Last week, she'd finally gotten the cast off
her ankle, and she felt like she was a balloon let off of its
tether. Although, her ankle was still a little weak, she was so
ecstatic, she felt like dancing across the field naked, just
because she could. Luke would probably like that, she thought and
giggled.
Her daddy was doing better too, he was on
crutches now, and the nurse told them he'd probably be able to get
his cast off in a couple of weeks. He told the woman in no
uncertain terms, it would be off by the wedding, so he walk his
daughter down the aisle, or he was taking it off himself. Cassie
knew he wasn't bluffing, and she hoped the nurse did too.
Rock, the manager that Cole and Luke had
hired to help them was doing such an outstanding job, there wasn't
much for Luke to do, so he was bored and agitated. She sent him out
to help the contractor to get him out of her hair. Cole hadn't been
around much, because he was catching up on all the paperwork he'd
missed while he'd been in Phoenix with them.
Luke had asked Cole to be his best man,
which was not a surprise. Cassie had asked Sabrina Roberts to be
her maid of honor, which was a big surprise to Cole and Luke. She
didn't have any other girlfriends she'd kept in touch with in
Bowie, and most of the ones who'd been her friends had moved away
anyway. In Phoenix, she had business acquaintances, but no real
friends. She'd been so busy building her business, she hadn't had
time for it.
When Cassie had called her in Phoenix to
ask, Sabrina had been surprised as well, but excited. Cassie
thought her excitement might be more about seeing Cole again, but
whatever the reason, she had a maid of honor to stand up with
her.
Cassie had gone to the bridal store in
Henrietta and found a wedding dress, and picked out a dress for
Sabrina. They'd go back for a fitting when Sabrina got to Bowie the
Saturday before the wedding. The alterations lady told her that
would be plenty time for her to get the dresses ready in time for
the wedding. Everything was coming together.
Now if she could keep her daddy from sawing
off his cast, and Imelda from popping a blood vessel over the
reception, and keep Luke from diving off the deep end because he
was bored, until they said 'I do', she'd have done well.
Working on the third part of her list,
Cassie climbed the wooden steps up to the hayloft with the picnic
supper Imelda had packed for her. The supper had kept Imelda busy,
so she worried less, so she'd killed two birds with one stone. She
walked over to the open window on the far side of the loft and
spread a blanket she'd found in the top of her closet of her
bedroom.
It was almost dusk, and the heat in the
upstairs room above the horse stalls had somewhat dissipated. A
soft breeze filtered through the window, cooling her even more. It
was going to be a beautiful night and this would be a great place
to stargaze...among other things. Like clockwork, she heard Luke
ride his big black gelding into the barn and stop. Cassie
unbuttoned a few buttons on her shirt and then walked over to the
edge of the loft leaned over with her hands on her thighs to yell,
"Hey Luke, is that you, honey?"
"Yeah," he yelled gruffly back up at her.
She was sure he was sweaty and tired, he'd been out working on the
fencing for the outdoor arena all day. Cassie had popped out there
a few times today just to watch him working shirtless in the hot
summer sun, his muscles flexing under his skin as he pounded the
stakes into the ground, his Wranglers riding low on his hips. Heat
surged through her just remembering what a scrumptious sight he
made.
"Go take a shower in the horse bay then come
up here. I need your help with something. I put a change of clothes
in the tack room for you."
She heard him grumble, but then the sound of
water hitting the concrete floor of the wash bay filtered up to the
loft, and Cassie smiled. She walked back over to the blanket and
pulled out the food Imelda had packed for them and spread it around
the center of the blanket. There was cheese, and fruit, fluffy
biscuits and thick slices of country ham. There was also a cold
bottle of sparkling non-alcoholic cider and a couple of cold
beers.
Cassie heard the water shut off and then a
few minutes later Luke's wet head popped over the edge of the loft,
his face pinched and his lips flat. That quickly changed into a
smile though when he surveyed her country buffet. "What's all this,
sugar?"
