The Rancher's Blessed Event (9 page)
Read The Rancher's Blessed Event Online
Authors: Stella Bagwell
“For a woman who was twenty-five years old back then you were very naive,” he said.
Her nostrils flared with anger and anticipation. “Thank you. That's just what I needed to hear.”
Before the last word was past her lips, he was giving her shoulders a shake. “You need to hear a lot of things. But right nowâ” In stunned fascination, Emily watched his face dip down toward hers. “I don't think words could get the message across,” he murmured.
“Cooper, don'tâ”
The rest of her protest was blotted out by the hard line of his lips, the clamp of his arms around her shoulders.
Shock and confusion slammed Emily from all directions, then as the warmth of his mouth plundered hers, it no longer mattered why he was kissing her, only that he was. And that he tasted the same, felt the same! The realization very nearly made her weep with a mixture of joy and regret.
Unknowingly her hands crept up his chest and linked at the back of his neck. Her mouth opened to the erotic search of his lips. This was the Cooper she had loved, she thought, as a blissful sigh swept a shudder through her body. This was the Cooper that had made her so happy.
And so sad. So terribly, terribly sad.
Frantic to end the fusion of their lips, Emily shoved herself away from him. “You haven't changed one little bit,” she muttered hoarsely.
His lips twisted wryly. “Shall I take that as a compliment?”
“You're despicable to...to take advantage of me!”
He threw back his head and let loose a harsh laugh. “Maybe I was guilty of that ten years ago. But as you just said, you're not naive anymore. You know what a bastard I am.”
Her hands clenched at her sides as her blue eyes bored into his. “There's no reason for you to be deliberately crude!”
“And there's no reason for you to be overdramatic, either. That was just a little kiss. It's not like we made mad passionate love to each other.”
Maybe it hadn't felt like it to him, Emily thought. But it sure had to her. “And we're not going to make mad passionate love of any kind, either!”
“No,” he agreed. “We're not. But I am a man. Plain and simple. With wants and needs just like any other man. I guess somewhere along the way you forgot that.”
Well, if she had, he'd certainly reminded her of it a few moments ago. Her lips were still burning and she knew the pounding of her heart had filled her face with color.
“I didn't know I needed to make a point of remembering your gender,” she retorted, while wishing the sight of him didn't have the power to excite her, to make her want and wish for things that couldn't be.
Cooper watched the rapid rise and fall of her breasts, a scarlet flame licking across her cheeks, and deep inside him he wondered how he could ever stay here now and not love her.
Or had he ever stopped loving her?
Chapter Five
“E
mily, you are coming to the Bar M for Thanksgiving, aren't you?”
mily, you are coming to the Bar M for Thanksgiving, aren't you?”
As Emily waited for the receptionist to write her an appointment card, she glanced at her aunt Justine. Like her mother, she was a tall beautiful redhead who carried her age incredibly well. Since she worked at the clinic as a nurse, Justine saw her each time she came in for a visit with Dr. Bellamy.
“To be honest, I hadn't really thought that much about Thanksgiving. Mother mentioned it earlier this month. I suppose my parents will be there?”
“Of course they'll be there. And hopefully the rest of the family. Although I'm never certain about Charlie.”
Emily's cousin, Charlie, was a Texas Ranger. And though she knew Justine and Roy were very proud of him, she was well aware that they worried about him a great deal, too.
“I guess he never knows until the last minute whether he'll be able to get off work,” Emily remarked. “Have you talked with him lately? How's he doing?”
Justine sighed. “My son is working himself to death. But he insists it's what he wants to do.”
Emily smiled at her aunt. “Charlie always puts his heart in whatever he does. That's why he's such a good Ranger.”
Justine sighed once more, but this time a smile accompanied it. “I know. I just wish he'd put a little more heart into finding a wife.”
Emily had always been close to Charlie and she wanted him to be happy. She didn't want him to marry just for the sake of being married. She wanted him to find a woman who would be wonderful to him.
“I'm sure he will one of these days, Aunt Justine. Just let him do it on his own.”
Justine nodded with understanding. “Charlie wouldn't let me interfere even if I wanted to. Now what about Thanksgiving? We'll miss you if you're not there.”
“Well, I don't know. I...” The Bar M was the Murdock home place. Although Chloe, the youngest of the three sisters actually lived there now, Justine and Rose still considered it their home, too. Most all holidays and family reunions were held there because it had the biggest house and because the old ranch had been a major reason for bringing all three Murdock sisters to their future husbands. It was a family place, through and through. How could she take Cooper there?
“Well, I don't know. I...”
Justine regarded her thoughtfully. “Is Cooper still on the Diamond D with you?”
