Ryelee's Cowboy (7 page)

Clint gently lifted her up and carried
her to his truck. He had to get her to the doctor immediately. He
was glad when Burke came running in his direction. “I need someone
to watch Rheenie.”

Burke nodded. “The baby?” he asked
solemnly.

“I think so. I’ll call.” He swung into
the driver’s seat. Beads of sweat formed on his brow as Ryelee
writhed in pain. He drove as fast as he could while still being
safe, greatly relieved when they finally arrived at the Weltworth
clinic. He lifted her out of the truck and ran inside with her.
Before he knew it, she had been whisked away, leaving him standing
at the admission’s desk alone. He found the nearest chair and sat
down.

Everything had happened so fast, he
hadn’t had time to process it all. He hadn’t been sure how he felt
about Ryelee carrying another man’s baby. Now he knew he’d begun to
care about it. That baby was a part of Ryelee.

If she had given him the least amount
of encouragement, he would have told her he had feelings for her,
but she'd been so preoccupied lately. Sometimes she didn’t even
answer when he asked her a question. Maybe she’d been worried
something was wrong with the baby. Women seemed to sense these
things, he reasoned. Hell, what did he even know about
women?

It seemed more like hours than minutes
before anyone came to tell him what was going on. The doctor
explained that the baby seemed to be fine. There hadn’t been any
bleeding, but Ryelee needed a week of bed rest and then another
examination.

The relief allowed the tightness in
Clint’s chest to ebb. “When can I see her?”

The kindly doctor smiled. “You can see
your wife right now.”

Clint’s eyebrows rose in surprise, but
he didn’t bother to correct the doctor. He just wanted to see for
himself that Ryelee was fine. His eyes lit up when he saw Ryelee
resting quietly. Her red hair looked glorious fanned out on her
pillow, and he was grateful she didn’t seem to be in
pain.

“Feeling better?” He sat down in the
chair beside her bed and gently took her hand, so small and
delicate in his.

****

Ryelee drank in the sight of him. His
black curly hair was rumpled as though he’d been running his
fingers through it, and his whiskey-colored eyes were full of
concern. Her hand felt too good in his. She wished she could make a
claim to him. She gave him a brief smile. “Yes, better.”

“The doctor said you need bed rest.”
Clint looked deep into her eyes.

“Yes, he said I can go home tonight.”
She yawned.

Clint smiled at her. “Well, you’ll be
at Rheenie’s mercy, you know. She’ll want to play
nurse.”

“I can handle that.”

They shared a smile. “Well, let’s get
you sprung from this place and back home where you
belong.”

Ryelee’s heart flipped. Home, where
she belonged? Silently she thanked God for her good fortune. She
didn’t need material things. She had never had them, so she didn’t
miss them. All her life, she had yearned for a real family—a family
like all the other kids had. Her smile faded as the shroud of her
deceptions crowded into her mind.

The doctor had told her to take it
easy and to avoid stress, like that was going to happen. She would
try for the baby’s sake. She would try hard. Clint helped her into
the waiting wheelchair and then into his truck.

Clint’s house had never looked so
good. She loved the wooden whitewashed exterior. Somehow, it looked
like it had always been here on this land. She was jarred out of
her musings when Clint opened her door and lifted her into his
arms.

The geniality of his action soothed
her nerves. She snuggled against his chest, wishing that the walk
from the truck to the house could go on longer, much longer. She
wished she had the right to nuzzle his neck and perhaps trail
kisses across it. Pipe dreams, that’s all they were.

Burke and Rheenie stood at the door,
worry written across their faces as Clint carried her inside.
Ryelee tried to get down, but Clint wouldn’t hear of it.

“It's bed rest for this one, I’m
afraid,” he explained. “Rheenie, could you go and get Ryelee’s
pillow off her bed? I think she’ll be okay on the couch for the
afternoon.”

Rheenie raced upstairs. “I’ve got it!
I’ve got it!” she shouted proudly as she ran back into the
room.

Ryelee gave her a reassuring smile.
“Thank you. You’re such a big help.”

