Читать книгу Pregnant With The Rancher's Baby - Kathie DeNosky - Страница 8

Two

Standing with his brothers at the makeshift bar his hired men had constructed for the party, Nate was only half listening to the conversation about his brother’s rodeo stock company and the bucking bulls he owned that had been selected for the National Finals Rodeo. He was too busy watching Jessie. She was as cute as a button in the girl garden-gnome costume that Bria had picked up for her to wear to the party. She’d had to leave the vest off because it was too formfitting, but the white apron over her full red skirt hid her rounded stomach just fine.

Seated on a bale of hay, Jessie was listening attentively to his two nephews Seth and little Hank jabber about their new ponies. He could tell by the way she smiled at the little boys going on about riding their “horsies” that she loved kids. When his niece Katie toddled over to her, Jessie picked up the baby girl to sit on her lap without a moment’s hesitation. She was going to be a great mom, and he could only hope to be half as good of a dad.

His heart stuttered and he had to take a deep breath to chase away the fear tightening his chest. Just the thought of being a daddy scared the living spit out of him. What if he couldn’t live up to the responsibility? He was a fantastic uncle to his niece and nephews. But that role didn’t carry nearly as much responsibility as being a father. What kind of dad would he be?

His biggest fear had always been that he would turn out to be as negligent and undependable as his and Sam’s father had been. That’s why he’d never really thought about having kids. Hell, he hadn’t even thought about having a wife because of it. But it was all he’d been able to think about for the past twenty-four hours. Could he live up to his responsibilities?

Of the six men he called his brothers, Sam was his only biological sibling and had turned out to be as solid as a rock. He was the exact opposite of their old man, and it gave Nate hope that he would be just as reliable as Sam. But how would he know for sure?

“So what’s up with you, Nate?” T. J. Malloy asked, interrupting Nate’s disturbing thoughts.

“Yeah, this is the first time you’ve asked the little blond to join one of our family get-togethers,” Ryder McClain added, grinning from ear to ear.

“Maybe now that he owns the Twin Oaks Ranch, Nate is finally ready to settle down,” Lane Donaldson speculated as he cradled his infant son in the crook of his arm.

“I’ve got a hundred bucks that says he and Jessie are married by spring,” Sam said, glancing from Nate to Jessie and back. “Yesterday when she called to ask me where she could find you, she sounded pretty determined.”

“Jessie called you and you didn’t tell me?” Nate demanded, glaring at his older brother.

Sam shrugged. “She asked me not to and I told her I wouldn’t. And you know as well as the rest of us about Hank’s number-one rule.”

“Yeah,” Nate said, his irritation fading at the mention of their foster father and the personal code of ethics he had taught the boys in his care. “Break a bone if you have to before you break your word.”

His brothers all nodded in agreement.

Jaron Lambert pulled his wallet from the hip pocket of his jeans, got out a hundred-dollar bill and plunked it down on the top of the bar. “I say Nate and Jessie will be hitched by the middle of this coming summer.”

“I’ve got Christmas,” T.J. said, adding his money to the pool.

“I’ll take Valentine’s Day,” Lane spoke up, putting his hundred with the rest.

Ryder pulled his wallet from the hip pocket of his jeans, then looked him up and down before he slapped Nate on the shoulder. “I’m betting they’ll be married by Thanksgiving.”

Nate shook his head as he listened to his brothers bet on when he and Jessie took a trip down the aisle. It had always been this way with the brothers. From the time they were all placed into the care of their foster father, Hank Calvert on the Last Chance Ranch, the six of them had a betting pool going on just about everything. Of course back then they had all been dirt poor and had nothing better to do than speculate on the next time it rained or which one of them would be the first to win a buckle at one of the junior rodeos they all competed in.

