Cinderella and the Playboy / The Texan's Happily-Ever-After (28 page)

“Off is fine. I need to go to sleep so I have energy for the boys in the morning.”

“Remember, call me if you need me.”

She had her phone on the bedside table and his number beside it. But she wasn't going to call him—because she didn't think he
wanted
her to need him.

Raina took the tray of cinnamon toast from the oven and carried it over to the table, where the boys were already starting on their scrambled eggs.

“What's that?” Joey asked.

“Cinnamon toast. My mom used to make it for me and my brother when we were your age. It's hot. I'll put a piece on your plates. You have to let it cool a little.”

They had kept her stepping this morning—getting Manuel up, dressing him and readying the other two boys for breakfast, too. It was a challenge she'd enjoyed. The same thing with cooking breakfast. She hardly ever did that for herself, just grabbed a container of yogurt and a piece of fruit and ran.

She knew Shep was occupied with the veterinarian. As she cut pieces of cinnamon toast for Manuel, she wondered how the horse was faring. She wondered even more what Shep was thinking about her pregnancy.

A sudden knock at the door interrupted the boys' chatter. “Wait a couple more minutes before you try that toast,” she warned them, and went to answer it. As soon
as she opened it, the woman on the other side stepped back, surprised.

“Hello! I'm Carla Sumpter, Shep's caseworker. And you're…”

“I'm Raina Gibson.” She could see in the caseworker's eyes that she instantly made a connection with information in Shep's file.

She wasn't sure whether to let the woman in or not. Maybe she should call Shep. But she didn't have to. Over Mrs. Sumpter's shoulder, she spotted him jogging toward the porch.

“Mrs. Sumpter! This is a surprise this early on a Monday morning. How can I help you?”

“I just thought I'd stop by for that follow-up visit and see how everyone is.”

“Excuse me,” Raina said. “I don't want to leave Manuel for too long.”

The caseworker wouldn't need to talk to her, so she hurried back to the kitchen, where she put bite-size pieces of toast on Manuel's tray. He already had some scrambled eggs in his hair, and she tried to brush them away.

Roy looked up at Raina.
“Her
again?”

Raina tried to suppress a smile. “You don't like when she visits?”

Roy shook his head vigorously. “She puts ants in my pants.”

Joey explained, “That means she makes us all nervous, especially Dad.”

Raina had never seen Shep nervous, but then the boys probably sensed more than they saw.

As if on cue, the caseworker and Shep came into the
kitchen. “What are we having this morning?” Mrs. Sumpter addressed the boys.

“Something new,” Roy told her. “Cinnamon toast.”

“I see. Does Dr. Gibson cook for you often?”

Raina's mouth opened but she wasn't exactly sure what to say. She didn't have to worry because Roy filled in for her. “This is the first time. She stayed last night.”

Shep's gaze met Raina's. “I explained about the horse being sick and you sleeping in the guest room.”

“She gave Manuel a bath,” Joey said helpfully.

“Wasn't that nice,” Mrs. Sumpter said, even though Raina wasn't sure she meant it.

“Take another bite of toast, then get your things together,” Shep ordered Joey and Roy. “You don't want to be late for the bus.”

The brothers hurriedly took two more bites of toast, drank some milk and ran to the playroom to get their backpacks. The silence in the kitchen was awkward until they returned.

“I'll take them down the lane to the bus stop,” Shep told the women. “If it's on time, I should be back here in about ten minutes. Will you be all right?” he asked Raina, in spite of Mrs. Sumpter being there.

She squared her shoulders and encouraged Manuel to eat another bite of toast. “I'll be fine.”

Shep nodded to both women and led the boys to the door. After they called noisy goodbyes, they followed their dad to the bus stop.

In spite of the caseworker's attention focused on her, Raina pulled up a chair beside Manuel and offered him a sippy cup with milk.

“So. Mr. McGraw says you're Manuel's doctor,” the caseworker said, prompting her.

