Betting on Texas (14 page)

What was taking the ambulance so long to
get here? And where were the men?

“Now,” she spoke through her Lamaze breathing. “It’s happening
now.”

“Stand by with those towels!” Miranda yelled to Kiley.

* * *

“V
ICKI
!” B
RANDON
SHOUTED
as he burst through the screen door and slipped on the paper
towels. Jesse and Aaron steadied him as Kiley motioned to them to keep it down.
She led them to the living room, where Vicki held a tiny bundle in her arms.

“Meet your daughter.” Vicki gazed at her husband with
tear-filled eyes.

Brandon stood frozen, staring at his wife and new baby. It was
as if someone glued his boots to the floorboards. Jesse and Aaron looked at each
other, shrugged and nudged him forward. He knelt down beside his wife.

“I’m a mother?” he asked. Everyone laughed. “I mean, I’m a
father?”

“Yes, dear.” Vicki moved aside the towel so he had a better
look at his daughter. “Randi Lynn Slater, meet your daddy.”

“She’s so beautiful,” Brandon said through his tears.

“I named her after you, Miranda Lynn Archer.” Vicki turned to
Miranda and smiled. “I hope you don’t mind my shortening her first name to
Randi. You brought her into this world.”

Now it was Miranda’s turn to cry. Her hands still shook from
the delivery.

“You brought her into this world. All I did was catch her on
the way out.”

“I think it’s a perfect name for a perfect little girl.”
Brandon kissed his wife. “You did good, sweetheart.”

“Oh, well, thank you.” Vicki laughed. “That’s mighty nice of
you to say.”

Sirens sounded in the distance.

“Well, it’s about time!” Kiley said. “Where were they? Stuck
behind a tractor full of manure?”

The paramedics took both mother and baby to the hospital.
Brandon thanked Miranda repeatedly on his way out. Kiley rambled a mile a minute
as she told Aaron how Miranda delivered the baby. He ushered her out the door so
Miranda and Jesse could be alone.

Miranda collapsed on the love seat. “Did what I think just
happened, really happen?”

Jesse sat beside her and she laid her head on his shoulder. He
ran his fingers through her hair as she closed her eyes.

“You were incredible today,” Jesse said softly. “I didn’t know
you had it in you.”

“You?” Miranda lifted her head. “I didn’t know I had it in me,
either.”

“What on earth happened in here?” Mable stood between the
kitchen and the living room. “Who was in the ambulance that flew out of
here?”

“Vicki.” Miranda smiled.

“And her daughter,” Jesse added.

Mable’s hands flew to her round cheeks. “You mean to tell me
she had the baby...here?”

“Thanks to Miranda,” Jesse boasted.

“You delivered a baby?” Mable laughed. “What do you know about
birthin’ babies?”

“Eh, nothing to it.”

“You scare the horses with the sound of your voice. You
probably scared the child right on out of her.”

“So that’s how you did it,” Jesse teased.

“Get out of here, both of you.” Miranda tried to rise from the
love seat.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jesse pulled her back
down.

“To take a bath.”

Jesse smiled provocatively at her.

“Alone, Jesse.”

He pouted and swatted her bottom as she stood. “I’ll be here
when you’re finished.”

“Mable, remind me to buy a new shower curtain liner,” Miranda
said from the stairs.

“What happened to the one I just bought?”

“I found another use for it.”

* * *

M
IRANDA
TURNED
THE
WATER
to hot and waited for the steam to build. She
sat on the edge of the tub and reran the events of the past hour in her
head.

She helped bring a new life into this world. Never had she been
so scared and so happy at the same time. It was amazing how two people could
create a perfect little person.

Miranda ran her hand over her abdomen. Now she finally had a
home. But, home to her always meant a husband and children. She had neither.
While she had feelings for Jesse, she wasn’t sure where they would lead in the
future. Their bet was still on the table, and neither of them was about to give
up.

The fear of his leaving for Abilene soon loomed overhead. There
were no guarantees in life except death and taxes, her mother used to say.
Miranda knew enough not to get her hopes too high.

After her bath, Miranda padded into her bedroom and found the
coverlet and the sheets on the bed folded down. A bouquet of wildflowers sat in
a mason jar on the bedside table. The windows were open, inviting the breeze to
waft in.

