The Rancher's Baby Proposal

I guess he thought I was just a little kid. He never did pay much attention to me.

She meant him. And she was right. He hadn’t paid her much mind years ago. Three years’ difference, give or take, made a big gap between a grade-school girl and a kid in junior high. The division between junior high and high school had caused a greater divide. Then, it had seemed like a big reason to avoid her. Not that he’d had any interest in her, anyway. He had thought of her as just a kid.

But as he looked at her now—

Sean let out another squawk.

Good boy, trying to get his daddy’s attention back where it belonged.

He cleared his throat and deliberately faced forward as they went along the upstairs hall. “Ignore the mess downstairs. When I was out here the other day, I got as far as cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, and that’s it. You might’ve seen the baby’s playpen in the corner of the kitchen.”

“I did.”

“I moved a portable television into that area, too, and a stack of magazines. You should avoid the other rooms downstairs until I have a chance to give them a good going-over. Upstairs, I’ve only tackled one bedroom and the bathroom. So this little guy and I are bunking together in my old room. The memories might remain, but at least the dust is gone.”

A dumb statement. He hadn’t meant it to come out sounding so pathetic. It was too late to take the words back and too late to stop Ally from following him into the room. He turned as she stopped short just inside the doorway and looked around.

He let his glance rove over what she was seeing. The baby’s portable crib. The pine bedroom set. The shelves still filled with memorabilia from his childhood interests and high school days.

“Is this the way the room looked when you were a kid?” she asked. “With the football and baseball pennants and the autographed balls, the 4-H ribbons and all the trophies?”

“Yeah,” he said sheepishly. “When I left for school, my mom wanted to leave everything the way it was. I think she believed I’d want to come back and relive the memories of all my school years.”

“Those were the days,” she said drily.

Was she thinking again about the times he hadn’t paid attention to her?

Blinking, she gave him a small smile. “I’m sure she missed you a lot while you were gone.”

“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “You know...only child, and all that.”

“Me, too. But unlike you, I never left my mama.”

Again, he wished he could go back and change the past. If not for his fight with his dad, he might have gotten to see his parents a lot more in those years after he left for college. By the time he had earned his degree, he had lost any chance to see his mom at all. Then, a year ago, he had learned he’d never have the opportunity to mend fences with his dad.

He yanked a diaper from the sack in the top dresser drawer and laid a towel on the bed. It took him only a minute to show Ally where he had stored Sean’s clothes and blankets.

While he changed the baby, she moved around the room, checking out the trophies. “Baseball,” she said. “Football. Softball. Track. No wonder you were named all-around athlete the year you graduated.”

When he glanced up, he found her looking at him. He turned his attention back to Sean. “You remember that?”

“I was there in the stadium the day they gave out the awards. Along with three-quarters of Cowboy Creek.”

He remembered that day, too, and not because of the standing ovation.

“Is there any sport you don’t play?” she asked.

“Not really,” he said, grateful for the question and the chance to change the subject. “How about you? What’s your favorite sport?”

“Telephone tag.”

He laughed. She did, too, a low, sexy laugh very different from the high-pitched giggles he remembered hearing from her and her friends.

Sean let out another squawk.

“I guess he gets the joke, too,” she said. “Smart baby.”

“Yeah.” Blinking, he focused again on his son.

An attraction to his boy’s babysitter was something he hadn’t expected. Something he sure didn’t need, considering he planned to have her help him out as often as she could in the next week or two.

“I’d better get back to the job.” Suddenly it seemed even more important to make progress. The sooner he finished up everything he needed to do here at the ranch, the better. “I spent most of this afternoon working in the barn and want to keep at it while the light’s still good.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yeah.” Luckily, she didn’t comment on what would have made the most sense, tackling the house first so he could get it ready to sell. But if his bedroom held so many dusty memories, he hated to think what he would discover once he went through the rest of the rooms, the closets, the cubbyholes. “My dad has a lot stored out in the barn—tack and farm tools and all the other equipment you need to run a ranch.”

“Like everything we sell at the store,” she said. “He was a regular.”

“Yeah. Of course you know all about farming and ranching equipment.” She also probably knew more about both his parents’ later years than he did.

He lifted Sean from the bed and rested him against his shoulder again.

She stood inspecting a couple of faded photographs tacked to a bulletin board above his student desk. He looked at the photos and couldn’t help shaking his head. His mom had stuck them there just before graduation. Since he’d come home, he hadn’t had the heart to take them down.