Other than her mother's opinion and her father's lack of one, Emily didn't have any idea what the rest of her family thought about Cooper being back in Lincoln county and living in the same house with her.
“Yes. He's been...working hard, trying to get the place patched back together.”
Justine smiled warmly. “Then you must bring him with you, too. Unless he hasâother commitments somewhere.”
Emily grimaced. “If you mean a family, Cooper doesn't have any.”
“Oh, how sad.” She smiled again and patted Emily's shoulder. “That's all the more reason you should bring him along.”
Emily opened her mouth to tell Justine she didn't think Cooper was the family holidaying sort, but her aunt reached for a stack of medical files on the counter and started back down the hallway toward the examining rooms.
“Take care of yourself, honey, and we'll see you later,” she called back to Emily.
With a sigh Emily took the card from the receptionist and walked to the front entrance of the building. The weather was cold and snowy and Cooper had refused to let her drive into Ruidoso on her own. Earlier, he'd dropped her off at the clinic for her monthly checkup, then went on to take care of some business of his own.
Buttoning her coat, she glanced at her wristwatch. She'd been here for more than an hour. He should be driving up any moment.
Less than five minutes later, she spotted his black pickup pulling into the clinic parking lot. Tossing the hood of her coat over her head, she left the warmth of the building.
Halfway down the sidewalk Cooper met her and she looked up with surprise as he took hold of her arm.
“You might slip on the snow,” he explained his actions, then added with a frown, “I don't know why you wore those cowboy boots with slick leather soles.”
“Probably because my snow boots are worn out and these at least keep my feet dry.”
In the past month and a half since Cooper had been back on the Diamond D, he'd noticed plenty of things Emily needed. But not until this moment did he realize just how much she'd done without and sacrificed so that the old ranch might survive. The whole idea filled him with shame and anger and an unexpected need to protect and care for her.
“Well, I guess they'll have to do for the time being,” he said more gruffly than he'd intended, then helped her into the cab of the truck.
“So how did your visit with the doctor go?” he asked as they left the clinic parking lot.
“Dear heaven, I've gained eight pounds! When I stepped on those scales, I couldn't believe it.”
Cooper could believe it. He'd noticed how her appetite had picked up and her body had blossomed from the nourishment. Her face had lost its gaunt look and her arms and shoulders were no longer bony. Then there was her tummy, which had grown much more obvious beneath her clothing. Most of her sweaters and shirts barely stretched across her now.
“You're supposed to gain weight,” he reasoned. “You don't want to have a scrawny, sickly baby.”
She placed her hand over her abdomen. “You sound like Dr. Bellamy. And you're right. I don't care if I look like a blimp afterward. I just want him to be healthy.”
He looked at her with raised brows. It was the first time she'd ever mentioned the baby's sex. In fact, she rarely mentioned her pregnancy at all around him. He didn't know why and he wasn't at all sure he wanted to know.
“Did the doctor tell you it's going to be a boy?”
Emily shook her head. “No. I told him not to tell me. I want it to be a surprise. But deep down, I think it's a boy.”
Cooper kept his eyes fixed on the traffic as he headed the truck onto one of Ruidoso's main streets. “Is a boy what you want?”
Surprised that he was even interested enough to ask, she looked at him. “The sex doesn't matter...I'll be happy with either.”
Happy
. Kenneth's child would make her happy. Why did the idea cut into him so? He'd never thought of himself as a mean or selfish man, but after living with Emily these past weeks he was having to take a second look at himself. God help him, he wanted her to be happy. She'd already had her share of heartaches. But why did she have to be pregnant with Kenneth's child? It wasn't that he'd hated his brother. But for as long as Cooper could remember, Kenneth had taken everything he'd ever wanted. His father's affection, The Diamond D and most of all, Emily.
. Kenneth's child would make her happy. Why did the idea cut into him so? He'd never thought of himself as a mean or selfish man, but after living with Emily these past weeks he was having to take a second look at himself. God help him, he wanted her to be happy. She'd already had her share of heartaches. But why did she have to be pregnant with Kenneth's child? It wasn't that he'd hated his brother. But for as long as Cooper could remember, Kenneth had taken everything he'd ever wanted. His father's affection, The Diamond D and most of all, Emily.
Whether his brother had purposely coveted anything Cooper had ever touched, or whether Fate had simply stepped in and given it all to Kenneth, he didn't know. But either way Cooper felt cheated and wronged. The baby Emily was carrying should have rightfully been his. Instead Kenneth was still haunting him, still getting and taking even though he was gone from this earth.
Trying to shake his dark thoughts, he asked Emily, “Is there anything else you need to do in town?”