Jesse wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

“Do you like the flowers?”

“They’re beautiful.” Miranda turned in his arms to face him.
“Thank you.” She rose on her tiptoes to kiss him softly on the lips.

Jesse took her by the hand and led her to the bed. She stopped
short. Fear swept through her. She wasn’t ready for this.

“Relax,” Jesse said as he eased her onto the bed. “I just want
to hold you for a while. Nothing more.”

Tension lifted from Miranda’s body as Jesse ran his hands up
and down her back. His fingers worked the knots in her shoulders and the
stiffness from her neck. She swung her legs up on the bed and lay back, taking
him with her.

Jesse held her close. She listened to his heartbeat and the
rhythmic sound of his breathing. As she drifted into sleep, she could have sworn
she heard him say, “Someday, it will be us starting a family.”

Chapter Ten

Fourth of July morning the townsfolk began to arrive.
Jesse scrambled fresh eggs in an iron skillet the size of Texas over the
barbeque pit. In another skillet, he fried up a mess of bacon and sausage. Mable
brought out stacks of homemade biscuits and a giant kettle of grits for everyone
to dig in to.

Cole joked he felt like he was on a cattle drive, eating a
chuck wagon breakfast. It was just the feeling Miranda hoped to convey.
Traditionally the picnic didn’t start until noon. This year, she wanted to start
the festivities early so everyone could eat breakfast outside together. She
wanted a warm atmosphere, and what better way than to fill everyone’s bellies
with a fresh, hot breakfast? Jesse and Miranda agreed to put their bet aside for
one day.

By noon, Miranda found a moment to relax and enjoy the scene
she had created. Everything from casseroles to cakes lined the
red-and-white-checked tables. She secured the corner of each table with red,
white and blue ribbons. Kiley placed salads in bowls of ice. No one arrived
empty-handed.

In the center of each table, Miranda placed a pot of artificial
bluebonnets, Indian paintbrushes and white verbena she’d picked up at the dollar
store to create a Texas patriotic floral arrangement. Aaron hung a twenty-foot
American flag on one side of the barn roof and on the other side, the Lone Star
flag.

Old-timers told stories of how they used to move cattle up and
down trails for weeks on end. She admired their tenacity and the freedom they
must have felt as they slept outside at night and enjoyed nature all day. The
concrete jungle had gotten the best of her over the years. It wasn’t until now
she realized what drew her to the ranch. The very scene played out before her.
Community and family, together as one.

Miranda joined Charlie Slater and asked him about his new
granddaughter. He told her how he ran out and bought new video and digital
cameras to take pictures of the baby. The only problem was he couldn’t figure
out how to load the film into the camera. When Miranda explained he needed a
computer in order to use the digital camera, he made note of it and said he
would go out tomorrow and get one. She offered to help him set everything up
when he was ready.

Miranda was about to get up from the table when Charlotte
Hargrove sat down directly across from her.

“Good morning, Miranda.”

“Good morning,” Miranda said flatly.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry.” She slid a small gold foil-wrapped
box across the table. “For you. For the way I treated you at The Magpie a few
weeks ago.”

“It’s forgotten.” Miranda slid the box to Charlotte. “I can’t
accept your gift.”

“Please, take it as a peace offering,” Charlotte said. “Or if
you rather I left, I would more than understand.”

“I invited everyone in Ramblewood.” She rose from the table.
“You are welcome to stay as long as you’d like.”

“Please, Miranda.” Charlotte placed the box in Miranda’s hands
and closed her fingers around it.

Miranda reluctantly opened the box to reveal a porcelain and
silver hair comb. Her name painted on it with yellow roses entwining the
letters.

“This is beautiful.” Too beautiful? Miranda faced Charlotte,
trying to figure out the woman’s ulterior motive. “But you didn’t need to do
this.”

“You’ve given Ramblewood a tremendous gift by carrying on the
Carters’ tradition of this picnic. It was the very least I could do.”

“Thank you.”

Miranda talked to Charlotte for a while and learned she had six
children. Two sets of twins, no less. Miranda thought of how nice it must be to
have twins. Two in one shot. Not bad for a day’s work.

She watched everyone who arrived with children in tow. It
wasn’t an outrageous request. Just a few children running around her house to
make it complete. She watched Jesse as he taught his second cousin how to catch
a softball, Max catching the balls he missed. He would make a great father
someday. He truly seemed to love kids.

