Czytaj książkę: «The Rancher's Baby Proposal»

Chapter One

Ally Martinez had begun to doubt she would ever find an eligible cowboy.

In the small-parts aisle of Cowboy Creek Hardware and Feed, she knelt on the unvarnished pine flooring and tried to keep from muttering aloud. After all these years of separating nuts from bolts from washers, hauling bags of feed and restocking spools of twine, she was still as unattached as the day she had begun working here.

It wasn’t as if she had taken the job after high school specifically to find a man. It wasn’t even that she was eager to get married—or to have a brand-new baby, the way her best friend, Tina, had just done. Babies and she didn’t get along. At the touch of her hand, they somehow read her inexperience and knew they didn’t want to have anything to do with her.

No, it wasn’t any of the above that made her long to find a cowboy. She simply wanted someone special in her life. And lucky for her since she lived in ranch country, she had always been partial to men who looked good in jeans and a Stetson.

“What’s up with you, girl?” a familiar male voice asked. “You look like you just lost your best friend.”

She sprang to her feet and wiped her dusty hands on her jeans. Smiling, she turned to face the tall, white-haired man standing at the end of the aisle. “You’d better not have lost her, Jed, since I left you in charge of her and the baby.”

“I sure hope that little one doesn’t pick up any of your sauciness, young lady.” Even as Tina’s grandfather pretended to scowl at her, he laughed. They knew each other well. In his seventies now, Jed Garland had semiretired but still oversaw the running of Garland Ranch. He definitely stayed on top of things when it came to the Hitching Post, his family-owned hotel on the same property.

“How are Mama and baby?” she asked as she approached him. “Did they get discharged from the hospital today, as planned?”

“They sure did.” He beamed. “Cole brought them both home earlier this morning.”

“Great. Can I come visit tonight?”

“Now, since when do you have to ask? The Hitching Post is your second home. You’re free tonight?”

“Well...” He would expect a teasing response. Everyone expected lightheartedness from Ally Martinez, whose senior high school claim to fame was being voted The Girl Most Likely to Make You Laugh. “I do have lots of options, Jed. I could hang out at the Bowl-a-Rama, the Big Dipper or SugarPie’s. Except I don’t feel like bowling, don’t have a taste for ice cream and certainly don’t need any of Sugar’s famous desserts.” Grinningly wryly, she patted her “generous” hips, as Mama called them.

“Of course, there’s always the Cantina,” he said.

She nodded. On many Fridays and Saturdays, she spent her nights at the only restaurant in Cowboy Creek, New Mexico, with both a bar and a dance floor. “You know I love to dance. But truthfully—” and she certainly did mean it “—tonight, I’ll be thrilled to see Tina and the baby instead.”

“Good. I’ll tell her to expect you.”

He turned to leave, then suddenly took a step backward. “Sorry, young man, I almost stampeded you.”

From where she stood in the aisle, she could see only the brim of a worn Stetson and the shoulder and arm of a man wearing a T-shirt as snug as her jeans. Wrapped around that biceps, though, snug looked good.

“Well, I’ll be,” Jed said, sounding delighted. “Reagan Chase, great to see you again.”

Ally’s heart skipped a beat. Her thoughts began to race. Was it really Reagan, the boy who had left town seven years ago and left her with a broken heart? Was she going to pass out right here in the nuts-and-bolts aisle of the store?

What, and let him know how much seeing him again had affected her? Not in her lifetime.

Instead, she called up her usual response when life threw something bad or sad or uncomfortable her way. She pasted on a smile and pretended it didn’t matter.

She reacted just in time, as Reagan stepped into view and reached out to shake Jed’s hand. Reagan’s shoulders had gotten broader since she had last seen him. He’d grown taller, too. His hand looked firm and strong...and tanned. She wouldn’t have expected that from a man—a boy—who had left his hometown to go away to college in the city.

“What are you doing in Cowboy Creek?” Jed asked.

“I came back to take care of business.”

Reagan’s voice had also changed over the years. It had always been deep but now sounded hollow, too, with a serious tone she didn’t recognize.

“It’s been a while since my dad died,” he continued, “and it’s time to sell the ranch. You know our place as well as anyone does, Jed. If you hear of somebody looking for a spread that size, I’d appreciate it if you would share the info and pass my name along to them.”