“I’m so glad to see you again. I’ve
been very scared, but Burke was nice to me. He told me stories
about the ranch, and he even made me hot cocoa. He didn’t call me
Princess—yet, but I know he will one day. I'm going to be your
nurse!” she announced happily, then she turned to her daddy.
“Remember what a good nurse I was when you had a bad cold,
Daddy?”

Clint smiled at Rheenie and nodded. He
looked at Ryelee with mischievous eyes. “And what a nurse you were,
honey.”

“Goody! I’m going to look for my
nursing bag. Don’t go anywhere,” she said to Ryelee as she ran up
to her room.

Clint laughed. “Don’t worry, honey.
I’ll be close to the house for the next week. I won’t let the
nursing get out of control.”

Ryelee smiled at him. She felt so warm
and fuzzy inside. She wasn’t used to such feelings. She liked
it.

Ryelee must have dozed off because,
when she opened her eyes, she looked straight into Rheenie’s dark
eyes. She hovered about two inches above her, staring. Ryelee
smiled and started to sit up but Rheenie pushed her back
down.

“Lay down, young lady. I’m the nurse,
and I know best.”

Ryelee humored her and put her head
back on the pillow. “Rheenie, where’s your daddy?”

Rheenie rolled her eyes. “It’s Nurse
Rheenie.”

Ryelee tried to smile, but she had a
feeling it was going to be a very long week of bed rest. “All
right, Nurse Rheenie, where is your daddy?”

“He’s outside feeding the horses. I’m
in charge until he gets back.” A wide smile graced her face. “Now
it’s examination time.” She opened her white nursing bag and took
out a plastic stethoscope then pretended to find Ryelee’s
heartbeat. “So far so good.”

Next, she got out a plastic
thermometer, and she wanted Ryelee to open her mouth.

Horrified, Ryelee refused to open her
mouth. Who knew where that thing had been? She pressed her lips
tightly together and shook her head back and forth.

Rheenie sighed. “Okay. I’ll be
back.”

Ryelee wondered what Rheenie was
doing. She also wondered what else Rheenie had in the nurse’s bag,
but maybe she didn’t want to know.

Rheenie came back with a wet washcloth
that she hadn’t wrung out and placed it on Ryelee’s forehead. Water
poured down Ryelee’s face and hair, soaking her pillow. She tried
to remove it, but Rheenie held it on tight and wouldn’t let
go.

Finally, Ryelee gave up and just lay
there, fearing what Rheenie would do next. She didn’t have long to
wait. She watched as Rheenie took out a roll of gauze. She removed
the wet cloth and began to roll gauze all around Ryelee’s head.
Thankfully, she only went as far down as her forehead.

Next, she applied the Spiderman
band-aids. By the time Rheenie finished, she had covered most of
Ryelee’s exposed skin.

Rheenie stood back and admired her
work. “You might even get a lollypop for being so good.”

“That makes it all worthwhile. Doesn’t
it?” Ryelee didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Clint made the decision for her with
his booming laugh. He laughed so hard, tears welled in his eyes. He
tried to talk but couldn’t—he was laughing too hard.

Ryelee was all for a good laugh but
not at her expense. Insulted, she glared at Clint, trying to give
him her best stink eye.

Rheenie shook her head. “That’s not
the way.” She narrowed her own eyes and produced a scary
glare.

Ryelee laughed. “That has to be the
best stink eye I’ve ever seen.”

“I practice,” Rheenie said
seriously.

Clint said, “Rheenie, why don’t you go
get washed up for dinner?”

* * * *

Clint sat down on the couch’s edge
next to Ryelee. He smiled and gazed into her cornflower blue eyes.
He felt some type of connection to this woman. He had tried to
ignore it, but now he couldn’t. He wanted to kiss her. Her pink
lips were luscious, dewy, and ripe. He made himself look away and
concentrated on rolling the gauze off her head. Her eyes were
filled with laughter and something else. Clint hoped she felt
something for him.

