The Texas Rancher's Vow: The Texas Rancher's VowFound: One Baby

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  “Now,” Thad agreed.

  Hands beneath her buttocks, he pulled her to the edge of the marble counter, lifted her slightly and ever so slowly entered her, became a part of her. She shuddered and wrapped herself tightly around him. “Thad,” she whispered again, still kissing him ardently, making him feel, want and need in a way he never had before.

  Their mouths and tongues began to play the same age-old rhythm as their bodies. She gave him everything, demanding more. Sensation built on sensation, pleasure on pleasure, conjuring up passion and surrender, until all control ended, and together, they soared into white-hot oblivion. Stayed, suspended there…and then floated slowly back to reality.

  * * *

  MICHELLE HAD NEVER felt anything like this before. Never wanted anyone as intensely as she wanted Thad. And suddenly she knew it didn’t matter how many times they made love, she was always going to want him in her life in exactly this way. And that scared her more than she was willing to admit.

  She had given her heart away before, to disastrous result. She did not want to make the same mistake twice. Nor did she want to walk away. The thought of never making love with Thad again was impossible to bear. Which left her, she admitted ruefully, in a quandary.

  How could she continue to make love with Thad, spend time with him and not fall head over heels in love with him?

  His body still a part of hers, Thad cupped her cheek in his hand. “We don’t have to figure it all out tonight,” he said quietly.

  A small gasp escaped her lips.

  Leave it to Thad not only to see the private worry she would rather have kept hidden, but address it. “You’re right.” She forced herself to be practical, too. “Our primary objective tonight is taking care of William.”

  His eyes darkened at the off-putting sound of her low tone. Something in his gaze shifted, grew less intimate, too, even as he made no move to disengage their bodies.

  “And to that end…” Michelle continued, but now there was a telltale rasp in her throat. She trembled at the realization of the resurgence—not dwindling—of Thad’s desire, the rekindling of her own. “We, uh, should figure out how we’re going to do this.”

  Thad flashed the grin of an unrepentant sinner. “I’ll tell you how we’re going to do this.” He lifted her against him—her legs were still wrapped around his waist—and he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “We’re both going to sleep upstairs in your bed tonight.”

  Her breath caught halfway up her windpipe. She hadn’t known it was possible to be so thrilled and reassured both at once.

  “We’re going to check on William, and make sure he’s still all right, and make love again. And then,” Thad whispered, “we’re going to go to sleep wrapped in each other’s arms until he wakes up again.”

  Chapter Eleven

  William awoke three more times during the night. Once immediately after she and Thad had made love again, and then at four, and again at six. They continued to give him formula each time he woke up, though he wouldn’t take much. And acetaminophen every four hours. He was still running warm to the touch at eight-thirty in the morning, when the three of them got up again, so Michelle held him across her lap, soothing him with gentle strokes, while Thad readied the thermometer.

  “What is it?” she asked when he’d finished.

  “A hundred and one point five, which is just above normal.”

  Michelle finished diapering William, then went to dispose of the diaper and wash her hands.

  Because the tiny boy seemed content for the moment lying there on his back, she stretched out next to him on the bed. She took his little fist, kissed it gently. “I think his cheeks are less flushed, too.”

  William looked up at her with big eyes.

  Thad joined them, stretching out on the other side of William. “He does look better,” Thad decreed. “More interested in what’s going on around him.”

  Thad reached over and got a rattle. He put it in front of William.

  William’s cherubic mouth dropped open in a soundless O of wonder. Reveling in the intimacy of the moment, Michelle smiled, too. “You think he’ll run as much fever today as he did yesterday?”

  “Typically, temperatures spike in late afternoon and into the evening, possibly through the night. He should be okay for a while this morning.” Thad looked over at her, as relaxed as she had ever seen him. “Why don’t you go for a run?”

  It was Michelle’s turn to mouth an O of surprise. He wanted her to leave? “Now? Are you serious?”

  Thad shrugged. “You usually run every morning, and you didn’t get to go yesterday. You’ve already told your office you won’t be in for the next two days. It’s a beautiful morning.” He reached across William and covered her hand with his own. “Why not take a much-deserved break?” He smiled gently. “I’ll stay here with William.”

  Michelle had to admit she was yearning to stretch her limbs. Running relaxed her the way nothing else could.

  Still, she hesitated. “You really wouldn’t mind?”

  Thad brought her hand to his lips. “Parenting solo would be my pleasure.”

  The brisk breeze of the late-April morning caressed Michelle as she sprinted up and down the hilly streets of Summit. Flower blossoms were interspersed with the vibrant green of the grass and trees. The granite mountains rose majestically in the distance as the climbing sun lit up the cloudless, Texas-blue skies.

  Spring was here, all right, Michelle thought dreamily. When she’d been younger, spring fever had hit her with tsunami force. Somewhere along the way, that force had dwindled, and the past couple of years, had finally gone altogether.

  Now it was back again, fiercer than ever. And Michelle knew why.

  It was because she’d found a town that felt like home. A child who made her realize just how much she wanted and needed to be a mother. And—most important of all—a man who respected her independence and treated her like an equal.

  Life was good.

