Trouble In Dixie (17 page)

"In that outfit, she does look like
sunshine, doesn't she," Tommy agreed with a wide grin as his hot
eyes moved over her body burning a fiery trail.

Karlie snorted, and Gabe laughed, then her
sister said, "Good morning, Daisy."

"I could say the same to you, sis..." Katie
told her taking in the white bikini and yellow shorts her sister
had on. "Still color coordinated I see."

"Looks that way--too damned funny, huh?"
Karlie snorted again.

"Stop doing that, my stomach is hurting from
laughing," Gabe told her gruffly.

Katie surveyed the deck and the yard and she
asked curiously, "Where's Dixie?"

Tommy jumped, but then said, "Oh, yeah, she
went to walk Snuggles," and his eyes traveled around the yard too.
A frown pinched between his brows and he stood up, looking around
again. Katie looked too, and didn't see her anywhere. She went to
the deck steps and looked again, then she gazed out on the water
and saw a yellow canoe bobbing in the bright sunlight on the
lake.

When her gaze met Dixie's the little girl
stood up and waved to her. The canoe tipped precariously, and she
waved her arms for balance. Katie noticed she didn't have a life
jacket on, and panic surged through her, as her feet somehow found
the stair treads and she took off running toward the dock. "Sit
down, Dixie!" she yelled right before she took a running dive off
the end of the dock and began stroking strongly toward the canoe,
once she resurfaced.

Fear and adrenaline coursed through her, as
she watched the canoe tip over when Dixie went to sit back down,
and she her yelp, as she hit the water. Katie kicked harder in the
water to get there faster, but tiredness swamped her. She was out
of shape, hadn't swam like this in years. Fighting past the
exhaustion, she finally reached the canoe and dove under it to find
the little girl, who hadn't resurfaced yet.

Something soft brushed her hand as she
frantically searched under the water where she thought she'd seen
Dixie go under, and she grabbed it, then shot to the surface.
Dixie's blond head came up beside hers and the little girl wasn't
breathing. She turned her on her back and towed her toward the
shore, kicking as hard as she could. The massive dose of adrenaline
now coursing through her, gave her the extra strength to get there
fast. She knew she had to do rescue breathing on her as soon as she
could, but doing that in the water wasn't going to happen, because
she didn't have a tow board with her, like she had when she was a
lifeguard.

When her feet hit the marshy bottom of the
lake, she picked Dixie up in her arms, and started giving her
breaths. Finally, her feet touched the grass and she laid Dixie
down and felt for a pulse. It was weak and thready, so she turned
her on her stomach and pushed a few times, then rolled her on her
back and started breathing for her again. Relief coursed through
her when Dixie coughed, then she rolled her to the side, and the
little girl threw up the lake water she'd swallowed, then took a
deep gasping breath, and wailed. Katie drew her into her arms and
hugged her fiercely.

Tommy was huffing and puffing behind her,
when he made it to the shore, and he dropped to his knees beside
them, "Oh, thank God..." he said weakly, and buried his head in his
hands and sobbed.

Karlie and Gabe ran up to them and hovered,
then her sister asked, "Is she okay, or do I need to call for
help?"

"She'll be okay, let's see how she is in a
minute or two though," Katie looked up and told her. She rocked
Dixie in her arms and she finally stopped crying, then Katie
loosened her hold on the child and asked softly, "You feeling
better, sugar?"

Dixie nodded then put her arms around
Katie's neck again and cried softly into her shoulder. "Snuggles
was in the canoe with me...I was taking him for a sail," she said
with fear in her raw voice.

Tommy finally looked up at Katie with
red-rimmed eyes, his whole body shaking, and she passed Dixie off
to him, then asked her sister, "You got Sarge's life jacket?"

Karlie nodded then ran up to the deck and
threw it down to her, and Katie took off for the dock again, and
dove into the water. She knew that dogs inherently knew how to
swim, but the canoe had been a good ways away from the shore, so
the odds were, the little puppy was getting tired, and would drown
before he could get back to shore, or she could rescue him, but she
had to try.