“Yes. I've also treated Joey.”

“And the two of you struck up a friendship?”

“You could say that.”

“Now you're here, so I assume the two of you have some connection.”

Oh, they had a connection all right, but she wasn't about to tell this woman about it.

“Are you planning to stay here while Eva is away?”

This woman was fishing. True, it was her job, but Raina still didn't like it. “No, I'm not. Shep called me and asked if I knew of a nurse who could stay overnight, and on such short notice, I volunteered myself. I've become fond of the boys.”

“And Shep?”

“We respect and admire each other.”

“How quaint.”

Now Raina's hackles were up. “Excuse me?”

“Well,
admire
and
respect
are old-fashioned terms in a world that doesn't understand them very well.”

Holding her temper, Raina returned, “That doesn't mean they can't exist.”

“How old are you, Dr. Gibson?”

Taking a breath, warning herself to be tactful, she answered, “Thirty-seven.”

“I assume you're single?”

“Yes. I'm widowed.”

“You're young to be a widow. I assume your husband was the same age?”

“He was a few years older.”

Apparently Mrs. Sumpter wasn't going to stop poking
until she got the information she wanted. So Raina might as well put her life on the table. “Clark was a fireman. He died on September eleventh. I really don't want to discuss that with Manuel in the room.”

“But he doesn't understand—” Mrs. Sumpter began.

Enduring enough, Raina interrupted her. “My former housemate is a baby-development expert. She believes children pick up mood and tone, as well as a sense that surrounds words when they're spoken. I remember that when kids are around. Maybe in your profession, it would be good if you did, too.”

“I've been managing my job for fifteen years just fine.”

“I'm glad about that. That should make Shep feel so much easier about adopting Manuel. I hope there won't be any surprises.”

“That depends. If Shep is involved with you, the adoption could be delayed.”

Footsteps on the porch were definitely Shep's this time. After entering the kitchen, he picked Manuel up out of his high chair. “How was breakfast, buddy?”

Manuel nodded and touched Shep's face with sugar-sticky fingers.

“Oh, so I'm going to wear cinnamon as aftershave this morning,” he teased. He found a Busy Box for Manuel to play with on the table as the child sat on his lap.

Shep asked Mrs. Sumpter, “Why did you really come by this morning?”

“I'd like to finish up my questions first.”

He glanced at Raina. “Does Raina need to stay?”

“Dr. Gibson is part of these questions. I want to know what the two of you are to each other.”

Raina's heart felt like a high-speed train on a newly polished track.

Shep hadn't taken off his hat, and the shadow hid part of his face. “What if I told you we're trying to figure that out.”

“I won't ask the obvious question, since you said you were in the barn all night and she was in the guest bedroom. But if you get married, that could add months onto the course of the adoption until we make a portfolio on Dr. Gibson. The relationship has to be examined to make sure it's healthy for Manuel.”

Shep unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and looked angry. “You don't think Raina would be good for the boys?”

“I didn't say that.”

“That's what you indicated. Don't you think they might need a woman's influence, kindness and warmth?”

“Every child deserves that, Mr. McGraw. But I have to see with my own eyes to know it's true. You have bonds with these boys. I know that. If Dr. Gibson is going to be in their lives, I have to see how they relate to her, too.” She looked from Shep to Raina, and although they were sitting at least a foot apart, Raina wondered if the caseworker could feel the sexual tension between them. She herself certainly could. Whenever Shep was in the same room, everything seemed to buzz.

Mrs. Sumpter cast a final glance at Manuel. “All right. I think that's all I can do here today. You don't need to see me out. I can find the door. It was nice to meet you, Dr. Gibson. Maybe we'll see each other again sometime soon.”

After the caseworker was gone, Raina heaved a sigh of relief. “That sounded like a threat.”

“No, she just keeps her word. I'm sorry you had to go through that.”

“Is she like that every time she comes?”

