old ranch truck and then you wouldn’t have to bother.”

  Lonnie frowned at her. “You can’t drive a vehicle this soon. And it’s no bother for me to take you. As long as there’s not an emergency going on, I can make my own hours. It’s not like Hereford is a huge metropolis that needs my constant attention.”

  Katherine supposed he could make his own hours, but still she felt guilty. She glanced at Lonnie as she pushed the chair into a gentle sway. “I believe you were about to ask me something before David interrupted. What was it?”

  She had beautiful skin, he thought. Beautiful and soft. When she’d been in labor, he’d touched her thighs and belly and, even though he’d not done it in a sexual way, he could still remember how silky and smooth she’d felt. No doubt her breast would be just as silky and just as warm and luscious as her lips had been.

  “Lonnie?” she repeated when he failed to answer. “What was it that you were going to ask me?”

  Mentally shaking himself, he directed his gaze to a safe spot at the other side of the room. “Nothing really. I…well, it is something, too,” he corrected. “I’ve been thinking about you and the Ketchums. You haven’t asked about them. Not once since you’ve been here.”

  Katherine’s gaze dropped to the tiny boy cradled in her arms. It scared her to think of the Ketchums. The thought that her own mother, the only relative she’d had in the world, might not have been her mother at all, was so devastating her mind refused to ponder the notion for more than a minute at a time.

  “I’ve had other things on my mind. It isn’t every day that a woman becomes a mother for the first time.”

  “No,” he said with slow deliberation. “I realize you’ve been occupied. But I think you ought to know that Seth and his family are real excited about the little one, there. They’d all like to see him.”

  Surprised at this news, she looked up at him. “You’ve told them about David being born?”

  Lonnie nodded. “I guess I’m just a little too proud of him. I can’t keep quiet.”

  “Too bad his father hadn’t felt that way. Proud, I mean.” Her gaze moved down from Lonnie’s face to the flickering flames of the fire. “But he wasn’t proud that I was going to have his child. Far from it, in fact.” She paused, sighed softly, then went on in a quiet voice. “I made such a bad judgment with Walt. It makes me feel like a fool now. And very guilty. A woman is supposed to sense those sorts of things in a man—whether he’d be a good husband and a good father. I realized he was young like me and he had some growing up to do, but I really believed he cared about me. Now my son is going to suffer because I didn’t see his father for what he really was.”

  The self-blame he heard in her voice was achingly familiar to Lonnie, and in that moment all he wanted to do was take it all away from her.

  Groaning softly, he went over to the rocker and knelt to one side of her knees. Then with one hand on each arm of the chair, he leaned toward her. “Katherine, you shouldn’t feel guilty. I’m sure Walt purposely deceived you into thinking he was serious. That’s the way some men work. And some women. Believe me, I know.”

  Her eyes widened with faint surprise, and for long moments she studied his rugged face, searched the depths of his blue eyes for the secrets he’d hidden inside.

  “Lonnie, earlier when you said something about some woman not wanting to marry,
were you talking about someone you were once close to?”

  Lonnie pursed his lips. He didn’t want to admit to Katherine that he’d made such a mistake with Ginger. He didn’t want her to know he’d been that hungry for companionship or so naive where women were concerned. But Katherine had been open with him about her misfortune with David’s father. And maybe telling her about the humiliation he’d been through would help her. After all, that was what he wanted the most—to ease this woman’s heart.

  Clearing his throat, he glanced away from her and focused his gaze on the shadows across the room. “Yes. There was a woman once. A few years ago. I trusted her to always be there for me, but in the end she let me down.”

  “Did you love her?”

  Had he? At one time Lonnie had been besotted with the long-legged blonde. All he’d been able to think about was the two of them being together. But that was then. Now as he turned his gaze back to Katherine’s lovely face, he realized the things he’d felt for Ginger had been shallow compared to the emotions Katherine elicited in him.

  “No. Oh, at the time I believed it was love. But I was young and lonely and my body was begging for a mate. If you know what I mean,” he added wryly.

  Disbelief crossed her face. “You lonely? I can’t believe that, Lonnie. I’m sure you’ve never had trouble getting women to date you.”

  His eyes lifted to the ceiling as a humorless chuckle slipped from his throat. “Oh, Katherine, you are good for a man’s ego.”

  She frowned at him. “I didn’t say that to stroke your ego, Lonnie. I meant it. You’re a strong, nice-looking guy. You have an admirable job and on top of that you’re sweet. Women don’t usually run from men like you.”

  His eyes left the ceiling to connect with hers. “Humph. You haven’t always known me, Katherine.”

  “I know you now.”

  A long breath pushed past his lips as he rose to his feet and walked back over to the fireplace. “Do you want to know why I really made such a bad mistake with Ginger?” he asked with faint bitterness. “It was because—well, I wasn’t just lonely, I was hungry. Hungry for any kind of attention from the opposite sex. I haven’t always looked like I do now, Katherine. Growing up, I was tall and skinny. My feet were too big for the rest of my body, and I would often get tangled up and trip over myself. My hair was bright copper and I had a faceful of freckles to match. In high school, girls didn’t look at me and if they did, it was to tease me. And with my parents dead and gone, I didn’t have anyone around to tell me I was worthy or wanted. I grew up thinking I was ugly and that no female would ever have anything to do with me. So when Ginger cruised into Carrizozo and settled her pretty gaze right on me, I was wildly flattered, to say the least.”