Now that they were all self-made millionaires, instead of betting fifty cents or a dollar, the stakes were a lot higher. These days it was nothing for them to bet a hundred dollars or more on who would be the next one to tie the knot or add to the family with the birth of a baby. But up until yesterday, he hadn’t even considered the possibility that he would be the next one they speculated on or that they would all be right in doing so.

Every time one of them mentioned him getting hitched he felt a twitch at the corner of his left eye. He still couldn’t believe that he was finally willing to take the plunge and get married. It scared the living hell out of him that he might let Jessie and their baby down. But he had a responsibility to both of them and he was going to do everything in his power to live up to what a good husband and father should be.

Focusing on the pile of money on the bar to keep himself from dwelling on all of the what-ifs, Nate shook his head. “While you all waste your time and money, I’m going to ask Jessie to dance.” The kids had abandoned her in favor of playing with a cardboard box someone had left over by the refreshment table, and he decided now might be a good time to find out when she wanted to tell his family about the baby.

He threw his empty beer bottle in the recycling bin at the end of the bar and walked away. He was in enough trouble with her. He didn’t want to add more by telling the guys about her pregnancy before she was ready. And if he stuck around much longer, there was a real possibility of him accidently tipping them off that something was up. If that happened, they would needle him until hell froze over trying to get him to tell them what was going on.

Hiding things from the people who knew you best wasn’t all that easy. That was the only downside he could see about being so close and knowing each other so well. But he wouldn’t have it any other way. He knew he could count on his brothers being there for him no matter what, just as he would be there for them.

“Are you having a good time, darlin’?” he asked, walking up to where Jessie still sat on the bale of straw.

With her attention on the kids, she smiled. “I’m having a wonderful time. But I’m apparently not nearly as interesting as a cardboard box.”

Nate took her hands in his to pull her to her feet. “Just wait until you see the kids at Christmas. They get all kinds of excited and can’t wait for us to remove the toys from the boxes. Then they toss the toy aside and sit down to play with the box.”

Her light laughter made his insides vibrate with a tension he knew all too well. He wanted her. Hell, even during the times when he’d broken things off with her and gone his own way, he’d still wanted her. Maybe that was the reason he hadn’t been able to stay away from her. He had a feeling the reasons went much deeper, but he wasn’t going to think about that now. He wanted to hold her in his arms without having her remind him that she wasn’t there to rekindle their romance.

“Would you like to dance, darlin’?” She loved kicking up her heels on the dance floor and he wanted her to enjoy herself. If she had a good time, it might remind her of what they had shared in the past.

“I think I would, sheriff,” she said, referring to the tin badge he had pinned to his shirt.

He nodded to the frontman in the band he’d hired and, right on cue, they ended the song they had been playing and immediately launched into a popular slow country song. When the group had first arrived, he’d told the man the title of the song he wanted them to play and to be watching for his signal. It was the song he and Jessie had danced to the first time he’d taken her out for a night on the town.

“You had that planned,” she accused.

Grinning, he took her into his arms and swept her out onto the dance floor. “Yup.” He leaned close to whisper in her ear. “You didn’t tell me I wasn’t allowed to remind you of the first date we went on or how good we are together.” He wisely refrained from mentioning that was true for other things besides dancing.

He felt her tremble against him a moment before she put a little space between them. “Nate, the first thing we’re going to do after this party is to set down some ground rules. Otherwise, I’ll be going home tomorrow and I won’t be back.”

“Sure thing, darlin’,” he said agreeably as they swayed in time with the music.

She could lay down all the rules she wanted, but that little shiver was all the indication he needed to know that she wasn’t impervious to him. And he had every intention of reminding her of that fact every chance he got.

He waited until the song ended before he asked, “When do you want to make the announcement about the baby?”

She sighed. “I suppose now is as good of a time as any. But don’t you dare mislead your family into believing that we’re getting married because we’re not.”

