Bachelor Father (20 page)

“Yes. I had it confirmed by a doctor yesterday. So you’re really leaving this afternoon?”

“I only came to find out. Now I know, so I can get out of your hair.”

“Oh.” She looked disappointed. Turning away from him, she walked over to her desk. She drummed her fingers on it a few times before wheeling back to face him. “I’m going to resign.”

“You
what?
”

“I’ve been thinking about it all week, which is why I finally decided to mail you a ticket. I wanted to warn you that I was doing this, so it wouldn’t come as a shock.”

Panic rose in his chest. “Katherine, no. Don’t do this. I shouldn’t have made love to you again. It was selfish of me, and—”

“Look, you don’t have to change any of your plans. Well, you might have to make a little more time in your life for your two children, because they’ll be living in Jackson with me, instead of here in New York, so naturally I hope that you’ll spend more time with them.”

“What are you saying? You can’t throw all this away. My God, you have a window overlooking Fifth Avenue! Do you know what that means?”

“Yes.” She lifted her chin. “Not much anymore. I have a lot to work out with Naomi, and it won’t be easy. I’ll hate letting her down, but I need to make...other plans. I’m not asking you to marry me, or take care of me. But I will be near enough that our two children can know you, know you really well. I will find something creative and challenging to do there, something that will involve the outdoors. It’s—”

“No!” He’d ruined everything for her. Ruined everything with his selfish, greedy desire to give her another child.

Amanda started to fuss, but Katherine stayed where she was, her expression filled with pain. She put a hand to her chest. “Are you saying you...don’t want me to be that close to you?”

Standing in this expensive office and knowing what she’d be giving up, he decided to lie. But he had to look away to do it. “That’s what I’m saying.” He knew he had to get out of there, and damned fast. “Goodbye, Katherine. Keep me posted on...everything.” He flung open the door and practically ran down the hall.

The elevator opened just as he arrived, and he stepped inside. He had to put as much distance between him and Katherine as he could before he got down on his knees and begged her to spend the rest of her life with him. But what he had could never compare with all of this. Never in a million years.

* * *

K
ATHERINE
STOOD
WITHOUT
moving. If she moved she might break. Soon she’d go over and pick up the baby, soothe her and get her back to sleep. Soon.

“What the hell was that about?” Naomi burst into the office. “Where was he going in such a hurry?”

Katherine blinked. Her voice was strangely calm. “Away from me, I believe. I scared him to death.” She gazed at Naomi. “I didn’t mean this to be so abrupt, and I hate that I’m messing up everything you’ve planned for, but...I need to resign. I had planned to move to Wyoming, but...”

“Because you love him.”

Katherine felt as if she were enveloped in some sort of thick fog. “Yes, but I didn’t tell him that. Listen, Naomi, I’m so sorry about this. You’ve been the most supportive, most loving, most wonderful—”

“Never mind that. Why haven’t you told him you love him? It’s true. And he loves you.”

Katherine gazed at Naomi in confusion. “That’s just it. He doesn’t.”

“The hell he doesn’t! He’s giving up everything so that you can keep the job of your dreams!” She shook her head. “Young people are so dense these days.”

Katherine stared at her. “You really think he loves me?”

“I would bet my fortune on it. In fact, I think I will. I’ve had a pretty good idea this would happen, and I’ve started looking into selling the magazine.”

Katherine’s mouth dropped open.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, don’t look so shocked. I’ve known from the minute you came back that you were gaga over this ranger of yours. So go get him. Chase him down before he gets out of town.”

“But, Naomi, you’re going to sell
Cachet?
”

“Lock, stock and barrel. Well, maybe I’ll keep some stock. Then I’ll travel, come to Wyoming to visit my god-grandchild and have a life. That’s something you have a chance to build, by the way. Create your own dream, Katherine. Don’t chain yourself to mine. Now go, go get him!”

Still Katherine hesitated. “But what about Amanda? She’s fussing and probably needs to be fed.”

“I’ll deal with her until you come back. And don’t come back without that gorgeous hunk of man. He’s worth twenty jobs like this one.”

“Oh, Naomi, I don’t know if he really wants me.”

“Have I ever steered you wrong?”

“No.”

“Then let me advise you one last time. Chase that man down. Use the express elevator at the back of the building.”

“Okay.” Katherine began to grin. She ran down the hall and through a double door that led to the express elevator. Rumor had it that the original owner of the building had had the elevator installed so that he could slip away with his mistress if his wife was spotted coming in the front of the building. The elevator plummeted her to the ground floor quickly enough to make her stomach jump, if it hadn’t already been doing cartwheels at the prospect of blatantly throwing herself at Zeke.

Once on the ground floor she dashed out another set of double doors, through the lobby and into the street. Thank God he was tall and wearing a Stetson. She spotted him a block away.

Dodging pedestrians, she ran as fast as her tight skirt and designer shoes would allow. “Zeke!” she shouted.

He turned. The minute he caught sight of her he started making his way back toward her. “What is it?” he called as he drew near. “Is Amanda okay?”

