Loving a Lawman (18 page)

She shook her head. “We're married.” She held up her left hand to show him the ring he'd placed there just yesterday, which was winking in the Texas sun. “Remember?”

“I remember,” he all but growled. “But we did it all backward.”

Truer words had never been spoken. She sat back farther into her seat to allow them to sink in.

She and Seth had done everything backward. They had known each other their entire lives, it seemed, and yet they had never been on a date. They had never made love in a bed. They had never just made out in the movie theater. So
many things that normal couples experienced that had never been theirs. How could they make it to forever?

“I think you're doing all right.” She shot him a mischievous smile.

“Just all right?” He had the cheek to look disappointed.

She gave him another smile, one she hoped would come across as a little seductive. “Well, try kissing me again, see if that helps.”

Only in his dreams had she ever uttered that remark. “Oh, yeah? You think that will help?”

She scooted a little closer and clasped his face in the palms of her hands. “I don't know,” she said. “But it never hurts to try.”

*   *   *

J
essie felt his kiss from her lips all the way to the tips of her toes. Sweet and sassy and not too far from a certain kiss in a certain truck that had dumped them into the situation they were in now.

Yet now it was different. They were married. Having a baby. There was nothing standing in their way. Not even Chase.

In a heartbeat she was straddling him, enjoying a closeness with him that she hadn't felt since the afternoon after Wesley's birthday party.

She ran her hands down his chest, tugging at his buttons as she went. She wanted to touch him. So badly.

He pulled away, groaning as her fingers found skin. “Jessie,” he rasped. “You have to stop this.”

She smiled. “I do?”

He winced and shifted in his seat, increasing her need for him. “You do.” Before she could utter even one protest, he set her back into her seat and adjusted his crotch. “I'm not going to do this here.”

She sighed. “Then take me home.”

He shook his head. “We're courting, remember?”

Surprise flooded her. “And people don't make love when they are courting?”

He started the truck and put it in gear. “Nope.”

She wanted to ask if she could get a second opinion, but she had been forward enough for one afternoon. And there was something special about him putting the brakes on their make-out session. As if he was in it for more than just sex. . . .

Maybe forever was in their grasp after all.

A
re you nervous?” Jessie asked two days later as she and Seth sat side by side in the doctor's office.

“No, why?” he asked, though he was bouncing his knees to some unknown rhythm and thumping his thumbs against his thigh.

She placed one hand on his leg to stop his incessant movements. “You seem a bit agitated.” And that was the understatement of the year.

“I'm fine.” He glanced nervously around the office. “I didn't realize Doc Stephens was still delivering babies.”

Jessie used her forefinger to mark her place in the three-month-old magazine she was reading and shook her head. “His son took over his practice.”

“What?”

Several heads turned in their direction.

Seth nodded, then lowered his voice. “Your appointment is with Gary Stephens.”

“He's the only obstetrician in Cattle Creek.”

Seth was on his feet in an instant. “Come on. Let's go.”

Jessie frowned at him but remained seated. “Go where?”

“Somewhere else.”

“But it's almost time for my appointment.” She checked the clock hanging on the wall behind the reception desk. “Past time,” she corrected.

“You are not going in there.” At least this time his voice was at a level that only drew a couple of looks of consternation.

“Will you sit down?”

“No,” he said. “We have to find you another doctor.”

“Sit,” she said sternly.

Surprisingly enough he did, though he perched on the edge of his seat as if he wanted to spring up at any minute.

“He can't be your doctor,” Seth protested. “I went to school with him, and I know he cheated on his biology tests. And I can't tell you how many times he copied my homework. We need to get you out of here and to San Angelo or Midland.”

“We aren't going anywhere, Seth.”

“Jessie—”

She leaned in closer. “I don't have a car. I can't go to another city to a different doctor. Gary Stephens is a perfectly fine doctor. He's been delivering babies here for years.”

“But this is my baby.”

“Our baby.” The words sent her heart pounding.

“But—” he started again.

“No buts, Seth. Everything's gonna be fine.”

“Jessie?” the nurse called from the door.

She stood and tossed the magazine into her vacated chair.

Seth was back on his feet in a heartbeat.

“You're coming in with me?” she asked.

“I think I should.” The look in his eyes said he wasn't backing down.

Jessie sighed. “Come on.”

*   *   *

H
ey, Sheriff,” Millie greeted as Seth stepped into the office later that afternoon. He had taken Jessie home after the doctor's appointment, arguing the entire way about going to Midland for her prenatal care. Her main point was that she didn't have a car to get to and from the appointments without someone taking her and that there'd be a chance he would be too busy or unable to get away. Not to mention, she might not be able to make the hour trip once the labor pains started.

Finally he had relented, though he still wasn't sure he trusted Gary Stephens with the lives of his wife and child. But what choice did he have?

“Hey, Millie. Anything happening today?”

She shook her head. “How'd the appointment go?”

Seth shrugged. “Fine, I guess. It's too early to hear the baby's heartbeat. So it was just a lot of talking about due dates and that sort of thing.”

“And?” Millie rolled one hand as if to keep him talking.

“April second.”

“A spring baby. That's nice.” She smiled. “Oh, did you order something? This package came for you today.”

Seth took the padded envelope, noting it was from an online bookseller. “Yeah.” His very own copy of
Your Body, Your Baby
, a pregnancy book that was all the rage. Or so he had been told. “What do you think of Gary Stephens? As a doctor, I mean.”

Millie pulled her reading glasses a little farther down her nose. “I've only been back in town for a few weeks, so I can only go on past experience. He wasn't much of one when we were ten.”

Seth propped his hands on his hips. “Be serious. Jessie wants to use him, but I think she should go into San Angelo or Midland.”

“Why?” She leaned back in her seat and waited for his answer.

“I think she would get better care.” He was crazy worried about her and the baby. “What if something happens and Stephens can't take care of it?”

“Seth,” Millie gently started, “you might get better care in a bigger town or with a different doctor, but it's not going to guarantee Jessie's or the baby's health.”

She was right. Damn, he hated that she was right. Jake's wife, Cecelia, had gone into Midland and died. There were no sure bets when it came to babies and doctors. “You think Jess will be okay here, then?”

Millie nodded. “Just keep an eye on her. If she needs better care, then you can switch doctors later.”

“Okay,” he grudgingly agreed.

“You haven't given Jessie a lot of control over how things are going to be during this pregnancy. Let her have this.”

Damn if she wasn't right again. “Fine,” he all but snarled. He grabbed his package and headed for the door. “Call me if you need anything. I'm headed over to the Ford dealership.”

“They having a problem today?” Millie asked, slipping her glasses back in place in order to get back to the filing.

Seth shook his head. “I'm going to buy my wife a car.”

He ignored the shocked look on Millie's face and headed out once again.

*   *   *

A
re you looking for anything special?” Bill Coleman asked as Seth eyed the brand-new cars all lined up neatly in the parking lot. Overhead, the vinyl banners flapped and snapped in the wind.

“Something for Jessie to drive,” Seth said, trying to give the man his full attention, but unable to stop his gaze from looking down the line of shiny new Fords.

“Jessie McAllen?” Bill asked.

Nothing like small-town gossip. “Jessie Langston.” He liked the sound of that. Especially since the name change was associated with him and not his brother.

Bill thoughtfully stroked his chin. “Yeah, I heard something about that.”

“We need something reliable and big enough for a family.”

“I've got just the thing.”

He and Bill walked down the rows of new cars, but Seth couldn't picture Jessie driving any of them. She needed something smart and dependable, big enough for the baby, but small enough that she could maneuver it easily. Bill showed him all the new models with televisions and Wi-Fi connections, and as much as he would love to give her the world, he knew he had to tread lightly with this gift. She was going to have a hard enough time accepting the car itself, but she surely wouldn't want to be driving around in one that cost more than the house she grew up in.

Seth took one look at the brand-new shiny red Edge and shook his head. “You have anything less . . . fancy? I want Jess to have something she's comfortable in.”

Bill thought about it a moment. “I might have something.” He led Seth around the side of the car lot to the service department. Sitting next to the garage doors was an older-model Jeep Liberty. Dust and grime covered most of the outside, but Seth was pretty sure the vehicle was a beautiful, conservative, navy blue.

“This just came in this morning. I got it in a vehicle trade. It's got less than a hundred thousand miles, and for an '04 that's outstanding. Of course it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that they put in cars today, but she's solid. Runs like a top.”

“How much?”

