The Rancher's Surprise Baby. Trish Milburn
for herself, right? And she could do worse than Ben Hartley. Not that he was even interested. They’d lived in the same town for as long as she could remember and they’d never been more than classmates as kids and passing acquaintances as adults. But couldn’t the same be said about Devon and Cole? And look how that had turned out—wedded bliss.
Mandy shook that thought away. Ben was only going out of his way to help her because he felt responsible for the accident.
But a bit of fantasizing never hurt anybody, did it? No one ever needed to know what she thought about while sitting here in her own home enjoying her wine. Enjoying imagining what it might be like to kiss Ben Hartley.
* * *
OF COURSE HALF his family was outside and able to see his return in a truck more damaged than when he’d left earlier that afternoon. That was just how his day was going. And when he parked and got out of the truck, the amusement on his brother Adam’s and sister Sloane’s faces told him the pigeon story was already winging its way around the county.
“You’re just in time for dinner,” Sloane said. “We’re having pigeon pie.”
He moved quickly, grabbing her and tossing her over his shoulder and spinning her round and round.
Sloane banged on his back. “Put me down!”
He just laughed until the toe of her boot connected with his thigh. That caused him to release her so quickly she stumbled and nearly fell when her feet hit the ground.
“Can’t take a little teasing?” she asked.
“I’ve already had more than a little.”
“You had to see this coming the moment that bird flew in your window,” Adam said as he leaned against the front of his own truck.
Ben walked past his siblings. “Some days I wish Mom and Dad had adopted only one kid.”
“That would have been me,” Neil said as he appeared at the edge of the front porch, evidently on his way home to Arden.
Ben growled at his older brother as he shoved past him, as well, on his way inside. He’d retreat to his leather shop if he wasn’t so hungry he was afraid he might eat one of the saddles he was making.
As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, his mom hurried over to him and clasped his chin in her fingers then turned his head sideways the same way she had when Billy Castner had given him a shiner in the sixth grade.
Ben took a step back from her. “I’m okay. It was just a little fender bender. Stop worrying.”
She placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m your mother. It’s what moms do. I swear, I thought I’d get you kids grown and you’d stop giving me gray hairs.”
He tilted his head at that comment.
His mom held up a finger. “Not one word about how would I even be able to tell.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
She patted his cheek. “Smart boy.”
He’d stopped being a boy a long time ago, but he loved his mom enough to let her call him whatever she wanted. She and his dad had saved him from a life of way worse than overzealous mothering, after all. Not that he’d made it easy for them.
Damn, that was the last thing he wanted to think about. He’d rather deal with jokes about head-butting a pigeon every day for the next year.
“Doesn’t look like too much damage to your truck,” his dad said as he entered the kitchen.
“No. Mandy’s car got the worst of it.”
“How bad?” his mom asked.
“It’s crunched in the front. Probably the radiator is done for. Greg’s looking at it.”
Sloane snorted. “He’ll probably charge her a few dates to pay for it.”
Ben’s jaw clenched at the thought of Greg with his hands all over Mandy. What in the—
“Nah,” his youngest sister, Angel, said. “They already went out once. No spark.”
“Really?” his mom said. “Mandy’s such a pretty girl, and it’s about time Greg stopped flitting around like a butterfly and settled down.”
“Not everyone wants to get married and have two-point-five kids, Mom,” Adam said.
Their mom ruffled Adam’s thick, dark, wavy hair as she passed behind where he sat at the table. “They do when they find the right person. You’ll see.”
Ben disagreed in his mind but kept quiet. He’d never told anyone about his decision not to have a family. He knew it’d upset his mother especially, that she’d try to talk him out of it. Best just to avoid the topic altogether.
With the food on the table, they all settled into their places. All except Neil. Ben still hadn’t quite gotten used to his older brother no longer living under the same roof. He was pleased for Neil and Arden—they’d both been through a lot and deserved to be happy. It was just odd to be the oldest sibling at the dinner table now.
“Did you know the Websters’ place got subdivided?” he asked, steering the conversation away from settling down and producing heirs.
“I did hear that,” his dad said. “Seems as if it’d be a mighty big headache dealing with lots of deals instead of just one.”
“Mandy said they didn’t want to sell to anyone like Franklin Evans.” The man had thought the simple fact that he wanted the Rocking Heart was enough that Ben’s parents would just up and sell a ranch that had been in the family nearly a century. Ben still smiled every time he thought about how Arden had put the self-important jerk in his place.
His dad chuckled. “I always did like Tom Webster.”
“So Mandy bought part of it?” his mom asked, a little too much loaded curiosity in her tone.
“Yeah, couple of acres on the creek.”
“She got one of those tiny houses, didn’t she?” Sloane asked. “I saw them towing it through town some time back.”
“Yeah, not much bigger than our doghouse.”
“I think they’re fascinating,” Angel said.
“Not very practical, though.”
Angel shrugged. “Depends on what you’re looking for.”
“You sound like Mandy,” he said.
“That right?” There was no denying his mom’s curious tone.
Sloane elbowed him in the ribs, not hard but enough to draw his attention. “Now that she’s got Neil headed toward happily-ever-after, you know you’re next, right?”
“Never heard a rule that said marriages had to go in birth order. Maybe you’re next.” He glanced down the table. “You’d like to be the mother of the bride, wouldn’t you, Mom?”
This time the jab to the ribs was a bit more forceful.
“Indeed I would. And both of my girls will make beautiful brides.”
“I’m going to kill you in your sleep,” Sloane said under her breath to him.
He just smiled wide at her, grateful the conversation had veered away from him and Mandy. Not that there was a “him and Mandy.”
But after dinner, his thoughts kept straying to her as he headed to his workshop to log some progress on a saddle he was making for a rancher over in Kimble County who’d seen the feature Arden had written on his custom saddles in the Blue Falls Gazette.
He couldn’t stop thinking about how nice Mandy’s legs had looked below that flowered skirt. How many times had he seen Mandy Richardson in his life? Even spoken to her? Dozens. Hundreds, probably.