Page 84 of The Cowboy Who Worked Late

He noticed the wild way the tree limbs moved left, right, back, and forth in all different directions, all on the same tree. He left his lunchbox and cowboy hat and made a mad dash for the house. The two dogs that usually palled around with Link were already there, and Misty held a couple of towels in her hands. She straightened from where she’d been drying Dusty and Rio.

“There you are,” she said, and she burst into tears.

Link had no idea what to do with that. Misty wasn’t usually terribly emotional, but he had seen her cry over the past year since they’d been married.

“Hey, I’m right here.” He gathered her into his chest and held on tight. “It’s okay. Come on, let’s go inside.” His hopes of ordering in dinner and enjoying a lazy evening on the couch withered away. He’d have to make something, but that was fine. He could put a frozen pizza in the oven and call it good. He didn’t have anybody to impress, and he and Misty had had plenty of simple meals in their lives.

“Come on, you guys,” he said to the dogs. As he opened the door, he let them in first, then ushered in his still weeping wife.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Couldn’t you see me on the map?”

“You didn’t look like you were moving.”

“Well, it wasn’t fast.” He stepped out of his boots and then unbuckled his jeans right there by the door. “I’m gonna takeeverything off here. I’m so muddy and so wet.” And he felt so gross.

She laid out the two towels she’d been rubbing the dogs with. “Put it all right here. I’ll put it in the washing machine while you shower.”

She’d regained control of some of her emotions, but she made no effort to wipe her face as Link stepped out of his clothes and left them on the floor. “Thank you, baby.” He swept a kiss along her forehead and said, “I’ll be right back out. I promise.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’m okay.” She gathered up the towels and all of his clothes and headed off toward the laundry room while he streaked down the hall to the master suite to take a shower. Nothing had ever felt as good as that hot water, rinsing away the awfulness of this week.

The mud from his hair, and the weeds that he picked out of his beard, and all of the dirt and grime and grossness from his skin. He got dressed in a comfortable pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. He took one down the hall to Misty, remembering that she’d only been wearing a T-shirt. She stood in the kitchen now, working at the stove, and he eased up behind her and said, “Mm, making breakfast for dinner?”

“Yeah,” she said. “It’s about the only thing that sounds good.”

“I brought you a sweatshirt,” he said, and she turned into him, her eyes already filled with water again.

“Hey,” Link took her face in both of his hands. “You gotta talk to me. What’s going on?”

She tried to smile, but the gesture shook and crumbled right off her face. She closed her eyes and then opened them again, looking at him with the softest look of love and adoration. Link could drown in it, and he wanted to. If he died right now, this would be the best way to go, with his wife looking at him like he was the only man for her. Because he was.

“I don’t want you thinking you’re special or anything,” she said, her voice tinny and tight. “But you’re going to be a daddy.”

Link blinked, adrenaline sending waves through his veins, his ears catching on to what she’d said. It took his brain a good long minute to figure it out after that. “You’re pregnant?”

Tears spilled down her face again, and she said, “Yep.”

Link laughed because that felt like the best thing to do when finding out his lovely wife was going to have his child. He wrapped her up tightly and pulled her against his chest and said, “Is this why we’re crying all the time now?”

“Just today,” she said. “I just found out this afternoon.”

He kissed her ear and down her neck. “I don’t care if you cry every day for the rest of our lives.” He lifted his head and looked right at her. “I love you so much.”

“I’m scared,” she admitted. His beautiful, strong Misty only ever told him exactly how she felt.

“You are going to be the best mother in the whole world,” he said, taking her face in his hands again. “Absolutely the best.” And he meant it.

Because Misty knew how to nurture and care for those around her. She simply hadn’t had the opportunity to prove it to herself yet. But God had just granted her that, and Link had never felt more grateful.

Tears pricked at his own eyes, and he cleared his throat. “Okay. Okay, let me finish dinner. You go sit down.”

She giggled through her tears and said, “I’m capable of standing, Link.”

“I know, but….” His gaze dropped to her flat stomach, and then his hands moved there too. “But I’ll finish dinner, okay?” He raised his gaze to hers again. “You’re not special or anything. It’s just dinner.”

She burst out laughing, which made Link’s heart so happy, and then he pressed his lips to hers sloppily. As they sobered, thekiss became real, and slow, and beautiful. He pulled away and whispered, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Link.”

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