SECOND CHANCES AT MG RANCH (11 page)

Chapter 17

By the end of the next day, Loren had broken out in an itchy red rash that covered most of her body. She couldn’t remember ever scratching herself so much.  Could she have been allergic to Sam’s cologne or maybe the detergent that he used to wash his clothing?

One thing was for sure, something had to give.  She could only be described as miserable right now.  The more she scratched, the more it itched.  It felt like a never-ending cycle.

The back door creaked open, then shut down stairs.  Thank goodness Sam was finally done with the daily chores.  Loren ran down stairs to greet him.

“Whoa,
looks as if someone is glad to see me,” Sam said. A grin pretty much covered his whole face. Well, at least he was happy to see her.

“Sam this is not a time for fun and games.
  I think I may be allergic to you.”  She tried to keep a straight face.

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

Loren lifted up her shirt to give him a view of her mid-torso.  It was covered with a red, splotchy rash.

“My goodness, you look awful.”
He said it without thinking how it might sound to her.

“Well, if it’s any consolation to you, it feels just as bad as it looks.  Seriously, I think I might be allergic to your cologne or something.”

“Honey, I hate to be the one to disappoint you, but what you have is a very bad case of poison ivy,” he confirmed.

“What?  How could that have happened?” she asked.

“Remember me telling you not to touch the vines wrapped around those cedar logs yesterday?”

“Yes, but I was careful and didn’t touch them.”

“Then you must have come in contact with it from touching my gloves that you used,” Sam said.

“And all this time, I just thought that I was probably allergic to you,” she said with a laugh.

“Afraid not baby, but we need to ride into town and get some of that pink lotion stuff to rub on you.  Hopefully, it will give you some relief until we can get you in to see Dr. Kim tomorrow,” he said.

Loren grabbed a light jacket and followed Sam out the back door.   The sooner they got something to relieve the itching the better
.

“Honey, stop scratching,” Sam said on the
ir way to the drug store.

Loren wondered if Sam even realized that he had been referring to her as baby and honey all day.  The other woman that she had seen him with was still lingering in the back of her mind.  How long would it be before he dropped her and went back to his beloved Stephanie?

“I can’t, it itches so bad.  I mean, like you really have no idea how bad,” she replied.

“I know, but with every scratch you are just making it worse.”

“How come you didn’t get it, after what we did last night….?”  She let her words trail off, crimson staining her cheeks.

The mood had been light and good between them all day, but neither of them had mentioned their love-making the night before, although Sam had been
very affectionate towards her all day, hugging and pop kissing her every chance he got.

All of the extra attention that he was giving her was making her all giddy and happy.
At the moment she was feeling very much like a school girl again.  Only difference was, this wasn’t just a crush.  Loren was sure it was the real stuff called love.

Sam pulled up in front of the drug store, and Loren jumped out before he could comment on what she had said.

He almost had to break into a run to catch up with her.  They went directly to the medicine aisle and got the pink lotion and an oatmeal bath, paid the cashier and were on their way back home in no time.

The night proved to be just as interesting as the night before.
Loren had thought that Sam would retire to the bunk house when they got back to the ranch, but he quickly let her know that he had other plans.

He followed her into the house and ushered her up the stairs to the bathroom.  Ignoring her puzzled look, he ran her a warm bath and sprinkled the oatmeal powder into the water.

“You need to soak for at least twenty to thirty minutes and then when you get out, just put a robe on and come back down stairs.  I will help you with the calamine lotion.”  He said it more like it was a given order than a request.

The oatmeal bath did seem to relieve some of the itching and soothe her red, over-scratched skin.  She closed her eyes and
relaxed back against the tub.  It was nice to have Sam pampering her.

Loren
had drifted off to sleep during her soak.  Sam’s knock on the open door startled her.  “Loren, are you about ready to get out of the tub?” he asked.

