A Baby on the Ranch

Lonnie snorted with disbelief. “Me, good with women? Seth, something must have happened to you since you’ve gotten married. I’ve had one…well, one girlfriend in my lifetime, and that was an experience I wish I could forget. Other than helping them cross the street or listening to their civil complaints, I don’t know anything about them.”

Except that they were unpredictable and capable of dealing a man more pain than any bullet from a criminal’s gun, Lonnie thought grimly.

Seth chuckled. “Don’t feel badly, Lonnie. None of the rest of us men know about them, either. But you seem to be able to communicate with them. That’s why you’ve got to go back and try to reason with the woman. She needs to go to the ranch where Victoria can keep an eye on her. And since Victoria is expecting a baby herself, it would make it even better if the two women could be close.”

Seth’s sister, Victoria Ketchum Hastings, was a medical doctor with a busy practice in Aztec. She was also married to the under sheriff of San Juan County, New Mexico, and the two were expecting their second child in January.

“I’m sure Katherine has her own obstetrician. At this late stage of things she probably wouldn’t want to leave Fort Worth and change to a different doctor.”

“Hmm. See, that’s why you’re good with women. You think about those little things. I just think about the big picture. Thank God, Corrina understands me. But that still doesn’t change the fact that my half sister needs help.”

Lonnie swallowed down the last bite of his doughnut before he said, “Well, Seth, I can’t tell you how to give her any help. The last thing she said to me was to tell you Ketchums that she’s Celia McBride’s daughter and that’s all she wants to be. I don’t think she would welcome any of you into her life. Not now, at least. She needs to simmer on all of this for a while.”

“Yeah. But her being pregnant changes things, Lonnie. We don’t have time to let her simmer. We need to help her.”

Lonnie frowned. “Seth, I don’t understand why you feel beholden to help this woman. You’ve never met her. You don’t know what kind of person she is,” he pointed out. “She might not be worthy of all this help you want to give her.”

“Is that the impression you got from her?” Seth countered.

Heat suffused Lonnie’s face. It wouldn’t do for Seth to know all the intimate impressions he’d had of beautiful Katherine McBride.

“No,” Lonnie agreed with a sigh. “She seems like a nice girl. And it’s pretty obvious that she could use a helping hand. But it just surprises me that you and your family have gone to such lengths to find her.”

“She’s a Ketchum, Lonnie,” Seth explained. “Well, technically, she’s not, but she has our mother’s blood, and that makes her family. Plus, Noah was her father. And we all loved Noah. Maybe we wouldn’t have if we’d known he was carrying on a love affair with our mother while he was the T Bar K foreman. But we didn’t know it. And anyway, I guess all of us children have agreed that Mom had good reason to look elsewhere for love. God knows, she sure didn’t get much from Dad.”

He paused, and Lonnie could hear the squeak of a desk chair and then the clunk of Seth’s boots against the floor. Apparently his friend was pacing now and that was enough to tell Lonnie how important this whole thing was to the Ketchum family.

“Lonnie, I know you’re probably thinking I should let sleeping dogs lie, but I believe Mom would be happy, real happy if she knew we were reaching out to Katherine and attempting to make her a part of the Ketchum clan. That’s why I want you to go back there and try one more time. Tell her there’s a home waiting for her at the T Bar K. Ross and Bella would welcome her with open arms. We all would.”

Lonnie grimaced as he swallowed the last of his coffee. “Hell, Seth, she won’t go to your family ranch in New Mexico. The T Bar K is more than seven hundred miles from here. I doubt I could even talk her into going as far as my ranch in Hereford to meet with you, and that’s only half that much distance.”

There was a long pause before Seth’s voice came back in his ear. “That’s it, Lonnie! Persuade her to go to your ranch. She can think things over there while you keep a watch on her. Once she decides she’s ready to see us, I’ll drive up there to meet with her and take her on to the T Bar K.”

Lonnie bolted off the bed. He didn’t want a woman in his house. Especially a beautiful, pregnant woman! “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard!”

“No. It isn’t. Getting her away from Fort Worth is the first big step. Once she’s away from her regular routine, she’ll begin to think about all this and hopefully—with a little help from you—she’ll begin to see the positive side of having a family.”

