Toys and Baby Wishes (24 page)

Her question was interrupted by a cry from upstairs. 
"Mommy.  Dad.  Mommy."

Lexa and Josh ran up to Matt's bedroom as they had many
times before.  Lexa took Matt in her arms and stroked back his dark brown hair
from his face.  "It's okay," she crooned.  "We're here now. 
You're safe.  You're not alone."

Josh sat along the edge of Matt's bed and rubbed his hand up
and down his son's leg.  "It was just a dream, champ.  C'mon.  Look
around.  You're in your room.  There's nothing to be afraid of."

Matt held on to Lexa and she rocked and soothed until his
tears stopped.  After she kissed his forehead, he scooted off her lap back into
bed.

Josh asked, "Would you feel safer if we stay up
here?"

"Yeah."  Matt tugged his pajama shirt down. 
"Dad, if we get a dog, can he sleep with me?"

"That's something to think about.  But we might be able
to do better than that.  How would you like a brother or sister?"

Matt's eyes widened.  "For real?  Do you mean it?  Will
he sleep in here with me?"

"He or she will be a baby, honey," Lexa
explained.  "And they cry a lot."

"I wouldn't care.  I'd come and get you if he
cried."  Matt seemed to ponder something for a moment.  "You'll still
want me, won't you?"

"Always," Josh assured him.  "You're our son
and nothing will ever change that no matter how big our family gets."

"You're going to be a big brother," Lexa added. 
"Do you think you can handle that and help me out when I need help?"

"Sure.  Will I be able to hold the baby if I'm
careful?"

"Sure can.  Maybe you can feed him or her sometimes if
you want to."  Matt's eyes were getting heavy again and Lexa saw it. 
"We're going to have lots of time to talk about this.  So why don't you
lay back, close your eyes and get some sleep.  Okay?"

Matt laid down.  Josh covered him with a sheet and kissed
his cheek.  "We'll see you in the morning."

Lexa left the hall light on as she and Josh went into their
room.  As she stepped out of her shorts, she asked, "Do you think Matt
knows where babies come from?"

"I'll have a talk with him, simplify it as best I can. 
Or would you rather talk to him?"

She lifted her tee shirt over her head.  "We can do it
together."

Josh walked toward her and when he stood in front of her,
reverently stroked her stomach.  She had so much love to give it always amazed
him.  Since Matt came, she had put her zeal for causes into making sure he knew
he was loved.  She had become involved in the PTA and was helping parents push
for affordable day care facilities.  Now she was pregnant with their child.

His voice was husky.  "You're carrying our baby. 
That's miraculous, isn't it?"

"It is."

"Just as miraculous as Matt.  We're going to have two
wonderful children."

"I love you, Joshua Flannigan."

His hands moved up her midriff and halted below her
breasts.  "Maybe we should practice exactly how we made this baby so we're
armed with the facts when we explain the process to Matt."

"Do you think we need practice?"

"It sure can't hurt.  Practice makes perfect."

"I think we already did it perfectly."

Josh's eyes twinkled.  "So we did.  Now I want to do it
again so you'll know how grateful and thankful I am that you're my wife."

Lexa slipped her hands under Josh's arms and hugged him
tight.  Together, they'd give thanks.  Together, they'd raise their children. 
Together, they'd love.

Forever.

***

From the Author:

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania where Toys And Baby Wishes is
set, was a town I visited often when I attended Shippensburg University.  Since I'm writing fiction, I added sites I needed to enhance the storyline.  All
characters are fictional.  Thanks to Judy Bullard, a wonderful cover artist, for
my beautiful cover. 

I believe romances should touch the deepest nook of readers'
hearts.  From my early books to my most recent, I have kept the emotion of my
characters as the focus. Though styles change, characters change, and trends
change, the important element of a romance doesn't change—the hope that there
can be a happily-ever-after.  I have written over seventy-five novels, making
both the USA Today List and series Bestseller Lists.  Living in Pennsylvania with my college sweetheart and three cats, I spend most days writing, editing,
cooking and gardening. Believing in the power of love and commitment, I look
forward to writing relationship novels for a long time to come.  For more about
me and my latest releases, including excerpts, photos and short stories, please
visit my website listed below.  To keep in touch day to day, follow me at
Facebook and on Twitter.

