A Baby on the Ranch. Stella Bagwell

Real pregnant. I doubt she’ll agree to any sort of travel.”

      “Well, you may be right,” he said with thoughtful concern. “Just do what you can do, Lonnie. That’s all I can ask of you. And be sure to remember how much I appreciate all of this, buddy. My whole family owes you.”

      “Aw, Seth, don’t go making me feel awful. ’Cause we both know I could never repay you for all you’ve done for me.”

      “You don’t owe me for anything,” Seth countered.

      No, Lonnie thought, just a job that had given him a measure of prestige and a large enough salary to buy himself a little ranch of his own. Not to mention all the times Seth had helped him behind the scenes on criminal cases. He would be eternally grateful to Seth for all those things.

      “So now that we have that out of the way, when are you going to see Katherine again?” Seth went on.

      Lonnie rolled his eyes. He couldn’t picture himself going back to face Katherine McBride. Not after the adamant farewell she’d given him. Yet just the thought of seeing her again made his heart beat fast. Which was a sure sign something was wrong with him. He didn’t let women affect him that way. He’d learned better.

      “It will be a miracle if she let’s me in the door again. But, all right, I’ll go back tonight, after she gets home from work. I’ll try to let you know something later.”

      “Thanks, Lon. While you’re trying to persuade Katherine, I’ll let the rest of the family know that you’ve found her.”

      Lonnie grimaced. “Yeah, well, somehow I get the feeling that finding her was the easy part.”

      The Tarrant County Courthouse had been Katherine’s workplace for the past four years. When she’d first gotten a job as a file clerk in the tax assessor’s office, she’d been thrilled. At twenty-one, with a fresh associates degree in business, she’d not expected a cushy job to cross her path. Especially when she had no real connections in Fort Worth to give her that extra push that was often needed to land a good job.

      Since that time, her hard work and dedication had gradually inched her upward in the ranks. A little more than six months ago, she’d become the secretary for the tax assessor himself, a job that was hardly ever easy, but one that definitely had much better pay and benefits.

      With the increase in salary, her friend Althea, who worked down the hall in tags and licenses, often urged Katherine to move out of her modest little apartment. After all, she could afford something better now. But Katherine wasn’t interested in moving to plush living quarters. She was comfortable where she was. And, anyway, she was putting her money in the bank where it would do her the most good once the baby arrived.

      As the two women shared a short, afternoon break together in a private snack room situated behind Katherine’s office, Althea exclaimed, “That is the most incredible story I’ve ever heard! Are you sure this man was legitimate?”

      Katherine glanced across the small table at the other woman. The tall, curvy, brunette always managed to look sexy in any piece of clothing she put on and, in the process, made Katherine feel like a frumpy, middle-aged librarian. Older than Katherine by two years, Althea was married and the mother of a small daughter. Since Katherine had moved to Fort Worth and found this job, the woman had become her only special friend. Even though she was close to Althea, she’d not set out today to tell her what had occurred last night. But the whole meeting with Sheriff Corteen had simply been too much for Katherine to bear alone and she’d finally ended up relating the whole incident to her friend.

      “Well, I didn’t call Deaf Smith County to verify that he was the sheriff there, if that’s what you mean,” Katherine replied.

      The sassy brunette raised her brows. “Katherine! Why not? He could have had that ID forged or something!”

      Katherine shook her head. “I didn’t call because I didn’t need to. If you’d met the man, Althea, you’d clearly see that there’s nothing phony about him. I’m dead certain he is the sheriff there.”

      “Okay. So he’s the sheriff,” Althea reluctantly agreed. “But does that mean you believe this story about your parents?”

      Katherine shrugged one shoulder as she jabbed a spoon at the ice floating in her tea glass. Their fifteen-minute break was nearly over. She couldn’t begin to tell Althea everything that had gone through her mind last night, much less everything she’d felt when Lonnie Corteen had turned her world upside down. Even now, nearly a whole day later, she was dazed and struggling to keep her mind on her work.

      “I don’t know what to believe, Althea. It sounds—well, it sounds like it’s something that might be easily proved. But I’m not so sure I want proof. I’m not so sure I want things to change. You know what I mean?”

      Althea looked at her with thoughtful confusion. “Sort of. I think you’re trying to say you’re afraid to know the truth about your parents because you might not like it.”

      Katherine nodded slowly. “Yes. That’s sort of how I’m feeling. I mean, Celia, my mother, loved me. I have no doubt about that. She was the one who was there to care for me day in and day out. I’m not so sure what I could think about a woman who would give her daughter away. I don’t believe I could ever have warm feelings toward her and that would only cause friction with all her other relatives.” She stopped and gave her head a sudden shake. “No. I don’t think it would be a good thing for me to pursue this.”

      Althea crinkled up a candy-bar wrapper and tossed it in a nearby wastebasket, then popped the last of the chocolate into her mouth. “Hmm. Well, what about this man—Noah? Suppose he really is your father? Wouldn’t you like to know more about him and his family? If I were you, I believe I would.”

      These were questions Katherine had rolled over and over in her mind last night. But she’d not gotten any answers. Not with that sheriff popping into her head every few minutes, Katherine thought with a measure of self-disgust. She really didn’t know what was happening to her. All the extra hormones bombarding her body must be making her act out of character, she decided. She couldn’t figure any other reason for the physical reaction she’d felt toward the man. For heaven’s sake, she was pregnant! She wasn’t supposed to be feeling those sorts of things…was she?

      “Katherine? Yoo-hoo. Are you still with me?”

      The sound of Althea’s voice penetrated her straying thoughts, and she quickly focused back on her friend’s face. “Forgive me, Althea. My mind, it’s spinning about a mile a minute. And I’m very much afraid that Sheriff Corteen is going to show up at my apartment again this evening. He pretty much implied that I was going to see him again.” With a slight shiver, she pushed the tea glass away and shoved her hands through her loose hair. “I don’t know what to do, Althea! He says the family wants to see me. And I told him I didn’t want anything to do with them. But I have a bad feeling that he isn’t going to give up.”

      Seeing the anguished expression on her friend’s face, Althea reached across the table and squeezed Katherine’s fingers. “Katherine, honey, you’ve got to calm down. All this turmoil can’t be good for the baby. You’ve probably run your blood pressure up with all this worrying.”

      Closing her eyes, Katherine breathed deeply and tried to relax. “I know. You’re right. This isn’t something that’s going to resolve itself in a matter of days. I need time to think.”

      Leaning forward over the tabletop, Althea looked at her brightly. “Maybe you should take some time off—go away for a week or so,” she suggested. “You have some sick leave coming, don’t you?”

      “Yes—but I was saving it for when the baby comes. And anyway, work at least keeps my mind—” Pausing, she shook her head. “Who am I kidding? The work I’ve done today hasn’t helped to get anything off my mind. In fact, I think I’d better go back and reproof the letters I typed this morning. They’re probably a mess.”

      Althea gave her a perceptive nod. “That’s what