The Rancher's Christmas Baby

“Awkward?” Teddy opened the pizza box, handed her a slice.

“And awful.” She paused. Figuring the more they talked about it, got everything out in the open, the better their chances for a more harmonious existence, she said, “We’re fighting like cats and dogs.”

Teddy kicked back in his chair, his expression pensive. He tilted his head to one side. “Can’t be the wedding rings. Can it?”

“I don’t know.” She studied the plain gold band on her left hand, then returned his searching glance, happy their old camaraderie was returning. She didn’t mind facing problems, as long as they faced them together. She picked a slice of pepperoni off the top of the pizza and bit her lip. “What do you think?”

He looked down at the gold band on his left hand. “A case of post-wedding jitters?” he proposed.

Amy brightened. “Due to poor pre-ceremony planning?” she mused.

“And familial disapproval,” he added.

“No kidding!” Amy heaved a heartfelt sigh. There had been an uncommon amount of stress in the past thirty-six hours. Clearly, she and Teddy were just reacting to that. Once things settled down…

“It’ll pass,” Teddy predicted.

It was going to have to, Amy thought, picking up her pizza and taking a satisfying bite. She couldn’t live with this much tension and anxiety. Not and be happy or anywhere even close to it.

Chapter Four

“I’m glad you’re here,” Luke Carrigan told Teddy at the chapel the next afternoon, where construction of a new roof was under way. Fifty men had volunteered to help the professional roofers and structural engineers in charge of the reconstruction and repair efforts.

Luke was manning one of the power saws, cutting lumber to size. Teddy had been assigned the task of carefully measuring and marking each piece.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you,” Luke continued.

Teddy had figured as much. He couldn’t blame him. Were he Amy’s father, he would have wanted to chat with his new son-in-law, too.

“So how’s it going so far?” Luke asked.

“We’re still settling in,” Teddy said finally. “But we had fun last night.” It had almost seemed like old times. Before the rush to the altar…when the only thing on their minds had been having a good time. “I helped her make gingerbread cookies.” Then Amy had slept on the sofa, and he’d taken his bed. He was bleary-eyed from lying awake half the night, wondering where the desire to kiss her…really kiss her…had come from.

“So you’re living where right now?”

“We’re alternating houses at the moment.” Tonight they were going to be at the trailer. They were still trying to figure out where he was going to sleep—on a sofa that was a good two feet too short for him, or in the double bed that was also too small for his six-foot-four frame.

Luke paused to study Teddy. “Where’s Amy now?”

“She had work to do on her ranch, then this evening, she’s going to the cookie swap.”

“You won’t see her…”

“Till I get done here.”

“I saw she had signed up to work on the cleaning and painting of the interior of the church later this week.”

Teddy nodded. “We both did.”

It meant a lot to both of them, getting the community chapel restored before the Christmas holidays.

Luke lined up another piece of lumber and ran it through the saw. “I guess it’s no secret Amy’s mother and I remain concerned.”

“No, sir, it isn’t.” Teddy was pretty sure his parents still felt the same way. They just hadn’t had a chance to corner him yet.

Luke carried the wood over to the growing pile of cut lumber, then paused to get a drink from the water bottle he’d brought with him. “Had you two told us of your plans, Meg and I would have moved heaven and earth to stop you from making such a big mistake. Especially,” he continued gravely, giving Teddy no chance to interrupt, “since you are the reason Amy hasn’t found anyone to spend the rest of her life with, and vice versa.”

This was news. “How do you figure that?” Teddy asked. He’d never tried to keep Amy from dating anyone. Heck, he’d encouraged her to go out with other guys, just as she had urged him to date all likely prospects that came his way. It wasn’t his fault—or hers—that none of the people either of them had dated had come close to measuring up.

Luke clapped a fatherly hand on Teddy’s shoulder. “You two have gotten so close over the years, spent so much time together. No one new coming into either of your lives can compete with that kind of intimacy. Not,” he added quickly, “that it’s all your fault. Amy’s experience with Ken left her wary of giving her heart to anyone again. That’s why I’d held back on trying to set her up with any potential suitors just yet.”

Teddy eyed him curiously. “You don’t think she considered marriage to me a risk?”

“I think she figured she would be safe as long as her heart wasn’t involved with you, the way it was with Ken.”

Teddy pushed away his unease. “Why did they end the engagement?” he asked.

Luke looked stunned. “She didn’t tell you?”

“Amy and I made a pact early on never to give each other the details on the people we were dating.” For reasons Teddy had never been able to put a finger on—it just hadn’t felt right, talking to Amy about the women in his life…or hearing about the men in hers. So they’d steadfastly avoided the topic.

Teddy shrugged, admitting, “All Amy ever said was that ‘Ken wasn’t the man she thought he was.’ I know the breakup left her feeling embarrassed and humiliated, but not a lot more.” Amy had never wanted to talk about it further. And he hadn’t wanted to push her.

Belatedly, Teddy realized he probably should have been more insistent. Particularly if Ken was the reason Amy was still so closed off, as her father seemed to be indicating.

Luke gave Teddy a frank, man-to-man look. “You’ll have to ask her if you want to know more than that. It’s not my story to tell. In the meantime, I expect you and my daughter are both stubborn enough to want to see this marriage through, but when it ends—and it will end, Teddy, because no union can survive without a foundation of deep, abiding romantic love—then I expect you to do the honorable thing and let my daughter go. And make it a clean break. So you and she will both have a chance with someone else.”

Teddy wanted to disregard everything Amy’s father had said. He couldn’t. As close as he and Amy were, there was still a lot he wanted—needed—to learn about the woman he had married.

Unfortunately, by the time work on the chapel roof wrapped up and he got back to Laurel Valley Ranch, it was ten o’clock. Amy was already fast asleep on the living room sofa. Curled up on her side, one hand pressed to her cheek, the other tucked beneath the pillow, her golden curls tousled…she looked young and innocent and incredibly sexy.

Aware the trailer had taken on a chill, the way it did every night when the sun went down, he got a second blanket off the back of the sofa and spread it over her. She shifted slightly, sighed softly and drifted right back into sleep.

Surprised by the tenderness he felt, Teddy picked up his overnight bag and walked soundlessly to the rear of the trailer.

By the time he had stepped into the shower, he had an ache that wouldn’t quit. An ache that had little to do with friendship and everything to do with the fact Amy was now his wife.

A piece of paper…a couple of words said in a judge’s office…shouldn’t make a difference.

But it did.

And Teddy didn’t know what in blazes he was going to do about that.

FOR TEDDY, MORNING came all too soon.

Stiff and sore from a night bent like a pretzel, he pushed back the covers and struggled to get out of bed. As he made his way to the miniscule bathroom, he realized the trailer was awfully quiet.

He followed the aroma of freshly brewed coffee into the kitchen and his spirits sank. The blankets on the sofa were folded neatly. The coffee carafe sat on the kitchen counter, beside a note scrawled in Amy’s hand.