“You’re Going To Help Me Have A Child?” Katie Asked Cautiously.

“I spent most of the night thinking about it, and if you’re agreeable, then yes, I’ll help you.”

“Agreeable? Just what would I be agreeing to?”

“I want joint custody,” Jeremiah said. “This will be the only child I ever have. I intend to be part of his life.”

Katie considered what he said. “I suppose we could work out—”

He held out his hand. “Before you agree, you’d better hear me out.”

“You have more stipulations?” she asked incredulously.

“Just one.”

“Why do I get the idea I’m not going to like your next demand?”

He shrugged. “You never know. You might enjoy it.”

A fresh wave of goose bumps slid along her arms and every instinct in her being told her to turn and run as far and as fast as she possibly could in the opposite direction. Instead, she swallowed hard and asked, “What is it?”

Jeremiah nodded. “I’d make love to you until you became pregnant.”

Baby at His Convenience
Kathie DeNosky

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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KATHIE DENOSKY

lives in her native southern Illinois with her husband and one very spoiled Jack Russell terrier. She writes highly sensual stories with a generous amount of humor. Kathie’s books have appeared on the Waldenbooks bestseller list and received the Write Touch Readers’ Award from WisRWA and the National Readers’ Choice Award. She enjoys going to rodeos, traveling to research settings for her books and listening to country music. Readers may contact Kathie at: P.O. Box 2064, Herrin, Illinois 62948-5264 or e-mail her at kathie@kathiedenosky.com.

To my mother, Margie Ridings, who loves the Smoky Mountains as much as I do.

And to the memory of Charles and Barbara Anne Henson. May your legacy of love and laughter live on in the lives of your children.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

One

Dr. Braden’s gently worded warning still echoed in Katie Andrews’s ears as she stepped out of the Dixie Ridge Clinic into the bright June sunshine.

“With your family history of early menopause, I’m afraid time might be running out for you, Katie. If you intend to have children, it’s time to start looking at your options.”

At the age of thirty-four, most women weren’t faced with the possibility of going through the change of life for at least ten or fifteen years. Unfortunately, Katie wasn’t one of them. Every one of her female relatives had started into menopause by the time they were thirty-six. By the time they turned forty, they’d completed the change and their baby-making years were permanently behind them.

Katie bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling. It might already be too late for her to have a child. Her sister Carol Ann and her husband waited until they were in their mid-thirties and had to resort to fertility drugs in order for Carol Ann to become pregnant. The result had been a set of quadruplets.

Katie took a deep, shuddering breath. Although she wanted to have more than one child, she would much rather have them one at a time, instead of all at once. Poor Carol Ann had been so overwhelmed by the demands of taking care of four infants that their parents had left Katie to manage the Blue Bird Café for them, and moved out to California to help their stressed out oldest daughter.

Glancing at her watch, she stuffed the brochure Dr. Braden had given her into her shoulder bag. She’d have to put her baby-making crisis on hold until she closed the café this afternoon.

Right now, she was needed back at the Blue Bird. And if she didn’t get there before the lunch rush, Helen McKinney would probably quit on the spot and Katie’s parents would never forgive her for losing the best short-order cook in all of eastern Tennessee.

A distant rumble from down the road grew louder and just as she was about to cross the road, a big, shiny red-and-black Harley Davidson roared into a parking space in front of the Blue Bird. The man riding the powerful machine nodded when Katie hurried passed him on the way to the café’s entrance, but she couldn’t say he actually looked her way as he turned off the motorcycle and removed his mirrored sunglasses.

That wasn’t unusual. Since riding into town two months ago, Jeremiah Gunn hadn’t become friendly with anyone but Harv Jenkins. In fact, all that anyone seemed to know about him was that he’d moved into Granny Applegate’s old place up on Piney Knob and came down every day to eat lunch and talk fly-fishing with Harv. Otherwise, the big man kept to himself. And if his body language was any indication, he wanted it to stay that way.

But to her surprise, when she started to open the café door, a long muscular arm reached around her to take hold of the handle. Glancing over her shoulder, she swallowed hard. It was the first time she’d stood this close to the mysterious Mr. Gunn and she was shocked to find that she had to look up to meet his chocolate-brown gaze. At a fraction of an inch shorter than six feet tall herself, that didn’t happen often.

His chest barely brushing her shoulders as he pulled the door open, caused her skin to tingle. “Th-thank you, Mr. Gunn,” she stammered, unsure of why she suddenly felt so rattled.

“The name’s Jeremiah.” There was no trace of emotion in his deep baritone, but the sound of it made her heart skip a beat.

Hurrying into the café, Katie put distance between them. Something about being close to the man made her knees weak and had her wondering if she’d lost her mind.

“It’s about time you showed up,” Helen McKinney called through the open window behind the lunch counter. “I’m already covered up with orders.”

“I’m sorry,” Katie apologized. She shoved her purse beneath the counter and reached for an apron hanging on a peg beside the cash register. “Doc was running a little late with his morning appointments.”

