Ryelee's Cowboy (28 page)

“Ryelee, look at me. I don’t blame you
for feeling that way. I acted like a real jackass, and for that I’m
sorry. I was angry with you for a time, but we are
married.”

“A lot of difference that makes. You
told me to leave once before,” she said defensively.

“Biggest mistake of my life, Ryelee. I
promise to never treat you in any type of disrespectful
manner.”

Ryelee smiled. “Okay. That still
doesn’t take care of the problem that I didn’t buy baby
supplies.”

“No problem. It’s all taken care of,
and I think you’re going to love it!”

Ryelee frowned. “I wanted to pick out
the baby’s things. What did you get?”

“Everything you wanted.”

“Stop teasing me and just tell
me!”

“Lily has a crib, changing table, a
dresser, a rocking chair, and some clothes.”

Ryelee opened her mouth in shock. “You
got all that in one day?”

“Well, I do have a confession to make.
Rheenie told me what to buy,” he said, enjoying teasing
Ryelee.

Ryelee looked horrified. “You do know
that she likes to wear plaid with polka dots, don’t
you?”

“All right, I’ll tell you about it. I
didn’t mean to get you so riled up. I was just planning on a little
teasing. Do you remember all those catalogs you and Rheenie looked
at?”

Ryelee nodded then smiled. “She was
gathering intelligence for you, wasn’t she?”

“She asked you to circle the ones you
liked in red, and she circled her choices in blue.”

“Clever and sneaky. You did buy the
ones circled in red, didn’t you?”

Clint kissed her on the cheek. “It’s a
surprise.”

* * * *

Ryelee relaxed against the car seat,
admiring her handsome husband, so sexy with his black hair curling
around the collar of his blue button down shirt. His skin was so
tan and his hands so strong. He was pure cowboy. He was her cowboy.
She still couldn’t stop a stray thought from permeating her
happiness. What about Ellie?

“This isn’t the way home,” she
said.

Clint glanced at her and flashed a
smile. “I know.”

Ryelee hated being teased. “Okay,
cowboy, where are we going?”

Clint just kept his eyes straight
ahead. “It’s a surprise.”

Ryelee was getting impatient. “No more
surprises! Don’t take me on a merry-go-round. Just tell
me.”

Clint reached over and took her hand
in his. “I promised Rheenie that she could tell you.” He brought
her hand to his sensuous lips and kissed it, sending chills through
her.

Ryelee laughed. “I’ll be a good sport.
Only for Rheenie’s sake.”

Driving down a long driveway that
Ryelee didn’t recognize heightened the suspense. “I’ve never been
here before. Who owns it?”

Clint just smiled and continued
driving.

“You’re driving me mad. You know that,
don’t you?”

Rheenie or no Rheenie, she was at the
point where she wanted to slug him. Then she caught a glimpse of
the house—a beautiful sprawling ranch house, all one story, painted
yellow with a white front porch. Tall live oaks flanked it on both
sides, and there were roses everywhere, just like at Dawson’s
Haven. “Pretty,” she murmured. “It’s absolutely beautiful. Did you
get a new job?”

“Something like that.”

“Still keeping mum? You know what,
cowboy? Payback is a bitch.”

As they drove closer,
Rheenie came running out of the door followed by Burke and Annie.
Ryelee’s heart lurched at the sight of her daughter so excited and
happy, however, her happiness was short lived when she saw Ellie
walk out the door. Ryelee held on to the door handle for support.
Why would he do it? Why would he have
the
other woman
here? Feeling her chin begin to
quiver, Ryelee bit her lip trying to keep it still. She wasn’t
going to show any sign of weakness. Surprise! This was a hell of a
surprise.

Clint parked the car and opened her
car door for her. Ryelee refused to look at him. This was supposed
to be a happy day. How could he? How could he hurt her this way?
The back of her eyes began to burn, and she tried not to cry. She
kept reminding herself to be strong. She couldn’t ruin her
homecoming for Rheenie’s sake. If it even was a homecoming.
Confusion engulfed her, and she couldn’t make sense of why Clint
had brought her here to this place.

