Читать книгу The Rancher's Christmas Baby (incl. Bonus Book) - Cathy Gillen Thacker - Страница 10

Chapter Five

“Heard you had a bit of trouble yesterday,” Teddy’s grandfather, John McCabe, said Wednesday, when Teddy arrived to help him and his grandmother put up the outdoor decorations. Married for sixty years, the seasoned couple set the gold standard for marital happiness in the area.

“That must have been very frightening, getting stuck in that terrible weather.” Lilah gently extracted the wreath from the packaging that kept it safe year-round.

“It wasn’t too bad.” Teddy sat on their wide front porch, untangling the string of lights that would be placed along the front-porch roof. It had been surprisingly enjoyable, sleeping in the truck, with wool blankets drawn over them and Amy cuddled up next to him for warmth. The sound of the sleet and the rain thrumming on the truck had lulled them to sleep. “The temperature rose during the night, so by dawn, it was no longer icy, just muddy. A couple of truckers came by and helped us pull Amy’s truck out of the mud, and we were on our way.”

“How is married life?” Lilah asked.

A glib remark was on the tip of his tongue. “Actually, I was hoping to talk to you about that,” Teddy said after a moment.

“Be glad to help in any way we can,” John said kindly, untangling the last of the lights.

“You two had an arranged marriage, didn’t you?” Teddy knelt to plug in all the cords and make sure every strand worked. To his relief, they did.

John watched as Teddy set up the ladder at the far end of the porch roof. “It was a different time.”

“We fell in love during our engagement.” Lilah hung the wreath on the front door. “If we hadn’t, I’m not sure I would have been able to walk down the aisle.”

Teddy turned to his grandfather. “How did you feel?”

John held the lights while Teddy fastened them on the hooks. “I wanted to marry Lilah. But when we met, I wasn’t nearly as romantic an individual as she was. I thought marrying a pretty woman who was kind and gentle and understanding, who wanted a family every bit as much as I did, would be enough. But then I fell in love with Lilah and I understood what she had been hoping for all along.” John stepped back as Teddy climbed back down the ladder and moved it several feet to the left.

“Do you think you and Amy have made a mistake?” Lilah asked.

“No,” Teddy replied, sure about this much. “I think it’ll work. Amy’s the one who already seems to be having second thoughts.”

Lilah and John exchanged a worried look that spoke volumes.

“I want us to be a family,” Teddy continued. “And I need it to happen soon.” Before Amy changes her mind and wants an annulment. “I was hoping you might have an idea how I could make that happen.”

“The first step is to act like a husband and wife.” Lilah arranged a small potted pine on either side of the front door. “Become a team.”

“And you can do that,” John added, “by working toward a common goal.”

AMY SPENT THE REST OF Wednesday working in the greenhouse, trying to forget about the way she and Teddy had kissed each other. She was still there at eight that evening, when her husband strode in.

“If I didn’t know better I’d think you were avoiding me,” he drawled.

As it happened, that was exactly what she was doing. Not about to admit that to him, however, she retorted, “I’m catching up on everything that would have been done this week if Sheryl hadn’t been put on bed rest.”

“How’s she doing?”

“Better. Her mom flew in today—earlier than Sheryl expected.”

“So Ed’ll be back soon, won’t he?”

“Yes.”

“So this could probably be done then.”

Amy shrugged. “I need to get the seeds in the planting mix if I want to have starter plants to sell to the nurseries, come February.”

Teddy nodded his understanding and ambled closer.

Trying not to think how handsome he looked in the suede jacket, the rim of his hat drawn low across his brow, she asked, “Did you have something you wanted to talk to me about?” Or were you just hoping to snag a few more kisses and see where they led?

Teddy settled on the edge of one of the heavy wooden planting tables. He stretched his long legs out in front of him and braced a hand on either side of him. “It occurred to me today when I was over helping my grandparents put the lights up on the outside of their house that you and I haven’t done anything to decorate our two places for the holiday.” Mischief glimmered in his eyes. “With less than three weeks to go until Christmas, that’s shameful.”

Yes, Amy thought, it was. Generally, she had a ton more Christmas spirit than she had this year.