Karen's website: 
http://www.karenrosesmith.com

Twitter: 
http://www.twitter.com/karenrosesmith

Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1707769293

KAREN
ROSE SMITH BOOKS AVAILABLE IN E-BOOK FORMAT

A Man
Worth Loving

Garden of Fantasy

FINDING
MR. RIGHT Series

Kit
and Kisses, Book 1

Forever
After, Book 2

When
Mom Meets Dad, Book 3

Falling
For Her Boss, Book 4

Toys
and Baby Wishes, Book 5

Love
in Bloom, Book 6

Ribbons
and Rainbows, Book 7

Wish
on the Moon, Book 8

SEARCH
FOR LOVE Series

Nathan's
Vow, Book 1

Jake's
Bride, Book 2

Always
Devoted, Book 3

Always
Her Cowboy, Book 4

Heartfire,
Book 5

Cassidy's
Cowboy, Book 6

EVERYDAY
Short Story Series

Everyday
Cinderellas, Vol. 1

Everyday
Prince Charming, Vol. 2

Everyday
Romance, Vol.3

SCIENCE
FICTION SHORT STORY COLLECTION

Journey
Into Chaos

Excerpt from
ALWAYS HER COWBOY

Search For Love
series, Book 4

Chapter One

When Lucy McIntyre heard the roar of a motorcycle breaking
the solitude of the Rising Star Ranch, she went to the kitchen window and
pushed back the lace curtain with its ivy pattern.  The man on the Harley
brought the machine to a halt at the path to the house.  She watched him climb
off, hang his helmet on the handlebar, and stand with his hands jammed into the
back pockets of his jeans as he studied the barn, corrals, indoor arena, and
outbuildings.  Then his attention turned toward the porch that wound around the
house.  Although she'd expected someone by the name of Zackary Burke to apply
for the job of temporary hand, she'd never expected him to look like this!

He wore boots and jeans, typical attire for men living in
and around Long Brush, Wyoming.  But the black leather jacket and the
motorcycle told her he was from another place.  His midnight hair—thick, wavy
and unruly—needed a trim.  He stood over six feet.  She could tell even from
here.  With his broad shoulders and slim hips, all he needed was a Stetson and
a horse to make him look as if he belonged.

Lucy didn't think she moved, but the man's eyes met hers
through the window.  Caught, embarrassed and mesmerized by something in the
man's demeanor and gaze, every question she'd prepared for their interview
vanished from her head.

Without any warning, he winked, gave her half a smile and
started up the walk.

Flustered and determined not to be, Lucy crossed the
kitchen, willing the heat in her cheeks to subside.  But when she opened the
door, the man was even taller and more powerfully masculine than he'd looked
twenty feet away!  The curiosity and male appraisal as his blue eyes drifted
from her long brown hair to her boots brought even more heat to her cheeks and
a dryness to her throat.

The man extended his hand.  "Zack Burke.  I saw the job
notice at the feed store in Long Brush and talked with Tom McIntyre about it at
the day before yesterday."

Lucy shook his hand, surprised by the heat of his skin, its
rough texture and the sparks that zipped up her arm.  "Tom McIntyre is my
father."  A McIntyre by name rather than birth, it had never seemed to
matter because she'd never doubted that her adoptive parents loved her or that
her older brothers accepted her.  Always grateful for that love and acceptance,
she knew without it, her life might have been much different.

"Is your father around?" Zack Burke asked with a
lift of a black brow.

"Dad and my brother are mending fence.  I'm going to
talk with you a little more to see if we should hire you.  This is a family-run
ranch so family is involved in everything."  She motioned toward the
kitchen table.

Unzipping his jacket, Zack waited for Lucy to sit before he
pulled out a chair at the large pine table.  His knee brushed hers and he
nonchalantly shifted in the high-backed chair with that half-smile back on his
lips.  "Your father told me how much the job pays, including room and
board.  He said it's temporary—until your brother gets back on his feet.  But
if he's out mending fence..."