“I give you my word,” he said, nodding. He wasn’t about to do anything that would send her running back to Waco before the end of the month they had agreed on. And that was exactly what would happen if he so much as hinted to his family that marriage was a possibility. Besides, he had until just after Thanksgiving to figure out how he was going to accomplish that goal. He was determined not to fail. He wanted her to agree to be his wife and for them to be married before the baby was born.

Putting his arm around her shoulders to guide her, they walked over to Bria and her sister, Mariah, chatting with some of their friends by the refreshment table. “Bria, could you get the family together and meet Jessie and I outside for a few minutes? We have something we’d like to tell everyone.”

“Of course, Nate.” Smiling, his sister-in-law turned to Mariah. “Go tell the men to meet us outside while I find Summer, Taylor and Heather.”

Within a few minutes Nate and Jessie stood just outside of the big barn doors, surrounded by his family. He knew his sisters-in-law would be excited by their news and would start making plans for baby showers and whatever else women did to welcome a new baby into the family. But his brothers were going to give him hell when they learned that marriage wasn’t a sure thing.

Their foster father had raised them with a clear sense of what was right and wrong. From the time they had been old enough to start dating, Hank Calvert had told them it was their responsibility to protect a woman. And in the case of an accidental pregnancy, a man had a moral obligation to do what was right and give the woman and child his name.

Nate knew that in this day and time, that way of thinking might be considered antiquated, but there was no man he respected more than his late foster father. Hank’s teachings had served him and his brothers well over the years and turned them from rebellious young hell-raisers into honest, upstanding adults. As far as he was concerned, that kind of guidance shouldn’t be ignored. Besides, the thought of having Jessie at his side every day and in his bed every night was a very appealing aspect of marriage, even if it did scare the hell out of him.

“So what’s up, bro?” Jaron asked with one of his rare smiles. The quiet, brooding one of his brothers, Jaron was the only one that Nate knew for certain hadn’t completely rid himself of the ghosts of his past. They all had had a few residual hang-ups from their lives before being sent to the Last Chance Ranch. But Jaron’s ran deeper than the rest of them.

“Yeah, spill the beans, hotshot,” T.J. chimed in.

Nate glanced at Jessie as he reached for her hand. “We just wanted to let you know that we’ll be adding another member to the family in a few months. We’re going to have a baby.”

There was a stunned silence that followed his announcement and one look at the expression on Sam’s face let Nate know his failure to mention a wedding had not gone unnoticed. With a slight shake of his head, he let his brothers know not to ask about it until later. He knew they would respect his wishes and remain silent—for now. But as soon as the opportunity presented itself, he was going to have some explaining to do.

“That’s wonderful,” Bria said, breaking the silence as she stepped forward to hug him and Jessie. God bless her, Bria could read a situation faster than anyone he knew and always seemed to know exactly what to say to ease the tension.

“I’m so excited for you,” Summer McClain added happily, shifting her daughter to her hip in order to reach out and hug Jessie.

“We’ve got another baby shower to plan,” Lane’s wife, Taylor, spoke up enthusiastically. “I’ve got some new appetizers in mind that will be perfect for the refreshments.” A personal chef, Taylor was always looking for reasons to try new recipes on the family.

“When is the baby due?” T.J.’s wife, Heather, asked.

“In late March or early April,” Jessie answered. Nate could tell by the tone in her voice she was relieved that no one had asked about a wedding.

“Do you know if you’re having a boy or a girl?” Mariah asked, giving Jaron a pointed look. Every time one of the sisters-in-law became pregnant, Mariah and Jaron argued about what gender they thought the baby would be. It appeared this time was going to be no different.

Jessie smiled as she shook her head. “I’m having an ultrasound in a couple of weeks to find out.”

“Congratulations,” Sam finally said, stepping forward to give Jessie a brotherly hug. He stared hard at Nate. “I think this calls for a beer, don’t you?”

“Great news,” Ryder said, wrapping Jessie in a bear hug. When he put his hand on Nate’s shoulder, Nate could tell by Ryder’s iron grip that he was about to be escorted to the bar for his brothers’ interrogation.

