The Cowbear's Mail Order Bride (Curvy Bear Ranch 6) (9 page)

Chapter 9

Drew found her behind the B&B near the newly dug fire pit. His brother Logan couldn’t sit still for two seconds without constructing something. The obsession worked out well when it came to building a barn for his wife, Kate, but when would he calm down and stop taking on new projects?

Cindy sat in a low-slung wooden chair with her back to him. She held a metal skewer in one hand with something on the end of it. As he stepped closer, he realized it was a marshmallow. His bear frantically clawed at his belly. The damn thing was always hungry. Having an ultra-high metabolism was great in some ways, but having to eat all the time just to maintain his weight was frustrating.

“Hi,” he said.

She jumped and looked over her shoulder.

“Hi.”

“I see you found the pit,” he said.

“Madison told me about it. She was going to come out with me, but she wasn’t feeling very well. She said she’d come out later if she could.”

He almost asked her if he could join her, but it was his ranch. He could sit wherever he wanted to, so he chose the seat across from her and plunked down.

“I went to the sheriff,” he said.

Her eyes went wide. The marshmallow caught on fire. She didn’t notice until it had turned black.

“Oh, crap.” She pulled the stick out of the fire and waved it through the air until the flames disappeared. She plucked at the charred mess a few times before giving up.

“There’s more in the bag,” he said.

“I know. I was just trying to salvage it,” she said.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The guarded expression on her face tore through his anger. He didn’t want to make her feel any worse than she already felt. But he also wasn’t ready to just set his frustrations aside.

“I spoke with the sheriff. He confirmed your story.”

She looked up as the last rays of sunlight caught on her hair to cast it in a crown of fire. For a moment, his breath caught. She was so incredibly beautiful. But that wasn’t enough to maintain a relationship. Her hair would gray and her body would lose its voluptuousness to time. His mate would have to be more than just a pretty face. She’d have to be someone he could see himself with for every phase of his life.

“I don’t know how to move forward from this.” The confession left his mouth before he’d thought it through.

“Want a marshmallow?” she asked.

The corner of his mouth tugged. She was obviously trying to break the tension.

“Sure,” he said.

He stood and circled around the fire to sit in the chair next to her. She handed him a skewer and a marshmallow. After piercing the fluffy glob, he held it over the flames. He didn’t like burning the outside. A perfect level of crispness could be achieved if you did it right.

“I don’t know how to move forward either,” she said. “That’s why I keep running.”

“That’s no way to live,” he said.

“I know. But how can I stop when I know he’s out there?”

He twisted the skewer to expose the other side.

“You could go back. Hire a bodyguard.”

“I don’t have money for that,” she said.

“You were a doctor,” he said.

“Yes. But he had control of the bank account. He took everything the day after I told him I wanted a divorce.”

“How have you been getting by without money?” he asked.

“My parents. They’ve been sending money when I need it. But they’re running out too.” She gazed at him with shimmering gray eyes. “I don’t want to run anymore.”

“I don’t see how it can work between us,” he said. “A relationship can’t be built on lies.”

“It wouldn’t be,” she said. “Not if we started over together.”

“And what about your daughter?” he asked.

“Well, I’d want her to live with me.”

“You have a life back in LA. Friends, family.”

“I alienated all of my friends. Now that I look back on it, I realize he manipulated me into cutting ties with everyone.”

“What about your family?” he asked.

“My parents will always love me, but I can tell they’re getting sick of dealing with my problems. My mom warned me about Liam. She said something wasn’t right with him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. I should have listened to her.”

He withdrew the marshmallow from the fire. He waited a few seconds before pulling it off and popping it into his mouth. His bear bounced in approval. And of course, he wanted more.

“We can all look back on our mistakes and think we should have done things differently,” he said as he skewered another marshmallow. “But at the time, you did the best you could with the information that you had.”

“I guess.”

Night fell, cloaking them in silence. Drew stared into the flickering flames.

“Would you really pick up everything and move for me?” he asked.

When she hesitated, his heart dropped. They were worlds apart. She was highly educated and used to big-city life. He was just an average guy, a rancher. It would never work.

“I would have to be sure that you’d accept my daughter,” she said.

His head whipped up. A balloon of hope inflated his chest.

“I’d have to meet her. You know, to make sure she isn’t like Rosemary’s Baby or something.” He cracked a smile.

“I can assure you that her father’s evil didn’t end up in her. She’s the sweetest, most precious child.”

He held another skewer over the fire. He’d never pictured himself raising another man’s child. Would it be worth it? It would be an instant family.

A cloud of uncertainty descended over his heart. He couldn’t rush into this. He needed more time to think everything through. Making a rash decision could have catastrophic consequences. He wasn’t ready to bring an innocent child into this mess. Not yet.

“I need time,” he said.

“I can give you that,” she said.

“I don’t know how to make this decision.”

She leaned toward him and placed her hand on his chest.

“Make it with your heart,” she whispered.

He took her hand in his and squeezed it before bringing it to his lips. He gave it a soft kiss before releasing it. He had a lot to think about and being around her would unduly influence him. He’d need time alone. The decision wasn’t just about how he felt in his heart. There were practical implications to consider.

He couldn’t knowingly let her stay without talking to his brothers about the situation. If her ex was still stalking her, he’d show up eventually. They’d have to constantly be on guard. He wasn’t sure he wanted to live that way.

A clawing in his ribcage signaled his bear’s disapproval.

Mine.

He sighed. His bear seemed so sure, but he wasn’t.