“Amanda’s fine.” She leaned over and put her hands on her knees while she caught her breath.

“Then why are you here?”

She straightened. Maybe she’d been too coy. Maybe, in spite of her newfound courage, she’d been too cowardly when it came to Zeke. Well, she’d do her damnedest now. “Because I love you.”

He stared at her.

“Naomi seems to believe the feeling’s mutual, and that the only reason you’ve been pushing me away is because you’re thinking of me, and this job I would be giving up.” She looked into his dark eyes and her courage began to falter. “I’m here because I’m taking the chance she’s right.”

With a groan he gathered her close and pressed her head against his shoulder. “She’s right, and damn it, Katherine, you have to stay here. You’ll have everything here, while with me you’ll have—”

“Everything,” she murmured, lifting her head to look into his eyes. “All I want is you and our children. I want to live in the wilderness with you. I love it there, Zeke. I always have, but I lost track of that when my parents died, and then Naomi kept urging me to be a journalist and work for her. Please don’t push me away because you think you know what’s best for me.”

“All I have is a one-room cabin!”

She smiled. “I dream about that cabin every night. I dream about it in the daytime, too.”

“Just the cabin?”

“No, I dream about the man in the cabin. And I wonder if he loves me as much as I love him.”

Fierce emotion blazed in his eyes. “More. I love you more than I ever thought I would love another person. Oh, God, Katherine, could you really be happy out in the woods with a guy like me?”

Her heart swelled with joy. “Not just a guy
like
you, but with the one and only Zeke Lonetree? I think it could be arranged. Of course I want the whole package—the ring, the ceremony, the honeymoon.”

He tightened his grip. “And where would you like to go for this honeymoon? I could probably swing Hawaii, or maybe San Francisco, but then some people like—”

“I was thinking about a little cabin in the woods.”

“But you’ve been there.”

“Yeah, and I wasted far too much time, and wore far too many clothes.”

“Ah, New York lady.” He cupped her chin in his hand. “I’m going to kiss you right in the middle of your precious Fifth Avenue.”

“Kiss me right in the middle of my mouth, ranger man. You’ll like the taste better.”

People eddied around them, jostling them in their haste to get on their way, but Zeke held her tight. And as his mouth found hers, she imagined she smelled woodsmoke, pine trees and rain-soaked earth. She could even swear she heard, somewhere in the distance, the proud song of the wolves.

EPILOGUE

“J
UST
A
LITTLE
MORE
,” Zeke crooned. “That’s it. Breathe...breathe. Now
push.
That’s it.”

In the muted light of the hospital birthing room, Katherine ignored the murmurs of her doctor, Eva, and the attending nurses. Her world had narrowed to the pain and Zeke. She focused intently on his calm, patient voice and his dark warrior’s eyes made even more dramatic by the pale green surgical mask he wore. With each contraction she clutched his hand with the same urgent grip as when he’d pulled her from the rapids. He was her key to survival.

He touched a cool cloth to her forehead. “Almost there. Big push, sweetheart.”

She could do this. She’d faced a bear, damn it. She could do this.

“One more push.” Above the mask, his eyes seemed to glow. “Give us our baby, Katherine.”

Our baby.
Fighting exhaustion and pain, she closed her eyes and bore down with a loud groan.

For the first time, his voice quivered. “The baby’s coming. That’s it. That’s it! God, how I love you, Katherine!”

She opened her eyes as a lusty wail filled the room.

“It’s a girl,” Eva announced as she laid the warm, wet baby on Katherine’s chest. At the contact, the baby’s cries slowly subsided.

“A girl.” With a soft smile Katherine cradled the child they’d created. Then she gazed up at Zeke. “I’m glad.”

Zeke leaned over them, his voice choked. “Yeah, me, too. I’m starting to get the hang of little girls.”

“Yes, you are.” She couldn’t imagine ever loving him more than she did at this very moment. Yet she knew she would. Every day the bond between them grew stronger.

He swallowed and cleared his throat. Then he laid a gloved hand on the baby. “Welcome to the world, Naomi...” He paused and glanced at Katherine. “We never decided on a middle name, did we?”

“I did.” Katherine had been saving her idea until this moment, hoping and praying the baby would be a girl. “I want to name her Naomi Suzanne.”

He sucked in a breath and stepped back, clearly taken by surprise. “After my mother?”

Katherine nodded.

Zeke lowered his head and turned away as a tremor passed through his massive body.

At his reaction, Katherine’s chest tightened with anxiety. Maybe she’d made a mistake. “Unless you don’t want to,” she said softly.

His head came up. His dark lashes were spiked with the tears he’d fought unsuccessfully to control. When he finally spoke, his voice was rough and unsteady. “I want to,” he said. He crouched down so that he could gaze into the baby’s face. Slowly he settled his big hand over the tiny body. “Welcome to the world, Naomi Suzanne.”

* * * * *

ISBN: 9781459242319

Copyright © 1999 by Harlequin Books S.A.

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