Page 61 of Snowed in with the Rancher

Tate shook his head to clear the negative thoughts from his head as he watched Melissa finish her journey. When she reached the opposite platform, Olivia was there waiting with open arms.

Tate smiled and waved to his three girls before beginning the walk to the bottom of the long wraparound ramp that wove its way down through the trees and allowed zip line workers to make it back to the forest floor to help bring up the next disabled child.

After collecting his family, Tate took them all to his pickup. Jacob and his family would go on to a campsite further up the mountain, where they'd spend two nights with a certified outdoor guide who would teach Jacob how to fish and camp and even how to use a new wheelchair specially outfitted for unpaved trails since he wouldn't be able to walk those trails using his crutches. Tate called it the off-road vehicle, and Jacob had adopted the name himself.

“So you know,” he told the girls as they drove down the road to his parents' house. “I heard grandma baked up a storm this afternoon.”

Both girls' eyes grew round with excitement. “Grandma's the best baker there is,” Melissa said definitively. Jackie nodded in agreement. Tate had to admit that Lucy's baking was pretty exceptional. Olivia contended that if she'd lived at Lucy's more than a few weeks, she'd have ended up several sizes larger.

Thomas was leading the girls to the barn to ride their pony as Tate and Olivia drove away.

“Date night,” Tate said with a grin, shifting his truck into gear to pull onto the public road from the driveway.

Olivia smiled. “Did you have any ideas for what to do? I've had such an insane week, I haven't had a minute to think about it.”

“We could always go back home and grill some steaks and watch a movie.”

Olivia sighed in satisfaction. “Could we? I love to go out, but I'm just so tired this week. I don't think I've been this tired since…” Her voice faded and her brow furrowed.

“Since when, babe?” Tate asked as he navigated onto the winding road that led to their cabin. In the last year, they'd remodeled several times. The place now sported a family room that stretched the width of the house across the back as well as a new bathroom. Tate had built a loft off the landing to the second floor, taking out an unused hall closet and creating more space for the twins to play, and most recently, they'd expanded the master bathroom with a large, jetted tub. It was Tate's favorite part of the whole house—especially those times when he discovered his wife in said tub.

“Babe?” he asked again as they turned into the parking circle in front of the house.

“Uh, nothing,” Olivia answered distractedly. “I'm so tired I can't even carry on a conversation, apparently.” He laughed and climbed out of the truck.

As they walked into the house, Tate put an arm around her and kissed her on the temple. “It's okay, I'll take good care of you,” he promised. He'd been taking care of her the best he could ever since the night her rental house had caught fire, and it was the finest, most satisfying job he'd ever had. He couldn't imagine ever giving it up.

* * *

The next morning, Olivia stood in the bathroom of her office staring at a plastic stick. She held her hand over her mouth and blinked at the two pink lines.

Her heart gave a little kick, and she tried to remember to breathe. She'd known that this was possible the minute she'd realized that she hadn't been this tired since she was first pregnant with the girls.

Okay, if she were being honest, she'd known that it was more than just possible—it was probable. Once she'd admitted to herself that she'd lost track of the calendar, and that birth control wasn't foolproof, it had been a fast trip to the probability that she was pregnant again.

“Well, then,” she murmured to herself as she tossed the stick in the trash. She had to remind herself that this wasn't six years ago. She wasn't single. She wasn't alone. She had a husband. A family. She had a good job, and a town full of people who might be mostly busybodies, but well-meaning and supportive busybodies all the same.

She straightened her skirt and took a deep breath before leaving the bathroom and heading to her receptionist's desk.

“Kathy?”

“Yes, ma'am, boss-lady?”

Olivia couldn't help but smile at her efficient, no-nonsense assistant.

“I need to go out to the ranch for a bit. Can you tell David and Janette that I'll be back in time for our two o'clock call with the Mayo Clinic?”

“Sure thing,” Kathy said, inspecting her over a pair of readers. “You okay?”

Olivia nodded. “Yeah, just fine. I'll see you in a couple of hours.”

Kathy didn't look convinced, but she nodded and motioned Olivia out of the office. They both knew that if she didn't go while she had the chance, something would come up, and then she'd never get out the door.

Something was always coming up, which was why Tate's job at the ranch was such a godsend. He took the girls to work with him every morning, and they'd eat breakfast at Grandma's kitchen table while they waited for the bus to pick them up for school.

At the end of the day, the bus brought them back, and Tate, Lucy, and Thomas were there to help with homework and hand out snacks. Meanwhile, Olivia was free to get ready for work without two children underfoot. But working in town a few blocks from the school, she could stop in for lunches and to volunteer whenever she wanted.

As she drove up the road to the family property, her head spun with the newest wrinkle in their family schedule. How would she manage with a baby? She couldn't expect Lucy and Thomas to do daycare for two kindergarteners and a baby. Tate was out on the acreage most of every day, and there was no way she could manage a staff and what was fast becoming a nationally significant nonprofit with a baby in the office.

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