Page 87 of Theirs to Take

“Well, I’m just stating the facts here, man. Millie left town and you slipped into a full-blown drama queen. Why not just call her?” Luke asked.

“Because she won’t take my calls,” Ranger mumbled. He had tried to call her repeatedly after she left. The first week she was gone, he had called her cell phone every day. The second week, he backed off some and called her every other day, leaving messages every time to, “Call him back,” but she never did. Hell, maybe that was for the best since he wasn’t sure what he’d say to her anyway. Now, he was randomly calling her, practically begging her for a callback, but he knew that she wasn’t going to give him that courtesy.

“I take it you tried to call her then?” Luke asked.

“Yep, and she’s not returning any of my calls,” Ranger grumbled.

“I’m sorry,” Luke said. “What about if I get Ruby to give her a call? She can pretend to just be checking in and you’ll have peace of mind knowing that Millie’s okay.”

“That’s something, at least,” Ranger agreed. “I’ll swing by your place tonight on the way home if that works.” Ruby was almost seven months pregnant now and she had started working a three-day week.

“That should be fine,” Luke agreed. “Ruby will probably even insist that you stay for dinner. I swear, she’s decorated the house and the nursery, and every day she has off, she cleans the place and has dinner waiting for me when I get home.”

“That sounds very domesticated, man. You ever imagine that you’d be settled down with a wife and a kid on the way?” Ranger asked.

“Nope, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I like the way things turned out—all of it,” Luke admitted.

“I’m happy for you, man,” Ranger said. He was more than happy for his friend, but once in a while, he felt that little green-eyed monster show his face. A part of Ranger wondered if he’d find what Luke had with Ruby, but he wasn’t sure that he ever would. First, he’d have to figure out his obsession with Millie and then, he’d try to find a way to move on—hopefully.

Millie

Millie slumped into her very uncomfortable bed and rubbed her growing belly. She had gotten out of town just in time to avoid anyone else noticing that she was starting to show, but there was no avoiding it now. She was six months pregnant, and she had outgrown most of her clothing.

She hated her new apartment, but most of all, she hated being away from family and friends, but what else could she do? If she had stayed back home, she would have had to explain to everyone, including Ranger, that she was an idiot who forgot to take her birth control pills and got herself pregnant. Telling Ranger that he was going to be a father would be nearly impossible since he wasn’t really even talking to her. She couldn’t take the silent treatment that he was giving her anymore, and she knew that if she told him about the baby, he’d do the right thing and help her. That was the last thing that Millie wanted from Ranger. If he wanted her, he would have made a move by now. It was very clear that he only wanted her for a one-night stand and that hurt like hell.

Since their only night together, she spent so many sleepless nights trying to figure out what she had done wrong. It had to have been something that she did. Things seemed to have gone great until the next morning when he felt like he was trying to put a little distance between them. The night before, he had taken her to dinner, offered her a dream job, and then, she pushed him for more. Maybe that was her mistake—pushing Ranger to jump into bed with her. Maybe she was too pushy, and he liked his woman a bit more laid back, but that was who she was. When Millie wanted something, or in this case, someone, she went for it. She just had no idea that it would end with Ranger not even speaking to her within the first few days of their working together.

It was so embarrassing, and she only seemed to make things worse. He had avoided her at work, and she couldn’t seem to take the hint. God, she even asked him out to dinner, after her second week on the job, and he turned her down flat. That was the last time that he really talked to her besides when she handed in her resignation. Millie wasn’t sure what she was hoping for when she turned in her letter of resignation to him. He acted like he didn’t want her to leave—even asking her to stay, but she just couldn’t do it. She had a little secret with an expiration date that she just couldn’t tell Ranger about.

Millie decided to stop sulking in her bed and got up to go into her little living room. She plopped down on her sofa and grabbed the remote control, turning on the television. It was her routine—dinner, on the couch, watching television. Millie needed to get used to the fact that she was going to be trapped at home with her baby every night, soon enough. Not that she’d change that fact in any way. Being a mom was something that she’d always dreamed of for herself. She just never imagined that she’d be doing all of this alone—completely alone. She didn’t even have a birthing coach to go to classes with her. And when it came timefor her baby to come, she had no one to take her to the hospital or make sure she had her bags in the trunk for the big day. She had no one who’d be there with her to cheer her on or tell her that it was going to be okay. Millie would be all alone until her little one arrived and then, it would be just the two of them. She’d figure the rest out from there.

She was just getting into one of those crazy reality television shows when her phone rang in her pocket. She pulled it free and saw that Ruby was calling her again. Her friend had called her just about every day since she had moved, and it was getting harder and harder not to tell her that she was pregnant. Millie wondered if she could do that and trust that her friend wouldn’t tell Ranger. It was a big ask, and one that she wasn’t sure was fair to make of Ruby.

She couldn’t avoid Ruby’s call. Millie knew that she’d end up just trying her back later and she planned on heading to bed early tonight. “Hello,” Millie answered.

“Hey,” Ruby said. “How are you doing?”

“I’m good,” Millie lied. “How are you doing?” She was tired, as big as a house, and ready to break down in tears at any moment. Ruby was about a month ahead of her, pregnancy-wise, and she had to be feeling about the same. Millie decided to concentrate on her friend and then, hopefully, she’d be able to avoid Ruby’s questions that would have her spilling her guts over the phone.

“How are you doing?” Millie asked, trying to put the focus back on Ruby.

“Um, you’ve asked me that question twice now,” Ruby teased. “Are you sure that you’re good?”

“I am,” Millie lied again. “How’s Luke doing?”

“He’s good,” Ruby said. “He’s driving me crazy with getting things ready for the baby. I think that some of the girls around the office are going to throw me a shower and I don’t want togo out and buy stuff first. It’ll ruin the surprise.” Millie knew all about the shower that was being thrown for her at the office. She was invited but had to come up with some stupid excuse about being too busy at her new job to travel back for it. Her new job allowed her to work from home, so she really could have taken a few days off, but then, she’d have to explain her baby bump and that wasn’t something that she was ready to do. Millie had always been a little bit curvy, but there would be no hiding her belly behind her curves now.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Ruby said, breaking Millie’s inner thoughts. She had forgotten to interject little hums and signals that she was listening to Ruby. God, she was just becoming a bad friend. “Why not tell me what’s really going on, Millie? You haven’t been yourself since you moved away. I’m worried about you, and you shouldn’t make a pregnant woman worry.”

“No kidding,” Millie mumbled under her breath.

“What was that?” Ruby asked.

“Nothing,” Millie said.

“Millie don’t make me drive out to see you. I’m seven months pregnant but won’t hesitate to get in a car and drive down to see that you’re all right with my own two eyes.”

That was the very last thing that Millie needed. “You don’t need to do that,” she insisted.

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