"Our supper, sugar," she said in a low
intimate tone then finished unbuttoning her shirt and tossed it
aside, so she sat there in her hot pink lace bra and cut off
shorts. She saw his Adam's apple bob a few times and then he shot
up the steps and crawled across the loft to the blanket.
"Now
that
looks like my kind of
buffet," he said his voice gravelly with desire, his eyes fixed on
her chest, not on the food spread on the blanket.
She put her hand on his chest and drawled,
"That's dessert darlin', now be a good boy and come sit right
here," she patted a place beside her and he moved over there, then
gathered her into his arms and captured her mouth in a hot
kiss.
When his hands started roving, she pushed
back from him and said, "Let's eat."
Luke grumbled, but scooted a few inches away
from her and dragged his eyes to the food. "This looks great," he
told her. Then he evidently noticed the sparkling cider and he
lifted a brow to her. "What are we celebrating, sugar?"
She leaned over to the plastic bowl in the
center of the blanket, and plucked a piece of ripe cantaloupe out
then brought it to his lips and rubbed it over them, "Why do we
have to have a reason?"
He opened his lips and she dropped the fruit
inside. Chewing around it, he said, "I don't know, I just
wondered...you're acting strange darlin',"
"Okay, well let's see what I have to
celebrate then, if you need a reason. I'm marrying the hottest
cowboy in Texas, living my dream of starting a horse breeding
operation, that stupid cast is off my foot, my daddy is getting
better and should be on his feet soon..." she put a finger beside
her mouth, "
Oh
--" she said and raised her finger in an
exclamation point. "And we're
having a baby
."
Since they hadn't used a condom again after
their first slip-up, Cassie knew it had only been a matter of time
before the rabbit died. From the home pregnancy test, and then her
subsequent doctor's visit today, it looked like it had happened
that first night anyway, the night she'd given him his wedding
present. Looks like he'd gotten more than he bargained for.
Luke let out the loudest whoop she'd ever
heard, one that had all the horses in the barn shuffling and
whinnying in their stalls. She imagined that Imelda who she'd told
earlier could hear him in the house. Luke stood up and pulled her
to her feet and up into his arms, where he spun her around in
circles hugging her tightly to him.
She chuckled again and pushed against his
chest, so he'd let her back down to her feet.
"Don't be spinning me in circles darlin', my
stomach is pretty delicate these days."
Concern immediately filled his gaze and he
grabbed her shoulders. "Oh, god, Cassie--I didn't hurt you did I?"
his voice quavered as he asked. He gently pushed her down to sit on
the soft hay, and fell down to his knees beside her, his hands
moving over her face.
"Calm down, Luke, that's not what I
meant...and no you didn't hurt me. I've just been getting sick in
the morning for the last few days."
"Have you been to the doctor," he asked
frantically and plopped down on his butt beside her then grabbed
her hand.
"Yes, darlin' I went there this morning. I
am pregnant, due in Spring of next year."
"Did the doctor say you're
okay...everything's okay with the baby? Dammit, Cassie you should
have told me so I could go with you!"
"I'm fine, strong as a horse...and the baby
is too. Stop worrying, Luke. We're
fine
."
"Shouldn't you be in bed with your feet
propped up or something?"
"Nope, the doctor said I could do most
everything I'm used to doing...even having hot sex with my
cowboy."
"He said that?" Luke hooted
incredulously.
She grinned at him and squeezed his hand.
"Well maybe not in those exact terms..." Her grin faded and she
finished, "But I can't ride, until the baby is born. He was
concerned I'd get thrown."
"Damned right you're not riding," Luke said
firmly, his eyes glittering.
"Don't start bossing me around, Luke..." she
said and pinned him with her eyes. She knew she had to nip this in
the bud, or he'd have her cushioned in feathers and put behind
glass before she had this baby.
