Lindsay followed him to his pickup. “Thanks for coming. I’ll call Savannah and thank her. I liked her doctor—he was very nice, cheerful and kind. Now that I know for certain I’mpregnant, I’ll have to find one around here. Savannah has one in Dallas she likes, so I’ll probably get that name from her.”
“When the time comes, you can stay at my house in Dallas if you want. If you stay on the ranch, you’ll be a long way from your doctor and hospital.”
“Thanks. We’ll see.”
“If you stay here, I guess it’s a consolation that everyone on the place can probably deliver a baby.”
“That’s definitely not what I have in mind,” she said while she stood in the hot sun with her hands on her hips and stared at him.
“Call me and I’ll do it.” Grinning, he jumped into the truck and revved the engine.
“You’re a wonderful brother, but you’re not delivering my baby.”
“For that matter, Tony can. He’s good at delivering calves.”
“Enough of you planning my life. How did I get tangled up with so many bossy men?”
“I think we’re called alpha males,” Mike corrected.
“Not in my view. I’ll see you soon. Thanks for coming over.”
“Sure.” He smiled at her. “See you soon,” he said, pulling along the driveway to head back to his ranch.
Smiling, she waved, but as the pickup drove out of sight leaving a plume of dust behind, her smile faded. None of Mike’s cheerful advice or reminders of what a good guy Tony was changed the fact that Tony ran everything he could in his daily life. He was commanding, decisive, a Mr. Do-It-My-Way. Even as she enumerated those attributes, she felt a pain in her chest because she missed him. She ignored the feeling, certain it soon would stop haunting her and disappear forever.
She could tell him now, or she could tell him later. She was in for a fight and she felt it coming any which way she looked at her future.
Eight
Lost in thought, she walked into the house, mulling over how and when she would tell Tony.
By midnight she wasn’t any closer to a solution. She sat in her darkened bedroom, looking out over her ranch and wondering what course of action she should follow. When the baby came, she would face more decisions. Stay home and take care of her baby all day or hire a nanny and go back to ranch work?
Eventually, she figured, that’s probably what she would do, but she wanted to be home with her baby those first few months no matter what she decided to do later. Would she have to buy a house in Verity to secure a nanny or would she be able to find someone to live on the ranch? But maybe she was jumping the gun. First, she needed to find a doctor and have the baby.
She rubbed her forehead and thought about Mike’s offer of his Dallas house in her ninth month. Tony might have some issue with that, being that he had a place in Dallas, too.
Tony. Mentioning his name made her remember he hadn’t called her the past few days. Did he know she had been away from the ranch? She guessed he probably did, but he also knew she always had her phone. Had she heard the last from him until she contacted him?
On top of her worries and her woes, she missed Tony. He was too many wonderful things to suddenly have him disappear from her life and not feel his absence. She missed his energy, his optimism, his charm, his sexy ways. She didn’t want to admit it,but a considerable amount of joy and excitement had gone out of her life. She dreamed about him at night, thought about him constantly during the day. Did Tony miss her at all?
The following Friday Tony climbed from his pickup after a long day. He’d helped some of his men clear a field. He was hot and dirty. He wanted a shower and a steak and he wanted to spend the evening with Lindsay. Since she hadn’t taken his calls or answered his texts, he’d interpreted that as a sign she wanted to be left alone and he’d stopped calling. But that didn’t stop him from wanting her.
He changed and went to his gym to work off the pent-up anxiety he felt from thinking about her. Exercising helped, as did swimming laps in his pool. But when he lay back in the pool, Lindsay invaded his thoughts once again. It was ridiculous, he told himself. If he didn’t hear from her by next week, he promised himself he’d go out and forget all about her.
He swam laps until he couldn’t stand to swim one more. Climbing out, he went in to shower and change, then work on taxes and his records. Later, he lay in the darkness, wanting sleep to come, hoping it was not another night of dreams filled with Lindsay.
During the night, he woke to hear a long, piercing howl. Stepping out of bed, he walked onto his balcony and gazed into the night. After a few minutes, another howl cut through the night. This one seemed to come from somewhere close to the barn nearest to his house.
Returning to his room, he pulled on his clothes and got a rifle. He went outside again to sit and wait, but the howls had stopped. He sat thinking about Lindsay, remembering times together, until he noticed the sky was getting lighter. It was dawn, so he went inside to shower and dress for the day.
After he had breakfast, he headed to the barn. Curious to see if he could find any signs of an animal, he knelt down and searched. But it was unlikely he’d find tracks in the hard, baked earth, so he rose and walked along slowly, studying the ground and turning a corner where thick bushes grew. He heard the faintest whine and froze for a minute. Then he moved slowly and cautiously toward the bushes, stopping instantly when he looked into a pair of brown eyes.
For a startled moment he thought it was a wolf, but then his gaze ran over the animal and he realized it was a big, furry gray-and-black male dog and it was hurt.
As the dog whimpered, Tony moved slowly, holding out his hand, wishing he had brought a piece of meat or something to offer. He spoke softly to the animal and knelt beside him. The dog tried to raise its head but lay back, watching him and giving one thump of its tail.
“Hey, boy,” Tony said, speaking softly. “You’re hurt.” He saw the coat, tangled and matted with blood. One front leg and one hind leg each had bloody gashes. Tony pulled out his phone to call Keane.