“Jessie, if you don’t mind, we’d like to take this bonehead back to the bar to toast your good news,” Lane explained, handing his baby son over to his wife, Taylor.

“I don’t mind,” she said, smiling. “It will give me a chance to ask your wives what I can expect with a newborn and what baby products they’ve found to be the most useful.”

As his brothers walked him back into the barn, Nate heard the excited voices of the women as they offered their suggestions on what they thought Jessie might need to get ready for the baby. He wasn’t the least bit surprised. Whether she realized it or not, she and the baby were already considered members of his family and everyone would do whatever they could to help her and make her feel welcome.

“Okay, what’s the story, bro?” Sam demanded when they reached the bar.

“And why didn’t we hear that the two of you are making plans to get hitched?” T.J. asked as he motioned for the bartender to get them all a bottle of beer.

“You all know about as much as I do,” Nate admitted as they walked over to a more private area away from a group of their friends. “Jessie showed up yesterday to tell me she’s about four and a half months pregnant, I’m the daddy and when I told her we’d get married as soon as possible, she flat-out refused.”

“You told her you’d marry her instead of asking her to be your wife?” Lane asked, his expression incredulous.

“Way to sweet-talk a woman, bro,” Jaron said, shaking his head. “Even I know better than to do that.”

“For a ladies’ man, you sure screwed that up,” Ryder stated disgustedly.

“And you tried to give me advice on how to talk to a woman when Heather and I first started seeing each other.” T.J. took a swig of beer from the bottle in his hand. “I’m glad I had the good sense not to listen to you.”

Sam folded his arms across his chest and glared at him. “How do you intend to straighten this out with her, Nate?”

“I’ve already come up with a plan,” he answered, watching the women and kids reenter the barn. They all looked as if they were having a lot better time than he was at the moment.

“You want to run this scheme of yours past us and get our input before you try to execute it?” Lane asked.

“Yeah, the way you messed up that proposal, it sounds to me like you need all the help you can get,” Jaron added.

As much as he had riding on the outcome, Nate figured he could use some advice from his brothers and especially from Lane. Having the opinion of a licensed psychologist definitely couldn’t hurt and might just give him the edge he needed to convince Jessie of his sincerity.

“I got her to agree to stay with me until after Thanksgiving so we can work out joint custody and how we’re going to raise the baby,” Nate answered. He stared across the dance floor at Jessie and the rest of the women. “And while I’m at it, I’m going to pull out all the stops and show her that I really do want to get married.”

“The way things have gone down with you two in the past, you’ve got your work cut out for you.” T.J. stated what Nate was certain all of his brothers were thinking.

“It for damned sure isn’t going to be easy,” Ryder added.

“And there’s no margin for error,” Lane warned. “If you don’t get it right this time, they’ll be passing out ice water in hell before you get a second chance.”

Nate nodded. No matter how scary it was to commit himself to one woman, especially knowing that he’d have to reveal everything about his past, he had too much to lose not to do everything in his power to make things right between them. “I’m going to get Jessie to agree to marry me or die trying.”

* * *

As Jessie listened to Nate’s sisters-in-law discuss possible themes for the baby shower they were planning for her and the refreshments they might serve, she couldn’t help but feel envious of the strong family bond the women and their husbands shared. Over the past couple of years, Nate had told her a little about his blended family, and how he and Sam met the other four men they called brothers when they were placed in the foster care system.

Sent to the Last Chance Ranch as teenagers, the six boys had found their salvation as well as each other, thanks to a kindhearted man named Hank Calvert and his unique set of rules to live by. The boys he fostered had stayed tight throughout the ensuing years and from what she could see, the women they married had become just as close.

“When you find out the baby’s gender do you intend to tell everyone or let it be a surprise?” Heather asked.

