Monroe, Marla - The Ranchers Take a Wife [Men of Space Station One #1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (12 page)

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing. I had a headache and it got worse. I’ll be out in a minute.” She held a bath cloth to her face.

“What’s going on?” Phillip’s voice sounded behind Cam.

“She said she had a headache and it got worse.”

“She did earlier. I didn’t realize you still had it, Lacy. You shouldn’t have been unloading the trailer with a headache.”

She felt his hands at her shoulders. She knew they were his because Cam wouldn’t have touched her. No, Cam was in love with Rachel who was married to someone else. How stupid could life be?

“Come on, Lacy. Let’s get you in a warm bath and then to bed.” Phillip attempted to help her up. She stopped him.

“I can handle myself. You go help Cam unload the trailers. I just need some quiet, and I’ll be fine. Go on.” She pushed at Phillip’s arm until he stood up and left her.

She roused herself a few minutes later and took a quick shower and climbed into bed. She wanted to sleep and forget about everything for a little while. Despite being upset, she was worn out and fell asleep almost as soon as she lay down.

* * * *

Phillip was worried about Lacy. She’d been feeling bad ever since they’d gotten to town. Now she’d been sick and she didn’t want them around her. Was she pregnant? Or did she simply have a bad headache? He didn’t know what to do for her, so he left and helped Cam unload the trailer.

“Phillip. Is she pregnant?” Cam finally asked once they’d finished.

“I don’t know. It’s certainly possible, but she did have a headache earlier. It’s probably just the headache.” Phillip watched Cam’s face. “Does it matter to you if she is or isn’t?”

“Have you ever thought about what we would do when it comes time for the baby to be born?” Cam asked him.

“What do you mean?”

“Who’s going to deliver it? We’re two fucking hours from town.”

“We’ll get her there in time, and if we don’t, then we’ll deliver it. You’ve turned into a real worrier. What gives?” Phillip couldn’t understand Cam anymore.

“Nothing. I’m just not sure they thought all of this through when they sent us out here.”

“It’s an experimental colony, Cam. You knew that when you signed up. Hell, I was the one that wasn’t so sure about coming. You talked me into signing up.”

“Maybe I made a mistake.”

“Cam, what the fuck is going on?”

“I don’t know, okay? I can’t stop worrying about Lacy. I’m afraid something is going to happen to her and it’s going to be our fault. The fucking animal out there that we haven’t seen is worrying me. The damn mole thing that we never caught is worrying me. And now, I’m scared to death she might be pregnant.”

“Yet you were asking about another woman earlier. I don’t get it, man. You need to get your head on straight, because we’re about to be snowed in for the next few months, and I’ll be damned if you’re going to make her miserable. She’s gone out of her way to try and forge a relationship with you, and you’ve jumped on her every time.” Phillip took a step back when he realized he had gotten up in Cam’s face.

“I know. I’m worthless scum. I care about her, man. I just feel hemmed in. Like everything is pressing in on me.”

“There are two of us for a reason, buddy. We share the pressure. You’ve got to quit taking it all on yourself, and let me have some of it. You haven’t said a thing about this other animal bothering you.”

“It’s gotten closer to the house than any of the other animals we’ve seen, but we haven’t seen this one at all, just its tracks,” Cam said.

“How close?” Phillip asked.

“It’s been all around the edge of the garden, but hasn’t been in it as far as I can tell.”

“The ultrasonic device either isn’t affecting it or it’s getting used to it and slowly moving closer,” Phillip mused.

“Yeah. I’m not even sure it’s been only at night. What if it’s been watching Lacy while she’s been working in the garden? I don’t like it.”

“I wish you’d said something sooner.”

“I thought that if one of us shouldered most of the worry, the other one could take care of her. I guess I was wrong.”

“What else is going on?”

“That’s really it. I’m beginning to wonder if the mole that we didn’t catch is something other than a mole. All the other moles have been easy to catch. This one has eluded us all summer long.” Cam leaned back against the empty trailer.

“Look, we share the burden from now on. You don’t keep anything from me, and we both take care of Lacy. She needs you, man. You’re part of this relationship, and without you part of her is empty. It’s no wonder she has a headache.” Phillip stuck out his hand.

Cam nodded and they shook on it.

“Let’s get the trailers put up so we don’t have to get out in the morning. I have a feeling it’s going to start raining or snowing tomorrow,” Cam said.

“For real or just a shower?” Phillip asked. Cam was the one who could predict the weather better than anyone he knew.

“Probably a good little one, but not too much to worry about, yet.”

They backed the trailers under the sheds and closed the doors, then parked the buggies under the one by the house. They walked inside and locked up the house before climbing the stairs to find Lacy passed out asleep in bed with the covers over her head.

“Shit, she’s had it.” Cam said.

“Yeah. I think your stress is rubbing off on her, which is another reason you’ve got to share some of that with me. We’re making her sick.”

“I’ll sit with her until you get your shower,” Cam said.