Spotting a bruise on her arm, he
frowned. “Wow this looks like it hurts.”

She looked uncomfortable. “It’s
nothing.”

“What happened? Did you hurt it when
you fell?”

“I’ve had worse. Really it’s
nothing.”

Clint’s heart hurt for her. He
wondered if she was referring to the night she was raped or if her
father had abused her in the past. Probably both he concluded.
“You’re not going to be happy about the next part.”

Ryelee’s eyes widened as she realized
he had to rip off each band-aid. “Do it quickly,” she
pleaded.

She grimaced each time he ripped off a
band-aid. “Good Lord, how many did she put on?”

Clint chuckled. It felt good to be so
close to Ryelee. She smelled so clean and fresh, like a summer’s
breeze. “About ten.” He tried to look sympathetic, but he knew it
wasn’t working. He smiled down at Ryelee, savoring her beauty. He
wondered how he hadn’t seen it from the beginning. He bent ever so
slowly, needing to have a taste of her. He closed his eyes and
relished her soft lips under his. When Ryelee kissed him back, he
felt ecstatic. He could sense her desire in that searing kiss. As
she opened for him, he put his tongue in her mouth. She tasted like
everything good, honey and sweetness.

The patter of little feet coming their
way was like a bucket of cold water. Clint sat straight up, trying
to appear innocent, but he gazed down at Ryelee with anything but
innocence. He wanted her. She averted her eyes and her cheeks
flushed from embarrassment. He wished he had time to talk to her
but couldn’t with Rheenie there. Rubbing the back of his neck, he
stood up then caught Rheenie as she flew into his arms.

“I’m the bestest nurse
ever!”

“You sure are, honey,” Clint agreed,
carrying her out of the room, wanting to give Ryelee some
privacy.

Later, Clint carried Ryelee up to her
bed. He liked the way she wrapped her arms around his neck this
time. She was soft and pliant. Her pregnancy had filled her out in
all the right places. She no longer looked like the poor redheaded
girl who first came there. In fact, she looked perfect. He
reluctantly put her on her feet and gave her some privacy to put
her nightgown on.

****

They had already decided that story
time would be in Ryelee’s room tonight, but when Rheenie came
padding in with a great big binder containing old photos, Clint
didn’t look happy about it.

“I thought we were going to read a
story,” he said.

Rheenie carefully got up on the bed
and snuggled under the covers with Ryelee. She looked up at Ryelee
smiling. “I want Ryelee to hear about the story of my
Mama.”

Ryelee could sense Clint’s unease. He
never mentioned his wife. In fact, Ryelee realized there were no
photos of her anywhere in the house.

“We could do this another time,” she
suggested.

Clint looked at Rheenie with such
tenderness that Ryelee felt like an intruder. “Rheenie wants to
hear about her Mama. That’s what we’ll do.”

Rheenie opened the album to the first
page. “This is Mama and Daddy getting married,” she told
Ryelee.

“She looks very beautiful, like you,
Rheenie,” she replied.

Rheenie smiled. “This is when I was in
her tummy. Just like your baby is in your tummy, Rye.”

Ryelee glanced at Clint, who seemed
deep in thought. She wondered if maybe she should put a stop to
this trip down memory lane, but with Rheenie so excited and proud
to show her the pictures, Ryelee didn’t have the heart to
discourage her.

“I bet that’s you in the tub. Boy,
your mama sure took good care of you.”

Rheenie was silent for a second, and
then she looked at Clint. “She took good care of both of us. Right,
Daddy?”

“She sure did. The happiest day of her
life was when you were born. You were her everything. She loved you
very much.”

Ryelee met Clint’s pain-filled, brown
eyes and wondered if he still loved his wife. It was quite
probable. He must have loved her very much. A sudden feeling of
sadness and envy enveloped her.

“What was her name?” Ryelee asked
softly.

“Her name was Jill Madison, the
prettiest little filly in all of Weltworth. When she consented to
be my wife, I felt honored. We had so many hopes, so many dreams.
The best thing we ever got was Rheenie.”