The Rancher's Baby Proposal

“Sorry. I stopped at the L-G this morning after I dropped Sean at Mrs. B’s.” The Local-General Store in the heart of town served most of Cowboy Creek. “I didn’t pick up a full order yet, but there’re sandwich fixings in the refrigerator and a loaf of bread in the box near the toaster. Help yourself.”

“You’re not planning to eat?”

His gaze sliding away from her, he shook his head. “I’ve still got a lot to do out here.”

“Won’t you wear yourself out if you don’t pace yourself?”

“Who, me? I’m an all-around athlete, remember?”

“I’ll never forget.” She had attempted her arch tone again, but the words rang embarrassingly true, at least to her.

Judging by Reagan’s suddenly blank stare, he noticed her mistake, too.

As she had told Sean, his daddy either didn’t want to resurrect memories or didn’t like the idea of sharing them with her. A shame, really.

She shifted the baby carrier on her arm, making an effort to remember she wasn’t here for fun and games, reminding herself Reagan wasn’t interested in flirting.

An even bigger shame, because that was what she did best. She didn’t intend to give it up at this crucial point—though, of course, she’d cut back on the fake vampiness from now on.

Experience had taught her flirting was guaranteed to get a man’s attention. And she definitely wanted to capture Reagan’s.

Chapter Four (#ud70ddb86-b15a-5289-b09c-1d48bcce1f12)

As he finished piling the lumber into stacks off to one side of the barn, Reagan shook his head at himself. His plan to stay out of the house until it was time for Ally to leave for home hadn’t been very well thought out. And it hadn’t been very bright.

With plenty of work and then some to keep him busy, he could have kept going for hours. But he could hardly hang out in the barn all night. His son had to be changed and settled into his portable crib upstairs. He didn’t expect Ally to handle that. In fact, he hadn’t expected her to stay this late. If not for him, she wouldn’t have.

He knew it was too little effort, too late, but he made his way quickly toward the house.

Clouds covered the moon, and he had only the back porch light that Ally must have put on, plus the square of light from the kitchen window, to guide his footsteps through the dark. It reminded him of all the nights when he was growing up and had come in from working in the barn or, as he got older, out on the land with his dad. In the earliest days, they were two tough ranchers—one of them still in diapers and short pants.

At the sudden memories of later days, his stomach knotted.

When he entered the kitchen, Ally looked up. She sat near the darkened television in the corner, thumbing through one of the outdated magazines he had left in a pile on the counter. She had tuned his mom’s old radio to a station now playing music with a fast beat, but she had left the sound turned low.

The baby lay sleeping in the playpen.

“So you finally decided to quit for the night,” she said.

“Yeah.” He glanced across the room and noted the napkin-covered plate sitting on one side of the table. “You didn’t eat yet?”

“I did, since I had no idea what time you’d be coming in. I made an extra sandwich in case you walked in feeling ravenous.” She gave him a bright smile.

Suddenly, he did have a huge appetite, but not one connected to food.

“I’m good, thanks.” He looked away, checking in on the baby again from a distance. “I’m too covered in dirt to go near Sean, but I can see he’s sleeping soundly.”

“He hasn’t moved for a long time,” she confirmed.

“Good. He’s usually tucked in bed by now.” Great. He’d as good as told her he had stayed outside long past the time he’d normally have taken care of his son. “Since this is your first day with the baby, I’ll give you both a break. You can skip the bedtime routine with him this time.”

“Okay.” She began straightening the stack of magazines.

He shucked his boots and left them near the outside door. While he was still out in the barn, he had thought briefly of the no-frills shower stall off in one corner. But he’d only scrubbed his hands at the sink. It didn’t make sense to clean up out there, as his clothes were filthy and he’d be carrying dirt from them into the house, anyhow.

If Ally hadn’t been there, he could have left his jeans and T-shirt outside on the porch. He envisioned stripping off his clothes in front of her. “I need a cold shower,” he said abruptly.

For a moment, she looked as rattled as he felt. Her glance went from his socks to his jeans to his sweaty T-shirt, where it lingered a moment before finally rising to his face. Here he was having hot thoughts about her, and she seemed worried about dirt in the house. If so, she’d best not hope to become a rancher’s wife.

“Sean will sleep for a while now,” he told her. “I’ll let him carry on while I go get cleaned up. I can take over from here. We didn’t discuss how you want to be paid. Daily or at the end of the week?”

Again, she looked upset. He frowned. “Did I forget to say I’d want the help for at least a week, if not two?”

“You mentioned it when we talked at SugarPie’s. You weren’t very specific.”

“That’s because I’m not sure. It depends on how long it takes me to get the house in shape.” A heckuva long time if he didn’t do more than what he’d done already, which meant clean the minimum of rooms so he and Sean could stay here comfortably. And temporarily. “If you expect to run into a problem, let me know now. I’ll talk to Mrs. B and maybe Sugar, have them start spreading the word to see if I can find someone else.”

“No,” she blurted.

Obviously, her distress about the dirt on his clothes was nothing compared with the thought of losing her short-term job. She must need the extra money more than she had let on.

“It’s fine,” she said. “I won’t have any trouble working for you for a couple of weeks or...or even longer. I told you, once I’m done at the store, my time is my own. And speaking of stores, you weren’t kidding when you said you didn’t pick up much at the L-G. If you want to give me a list, I could swing by there tomorrow before I get the baby at Mrs. Browley’s.”

“You’re here for Sean. I don’t expect you to do the shopping.”

“The store is on my route. And you said yourself it’s a big hassle to stop working to run into town.”

He hesitated, then nodded. “It is. And I drop Sean off at Mrs. B’s before the L-G’s open. It would be a help if you’d grab a few things for me on your way out here. I could be that much closer to getting done, and you could make some extra money for your time.”

Judging by her fallen expression, that comment didn’t go over well with her, either. Funny. He’d thought for sure she would have been happy about the additional pay.

Women. He’d never figure them out.

But then, considering he and Sean had been deserted by one, hadn’t he realized that already?

* * *

“I’M SURPRISED YOU’RE HERE,” Tina said to Ally as they settled into the comfy overstuffed chairs in the Hitching Post’s sitting room. “You told me Reagan has you bringing the baby out to his place after work.”

“We’re on the way. But trust me, Reagan won’t notice what time we get there.”

Yesterday, when she had arrived at the ranch with Sean and the groceries, Reagan had been nowhere to be found. She had given up on the television altogether and spent the hours with the radio and the stack of magazines again. She was already bored and lonely with no one to talk to but a sleeping baby. By the time Reagan came into the house, she had begun wishing she had stopped by the Hitching Post to occupy her time.

And Reagan certainly didn’t hang around to chat.

Once he’d taken off his boots, checked on the baby and said good-night to her, he disappeared even more quickly than he had the night before.

Outside, she had stood for a moment beside her car, looking up at the light in the second-floor window and longing to be a fly on the wall in his shower—or at least to have the pleasure of seeing his silhouette in the window. Then, blushing at her own thoughts, she had gotten into the car and driven away.