Loving a Lawman (19 page)

“I brought you something, but if I had known that I was going to get a show, I would have come home an hour ago.”

“Ha-ha,” she said; then what he'd said sank in. “You brought me something?”

He nodded as she noted that he looked quite pleased with himself. “Come on. It's outside.”

He led her through the house, Sadie trotting along behind them.

“Are you ready?” Seth paused at the door, blocking her view to the outside.

“Yes,” she said, trying to peek around him yet not wanting to appear as if she were actually doing it.

“Ta-da!” Seth moved to the side and opened the screen door for her to step out onto the porch.

Jessie couldn't begin to imagine what he had brought for her, but never in her wildest dreams had she imagined . . .

“A car?” She looked from the shiny blue SUV to her husband.

“Yep.”

She shook her head. Was this really happening? Or had her mind simply overloaded on all the changes that had come into her life these last few weeks? “For me?” she asked.

“I wanted you to have a good way to get around. All the talk about Midland got me to thinking. You don't have a way to get anywhere you need to go.”

His words sounded as if she were walking down a tunnel. He had bought her a car. A car!

“Well?” he asked as she continued to stand on the porch and look at the vehicle.

“A car,” she whispered.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“I love it!” She threw her arms around him and nearly knocked them both over backward. “It's the most beautiful car I've ever seen.”

“I wouldn't go that far. . . .”

“I would.” She tipped off his hat and rained little kisses all over his face. Sadie danced around their legs, and Seth chuckled. His arms came up and slid around her waist, holding her close.

“There is one little problem.”

She stopped kissing him long enough to meet his gaze. “What's that?”

“Can you drive a standard?”

“Of course not. Who drives a standard these days?”

Seth removed one arm from around her and held up the keys. “You do.”

*   *   *

T
his was going to be the death of him.

“Release the clutch slowly. Slowly,” he repeated as the Jeep lurched and died.

“I am releasing it slowly,” Jessie moaned.

After their sweet session of kisses and thank-yous, Seth had driven the Liberty into one of the pastures and turned Jessie loose with the keys. The only problem was they hadn't managed to go more than two feet before she popped the clutch and the SUV stalled.

“Then go slower than slowly. Try again.”

She pressed the brake and the clutch, then cranked the Jeep once again.

“Now ease up on the brake and press the gas. Slow . . . slow . . . don't let her die. . . .”

Finally the car actually moved yards.

“Push the clutch in again and shift her into second. Let up easy.”

Jessie did as she was told and somehow managed to find the rhythm in driving a stick shift.

“I'm doing it,” Jessie cried. “I'm doing it!”

Seth smiled at her. She had never looked more beautiful to him than she did in that moment. “Okay, bring her to a stop and do it again.”

He had Jessie accelerate the car a couple more times and run through all the gears before he called a stop to the lesson.

“Wait a minute,” he said, giving her a sidelong look. “You do have a valid driver's license, right?”

She shot him a look. “Of course.”

“Just asking. The sheriff's wife can't be going around town driving without a license.”

She laughed. “No, we couldn't have that.”

“Then this calls for a celebration. Why don't you drive us into town for supper? We could pick up something at the Chuck Wagon. Or maybe Manny's.”

“The Chuck Wagon's fine. It's rib night.”

“Then let's go.”

He managed not to leave too many finger indentations in the dash as she drove them into Cattle Creek. And the best part was she only let the Jeep die once. Unfortunately it was at the light at Third and Main, but she got it started quickly enough and they were on their way with hardly anyone noticing.

“Thanks for teaching me how to drive a standard,” she said as they sipped their iced tea and waited for their order. “And for dinner.”

“You're welcome.” He punched down his ice and pushed the extra lemon wedge a little deeper into his glass. “How about this weekend we head over to San Angelo and pick up a few things for the baby's room?”

“Like stuff stuff?”

He nodded. “He's going to need furniture and such. I've been looking a little online, and babies need a helluva lot of stuff.”

She laughed. “
She
may not need near as much as you think.”

Seth smiled. “He's going to have everything he needs and more. Twice that.”

Jessie laughed. “We haven't even heard her heartbeat and already you're planning on spoiling her.”

Seth decided to let her last gender reference slide. “Of course. That's what daddies do.”

“That's sweet, Seth, but you don't have to take me shopping. I mean, I can go by myself, or maybe get your mother or grandmother to go with me.”

“I want to.”

She studied him for a moment as if trying to decide if he was being sincere. “I'd like that,” she finally said.