Noodle-like her tired limbs sliced through
the water, as she looked around the surface for the puppy when she
neared the overturned canoe. Moving around to the back side, she
finally saw him, swimming away from the shore, his eyes were
frightened and he was moving pretty quickly.

Katie called to him and he reversed
directions and swam to her. She was thankful, because she was
tired, and probably wouldn't have caught up to him. She took the
lifejacket and put it over the puppy, adjusting it to fit him, then
pushed him toward the shore in front of her as she swam back. With
one final push, he made it to shore, but she didn't have anything
left in her, so she sat on the bottom in the shallow water,
breathing hard and trembling.

She heard Dixie squealing over the blood
pounding in her ears, and smiled, then put her head down in her
arms, which were bent over her knees and just breathed, trying to
overcome the numbness in her limbs. Her whole body was shaking,
even her teeth were chattering, when someone sloshed into the
water, then Tommy sat down beside her, and pulled her onto his lap.
"Are you okay, baby?" he said softly and kissed her hair, then gave
her a long squeeze. "I have never been so scared in my life," he
told her in a trembling voice.

"Dixie almost drowned," she agreed then
said, "I was scared shitless too."

"I was scared both of you were gonna
drown...when you went under and didn't come back up, I thought..."
he choked out.

"I'm fine...she's fine," Katie reassured
him, then snuggled into his neck, her trembling abating a
little.

"Because you took off like you did...I would
never have reached her in time," he admitted in a strangled
voice.

"Lifeguard training when I was fifteen," she
told him with a weak chuckle. "Guess chasing after Joe Morgan paid
off after all."

Tommy stiffened and hugged her to him then
asked with a growl, "Who the hell is Joe Morgan?"

"Head lifeguard at the pool where I worked.
I had a crush on him and that's why I got the job there," she told
him.

"Lucky boy," Tommy said a little gruffly,
then, stood up with her in his arms and walked toward the
shore.

"Not so lucky...he picked the blonde
cheerleader with the big boobs that hung out there that
summer."

"What a dumb ass then," he said with a
chuckle, then put his lips to hers reverently, then whispered,
"Guess I'm the lucky boy then."

When they got on the grass, he didn't put
her down, he carried her up the steps and gently sat down on a
lounger with her in his lap. He grabbed a towel that was beside the
lounger on the deck and covered her shoulders, then hugged her to
him, and kissed her hair, before saying softly, "Thank you for
saving Dixie, Kate."

"Is she okay," Kate mumbled with concern
into his collarbone, where her mouth was pressed.

"Yeah, she's fine, she went inside with
Karlie and Gabe...and Snuggles...thank you for saving him too,"
Tommy said with a sigh. "Although, I could kick your ass for going
back for him."

"He was important too, Dixie loves him and
would have been heartbroken if he drowned," she told him weakly.
Tiredness was seeping into her bones, and all Katie wanted was a
long recuperative nap. Her eyelids batted a few times, then she
gave up struggling to keep them open and drifted off to sleep.

The murmur of hushed voices, and the heat of
the afternoon soon woke her from the warm cocoon of her nap. Katie
went to stretch, but couldn't, then realized she was still in
Tommy's lap, and he had his arms tightly around her. His legs had
to be numb, Katie thought, she had to have been in his lap for at
least an hour or two. She looked up at him and smiled, then went to
get up, but he pulled her back against his chest.

"Shh...just be still," he said near her ear
and kissed her there. It was then she felt the steely length of his
erection pressed into her thigh, and groaned before looking up into
his heated gaze. "Give me a minute..." he said and she nodded, then
shifted so she wasn't pressed against him.

Katie wanted to give him the time he asked
for, but she couldn't. The urge to pee was too intense, so she
shifted the towel off her shoulders and nonchalantly spread it over
his lap, when she got up.