“I thought I’d let everyone know the gender, but keep the name secret until the baby is born,” Jessie said, resting her hand on her stomach. “I know it sounds strange, but I’d like to introduce him or her to everyone by name.”

“If you don’t mind, could you let us know what you’re having as soon as you have the ultrasound, Jessie?” Summer asked, smiling. “That way we’ll know what colors to use for decorations.”

“And if you’ve chosen the colors for the nursery, that might be useful as well,” Heather added as her little boy, Seth, ran up to hand her a bouquet of dried weeds he’d obviously picked out of a hay bale. After she thanked him and gave him a kiss, he rejoined the other two toddlers. “T.J. gave me a bouquet of flowers the other day and Seth tries to mimic everything his daddy does.”

“That’s so sweet.” Jessie found the little boy’s gesture very touching and she knew for certain she would be just as happy having a boy as she would having a girl.

“It would also be helpful if you register at one of the baby boutiques in Waco as soon as you can so we can put that on the invitations,” Bria suggested, bringing the conversation back to the shower they were planning.

“They’re using some of the most unusual combinations of colors these days,” Taylor commented as she shifted her baby son to her shoulder for a burp after he finished the bottle she had been giving him. “I hadn’t even considered the colors I used until I saw them in one of the baby boutiques.”

“I hope you get to decorate with a lot of pink and purple for a little princess,” Mariah stated as she got up from the bale of straw she was sitting on to walk over to the three toddlers playing with the box again.

“That’s only because she wants another excuse to argue with Jaron,” Taylor confided. She got up and picked up a diaper bag. “Time to get this little man changed and settled down for the night.”

As Taylor walked out of the barn toward the house to get her son ready for bed, Bria explained the ongoing disagreement between Mariah and Jaron. “Whenever one of us announces that a new baby will be joining the family, Mariah insists it will be a girl and Jaron is just as determined it will be a boy.” Shaking her head, she sighed. “It’s their way of dancing around the real issue between them.”

Jessie nodded. “Nate mentioned that Jaron and your sister have been attracted to each other for years, but he thinks he’s too old for her.”

“When she was eighteen, a nine-year gap in their ages did make a difference in maturity and experience,” Bria said. “But now that she’s twenty-five and he’s thirty-four, Jaron is the only one who thinks it still matters.”

“I’m twenty-six and Nate’s thirty-three. Neither of us have given the seven-year age difference a second thought. I wonder why he’s so insistent that it’s a problem?” Jessie asked, frowning.

“If you can answer that, you will have solved one of the mysteries of the universe,” Summer stated as she hurried over to keep her daughter from trying to stand on a pumpkin.

An hour later as she helped the women clear the refreshment table, Jessie was more envious than ever of the love and devotion they all shared. They might be a blended family, but they were closer than some people she’d seen who were related by blood.

She sighed heavily as she thought about her own family. For whatever reason, her parents had never seemed to care if she and her older brother had a close relationship. Of course, her brother had been a junior in high school when she was born and as with most teenage boys, he thought he had better things to do than to pay attention to his baby sister.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t really all that close to her parents either. Her mother and father were real estate brokers and when they weren’t busy selling mansions to the überrich residents of Houston, they were attending a social function at the country club to make more contacts for their agency. About the only time she could remember them paying all that much attention to her was when she told them she was going to become a registered nurse instead of earning a business degree in college. They had both been extremely disappointed with her decision and couldn’t understand why she didn’t want to follow in their footsteps like her brother had done.

That hadn’t changed since she graduated and started her career. Sadly, she didn’t hold out a lot of hope they would react any differently when she finally told them about the baby either. They were simply too caught up in brokering real estate deals to be bothered with family. And the only reason they had more to do with her brother was because he was just as driven by the almighty dollar as they were and had joined the family business.

“Do you have plans for Thanksgiving, Jessie?” Bria asked, bringing her back to the present. “If not, we’d love to have you spend the day with us.”