Helen’s irritated expression instantly turned to one of concern. “Are you all right?”

Katie nodded. “It was just my annual physical and other than being about fifty pounds heavier than I should be, I’m as healthy as a horse.”

Helen shook her head as she ladled white gravy over a mound of mashed potatoes and country-fried steak. “I don’t pay any attention to those height and weight charts. I don’t know who makes those things up or where they live, but it for darned sure isn’t in the real world. I’d look like an understuffed scarecrow if I weighed what the danged things say is right for my height.” She pushed the plate through the window for Katie to serve. “This goes to Harv.” She reached for another plate. “Don’t worry about the others. I’ve got everyone’s order except for Silent Sam over there, talkin’ fly-fishin’ with Harv.”

Nodding, Katie placed Harv’s food on the serving tray, then grabbed an order pad and pencil. “Jeremiah usually asks for the day’s special.”

“Jeremiah?” Helen cocked an eyebrow and stopped spooning green beans onto a plate to stare at Katie. “Did I miss somethin’? When did you get to be so friendly with him?”

“I’m not,” Katie insisted, careful to keep her voice low. “But he’s been coming here nearly every day for the past two months. It just doesn’t seem right to keep calling him Silent Sam.”

“Why Katie Andrews, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were sweet on him,” Helen said, her hazel eyes twinkling merrily.

“Oh good heavens, Helen,” Katie said impatiently. Why did she suddenly feel so uncharacteristically flustered? “I’m too old to have a crush on anyone.”

Grinning, Helen whispered, “You’re a woman and you’re still breathin’ ain’t you?” Before Katie could respond, she added, “Shoot, if I wasn’t married to Jim, I might even be tempted to set my sights on that one. As my daughter and her friends always say, he’s hotter than a firecracker on the Fourth of July.”

Katie gave her friend a wan smile. “We don’t have time for this, Helen. We have a café full of people waiting for their food.”

“Hittin’ a little too close to home for you, Katie?” Helen asked, laughing.

“You’re not even in the same ball park.” Turning, Katie started around the counter to serve Harv his fried steak. “Now, get back to work, Helen.”

Katie cringed as Helen’s delighted cackle followed her across the café. The woman wasn’t buying her disinterest in Jeremiah Gunn for a minute. But what disturbed her more than anything was the fact that she was having a hard time believing it herself.

Harv Jenkins droned on about the advantages of fly-fishing the smaller streams over one of the larger tributaries like Piney River, but Jeremiah wasn’t listening to a word the old guy said. He was too busy wondering what the hell had gotten into him.

For the past two months, he’d ridden his Harley down the mountain each weekday at noon to have lunch in the Blue Bird Café. And every day the waitress everyone called Katie had taken his order.

But today, when he held the door for her to enter the café, it was as if he’d seen her for the first time. Watching her move around behind the counter as she talked to the cook and prepared to serve someone’s food, he had to admit that she was a damn fine-looking woman.

But why hadn’t he noticed that before? How could he have missed how pretty her aquamarine eyes were or that her long, dark brown hair looked like strands of shiny chestnut-colored silk?

“Did you hear what I just said, boy?” Harv asked, sounding impatient. “Piney River is good for cat fishin’, but if I’m wantin’ to do some serious trout fishin’, I like streams like that one behind your cabin.”

“It’s not my cabin,” Jeremiah answered, turning his attention back to the older gentleman sitting across the worn Formica table from him. “I’m just renting it for a few months.”

Harv grinned. “You know, Ray Applegate’s been lookin’ to sell his grandma’s old place.”

Jeremiah figured he knew where the conversation was headed. “That’s what Ray told me when I rented it from him.”

“You decided how long you’re gonna stay here on Piney Knob?” Harv asked.

Harv had been asking that question for the past month. And just as he had each time Harv asked, Jeremiah shook his head and gave him the same answer. “Nope. I’m just taking it one day at a time and getting used to my new status as a civilian.”

“How long was it you said you were in the Marine Corps?” Harv asked.

“Nineteen years.”

Jeremiah still felt a keen sense of regret that his military career had come to a premature end. If he hadn’t ended up with a bum knee after being injured in that mission a few months ago, he’d still be barking orders to his men and wouldn’t be faced with having to decide what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

“Here you go, Harv,” Katie said, setting down a plate of country fried-steak and mashed potatoes covered in enough white gravy to clog every artery in Harv’s entire body. Turning her attention to Jeremiah, she smiled. “What can I get for you today…Jeremiah?”

Feeling as if he’d been punched right square in the gut, Jeremiah swallowed hard. She had one of the prettiest smiles he’d ever seen, and the sound of her soft voice saying his name caused a warm feeling to spread throughout his chest.

Clearing his suddenly dry throat, he finally managed to push words past his paralyzed lips. “I’ll have whatever the special is for the day.”

“One plate of chicken and dumplings, green beans and sliced tomatoes coming right up,” she said, jotting his order on the pad of paper in her hand. “And what would you like to drink with that?”

“Iced tea.” He didn’t bother telling her he wanted the sweetened tea. In Dixie Ridge they didn’t serve it any other way.