“I’m happy to do that for you, of course. But I had always hoped you’d come back and work the ranch yourself someday. I know your mama and daddy looked forward to that, too.”

Ally held her breath, waiting for Reagan’s response. His family’s ranch was the only tie he had left to Cowboy Creek. If he sold that...

But he didn’t respond to Jed’s question. Instead, he turned his head and spotted her standing like a common eavesdropper in the small-parts aisle.

“Ally.” He removed his Stetson and nodded, giving her a brief smile. It was nothing like the broad grin she had loved since grade school and seen less and less often during their high school days. His face looked drawn, lined with fatigue. Her heart thumped. Was he ill?

“I’d best be getting along,” Jed said. He clapped Reagan on the shoulder. “Son, you stop by and visit us at the Hitching Post, y’hear me?”

Reagan nodded. “I will.”

Jed ambled away. Reagan stood looking at her. She stared back, fighting to find something to say. In an instant, she had returned to being the gawky teenager dying for the older boy’s attention. She had never gotten it back then. Now that she had it, she didn’t know how to respond.

Pull yourself together, that’s how.

“Hi, Reagan,” she said, hoping he couldn’t hear the slight tremor of excitement in her voice. “I...I heard what you said to Jed. I’m sorry you’re thinking of selling your ranch.”

“Not thinking of it. Doing it. As soon as I can get the place cleared out enough to put it up for sale.”

His parents had lived their entire married lives in the house on that ranch. Reagan had lived there, too, until he had gone away to school. There must be so many memories wrapped up in the property...and so many personal items in the house. He would need a while to get it ready to sell. Meanwhile, would he spend that time here in Cowboy Creek? She crossed her fingers.

He gestured down the aisle. “Taking care of some shopping?”

“Oh. No. I’m not much of a do-it-yourselfer. I work here, have worked here since I graduated five years ago.” By that point, he had already left town. After getting his degree, rumor had it, he had accepted a fancy job in the big city of Houston, Texas. Smiling, she shrugged. “I’m still only a small-town girl who replaced school with a dead-end job paying barely above minimum wage. But who’s complaining?”

He looked at her thoughtfully. “Do you get any time off?”

Her stomach fluttered as if a dozen butterflies had taken wing inside her. Sad. She had just acknowledged she was no longer a schoolgirl. She should also no longer be prey to her feelings for the boy she had once loved. And yet, she couldn’t tamp down her excitement. “Yes, I get evenings off. I only work seven to three. And once in a while I have a free day during the week, when I have to work Saturday. But that’s not too often.”

His mouth curved into a small, one-sided smile. “It’s almost three now. If you don’t have any plans for right after work, would you be able to meet me at SugarPie’s for a cold drink?”

“Yes.” Her voice cracked. She hid her nerves behind a cough. “My throat’s very dry. I could definitely use a cold drink.” But none of Sugar’s delicious desserts.

It didn’t matter. With Reagan sitting across from her, she would get all she needed of something sweet.

* * *

ONCE HE ARRIVED at SugarPie’s, Reagan found a reception committee waiting for him. At midafternoon, the sandwich shop wasn’t that busy, but the customers, the waitress and even Sugar herself had greeted him the moment he’d walked in.

As the crowd surrounded him, a wave of memories seemed to engulf him, too. These were all friends of his, friends of his folks’ and, for a moment, it felt like the old days before he’d left Cowboy Creek. For another, longer moment, he wished he could turn back the clock, change history, erase some of the things he had said and done...

Except for becoming a daddy. He would never regret having his son.

The crowd all welcomed him home, asking friendly questions he felt grateful he could answer with simple responses. He spoke to everyone in turn, shook hands with the men and gave hugs to two older ladies who had been good friends with his mom.

Then he made his way to a booth in the back of the room. The waitress, Layne, followed. As he slid onto a seat, she rested one hip against the tabletop. He had gone to school with her and her brother, Cole, though he had been ahead of them both.

“You’d have thought you all knew I was coming,” he said.

“We did.” She grinned. “Sugar had a call from Jed. He said he had run into you at the hardware store.”

And no doubt had hung around to listen in on his conversation with Ally.

He laughed, shaking his head. “I should have known. Things haven’t changed much since I left for school.” The older man probably had business to take care of in the store. It might even have required him to spend some time in the next aisle over from where they had met. Either way, it wouldn’t have mattered. He knew Jed had been friends with his parents since long before he’d been born. And there was no denying the man always kept an ear to the ground about anything that went on in town.

“No, things don’t change much here,” Layne agreed. “Except for getting married and having kids, most of us are living the same lives as when we graduated from Cowboy Creek High. Not like yours.”

If she only knew. And she would know soon enough.

The whole town would hear about it when he brought his brand-new son to the ranch. They all would learn he had been made a fool of by a woman who, as it turned out, was looking for a good time, not a husband. Not a baby—not even her own.

He would have Sean with him now, except when he had headed to Cowboy Creek yesterday morning, he didn’t know what condition he would find the house in. He also didn’t know whether he’d be able to find someone to watch the baby while he took care of putting things to rights.

On his arrival, he had discovered the house dusty but livable and, better luck, had solved part of that last concern. His quick trip to the hardware store for some basic supplies might have given him an answer to the other part.

“Speaking of babies—” Layne said.

He started, wondering if she’d read his thoughts.

“—my brother married Jed’s granddaughter Tina—I don’t know if you knew—and they just had their second baby. His other two granddaughter’s are married now, too. And did you hear about Shay O’Neill?”

All three of the names she’d mentioned were familiar to him from school—inevitable in Cowboy Creek, as there was only one grade school, one junior high, one high school. “No, nobody mentioned Shay. What’s up with her?”

“She’s trying to outdo us all.” Layne laughed. “She had triplets.”

“Triplets?” He shook his head in wonder and thought about Sean. He couldn’t begin to imagine taking care of more than one baby at a time.

Layne slipped her order pad from her uniform pocket. “What can I get you?”

“I’ll wait. Ally Martinez is meeting me here. But you probably know that already, too.”

She laughed in acknowledgment before walking away. Just as she disappeared through the doorway into the kitchen, the front door of the shop opened, and Ally entered.

Her long dark curls tumbled down almost to her waist and bounced as she walked toward him. She had never been tiny, and she had filled out more in the years since he had last seen her. With her gleaming dark eyes, rosy cheeks and snug orange T-shirt, she gave the bright pink seats and decorations in the sandwich shop some competition. He recalled her hanging around the schoolyard in grade school. He had been a couple of years ahead of her. Even that long ago, she had always acted larger than life—and been the life of the party.

Thinking of Sean, he frowned. Maybe Ally as a babysitter wouldn’t be such a good influence on a preteen or a teenager...but a one-month-old? What could it hurt? Besides, even if she accepted the offer he planned to present to her, he and the baby wouldn’t be here long enough for her to make much of an impact.

“Hi.” Sounding a little breathless, she took the booth across from him. “I got here as soon as I could.”

“Hope you didn’t have to rush.”

“No rush. No more than usual, anyhow. My papa says I never run at half speed when I can take it up to full.” She laughed. “But I’m running behind now because, just as I was leaving, one of the customers came to the register with a big order.”

Since they had met up at the store, she had slicked something on her lips, shiny and red as cherry candy. Suddenly, he felt an urge to lean across the tabletop for a taste.

Whoa, Nelly.

He’d been away from women too long. Or not long enough.

Sex wasn’t supposed to be on his radar for a good while into the future. Preferably, at least not till Sean turned twenty-one. He tried to think back to his school days and the younger Ally, when the few years’ age difference between them seemed to be a much wider gap.

“Is something wrong?” she asked. “You’re frowning.”

“No. Nothing’s wrong. I’m just trying to decide what to have. To drink.”

Layne returned to the booth, and they each ordered sweet tea without the sweet and a wedge of lemon.

Ally sat fiddling with an armload of gold bracelets she wore on one wrist. She hadn’t had them on at the store, he’d noticed...then wondered why he’d taken note of her bare, tanned arm in the first place. Anyhow, she probably didn’t want the bracelets to get damaged while she was stocking shelves.

“We have the same taste in drinks,” she said a moment later.

“I guess we do.”

They made small talk until their teas arrived. Ally’s quick drink left the straw candy-tipped from her lipstick. She smiled at him. “So, how has the big, bad city been treating you all these years? Well enough, I guess, or you would have been home again before now.”

“Houston did treat me well, I have to admit.” The woman he had met just before graduation was another story. “Going to school there was a good experience, one I don’t regret. But I’m not in Houston anymore. I’ve got a job outside San Antonio, sales manager for a distributor of farming equipment.”

She blinked those big dark eyes. “Why would you be selling farm equipment, when you have a ranch right here to come home to?”

“It pays the bills.”

“Oh.” His curt reply had thrown her. It didn’t keep her down for long. “Well, I can certainly see the benefits of that.”

He hoped so. Just as he hoped this meeting would benefit them both. But he wanted to lead up to his idea slowly. And he didn’t want to say too much about the past. If he had his way, neither Ally nor anyone else in Cowboy Creek would learn what happened between him and the woman he’d loved and had thought loved him, too.

He grabbed his tea glass. He had skipped the straw and now took such a long swallow, ice cubes clattered against his front teeth. “What about you? You didn’t sound so overjoyed about the job at the store.”

Even with her tanned skin and the pink makeup on her cheeks, he saw the telltale darkening of her flush. “I was just joking, pointing out the differences between us. Actually, it’s a great job. Of course, I could always use some extra money. Who couldn’t? But there’s not a lot of work in Cowboy Creek, unless you’re a cowboy or want to help decorate for weddings at the Hitching Post. I’d rather decorate a cowboy.”

She shot him a flirty grin. “Kidding again, in case you didn’t catch that. But, honestly, since I still live at home, my bills aren’t too bad.”

“How are your parents doing?”

“Great. Papa’s still working at the car dealership, and Mama’s still spoiling us both, making us breakfast before we head out to work every morning.” She laughed. “Mama’s always complaining my hours cut into her beauty sleep. But I’m an early riser, which means the seven-to-three shift works for me. Plus, it leaves my evenings free.”

The perfect opening. “Yeah, so you’d said. You still like to hang out at the Cantina?”

“Sometimes. My friends and I will go there for the dance nights. Or go to the movies or bowling. You know, all the highlights of Cowboy Creek.”

He laughed. “Yeah. I remember. I wanted to ask about the time you said you had free. While I’m here, I could use some help in the late afternoon and maybe some evenings.”

Ally reached for her tea glass again and hoped Reagan couldn’t see her hand shaking. This was Reagan Chase, the boy she had had a crush on all through school, the boy who had barely seemed to notice she was alive. Even back then, to her, he had looked hotter than a jalapeño—and he had grown up to become a man who looked ten times better than he had years ago.

And that man wanted her help.

“Of course,” she said brightly, trying to hide her elation. “I’d be happy to give you a hand. Since you haven’t been home since...since your mama and then your father died, I’m sure there’s a lot to be done at the house. I’m sorry about your parents, Reagan,” she said in a softer tone, “and sorry I never had the chance to tell you before today.”

How could she—or anyone else in Cowboy Creek—have told him? He hadn’t been home since before his mama died.

He nodded.

She hesitated, then said, “It’s been over a year since your father passed. What brings you home now?”

He looked down at his glass. She felt sure he wouldn’t answer. Too late, she realized maybe she shouldn’t have asked.

Finally, he said, “The right way to phrase that question probably is why haven’t I come back before now.” He shrugged. “This was the first chance I had to get here.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re back. Everyone else will be, too. And I’m happy to help you empty closets, sort through cabinets, do some cleaning.”

But not clearing out. Now you’re here, tell me you’re going to stay.

“Thanks,” he said, “but that’s not the kind of help I need.”

Because you are planning to stay.

Her heart nearly jumped from joy. She couldn’t help the reaction. She’d had years of history behind her when it came to caring about Reagan.

“That’s fine, too,” she assured him. “If it’s anything to do with paperwork, I can help. I do some of the parts orders and the filing at the store. And Tina’s a bookkeeper. She’ll help me out if you need to do anything with financial paperwork or taxes. So...what can I do for you?”

He smiled, and her heart gave an extra thump.

“While I’m in town,” he said, “I need a babysitter.”