  So good it scared her.

  But, like Thad had said last night, they did not have to figure everything out at once.

  They would put the adoption first and let everything after that slowly fall into place.

  What counted right now was the joy she felt in her heart as she jogged up the street toward home, and the feeling of family waiting for her in her house.

  Michelle slowed her pace as she hit the drive, walking the last thirty feet. She paused beneath the kitchen window to stretch her muscles. Hands splayed against the cement-board siding, she leaned in to stretch her Achilles tendon, and that was when she heard Thad’s voice, coming through the partially open window.

  “Thanks for the offer, but I’d rather not. Michelle?” Thad paused, sounding surprised. “Actually she’s been of enormous help…. Yeah, she’s still running as much as ever. She’s out right now, as a matter of fact.” Another pause. “You’re right—that is one way to burn off excess energy…” Thad chuckled politely, as if hearing a quip he didn’t particularly like. “Thanks, Violet. Like I said, I appreciate you going out of your way for me like this. Okay, catch you later.”

  Violet?

  Michelle leaned against the side of the house, her heart pounding. More from what she’d overheard than from the exercise.

  Why was Thad talking to Violet Hunter again?

  Was that why he’d been so intent on sending her on a run this morning? Because he wanted to make a call he hadn’t wanted her to know about while she wasn’t around?

  Fighting feelings of jealousy, Michelle strode in the back door. What she saw stunned her. Thad was standing at the stove, William strapped via canvas baby carrier to his chest. The little guy had fallen asleep again, silky lashes resting against his soft cheeks.

  The junior cookbook she had loaned Thad was in the cookbook stand on the counter. The kitchen table was set for two. Thad looked so at home, so right.

  This could be her life. And suddenly Michelle knew what she had to do. And the first order of busine
ss was not asking what Thad had going on with Violet. She spied the golden slices of bread sizzling on the griddle. “French toast?”

  “It’s actually not that hard to make,” Thad said. Using the shaker she kept in the cupboard, he sprinkled some confectioner’s sugar atop a stack of French toast that was ready to eat, added a pat of butter and a drizzle of maple syrup.

  He winked. “I should’ve gotten one of these cookbooks a lot sooner. It’s right at my level—beginner. Explains everything, including what a mixing bowl and measuring spoon is.”

  He sure wasn’t a beginner in everything, Michelle thought, recalling the expert way he’d made love to her. Sensation sizzled through her, and with it, the desire not to screw things up unnecessarily.

  Everything she knew about Thad thus far said he was an honorable man. She needed to trust that he was. Michelle smiled. “It looks wonderful.” She appreciated the trouble he’d gone to. Glasses of milk sat on the table, along with a big bowl of strawberries. The aroma of fresh-brewed coffee filled the room. Surely he couldn’t be up to anything significant with Violet. Then again, she’d never had a guy cheat on her. What would she know about infidelity?

  And was it even that? Given the fact they’d never said they wouldn’t see other people, not even when they’d been making love…

  Oblivious to her tumultuous thoughts, Thad said, “Have a seat.” He brought another plate over and sat down opposite her. “So how was the run?”

  Michelle spread her napkin across her lap. “Nice.” Until I came home and heard you talking on the phone. “Invigorating.” To the point her heart was racing. And not from the exercise.

  “Good.”

  She cut into her breakfast and found the toast tasted every bit as delicious as it looked.

  “I need to talk to you about something,” Thad said.

  Michelle’s mouth went dry. Pretending an ease she couldn’t begin to feel, she looked at him and waited.

  “As long as we’re both petitioning to adopt William,” he said, then paused to wrap a protective hand over the baby strapped to his chest, “do you think he should carry both of our last names?”

  * * *

  “I’M TRYING TO be fair,” Thad continued. He watched Michelle’s cheeks go from pale to pink. Taking in her distracted expression, he said, “I like William as his first name. It suits him, don’t you think?”

  Michelle let out a breath. Whatever she’d been expecting him to say, Thad noted, that wasn’t it. “Absolutely,” she said.

  “And Garner his last name.” Thad hoped she agreed, because he felt strongly about that.

  Looking even more relaxed, she took a long, ladylike sip of juice. “Right.”

  “But—” this was the tricky part “—we could make Anderson his middle name. That way, we’d be carrying on your family name, too.”

  Michelle swallowed the bite of food she was chewing. “I think it would be great to have him both an Anderson and a Garner.”

  “Then it’s settled. We’ll talk to Glenn tomorrow, ask him to amend the petition, or do whatever it is he needs to do.”

  Michelle nodded, obviously concurring.

  “And there’s something else,” Thad said hesitantly. He hated to do this. But he had responsibilities he couldn’t ignore, much as he wanted to today. “I was supposed to work eight to eight today. I got someone to take my shift this morning, but his daughter is in a performance at school this afternoon…”

  Michelle didn’t hesitate. “Of course you should go in to the hospital.”

  Still, Thad did not want her to feel abandoned. “I wouldn’t go if I didn’t think William would be fine.”

  “I know what to do for fever now,” she reassured him.

