The Cowboy's Surprise Baby
Amy hadn’t heard her father say so many words in one go since the time he’d lectured her on the dangers of peer pressure when she was a teenager. She’d always known her pop was partial to the riding school, and even though she worried about his health, she had to love his loyalty to the horses and the children.
The mare under Amy’s hand snorted and shook her mane, as if trying to get Amy’s attention back on her where it belonged. Amy smiled. “I like this horse, Pop. What’s her name?”
“Queen Bee.”
Amy chuckled as the animal raised her head regally. The name fit her, certainly.
“Be careful riding her, though. She had a run-in with a snake a while back and spooks easy. I don’t let the riding school kids take her out anymore.”
Amy patted the horse like she was an old friend. “I can handle a skittish horse, Pop.”
* * *
JACK DROVE BACK to his family’s ranch in a state of disbelief. He had prepared himself for an ugly fight, or for no answer at all, but not this. A reconciliation? Maybe not quite, but it was at least a new chance for him and Amy.
He also hadn’t been prepared for all the emotions he would feel when he saw her. He’d tried to be ready, but nothing he could have done would prepare him for the electricity that shot through him at the sight of her. She was as stunning as ever.
There was also a sliver of fear, as if she was going to disappear again before his eyes, as if she had never been real in the first place.
He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, full of nervous energy. He didn’t know what he could do to keep himself occupied until that evening, but he’d need to find something or he would go crazy waiting, wondering if it was all real, if she would be there when he arrived at the McNeal house at seven.
Once his truck was parked in front of Stuart Ranch, Jack went immediately toward the barn, veering around the house. Indoors sounded stifling, and he knew it would be infuriating to pace around the living room watching the hand on the clock move with frustrating slowness, which he was sure would happen. Better to get onto a horse and do something under the clear cool sky rather than hole up inside.
As he approached the barn, his brother Tom walked out with a couple of horses on leads. Jack went up to him, seeing an opportunity for distraction. “How can I help?” he asked.
Tom gave him a curious look, as if he sensed something of Jack’s emotions. “I’m setting up for a group of students. They’ll be here in a half hour.”
“Ages?” Jack asked, turning to go to the barn and get whatever else they might need for the riding lessons.
“Under sevens,” Tom answered. “There’ll be about four kids total,” he added before Jack could disappear into the barn.
Jack sighed. He should have expected such low numbers, but it was always a little deflating to be reminded how much it had dwindled. With more than one school in this tiny area, and the drop in population over the past few years, having any students at all was a stroke of luck. His father and Mr. McNeal had started their riding schools years ago when the high demand for lessons meant both schools could prosper. When their father was, if not young, at least spry, they had kids driving in from towns over an hour away. He loved teaching children how to ride, and it showed in the flourishing school he ran.
Without his touch, the school had fallen off to maybe twenty students. If Spring Valley’s population had stayed steady, maybe they would be afloat even without Dad’s magic touch, but as the town dwindled, so did their business.
Now they were at the point that the only reason they’d manage to pay the bills was Jack’s winnings from the rodeo and Tom’s determination to stretch every dollar. If Jack didn’t find a new partner soon, he didn’t think even Tom’s penny-pinching would save them.
Still, the ranch had to run. It was their mom’s home—it was Jack’s future. Tom didn’t want the ranch, never had, but Jack always dreamed of turning it into a rodeo school when he retired with a good chunk of cash from his roping career.
If they could somehow last that long. Something would need to change, but what and how?
Jack pulled himself out of his reverie. It wasn’t helping anything, and he’d gone over it all so many times, but it always led to nothing. Now was the time to work, not think, so he grabbed a couple more of their gentlest horses and brought them out to the paddock where Tom was standing with the others.
They looped the leads over a fence post and both went back for saddles. “Have a good drive?” Tom asked.
Jack could tell Tom wanted to ask what had happened, knew Tom saw a change in him. And even though there was no reason to hide his reunion with Amy, that their date couldn’t possibly be a secret, he still felt a momentary desire to hide it, as if talking about it might make it all go away like a birthday wish or something.
Tom was watching him, though, and he knew he had to come clean. “I went to see Amy. We talked and decided to go out tonight.”
“Like on a date?” Tom asked, sounding a little surprised.
“I guess so,” Jack answered, not ready to clarify more.
He loved his brother, but talking had never been their strong suit, and it seemed strange to open up to him about the real history of his relationship with Amy and what this date could or could not mean. Heck, he wasn’t even really ready to think about all that, let alone talk about it.
Tom seemed to understand, because he didn’t ask anything more, and soon they were guiding little kids around the paddock, each one practicing squeezing their legs to make their horse go and pulling on the reins to stop. The two youngest children, identical twins, could hardly manage enough force to get the horse’s attention, but the docile creatures listened to them with the patience of loving parents.