As the first stars began to twinkle, he rose and set his skewer down.

“Please don’t leave the ranch until I’ve had time to think,” he said.

“I won’t.”

She stood and walked up to him. With less than a foot separating them, magnetic attraction destroyed the wall between them. He reached for her in the same moment that she reached for him.

As he pulled her into an embrace, a lump formed in his throat. He leaned back slightly to look at her face. A tear trickled down her cheek. He wiped it away with the pad of his thumb.

“All I ask,” she murmured, “is that you listen to your heart.”

He nodded, unable to speak for fear of having his voice crack. If she knew how long it had been since he’d listened to his heart, she’d understand why it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

***

Cindy strolled along the edge of the lake. Sunlight glittered across the frozen expanse, but it did little to warm her heart. She hadn’t spoken to Drew since the previous night. The fate of their relationship rested solely in his hands. She’d done everything she could to convince him to allow her to stay. She didn’t want to pressure him. It had to be his choice.

She turned and headed back toward the B&B. Maybe she’d get a chance to see him at lunch. She’d promised Madison that she’d help her prepare fresh rainbow trout from the lake. She’d run into Hank and Logan earlier. They’d been ice fishing and stopped to show off the large fish in their cooler.

As she crunched through the snow, she couldn’t stop thinking about Drew’s family. Sure, they squabbled and poked fun at each other, but they also clearly loved each other. Madison, Kate, Rachel, Carol and Abby were lucky women. They’d all nabbed a Grant brother. Would she land the last single brother?

She smiled. As stressful as her life had been the last few years, she’d found a bit of peace at the Curvy Bear Ranch. It was the kind of place she’d love to be able to raise her daughter. She could take her sledding in the winter and hiking in the summer. Brooke deserved to grow up around people who had good values. She didn’t deserve to grow up in L.A., a wasteland of troubled souls.

When she reached the porch, she stomped her boots. Madison took so much care with keeping the floors clean that she didn’t want to risk tracking in mud. She inhaled the crisp, mountain air one last time before pushing the door open.

“Madison, I’m back,” she called. “Let me just take off all this snow gear and I’ll be in to help you in a minute.”

As she unwound her scarf and pulled off her gloves, she waited for a response. Hum, maybe Madison was upstairs. She could check after she’d had a chance to take off her snow pants. The bulky fabric added weight to her already heavy thighs and she couldn’t wait to shed it. If only losing all of her extra weight were that easy.

She smiled. If Drew did ask her to stay, she’d spend half the year bundled up. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about whether or not her jeans were clinging to her butt. Although, Drew didn’t seem to mind the extra pounds. An unmistakable physical attraction pulled them together. That wasn’t a barrier in their relationship at all. It all came down to trust. Could he still trust her after all the times she’d lied to him?

When she reached the top of the stairs, she glanced toward Madison’s room. The door was open, so she knocked softly.

“Are you in here?” Cindy asked.

Again, no reply. Weird. Maybe she’d run over to the main house for a few minutes.

Cindy stripped off layers of insulation and pulled on a pair of her favorite jeans. After sliding into a pair of fuzzy slippers, she padded downstairs.

The moment she turned the corner into the kitchen, her heart stopped. Madison lay face-down, sprawled across the floor. A silver mixing bowl had overturned, casting a layer of flour across the tile.

Cindy rushed forward and dropped to her knees. She carefully supported Madison’s neck while rolling her onto her back.

“Madison?”

She checked her pulse. A faint beat thumped against her fingers. She placed her hand in front of Madison’s mouth. A small, but steady puff of air brushed across her hand. She was still breathing.

“Madison, if you can hear me, I’m here to help you.”

She ran to the phone in the kitchen and called 911. The second the operator picked up, she started talking. “I’m at the Curvy Bear Ranch. I have an unconscious pregnant woman. I need immediate assistance.”

“We’ll send someone right away. They’re fifteen minutes out,” the dispatcher said.

“Thank you,” she said before hanging up.

Cindy dropped back to the ground. For a split-second, she contemplated trying to call the main house, but she wasn’t sure where they kept the number posted. There was no time to run over there.

Her medical training kicked in. After double checking Madison’s airway, she retook her pulse. It was weak. She raced into the living room to grab a large pillow off the sofa. After placing it under Madison’s legs, she verified that they were higher than her heart. She ran back into the living room to grab a blanket. She returned to a horrifying sight.

A wet patch of red spread out across Madison’s jeans. Cindy dropped the blanket across Madison’s chest. She moved the pillow out of the way and unzipped Madison’s jeans. As she pulled them off, her heart pounded.

She carefully parted Madison’s thighs. Holy. Fucking. Shit. The baby was crowning already. She jumped up and filled a pot with water and set it to boil. This was the most unsterile environment she’d ever worked in.

After tearing up the stairs to get clean towels from the hall closet, she returned to find Madison moaning.

“It hurts,” Madison wailed.

“I know, sweetie. I’m a doctor. I’ve delivered hundreds of babies and we’re going to deliver your baby right now.”

“It’s too early,” Madison said.

“I need you to listen to me. Okay?”

“Okay,” she whimpered.

“I’m going to need you to push in a minute, but I have to scrub my hands first. Okay?”

“But it hurts.” Madison tried to sit up. “I need to go to the hospital.”

Cindy gently laid her back down. “No. We’re doing this right now.”

She stood and checked the water in the pot. It was only lukewarm. Dammit. She needed it to boil now, but the higher altitude would add to the amount of time it would take.