Expecting the Rancher's Heir

If someone had told him a week ago that he would be sitting in a doctor’s office, waiting to find out when his baby was due, he would have laughed them into the next state. Now, he found himself looking forward to learning the approximate time he would become a daddy and discussing the possibility of even more children.

Unreal.

“Let’s get me through this pregnancy first,” she advised, lying back down against a pillow. “Then we’ll discuss our options.”

He was saved from opening his mouth and making things worse with her when an attractive middle-aged woman, wearing a set of scrubs and a lab coat, walked into the room. “I’m Dr. Fowler,” she said, smiling.

For the next half hour, the doctor examined Lissa, told them what to expect during the first trimester and answered their questions. Then, giving them an approximate date in April for the birth, she handed them a list of do’s and don’ts and told them to make an appointment to see her in a month.

“I think I’m on information overload,” Shane said as he escorted Lissa across the clinic parking lot to his truck. He helped her up into the cab, then walked around to the driver’s side and slid in behind the steering wheel. “What do you say we go to the ranch and chill out until the dinner party tomorrow night?”

“That sounds good,” she said, buckling the shoulder belt. “I don’t particularly want to run into any of my family until after we tell them our news.”

“Why not?” he asked, starting the truck. Never having had a brother or sister, sibling dynamics were something of a mystery to him.

“My brothers probably haven’t noticed my frequent absences from the spa this week, but I know my sister, Erica, and my brother’s fiancée, Avery, have.” She shook her head. “They’re sure to ask why I canceled our lunch date today, and I don’t want to lie to them.”

“I don’t blame you.” He liked that she was honest and preferred not to say anything, rather than tell a lie.

“Have you told Cactus anything about all of this?” she asked, hiding a yawn behind her delicate hand. “I’m sure he’s curious.”

Shaking his head, Shane turned the truck onto the road heading west out of Aspen. “No, but he has to know something is up.”

“Has he said anything?”

“Not a word.”

“Then how do you know he’s aware there’s some thing going on?” She looked bewildered and so darned cute, it was all he could do to keep from stopping the truck in the middle of the road and kissing her senseless.

“I’ve never brought a woman to the ranch before,” he answered.

“Never?”

Shane shook his head. “Nope.”

“So that’s why Cactus was so surprised to see me that morning,” she said, sounding sleepy.

“Yup. He hadn’t seen a woman in that house since my aunt and her family left Aspen to move to Santa Fe.”

He wasn’t sure why, but he had never before felt compelled to bring a woman home with him. Nor had he ever been tempted to take a woman to see Rainbow Falls. At least he hadn’t until he met Lissa.

Glancing over at her, he realized she had fallen asleep. What was it about her that was different from other women he had been involved with?

As he steered the truck onto the private road leading over the ridge to the ranch, Shane decided that he was probably better off not knowing. There were some questions that were better left unanswered and he had a feeling this was one of them.

“Melissa, you look amazing,” Avery Lancaster said, when she and Melissa’s brother Guy walked up to her outside of the doors to the Sky Lounge. “Is there a new facial treatment in the spa I haven’t heard about?”

Hugging her brother’s fiancée, Melissa smiled as she shook her head. “I’ve just been getting more rest and eating a bit healthier.”

It wasn’t a lie. Of late, all she wanted to do was sleep and she had added an extra serving of fruits and vegetables to her diet each day.

“Well, whatever you’re doing is working,” Avery said, laughing. “You’re positively glowing.”

“You do look different,” Guy agreed, frowning.

The fact that her brother thought he noticed a change in her was a bit of a shock. Since meeting the beautiful wine expert at his side, he was barely aware of anything else around him.

Melissa’s brother Trevor chose that moment to stroll over to them. “Do any of you know what this party is all about? I’ve never known McDermott to be overly social. Usually the guest lists for his get-togethers consist of himself and the lady of the moment.”