Refusing to let him steer her into anything, however, she replied, “I usually just plug in this little pre-lit tabletop tree and stick a wreath on the door.”

His lips curved in understanding. “Well, you’re ahead of me because I’ve never even done that much.” He reached over to trace his fingertips from her elbow to the top of the glove on her hand. “I want it to be different this year.” He waited until she looked him square in the eye. “I want a tree and wreaths on the door in both places.”

As much as she was loath to admit it, his was not an unreasonable request. “Okay. We’ll work that in.”

“And I want something else from you,” Teddy continued, even more firmly. “I want you to go to the Laramie Community Hospital fertility specialist with me tomorrow afternoon.”

Again, the joy she should have felt was nowhere to be found. Amy tensed, cautioning, “We’re going to need an appointment.”

His cheeky grin widened. “We’ve got one.”

Amy narrowed her glance in surprise. “How’d you manage that?” she demanded.

“My grandparents helped start the hospital. I asked them to pull some strings for us, and they did.”

Finished, Amy took off her gloves and set them on the table, next to the spade. “You work fast.”

“Not fast enough.” Teddy stood and took her hands in his. He looked down at her so seriously that her heart fluttered. “Look, Amy, we’ve gotten off track. Let ourselves get distracted trying to set up the rules between us instead of focusing on the Christmas gift we want to give to each other.”

She drew in a quavering breath. “A baby.” His baby…

“Yes.” Teddy squeezed her hands companionably. He looked down at her, like the very good friend he had always been, and heaven willing, always would. “I figure the sooner we make that wish a reality, the sooner our life together will become as happy as we both know—deep down—that it can be.”

AS AMY EXPECTED, IT WASN’T easy explaining their plan to the newest obstetrician on the Laramie Community Hospital staff.

“Let’s make sure I understand,” the young and personable Donna Hudson said. She sat back in her chair and ran a hand through her short dark hair. “The two of you just got married last week. You want to have a baby. And you haven’t yet had intercourse.”

“Nor do we plan to—which is why we want to have our baby via artificial insemination,” Amy interjected, trying not to blush. Discussing such intimate subject matter in front of a member of the medical profession would have been difficult enough without Teddy sitting completely poker-faced beside her.

Dr. Hudson looked at Teddy, as if wondering if he, too, was okay with the plan.

To Amy’s relief, Teddy came through for her like a champ, explaining casually, “Our marriage is based on the kind of deep, abiding love that comes out of a lifelong friendship—not romance. We both want to have a family very much.”

“For a lot of reasons this seems like the right course,” Amy concluded.

Apparently Dr. Hudson was satisfied they both knew what they were doing, because her manner shifted from serious to cheerful. “Well, it can certainly be done. We’ll start by giving Amy a physical. Teddy, I suggest you get one from your family doc.”

“Just had one two weeks ago with Amy’s brother, Jeremy—he’s a family doc on staff here. I’m in perfect health.”

“Good. Then we’ll just take care of Amy. Once the exam is complete, the nurse will set her up with an ovulation-predictor kit.”

Teddy went to the waiting room, Amy to an exam room. After her physical was complete, the office lab tech came back in. She handed Dr. Hudson a slip of paper.

“Why don’t you ask Teddy McCabe to come back in?” Dr. Hudson said, after perusing the note.

Unease sifted through Amy. “Is anything wrong?” she asked from her perch on the exam table.

Dr. Hudson smiled reassuringly. “Quite the contrary.”

Teddy walked in, a mixture of concern and curiosity on his face. His glance slid over the pink cotton gown she was wearing and the matching sheet over her lap.

“We just tested the urine sample Amy gave us. Her luteinizing hormone has surged, which means she’s ovulating. You two have a thirty-six-hour window in which to get pregnant. So if you want to go ahead and try today, I can inseminate Amy.”

Joy bubbled up inside Amy.

Teddy looked equally thrilled and excited.

“Sure!” they said in unison.

“Amy, why don’t you hang out here, just read a magazine, and Teddy—you can go with the nurse.” Dr. Hudson grinned at Amy. “See you in a few minutes.”

Amy took a magazine from the shelf mounted on the wall and sat down to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

A half an hour went by.

Then another.

The more Amy sat there, the more nervous she became.