Lonnie groaned loudly. “Hell, Seth, you expect me to talk to her about family? That’s even crazier. I’ve never had a family. Not a regular one.”

Lonnie’s father had been killed in a bar room scuffle down in Agua Prieta when he’d been working in the mines at Douglas, Arizona. Lonnie had only been a small boy of five at the time, but he’d not forgotten his father, a big man who’d come home in the evenings with red dust covering his hair, face and clothes. Gilbert Corteen had been a happy man, who’d often carried Lonnie around on his shoulders and kissed his wife with the exuberance of a man in love.

After his death, Lonnie’s mother, Rhoda, had moved Lonnie to Carrizozo, New Mexico, to be close to her aunt. Once there, Rhoda had tried to get over the death of her beloved husband. But not long after they’d gotten settled there, Rhoda’s aunt, and her only relative, died unexpectedly of a heart attack. After that, Lonnie could remember his mother walking around in a stupor, hardly ever speaking. One day she’d left him with the neighbors and told him she’d be back shortly to pick him up. But she’d never returned. That had been twenty-five years ago and he’d still never heard from her.

“The Garcias were a family to you,” Seth pointed out. “And because you know what it’s like to lose your family, you have a common thread between you.”

Lonnie wiped a hand across his face and a stubble of whiskers rasped against his fingers. He’d not taken the time to shave this morning. Last night, after he’d left Katherine’s apartment, he’d decided he wasn’t going to interrupt her life anymore. No matter what he’d told her last night, he didn’t intend to stick around and add to her problems. His intention this morning had been to give Seth a quick call, check out of the motel early and head west. But his old friend was doing his best to throw a kink into that plan.

Lonnie could put a stop to the whole thing right now. He could simply tell Seth he wasn’t going to see Katherine McBride again. He was going home to Hereford. But he couldn’t bring himself to do that. Seth had been too good a friend down through the years. He’d helped Lonnie in more ways than he could count. This was Lonnie’s one chance to pay the Texas Ranger back.

“Seth, I told you—she’s pregnant. Real pregnant. I doubt she’ll agree to any sort of travel.”

“Well, you may be right,” he said with thoughtful concern. “Just do what you can do, Lonnie. That’s all I can ask of you. And be sure to remember how much I appreciate all of this, buddy. My whole family owes you.”

“Aw, Seth, don’t go making me feel awful. ’Cause we both know I could never repay you for all you’ve done for me.”

“You don’t owe me for anything,” Seth countered.

No, Lonnie thought, just a job that had given him a measure of prestige and a large enough salary to buy himself a little ranch of his own. Not to mention all the times Seth had helped him behind the scenes on criminal cases. He would be eternally grateful to Seth for all those things.

“So now that we have that out of the way, when are you going to see Katherine again?” Seth went on.

Lonnie rolled his eyes. He couldn’t picture himself going back to face Katherine McBride. Not after the adamant farewell she’d given him. Yet just the thought of seeing her again made his heart beat fast. Which was a sure sign something was wrong with him. He didn’t let women affect him that way. He’d learned better.

“It will be a miracle if she let’s me in the door again. But, all right, I’ll go back tonight, after she gets home from work. I’ll try to let you know something later.”

“Thanks, Lon. While you’re trying to persuade Katherine, I’ll let the rest of the family know that you’ve found her.”

Lonnie grimaced. “Yeah, well, somehow I get the feeling that finding her was the easy part.”

The Tarrant County Courthouse had been Katherine’s workplace for the past four years. When she’d first gotten a job as a file clerk in the tax assessor’s office, she’d been thrilled. At twenty-one, with a fresh associates degree in business, she’d not expected a cushy job to cross her path. Especially when she had no real connections in Fort Worth to give her that extra push that was often needed to land a good job.

Since that time, her hard work and dedication had gradually inched her upward in the ranks. A little more than six months ago, she’d become the secretary for the tax assessor himself, a job that was hardly ever easy, but one that definitely had much better pay and benefits.

With the increase in salary, her friend Althea, who worked down the hall in tags and licenses, often urged Katherine to move out of her modest little apartment. After all, she could afford something better now. But Katherine wasn’t interested in moving to plush living quarters. She was comfortable where she was. And, anyway, she was putting her money in the bank where it would do her the most good once the baby arrived.

As the two women shared a short, afternoon break together in a private snack room situated behind Katherine’s office, Althea exclaimed, “That is the most incredible story I’ve ever heard! Are you sure this man was legitimate?”

Katherine glanced across the small table at the other woman. The tall, curvy, brunette always managed to look sexy in any piece of clothing she put on and, in the process, made Katherine feel like a frumpy, middle-aged librarian. Older than Katherine by two years, Althea was married and the mother of a small daughter. Since Katherine had moved to Fort Worth and found this job, the woman had become her only special friend. Even though she was close to Althea, she’d not set out today to tell her what had occurred last night. But the whole meeting with Sheriff Corteen had simply been too much for Katherine to bear alone and she’d finally ended up relating the whole incident to her friend.

“Well, I didn’t call Deaf Smith County to verify that he was the sheriff there, if that’s what you mean,” Katherine replied.

The sassy brunette raised her brows. “Katherine! Why not? He could have had that ID forged or something!”

Katherine shook her head. “I didn’t call because I didn’t need to. If you’d met the man, Althea, you’d clearly see that there’s nothing phony about him. I’m dead certain he is the sheriff there.”

“Okay. So he’s the sheriff,” Althea reluctantly agreed. “But does that mean you believe this story about your parents?”

Katherine shrugged one shoulder as she jabbed a spoon at the ice floating in her tea glass. Their fifteen-minute break was nearly over. She couldn’t begin to tell Althea everything that had gone through her mind last night, much less everything she’d felt when Lonnie Corteen had turned her world upside down. Even now, nearly a whole day later, she was dazed and struggling to keep her mind on her work.

“I don’t know what to believe, Althea. It sounds—well, it sounds like it’s something that might be easily proved. But I’m not so sure I want proof. I’m not so sure I want things to change. You know what I mean?”

Althea looked at her with thoughtful confusion. “Sort of. I think you’re trying to say you’re afraid to know the truth about your parents because you might not like it.”

Katherine nodded slowly. “Yes. That’s sort of how I’m feeling. I mean, Celia, my mother, loved me. I have no doubt about that. She was the one who was there to care for me day in and day out. I’m not so sure what I could think about a woman who would give her daughter away. I don’t believe I could ever have warm feelings toward her and that would only cause friction with all her other relatives.” She stopped and gave her head a sudden shake. “No. I don’t think it would be a good thing for me to pursue this.”

Althea crinkled up a candy-bar wrapper and tossed it in a nearby wastebasket, then popped the last of the chocolate into her mouth. “Hmm. Well, what about this man—Noah? Suppose he really is your father? Wouldn’t you like to know more about him and his family? If I were you, I believe I would.”

These were questions Katherine had rolled over and over in her mind last night. But she’d not gotten any answers. Not with that sheriff popping into her head every few minutes, Katherine thought with a measure of self-disgust. She really didn’t know what was happening to her. All the extra hormones bombarding her body must be making her act out of character, she decided. She couldn’t figure any other reason for the physical reaction she’d felt toward the man. For heaven’s sake, she was pregnant! She wasn’t supposed to be feeling those sorts of things…was she?

“Katherine? Yoo-hoo. Are you still with me?”

The sound of Althea’s voice penetrated her straying thoughts, and she quickly focused back on her friend’s face. “Forgive me, Althea. My mind, it’s spinning about a mile a minute. And I’m very much afraid that Sheriff Corteen is going to show up at my apartment again this evening. He pretty much implied that I was going to see him again.” With a slight shiver, she pushed the tea glass away and shoved her hands through her loose hair. “I don’t know what to do, Althea! He says the family wants to see me. And I told him I didn’t want anything to do with them. But I have a bad feeling that he isn’t going to give up.”

Seeing the anguished expression on her friend’s face, Althea reached across the table and squeezed Katherine’s fingers. “Katherine, honey, you’ve got to calm down. All this turmoil can’t be good for the baby. You’ve probably run your blood pressure up with all this worrying.”

Closing her eyes, Katherine breathed deeply and tried to relax. “I know. You’re right. This isn’t something that’s going to resolve itself in a matter of days. I need time to think.”

Leaning forward over the tabletop, Althea looked at her brightly. “Maybe you should take some time off—go away for a week or so,” she suggested. “You have some sick leave coming, don’t you?”

“Yes—but I was saving it for when the baby comes. And anyway, work at least keeps my mind—” Pausing, she shook her head. “Who am I kidding? The work I’ve done today hasn’t helped to get anything off my mind. In fact, I think I’d better go back and reproof the letters I typed this morning. They’re probably a mess.”

Althea gave her a perceptive nod. “That’s what I figured. You’re not in any shape to be working. Besides, it’s almost time for your maternity leave. Why don’t you tell Richard that you need to start it early? You know he wouldn’t give you any problem about it. My Lord, the man’s crazy about you. He’s not about to make things hard for you.”

Katherine stared glumly at the tabletop. Having the Tarrant County tax assessor crazy about her was not what she really wanted. Richard Marek was a very nice guy and he’d been a wonderful boss to her, but she’d not once given him any indication that she was interested in him personally. Still, she knew that Althea was right. He did like Katherine, a lot. In fact, he’d asked her out on more than one occasion. A woman who was clearly pregnant with another man’s child! She’d declined each time of course, but his interest in her had clearly forced her to be much more guarded around her boss.

“I’m not going to exploit the feelings he has for me, Althea. It wouldn’t be right. Especially when I have no interest in him.”

Althea rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Katherine, you are so prim that sometimes I wonder how you ever got pregnant! And why aren’t you interested in Richard? He’s good-looking and nice. He has social prestige, not to mention the fact that he could give you financial security.”

Frowning, Katherine looked up at her friend. “You make him sound like the perfect man.”

“Well, he’s certainly at the top of the list of eligible bachelors around here. And you could have him if you wanted him. Your baby would have a daddy. A real daddy.”

Maybe she was crazy, Katherine thought, for not liking Richard more, for not giving him the opportunity to have a lasting relationship with her. But he wasn’t the sort of man she wanted to live the rest of her life with.

“I don’t want a perfect man, Althea. I don’t want money or social prestige or an impressive house. I just want a man to love me. Really love me.” A man like Lonnie Corteen, she thought. A big, tough man that made her feel like a woman by just looking at her, a man who would fight to the death to protect her and never ever desert her or their child.

Althea laughed mockingly. “And you think Richard doesn’t? You won’t know until you give him the chance.”

Glancing at her wristwatch, Katherine rose to her feet. “I gave Walt a chance and he let me down—big-time. I’m not ready to give anybody a chance again. I’m not sure I ever will be,” she muttered bitterly.

Clicking her tongue with disapproval, Althea rose from her chair, also. “I’m sorry, honey. We shouldn’t have gotten off on that subject. You’ve got enough on your mind already.”

Yeah, like who were her real parents? Amelia Tucker and Noah Rider? If that was true, then why had they deserted her? And why did the thought of seeing Lonnie Corteen again make her break out in a nervous sweat?

Chapter Three

That evening Katherine was naked when she heard the knock on the door. With her heart jumping into her throat, she tossed away the towel she’d been drying herself with and reached for a robe lying near the tub. The garment was not exactly what she’d choose for anyone to see her in, much less Lonnie Corteen. The sunny-yellow chenille had long ago faded to the color of dead grass, and in some spots there were clusters of pinholes where the chenille had fallen out. But since she’d just stepped out of the tub and he was already at the door, she didn’t have much choice.

And it had to be him, she thought, as she hastily knotted the belt above the mound of her stomach. Other than Althea, she didn’t have visitors. Sometimes annoying sales people knocked on the door, but it was already after dark, and she didn’t think a salesman would be out in such cold weather at this time of the evening.

The knock sounded again.

Muttering under her breath, she wiped strands of wet hair from her face. “I’m coming,” she called out. “Just hold on!”

Her hurried exertion to get to the door caused her breath to quicken and she was sure there were two scarlet circles to stain her cheeks, but the moment she opened the door and spotted Lonnie Corteen on the other side, she felt most of the color in her face drain away.

Even though she’d expected it to be him, she’d still not been prepared for the sight of his tall, massive body filling the doorway or the rugged face smiling back at her.