She found it hard to accept Clint’s
help getting out of the car, but still weak from childbirth she had
no choice. As soon as she stood on her feet, she pulled away from
him. Ryelee pasted a smile on her face. None of this seemed real.
The smile became real as Rheenie ran to her, hugging her
fiercely.

“I missed you, Mama! I’m glad that you
are home.” She beamed up at Ryelee.

Clint picked Rheenie up and gently put
her in Ryelee’s arms. Holding her daughter close to her heart was
the sweetest moment. “I missed you more.”

A puppy came scurrying between
Ryelee’s feet, and Clint grabbed her to steady her. “I’ll take
Rheenie and get Lily. Why don’t you go sit down?”

Ryelee nodded. She took Annie’s arm
and slowly walked up the porch step with Rheenie right behind her.
“Look, Mama, we have matching rockers for our babies!”

Annie helped to lower Ryelee down into
the rocker. It was all too much. Ryelee’s emotions were getting the
best of her, and she began to sob. She didn’t know what was going
on. A new dog, the other woman, a different house. Worst of all,
she wasn’t getting any answers.

Burke squatted down in front of her
and offered her and handkerchief, which she gladly accepted. “Why
is Ellie here?” she asked, still weeping.

“She’s been instrumental to it all.
It’s only fitting that she’s here,” Burke explained, looking at
her.

Rheenie stood next to Ryelee and began
to cry. “Mama doesn’t like the surprise,” she wailed.

Clint walked to the house with Lily in
the car carrier. “Annie,” he said as he handed her his
daughter.

Burke picked up Rheenie, herding
everyone inside, leaving the couple alone.

“Damn it, Ryelee! I did it again! I
ruined everything.” Clint pulled her up into his arms. “No, please,
don’t struggle. Listen to me, please?”

Ryelee stood still in the circle of
Clint’s arms. She couldn’t make heads or tails of the whole fiasco.
Clint’s arms had been her sanctuary, her safe place. Now everything
was ruined. Maybe he waited to tell her about Ellie until after the
baby was born. He probably didn’t want her to know while she was
pregnant.

“This is the surprise. This ranch.
It’s ours, Ryelee, all ours.”

Ryelee looked into his eyes and saw
just how earnest he was.

“That’s what I’ve been doing late at
night. I’ve been working both ranches, and Ellie has been getting
the house ready for you, Rheenie, and Lily. Hell, Jimmy even helped
when he found out what we were doing.” Clint pulled her close and
rocked her.

“I’m a buffoon. I always mean well,
but somehow I end up making you cry. I’m sorry, Ryelee.”

Ryelee wrapped her arms around him.
“You’ve had me on a roller coaster, but I’m glad to be home with
you and our girls.”

Rheenie came running out the door with
the puppy. “Do you like your surprise, Mama?” she asked excitedly
as Clint helped Ryelee back into the rocker.

“Yes, I do, Rheenie, very much,” she
said, hugging her. “Looks like you got a puppy.”

“Oh, yes. Daddy said I couldn’t name
the new baby. I had good names too! So we went to the dog place,
and I picked out Dog because he looks like you!”

Ryelee looked at the puppy and
realized that it was an Irish setter, and it did indeed look like
her with its red hair. “I’m honored that you picked him out because
he looks like me.”

“It looks like Lily too. I look like
my daddy,” she said proudly.

“Indeed you do,” Ryelee replied as
Annie handed her Lily.

Rheenie immediately sat in the small
rocker with Sunshine and began to imitate Ryelee. Ryelee smiled.
Her happiness had no bounds.

“So what did you name your puppy?”
Ryelee asked.

“Dog.”

“I know it’s a dog. What did you name
it?”

“It’s a he, and his name is Dog. Burke
used to have a cat named Cat.”

Ryelee caught Clint’s eyes, and they
exchanged a look of amusement and love. Ryelee gazed down at Lily
and then at Rheenie. Finally she looked at Clint. She smiled. He
was her heart, her soul mate, her cowboy. Ryelee’s
Cowboy.