Phillip nodded and hurried to the bathroom to shower so he could get in bed with Lacy. He wanted to hold her. He hated that he’d left her to unload the trailers, but it had to be done and Lacy hadn’t seemed to want them around. She must be one of those types of people who didn’t like anyone around them when they were sick. He’d have to remember that for the future.

As soon as he was dried off, Phillip climbed into bed and Cam left to shower next. He pulled Lacy back into his arms and stroked her forehead with his hand, smoothing her hair back from her head. She didn’t even stir. She was exhausted.

Phillip hoped she wasn’t pregnant yet. They needed to get Cam out of his panic mode and calmed down before she turned up pregnant. He would drive them all insane as it was now.

Cam walked out of the bathroom drying off with a towel. Once he reached the bed, he discarded it and climbed into the bed and rolled over but backed up against Lacy.

“Is she warm enough?” he asked.

“Yeah, I think she’s okay. Don’t move, though. I only have one half of her covered. You get the other half of her,” Phillip told him.

“What if I want all of her?” Cam asked.

“You’ll have to fight me for her,” Phillip said, only half joking.

“That’s what I thought.” Cam didn’t turn over.

Chapter Ten

Lacy woke up early the next morning surrounded by the men. She was toasty warm but needed to go to the bathroom and she was hungry. She lifted her head and checked the clock. It was only a little after five. They would sleep awhile if she could manage to get out of bed without waking them up.

She extracted her arm from around Cam and started pulling out of Phillip’s embrace.

“What?” he mumbled.

“Go back to sleep. I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

He jerked up. “Are you sick?”

“No, just need to pee.” She climbed over him. “I’ll be back.”

He nodded and lay back down. She heard his soft snore seconds later as she tiptoed to the bathroom.

She hurried through her morning routine and grabbed some clothes on the way out the bedroom door. Then she stopped and dressed on the landing before hurrying down the stairs to make coffee. The sleep had chased away the last of the headache, but she didn’t feel that much better. Knowing that Cam wasn’t going to love her tore her up inside. She realized in that moment that she had fallen in love with them—both of them.

Once the coffee was ready, Lacy poured a cup and sipped on it while trying to decide where to start on storing away the supplies. The men had brought it all inside and lined the cabinets with it. Staying busy would help keep her mind from dwelling on finding out that Cam was in love with Rachel.

She worked for nearly an hour before she stopped and fixed a bowl of cereal with reconstituted milk. She poured another cup of coffee and ate while she let her mind wonder over what to fix for lunch and supper that night. When she took her bowl to the sink, she looked out the window and saw that it was snowing. She wondered if it were like the snow at home, or if it would be different there.

Lacy sighed and turned around to get back to work on the supplies and ran into Cam. She yelped in surprise.

“Hey, easy. I didn’t mean to startle you. I said good morning, you must not have heard me.”

“Um, no. It’s snowing outside.” She knew it was a stupid thing to say since he could see out the window over her shoulder.

“Yeah, I figured it would start today.” He reached out and gently touched her cheek. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“I’m fine. I’m sorry I was sick last night. I don’t get headaches that often.” She looked down, afraid he’d know she was lying.

“It wasn’t your fault. I’m sorry I’ve been such an ass lately. I’ve let things get to me too much.” He lifted her chin with a finger and bent down to kiss her.

She didn’t move or close her eyes. He sipped at her lips, softly licking them then sucking her lower lip into his mouth to stroke with his tongue. When he released her, she took a step back. He seemed surprised that she’d moved away.

“What would you like for breakfast?” she asked him.

“Um, I’m just going to eat a cereal bar. I’ll help you put all of this away.”

“Thanks, but you don’t have to do that. I’m sure you have stuff you need to do with the weather changing and all.” She turned her back to him so he wouldn’t see the tears she’d suddenly developed.

“I hate to leave you with all of this. I can help. Just tell me where you want it and you can sit and direct.”

“Really, I enjoy doing this.”

“Okay, but I know you have stuff on the top shelves in the pantry. Tell me what goes on them, and I’ll take care of those, then leave you alone.” He sounded tired now.

“Okay, thanks.” She pointed out the two boxes of canned goods that went there.

He stopped her from turning away from him and hugged her tightly against him for a few brief seconds, then let her go. He walked out the back door, pulling on his coat as he went. Cold air rushed into the warmth of the kitchen to send a chill down her spine.

Had it been her imagination, or did he act like he was hurt she hadn’t wanted to spend time with him? She couldn’t figure him out. One day he was angry with her and the next he wanted her attention. What was she going to do? Make the best of the situation like he was? Was it fair to her to pretend everything was fine when it wasn’t?

Lacy felt the beginnings of another headache and sighed. She grabbed a couple of pain relievers and took them to head it off. She couldn’t afford to be sick again. She had to deal with the hurt and move on. She had known when she made the trip that she would be marrying strangers and would probably never love them or be loved by them, but that had been okay then. Why wasn’t it okay now?