Ally turned and flashed him a brilliant smile. “Prom king. That was another pretty impressive announcement.”

“Old times,” he said shortly. “Things change.”

“So I see.” She gestured to the other photo, the one he’d looked at more times in the past couple of days than he could count. “This is you and your parents when you were a kid, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. One of my mom’s favorite pictures, from a vacation we took to California.”

“I guessed that from the big black mouse ears you’re wearing. Maybe someday, you’ll get Sean a pair of those.”

“Maybe.” Memories crowded his mind. Ally’s light perfume stirred his senses. Suddenly feeling closed in, he said abruptly, “I’ll show you where everything’s at downstairs before I head back to the barn.”

Then, until it was time for her to leave, he would stay there, working by the exposed overhead lights. Heck, by kerosene lamp, if he had to.

* * *

IN THE QUIET of Reagan’s kitchen, it didn’t take Ally long to grow bored.

While the baby slept in his crib, she kept the television volume turned low. She watched more than she wanted to of late-afternoon comedies and early-evening news. The television stations were beginning their prime-time shows before she realized how late it was. At the same time, Sean woke up.

She moved him into his carrier on the kitchen table.

“I’m getting pretty good at these straps and buckles, aren’t I, baby?”

He looked up, his mouth pursed tightly, as if he were giving serious thought to what she had said.

“Oh, everybody’s a critic,” she told him. “I’m not expecting anything less from you than two thumbs-up.”

A peek through the window over the sink showed her the light streaming through the open doors of the barn. She turned to the baby again. “Your daddy’s still out there, and you know what? I don’t believe he’s ever coming back inside.”

It was her turn to purse her lips for a moment. “He wasn’t happy about those pictures in his bedroom, was he? Or maybe he wasn’t happy about the fact that I saw them. I guess I can’t argue about that. It has to be so hard for him, losing both his mama and daddy. Like you...” She peered down at the baby and asked softly, “Where’s your mama, little one?”

Naturally, he didn’t reply.

“Well, maybe you’ll tell me someday.” She smiled. “Your daddy said he’s an only child, like me. But he has you, and that’s a very good thing. I’ll bet he misses you, too, while he’s in the barn working all by himself. Let’s go see.” She picked up the carrier.

Outside, the night was still warm from the day’s heat. It wasn’t pitch-dark yet, but the moon already cast a faint glow against the dimness of the sky. “There’s a man in that moon up there,” she told Sean, “and one day, your daddy will show him to you.”

As they approached the barn, she heard a noise she recognized from the store, the familiar sound of wooden planks thudding against one another. Through the doorway, she could see Reagan piling lumber in one corner near the stalls. He was so intent on his work, he didn’t hear her enter, not even when she cleared her throat to get his attention.

Oh, well. She had done what she could, hadn’t she? It wouldn’t be fair to call out his name and startle him.

Instead, she stood there getting a good look. She took in the sight of his threadbare jeans, his sweat-dampened back, his muscles bunching and flexing as he shifted one load after another of scrap lumber.

It wasn’t until she stood admiring his pecs and abs that she realized he had turned and stood looking at her.

Oops.

Recovering quickly, she gave a wolf whistle. “You need to apply for a job at the store. Think what having you on the payroll will do for our profits. After one look at you, all the women in Cowboy Creek will instantly become do-it-yourselfers.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Oh, but I do. Keep in mind I’m comfortable making the suggestion because I get paid by the hour. You wouldn’t have to worry about cutting into my commissions.”

“With all the wranglers who must stop in just to see you, I’d probably have to worry more about you cutting into mine.”

“A compliment, Reagan Chase?” she said archly, batting her lashes like one of the actresses from her mama’s favorite late-night movies. “How unexpected. But I’m flattered.”

He looked as if he had had second thoughts about what he had said. Maybe she’d overdone it on the exaggerated flirting attempt.

“Yeah. Well.” His smile seemed forced. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Oh, I won’t.” No chance of that. His words had gone straight to her heart. Obviously, she had been foolish to think he had meant them.

Afraid he might read the truth behind her teasing, she looked down at the baby for just a moment. “Sean and I were wondering if you were planning to eat tonight.”

“Eat?” His gaze went to the open doorway behind her. “What time is it?”

“Sevenish.”

“Dang.” He ran his hand through his hair, giving her another look at flexing muscle. “I lost track of time. And I showed you the baby’s formula, but I didn’t tell you what food I’d stocked in the kitchen for grown-ups, did I?”

“No.”

“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.

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