  Thad knew that was true. Still, he felt this odd, powerful reluctance to be away from them. Intellectually it didn’t make sense. He knew William would get well without him. Emotionally, though… He knew what it was. That parental urge to hover. He’d witnessed other parents of sick kids doing just that when their offspring were admitted to the E.R.

  It was time, he knew, to do what he had advised countless other needlessly worried moms and dads: go do what you have to do; your child’s in good hands. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but add, wanting to be sure Michelle knew he was not deserting them the way his dad had often deserted him and his brother, “The hospital’s only a five-minute drive away.”

  Michelle gave Thad the same look he’d given her when he’d encouraged her to go for a run. “What time are you going in?” she asked almost too casually.

  “I need to be there by one.”

  “No problem.” She began to eat her breakfast with single-minded concentration.

  “You’re sure you don’t mind? You don’t feel I’m running out on you?” Thad said. Something subtle had shifted between them and it wasn’t to his favor, he was sure of it. Whatever it was had happened while she was out on her run. Had he been wrong in pushing her to go? he wondered. Had she somehow taken his consideration for her well-being the wrong way? Seen it as an invitation to put up the walls between them again? “Because if it seems too much to handle,” he persisted, wishing they could go back to the mood they’d shared when they’d first awakened this morning and found William feeling much better… “I can make some more calls—”

  She lifted her hand. “If I’m going to be William’s mother, then I need to care for him when he’s sick, too. And honestly? With him feeling the way he’s been feeling, there is nowhere else I’d rather be.”

  Thad felt the same way. Unfortunately there was a shortage of E.R. doctors in the area. Getting someone in to cover a twelve-hour shift on very short notice was a real problem.

  “We’re going to be fine, really,” Michelle insisted, practically pushing him out the door when the time came.

  And that, Thad found, was that.

  * * *

  MICHELLE HEARD ABOUT the salmonella outbreak at the community volunteer picnic on the evening news. By 6:00 p.m., one-hundred-fifty people had been taken to the Summit hospital emergency room for treatment. More were expected, since nearly all of the three hundred or so guests had eaten the tainted potato salad.

  Not surprisingly, Michelle did not hear from Thad until nearly eleven. “I’m on my way home,” he said, sounding exhausted.

  “Rough day?”

  “And then some. How’s William doing?” They hadn’t talked since around four, when the first wave of sick people had started coming into the E.R.

  “His temperature has been running a degree above normal, whenever the acetaminophen wears off. So I give him another dose and his temp returns to normal. He just had a bottle and he’s sleeping right now.”

  “You must be tired, too,” Thad said gently.

  She was. But it was a good kind of tired. The kind you felt after accomplishing something important. And nursing William through his first illness was extremely significant to her. The crisis, short-lived as it was, had let her know she was more than capable of being a good mother to this little guy. Michelle glanced fondly at the infant sleeping in the portable crib next to her. “I’m okay.”

  “I missed you today,” Thad said huskily. She could hear the sound of his steps moving briskly across concrete, the engine starting on a nearby car.

  “I missed you, too.”

  “Where are you right now?” he asked, his voice still husky.

  She smiled. The come-on in his voice thrilled her. “Upstairs,” she responded flirtatiously.

  “In bed?” Thad persisted. The ding of a car door opening sounded in the background.

  Michelle shivered, recalling the way they’d made love the night before. “Yes.”

  She could almost feel the heat of Thad’s body over the phone. “I’m going to go home and shower and change clothes,” he said in a low voice that sent her senses into overdrive. “Then I’ll be right over.”

  Michelle snuggled more deeply into the covers. “See you soon, then.”

  They said goodbye
and she hung up the phone.

  The next thing she knew the phone was ringing. She looked around in confusion and picked up on the second ring. Thad’s sexy voice rumbled in her ear. “You fell asleep, didn’t you?”

  Michelle looked at the clock, realizing only fifteen minutes had passed since they’d last spoken, but she had been dead asleep. “Afraid so.” She yawned.

  “Going to let me in?”

  “I’ll be right down.” Michelle rose, padded barefoot down the stairs and opened the door.

  Thad stepped inside. He’d shaved. His hair was still damp from the shower. He smelled of soap. And looked good enough in the gray jersey pants and white T-shirt to be in an ad for athletic clothing.

  Upstairs, they heard a full-pitched wail.

  Thad dropped his overnight duffel on the floor and, as they both ascended the stairs, said, “I’ll get him. You go on back to bed.”

  Michelle wanted to protest. He’d worked all day, too, in the E.R. But one look at his besotted expression as he bent over the crib and hefted William in his arms made her realize that Thad had missed William, too. “I’ll put him back to sleep,” he said.

  Michelle was too tired to argue. “Promise you’ll wake me if he doesn’t go right back down?” she said.

  A now silent William cuddled against his broad chest, Thad bent and brushed a kiss across her temple. “Promise.” He hugged her with his free arm, then guided her down to the bed. “Now sleep.”

  The next thing Michelle knew, it was morning. Sunlight was streaming in through the open curtains. And her house was quiet and still as could be.

  She hadn’t set her alarm, figuring William would wake her at the crack of dawn. Instead, there was no baby sleeping in the crib beside her, no Thad in bed next to her.