High Country Christmas. Joanna Sims
top wooden plank of the stall gate and leaned forward to get a good look at the pregnant mare.
London ran her hand gently over the mare’s side; she stopped occasionally to palpate the mare’s heavy, rounded belly.
London finished her examination of the stomach and gave the horse a pat on the neck. “She’s doing great. She’s put on the right amount of weight. Her measurements are all good. The foal is in a great position. If everything continues like this, I think we’ll have a safe birth and a healthy foal right on schedule.”
“Mom’ll be glad to hear it.” Rising Star was his mom’s favorite mare.
London unhooked the lead line from the mare’s halter and gave her one last affectionate pat. “I’ve learned to give your mom daily updates.”
“That’s smart.” Tyler slid the latch open and swung the gate toward him for her to walk through.
London nodded and slung the lead line over her shoulder.
“Where’re you heading now?” Tyler fell in beside her.
“To the office. I need to jot some things down in Star’s file and then I’m expecting the vet soon to take a look at Onyx’s leg...it’s just not healing right.”
Tyler followed her into the barn office. He pulled the door shut behind him to keep their conversation private. “So, you have a few minutes before he gets here?”
London wrote a note in Rising Star’s chart and then slipped it back into the file. “A few.”
God, she drove him nuts! As usual, she was acting as though she had everything under control in an out-of-control situation. She had to be just as torn up about what happened as he was. Why did she have to be so damned stoic all the time?
“I’m sorry I haven’t been by lately...” This seemed as good a place to start as any.
“I actually appreciated the space.”
Tyler nodded. London liked her space. “I’m at a loss here, London, so you need to help me out. I don’t even know how to talk to you anymore.”
London looked at him with her typically direct gaze. “I’m late.”
He didn’t need any clarification. He knew what she was referring to—she’d missed her period.
“Are you regular?”
He’d outgrown his embarrassment with menstruation in his teens due to his two very vocal younger sisters, who had thrived on torturing him with discussions of maxi pads and tampons and cramps. And thanks to them, he also knew that just because a women was late, that didn’t necessarily mean she was pregnant.
“Not always.” London shook her head.
But Tyler could read the worry in her eyes. She was trying very hard to be casual, but she was concerned. And that made him concerned. She was the least dramatic female he’d ever met.
“So...technically, we could still be in the clear.”
“Hopefully.” London gave a little shrug with her shoulders. “But I’m not just going to sit around and wait. I’m going to go into town later on and pick up a couple of those early-response pregnancy tests.”
“I’ll drive you.”
She was glad that he offered. She hadn’t slept well the past couple of weeks and she felt weary from worry. If he wanted to drive her into town, she would accept the help.
“I should be done here by three.”
“Okay. I’ll plan on being done around then, too.” Tyler checked his watch. “Let’s meet at my truck at three-thirty.”
* * *
The ride into Helena was a quiet one. London didn’t have much to say, even about subjects that he knew that she normally liked to talk about. He finally gave up on trying to keep the conversation going and concentrated his attention on the road. Luckily, they both liked listening to country, so he tuned the radio to his favorite station and cranked up the music.
When he pulled the truck into a parking space at the drugstore, London unbuckled her seat belt and said, “You’ll wait here.”
He didn’t know if was a statement or a question, really, but either way, he thought it was best that he wasn’t seen shopping for pregnancy tests with London. There were a lot of people in Helena who knew his family, knew him, and a person could never anticipate who might be shopping in the next aisle.
Tyler watched London walk quickly to the store. She had a no-nonsense walk: confident and determined. Her straight, waist-length hair, wet when she had gotten into the truck, had been dried by the wind on their way to Helena. The blunt-cut blond ends danced enticingly just above her small derriere when she walked. The woman was sexy coming and going, as far as he was concerned. This afternoon, she seemed just a little bit more beautiful than usual to him. Maybe he was imagining it, but she looked as though she was glowing. It didn’t escape him that he could be looking at the mother of his first child. London Davenport might be, at this very moment, pregnant by him. On the night they had made love, he had prayed that she wasn’t pregnant. But today? Right now? His feelings were mixed.
London soon returned carrying a white plastic bag. She climbed into the truck and pulled the door shut. He turned down the radio so they could hear each other talk. Tyler glanced at the full bag.
“How many tests did you buy?”
London opened the bag and pulled out the items one by one. “Two different kinds of pregnancy tests, an economy box of condoms for you...”
London placed the large box of condoms on his leg. He could have protected sex for the next several years without ever running out.
“They were all out of green?” he asked.
“You should take that comedy act on the road,” she retorted, but she smiled a small smile as she inventoried the rest of the bag’s contents. “Prenatal vitamins and caramels.”
“Prenatal vitamins?” Tyler frowned at her. “You didn’t take a test while you were in there, did you?”
“No. I got them just in case.” She gave him a funny look. “What would it matter if I had, anyway?”
“I want to be there when you take the test. If you are pregnant, I want to find out with you.”
London stuffed the items back into the bag. “God help me, you’re a romantic, aren’t you?”
“My parents have been married for a long time. So, yeah...” he said a little bit defensively. “I do believe that some people get to marry their soul mates.”
“Sorry...I can get really cranky when I’m tired. I do think it’s nice that you want to be there.”
Tyler nodded, accepting her apology. After a minute of silence, he asked her pensively, “Do you think you’re pregnant, London?”
“Honestly? My gut says yes. But then again, I’ve been really stressed-out lately about coming up with tuition money for my last semester. Stress could be making me late.”
But, until she took the test, speculation was the best either of them could do. Yet a woman’s intuition wasn’t something to take lightly. Tyler started the engine but didn’t pull out of the parking space. He glanced over at London, who looked back at him curiously.
“We drove all the way into Helena. It seems like a waste for us to just turn right around and head back to the ranch.”
“I don’t have anything else to do here.” London said. “Do you?”
“No. But for the sake of argument...let’s just say that you are pregnant,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be nice if I had taken you out to dinner at least once before we become parents together?”
“All right,”