The Rancher's Christmas Baby

“I’ll let you know.”

The morning passed quickly. Although the weather reports remained dire, the pavement was dry when they reached Wichita Falls. However, the clouds were a deep, troubling gray-white.

Luckily, the trees were unloaded quickly and Amy was paid.

By three that afternoon, they were on their way back.

Shortly after, the rain began.

“Maybe we should just err on the side of caution and get a room somewhere,” Teddy said, studying the sky.

“And get stuck here for who knows how many days if this turns to ice? I don’t think so. We’re moving away from the storm. I think we should continue. Besides, it’s just rain.”

“Now.” Teddy pointed to the digital numbers on her dashboard that indicated it was currently thirty-three degrees outside. “If the temperature dips a point or two, we could be dealing with freezing rain or sleet.”

“By the time that happens, we’ll be well out of harm’s way,” Amy predicted.

Not necessarily, since the storm was moving in a southerly direction, from the west, and they were headed southwest.

“At least let me drive,” Teddy said, aware they were still a good five hours from home.

Amy gripped the wheel with both hands, her attention firmly on the road. “Your job is to ride shotgun. That’s it.”

Was this what it was going to be like to be married to her? Amy seemed to be holding on to her autonomy with all her might. And while Teddy understood that—he, too, had an independent streak a mile wide—he also knew that marriage required compromise. Thus far, Amy hadn’t demonstrated much of an inclination to meet him halfway on anything, never mind allow him to protect and care for her in the traditional way husbands cared for their wives.

He found that frustrating as hell.

“Don’t worry,” Amy promised, completely misreading the reason behind his concern. “We’ll stop and get some dinner when we get far enough away from all this.”

TWO HOURS LATER, AMY GLARED at Teddy from across the table. He’d barely spoken to her since they entered the restaurant. Worse, he was so edgy he was making her tense. “Would you stop fidgeting and looking at your watch?” she asked irritably.

“Can’t help it.” The look he gave her mirrored her mood to a T. “I’d rather be driving. Actually—” he held up a hand and corrected before she could comment “—I’d rather be checked into a hotel room.”

That was the last thing they needed. Especially when the idea of the two of them sequestered in a hotel room together, waiting for the winter storm to pass, immediately conjured up forbidden images of hot, passionate sex….

Forcing herself to stop her wayward thoughts—hadn’t notions like that gotten her into trouble in the past?—Amy turned her gaze toward the Christmas tree in the lobby of the truck stop.

Although carols were playing on the sound system, and peppermint ice cream pie was on the menu, it still didn’t feel like Christmas to her. Amy forked up some turkey and dressing, glad for their first hot meal of the day. “Hold on to your britches,” she grumbled. “I’m eating as fast as I can.”

He brightened. “You could take it with us and eat it in the truck if you’d let me drive.”

It would be so easy to lean on him. It would also be a bad precedent to set, unless she wanted him telling her what to do, every day for the rest of her life. Amy went back to glaring at him. “Just because I don’t inhale my food at the speed of light the way you do…”

He arched a brow, obviously fed up with all the waiting around, even though they’d only been in the restaurant for twenty minutes or so.

“I’m going to get some coffee for our thermos.” He left the table.

Amy looked out the window. It was raining pretty hard. Now that the sun had gone down, the temperature was dropping, too. She hurried up, despite her early admonition not to be worried by all the alarmist predictions on the airwaves. By the time she emerged from the ladies’ room, the check had been paid. Full thermos in hand, Teddy was ready to go.

As they walked back out to the truck, icy rain pelted their faces.

It hadn’t been coming down anywhere near this hard when they had stopped for dinner half an hour ago. In fact, it had barely been raining at all.

Her foot slid on the slick pavement as she approached the driver’s side. He caught her.

She had only to look into his eyes to know what he was thinking.

They could spend the night here.

They wouldn’t have a bed, or any privacy, but they’d have heat, food, bathrooms. And he’d be looking at her with that I-told-you-this-was-a-bad-idea gaze all night long.

“I want to keep going.”

His expression remained impassive. “You’re the boss. It’s your call.”

Amy didn’t like the sound of that. There weren’t supposed to be any bosses in their marriage between friends. She stuck her hands in the pockets of her down jacket. “No need to be sarcastic.”

He kept the steadying hand on her elbow and gave her a chivalrous boost up into the cab. “Be grateful I’m still this circumspect.”

Amy scowled and started the truck. To her relief, the dashboard indicated the outside temperature was still thirty-three degrees.

She went over to gas up, and then turned the truck back onto the two-lane highway. “It’s thirty-four miles to the next town,” she said. “If it looks any worse by the time we get there, we’ll stop there for the night.”

Teddy nodded.

To Amy’s relief, the next fifteen miles were fine, although she drove very slowly and carefully, just to be on the safe side.

It was only when they got into an area that was as desolate as the desert, that the temperature began to dip even more. And that was when the road got really slick.

One minute they were cruising along, easy as you please, the next they were skating across a sheet of black ice. Fishtailing, then spinning all the way around, before bumping across a cactus-riddled field and coming to an abrupt halt.

IT TOOK A GOOD FIFTEEN seconds after they stopped for Amy to catch her breath. Recovering, she gripped the wheel hard with both hands and stepped on the gas. The truck went exactly nowhere.

She tried again and was rewarded with a spinning sound and a sinking truck.

“Try rocking it back and forth,” Teddy suggested.

She did…to no avail.

She eased off the gas, frustration knotting her gut, and shifted the truck into Park. Swearing softly beneath her breath, Amy unfastened her seat belt and jumped down from the cab. Teddy followed her onto the ground. It took only a moment to see what the problem was. The truck’s front wheels were stuck in the mud.

Amy sighed, as the freezing precipitation continued to rain down on them. “We’re not going to be able to get out of this, are we?”

“Not until it stops. Which should be by daylight.”

“Lovely.”

She climbed back in the truck and turned off the ignition.