"Have to go, sorry," she told him, then
headed for the bathroom. That was another thing to add to her
finicky stomach, she had to pee a lot more frequently lately. Maybe
it was a bladder infection, or something...nausea could go along
with that. She'd find out when she went to the doctor on
Friday...with Tommy...because he insisted.

Dixie was on the other end of the deck
playing with Sarge, and Snuggles was curled up in a ball under a
chair. He was evidently exhausted from his morning swim and near
drowning. She noticed that Dixie had on a life jacket now, and
breathed a sigh of relief. Katie went to sit down on the lounger
next to Tommy, but he pulled her back onto his lap instead. She
glanced over at her sister and saw the big grin that spread across
her face.

"You okay, sis?" Karlie asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." she grated and shot her
sister a heated look, as Tommy's arms wrapped around her again and
he settled her onto his lap.

Karlie just grinned wider and winked at her.
Payback was going to be hell later, and her sister deserved a good
dose of it for her interference. Although, secretly Katie was glad
she had interfered, because Tommy's arms around her felt damned
good.

CHAPTER EIGHT

It was funny how easy it was to change her
life, Katie thought, and how quickly that change could come about.
Thirty minutes ago, she'd had no purpose in life, and now, Katie
Upton was a property owner and had her own business. Elation and
excitement about the new venture sprouted and grew wings inside of
her, and she felt better than she had in years.

The Double K was a reality, and she and
Karlie were going to make it a success. On Tuesday, Gabe had bush
hogged the fields and took out brush, then on Wednesday he
harvested and baled the hay. She and Karlie had cleaned the
outbuildings, so they were ready to be rehabbed, or in the case of
the bunkhouse, lived in. Katie was moving into the bunkhouse, her
new temporary home, today. She would be spending her first night at
the ranch tonight.

After she had lunch at the Blue Bird with
Tommy, they were going to the doctor's appointment she had
scheduled at two with Doc Percival. That was the only downside to
this glorious day, she was a little nervous about what the doctor
would tell her. The nausea was still there, the tiredness and the
insistent urge to pee.

She hadn't seen Tommy all week, and had
missed him, so she was glad she was getting to spend more time with
him, even if it was just for her doctor's appointment. After last
weekend at the lake house, they seemed to be on more even footing.
Tommy had been super attentive to her the rest of the weekend, and
they'd gone canoeing, and fishing, and generally had a great
time.

He was a funny guy when he loosened up, and
forgot he wasn't supposed to have a relationship with her. Karlie
and Gabe had basically babysat Snuggles and Dixie all weekend, and
told them to go have fun...which they did, in spades. Tommy hadn't
made a move to have sex with her again, though Katie knew he wanted
to, and he knew she wouldn't have said no. Instead, they'd spent
the time getting to know one another better, and Katie had to say
what she learned about the sexy tormented cowboy, she liked, a
lot.

The closing agent, put all of her papers
into a plastic folder, and handed it to her with a smile, and the
keys to the buildings the owner had sent. "Congratulations, Miss
Upton...I hope you enjoy your new home," he said then stood up and
shook her hand.

"I'm sure I will...thank you for such quick
service," she told him then picked up her backpack from the
floor.

"This was an easy one, so you're very
welcome. Please let me know if you need anything else."

Katie nodded, then went into the lobby where
Tommy was waiting for her. He looked up from the
Field and
Stream
magazine he was flipping through and gave her a grin.
"You all done?"

"Yep," she said and patted the plastic
folder. "Sign, sealed and delivered, baby," she told him with a
grin.

"Congratulations, sugar...you're gonna do
great," he said with confidence then pulled her to him and gave her
a kiss that curled her toes. "Let's go celebrate at the Blue Bird,
I'm starved, how bout you?"

Katie wasn't starved, her stomach was in
knots, but she wasn't going to tell Tommy that, she didn't want to
worry him, so she forced a bright smile and said, "Famished."

He wrapped his arm around her and led her
out of the office, then helped her up into his truck. The cafe
wasn't far from the title company, so they were there in no time,
and he quickly pulled into a spot that magically opened for them
right in front of the diner.