“She has a reason for each of her visits. This—” He pointed to her and then himself. “This just cropped up today, so she pounced on it. You handled her well.”

“I told her what she wanted to know.” Raina was a bit disgusted with herself about that.

“I imagine you just gave her the essentials. That was good.”

“And what are the essentials, Shep? That we're friends? Is that what we are?”

The tension between them had coiled inside of her so tight that her chest hurt. She needed to know what Shep was thinking, whether or not he was going to be involved in her life and her—their—baby's.

An expression passed over his face that was something akin to determination. She didn't understand it until he rose with Manuel and settled him into his play saucer. Once the toddler was occupied, Shep stood right in front of her, staring down at her, big and looming and male. An excited thrill shot through her and, in a flash, she remembered being naked with him, joining with him, feeling guilty and confused because the pleasure had been so wonderful and taken her totally off guard.

“Marry me,” he demanded, the two words jumping into the air as if he'd been waiting all night to say them.

Since they rammed into her, stealing her breath, she simply repeated them.
“Marry
you?”

His hands settled gently on her shoulders as if to
prevent her from running away. “You're carrying my baby. I want to be a dad to this child just as much as to Manuel, Joey and Roy. I want to be there when this baby's born. I want to see his or her first smile, first step, first everything. Manuel has changed and grown before my eyes, and I don't want to miss a minute of this new baby's life.”

Raina swallowed hard. “I know you like being a father, Shep, but what about
us?”
Her mind was spinning with all the ramifications of what he was suggesting.

Shep's jaw tightened, as if what he was going to say was hard for him. “I've never been married. So I can only imagine what your husband meant to you, and I'm not aiming to pretend that what you and I have is anything like that. But I do know there's something between us. When we're together, we want each other. That's what led us to where we are now. We can build on that.”

Did
they have something to build on? As she'd told the caseworker, she respected and admired him. If she was truly honest with herself, she also had to admit she was falling for him. But
marriage?
“I don't know, Shep. I'm a doctor. I never imagined I'd settle down on a ranch.”

Still clasping her shoulders, working his thumbs up and down her neck, he asked gently, “Are you panicked by the idea of having a baby?”

“A little.”

“You don't have to be. You don't have to give up your career. Eva will help us. Our baby will have three brothers.”

“But getting married might affect your adoption.”

“Actually, I think it will help. You'll have to have interviews with Mrs. Sumpter and eventually appear with me before the judge. But I don't see why there
would be a problem. Two parents are better than one, if they both love kids.”

“You know I love kids, Shep. Yet I never imagined I'd be the mom of four—practically overnight.”

“It
is
a lot to think about,” Shep agreed. “I've been mulling it over in my head all night. But if you want a family and kids as much as I do, I think it's the best thing to do for all of us. But whatever you decide, I want to be a father to our baby…whether we're married or not.”

Parental rights. Custody issues. A child being shuttled back and forth between two parents. How confusing would that be?

Raina considered her past nine years—her loneliness, her loss, her own childhood growing up without her father. Then she considered a life with Shep and his boys here on the ranch. In vivid recall, her tryst with him under the cottonwoods played like a movie in her mind. She could see in Shep's eyes that he was remembering, too, and he leaned forward to kiss her. His lips had almost settled on hers when Manuel began banging on his play saucer, tired of the toys there, tired of not being the center of attention.

Shep straightened, touched her cheek tenderly, then scooped Manuel from his saucer. “Marriage
is
a lot to think about. Our life together could be a challenge in a lot of ways. There's something else you might want to think about. We should have a prenup to protect us both.”

Watching Shep with Manuel, studying the play of his muscles under his shirt as he hefted the toddler higher in his arms, she suddenly realized what the most challenging aspect of their marriage could be. Shep had said several times he didn't trust easily. What kind of marriage could they have without trust?

“I need time to think about all this.”

Manuel leaned toward her, reaching his arms out. She lifted him and felt the joy of holding a baby, realized that in June she'd be holding
her
baby.