Unexpected Mates

id still have deadlines she wouldn’t mind getting ahead of.

She slumped back in her chair, looking around the room, taking in again the old and worn furnishings. She wondered if Red Moon was struggling a bit financially or if Ty and Chase just put everything back into the farm operations. She thought back to the ancient desktop computer on Ty’s desk. It was probably more of a financial struggle, because she couldn’t see Ty not updating that since it had to make dealing with farm work difficult.

Parker sat up as a thought hit her. She might be able to help. Maybe she really could build a website for Red Moon. Website’s really weren’t what she did, but she was experienced in them from building her own. She just needed to know exactly what Red Moon did: what crops they grew, what animals they raised, and what animals they sold. She’d grown up in a ranching and farming community, but she’d grown up in town. Her dad was a banker and her mom was a teacher. She didn’t know much about farms, but she could learn.

Feeling excited, Parker closed her laptop and headed outside. She’d just take a look around until she waited for Ty to get back to the house. She would put her idea to him then and ask him questions about what they offered here then.

Parker wondered around for a moment, not sure where to start. She walked to the equipment shed and peeked inside quickly before moving on. She had no idea what most of that did, so it was best to leave it alone until she had Ty or Chase with her.

Tucking her hands in the pockets of her shorts, Parker strolled slowly around, taking everything in. She passed a pen with goats inside and smiled at their playfulness. She’d never been around animals other than house pets, but she was enjoying the change. When she got to the pig pen, she stopped and then climbed on the bottom rung to get a better look.

The pig inside was huge, and Parker assumed it was a female, since there were some piglets nearby. They were the cutest things she’d ever seen, playing in the mud and having a grand old time. Momma pig wasn’t exactly cute, but her size was impressive.

Parker looked around, wondering what all pigs ate. She’d heard people say slop a lot, but was that all, or did they get fed some type of pig food or something? And did they sell the piglets? She’d like to put them on the website. Cuteness like that needed shared.

“What the hell are you doing, Parker?”

Letting out a shriek of surprise at the sound of Ty’s voice right behind her, Parker jumped and found her foot slipping. Clutching onto the post, she wobbled as Ty came up behind her, grabbing her to stop her from falling before easing her to the ground.

Parker let off a shaky laugh, fighting off embarrassment as Ty stepped back, keeping his hands on her arms.

“Seriously Parker, what the hell? You shouldn’t be climbing on shit! You’re pregnant, in case you’ve forgotten. I don’t know, maybe you have. Not eating, trying to carry shit, climbing and almost falling and breaking your pretty neck.”

Parker studied Ty’s face, frowning slightly. She’d wanted to laugh at his rant, but the urge went away when she saw the genuine worry on his face. “Ty. Take a breath. It’s okay. I don’t normally skip meals. I mean, look at me. Do I look like I don’t get enough to eat? I don’t carry anything heavy. I just wanted to carry my bathroom bag, which wouldn’t hurt me or the baby. I’m not fragile, and carrying stuff like that won’t hurt either of us. As for climbing, I was less than a foot off of the ground. And I would have been fine. The only reason I lost my footing was because I didn’t hear you approach and you startled me. Even if I’d fallen, the only thing that would have been hurt was my ego. It wouldn’t have been much of a fall. The baby and I are fine, and we’re going to stay that way.”

Ty searched her eyes for a moment before sighing and pulling away to run a hand through his hair. “Okay. I probably overreacted, but I worry about you. Worrying isn’t something I’m used to doing, so I don’t always handle it well.” He shot her a look under hooded eyes, and she felt a zing go through her body, practically feeling that look down to her toes. “And look at you? I have looked at you, Parker. Every inch of you, and I can’t stop looking. You’re gorgeous, and if you don’t realize that, or haven’t noticed the effect you have on me, you’re not as smart as I thought you were. Now why were you looking at Franny?”

Parker blinked, mouth opening and closing like a fish, taken aback both by his comment about how she looked, and the sudden change in conversation. He thought she was gorgeous? And she had an effect on him? She couldn’t keep up with him. One minute he was basically running from her and the next, he was telling her how gorgeous she was.

And Franny? Who was Franny? Parker looked around, still disoriented, and realized he must be talking about the pig. “Franny is the pig?” She asked, wanting to make sure.

“Yeah, the sow. Big old gal,” he said affectionately, going to stand by the pig pen.

Parker fought to keep the amusement off of her face as she moved to stand by him. Big muscled tatted up bad boy, who loved his pig? Her amusement faded, replaced by warmth. Something about that combination was making her heart melt.

“Sounds like you like Franny a lot,” she replied, moving to stand next to him at the fence.

“Yeah, well,” Ty said, clearing his throat and shifting uncomfortably. “I’ve raised her since she was a piglet. She was the runt of her litter that no one thought would make it. I hand fed her and everything. She ended up being the best of them. We almost lost her last year, and we would have if Kendall hadn’t come to save her.”

Parker felt her eyes narrowing as she heard the affection in his tone when he talked about Kendall. This felt a whole lot like jealousy, but who was she to get jealous over who Ty liked? She might be having Tyler’s baby, but she and Ty weren’t together. He could like who he wanted.

Didn’t mean she had to like it, though.

“Kendall?” She asked, fighting to keep the emotion out of her voice. Going by the amused glance Ty shot her, she didn’t succeed.

“Yeah, Kendall Montgomery? You know who she is, right? Y’all are fairly close in age.”

Parker nodded. She knew who he was talking about, although it didn’t make her feel any better. Kendall was very pretty, if she remembered right. Kendall was really nice, too, she thought, feeling slightly guilty about sending dagger thoughts the other woman’s way. “We never talked much, but I remember who she is.”

“She’s a vet now. When Franny here was poisoned last year, Kendall left her family’s ranch to stay here and save her.” Ty sent her another look, amusement still dancing in his dark gaze. “That’s when she fell for Sam. Sam is Garret’s brother. They’re mat—married now. Sam lives on Bear Claw Ranch with her.”

Parker pretended to study Franny so she could avoid the knowing in Ty’s eyes, wondering over the stutter on his words when he said married. Maybe it was stuff about his dual nature he was almost letting slip. She needed to pay closer attention; maybe then she could figure some of it out.

“Franny was poisoned?”

Tyler sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah. One of the women who worked closely to Sam with the animals had a crush on him. She thought poisoning the livestock was a good way to get his attention,” he added wryly.

Parker shook her head. Women like that gave her whole gender a bad name, and perpetuated the crazy women stereotype. Although in her case, maybe she really had been crazy to do something like that.