"I'm going to do what's best for the baby,
although not riding for eight months is going to kill me.
Especially since Titan is going to be here next weekend, and I was
looking forward to riding him for the first time."
"Since Rock is doing such a bang up job with
the herd, I'll have plenty of time to help you with the horses,
darlin'."
"I know, but I want
you
to know, I'm
still going to work them on lead line and from the ground. I'll
probably even give lessons."
"Yes ma'am," he said and placed a gentle
kiss on her cheek.
"But you can help by exercising them, and
working on the breeding program with me."
"Can't think of anything I'd rather do,
sugar," he said with a waggle of his dark brows, making a double
entendre of the last part of her statement.
"Okay, then...let's celebrate," Cassie told
him then crawled on her knees to grab the cider. She removed the
foil and unscrewed the cap, then poured each of them a portion in
the red Solo cups she'd unpacked.
Handing him his cup, she lifted hers and
tapped it to his. "To our successful
breeding
operation,"
she told him then grinned and took a sip of her cider.
***
Cole came out to the farm every night for
the next week after he got off work to help Luke and the contractor
finish putting in the fence, and Cassie worked hard in the Double B
barn to get it cleaned and ready for the new arrivals Tommy Tucker
was delivering day after tomorrow. Bud was back from Wyoming and
had been helping her in the barn. They'd made a lot of progress.
The tack room was neat as a pin and the saddles, bridles and bits
all gleamed.
The only fly in her ointment was that they'd
all been treating her like she was made of glass, since she'd told
them she was pregnant. It frustrated her to finally have the darned
cast off her leg only to be held back again, now by the people who
loved her. But the reason she was being held back this time was
worth it, she thought, and placed her hand over her tummy.
Bud wouldn't let her muck out the stalls,
insisting that lifting that weight wasn't good for the baby, so
she'd let him do it, although letting him do that at his age also
wasn't a good idea either. He'd managed it though, and she'd
rearranged the stall assignments for the seven horses currently in
the barn, then put down fresh bedding for Titan and his pretty
fillies.
Cassie sighed as she neatly wound another
coil of rope and hung it up on the peg in the barn. Titan would be
here day after tomorrow, and she was so excited, she knew she
wouldn't be able to sleep a wink tomorrow night. It was almost like
she was having a baby tomorrow, a twelve-hundred pound one, a
beautiful baby boy.
The wedding was next weekend, and she was
nervous and excited over that too. She'd sent out the invitations
on Tuesday, and ran an announcement and invitation to the town in
the local paper. Her daddy was well-respected in Bowie, so they'd
probably have a pretty spectacular turnout, at least for the
reception. She had kegs of beer on order and enough meat for the
spit to feed an army.
A caterer was coming in to handle the spit,
and Bud was going to supervise. They'd hired servers to keep the
buffet line filled up, and bartenders for the open bar. All of the
hands still working at the Double B, had offered to help set up the
chairs and build a gazebo for the ceremony.
Most everything was done, except the final
fitting on her dress, which was happening tomorrow as soon as
Sabrina arrived. She hoped that her tummy hadn't expanded too much,
or the dress wouldn't fit. It was pretty tight the last time she
tried it on.
At least she could wear both of her white
boots to walk down the aisle now. She'd found the perfect pair at
the Western store in Bowie. They had patterned cutouts and sparkly
stones embedded in the toes, and a crisscrossing pattern of stones
around the top. She'd also bought a new white Stetson at the store
that she'd have to bring with her to the fitting, so the shop lady
could help her attach the veil.
Luke had taken Cole and her daddy into town
and they all got fitted for tuxes. Her daddy had griped about
having to wear one, but she could tell it was for show. He would
wear a potato sack, she imagined, as long as it assured she and
Luke were married next Saturday.
She almost thought he was as excited about
having Luke as a son-in-law as she was about having him as her
husband. Cassie was dying to see Luke in his western tux. Her mouth
watered just thinking about it.