Chapter 3
Three
C hrist. The most stunning woman he’d ever seen in his life showed up on his ranch that morning, and Sam thought it was a gift from the universe. Her curves had made his heart step into overdrive as he shook her hand for the first time, but it was the way she smiled that had his stomach doing fucking flips like he’d won the lottery.
Not even an hour later, everything came crashing down. He should have known.
Pregnant. She was pregnant. And there wasn’t a ring on her finger. There wasn’t a man making sure she was safe, making sure she didn’t die in that rust bucket she drove all the way down from Wisconsin. What the fuck kind of dirt bag knocked someone up and just let them go?
A more sinister thought soured in Sam’s belly. What if they hadn’t let her go? What if she was running away?
He needed to get a grip.
Her confession to Daisy wasn’t meant to be overheard by anyone else, but he had. And he’d reacted. Or over-reacted, if Daisy’s scowl was any indication. He couldn’t help it. That was who he was. If someone needed something, Sam was there, ready to help. If there was something to worry over, Sam was there, ready to problem solve.
But this. This was the worst possible outcome for hiring a stranger to come work, and fucking live, on the ranch with him. How the hell was he going to mitigate every possible risk to her and her baby? The tightness in his chest returned as he fidgeted on the examination table, the paper crinkling loudly with each movement.
“Sam, are you listening?”
“Sorry, Doc. Got a lot on my mind.”
“Look, I’m glad you are listening to your body, and that you came in to get checked out. I want you to hear me when I say this next part, okay?”
“Yeah, I’m listening.”
“Good. Your heart is perfectly fine. Your tests have all come back well within the normal range. The ICD is functioning exactly how we would expect it to.”
Sam rubbed the spot in his chest where the implantable cardioverter defibrillator sat. No one would ever know it was there, except for a small scar that reminded him daily of the device stuck inside him.
“All that to say, I think it’s time that you processed through what happened to you with a professional.”
“You want me to see a shrink?” he grumbled.
“A therapist , yes. You’ve come in twice now in the past month with symptoms of anxiety. Having your body betray you… dying and then coming back after heroic efforts… it’s not unexpected that you would have some lingering anxieties surrounding your health.”
“I’m not worried about my health. I just wish everyone else would stop worrying.”
“Sam, I’m going to get you a list of local providers. Look into it. You don’t want to let this grow into a bigger problem than it already is.”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks, Doc. I gotta get back to the ranch though.”
“I’ve already printed out the list while we were chatting. I’ll have my nurse bring it in here along with a few pamphlets on stress relief and ways to reduce your anxiety levels.”
Just what every cowboy wanted to hear. First his heart failed him, now his fucking mind was. He’d known the panic attacks were getting worse, but the way he’d felt after nearly firing his new office manager had him feeling like the grim reaper was breathing down his neck again.
Probably shouldn’t have driven yourself to the hospital then, asshole.
“Where’s Mom and Katy? I thought I’d be giving some piggy-back rides the second I got here.” Sam kicked off his work boots by the front door of his sister’s house.
Abby laughed, waving him in from the kitchen. “She’s out back making fairy crowns with Mom.”
“And John?”
“What time is it?” She looked at the clock. “Oh, he’ll be home any minute.”
Sam walked into the kitchen, taking a soda from the fridge. He leaned back against the counter, acutely aware of the way his sister was staring at him.
“So?” Abby waved a wooden spoon at him. “What’s she like?”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to hear all about Evelyn Williams. Daisy told me the two of you have already had a pretty contentious argument, but she wouldn’t spill the beans about what it was over. I’m dying to hear about it.”
“There’s nothing to tell.” He wiped the condensation from the glass sitting in front of him. “She’s not the right person to be on the ranch.”
“You know that after one day? She hasn’t even started working yet.”
“Yeah. I know. Trust me. She’s got no business being here. The ranch is going to chew her up and spit her out, and I’m just trying to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“But she’s not really on the ranch. She’s working in the office. It’s not like you’re expecting her to help move the cattle around or muck out stalls, right?”