Miranda excused herself as she helped Aaron with iced tea
detail.

“What’s the matter, sunshine?” Aaron asked, filling an empty
glass. “You look all down in the mouth.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Miranda said, but she knew by the look on
his face he didn’t believe her. “All right. With all these kids running around,
I feel like my biological clock is ticking away without me.”

“Ah. I see.” Aaron set down the pitcher. “You help deliver one
baby and now you want one of your own. I understand.”

“It’s not quite like that. You’re a man. Men don’t have
biological clocks. You can keep making babies until the day you die. I figured
by the age of thirty I would have had all the children I was going to have.
Well, thirty’s less than a year away and even if I start now, it isn’t going to
happen.”

“Your time will come.” Aaron gave her a quick hug. “Just be
patient.”

* * *

J
ESSE
WAS
CLOSE
ENOUGH
to hear the conversation
between Miranda and Aaron. He reached into his pocket to double-check that the
box he had been carrying around for the past few days was still there. He left
breakfast duty to Beau and asked Miranda to take a walk with him.

“I heard what you said back there.” Jesse squeezed Miranda’s
hand.

“I said a lot of things,” Miranda teased. “What would you be
referring to?”

“About having children.”

Seeing his own children run around the Double Trouble Ranch had
always been his plans for the future. Now that he was certain Miranda wanted the
same thing, this was the moment he had waited for his entire life.

“Oh.” Miranda released his hand and started to walk more on an
angle to put some distance between them. She made it clear she didn’t want to
discuss the matter further.

“It’s okay, you know,” Jesse said as he doubled his steps to
rein her in.

“What is?”

“Miranda, stop.” He took hold of her hands so she couldn’t walk
away. “You’re not the only one who expected to have a family by now.” Jesse
started to bend at the knees, when she released his hands suddenly again.

“Why don’t we talk about this later?” She motioned toward her
guests. “I want to have fun today, not be brought down by what I don’t have in
life.”

Not waiting for a response from him, she walked to one of the
tables and struck up a conversation.

Jesse wouldn’t let anything deter him. If now wasn’t the right
time to propose, tonight would be.

It took Jesse a while, but the more time he spent with Miranda,
the more he realized this was where she belonged. She didn’t have anything to
return to even if she had decided to pack it in. The bet didn’t matter to him
anymore. The future, with Miranda by his side, was all he saw. The ranch was an
afterthought at this point.

* * *

M
IDAFTERNOON
, M
IRANDA
BUZZED
from table to table. People had surrounded her as if she were
a movie star. They wanted to know who she knew in D.C. and if she ever met the
president. Even he was surprised to hear she wasn’t interested in politics.

A local band played next to the dance floor the men laid
earlier and quickly filled with people of all ages. Just about everyone in
Ramblewood was there. Some out of friendship, but most out of curiosity about
the new woman in their small town. Miranda delighted them all.

Children gathered around Miranda as she sat under an oak tree
and read them Mother Goose stories. They begged her for more each time she
reached the end of another story. She didn’t seem to mind, and read until the
children either fell asleep or wandered off in search of a new adventure.

Jesse and Cole turned one of the corrals into a makeshift rodeo
ring, while Aaron gave horseback rides to children of all ages. Old tin washtubs
packed with ice overflowed with bottled beer and soda.

Everyone took their turn on the dance floor in the setting sun.
Miranda mastered the tush push and the Texas two-step, and was in the midst of
learning another new line dance. For the event she wore red cowboy boots, a
faded denim skirt and a white eyelet off-the-shoulder top. She was patriotic to
a T. But Jesse saw more than that. She was home.

Vicki, Brandon and little Randi Lynn stopped by for a brief
visit. Vicki and the baby remained in the truck as Miranda peeked in the side
window. The baby was the spitting image of her mother. Another Ramblewood High
cheerleader in the making.

“I had to swing by and see how your party was going,” Vicki
gushed. “I wish we could stay, but a newborn and all.”

“I understand.” Miranda hugged her through the window. “I’m
taking lots of pictures so I can show you everything later.”

Brandon walked to the back of the truck and picked up two
bloodhound puppies from a tall padded box.

