Page 21 of Belonging to the Rancher

Now.

What do you have to lose?

Does it matter if it ruins Christmas? He might already know.

She opened her mouth about to tell him she might be pregnant, but before she could say another word, Dolly and Susie began to whimper, drawing her attention away from him. Glancing down, she saw both dogs were also covered in snow.

“Oh, babies,” she said. “Did Daddy take you out into the snow?” She gave a tut. “They’re freezing.”

“But they had a lot of fun. Grab Dolly, come on, I’ve got Susie, let’s go and warm them up.”

Clarissa followed him into the spare bathroom. He closed the door behind her, put Susie on the floor, and then began to run a bubble bath. The dogs loved to have a bath.

She loved watching him. Axe was so loving and attentive with dogs, she couldn’t help but wonder what he’d be like with kids. Once again, the voice inside her head kept urging her to ask him.

“You’re really good with dogs,” she said.

“I’m used to being around them more than people.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, not a lot of people love this kind of life. Gus was with me twenty-four-seven.”

She knew he had a special attachment to Gus. He was the dog she didn’t get to truly meet. She did have vague memories of seeing him with a dog around town, but they were so blurry. Her life had been much more focused on her mother back then.

“What’s not to love?” she said.

“Dogs are amazing. They love you unconditionally, and all you’ve got to do is feed them, love them, and yeah, there’s all the training stuff, but it’s fine. I can handle it.”

“What about … babies?”

“Pups?” he asked. “Breeding them?”

“No, no, I mean, you know, human babies. Have you thought about having children of your own, and I don’t know, perhaps a family, or…?” She didn’t know what else to say. In the back of her mind, all she truly wanted to do was beg him to consider her. She wanted to tell him the truth, that she loved him and wanted to spend her life with him, that she might be pregnant, and he would be a daddy.

There was so much she wanted to say, but as the silence rang out, she didn’t know what to make of it. He was so good with dogs, amazing, but at her one question about babies, he was so silent.

She looked at Dolly and Susie in the bath, and she couldn’t help but feel a little heartbroken. The dogs were part of her wish, but she also wanted a large family.

“I … I left the stove on. I better go.”

She didn’t wait for him to respond or to even stop her. Turning on her heel, she made her escape, but she didn’t even get to the kitchen before the tears began to fall.

Why was she crying? What did she expect? He was her boss. This wasn’t really going anywhere. They were just having a little fun.

****

“What was that?” Axe asked, looking toward Dolly and Susie as if they would have the answers he sought.

Running a hand down his face, he looked toward the open door. Both dogs were in the bathtub, in need of getting out. He reached for Dolly as she was closer and then went for Susie. Both dogs attempted to shake the water from their bodies, and he had a towel draped over them in order to prevent too much of the doggy water from spraying everywhere. This was next to impossible.

Axe kept looking toward the door, and he just couldn’t shake this feeling from his core. He checked to make sure the bathtub was empty, and then he took off, heading out of the bathroom and straight to the stairs. He made his way to the kitchen, where he found Clarissa. She was standing at the porcelain kitchen sink, her fingers clenching the edge in a tight grip.

He went to her, grabbed her arm, and spun her around, shocked to find tears streaming down her cheeks.

“What’s wrong?”

She pressed her lips together. “It’s nothing.”

---