“Good. It's a date, then.”

“So we're up to two dates now. Wow, we're rolling right along.”

He grinned. “That's the plan.”

She returned his smile, then frowned at something over his shoulder.

Only years of training kept him from turning around to see what it was. “Everything okay?”

“Sissy Callahan.” She made a face. “She's staring at us.”

Seth shrugged. “Why would that bother you?”

“She just . . .” She stopped, then blew the hair out of her face. “I don't know. It shouldn't, right? I shouldn't care that everyone in this town is talking about me—us—wondering about the baby and why you married me.”

He covered her hand with his. “You can't let this town get to you, Jessie. Small towns are known for gossip and busybodies, but it sure beats the indifference of the big city.”

She sighed and propped her chin in her hand. “Do you miss it a lot?”

“San Diego?” He shook his head. “I miss a few of the friends I made there and the beach now and then, but no, I don't miss the city itself.”

“I think it would be heavenly not to have everyone going around town talking about all the mistakes I've made and taking bets on what I'm liable to do next.”

He leaned back as Debbie Ann slid the plate covered with a half rack of steaming barbeque ribs in front of him. “Thanks,” he said, shooting her a quick smile before grabbing the pepper shaker and adding a liberal dose to his french fries and coleslaw.

Then he looked up at Jessie. “Trust me. Small-town life is so much better than anything else out there.”

“It sure is quiet without you around here, Jessie,”
Debbie Ann said as she set Jessie's plate in front of her. She had ordered the chef salad.

“Y'all need anything else?”

“We're good,” Seth said, and Debbie Ann left to see to her other customers.

“That looks . . . satisfying,” he said, shooting a pointed look at the salad in front of her.

She shook her head. “Calories, you know.”

“You're not afraid of gaining weight, are you? I mean, you should enjoy yourself and being pregnant.”

“Yeah, but now that I'm not working I'm not getting as much exercise.” She trailed off with a shrug and didn't meet his gaze. She loved ribs, always had.

“Well, you have a way around now. You can drive into town and walk on the track at the high school or the park. You could even use the pool at the ranch.”

Her eyes lit up. She loved to swim, and he knew it. “That would be heavenly.”

“Remind me to call Mama when we get home. I'll give her the heads-up that you might be stopping in.”

Jessie smiled big enough to light up Main Street, then picked up her fork. The look she gave her dinner was enough to make a grown man cry.

“Tell you what,” Seth said, holding one saucy rib toward her. “You eat all your veggies, and I'll share.”

She snatched the meat away with a satisfied grin. “Deal.”

O
ne day slipped into the next and before long another month had passed. A minor problem between Amos and Chester had wrecked Seth and Jessie's plans to go to San Angelo and buy baby furniture. But they had time; she wasn't even showing yet. Instead she had stayed at home that weekend and worked on the closets, cleaning and organizing.

Jessie knew she needed to get over and start cleaning out her grandmother's house, but it was so much more fun to play house with Seth than it was to say good-bye to her last relative.

Seth was her future, the rest was her past, and she didn't want to dwell there any longer than necessary. Yet there was something so isolated about being at the old ranch house all day every day. Sure, she had a way into town now that Seth had bought her a car, but it wasn't like she could go bebopping into town every time she had the thought to. She wasn't working and bringing any money into the household. That was how Seth wanted it, but still it bothered her that she wasn't doing anything to contribute
to their budding family. Or maybe it was not having a job after working nearly all her life. She had gotten her first job at twelve. She babysat, mowed lawns, and cleaned the church every Saturday morning. If she needed something she had gone out and worked for it. Her class ring, graduation pictures, cap and gown, new boots or jeans. She had worked her fanny off to get the basics. She appreciated what she had and only bought the necessities. It just wasn't in her to waste gas just because she was unaccustomed to being alone so much of the time.

Of course if she went into town, she would feel obligated to stop by the house on Larkspur Lane, and she just wasn't prepared for that. She still had a couple of months before she had to get everything out and the bank took possession. It would keep for a few more days.

“Are you ready?”

She looked up as Seth came into the kitchen. His hair was darkened to nearly black, and he smelled like a dream. After all the trials and tribulations in her life, she wasn't sure what she had done to deserve a man like Seth Langston to take care of her and her baby. Whatever it was, she was grateful all the same. Good, strong, handsome, caring. That was Seth in a nutshell. Just call her blessed.