“Hello, Katherine.”

She swallowed and unconsciously pushed at the tangled hair on her shoulders. “Hello,” she replied.

He stepped forward and moved from the shadows. Katherine immediately spotted something nestled in the crook of his arm. A step closer to the light and her eyes zeroed in on a bouquet of pink roses wrapped in green cellophane paper.

“Uh, what are those for?” she asked bluntly.

A lazy grin spread over his face. “I was hoping a dozen roses would help you to forgive me.”

Dumbfounded, she stared at him. She’d only known this man for a few hours! Walt had dated her for months and she’d never seen flowers from him. Or, for that matter, any man.

“Forgive you? You didn’t do anything. You were simply a messenger.”

“I upset you last night. Believe me, Katherine, that wasn’t my intention.”

How could she turn him away from the door now? Not that it had been her intention to send him on his way. But she’d been telling herself all evening that if he showed up, her best recourse would be to send him away. But how could she shut the door on a face like his? Especially when he was holding the most beautiful roses she’d ever seen.

A gust of freezing wind whipped around him and tugged at the lapels of her robe. Clutching the fabric against her throat, she said, “You’d better come in before we both freeze to death.”

He quickly stepped inside and she got a faint whiff of aftershave and leather. The scents were as masculine as the man himself, and she realized with a guilty start that, compared to Lonnie Corteen, her baby’s father had been more boy than man.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” he said as he walked to the center of the small room. “Were you getting ready to go out?”

Her, go out? The question was almost laughable. She’d never been a go-out person. Even during her relationship with Walt, the two of them had rarely gone out for dinner or any sort of entertainment. She’d always been a loner and he’d been more than happy to go along with her choice of the quiet life. That is, until he’d learned about the baby. Then he’d not been happy about anything. Especially her.

Carefully locking the door behind her, she turned to him. “No. I…I’m afraid I just got out of the bath. Would you, uh, excuse me while I go get dressed?”

Lonnie was trying to be polite and not stare, but he couldn’t quite keep his eyes off her. She was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen in that old yellow robe that clung to her breasts and the baby she was carrying. Her long dark hair was wet and lay in curled ringlets upon her shoulders. A soft pink color washed her cheeks and lips, and her skin gleamed with tiny beads of moisture.

“Sure. Take your time. I’ll just make myself comfortable.” He glanced down at the roses. “What about these? If you’ll tell me where to find a vase, I’ll put them in water for you.”

He was sure he wasn’t the sort of man she would associate with flowers. His big hands were made for collaring criminals, or reining in a high-spirited horse, not clutching the fragile stem of a rose.

She shot him an apologetic look. “I don’t have a vase. I did. But I accidentally broke it. I have a big Mason jar in the cabinet where I store the glasses. You might use that,” she suggested.

“Fine. That’ll be dandy. You go on now and get dressed. I’ll take care of these.”

Nodding, she turned on her bare feet and hurried out of the room. Lonnie went to the tiny kitchen and found the Mason jar. As he filled it with water and plopped in the roses, he figured he’d made a mistake at the grocery store where he’d picked these up. He should have gotten a poinsettia. Thanksgiving was only a couple of weeks away. The seasonal flower would have been more fitting. But the roses had looked more romantic to him. Not that he had romantic designs on Katherine McBride. No, sir. He wasn’t about to let himself get that starry-eyed sickness that turned men into fools. But heck, all women liked roses, didn’t they? And he needed her in a soft mood if he was ever going to get her to listen to the Ketchums’ side of things.

Who are you kidding, Lonnie? You got her the roses because you wanted to see her face light up. You wanted to do something special just for her.

Ignoring the mocking little voice, Lonnie went to sit on the couch. His hat was resting on his knee and the toe of his boot was tapping the air when Katherine finally returned to the living room wearing a pair of black slacks and a pink turtleneck sweater. Her damp hair was fastened at the nape of her neck with a tortoiseshell clip, but she hadn’t bothered to put on any shoes. Her pearly red toenails peeped out at him from beneath the hem of her slacks.

Rising to his feet, he clutched his black felt hat between both hands. “Thank you for agreeing to see me, Katherine. I really wasn’t sure you’d let me in.”