Trouble In Dixie (23 page)

Tommy huffed out a frustrated breath, then
jammed the truck into gear and headed back to the cabin. The
pleasant mood between them from this morning had disappeared, and
the tension in the cab of the truck was palpable, as he drove. He
ground his teeth and wondered how the hell could things have turned
on a dime yet again? Now everything he'd done to show Katie how he
felt about her...about their babies...was for naught. He'd have to
start over at square one in his mission to convince the
frustrating, but delicious, redhead that he loved her.

It took them about two hours to get Katie's
stuff packed up in her truck and his, because they had to go to the
Double B and unload her trailer into Katie's truck as well. Cassie
told her it would be fine for her to leave the trailer parked
there, and Laramie for now as well, so Karlie could exercise
him.

Now, Katie was following behind him as they
drove to Amarillo, still stewing over having to go there at all.
She knew she was being stubborn and unreasonable, but it was her
prerogative right? Even though she knew it was for the best, she
resented how her decision had been forced. If he'd have just asked
her, in private, and explained his reasoning, she probably would
have agreed anyway. He was right, she didn't need to be on that
property working, and it was too much for her to maintain while
she's pregnant. But she'd be damned if she'd tell him that now.

The drive took a little over five hours,
because she'd had to stop to pee two times on the way, and they had
to stop and eat at a restaurant, because her stomach couldn't take
fast food. They'd been talking back and forth on their cell phones,
off and on, but he kept their conversations short, because he told
her he didn't want her to lose focus on her driving and have an
accident.

Damned overprotective, that's what he was,
and it was irritating her. She remembered that he told her once
that he was only overprotective toward those he cared about, so
that settled her down a little, though. Tommy Tucker was very
annoying at times, and pissed her off more than he should, but
damned if she didn't love him. But she wasn't telling him that
either, for now.

He pulled down the long white fence lined
road that led to the ranch, and she watched her freedom ebb with
each foot they got closer to the house. She knew once she stepped
foot inside, it would be like her prison for seven or eight months,
and he would be her guard. Katie pulled her truck up beside his in
front of the huge sprawling house and killed the engine, then just
sat there staring at the front porch. The door swung open and Dixie
ran out, then she ran down the steps not toward her daddy's truck,
but toward Katie's.

Katie opened the door of the truck and slid
down, before Tommy got over there, and he frowned when he reached
her, then scolded, "You should have waited to let me help you down,
Katie."

She snorted and stepped around him then bent
down to open her arms, and the bundle of energy that was Dixie
Tucker threw herself into Katie's arms. "Katie, you're back," the
little girl said in wonder and hugged her neck tightly.

"I sure am, baby...now we can get you riding
like a pro, and roping too," she said into Dixie's blond curls.

Dixie leaned back and looked at her with awe
in her light blue eyes, "And we can teach Snuggles more tricks,"
she said excitedly.

"Yes, we can," Katie agreed and kissed her
cheek.

That wasn't enough for Dixie though, she
threw her arms around Katie's neck again and said in a sweet little
voice that pulled at Katie's heart, "I'm so glad you're back, Miss
Katie."

Katie untangled herself from Dixie's grasp,
and stood back up, but held her hand. "Won't you help us get my
stuff unloaded," she told her with a warm smile.

"Doesn't daddy get a hug too?" Tommy huffed
from behind her rather indignantly.

"Oh yeah! Sorry, daddy, I was just excited
to see Miss Katie," she said and pulled her hand from Katie's then
ran into Tommy's open arms and hugged him. He picked her up on his
hip and said, "Let's go inside for a few minutes and cool off, then
we'll come back out and unload."

"Okay, Cookie made some lemonade and cookies
for us," she told him and hung onto his neck, as Tommy walked
toward the house, and Katie trailed behind him.

