Pregnant with the Rancher's Baby: Reclaimed by the Rancher

Waiting impatiently for them to reach him, when her father placed her hand in his, Nate felt as though he had been handed a rare and precious gift. “Are you ready to become Mrs. Nate Rafferty?” he asked, smiling at the only woman he would ever love.

Her smile lit his soul when she whispered, “I’ve been ready for this my entire life.”

* * *

“Welcome to the ranks of the blissfully hitched,” Ryder said, raising his beer bottle to toast Nate.

“I didn’t think I’d ever say this, but I couldn’t be happier about becoming a member of the club,” Nate said, meaning it.

“Yeah, membership is damned nice,” T.J. said, grinning as he looked over at his wife. They had announced at Thanksgiving that they were expecting to add another family member sometime in the summer and from what Heather told Jessie, T.J. had started hovering over her like Ryder did over his wife, Summer.

“So who won the pool?” Nate asked, taking a swig of his beer. “Didn’t T.J. say we would be married by Christmas?”

Lane nodded. “I think he’s won a couple of our betting pools lately.”

“So what are we going to bet on now?” Sam asked.

Their gazes all swung toward Jaron.

“Oh, hell no,” Jaron said, shaking his head vehemently. “I’m just fine on my own.”

“I say Jaron and Mariah will be hitched by next fall,” T.J. said, plunking down a hundred dollars on the bar.

“I’ve got Easter,” Ryder spoke up, putting a hundred on top of T.J.’s.

“I’m going with Valentine’s Day,” Lane said, adding his money to the growing pile of bills.

“I’ve got the 4th of July.” Sam added his bet. “What about you, Nate?”

“I’ll take May,” Nate said, topping off the pile of money with his hundred. He looked at his best friend, who was quietly fuming at being the subject of the betting frenzy. “Sorry, bro. But I have to agree with the others. Whenever you and Mariah are within twenty feet of each other, you could cut the tension with a knife.”

“Probably because she wants to tear my head off and shout down the hole,” Jaron shot back. “She still hasn’t gotten over me being right about Sam and Lane both having boys when Bria and Taylor got pregnant.”

“But she was right about me and Summer having a girl,” Ryder interjected. “That should have made her happy.”

“It did, right up until Lane and Taylor had a boy,” Jaron said, shaking his head. “She took exception to me pointing out that I’d called it right two thirds of the time and she had only been right once.”

“Yeah, women take a dim view of a man making comments like that,” Sam said, laughing.

As the brothers continued to try to convince Jaron that he and Mariah were destined to be together, Nate looked up to see Jessie smiling at him. It was the same smile she wore the night he had won the bull riding event at the National Finals rodeo—the night he had announced his retirement. Setting his beer bottle on the bar, he walked across the dance floor to take her in his arms.

“As nice as this reception is, I’m ready to start the honeymoon,” he whispered. “How about you, Mrs. Rafferty?”

She nodded. “I love everyone and I couldn’t be happier about becoming a member of the family, but I’d like to spend some time alone with my new husband.”

Nate nodded toward her parents. “Do you think they’ll be all right on their own?”

Jessie rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about them. I saw my dad pass out a couple of business cards to some of your rodeo friends.”

He laughed. “Yeah, he never dreamed that rodeo cowboys could make damned good money riding a dusty old bull.”

“Not until the most handsome retired cowboy I know enlightened him,” she said, raising up on tiptoe to kiss his chin.

When the baby landed a kick to his navel, Nate chuckled. “I think she agrees with you.”

“I think so,” Jessie said, her beautiful smile sending his blood pressure sky high.

“Let’s go get started on our life together,” he said, taking her hand to lead her toward the door.

“I love you, cowboy,” she said, looking up at him with more love in her eyes than he would ever deserve.

“And I love you, darlin’,” he said, feeling like the luckiest man alive. “Forever and always.”

* * * * *

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE TEXAN: