Mary Leo – Aiming for the Cowboy (страница 7)

“I will, Papa. I promise.”

They didn’t go far, only a few feet in front of Colt, when Lana stepped into his view.

“Colt, honey, as much as I’d like to get to know you better—” she stepped in closer “—and I’d really like to get to know you—” she slid her hands up his chest and leaned in even closer “—it couldn’t possibly work between us, sweetheart. I don’t do children well, and I especially couldn’t do your children. Unless, of course, you agree to send them off to school somewhere. I’d be good with that, especially if you wore that nose to bed. It could be kind of kinky.”

She moaned sensually, and Colt coughed loudly. He gently removed her hands from his chest. “As much as your offer intrigues me, I’m a package deal.”

“Shame, we could’ve had so much fun!”

She stepped away as Helen walked up with Buddy and Gavin in tow. Buddy carried a complaining, wiggly Stephanie Porkman, as Lana’s eyes lit up on Helen’s round stomach.

AS IF HELEN hadn’t juggled enough of her emotions dealing with Jenny Pickens, now she had to accept Lana Thomson, of all people. Not only was Lana the biggest flirt in the county, and possibly the entire state, it was a well-known fact that Lana had a zero tolerance for children. But there she was stroking Colt’s chest while she laid it on as thick as molasses.

The boys went off with the wrangler, leaving Helen alone with Colt and Lana. Not a good situation. Helen wanted out of there.

Now.

“So the rumors were true,” Lana told her as she took a step away from Colt. “That’s why you didn’t stay on the circuit. Shame. From what I hear you were close this time. But I understand.” She tried her best to feign a mask of compassion, but Helen knew it was all a show for Colt’s sake. “Heaven knows it’s a tough and lonely road. It takes stamina and grit to be a champion like me. Two attributes not many women share.”

She stuck her thumb behind her gold championship buckle, in case Helen missed the large trophy holding up her designer jeans. Lana had won it for women’s barrel racing a few years ago, and ever since then she took great joy in rubbing Helen’s nose in it every time they met.

She and Helen had both started out as barrel racers when they were kids. They even attended the M & M Riding School together, but once Helen saw her first female mounted shooter she was smitten and left barrel racing to pursue her real passion, cowboy mounted shooting. Lana had tried to convince her to stay, telling her cowboy mounted shooting was too tough to ever master, but once Helen made up her mind on something, there was no turning back. Even the Miltons, the couple who owned the riding school, had tried to convince her not to do it, but as time went on, they both came around and gave her the training she needed to succeed.

Problem was, now that she was having a baby, that cowboy mounted shooting trophy buckle seemed next to impossible to ever win, which played right into Lana’s nasty little one-upmanship.

“The only thing you share with other women is their men. Now if you two will excuse me, I’ve got to get back to my cousin’s ranch.”

Helen made a move to leave but Colt stopped her. “Wait. Please don’t go. Lana was just leaving. Weren’t you, Lana?”

Lana shrugged. “I guess so, but Colt, honey, if you ever change your mind, my offer still stands.”

And she sashayed off to talk to the Swinemaster, who had since returned.

“Can we try this again?” Colt said to Helen.

Helen knew better than to tell him she was carrying baby number four in a public place. “I don’t think this is the right time.”

“How about we meet for dinner sometime? Just you and me? Someplace quiet and refined. I’ll get Dodge to watch my boys.”

He looked so sexy Helen wanted to melt into his arms, until Gavin came running up to him. “Daddy! Daddy! You gotta come quick. Joey climbed into one of the cages with a piggy and got stuck. They’re gonna call the fire department to come get him out, but I said you could do it. Daddy, you have to hurry. He’s crying.”

“Of all the...” Colt turned to Helen. “I’m sorry. Friday night at seven?”

“Sure,” she said.

“Daddy, come on. Joey’s real scared.” Gavin yanked on his father’s hand.

“You better go,” Helen told him.

“I’ll pick you up at Milo’s.”

“But how did you know...”

Unfortunately, before she could ask him her silly question, he was sprinting toward the piglet cages with Gavin leading the way.

Of course Colt knew she was staying with Milo, just like he probably had already known she was pregnant. The one question still to be answered could only be: Who was the father?

She could imagine the rampant speculation on that one.

The good thing in all of this was she and Colt now had an actual date, a date without his boys, set in a more sedate environment. Somewhere where she would have plenty of opportunity to slowly spill the truth in such a way that Colt could accept it, perhaps maybe even embrace it.

The reality of the undeniable facts hit her hard as she looked on to see a fire engine arrive to free Joey from the piglet cage. Undoubtedly, her baby was another boy, even though she held on to the unlikely notion that it might be a girl. She hadn’t wanted to officially know the sex of her baby when the doctor had offered to tell her during an ultrasound. Instead, reason told her it was a boy. That Colt only made boys, but wishful thinking conjured up a sweet baby girl.

Now watching Colt and his boys caught up in another tangle of male orneriness only increased her longing for a temperate little girl.

She saw Colt offer to help the two firemen release Joey. One of the firemen spoke to Colt and he took a few steps back while keeping his other two sons away from the piglet cage. A small crowd had gathered to watch as Colt shifted his weight from one foot to the other waiting for Joey to be cut free. Red lights twirled, kids whistled, swine oinked as Buddy and Gavin strained to get at their brother.

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to regain some shred of composure, trying to hold back her growing fear, but most of all trying once again to come to terms with the reality: she was going to be mother to Colt’s child.

The crowd cheered as Joey was released from the cage. Colt picked up his boy, who hugged his dad. Then Colt, pig snout still dangling around his neck, and his sons walked off in the opposite direction.

It was in that instant she wondered if telling Colt about his fourth baby was actually necessary.

Chapter Three

Colt pulled his red ranch truck alongside the for sale sign two miles off Highway 33, turned off the ignition and stepped out onto the packed dirt road that led onto the property. He and his brother Travis were scoping out yet another spread for the potato storage facility his family and two other local growers were planning on building before next year’s crops came in. This was the third property he’d seen so far and he still had one more to go. It had been a huge decision for the Grangers and for the two other farmers, but a necessary one. The facility they now used was outdated, and last year each family had lost a substantial part of their crops due to mold and rot from temperature fluctuation inside the facility. They expected the same would happen this year, and each family was prepared to take the hit, but they couldn’t sustain the loss much after that. They had to break ground on the new building by early spring or it wouldn’t be ready in time for next year’s crops.

On top of raising his high-spirited boys, running the Granger ranch and managing the yearly potato crop, Colt had also taken up the challenge of finding the appropriate piece of land for the new facility.

“This looks good,” Travis declared as he slammed the passenger door shut and walked over to Colt. Travis was the wild one in the family who cared more about partying with his many girlfriends rather than working the ranch. Getting him to join Colt on these property excursions was about as easy as pinning down smoke and Colt didn’t want to do or say anything that might make him drift away.

Colt needed to really look at the property close-up. He’d already scoped it out from the air in his Cessna Skyhawk and now he was looking to make sure he still liked what he saw. He had to be sure there was a good road in, easy access from the highway and several acres of flat land for the buildings.

“We can’t jump to that conclusion just yet, little brother. There are a lot of factors to consider.” This was Colt’s first real chance to take over the business from his dad, and he didn’t want to mess it up. Dodge had given over all his other duties to Colt, but the business end of the ranch still rested on Dodge’s shoulders. Colt knew it was only a matter of time before Dodge would relinquish that duty as well, and he wanted to be prepared for it.

Travis had taken over the care of the livestock and the upkeep of the buildings. He was a crackerjack carpenter who could build or rebuild almost anything. Blake would help out with the yearly potato crop, and sometimes help with wrangling up the livestock, but for the most part, the day-to-day challenge of the massive ranch and farm had fallen on Colt’s shoulders.