When they got inside, the cool air instantly
dried the sweat that had broken out on Katie's skin, while they'd
been standing outside. It was fall, but they were having a hot
spell, and who knew when it would let up. They walked to the
breakfast bar where there was indeed a plate of homemade chocolate
chip cookies waiting for them.

The short gray-haired woman in the kitchen
turned toward them and smiled at Tommy. For some reason, Katie
noticed it didn't quite reach her dark brown eyes, and wondered
why. "Welcome home, Mr. Tucker," she said brightly, then her eyes
flickered over Katie and she raised a brow. "Oh, I didn't realize
we had company..."

"We don't," Tommy told her with a chuckle,
"Katie is going to be living here with us." he told her and Katie
could have sworn she saw momentary fire in the woman's eyes, before
they became blank again.

"Would you and Miss Katie like some
lemonade, then?" she asked deferentially, but Katie heard an
underlying edge to her words. She wondered why she'd never noticed
that before when she was here. Maybe she just hadn't been around
the woman enough, because she'd always been busy, and out
working.

"That would be wonderful, thanks Cookie,"
Tommy told her then put Dixie down on her feet and patted her blond
curls. "You remembering to take Snuggles out for his walks?" he
asked her.

"Yes, sir, and he hasn't messed in the
house, while you were gone...he's doing good," she informed him
proudly.

"That's awesome, sugar," he told her with a
chuckle, then patted her head again, "Very good job."

Katie smiled at the, because evidently Tommy
was doing a better job at teaching and disciplining her too. He
looked at Katie curiously and she mouthed, "Good job," then winked
at him. Tommy beamed and then stepped over and gave her a hug. Out
of the corner of her eye, she saw Cookie frown, before she turned
her back to them and reached into the cabinet to pull down
glasses.

Tommy wouldn't let her help unload the
trucks, she had to sit in a rocker on the porch and watch, as he
and a few of his ranch hands unloaded her stuff and brought it
upstairs. Katie didn't know yet, which room they were putting her
stuff in, but she assumed it was one of the guest rooms. She was
sure he didn't want to confuse Dixie by moving her into his room,
and that was fine with her for now...until they figured out how
they were going to tell her about the babies.

When they were finished unloading, Tommy
walked over to her and held out his hand. "Let's go upstairs, so I
can help you unpack," he said then looked around before he waggled
his eyebrows at her and gave her a sexy grin.

His dirty little secret
, her
subconscious screamed, but she stuffed a sock in its mouth, and
took his hand to follow him upstairs.

It took them a couple of weeks, but they'd
finally fallen into a routine at the ranch, and it felt good. When
Dixie got home from school, they had a snack together at the
breakfast bar and talked. Dixie told her how her day had gone, and
Katie listened intently, then looked at her above average marks on
her papers and praised her profusely. When they finished doing
that, they would either go give Dixie a riding or roping lesson, or
take Snuggles out and teach him a trick. When they came back in,
Katie would help her with her homework, make sure they all had
supper, then Dixie would get a bath and go to bed.

Katie's new purpose was to keep Dixie to
that routine, which would help Tommy, who had been working his ass
off to finish harvesting the hay for the season, and get his
breeding program finished. When he dragged himself into the house
in the evening at dark, he was usually bone tired and a sweaty
mess, but he always stopped to give her a hug and a toe-curling
kiss, before he went upstairs to get cleaned up.

He had put her stuff back in the room she
occupied previously, but at night she'd sneak down to his room, and
they'd make love, and sleep together, then she'd get up early in
the morning, when he got up to leave to go to the barn, and go back
to her room.

His dirty little secret
, her
subconscious yelled again, but this time she put duct tape over it,
hoping the thought would keep quiet a little longer this time.

She didn't care, because she
wanted
to be with him, regardless of the status of their public
relationship. He was happy, she was ecstatic and they were in a
good place, so that's all that mattered.

When he came in on Friday night, he kissed
her as usual, but his eyes were guarded and his body was tense, so
she asked him, "What's wrong?"