“Your order will be ready in just a few minutes.” She tucked the pad of paper in the front pocket of her apron. “And I’ll be right back with your tea.”

When she turned to walk over to the lunch counter, Jeremiah noticed the two men sitting at the next table were about to get up. But before he could warn Katie to watch out, the guy closest to her shoved his chair backward and right into her. She staggered and Jeremiah instinctively reached to keep her from falling. Before he knew quite how it happened, he found Katie sitting on his lap.

They stared at each other for endless seconds as several things about her began to register in his startled brain. Katie smelled like peaches and sunshine, and her perfectly shaped lips were parted as if begging for his kiss. But those weren’t the only things he noticed. Her body was soft in the way only a woman’s could be, and her lush curves pressing against him were causing certain parts of his anatomy to respond in a very male way.

“Sorry about that, Katie,” the man who had bumped into her apologized, breaking the spell. “I was braggin’ about my new baby girl and wasn’t payin’ attention to what I was doin’.”

“It’s all right, Jeff,” Katie said, sounding breathless. “How are Freddie and the baby doing?”

“Just fine.” Offering his hand to help her to her feet, the man laughed. “But Nick isn’t sure he’s going to like being a big brother.”

Jeremiah wasn’t sure why, but when Katie started to accept the man’s help, he tightened his arm around her waist, effectively holding her in place. If the startled look she gave him was any indication, she was as surprised by his action as he was.

Glaring at the man she’d called Jeff, Jeremiah watched the guy raise an eyebrow, then wisely move on toward the check-out counter. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

Her cheeks colored a pretty pink. “The question is, are you all right?”

“Of course.” He frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I sat down pretty hard and…I’m not exactly a lightweight.” The blush on her pretty face deepened. Before he could respond, she wiggled out of his grasp, stood up and looked around as if trying to find an escape. “I need to…ring up Jeff’s lunch ticket.”

Jeremiah stared after her when she hurried toward the cash register sitting at one end of the counter. The gentle sway of her rounded hips as she walked across the café caused his body to tighten further, and he had to force himself to look away.

“Katie’s a right pretty girl, ain’t she?” Harv asked with a knowing smile.

“I hadn’t noticed,” Jeremiah lied, trying to sound indifferent. He failed miserably. He knew it and so did Harv.

Suddenly feeling the need to run like hell, Jeremiah stood up and reached for his wallet. “I’m not very hungry today, Harv. I think I’m going to skip lunch and try my luck in the stream behind the cabin. Maybe I’ll catch a couple of rainbow trout for supper.” Removing a couple of bills, he tossed the money on the table. “This is for the waitress’s trouble. When she comes back to bring my tea, tell her to cancel my order.”

“Her name’s Katie Andrews,” Harv said, his wrinkled face splitting into a wide grin. “And in case anybody cares to know, she’s single.”

Refusing to comment, Jeremiah took his sunglasses out of the pocket of his T-shirt and put them on. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Harv.”

He purposely avoided looking at Katie as he wove his way through the tables and walked to the door. Once he was outside, he settled himself on the leather seat of his motorcycle and finally released his pent-up breath.

What the hell had gotten into him? Why did he suddenly have the irresistible urge to watch every move Katie Andrews made?

She for damned sure wasn’t the kind of woman he normally preferred. He liked his women brazenly sexy, shamelessly uninhibited in the bedroom and as commitment-shy as he was. It kept things simple and uncomplicated that way.

But Katie wasn’t the kind of woman that a man loved, then left without a backward glance. Hell, everything about her shouted stability and permanence—the very things he’d spent his entire adult life trying to avoid. So why did he find her so damned fascinating?

He shook his head. He wasn’t sure, but what he needed right now was to put as much distance between himself and Katie Andrews as possible.

Starting his Harley, he backed it out of the parking space, then pulled onto the road that led up the side of Piney Knob Mountain. He needed the quiet solitude of his rented cabin, where life was simple and he wouldn’t be reminded of all the things that he didn’t want and knew damned well he’d never have.

Frowning, Katie tucked the twenty dollars Jeremiah had left on the table into the pocket of her apron. She’d have to see that he got the money back the next time he came in for lunch.

Walking to the window behind the counter, she picked up the piece of paper with his order on it and tore it in half. “Helen, don’t bother making up that plate of chicken and dumplings for Jeremiah. He’s changed his mind and won’t be eating with us today.”

“He won’t?” Helen looked dumbfounded. “That’s the first time Silent Sam has missed eatin’ lunch here since he rolled into town.”

“His name is Jeremiah,” Katie said as she turned her attention back to her duties.

The woman gave her a grin that set Katie’s teeth on edge. “That’s what you keep tellin’ me.”

Doing her best to ignore her friend’s teasing, Katie started another pot of coffee and tidied up behind the counter. Until today, she hadn’t paid much attention to the man who’d cruised into town a little over two months ago on his shiny motorcycle. But in the past half hour her thoughts seemed to have been consumed with him.

From the day he’d first strolled into the café, she’d noticed how ruggedly handsome he was, and how his voice was sexy enough to turn a chunk of granite into a puddle of gravy. A woman would have to be comatose not to notice those things about him.

But she hadn’t realized how physically well-built he was, or how his biceps strained the knit fabric of the T-shirts he always wore. When he’d caught her to keep her from falling, she’d been struck speechless at the feel of his rock-hard muscles holding her so securely to his solid frame.

Her cheeks heated at how she’d just sat there on his lap staring at him like a complete ninny. But she’d been thoroughly mesmerized by what she’d seen in his dark brown gaze. Jeremiah Gunn was intelligent, compassionate and, if paying for a meal he’d ordered but didn’t eat was any indication, extremely honest.

“All the things I’d like to pass on to my child,” she murmured thoughtfully.

Katie caught her breath and quickly looked around to see if anyone had heard her, or noticed the heat she felt coloring her cheeks. Why on earth had the thought even entered her mind? Was she so desperate to have a baby that she’d started looking at complete strangers as father material?

She shook her head. There would be plenty of time after she closed the café to consider her options. Not that Jeremiah Gunn was, or ever would be one of them.

But two hours later, as she stepped out of the Blue Bird and locked the door behind her, she couldn’t seem to get the big man off her mind. He had everything she could want for her child—intelligence, a well-proportioned body and good looks.

“Forget it,” she muttered to herself as she pulled the colorful pamphlet Dr. Braden had given her out of her shoulder bag. Surely she could find someone at the Lancaster Sperm Bank down in Chattanooga with the same attributes.

As she continued to gaze at the little booklet, she frowned. She wasn’t sure that choosing her baby’s father from a list of donors in a database was something she wanted to do. She suspected it would feel a lot like she was making a purchase from a mail-order catalog when it came time to select the donor based on a list of their physical characteristics and personality traits.

Lost in thought, she stuffed the booklet back into her bag and started walking down the side of the tree-lined road toward the house she’d lived in all of her life. She barely noticed how the early June sunshine filtered through the leaves, or how the flame azaleas, rhododendrons and mountain laurel added splashes of orange, hot pink and white to the lush green foliage on the side of Piney Knob Mountain. Nor did she pay attention to an occasional car honking a greeting as it drove by. And she wasn’t the least bit worried about being run down.

Most of the time, a person could walk down the center of the road from one end of town to the other and never encounter a vehicle from either direction. And as far as she was concerned, it was testament to the fact that Dixie Ridge, Tennessee, was far too small to consider asking any of its male residents to help her with her problem.

Katie sighed. Most of the men she knew were married anyway, and the few who were still single already had fiancées or girlfriends. She couldn’t ask any of them to help her have a baby. Somehow, she had a feeling the women in their lives would have a real problem with that.

A feeling of resignation began to fill her. At this point, it looked like the sperm bank was her only choice. It wasn’t like eligible prospects were growing on trees around Dixie Ridge. Other than Jeremiah, Homer Parsons was about the only other bachelor in town. And he was ninety years old and had been claimed by Miss Millie Rogers over sixty years ago.

And even though Jeremiah Gunn had every trait she wanted for her child, she would never in a million years be able to work up the courage to ask him to help her. What would she say?

“Mr. Gunn, here’s your lunch. And by the way, would you mind stopping by the Dixie Ridge Clinic this afternoon, look at a magazine or watch a video, and make a donation in a plastic cup in order for me to have a baby?”

As she unlocked the back door and let herself into the house, her cheeks felt as if they were on fire. He’d think she was completely insane.

Two

“Harv, what do you say we call it a day?” Jeremiah called as he wound in his line. “It looks like they’ve stopped biting and by the time I fillet these trout, it’ll be time to fry them for supper.”

As soon as he’d returned from the diner, Jeremiah had pulled on his waders, grabbed his fly rod and trudged out into the middle of the stream behind his rented cabin. He’d wanted to catch a few trout, and hopefully figure out why he suddenly couldn’t put the Blue Bird Café’s waitress out of his mind. Unfortunately, his introspection had been cut short when Harv—after finishing his lunch—had driven up Piney Knob to Jeremiah’s cabin, waded out into the stream and started chattering like a damn magpie. The older man had covered everything in his ramblings from the differences between fishing lures and flies, to asking Jeremiah’s opinion on whether or not Harv should take on a partner in his fishing and hunting business, Piney Knob Outfitters.

Jeremiah had ended up tuning out most of it, but apparently the fish hadn’t. Since Harv showed up and started in with his motormouth, Jeremiah hadn’t had so much as a nibble.

“What did you catch for your supper? Rainbow or brown trout?” Harv asked, turning to slowly wade back to the stream’s rocky bank.

Jeremiah checked the willow basket creel slung over his shoulder. “Four rainbows.”

“That oughtta be enough for the two of you,” Harv said, over his shoulder.

“The two of us?” Jeremiah frowned. “What the hell are you talking about, Harv?”

“Looks like you’re gonna have company for supper.” The older man grinned as he raised his hand to wave to someone on the bank. “Afternoon, Katie.”

Jeremiah turned so fast he came close to having the fast-moving water knock his feet out from under him. Sure enough, there stood Katie Andrews on the path leading back to the cabin.

“I wonder what she wants?” he asked, thankful his question had been drowned out by the babbling sound of water rushing over the rocks in the stream bed.

Since moving to the Smoky Mountains a couple of months ago, Jeremiah hadn’t gone out of his way to get to know any of the Dixie Ridge residents, except for the man trudging through the water ahead of him. And it was impossible not to get acquainted with Harv. The man never shut up. He’d completely ignored Jeremiah’s attempts to keep to himself, and before he knew how it happened, he and Harv had become friends—something Jeremiah rarely allowed to happen with anyone.

When they carefully picked their way over the rocks scattered along the stream bank, Jeremiah cursed himself for standing there in front of Katie as speechless as a pimple-faced kid in the presence of the prom queen. Never in all of his thirty-seven years had he ever had a problem talking to women. But for some reason, he couldn’t think of a thing to say, nor could he figure out why.

“What brings you up here to the crick, Katie?” Harv asked as he took his fishing rod apart and put the sections in a storage case. “Thinkin’ about catchin’ yourself a rainbow for supper.”

Smiling, she shook her head. “Not today, Harv.”

“Do you fish?” Jeremiah asked, finally getting his tongue to work.

“I’ve been known to catch a fish now and then,” she said, nodding.

Harv’s laughter indicated there was more to her fishing experience than she was letting on. “Katie’s won the Fourth of July Powder-Puff Fishin’ Derby for the past eight years. And she was runner-up for four or five years before that.” Chuckling, he finished storing his fishing rod and snapped the case shut. “I ’spect she’s a shoo-in for this year’s title, too.”

“Is that so?” Jeremiah didn’t doubt that a woman could be good at the sport of fly-fishing. He’d just never met one before.

She shrugged one shoulder. “My dad and brother started taking me fishing with them when I was four years old.”

They stood, staring at each other for several strained moments before Harv finally asked, “If you didn’t come up this way to go fishin’, what did you come up here for, Katie?”

Jeremiah watched a rosy blush color her porcelain cheeks. Good Lord, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a woman blush.

“I…um, came to talk to Mr. Gunn about the money he left at the café,” she said, sounding uncertain.

“Didn’t I tell you she wasn’t none to happy about you leavin’ that twenty bucks?” Harv asked, starting down the path to the cabin.

“Yeah, Harv, you told me,” Jeremiah muttered, waiting for Katie to fall into step ahead of him.

Actually, Harv had reiterated that fact at least a dozen times over the course of the past two hours, and each time he told the story Katie was a little more angry than the time before. By the time Harv got finished embellishing the actual facts, it had sounded as if she was ready to tear him apart with her bare hands for leaving the money.

As they walked the short distance to the house, Jeremiah tried not to notice how her well-worn jeans hugged her long legs, or the sensual sway of her full hips. By the time they reached the cabin, sweat beaded his forehead and his own jeans felt as if they’d shrunk a couple of sizes in the stride.

What had gotten into him? He wasn’t some over-sexed teenager with nothing but hormones racing through his veins. He was a grown man and should have gained a little more control over the years than that. Had he been so long without a woman’s charms that just watching one walk in front of him turned him on?

“Well, I’m gonna leave you two kids to fight it out over that money,” Harv said, heading toward his truck. He tossed his fishing rod case into the back. “Sadie’ll take a strip off my hide a mile wide if I don’t get home in time for supper.”

“Tell her I said hello.” Katie waved as the older man opened the driver’s door and slid behind the wheel. “And I’ll see you tomorrow at the Blue Bird, Harv.”

Once Harv’s truck disappeared down the lane, Jeremiah tried to think of something to say. When nothing came to mind, he motioned toward the cabin’s front porch. “Would you like to sit down?”

She looked uncertain, then taking a deep breath, nodded and preceded him up the steps. Before she sat down on the wooden porch swing, she pulled two ten dollar bills from the front pocket of her jeans.

“Here’s your money,” she said, handing the money to him.

He shook his head as he seated himself on the bench facing the swing. “I left that to pay for the lunch I ordered and a tip for your trouble.”

She stuffed the money into his hand. “Canceling the order was no big deal. And that was too much for a tip anyway.”

An electric current zinged up his arm when her fingers touched the palm of his hand and he had to swallow hard to keep from groaning. “But—”

She shook her head as she lowered herself onto the swing. “I didn’t do anything to earn it.”

He admired her principles, but he wished like hell she’d kept the money and left him alone. For some reason that he couldn’t quite figure out, Katie Andrews made him about as edgy as a raw recruit doing a belly crawl through a swamp full of alligators.

“Mr. Gunn, there’s something—”

“Jeremiah,” he interrupted. Needing something to do to keep from staring at her, he pulled the little table he used to make fishing flies closer. “The name’s Jeremiah.”

“Oh, yes. Sorry. I forgot.” She sounded a little breathless and a quick glance her way told him she had more on her mind than returning his twenty bucks. “There’s something I’d like to discuss with you, Jeremiah.”

He picked up the fly he’d been working on that morning and began to wrap red nylon thread around the tiny feathers hiding the fishhook. He couldn’t imagine what she wanted to talk to him about, but he could tell that whatever it was made her nervous as hell.

“I’m listening.”

She stood up and began to pace the length of the porch. “This isn’t easy for me. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

He glanced up in time to see her nibbling on her lower lip as if she was trying to work up her courage. “Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad,” he said, trying not to think how cute she looked. “Why don’t you just say what you have to say and get it over with?”

She stared at him for several seconds before she gave a short nod. “All right, Mr. Gunn—I mean Jeremiah.” He watched her close her eyes and take a deep breath before opening them to meet his gaze head-on. “Would you be willing to consider helping me have a baby?”

Jeremiah had no idea what he’d expected her to say, but asking him to help her procreate wasn’t it. More shocked by her request than he’d ever been by anything in his life, he forgot all about watching what he was doing and suddenly felt a sharp jab as the fishhook sank deep into the fleshy pad of his thumb. “Son of a bit—”

“Oh dear heavens!” Katie rushed over to take his hand in hers. “I’m so sorry,” she said, examining the injury. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

As painful as it was to have a fishhook piercing his thumb, her soft hands holding his overrode the discomfort. All he could think about was the fact that she was standing close enough that if he raised his head their lips would touch. He suddenly felt hot all over and his heart rate increased considerably.

“It’ll be all right once I get the hook out,” he said, trying to pull away from her. He needed to put some distance between them before he did something stupid like grab her and kiss her until they both went limp from lack of oxygen.

“The barb is in too deep,” she said, releasing his hand. “Dr. Braden is going to have to deal with this.”

“I can take care of it.”

“No, you can’t,” she insisted. The concern in her expressive gaze caused a warm feeling to spread throughout his chest. “Have you had a tetanus shot recently?”

He nodded. If he’d been able to get his vocal cords to work, he would have told her that the marines made sure their men were always current on their immunizations. But at the moment, he couldn’t have strung a sentence together if his life depended on it.

“Come on,” she said, tugging on his arm. “I’ll drive you down to the clinic.”

“That’s not necessary,” he said, even as he rose to his feet. “I can drive myself.”

“Do you have a car or truck?”

He shook his head. “No. All I have is my Harley.”

She gave him a look that clearly stated she thought he was being a stubborn fool. “Don’t you think it would be a little difficult holding on to it without driving the fishhook even farther into your thumb?”

Frowning, Jeremiah looked at the tarp covering his Harley parked a few feet from the porch. He hadn’t thought about how he’d manage to use the handle grip gas feed.

“That’s what I thought. You can’t.” She pointed toward her red SUV. “I’ll take you to the clinic.”

“But I can take a pair of pliers and—”

“Make matters worse,” she interrupted. “Now get in my truck.” Without another word, she started down the steps toward her Explorer.

As Jeremiah followed Katie to the SUV, he had to admit she would have made a good marine. She hadn’t gotten squeamish the way some women might have done when she looked at the hook protruding from his thumb, nor had she passed out when she saw the blood seeping out around it. She’d kept her head, assessed what needed to be done, then prepared to execute her plan of action—much like any good soldier would do.

Sliding into the passenger side of the truck, he glanced over at her. But even as he admired her take-charge attitude, he wasn’t so sure she might not be a little touched in the head.

What in the name of hell had prompted her to ask him to help her make a baby?

As Katie held the door open for Jeremiah to enter the Dixie Ridge Clinic, she wished for at least the hundredth time that the ground would open up and swallow her. What on earth had she been thinking when she asked if he’d be willing to consider helping her have a child?

After she’d gone home, she’d decided to drive up Piney Knob to return his money and to ask him a few leading questions that might help her gauge his receptiveness to being the sperm donor for her baby. She’d had absolutely no intention of actually asking him to be the father.

But instead of handling the situation with diplomacy and tact, she’d thrown out her request like a hand grenade. And he’d recoiled as if the darned thing had been a real bomb and not a metaphorical one. If his reaction was any indication, he not only wouldn’t be willing to help her have a child, he’d probably never speak to her again.

“Hey there, Katie,” Martha Payne called from the reception counter. She eyed Jeremiah up and down. “Looks like you found someone—”

“With a fishhook in his thumb,” Katie interrupted her. “He needs Doc to remove it.”

Martha had been the nurse at the Dixie Ridge Clinic since forever and knew everything that went on within its walls. She no doubt thought Katie had found a hapless victim to make a donation toward Operation: Katie-Wants-a-Baby-Before-It’s-Too-Late.

“Good thing you got here when you did,” Martha said, patting a few strands of steel-gray hair back into place as she came around the end of the counter to take a look at Jeremiah’s thumb. “As soon as we close up for the day, Doc and Lexi are gonna load up their three kids and take off for a couple days vacation down at Stone Mountain in Georgia.” She shook her head as she examined the wound. “You buried that hook real good, son. How did it happen?”

Katie’s face grew hot when Jeremiah glanced over at her. “I was tying a fly and wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing,” he said, shrugging. “It happens.”

Martha nodded as she released his hand. “You two have a seat while I get everything set up for Doc to take care of gettin’ it out.”

As she watched Martha lumber down the hall to one of the examining rooms, Katie sank into one of the chairs lining the walls of the waiting area. She’d seen the gleam in Martha’s eyes and knew the woman was dying to know what was going on. Aside from the fact that she wasn’t used to seeing Katie with a man, Martha was wondering why Katie had been the one to bring Jeremiah into the clinic. Everyone in town knew that Harv was the only Dixie Ridge resident Jeremiah was acquainted with and would have been the likely candidate to drive him to the clinic.

When Jeremiah settled his tall frame into the chair beside her, she sighed. “This is all my fault and I’m so very sorry.”

For the first time since she’d met him, the corners of his mouth curved upward in a rare smile. It changed his whole demeanor.

Her heart skipped a beat and her breath lodged in her lungs. Jeremiah Gunn wasn’t just good-looking. When he smiled, he was drop-dead gorgeous.

“Forget about it.” He shook his head. “I’m sure I misunderstood what you meant when you said—”

“Well, hello again,” Dr. Braden said, smiling as he walked out of his private office. “I didn’t expect to see you here again so soon, Katie.”

“I’m not here because I need to see you,” she said hastily.

Before she could explain things further, Dr. Braden turned his attention to Jeremiah. “So, you’re here to see me?”

Jeremiah nodded. “I told Katie I was fine, but she insisted that you needed to check things over and be the one to take it out.”

Dr. Braden’s eyebrows rose as a stunned look spread across his face. “It really is best for both parties to have a clean bill of health before proceeding with something like this. But you’ll be the one to take care of the actual—”

“You mean I have to have a physical, then take this fishhook out myself?” Jeremiah asked, frowning as he held up his thumb.

Katie’s cheeks felt as if they were on fire when Dr. Braden glanced her way. There wasn’t a thing she could say that wouldn’t make matters worse. All she could do was pray that this nightmare came to an end soon.

Turning his attention back to Jeremiah, Dr. Braden nodded toward the hall. “I’m afraid I misunderstood the reason for your visit. If you’ll follow me, we’ll get that hook out and you can be on your way.”

As she watched the two men disappear into the examining room at the far end of the hall, Katie wished with all her heart that this day had never happened. When she’d gotten out of bed this morning, all she’d had on her mind was to get her yearly physical out of the way, work at the café until closing time, then go home and start a new quilt to sell to one of the gift shops in Gatlinburg.

She rubbed her temples with her fingertips. How had everything gotten so complicated? So humiliating?

Sighing heavily, she leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. As soon as she drove Jeremiah back up the mountain to the cabin he was renting, she’d make some excuse about temporary insanity running in her family. Then she’d go home and hope with all her heart that she would never have to face him again.

After Dr. Braden had given him a shot in the knuckle to numb his thumb, Jeremiah sat on the examining table and watched the man carefully remove the fishhook from the fleshy part of his thumb. But instead of concentrating on what the doctor was doing, his mind was on the conversation that had taken place in the waiting room.

“You thought I was here for an entirely different reason than having a fishhook taken out of my thumb.” It wasn’t a question, and if he was any judge of character, Jeremiah knew Dr. Braden wouldn’t try to deny it.

The man met Jeremiah’s gaze head-on. “Yes.”

“I don’t guess you’re at liberty to tell me what that reason was?” Jeremiah watched Braden cut the barb off the end of the fishhook, then pull the rest of it out of his thumb.

“No, I can’t discuss it,” Dr. Braden said, applying a generous amount of ointment to the wound. “Let’s just say I was wrong in my assumption and leave it at that.”

Jeremiah smiled. “In other words, if I want to know, Katie’s the one who’ll have to tell me.”

The doctor grinned as he wrapped gauze around Jeremiah’s thumb. “That’s about the size of it.” He taped the bandage in place, then stepped back for Jeremiah to stand up. “I’m assuming since you just got out of the military a tetanus shot won’t be necessary?”

Jeremiah frowned. He wasn’t at all comfortable being the talk of the town. “Let me guess, Harv told you I was in the marines.”

Braden nodded. “Don’t be too ticked off at old Harv. Having everyone know all about you is one of the hazards of living in a town the size of Dixie Ridge.” He laughed. “When I moved here from Chicago five years ago, having everyone know who I was or what I was doing was one of the hardest things for me to get used to. But it didn’t take me long to figure out it’s their way of letting you know they care about you and want to make you feel like you’re part of the community.”

“I’m sure that was an adjustment.”

Jeremiah refrained from telling the good doctor there were two sides to every scenario. It had been his experience that small-town gossip was far more destructive and alienating than it had ever been accepting.