“That’s beyond the point.”
“Why? Is she a city girl? Show up in high heels and a business suit?”
He scrubbed his hand down his face. It’d been a few days since he shaved and the stubble growing in was prickly. Exactly how he felt. Especially thinking about how he’d been instantly attracted to Evie when he first saw her. “No. She wasn’t like that. She’s pregnant.”
Abby’s mouth opened like a fish out of water. “I… I was not expecting that.”
“Yeah.”
“How pregnant?”
“I have no idea.”
“Please tell me this is not a situation where a woman has curves and you assumed she was pregnant.”
“No. There was no assumption.”
“Okay. So she told you? How far along is she?”
“I overheard her talking to Daisy about it. And I have no idea. It’s not any of my business.”
“Well, it kind of is, seeing as how she’s going to need some time off in the near future once she has the baby. Is she living on the ranch? Where’s her partner?”
Sam just shrugged.
A timer rang out on the back of the stove and Abby groaned, turning towards the oven to pull out their dinner.
“She’s staying in the apartment above the office. I have no idea about her personal business. It’s not my place to know or care.”
Abby turned, her brows creased. “It’s not your place to care? Sam, what the hell? All you are ever doing is helping out. Why are you acting like this?”
“I don’t need another thing to worry over, Abby. I just… I’m at my limit.”
“Is this about the ranch? She’s here to help you with that. Wasn’t that the whole point of Sebastian investing?”
Sebastian Montgomery, who just happened to be the billionaire owner of Bell Ridge based Montgomery Equities, had grown to be one of Sam’s best friends in the last few years.
After his heart stopped, his friends were adamant that he figure out a way to lower his stress. Hiring Evie as an office manager had been their gift to him.
“Look, I’m glad Seb wanted to help, and I’m grateful for it, but he’s just one more person I have to worry about letting down now. Garrett, Mom, Sebastian, you and John… you all need me to make the ranch successful.”
Garrett Langdon was the only investor the ranch had taken on back when his father was still alive. They’d been best friends in college, and while Sam still paid him quarterly from the small margin of profits the ranch was able to turn, Garrett hadn’t been out to the ranch or in touch with Sam since his father’s funeral.
“You don’t need to worry about me and John.”
“And you don’t need to worry about me, either, sweetheart.” His mother walked in through the back door .
“Sorry, Mom. I didn’t think you could hear us.”
“They way you and your sister carry on conversations, I’d be surprised if Hank and Daisy couldn’t hear it.”
“Uncle Sam!” Abby and John’s adorable four-year-old daughter ran up the porch steps, jumping into his arms and losing her flower crown in the process.
“Well hey there, princess. What have you been up to?”
“Goddess and I picked flowers and made each other crowns! Do you want to watch a movie with me?”
Sam laughed. His mother had downright refused to be called “grandma” after John proposed to Abby, and Katy asked Abby to be her mom. It was hard to remember sometimes that his sister wasn’t actually Katy’s biological mom. The two of them were inseparable. Sam felt the familiar pressure building in his chest.
“Sure thing, kid. But I think we need to have dinner first.”
“Aww, man!”
“What movie do you want to watch after?”
“Ratatouutie!”
“It’s ratatouille, Katy,” Abby corrected.
“Right. The rat soup movie!”
Sam laughed.
“Are you sure?”
Katy jumped up and down, giggling as she shouted “rat soup” over and over again.
“Rat soup it is, kiddo. Go wash up before your dad gets here.”
Katy kept her chant going as she marched towards the downstairs bathroom.
“Sam,” his mom sighed. “I thought you would bring up Evelyn to meet me today.”
Abby’s eyes widened.
“I don’t think you need to meet her mom. I really don’t think she’ll be here long. ”
“That’s nonsense. Daisy said she was the most qualified applicant you’d gotten in months. You’ll give her a fair shake, and I won’t hear another word about it. She’s probably busy settling into the apartment, but you bring her up to the house on Monday, or I’ll be down in the office to say hello.”