"That's my older brother, Rick.  You'd be standing in
for my other brother, Marty.  He...hasn't been himself lately.  Too unreliable
to depend on.  With winter setting in soon, we need a reliable, all-around
hand.  We tend some cattle, but our main focus is our Quarter Horses.  Dad's
family has raised them for generations."

"If you check the references I gave your dad, you'll
see I know how to ride, can cut calves, and I'm handy with a hammer."

Along with her father's estimation of the man after his
phone conversation with him and inquiring about him at the boarding house in
Long Brush where he'd been staying, her dad had given her Zackary Burke's
references and she'd called all three of them.  Zack's last temporary job had
been on a ranch in southern Wyoming and the two before that on spreads in Colorado.  His former employers had answered all her questions and agreed he was
hard-working and dependable.  But Lucy wanted to interview him herself, to rely
on her own instincts for one very important reason.

"Why do you want this job, Mr. Burke?"

"Zack," he suggested with a full smile that was
meant to disarm her completely.  It almost did.

But she had learned her lesson about charm and appearances,
and a man's definition of a woman.  If this man didn't want her to stand on
formality, she wouldn't, but she would get the answers she needed.  "All
right...Zack.  Why do you want to work on the Rising Star?"

Giving a casual shrug, his gaze met hers.  "When I like
a place, I stop and work.  Wyoming has enough wide spaces that a man can
breathe, move around and not feel trapped."

Lucy felt a sudden fascination to know more about Zackary
Burke and why he felt trapped.  The light in his intense blue eyes had
changed.  The devil-may-care sparkle had disappeared and was replaced by
shadows.

Knowing she was maybe probing where she shouldn't, she
asked, "Why don't you stay anywhere more than a few months?"

His strongly chiseled jaw tightened.  "I suspect you
know how life on a ranch changes with the seasons.  When the work's finished, I
move on."

"But..."

"Miss McIntyre," he drawled.  Again he gave her
that nonchalant smile that showed her how mobile his lips could be and made her
wonder how he kissed.  The thought shocked her!  Well, not the thought, but
her
having it.

"I like to travel," he continued.  "Working
like this, I've seen more of the United States than most people can only dream
of seeing.  And I like ranches—the miles of fence, the pine and larch, the
bunkhouses where no one cares where you came from or where you're going."

If that was a subtle hint for her to back off with the
questions, she wasn't going to take it.  "Then you might not want this
job, Mr. Burke."

"Zack," he reminded her.

"Zack.  We don't have a bunkhouse.  My older brother
lives in the house up the lane, and Marty lives here.  You'd have a room in
this house with the family."

He pushed back his chair as if to push away from her and the
whole idea.  "You're kidding!"

Lucy shook her head.  "No, I'm not.  You'd have a room
on this floor down the hall and you'd take your meals with us."

Before the man across from her could respond, the telephone
rang.  With an "Excuse me, I'll be right back," Lucy stood, went into
the living room and picked up the phone.

After another glance at Zack, she answered, "Hello,
McIntyres."

"Lucy, is that you?  It's John Buckley."

"Mr. Buckley!  How are you?"

"I'm fine.  Do you have a minute?"

John Buckley was the family lawyer.  What could he possibly
want with her?  "What is it?"

"I'd like you to stop in at my office.  I have
something I want you to see."

"I don't understand."

"The lawyer who handled your adoption died.  Records
were sent on to me.  There's not much, but there is a picture you should look at."

"What kind of picture?"

"I think you should see it before we decide what, if
anything, we want to do about it.  I'd email it to you but I'd like you to see
the original.  When are you coming into town?"

Long Brush with its quaint shops, professional offices and
small hospital was a fifteen-mile trip, and she usually combined shopping and
errands when she made it.  She could make time on Monday...

She hadn't thought about her origins and her adoption in a
long time.  All she knew about her birth-mother was that the woman had been too
poor to keep her and take care of her so she'd given Lucy up for adoption as
soon as she was born.  That's it.  Nothing about her father.  No memorabilia. 
Nothing else.  Lucy had been perfectly happy all her life in the McIntyres
embrace.  Did she want to tamper with that now?