As he prepared to leave the treatment room, Dr. Braden pointed to Jeremiah’s thumb. “You don’t want that to become infected. Let it heal for a few days before you go fishing again.”

“Thanks. I’ll do that.”

Following the man out into the hall, Jeremiah stopped at the reception desk to pay for the doctor’s services, then walked into the waiting area where he’d left Katie. As soon as he entered the room, he couldn’t help but notice the apprehension in her aquamarine eyes.

“Is everything all right?” she asked, rising to her feet.

He nodded and held up his left hand. “The hook is out and I’m ready to go.”

“Good.” A sudden clap of thunder caused her to jump. “I need to drive you to the cabin and get back down the mountain before the storm hits.”

As they walked across the parking lot to her SUV, Jeremiah frowned at the sight of dark clouds beginning to appear over the top of the mountains west of Dixie Ridge. It had rained almost every day for the past two months. Sometimes it was just a light shower, but other times storms came up from the other side of the mountain and dumped several inches of water in a very short time. It looked as if today it would be the latter.

“Does it rain like this all the time, or is this a particularly wet year?” he asked, sliding into the passenger side of the Explorer.

“It’s been a pretty normal year,” she answered as she started the truck and steered it onto the road leading out of Dixie Ridge. “Here in town we average about fifty inches of rain a year. But up on top of Piney Knob the average is more like sixty inches.”

“That’s a lot of rain.”

She nodded. “A meteorologist could explain it better than I could, but it has something to do with the clouds coming over the mountains.”

“I guess that explains why the creek regularly floods the ford across the road just south of the cabin,” he said, thinking aloud.

She drove a little faster when fat raindrops began to plop on the hood and windshield of the SUV. “And that’s why I need to get back down the mountain as soon as possible. If I don’t, I’ll have to wait to cross the creek after the water recedes sometime tomorrow.”

He wasn’t entirely comfortable taking the hairpin turns leading up the side of Piney Knob at the rate of speed Katie was driving on the rain-slick roads, but Jeremiah decided it was safer to keep his mouth shut and not distract her. Only after they were on the other side of the creek did he breathe a little easier. The water was higher than its normal ten inches when she eased the truck across the ford, but it hadn’t risen to the point where it would flood out the engine when she crossed it on her way back down the mountain.

“Do me a favor,” he said when she pulled to a stop in front of the cabin. “Don’t drive like a bat out of hell when you go back down the mountain.”

Before she could take him to task over his criticism of her driving, he opened the passenger door, got out and sprinted through the increasingly heavy rain to the porch. By the time he climbed the steps and turned back to watch her leave, the taillights of the SUV were already disappearing around the curve of the driveway.

Jeremiah shook his head as he pulled his key from the pocket of his jeans to let himself inside. “Women! She’ll probably drive even faster just because I told her to take it easy.”

He removed his boots and left them on a mat by the door, then padded over to the fireplace on the opposite side of the great room in his sock feet. Even though it was June and fairly warm, the rain had caused the outside temperature to drop considerably and drenched as he was from his run through the rain, a fire would chase away the chill and feel good by the time the sun set.

As he placed a couple of logs on the grate and put kindling around them, he thought about Katie driving back down the mountain. He didn’t like the idea of her navigating the dangerous road in this kind of weather, and he could kick himself for not telling her to call when she got home to let him know she’d arrived safely.

His heart stalled. Now, where had that come from?

Katie was nice enough, but he didn’t really know her. And besides, she wasn’t his to worry about. Nor did he ever intend for her to be.

He’d spent most of his adult life avoiding her type like the plague. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be concerned for her well-being, did it? He’d be just as bothered if it was Harv driving back down the mountain in a driving rain.

Satisfied that he’d discovered the explanation for his uncharacteristic anxiety, he rose to his feet and pulled his wet T-shirt over his head to drop it on the hearth. He’d wait a reasonable period of time, check the phone directory for her number, then call to make sure she’d made it down the mountain without incident. Once he’d done that, he could go about his business with a clear conscience.

Pleased with himself for coming up with a reasonable solution, he unbuckled his belt and popped the snap on his jeans. But just as he started to lower the zipper, something thumped against the old wooden door hard enough to take it off the hinges.

When it happened again, Jeremiah grabbed the shotgun from the gun rack over the fireplace and cautiously approached the door. The sound hadn’t been the rhythmic sound of someone knocking, but more an erratic pounding. It was highly possible one of the many black bears in the area had lumbered up onto the porch seeking shelter from the storm.

Pushing the curtain on the back of the door aside, he tried to see what had caused the sound, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Convinced that the wind had slammed the swing into the side of the cabin, he turned to put the shotgun back over the fireplace when something thumped against the bottom of the door yet again.

Ready to scare off whatever creature was causing the disturbance, he grabbed the knob, counted to three and threw the door open with a war cry that would have impressed the hell out of any of the superior officers he’d served under. But instead of finding a bear or raccoon on the other side, Jeremiah discovered a wet, mud-covered Katie slumped in a defeated heap at his feet.

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