“A gift,” Brandon said as he handed the squiggly bunches of
energy to Miranda. “No ranch is complete without a few hounds running
around.”

Miranda almost cried as she held the puppies in her arms. Max
stood on his hind legs to sniff the newest members of Double Trouble. Miranda
knelt down so he could have a better look at his new playmates. Tail wagging, he
checked each puppy over, making sure all parts were intact.

Vicki had tied red, white and blue ribbons on their collars,
with bows the size of their heads. One was a red female and the other a
black-and-tan male.

“I know the perfect names for these two,” Miranda said as she
placed the puppies on the grass. “Scarlett and Rhett.”

Jesse rolled his eyes at her name choices, but then again, this
was the same woman who needed an entire bookcase for her romance novels. Miranda
rubbed their pudgy puppy bellies and they all laughed when the puppies tripped
over their own feet.

“Brandon, honey,” Vicki said through the window. “Hand Jesse
that gift bag. Miranda’s hands are full. Their food, shot records and a few toys
are all in there. Call if you need anything.”

“Vicki, this is so sweet of you.” Miranda squealed when Rhett
nibbled at her earring.

“I hope you think so a few days from now.” Vicki laughed. “You
told me you wanted children someday. Here’s where you start. Welcome to
mommyhood.”

The ranch cleared out as everyone made their way down to Sparks
Memorial Field for the fireworks display.

A few folks volunteered to stay behind to clean up and watch
the horses. Jesse was usually one of them, but not this year. He wanted Miranda
to see her first Texas Independence Day celebration with him by her side. With
Mable’s help, Jesse convinced her to leave the puppies with her and join
him.

Since the fireworks tended to spook the horses when they were
in the corrals, Jesse moved them all inside the stables and played country music
throughout the building. Aaron came up with the idea to dampen the sound of the
fireworks the week before. It was a good one. Just another thing to add to
Jesse’s “reasons I am such an ass” list.

* * *

J
ESSE
AND
M
IRANDA
FOLLOWED
the trail of
vehicles leaving the ranch. When everyone else headed toward the field, Jesse
made a sharp right turn onto a winding dirt road that opened to Miller’s pecan
grove. He stopped the truck on the top of a hill and turned off the engine.

“Wait here,” he said as he hopped out of the truck.

Miranda heard his boots in the bed of the truck and turned to
see what he was doing.

“No peeking!” he shouted.

Miranda giggled and faced forward. He opened the passenger-side
door, took her by the hand and helped her down. Around the back of the truck,
the lowered tailgate revealed blankets, bowls of fresh blueberries and
strawberries and a crock of whipped cream.

“And what kind of night do you have in mind, cowboy?” Miranda
said with her hands on her hips.

“Not what you’re thinking, sugar.”

“I’m thinking I see whipped cream.” Miranda dipped her finger
in the white fluff and licked it off. “It can only mean one thing.”

“Yep. It means I wanted to take you to the very spot my folks
took us kids to watch fireworks when we were younger.” He hopped onto the
tailgate and helped her up.

“And how many women have you brought up here before?”

“Only you, sugar.” Jesse patted a place beside him for her to
sit. “To be honest, I had forgotten about this place until my brother brought it
up the other day.”

“This is really nice,” she said as she settled against his arm.
“I bet you and your family did a lot of things together when you were growing
up.”

“Yes and no. There’s always a party or a celebration of some
sort around here. Give Ramblewood a reason to get together and people will come.
So yes, my family was always together, but it was never just us. It was the
whole town.”

Miranda pictured what it would have been like growing up in a
small town. D.C. wasn’t a bad place to live. It had the Smithsonian museums,
which she visited more times than she could count, and concerts at the mall. The
cherry blossoms in spring were breathtaking. But D.C. lacked the hometown warmth
she was looking for, and she certainly never did any of those things with her
mother. She learned early on to be independent.

It was hard to feel like you belonged in such a big city. You
were just another face to the person you bumped into at the grocery store. In
Ramblewood, you were a neighbor, a PTA member or the postmaster. You were
someone who mattered. Someone whose name they all knew.

“If you look straight ahead—” Jesse pointed toward the valley
below “—you’ll see the fireworks come right up over there.”

“I can’t remember the last time I saw fireworks.” Miranda
reached for the bowl of strawberries. “I always took shifts on holidays,
anything to get ahead.”