She
sleepily nodded her head and stepped out into the oversized towel that he was holding up in front of her.  Sam was careful to just pat her skin dry instead of rubbing it.  From the looks of it, she must have been clawing at her sensitive skin all day

Once she was all dry, he helped her into her soft pink robe.  He realized that almost everything the girl owned was pink.
He guessed that it must be her favorite color.

It felt
kind of weird to be letting him see her naked again.   But, Sam didn’t give her much time to ponder on that thought before he led her back downstairs to the kitchen.

While she had been upstairs soaking her tortured skin, he had been downstairs in the kitchen whipping them up some toasted ham sandwiches for supper.

They both ate their sandwiches in silence.  Although quite, Sam hardly took his eyes off her.  Examining his inner thoughts and feelings, he realized that he would never grow tired of looking at this girl who had blossomed into a beautiful woman overnight.

Everything between them felt natural and Sam did not want it to change.  He decided then and there that he would not leave MG Ranch, unless she forced him to.  And if she did force him to leave, then he knew that he would be leaving his heart behind.

Loren broke the silence.  “Thank you for taking care of me tonight Sam.”  Her eye lashes fluttered shyly.

“You are welcome.  It is the least I can do.  Besides, it
’s my fault that you have poison ivy.”

“I’m
sure you didn’t do it on purpose, so I forgive you.”  Her eyes filled with admiration as she stared at him.

Loren gathered their empty plates and placed them in the sink.  Before she could turn around, Sam was behind her.  He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

Sam turned her around to face him and kissed her softly.  She put her arms around his middle and leaned into him, laying her head on his chest.  It felt so good to just be held in the safety of his arms.

“Let’s get you upstairs and get you all pinked up,” he said.

Loren allowed Sam to lead her up the stairs and into the master bedroom.  He kicked the door half-closed behind them.  The lamp on the nightstand was on its lowest setting, casting various shadows throughout the room.

He slipped the pink robe from her shoulders and motioned for her to sit on the bed.  He carefully spread the calamine “pink” lotion all over her irritated skin.  His touch remained soft throughout the entire process, not wanting to cause her anymore discomfort.

Discomfort was the least of Loren’s worries.  The caress of is hands were creating havoc on her nervous system again.  Each time his skin touched hers, it caused a new sting of desire to spring forth.

Sam’s fingers brushed lightly across her nipple causing it to jump to attention.  It was amazing to her at how fast her body responded to his touch.

    In spite of her skin condition, the night proved to be just as interesting as the first.  Their love making this time was slow and sweet, lasting way up into the wee hours of morning before they both finally drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 18

By the time that Loren had emerged from a peaceful sleep at nine o’clock the next morning, Sam had already called the doctor’s office and set up an appointment to address her poison ivy dilemma.

Her appointment with Dr. Kim was at ten a.m., so that didn’t leave her much time to get ready.  Everything about her morning had been rushed and it was putting her on edge.  She didn’t like being rushed; it made her feel as if she were being pushed into a corner.

Before Loren could protest to the rushing, Sam ushered her out the door and into the cab of his truck.  She had barley even had time to take a quick shower to rinse off the dried calamine lotion, her hair was still damp, and applying make-up was definitely out of the question.

Twenty minutes later, he was signing her in at Dr. Kim’s medical office.  At the moment Sam was making her feel very much like a child who couldn’t make her own decisions.

Loren preferred how he made her feel like a woman when he held her in his arms at night.

“Just have a seat and Dr. Kim will be with you in a moment,” the office assistant said, when Sam had finished adding her name to the list of patients to be seen.

Once again, Sam led her to a seat.  “Would you stop doing that?” Loren hissed, under her breath.

“Stop doing what?” Sam questioned. He was acting like he really had no clue about what she was talking about.

Loren rolled her eyes at him.  “Stop treating me like I am a child that needs to be taken care of.
Believe it or not, I can do some things for myself.”

“You are not making any sense, Loren.  What are you talking about?” he asked.