Epilogue

One year later

Ryelee stood on the front porch
watching the bus stop in front of their property. Holding a
babbling Lily, Ryelee admired her beauty. She had wild curly auburn
hair much like her own and no matter what Ryelee tried, she
couldn’t get it to look neat. Her eyes were blue, and Ryelee was
relieved there was no resemblance to her biological father. For
Ryelee, it was a blessing.

Clint treated Lily as his very own,
and Ryelee’s love for him grew by leaps and bounds. God must have
been looking out for her the day Annie hired her to be Clint’s
housekeeper. In the last year, not a day had gone by when she
didn't count her many blessings.

She had been through hell, but she’d
come out the other side a better, stronger woman. Life was good.
Clint had been hard at work building his horse ranch again. Some
days he was out working for hours on end. Sometimes she felt
impatient for him to come home, but the loving smile and passionate
kiss she received each and every day when he entered the house made
it worthwhile.

Lily began to squirm as Dog barked,
racing toward the bus. Pride filled Ryelee’s heart as she watched
Rheenie jump down from the last step of the bus, waving to all her
friends. Rheenie hugged Dog and immediately started running for
home. It was the same every day, but these were the moments that
Ryelee cherished. Moments she never dreamed she would
have.

“Mama! Mama! Guess what?” she asked
breathlessly.

“What?”

“I got a one hundred on writing my
numbers! Look!” She waved a paper in front of Ryelee’s
face.

“Rheenie, let me sit down
first.”

“Okay, Mama. I’ll hold Lily while you
hold the other one.”

Ryelee wanted to laugh. She was seven
months pregnant, and Rheenie kept calling the baby “the other one.”
Both she and Clint decided that they didn’t want to know the sex of
the baby. They wanted to be surprised.

Rheenie seemed to have made peace with
Lily, but she often shook her head and asked if the other one could
be sent back. Rheenie was certain that the new baby would be
trouble. She voiced her opinion loud and often. If it was a boy,
Rheenie promised to hold her breath until it was gone, for
good.

Ryelee loved that child fiercely. She
was one of a kind, and she owned a big piece of her heart. It had
been that way since the moment she laid eyes on Rheenie. She
brought love and laughter to Ryelee’s life.

Rheenie sat in one of the porch
rocking chairs. Scooting all the way back, she held her arms open,
and Ryelee gently placed Lily in Rheenie’s arms. Rheenie
immediately wrapped her arms around her sister and kissed her on
the cheek. “Now sit still, Lil, it’s my turn with Mama.”

Rheenie was so good with Lily. Of
course, she wanted to send her right back to the hospital when they
first brought her home. Rheenie would often give Lily her best
stink eye. She often gave Lily dirty looks while people were
looking, but when she thought they were alone, Rheenie smiled and
whispered to Lily. Eventually she fell into the important role of
big sister, and Ryelee knew they were destined to be the closest of
sisters. Lately Rheenie had been helping out with Lily.

“Oh, my. One through twenty? This is
wonderful! Rheenie o’mine, you are one smart girl!” Rheenie’s proud
smile made everything worthwhile. “I thought we were just up to
ten.”

Rheenie smiled widely. “You and I were
up to ten, but daddy and I are up to twenty.”

“Did I just hear my name?” Clint
joined them on the porch and immediately kissed Ryelee, then
Rheenie, and finally Lily. Ryelee smiled at the twinkle in his
eyes.

“I got a hundred on my numbers test,”
Rheenie explained.

“Did you get number one?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“How about the number two?”

“Daddy!” she said in exaggerated
patience. “One hundred means that I got them all right.”

“That’s my clever pumpkin.” He kissed
the top of her head. He picked up a squirming Lily, hugged her, and
then let her down so she could toddle along as he held her hand.
They had become quite the pair.

Out in the corral were Clint’s horses.
His reputation preceded him, and he had more requests for horses
than he could supply. It was a growing business, and Clint was good
at it. Ryelee loved the look of pride he had.