“Yeah.” She stood and took her coffee cup to the sink. At her last appointment the doctor had suggested she cut way down on her caffeine intake. These days she had allowed herself only one cup of coffee each morning and she nursed it as if it were the last one on earth. “Are you sure it's a good idea to buy furniture this early?”

“You still think it's bad luck?”

She shrugged and dried her hands. “No. I guess not, but it seems like we're moving fast. What if we buy the furniture and I decide I don't like it two weeks before the baby comes?”

He flashed her that killer smile. “Then we'll buy new furniture.”

“Seth.” She shifted from one foot to the other. “Be serious.”

“I am serious.”

“We can't do that. It's such a waste.”

He crossed the room and took her into his arms. She could almost get used to him holding her close, kissing the tips of her fingers, trailing his own across her flat belly whenever she was in reach. Was this how it was supposed to be?

She had never had any male role models in her life. Her mother had never dated, or if she had, Jessie had never known about it. Her grandpa Larry was long gone by the time she was born. She just didn't know.

“We can do whatever we want. Whatever you want.” He planted a quick kiss on her lips. “I read in
Your Body, Your Baby
that sometimes it's hard for a woman to make decisions when she's pregnant. I can help or we can do this later. I'm just afraid that it's not going to get any easier as time goes on.”

Had she heard him right? “You're reading
Your Body, Your Baby
?”

His cheeks flushed a sweet shade of pink that almost had her giggling. Almost. “Well, yeah. I thought that it might give me insight into what you're going through, and—”

His words were trapped as she reached up and pressed her lips to his. It was without a doubt the sweetest and sexiest thing he had ever said to her. That anyone had ever said to her.

His arms tightened around her and for a moment she was lost in the magic of being held in his arms.

“So,” he said, after he had taken over the kiss and shown her exactly how it was done, “do you want to buy furniture or not?”

When he looked at her like that, she would do almost anything to make him happy. She tapped down all her doubts and fears. “Let's go furnish the baby's room.”

*   *   *

I
t was almost dark when Seth pulled the ranch truck to a stop in front of the house. He had been worried about driving his own truck all the way into San Angelo, especially with its tendency to overheat, and if they bought a lot they wouldn't be able to fit it all in the back of Jessie's Jeep. In the end he'd borrowed a truck from the Diamond, in case they found what they were looking for.

And they had, he thought as he put the truck in park. A beautiful mahogany changing table and a matching crib that turned from baby bed to a toddler bed and then into full size with a few adjustments. It would be the only bed the baby would ever need, the salesperson had proudly proclaimed, looking expectantly from Seth to Jessie.

In the end it was the look on Jess's face that made the decision. She had walked around the bed, trailing her fingers over the slick, dark wood as if she could already imagine their baby nestled there. What could he say after that?

He had wanted to get everything they would need or at least as much as possible while they were there, but Jessie told him that there would be baby showers and gifts galore. They shouldn't buy everything at once. Other people would want to give the baby Langston presents too.

They had picked out bedding. He had read in
Your Body, Your Baby
that most women like to have a theme in the nursery. He found the perfect sheets complete with gold stars, cowboy boots, and revolvers, but Jesse simply rolled her eyes and showed him soft white sheets with pale gray elephants and tiny gold stars. In the end he had agreed to bow to her expertise, or maybe he fell under the spell of her smile.

Seth cut the lights, only then realizing how dark it had gotten since they hit Langston property. Jesse had laid her head against the window a while back and now seemed to be in some sort of trance. She might have even fallen asleep. They had shopped all day. She had to be exhausted.

“Jessie?”

She stirred, and Seth could tell that she was neither asleep nor in a trance. Her lips were pressed tightly together, and she looked pale even in the dim light of the cab.

“Are you okay?”

She looked as if she was going to open her mouth and speak, but then she shook her head, opened the door, and fell out of the truck.

“Jessie!” He was out of the truck and around on her side in an instant.

He stopped short when he saw her there. She was on the ground on her hands and knees. Her head was down, and her body heaved.

“Jessie?” he whispered. “Let me help you up.” He reached out to pull her to her feet, but she smacked his hand away.

“Don't touch me,” she snapped.

She was sick. Dry heaves continued to rack her body. She had one hand pressed to her stomach while the other held her up. Maybe food poisoning. They had eaten together at his favorite place there in San Angelo, a little hole-in-the-wall that served to-die-for Tex-Mex. But they had eaten the same thing: chips, salsa, guacamole, and enchiladas. If she had food poisoning, then why wasn't he sick as well?