Bill named a price that was fair, but Seth pretended to think it over.

“Throw in a tune-up and you've got a deal.”

Bill smiled and stuck out his hand. “I'll throw in a tune-up and a car wash.”

Seth shook his hand and returned his smile. “That sounds fine.”

“Give me just a minute, and I'll get the papers together.”

“Take your time.”

With a quick nod, Bill was gone.

Seth walked around the little SUV, noting any cosmetic problems. There weren't many, and the tires looked relatively new.

“I thought that was you.” Darly Jo Summers-Eden Burnett eased out of the garage, a surprised smile stretching her pink painted lips.

“Hi, Darly Jo.” Inwardly Seth cringed, but somehow he managed to keep his true feelings from showing on his face.

“I hear congratulations are in order.”

He nodded. Ever since word of his and Jessie's wedding ran through the town, most of the casseroles and pies had stopped coming, but Darly Jo still managed to stop by the station at least once a week with some sort of foodstuff in tow.

“Now, ain't that something else?” She took a step closer to him, smiling as she did. He couldn't help noticing that her smile seemed a little put-on as she grabbed his hand and studied his wedding ring.

“You're a good man, Seth Langston.” She raised those heavily mascaraed eyes to his but didn't release his fingers.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Everybody in town is talking about it. You and Jessie, that is.”

“Why's that?” Did he really want to know? The people in Cattle Creek talked about a lot of things, and only a small percentage of them were true.

Darly Jo spread his fingers apart with hers and laced them together as if testing the fit. “How you married Jessie to give the baby a name.”

What was it with people? It was over a decade into the new millennium and people still had hang-ups about babies and parents and when they got married. Wasn't the important thing that there was a marriage and a tiny person to carry on?

He gently untangled their hands and moved out of her reach. He cleared his throat while he searched for a suitable response. “I did what any man would do.”

She took a step closer to him. “I seriously doubt that. And it's so sexy.” She straightened his collar and allowed her hands to linger on his chest.

He picked them up and returned them to her sides. “Would you like to explain that?”

“What?” She batted her eyes. “It's very sexy for a man to marry a woman to give her baby a name.”

“It's our baby.”

“Oh, go on with yourself, Seth. Everyone in town knows that it's Chase's baby.”

He closed his eyes and counted to ten.

“Seth?” Her fingers brushed against his cheek.

Capturing her hand in one lightning move, he somehow managed to keep her from pawing at him further. “Listen, Darly Jo. You are a lovely woman, always have been. But I am a married man.”

“Well, I know that, but you don't have to pretend with me.”

“I'm not pretending. I love Jessie, and she's having my baby.
My
baby. Not Chase's. If you want to start a rumor in this town, start that one. At least the girls at To Dye For will be telling the truth for once.”

*   *   *

J
essie clipped on her headphones and started to work. Who knew two people could have so much stuff? She had gotten almost everything essential put away before the wedding, but there was still a ton of boxes to deal with.
Her mementos, Seth's keepers, and she hadn't even sorted through her grandmother's house yet.

The idea filled her with acute dread. Moving in with Seth had been a big enough decision, but it was at least one she could make herself. But closing down her grandmother's house, choosing what to sell and what to keep . . . the thought was daunting at best. But more than anything, it filled her with heartbreak and brought back the pain of her loss.

But now you have Seth and the baby.

She straightened from taping up the box and pressed her hand to her abdomen. She had Seth and the baby.

With each passing day she became more and more accustomed to living with Seth. And living was all they were doing. She slept in the master room on the iron bed she had brought over from her meemaw's house while Seth had taken to sleeping in the next room. Sometimes at night she could hear him roll over in his sleep or pad quietly to the kitchen for a drink of water. There were even times when she lay awake and listened for signs that he was there. Never before had she wished for a husband who snored, but how funnily enough, she wished she had one now.

Her music player changed songs, and Kenny Chesney sang to the world about his girlfriend thinking his tractor was sexy. Filled with joy, Jessie sang along. She danced a little sideways step to get to the next box. This one came from Seth's, and she had no idea what was in it.

As she bent to open it, a hand touched her shoulder. She screamed and whirled around to find Seth there, grinning like an idiot while her heart dang-near pounded out of her chest.

“Seth,” she breathed, pulling the buds from her ears. “What are you doing home?”