Texas Hope: Sweetgrass Springs Stories (Texas Heroes Book 16) (28 page)

“Of course you should stay,” said a voice behind them. “And make your son put me down, first thing.”

They turned, and Ian was right behind them, Scarlett in his arms. “We had a deal, New York.” Then he nodded. “Dad.”

“Son. Got your hands full, I see.”

“Don’t I always?”

All of them laughed. Laken could see Sophia’s tense shoulders relax a little.

“Ian, Scarlett should go home,” said Ruby, approaching.

“Not you, too, Nana. The party’s just starting. I want to stay.”

Ian’s jaw clenched, but before he could say anything, Gordon spoke up. “Maybe we could get our food and take it back to the ranch. Have a little family visit, so Scarlett wouldn’t have to miss out on everything. Ruby, you and Arnie should come, too. You haven’t seen Sophia in a long time.”

Ruby smiled, and it didn’t seem forced. “I haven’t. Good to see you, Sophia.”

“Thank you, Ruby. You’re looking well.”

“Got me a fine granddaughter and now a grandson. Soon there’ll be a great-grandbaby to spoil. You should hang around and do some spoiling of your own.” She spoke a little more loudly than usual, so the others around them could hear that she was accepting Sophia.

Sophia looked up at Ian as if seeking permission. “I don’t want to be in the way.”

Gordon stepped closer to her. “You’re the child’s grandmother. Of course you’re not in the way, right, son?”

“Of course she’s not,” Scarlett avowed. “Our baby needs all the loving family possible. I’m sure Ian agrees.”

Laken thought she saw Ian stiffen a little, but he didn’t reveal his tension in his voice. “That’s right. Every child needs love.” He smiled, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “And I know Michael would like it if you’d come along. Laken, you’ll come out to the ranch, too?”

She blinked, more comfortable as an observer, but the attention had shifted to her now.

They were offering her a way to belong. Making her part of them, as they had several times before.

Was she ready?

Michael’s brown eyes caught hers, a question in them.

Oh, how she wanted to jump in her car and go. At least until she figured out how to feel.

But he didn’t deserve to be embarrassed when the fault was in her.

“I’d like that,” she said, and felt Michael’s tension ease.

“All right, then,” Michael said, smiling down at her. “How about if Laken and I gather up some food and bring it out to the ranch?”

“Sounds good. How about you set me down, Ian, and let me walk to your truck like an adult?” Scarlett asked.

“You’re not heavy.”

“I’m also not an invalid, you hardheaded cowboy.”

“Children, children,” Ruby admonished. “Scarlett, Ian will put you down if you promise to sit down and stay down as soon as you get to the ranch. I don’t like your color.”

Laken studied Scarlett more closely and realized that her skin was almost translucent and there were dark circles beneath her eyes.

“Well, I don’t like everyone hovering, but does anybody care about that?”

“Take it or leave it,” Ian ordered.

An elaborate sigh. “All right,” she muttered.

Around them fond smiles and more than a few chuckles. “You don’t get the better of the girl often, Ian. Best take what you can get.”

“You should talk, Harley,” Ian shot back. “Let me know when Melba gives you back your man card.”

The crowd broke up laughing.

“Thank you,” Michael said to Laken as they turned toward the tables groaning with food. “Do you mind helping me lug this to the truck?”

“This place is like one big family, isn’t it?”

“It really is.” They made their way through the crowd.

“You don’t feel…crowded?”

He glanced down at her, his eyes seeing too much. “No. I feel welcomed. It’s a good place to be part of. But it doesn’t feel that way to you, does it?”

She thought about all the interesting people she’d met here, the good people who’d taken her into their circle. It wasn’t the spot in the road full of rednecks she’d expected, but…

“There are some nice things about it.” Faint praise, she knew—and much less than they deserved. She just wasn’t…

Abruptly she was tired of feeling out of step, and she’d felt that way since the day this man had blown into her life. Part of her still wanted to hold back while part of her longed to fit in. She was so eternally tired of never fitting in.

And the disappointment he tried to hide only made her feel worse. “I’m trying, Michael.”

His smile was a little sad, but he bent and kissed her forehead. “I know you are. I just wish it wasn’t such an effort.”

“It’s not that—” She sighed. “Maybe I should just go back to Austin tonight. I don’t want to ruin your party, and your mom doesn’t need to be worrying about you on top of everything else.”

He wrapped his arm around her waist and hauled her close. “Be, Laken. Stop trying to think your way through everything. Let go and just…be.”

“You really think that advice works, don’t you?” She wanted to bash him on the head or something.

He chuckled. “Maybe my brother and I are more alike than I realized. A shared taste in difficult, driven women. Huh.”

She struggled in his arms, frowning up at him. “I am not difficult, you big baboon.”

He smoothed at the line between her brows, grinning. Then he kissed that spot. “There she is, that’s my girl. I was getting worried, you were being so agreeable and careful.”

“Oh, bite me.”

“Honey, I thought you’d never ask.” He bent his knees and kissed her, one final nip at her lower lip. Then he straightened and threw a companionable arm around her shoulder, steering her toward the food.

Smiling like the insufferable, beautiful, fool of an optimist he was.

Chapter Ten

I
an watched as Scarlett squirmed in the easy chair where he’d placed her and forbidden her to get up. She was visiting with Laken and seemed to be enjoying herself, but every now and again, he could see her discomfort.

He walked over to where Michael was visiting with the mother Ian still gave a wide berth. “Excuse me. Could I talk to you for a second?” He looked at her. “I won’t keep him long.”

Sophia studied him. “Is it Scarlett you’re worried about?”