“I am talking about you doing everything for me.  Making my doctor’s appointment, rushing me out of the house, driving me to the doctor’s office, signing me in, and if all of that isn’t enough, you just led me to my chair.”

Sam was a bit taken back by her sudden eruption.
“I’m sorry.  I didn’t realize that I was offending you by trying to take care of you. I don’t remember you complaining last night,” he said quietly.

Okay, so maybe she had over reacted a little.  The expression on his face made her feel bad.  She had hurt his feelings.

Before she could apologize, the office assistant called her name. “Miss Loren Randolph, the doctor will see you now.”

Sam started to get up, but sat back down when he saw the look on Loren’s face.  There was no way
that she was going to allow him to go back with her to see the doctor.  This love stuff was making him do crazy things.  What else would possess him to act in such a mushy kind of manner?

Loren followed the assistant through some doubled doors, down a narrow hall
-way to an exam room. “Dr. Kim will be in shortly,” she said, closing the door behind her as she left the room, leaving her all alone.

The room was quiet and she finally had a moment alone to collect her thoughts.  Her emotions were running high, with all the recent happenings of the past couple of days.

A few minutes had passed before a light rap on the door interrupted her thoughts.  Dr. Kim followed the knock by entering into the room without waiting for a response.  One quick look at the rash that covered most of Loren’s body confirmed Sam’s diagnosis of poison ivy.

One shot later and
a prescription in her hand, Loren reappeared in the waiting area.  She stopped at the checkout counter, just to be informed that Sam had already paid her bill.  She glanced his way and rolled her eyes at him again.

He hated it when she did that.  It made him feel as if she were scolding him.
  “All ready to go?” he asked, before she could comment.

“Yes, looks like we are all done here,” she said through clenched teeth.

Once they were outside, she turned on him.  “I told you to stop treating me like a child. I can pay my own bills, Sam!”

“I’m
sorry, again.” Sam shrugged his shoulders and resumed walking to the parked truck.  There was no arguing with this crazed woman.

Loren’s blood was just about to boil over.  How dare he just walk
away when she was talking to him?  Flash backs of their first encounter sifted through her brain.

She stood and watched
in disbelief as Sam walk to the truck and climb in behind the wheel.  She guessed that was his way of letting her know that his paying her bill was not up for discussion.

Loren stomped over to the truck and got in, slamming the door shut.  Sam seemed to be oblivious to her anger.
  He began to whistle, which only aggravated her nerves more.

He drove her straight to the drug store to get her prescription filled.  Once that was done, he drove them to a pizza diner for some lunch.  He just failed to tell her that they were meeting Hal & Missy for lunch.

Loren felt the heat begin to rise up her neck.  How could he do this to her, she looked awful.  No make-up, hair all messy and itchy red splotches all over her skin.

Thankfully, lunch went quick and their friends didn’t even seem to notice her appearance.  However
a few jokes had been made about Sam giving her the poison ivy.

Loren’s mood was much lighter when they headed back home.  She was actually feeling much like a spoiled brat for the way that she had been acting all morning.

She glanced Sam’s way.  He kept his eyes on the road ahead.  Loren felt the need to apologize for her behavior.  “Sam, I’m sorry for the way that I have behaved all day.”

His response came as a surprise to her.  “It’s okay; you are just tired and cranky.  I understand that you are not feeling well.”

She had expected him to lecture her, which is what she really deserved.  The fact that he wasn’t made her feel even worse about her behavior.

“Even so, I should not have behaved in such a childish way,” she reasoned.

“Well, you were a bit bratty, but I forgive you,” he said.  A big smile spread across his handsome face.

“Glad to have that settled,” sh
e replied, letting out a sigh.

Sam pulled into the driveway and parked in his usual place at the barn entrance.  The day was already over half gone, so Loren left the barn chores to Sam at his request and returned to the house.

She let herself in the back door and went upstairs to take a short nap.  There she snuggled with Teddy, and it wasn’t long before she drifted off to sleep.