RANCHER BEAR’S BABY(9)
When it did, I stood up on shaky legs and awkwardly backed away from Alex. I was weak and let the tears fall as I turned and got on the bus without hugging him goodbye. I’d never felt anything quite as intense and the entire ride back to DC was spent crying over a man I’d known for less than twenty-four hours. I was going home but it’d never felt less like home.
CHAPTER 10: Elizabeth
Three Months Later
I’d arrived in Landing, Wyoming the night before and had stayed in the same motel where Sam and I had lived for those couple weeks. Landing was exactly the same, although, I felt like everything had changed. I woke up early, feeling like shit, as usual. My body was revolting. I’d heard of people having easy first trimesters. I wasn’t one of them.
I stood in front of the floor length mirror on the back of the bathroom door and stared at my body. In my floral sundress, my pregnant belly was slightly blending in. So far, the rest of my body had stayed the same. Except my breasts. They were exploding all over the place.
Pregnant. Pregnant after a one night stand with a stranger. I was living in a Lifetime made for TV movie special.
I’d gone back to DC and thrown myself into work. I had been offered my old job back. They really didn’t need me but had hired me back anyway out of the goodness of the boss’s heart. I’d tried to forced myself to forget about Alex, although it never really took. I’d dreamt of the big man every single night, and daydreamed about him every single day. I was living in a constant haze, a fog that I hadn’t been able to lift.
The first month, I’d been able to act like my missed period was nothing. In my sadness at leaving, I’d forgotten to take the morning after pill, but I’d convinced myself that it was just the stress that made me miss my period.
The second month, I realized that something wasn’t right. I started getting sick in the mornings. When I was finally able to get away from work, I took a pregnancy test and, sure enough, it read positive. I was pregnant.
I spent the next month arguing with myself about what I should do. The internal conflict was tearing me up. I didn’t want to have to be the girl who showed up at some guy’s doorstep with the stork news. I also didn’t think it was right for me to keep this news from Alex. Maybe he’d want to know. A part of me just wanted to see him; another part worried that I was asking for more heartache. I couldn’t help the fact that I really did want to see him. Something about him was drawing me back like a moth to a flame. I just hoped I didn’t get burned.
It was scorching hot outside, but that didn’t stop me from walking towards Alex’s trailer. I passed a few different people on the way that stared at my stomach with wide eyes. I looked down and rubbed it. “It’s okay, little guy. This town is just weird.”
I didn’t know for sure I was having a boy, but I just felt like I was. A mother’s intuition. I smiled to myself and shook my head. As crazy as it seemed, I felt good about my baby. Everything was tense and up in the air when it came to work and Alex, but I was solid when it came to my protectiveness of my baby. I would be having and taking care of a little one.
Alex’s trailer came into view and the little tornadoes in my stomach started turning like crazy.
His truck wasn’t in the drive, so I didn’t figure he’d be there, but just to be sure, I knocked anyway. No answer.
The next place I looked was the stadium. There were a few cowboys standing around outside, but Alex wasn’t one of them. Sweat was rolling down my chest and face. I started feeling a little panicked.
“Ma’am?” A big guy sent a little wave my way and started over to me. “You looking for Alex?”
I tilted my head. “Yeah. How did you know?”
He grinned and cast a glance at my stomach. “Just a hunch. He’s at the ranch today.”
I looked around and wiped sweat off my forehead. “How far is that?”
He held out his hand and shook mine. “Pretty far. I’m Jason. Let me drive you. It’s too hot for you to be out walking.”
I started to shake my head but then nodded. “I should probably refuse to get in a stranger’s car, but this heat has melted my brain.”
He grinned. “I’m not a stranger, anymore. I’m a friend of Alex’s. I also have a wife who’s a little farther along than you, so you’re safe.”
I held my belly. “Is it that noticeable? I thought it was kind of hidden in this dress.”
He laughed. “You’re fine. Come on. Let’s get some air on you.”
At the potential for air conditioning, I shut up. I climbed into his truck and adjusted the vents to point right at me. Jason turned the air on high and then waited until I buckled my seatbelt before putting the truck in gear and heading out of the lot.