Jack watched the twins with interest. Zach and Carter, Brock’s soon-to-be sons, had settled into Spring Valley comfortably and seemed more than ready to add Brock to their family. He’d seen the way their faces lit up around Amy’s brother. They loved him and from what Jack had seen, Brock clearly doted on them. Jack had always wanted a family, and it made his heart swell to think that a child didn’t need to be yours biologically in order to be family.
Like the McNeal clan. All four children were adopted, and their parents loved every one of them as much as any parent could. If a couple were unable to have children for some reason...
His mind balked as Jack realized he had drifted into territory he wasn’t remotely ready for. He had only seen Amy for a few minutes after ten years of complete silence from her—there was no way he should be thinking about them starting a family together. Heck, part of him was still dead sure dinner was a bad idea. The part that had never healed when she left the first time.
He wasn’t ready to get hurt like that again, and thoughts like those would only make it worse.
Still, he couldn’t help but watch the time tick by oh so slowly toward seven, and he did everything he could think of to speed it along.
He hadn’t been this antsy for a date in a very long time. About ten years, in fact.
Chapter Three
Amy sat with Cassie, the two women shading their eyes against the afternoon light as they watched Brock play tag with the young twins, while the new cows lowed happily in the pen Brock had built over the past two months. If Amy hadn’t been so preoccupied with thoughts of her date in just a few hours, the antics of the three males would have been hilarious. As it was, though, she was hardly able to even hold a basic conversation with Cassie, let alone anything else.
After the third time Amy had to apologize for not hearing what Cassie had said, Cassie gave her an intense clinical stare. “Is everything okay, Amy? You’re almost as difficult to talk to as Brock was when he had a concussion. Did you hit your head recently? Who was the first President of the United States?”
Amy chuckled and shook her head. “I don’t have a concussion, Cassie. I’m just...preoccupied.”
“With what?” Cassie asked, her demeanor shifting from doctor to sister instantaneously.
Amy didn’t have any sisters—well, didn’t grow up with any, at least, she amended—so it felt odd to confide in Cassie like this, but she needed to talk to someone. Pop was a good listener but not one for advice and long conversations, and Ma would end up trying to play the ultimate matchmaker if she even got a whiff of an opportunity. Amy took a breath and spilled her thoughts to her soon-to-be sister-in-law.
“Do you know Jack Stuart?” she asked, knowing the answer.
“Sure,” Cassie said. “He was at the riding school with Tom today for the boys’ lesson. Zach said he is, and I quote, ‘a really cool rodeo cowboy.’”
Amy agreed with Zach’s assessment, but it didn’t even scratch the surface of everything there was to say about Jack.
“He’s also my high school sweetheart, my first boyfriend,” Amy added. “He’s taking me out tonight and I’m just a bit nervous. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other and so much has changed and Jack—” Amy cut off the torrent of words, not sure what she wanted to say.
Jack was special.
Jack could be a chance to start over.
Jack didn’t know who she was and what she’d done, and she wasn’t sure he’d still like her when he found out.
Cassie seemed to have filled in the blank her own way, because she hopped up and grabbed Amy’s hand, pulling her inside. “If you’ve got a date, we have much more important things to do than sit here watching three guys tumbling around the yard. Do you even have any nice clothes in that backpack of yours?”
Amy smiled as Cassie’s enthusiasm calmed some of her worries. “Nothing but travel clothes, jeans and a few summer dresses. Jack won’t care what I’m wearing but—”
“But you do, of course,” Cassie said before Amy could finish the sentence. “I’m a bit shorter than you, but I bet a few of my things will fit. Want to go shopping in my closet?”
Amy nodded, relieved she would have something to wear that hadn’t been tainted by her recent past. Amy cut that thought off before it could gain any more traction and followed Cassie. In a few minutes they were ankle-deep in discarded dresses. Each one had been pronounced too something for this date. Too conservative. Too risqué. Too formal. Too short.
Finally, Cassie clapped her hands in delight, and Amy had to agree. She was holding a knee-length dress in a shimmery navy blue with little cap sleeves that Amy loved. “Go try it on,” Cassie urged, and Amy took the dress into the bathroom.
When she stepped back out, Cassie’s squeal of happiness confirmed her thoughts: it was a beautiful dress.
“He’s going to fall in love with you the moment he sees you,” Cassie said dreamily.
The thought made her heart stutter. Did she want him to fall in love with her again? The thought sent a wave of fear through her, and she knew she wasn’t ready to talk about anything resembling love.
“What’s wrong, Amy? This isn’t about the dress, is it?” Cassie asked, putting her hand on Amy’s arm.
Amy sat on the bed, feeling sudden tears spring into her eyes. Cassie sat beside her. “You can tell me anything, Amy. Doctor-patient confidentiality,” she added with a smile.
“Are you a therapist?” Amy asked with a little laugh as she brushed a tear away.
“Not technically, but I can sure try, if that’s what you need.”
Amy sighed. “In Morocco, I met a man. Armand. He was—”
She searched for the right word while Cassie waited patiently. “He was incredibly charming,” Amy finally finished, though that didn’t really do justice to the pull he had over her.
“I gather it didn’t end well?” Cassie prompted quietly.
Amy laughed. “That’s the understatement of the century. He wasn’t who I thought he was. He was married, for one thing.”
Cassie pulled Amy into a hug, and Amy was grateful she didn’t have to explain any more about her relationship with Armand. The way he manipulated her feelings, the way he’d treated her after he’d known she was hooked. How difficult it had been to get back her independence and leave.
“Anyway, I got away from all that and came home. And now I’m going on this date and feel like a complete basket case for even agreeing to it after all that,” Amy said, trying to end the conversation and stop herself from becoming completely overwhelmed with still-fresh feelings at the same time.
Cassie gave her a look of concern. “You can still call off or postpone this date if it’s too much for you, you know. This dress will wait, and I’m sure Jack would understand.”
Amy only thought about that for a second before dismissing it. There was no way she was going to cancel this date. “I need this date, I think. It might help me get rid of Armand, but mostly...” She paused, struggling for words. “It’s Jack,” she finished, sure Cassie couldn’t understand everything he meant to her. Heck, she didn’t think she did, either.
“Well, if you’re going on a date tonight, we need to figure out something for shoes, because I don’t think mine will fit you,” Cassie declared, shaking her head.
Amy smiled, glad the conversation had turned to less serious topics. She looked at her feet and knew instinctively what shoes she wanted to wear with this dress. “Shoes I’ve got taken care of. Thanks so much for the help, Cassie. And for listening. I promise next time we’ll talk about fun things like your wedding instead of having a therapy session.”
Cassie shrugged and started picking up the discarded dresses. “It’s no problem. I mean, how can I ask you to be my bridesmaid if I’m not willing to be a shoulder to cry on once in a while? I’ll probably need you to return the favor as the big day approaches and the inevitable wedding disasters occur.”
Amy’s eyes widened in surprise. “You want me to be one of your bridesmaids?”
Cassie looked up. “Of course I want you to be a bridesmaid. I was hoping to have three. Emma from the bakery, my sister who lives in Minnesota and you. I really do want us to be sisters, Amy.”
Amy felt her eyes sting with tears again, but managed to hold them back. There had already been too much crying today.
“So, will you be my bridesmaid?” Cassie asked.
Amy nodded and the two women hugged.
A door slam and thumping footsteps heralded the entrance of Brock and the boys. “Momma, why are you hugging Auntie Amy?” Zach asked, looking concerned.
Cassie leaned down low and ruffled her son’s hair, sending a pang through Amy’s heart, just as it always did when she saw mothers interacting with their children. “Auntie Amy is doing me a favor, so I was saying thank you with a nice big hug. She’s going to be in the wedding with us,” Cassie explained.
Carter’s face broke into a wide grin. “We’re going to be in the wedding, too! We get to hold the rings and stand next to our uncles!”
Brock held out a hand for each of the boys to high-five. “That’s right. Y’all are going to do me proud, I know it.”
Carter and Zach both puffed with pleasure.
“So I know now’s not the time, what with your imminent date and all,” Cassie said, turning back to Amy, “but we need to get you fitted for your bridesmaid dress soon so there’ll be time to alter it before the wedding. We’re less than a month away at this point.”
Amy nodded, taking her role as bridesmaid very seriously. “I’ll be here for whatever you need,” she said earnestly.
Brock cut into the sweet, sisterly moment. “Wait, you have a date? With who?” he asked, sounding almost protective.
Cassie gave Amy a worried look, as if she was waiting to see if she’d already slipped up as a sister and confidante. Amy gave her brother a steely gaze. “I’m going on a date with Jack Stuart, and you are not to say anything overprotective or big-brotherly about it.”
Brock held up his hands in mock surrender. “I wouldn’t think of it. Have fun, my adult sister who can make her own decisions.”
Amy and Cassie both smiled in relief.
“But if he tries to get fresh with you—” he began, pointing a finger in warning.
He was cut off when Cassie shoved him out the door. “Sorry about that,” Cassie said, grimacing.
Amy laughed. She’d forgotten what it was like to have a big brother around watching out for her. It was a little obnoxious, sure, but also nice in its own way.
“So, let’s talk about the wedding,” she said, filling the silence.
Cassie shook her head. “Nuh-uh. We’re not done here. Next is makeup and hair.”
Amy twirled a strand of her blond hair around one of her fingers as she was dragged into the bathroom. “How do you know how to do all this stuff?” she asked.
She’d assumed her doctor sister-in-law was just as clueless as she was, but it seemed very clear that she was wrong. Cassie shrugged as she opened a drawer of brushes and powders. “I have a sister. This is what you do when you’re bored over summer vacation.”
Amy had never felt like she’d missed out having only brothers, but now she wondered what it would’ve been like to grow up with a sister. She couldn’t go back and change her childhood, but maybe she’d be able to have the closeness of a female sibling now, as an adult. The thought made her smile as she closed her eyes so Cassie could apply eye shadow.
* * *
JACK WALKED TO the door of the McNeals’ ranch house, a combination of nervousness and excitement turning his stomach into knots. He could well remember being seventeen and feeling that same emotion as he stood waiting for Amy. That was on the occasion of their true first date, when he had nearly convinced himself that it was all a hallucination or something. Or a cruel prank.
It was funny how history repeated itself, he thought as he quelled the sudden voice insisting Amy wouldn’t be home. What if she’d changed her mind and taken off again, leaving him without explanation for another decade?
Jack took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It opened almost instantaneously, and he breathed a secret sigh of relief. Amy stood there in all her glory and then some.
“You look...” he began, but words failed him as he took in the sight of her.
Amy’s long blond hair cascaded over her shoulders in wavy curls, and her dress was a blue that made her eyes sparkle. Or maybe they were sparkling because she was looking at him.
A man could hope.
When his eyes landed on her scuffed cowboy boots, his expression broke into a wide grin. “My girl knows how to dress for a night out on the town, that’s for sure,” he commented, chuckling.
For just a split second, Amy’s smile faltered and Jack wanted to smack himself. He’d forgotten that this wasn’t a decade ago, and Amy wasn’t his girl anymore. But then the moment was gone and they were just two strangers standing awkwardly, unsure what came next.
“Is this okay? Since I wasn’t sure where we were going, I didn’t know how to dress,” Amy said as she stepped out onto the porch and closed the front door behind her.
The old Amy would have put some attitude behind the words, teasing Jack for his insistence on making even the most mundane outings a surprise. This time, however, it was just an explanation, nothing more. “You look perfect,” he said, earning him another nervous smile.
Jack suddenly felt like this date was a bad idea. She had always been feisty to the point of exasperation, and even a simple compliment rarely went unchallenged. Now she seemed timid, nervous, and he panicked at the thought that she had changed so much and he would forever lose the perfect picture of her he had in his mind. He told himself this was just a strange moment, and they were both acting a little odd because of it.
After waiting all day filled with too much energy, Jack was already exhausted trying to live each moment in the present and the past.
He made a declaration then and there to give up the constant comparisons. Tonight was about having a nice first date with a beautiful woman.
As if to prove it to himself, he held out his hand to shake hers. “Nice to see you again, Miss Amelia. Thank you for agreeing to go out with me. I know many women would hesitate at a date with a stranger, but I’m sure glad you accepted my offer.”
The light in Amy’s eye sparkled, and she put on a really terrible Southern Belle accent. “Well, I do declare that it was a might unbecoming of me to allow your advances while I was unchaperoned, but a girl of my age must defy the rules on occasion or she may live the rest of her days as an old spinster.”
Jack tried to keep a straight face, but he was wildly unsuccessful, and soon they were both laughing.
“I seem to have come to the wrong house. I was picking up Amy McNeal, not Scarlett O’Hara,” he finally managed once the bout of laughter had passed.
“Well, I have never been so insulted in my life!” Scarlett-Amy exclaimed, putting her hand to her heart so dramatically that it sent them both back into giggles.
Jack felt relief course through him. Some things had changed, certainly, but she was still Amy.
They walked down the porch steps, still chuckling, and Jack had to restrain himself from wrapping his arm around her and pulling her in for a kiss. If she wasn’t ready yet to be “his girl” again, she probably wasn’t ready for a make-out session in the driveway.
To be fair, he wasn’t sure if he was ready for that, either. The flood of feelings just being near Amy was almost overwhelming; kissing her could send him right over the edge.
Instead, Jack rushed to the passenger side of his truck and opened the door for her, bowing slightly as he did so. She bobbed her head in appreciation and settled into the seat as he walked around to the driver’s side.
“So, where are we going?” she asked the moment he was inside the vehicle.
Jack shook his head. “So impatient,” he commented, starting up the vehicle.
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