She wanted a baby with Teddy so much, but the circumstances were colder, more sterile, than she had expected.

Finally, the nurse came back in. “I’m sorry, Mrs. McCabe. It’s not going to happen today.”

“Wh-why?”

“You should ask your husband. Let him explain.”

The nurse gave Amy another sympathetic look, then slipped out of the exam room.

Amy’s knees trembled. She slipped off the table and began to get dressed.

Teddy was waiting for her in the reception area. His eyes gave nothing away.

She paid the bill for the visit, then walked out with him.

Their footsteps echoed on the polished linoleum flooring of the hospital annex, where the doctor’s offices were located. Teddy was flushed and tight-lipped. “What happened?” Amy asked as they reached the elevator.

Teddy took her elbow and followed her into the elevator. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Well, I do!” Amy said as the doors slid shut, wrenching free of him. “What in the world happened in there?” Why had everything that had suddenly been going right suddenly gone wrong?

Teddy leaned back against the opposite wall. “I changed my mind!” He pushed the words between clenched teeth.

Amy blinked. “About having a baby?”

Teddy gave her a droll look. “About doing it the new-fashioned way.”

It took a moment for the meaning behind his words to sink in. When they did, Amy felt heat well in her chest, before moving to her neck and face. “We agreed!” she whispered, stunned and dismayed. The fact they could have a baby together without actually ever having sex with each other was the entire reason they had risked their friendship and gotten married!

His handsome jaw took on the consistency of granite. “Well, now I’m un-agreeing!”

Amy stared at him in consternation, barely able to believe they had been so close to getting what they both wanted, what would make all their mutual dreams come true, only to have him chicken out! “Teddy—for this to work…for us to have a baby—you have to do your part!” she cried, just as the elevator doors slid open. The involuntary chuckles and gaping expressions on the faces of the people waiting on the other side let Amy know the onlookers had indeed caught every word of her last sentence.

Teddy turned and glared at Amy. Reclaiming his grip on her elbow, he rushed her past the sea of shocked faces and raised eyebrows. “Nice, Amy.”

She cringed and bit down on an oath. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

He increased his strides, forcing her to struggle to keep up. “Too late. That horse already left the corral.”

Amy dug in her heels. “I still don’t get why…”

He pushed out the front doors of the lobby, still hurrying her along. The moment they were out of earshot of others, he wheeled on her. “You think what they asked me to do was easy?” He lowered his face till they were eye to eye. “Well, let’s go back up to Dr. Hudson’s office and have you go in the room and work yourself up to a fever pitch, knowing the nurse and the doctor and the office lab tech and Lord only knows who else, are all out there, waiting for you to—”

Amy lifted both hands in surrender, unable to hear more. “Okay, okay. I get the picture!”

“Do you?” Teddy straightened, six foot four inches of furious male. “Because I don’t think you do—although that easily could have changed, since the nurse asked me if I wanted her to go and get you so you could assist me in doing what I needed to do. Should I have asked her to do that?”

Amy’s face burned as much as her conscience. She stepped back a pace. “No. Heavens, no!”

Teddy braced his hands on his waist. “So we’re going to have to come up with another way of accomplishing this.”

Amy wrinkled her nose in confusion. “What other way is there?”

He merely looked at her.

“Oh…no…” she whispered, as the image he wanted to evoke came to mind.

Teddy put his hands on her shoulders, his touch gentle. “Amy, we have the chemistry.” He looked deep into her eyes. “We proved that when we kissed the other night.” He paused and tightened his grip on her persuasively. “I’m fairly certain if we were to think of this as a necessary ‘procedure,’ we could rally to the occasion and get into the spirit of the big event.”

To Amy’s shock, the idea of making love to Teddy wasn’t nearly as unnerving as it should have been. Nor was the idea that he might use the desired end result as a way to satisfy his basic male needs. Hadn’t he been more open to lovemaking without traditional romantic involvement from the very first?

“There has to be another way,” she insisted nervously.

His expression grim, Teddy released his hold on her and stepped back. “Well, if you think of it in the next thirty-six hours, you let me know.”