He started to automatically deny it, but he felt too alone in this. Maybe another perspective would help. “Yeah.”

“I’ve been watching her. I’m not sure those are Braxton Hicks.”

His chest tightened. “She’s only at 36 weeks. It’s too soon.”

She started to touch his arm, but didn’t. “I don’t want to worry you. I’m not an expert. I’ve just noticed that she’s uncomfortable. It’s obviously been awhile for me, but Braxton Hicks didn’t happen that frequently, best I remember.”

“When was her last appointment?” Michael asked.

“She’s having them every two weeks now. Next one is Monday.”

“The doctor didn’t say anything?”

“This wasn’t happening then, and no. She was concerned that Scarlett hasn’t gained as much weight as she’d like, and she urged her to rest more—as if that does any good. I did some reading last night, and stress is a factor in premature labor.”

Michael observed her a little longer. “Obviously I’m no expert in human births, but the way she keeps shifting around does bring to mind mares who are in early stages of labor.”

“That’s what I was thinking. I wish Bridger was here. I don’t think I stand a chance in hell of dragging her to the hospital.”

“Labor is a tricky phenomenon. I never have two deliveries go the same. Want me to go get him?”

“I don’t know what to do. He’s in the thick of things at the picnic, and if this is a false alarm and the whole town pays even more attention to her than people already are, Scarlett will have my head.”

“Better to be safe,” his mother said. “She’ll forgive you if you’re wrong, but if you’re right…” She glanced over. “Want me to lure her upstairs on the pretext of seeing the nursery? It wouldn’t be a lie that I’d like to see it, and maybe I could persuade her to lie down, or at least see if she’d talk to me.”

His first instinct was to say no, to tell her he could handle his own family.

But Scarlett resisted his efforts because he watched over her too closely.

How could he not? She was everything. “Thank you. That would be a big help. But I—” He halted. “I wish she’d let me carry her upstairs.”

“It’s up to you.”

“She thinks I’m overprotective. I hover.”

His mother smiled. “You do, but why wouldn’t you? You love her. She’s precious to you, as is that child.”

“She knows that, but…”

“We’ll take it slow. I’ll tell her I have a bad knee.”

“Do you?”

His mother winked. “She doesn’t have to know that.” She turned away, then hesitated, turned back. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For letting me help.” Her eyes were suspiciously bright, and his heart twisted.

“Thank you for asking.”

As she walked away, Michael spoke. “I know that was hard, but I thank you, too. She’s suffering over the past even worse than I realized.”

For once, what his mother had done back then receded in importance. He was far too worried about Scarlett right now. “I don’t know how to handle seeing her again.”

“Neither does she. But you’re both trying, and that’s something.”

“Don’t defend her to me, all right?”

“I won’t. Now about Scarlett: want me to call Bridger and alert him? See if he can drop by when he’s done?”

Ian glanced over at the man he was turning out to like a lot more than he’d wanted to. “Yeah, I would. Thank you.”

“I’ll keep an extra set of eyes on her, too. Most of my patients don’t deliver early, but I know it’s a problem for humans. I did deliver a baby once—a human one—but if she’s this early, a home birth isn’t what we want.”

“No,” Ian said grimly. “The doctor has emphasized how important reaching 37 weeks is, and even then the baby still needs time for lungs to mature and stuff. Damn it. Why won’t that woman take it easy?”

“I haven’t known Scarlett that long, but it’s not hard to see the sense of responsibility she has and how seriously she takes her commitments. She loves Ruby so much, and she doesn’t want to let her down. Or the town.”

Ian’s shoulders sagged. “I know. And I love how she’s taken this town to her heart, but—”

Michael laid his hand on Ian’s shoulder. “But she is your heart.”

“Yeah.” Ian looked over at a his brother. “Speaking of hearts, how are you doing at capturing Laken’s?”

Michael blew out a breath. “Beats me. Have you seen her face when she’s watching everyone? She looks like a kid with her nose pressed to the candy store window. All that longing, that yearning to belong, yet a move in her direction…”

“She doesn’t think it can work.”

Michael shook his head. “And I want to set up my practice here in the worst way, but her career ties her to Austin, so it makes more sense for me to go there.”

“Has Jackson talked to her yet?”

“Jackson? I don’t know—why?”

“I’m probably speaking out of turn if he hasn’t said anything. He just mentioned that he’d been wondering if Laken might like to go to work with him. He’s got it in his head that he needs new in-house counsel.”

“But Penny’s a lawyer.”

“Penny’s got her hands full, and she’s pregnant—don’t you dare tell anyone. She thinks she’s keeping it a secret.”

“Not so easy to do in Sweetgrass.” Michael grinned.

“It’s sure not.”

Michael frowned. “I saw Jackson talking to Laken at the picnic. They seemed fairly intense. So why wouldn’t she mention—” He shook his head and cast a sideways glance at Ian. “Because she’s not ready to commit, damn it. And I can’t seem to figure out what it takes to get her past her fears.”

“Women.” Ian clapped Michael on the back. “Can’t live with ’em—”

“Can’t live without ’em,” Michael chimed in.

The brothers shared a companionable grin, then Michael pulled out his phone. “I’ll go outside to call Bridger—”

Their mother appeared at the top of the stairs, ashen. “Ian—Michael—I think Scarlett’s water may be breaking and—” She drew a deep breath. “She’s bleeding.”

Ian’s heart seized. Calling an ambulance out here could take far too long. He charged for the stairs, shouting over his shoulder. “Dad, call Bridger. And call Jackson. See if his chopper is here.”