“Not really. I suppose I should go by the grocery store. I still have some things I want to do, anyway.”
Nodding, she kept her surprise to herself. Try as she might she could never figure out what Cooper was feeling or thinking. And ever since that day the two of them had kissed in the tack room, he'd been even harder to figure. True, he'd kept his distance from her. The few times he had touched her was only in a distant manner, as one might touch a very old or very young person who needed a helping hand. But his words and tone had become far less biting now and he seemed to actually care if she was warm or cold or hungry or hurting. Moreover, he appeared to be content with his life on the Diamond D and that in itself surprised her more than anything.
A few moments later he braked the truck to a halt in front of one of the larger grocery stores in town.
“Twenty minutes will be plenty of time,” she told him as she opened the door and slid to the ground.
“I may not be finished by then. Why don't you go to the beauty salon next door and get your hair done while you wait on me.”
Her face screwed up with comical disbelief. “Cooper, have you gone crazy or something?” she asked, then tentatively touched her hand to her French braid. It was clean and neat. Or at least she thought it had been. “Or do I look that bad?”
Snow was falling on her wool cap and shoulders and her breaths made little puffs of steam in the cold air. Looking at her, Cooper wanted to shake her and kiss her and tell her she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever known. Instead he raised up off the seat and dug his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans. “Here,” he said, throwing a couple of large bills at her. “Do as I say and don't argue.”
Her mouth fell open as she picked up the money. “But Cooperâ”
“Damn it, get inside before you freeze to death!”
Glowering at him, she slammed the door shut, then mouthed through the window at him. “Gladly!”
After he'd driven away and Emily had collected her senses, she decided to go to the salon first and pick up the groceries she needed last.
A young hairdresser reading a tabloid magazine perked up when she spotted Emily coming through the salon doors. Tossing the sheets of gossip aside, the woman rose from the dryer chair. “Can I help you?” she asked pleasantly.
“I'm not sure. Do you have time to do my hair?” Emily asked as she glanced around the large room decorated in shades of pink and white. It was a rare day when Emily went to a hair salon and she'd never been in this particular place. She had no idea if she could trust her hair to any of the three women. But she was here and it had been a long time since she'd had a good trim. Now was her best chance to get one.
“Sure. Why don't you get unwrapped and come sit down by the shampoo bowls,” she cheerfully invited.
Still uncertain, Emily slowly took off her wool cap and coat and hung it on a nearby rack. When she turned back around, the hairdresser was patting the chair in a way that made her think of her first visit to the dentist.
“I really don't know what I'm doing in here,” Emily said as she took a seat and the woman began to fasten a plastic cape around her neck. “I don't do anything to my hair except wash and brush it. Maybe you could just trim the dead ends. That should do it.”
“Oh, surely you'd like to do something a little bit different.” The woman's nimble fingers began to unbraid Emily's long hair. “Do you always wear it pulled back?”
Emily nodded and wondered why she felt like she'd been committing a crime. “I...don't have much time to spend on my hair.”
“Hmm. None of us do. And even if we do, we don't like to.” She lowered Emily's head back into one of the pink shampoo bowls.
“I'm going to have a baby the first part of March,” Emily felt inclined to warn her. “So I don't want anything that requires a lot of care.”
“Oh, a new baby! Well, this calls for something extra special,” she exclaimed. “And I know just what you need.”
The “something” pushed a panic button in Emily. Her eyes darted to the girl's name tag pinned to the pocket of her white uniform. “Uh, Lori, I don't think I need anything special.”
“Nonsense!” She blasted Emily's scalp with a spray of warm water. “You're too pretty to be pulling your hair back in a braid every day. And I promise, once I get through with you, I'll bet your husband will agree. He won't be able to keep his hands off you.”
Emily opened her mouth to tell her she didn't have a husband, then just as quickly closed it. She didn't want to explain anything about being a widow. For the next few minutes she simply wanted to enjoy being a woman and try not to think about Cooper's hands on her now or in the past.
A little more than an hour later, Emily climbed back into the pickup and fastened her seat belt.
Cooper stared at her as if he wasn't quite sure he'd picked up the right woman. “You are Emily Dunn, aren't you?” he asked. “And where's your cap?”
She shook the snowflakes from her hair. “That's the problem about a woman getting a hairdo. It makes her lose all common sense. My cap is in my coat when it should be on my head. But I didn't want to hurt the hairdresser's feelings by ruining all her hard work.”
His gray eyes continued to roam over her hair, which had been shortened to frame her face and rest on the tops of her shoulders.
His scrutiny brought a warm blush to Emily's face, making her feel like a foolish schoolgirl. “Don't look at me like that.”
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