THEY’D DRIVEN TO THE appointment in his truck. Hence, Amy had no choice but to accompany Teddy back to the Silverado. As soon as they arrived, she got out of his pickup truck and into hers. Without another word to him, she started the engine and drove to her ranch. She needed time alone. To think. To figure out if she could continue on with this charade of a marriage she had entered into with Teddy McCabe.

Wishing—not for the first time—that she had a big soaking tub like the one in Teddy’s master bathroom, she shucked her clothes and climbed into the tiny vinyl shower stall. As the hot water sluiced down on her tense shoulders, she leaned her head against the wall and waited for the tears to come. To no avail. She could no more cry and release her deep disappointment that way, than Teddy had been able to…

Not that she could have done what was asked, either, if she had been him, Amy realized in mounting frustration.

There was something just so wrong about her and Teddy creating a baby in a doctor’s exam room.

It would have been one thing had that been the only way feasible to achieve pregnancy. Then it would have been more than okay.

Had this been a real marriage and artificial insemination were required, she would have assisted Teddy. He would have been there with her, when the doctor did the medical procedure. Their baby still would have been created in an atmosphere of incredible love and tenderness. The clinical details…the presence of others…would not have mattered.

Amy ran a hand over her hollow abdomen.

Was this the way it was always going to be?

She had thirty-six hours.

And, it seemed, a mighty important decision to make.

TEDDY STOOD IN THE BARN, mulling over the irony of his situation. Two hours earlier he had been unable to perform the necessary functions at the necessary time, and now, here he was, as usual overseeing the same functions—albeit equine—that made him one of the most sought-after horse breeders in Texas.

Teddy leaned against the chute wall that separated the mare in heat from his prize stud. The two animals went nose to nose, teasing each other and getting acquainted while Mother Nature spurred them on. Knowing what was expected of him, Catastrophe allowed Teddy to lead him to the nearby breeding dummy and got down to business.

Short minutes later, the collection bottle had been filled.

Teddy praised the beautiful stallion and returned Catastrophe to his stall, then took the contents to the adjacent ranch lab for examination. Finding it good, he put the life-giving material in a syringe, returned to the waiting mare and inseminated her.

Teddy praised the mare for her cooperative attitude and returned her to the isolation unit where she would stay until her owner picked her up at the end of the week.

Contemplating how easy the two animals made the procedure look, he returned to the lab to sterilize the equipment. If only he could take his emotions out of the process, too, and let impregnating Amy be simply a matter of biology and timing.

Instead, Teddy found himself wishing for the impossible.

Wishing they were really married. That she was his wife in more than the legal sense.

It might be out of the question but he couldn’t help wishing Amy were sharing his bed, letting him indulge every fantasy that had come to mind since the moment they had said their vows.

“I thought I might find you here.”

Teddy looked up from his task. “Amy.”

Damn but she looked beautiful in the dim light of the barn. Her golden hair fell in soft, untamed waves to her chin. The red turtleneck sweater hugged her torso, emphasizing the slenderness of her waist and the fullness of her breasts. Her dark denim jeans molded to her waist and hips, lovingly clung to her long, sexy legs.

Teddy stripped off his gloves and walked away from the equipment he had just sterilized. “I wasn’t sure you were coming back.”

“I’ve been thinking.” Amy rocked forward on the toes of her boots. She stuck her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. She tipped her chin at him, her high, sculpted cheeks glowing pink against the fairness of her complexion. “Do you think it would be possible for us to try to have a baby together again? Only this time,” she finished softly, “I’d like to do it the old-fashioned way.”

AMY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT Teddy’s reaction was going to be. She didn’t expect him to brush by her and head for the house without a word.

Whirling, she took a few quick running steps to catch up with him.

“You’re not ready,” he said curtly, still not looking at her.

“How can you say that?” Amy followed him in the back door.

He bypassed the kitchen and headed straight for the master bedroom.

“A few nights ago you practically wigged out because we kissed.” Teddy shucked his denim jacket and pulled his shirt over his head.

Mouth dry, Amy watched him continue to disrobe.

Aware this was some kind of a test—one she was determined not to fail—she kept her eyes squarely on him as he finished disrobing and strutted toward the shower.