"I want you in my bed with me full-time, not
sneaking around. We're going to tell Dixie tonight, you ready?" he
asked her seriously.

Katie studied him intently for a minute,
trying to figure out whether he was ready to do that, or if he was
just doing it for her. He leaned down and kissed her then said,
"Stop over thinking things, Katie...let's do this," he said and
brushed hair from her eyes, then finished, "I want to do it."

"Okay then, tonight after supper," she
agreed and put her arms around him and hugged him. She stuck her
tongue out at her subconscious and then smiled up at Tommy, and
said in a shaky voice full of emotion, "I love you..." she told
him.

His breath hitched, then he whooped and
lifted her up in his arms and twirled her around then claimed her
mouth in a soul-stirring kiss that seemed to go on forever. When he
finally dragged his mouth from hers, he held her gaze intently, and
swallowed then told her, "I love you too, Katie," then he hugged
her again. Over his shoulder to the right, Katie noticed Cookie
standing there with a platter of raw steaks in her hand, frozen to
the spot with a stunned expression on her face.

Dixie came bursting through the front door
with excitement making her blue eyes shine. She skipped over to
them and tugged on Tommy's arm then told him exuberantly, "I made a
friend at school, daddy! Susie Hutchins wants me to come spend the
night at her house tonight, her mama said it was okay! She's going
to order us pizza for supper and we get to watch movies!" When she
saw he wasn't as excited as she was, she stopped and asked
solemnly, "I can go, can't I, daddy? Please?"

Tommy glanced at Katie and flinched, then he
looked back at Dixie and said, "Yeah, honey, of course you can go.
Let me got get cleaned up real quick though, and Katie and I need
to talk to you for a minute, before I take you over there. Write
down her number, so I can call her mother and get directions."

Dixie jumped up and down clapping, then
hugged his waist tightly and said, "Thank you...you're the bestest
daddy in the world!" then she looked up and grinned at him
adorably.

Katie smiled at them, pleased as punch that
Dixie had made a friend. The lonely little needed some friends, it
would help her fit in at school better. Kids needed to socialize
with others their own age. They didn't need to be isolated out on a
remote ranch, with only grown ups and rough cowboys to talk to
them. Katie had been encouraging Dixie to try and make some friends
at school, and evidently it had worked out for her.

Tommy went upstairs, and she and Dixie sat
down on the sofa in the living room and had a glass of tea, while
Dixie told her all about her exciting day. When he came back down
the stairs, he had on clean jeans and a black t-shirt, and his dark
hair was still wet and curling at his collar. She swallowed thickly
as desire shot through her, making her want to haul him back up
those stairs and make love to him.

"Okay, daddy tell me what you need to tell
me so I can go to Susie's..." she said and patted the spot beside
her on the sofa. Katie laughed and grinned up at him, as he sat
where Dixie indicated.

Indecision and fear clouded his beautiful
hazel eyes when his eyes latched on Katie's, and hesitated. Katie
felt the urge to rescue him, and told Dixie, "Have you ever thought
about having a brother or sister, Dixie?"

The little girl snorted adorably, then said
in a grown up way, "Yeah, but that would be kind of hard, since I
don't have a mama, right?"

Katie's eyebrows shot up and she glanced
over at Tommy who looked equally stunned. "Yeah, I reckon it would,
but you see your daddy and I love each other, sweetie, and I'm not
your mama, but I love you too. Your daddy and I are going to give
you two baby brothers or two baby sisters in about eight months.
You're going to be a big sister, you think you'd like that?"

Dixie stilled on the couch and looked up at
Katie in awe, her little mouth in an O, before she said in a
shocked whisper, "Two?"

"Yeah, we're having twins, like me and Miss
Karlie are..." she told her patiently.

Katie put her hands over her ears when Dixie
let out the most ear-splitting squeal that she'd ever heard, before
she launched herself against Katie and hugged her fiercely, then
turned to her daddy and gave him a big hug too.