The answer hit him like a wet bag of manure.

“The baby,” he whispered.

She gave a small nod, then coughed as another spell overtook her.

“You've got to get into the house,” he said. She couldn't stay out here all night.

“I can't move,” she admitted. “If I move, I'll be sick.”

“You're already sick.”

“Don't touch me, Seth.”

This was one thing he couldn't give her. “It'll only take a minute. Right into the house and straight to your room. I'll go as quick as I can. You need to lay down and rest. You can't do that out here.”

“No,” she gasped.

“Jessie, let me help you.”

“Seth,” she breathed.

“Quit being prideful. This is our baby, and our pregnancy. I may not be able to carry the baby or suffer through morning sickness.” He looked around at the indigo sky. “Er, night sickness, but I can damn sure carry you into the house and get you settled someplace more comfortable than the overgrown grass in our front yard.”

He could almost feel her defeat. But it wasn't about winning. It was about teamwork. Yet now wasn't the time to lecture her about that. He needed to get her into the house and settled.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready,” she finally said.

He lifted her as gently as he could, feeling as if she were the weight of the world in his arms. In a way she was. She was the weight of
his
world. He had done this to her. His desire for her had created a baby that currently seemed to be at odds with the rest of her body.

Somehow he managed to open the door with one hand and keep his wife steady against him.

Sadie barked in greeting as he entered the house with Jessie cradled to his chest. He took the time to acknowledge the confused pup who followed behind him through the living room.

“Just a couple more steps,” he murmured as he continued down the hallway to her room.

It was dark inside, and for that he was grateful. He wasn't sure if light would hurt her eyes, but it wasn't worth finding out the hard way.

Ever so gently he laid her on the bed.

She rolled to her side, retching as she moved. At least she wasn't getting physically ill, but he'd had enough benders in his life to know that dry heaves could be worse than the other kind for sure.

He gave her a sympathetic look, then moved to the bathroom and wet a washrag.

Returning to her side, he pressed it to her cheeks, then laid it against her forehead. That task complete, he moved to the foot of the bed to remove her boots.

He set them next to the trunk at the foot of the bed.

Once she was still with the rag cooling her skin, her crazy stomach seemed to settle down. She lay quiet in the darkness of her room.

He wanted so badly to crawl into that bed beside her and pull her close. He wanted to hold her and never let her go. Let her know that they were in this together. He would be there for her come what may. But he knew she needed rest and quiet. He blew a kiss toward her freckled cheek, then let himself out of her room.

*   *   *

B
right sunlight filled the room. Jessie rolled onto her back. Why did she feel so twisted up and confined?

Ever since she had found out that she was pregnant, it seemed that her dreams had grown increasingly more vivid. Consequently she usually woke up bound in her own covers from a nighttime of tossing and turning.

She reached around her waist to release whatever cover she had twisted herself up into, only to discover that it was her own clothing that was causing her discomfort. Had she slept in her clothes last night? It was certain that she had slept in her jeans. She remembered San Angelo, then feeling a little sick as the sun started to go down, then turning into the ranch house driveway bouncing along, then Seth cradling her to his chest as he carried her into her room. Last night he had been her knight. More than her knight. Her hero, who had come to her rescue and had done everything right.

She sat up in the bed and pushed her hair back. The curls surrounding her face felt like a tangled rat's nest, but that was to be expected. Her curls plus wet rag equaled
hot mess every time. Still, she was grateful for Seth and his tender, loving care.

She pushed off the bed and went to the bathroom. Her stomach felt empty and yet crampy at the same time. She supposed half an hour of dry heaves could do that to a person, but she hated it all the same.

At least with the new day came a renewed sense of health and well-being. She hadn't gotten sick at all until last night. Maybe it had more to do with the car ride instead of the baby. Whatever it was, she was glad it had passed. In fact, she felt energized, full of life, and . . . happy. Yes, she was happy. Was it okay to admit that now?

She had lost her grandmother and alienated Chase, and his family would never look at her the same, but she had Seth and their child that she carried. Today was a beautiful day. They had a lovely—in a vintage sort of way—home and so much more. Yes, she was happy.

“Good morning.”

Seth was seated at the table when she breezed into the kitchen. Somehow her coveted cup of coffee didn't seem appealing this morning and instead she opted for hot tea.

“Good morning,” he returned as she popped a cup full of water into the microwave and added a lemon zinger tea bag. Now, that sounded good. She went to the fridge and searched the shelves. Maybe some milk, a little sugar . . .