The Rancher Takes A Family

“Why can’t Betsy have a cookie, Mommy?” Andy asked, breaking into her thoughts.

“Because chocolate isn’t good for babies, Andy. She’ll have to grow more teeth before she can eat chips, anyway.”

“But I like them!” Andy said.

“I know, honey. Betsy will, too, when she gets a little older. Oh, I need to feed the two of you so you can have your bath and go to bed before the men come in.”

“Why don’t I get to stay up and see the cowboys?”

“You will, honey, but right now they’re getting in late, too late for you to eat your dinner. After calving season, you’ll see a lot of them.”

“What’s calving season?”

“That’s when the mama cows have their babies.” When her son opened his mouth to ask more questions, she hurriedly said, “No, no more questions. I have too much to do right now.”

Once the children were in bed, she began preparing dinner, trying to fix dishes she thought John would like. Which was hard to do since she didn’t know any of his likes or dislikes.

Why did she keep thinking about the man?

He was driving her crazy.

She couldn’t possibly be attracted to him, could she? Well, she was sympathetic. She understood the anger he felt toward his first wife. She’d felt some anger toward her first husband, such as he was. But she wasn’t going to be hurt now. She was going to concentrate on her job and the children.

And one angry man.

CHAPTER THREE

“BETSY’s upstairs asleep, again?” John demanded fiercely when he came in for dinner that evening.

“Yes,” Debra said and followed him out of the kitchen. “John, I thought a regular schedule would be beneficial both for Andy and—”

“I’m not talking about Andy! I care about Betsy. I want to see her when I get home at night!”

Debra stopped short in the hall. “Well,” she said, her tone terse, “I guess that’s just another lie.” She turned back toward the kitchen.

“What are you talking about?”

“Uncle Bill said you’d be a daddy for Andy.”

Damn. Even he wouldn’t be mean to a kid. Didn’t she know that about him, at least? He was just in a snit—at Debra, mostly—and disappointed that even though the ranch work was getting done now, he was seeing less and less of his daughter. From the look on Debra’s face, he knew her feelings had gotten hurt. He knew he needed to apologize. Shoot, he was never any good at saying sorry. Often enough he’d had to eat crow when Elizabeth was upset—whether it was his fault or not. But it was not a skill he’d ever really acquired. He was about to give it a try when Debra shot him a narrowed glance as sharp as a new blade and walked away.

He’d apologize later. Seeing Betsy was important now.

Upstairs, John found his baby sleeping peacefully. He touched her downy hair and patted her back, but after several minutes, he realized she wasn’t going to awaken. Satisfying himself with a kiss on her cheek, he went back downstairs and showered. Everyone was already eating.

“Sorry, John,” Bill told him, a worried look on his face. “Debra told us to go ahead and eat.”

“No problem. I just wanted to check on Betsy.” The other two men welcomed him, but he noticed Debra said nothing as she passed the food to him. She’d get over her anger when he apologized later, not in front of the men, of course.

He waited until after they’d all finished eating, including the apple pie she put on the table. He’d never tasted better. But he thought his men had praised her enough.

Trying to wait out his men, he sat at the table, not moving as she stacked the dishes.

“Did you need something else, Mr. Richey?”

Her formality surprised him. “Why are you calling me that?”

“Is that not your name?” she asked coolly.

He ignored her question. “I was going to apologize—”

“Not necessary. You made everything clear.” She began loading the dishwasher.

Why did women make it so hard to say sorry? he thought to himself.

“Debra, stop! I want to apologize to you.”

“I’m sorry, but I have a lot of chores and I’m tired.”

“You’re not some damned Cinderella, Debra.”

“No, of course not. I’m your housekeeper.”

“You’re my wife!”

“You and I both know that isn’t true. If you’ll excuse me, I need to start a load of clothes.” She left the dishes and walked out of the room.

He followed her. “I’ll be able to hire a housekeeper in the fall.”

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