Damn, but he had a magnificent body, she noted through the glass enclosure. Satin skin covered taut muscle. Lower still, he was just as well…made. With difficulty, she lifted her eyes from the apex of his thighs, to his face. “That’s because we were just doing it for recreational purposes,” she defended herself hotly. And because it had made her feel like they were on the verge of a romance…a one-sided romance, that would have left her at a distinct disadvantage.

He arched a brow and stepped beneath the spray.

“I’ve had a change of heart.” She’d decided she could make love without being in love after all.

Teddy regarded her skeptically.

“This time we’d be doing it for a very good reason,” Amy said, continuing to make her case hurriedly, aware if she thought about it too much she’d lose her nerve. “It’d be part of our Christmas gift to each other.”

Teddy shook his head in mute frustration, even as his lower body rose to the challenge. “I know you, Amy. You’ll never go all the way.”

Maybe she wouldn’t if she didn’t want a baby with him so very much. She folded her arms in front of her militantly. “I will, too!”

“Really?” Teddy turned to adjust the temperature of the spray, giving her a fine view of his backside.

“Yes, really!” Amy wished he would take her seriously.

“Then prove it.” Teddy turned toward her once again, making no effort to hide his desire. His eyes locked with hers as he rubbed soap over his chest. Lower still. “Go in the bedroom. Take off your clothes. And wait for me.”

Amy could see from the sardonic curve of his lips that he still didn’t think she had the nerve.

She turned on her heel and marched back out of the bath. “I thought it was going to be a lot easier to be married to you!” she called over her shoulder.

“No kidding!” he called right back.

Huffing in exasperation, Amy marched over to the bed and stood staring down at it for one long second.

“This is to make a baby,” she whispered to herself defiantly, already toeing off her boots. “Our baby. And he or she will be made in the spirit of tenderness and hope and love.” This baby would be the ultimate Christmas gift to each other.

With trembling fingers, Amy turned back the covers.

Hearing the water shut off behind her, she closed her eyes and reached for the hem of her sweater.

“I’m not sure I understand the rationale for closing your eyes while you undress yourself.”

Amy gulped again and opened her eyes.

She turned to see Teddy lounging in the doorway, his strong, tall body glistening with droplets of water, a towel draped around his waist.

“Oh, hush,” she grumbled, irritated he had just spoiled her semiromantic mood. Now, she was going to have to work to get it back again.

He strode toward her, smelling of soap and man and…the potential for sex. “The fact you can’t even undress without an attack of nerves should tell you you’re not ready for this.”

Amy let out a nervous little laugh and finished removing her sweater. “I may never be ready for this.” Sex with her best friend. It didn’t change the fact she wanted a baby. His baby. “Which is precisely why we should keep going.”

Teddy lifted his hand to her breast, his fingertips caressing the swell of flesh above her lacy black bra.

Suddenly, he wasn’t the only one getting aroused.

He regarded her ardently, a sense of purpose glittering in his eyes. “This isn’t a game of Red Light, Green Light.”

Amy’s heart gave a nervous kick against her ribs. “I know.”

His voice dropped. “If we get started…”

She let out a shuddering breath as she tilted her face up to his. “We’re not going to stop.”

“Exactly.” Gently, he scored his thumb across her lips. “So now’s the time for second thoughts….”

Defiantly, she held the challenge in his eyes. “I don’t have any. Don’t want any.”

“Amy…”

Yearning welled up inside her. Not just for a baby now. But for him. Amy went up on tiptoe, wreathed her arms around his neck. She pressed the softness of her body against the hard length of his. “Kiss me, Teddy. Kiss me the way you did the other night.”

Their lips met halfway in a fierce explosion of heat and need, want and passion. She put everything she had into the kiss, fitting her lips to his, adjusting her head to just the right angle, experimentally touching his tongue with hers. She expected gentleness, acceptance. Instead, his lips were hard and hungry, his tongue hot and wet and unbearably evocative. Taking command, he kissed her again and again, until she was lost in the taste and touch and feel of him, lost in the ragged intake of his breath and her own low, shuddering moan. And suddenly the idea of making hot, wild love with Teddy McCabe was every bit as enticing as the sight of him, clad in nothing but a towel.

Teddy hadn’t expected Amy to take him up on his challenge. But now that she had…now that she was in his arms, kissing and holding him like there was no tomorrow, he could no more walk away from her than he could have not married her.

Maybe they didn’t love each other in the usual head-over-heels way, Teddy reflected, dropping his towel and divesting Amy of her bra. But they did have a connection between them that was as deep and enduring as anything he had ever dreamed. Excitement building inside him, he sifted his hand through the silky texture of her hair. Her body shuddered and softened against his, and he let all he wanted come through in another deep, searing kiss. He wanted to be a husband to her in every way, and as he undressed her and drew her slowly down to the bed, she seemed to want it, too.

Sensing the need pouring out of her, he cupped the soft weight of her breasts in his hands, bent his head, loving her with mouth and lips and hands. She clung to him wordlessly, arching her back, moving restlessly beneath him. He stretched out beside her, catching her by the waist. Shifting her onto her side, he pressed his hips against hers, kissing her again and again, until she was in a frenzy of wanting, murmuring her need low in the back of her throat. Wanting her to have everything she deserved, he made his way down her body, engaging every sense, until there was only the driving need, and the throbbing of his body and hers.

He slid upward, capturing her lips in another kiss.

“I want you,” she whispered, taking him in hand.

Her breath hitched as he filled her.

Yielding to him with the sweet surrender of a woman who should have been his long before, she clasped his shoulders and trembled as he kissed her and possessed her again and again. Their bodies took up an age-old rhythm, until there was no doubting how good this felt, how good they were together, and would always be….

Teddy slid his hands beneath her, lifting her to him, driving deep. Together, they soared toward a completion more stunning and fulfilling than anything he had ever felt. More incredible for him than the feel of her beneath him, her arms and legs wrapped around him, was the thought that at this very instant…they might be making the baby they both wanted so very much.

AMY HAD NEVER BEEN A particularly sexual person, never imagined she could feel this way about the lifelong “friend” who was now her husband, but Teddy’s lovemaking had made her feel white-hot. As if she was not just capable of conceiving the child they yearned for, but was all woman, too. As capable of giving…and receiving… emotional comfort and physical ecstasy.

“That was incredible,” she whispered in Teddy’s ear, wanting him to know just how wonderful he had made her feel. She could see now she shouldn’t have worried about the lack of traditional romance in the making of their baby. What she had just experienced was one of the most powerful and compelling—not to mention unbearably tender—moments of her entire life.

Teddy chuckled, pressing his lips against her neck in a series of hot kisses. “Tell me about it!”

Still shuddering with reaction, she rested her head on his shoulder. She liked the unexpectedly sexy turn their relationship had taken as much as the sound of his low, husky voice. With a sigh of contentment, she splayed both hands across his chest. “Who knew?”

He found her lips with his. His kiss was tender and sweetly coaxing. “I guess we should have.”

Aware that she had waited a lifetime to feel like this, Amy searched his eyes, needing somehow to put a label on this, so that it wouldn’t all ease away, as quickly and unexpectedly, as it had occurred. “What does this mean?” Were they married now—in their hearts? Or was this the friends-with-benefits scenario he had once proposed?

Teddy smiled and gave her a lazy once-over, seeming every bit as contented as she now felt. “It means,” he said, gently disengaging their bodies and rolling so that she was on top of him, “that we’re every bit as compatible—in a marital sense—as we first thought.”

Not exactly the declaration of undying love she had hoped to hear. Amy lamented softly, “Except that so far we fight about everything.”

Teddy stroked a hand down her spine, eliciting tingles of delight that made her want him all over again. His slow smile was as enticing as his touch. “Maybe not making love is what we’ve really been fighting about.”

She tensed as his manhood pressed against her inner thighs, hot and hard. “You think?”

He shrugged, making no effort to hide the fact that he wanted to make love with her again every bit as much as she wanted to tenderly explore him. “I feel a lot more at peace with things now.” He tunneled his hands through her hair and captured her bare lips with his. “How about you?”

Amy let him shift her onto her back once again. “Definitely.”

“There’s only one problem.” He draped one leg over hers.

“What?” Amy’d never felt so warm and safe. Never believed anyone could desire her with such ferocity.

Teddy smiled, his eyes glowing with a determined sensual light. “I don’t know if I’m ever going to want to get out of bed again.”