Page 56 of His First Baby Rodeo

“Tell me.”

“I’m pregnant.”

The words hit him like a bolt of lightning. “You are?”

“I’m sorry to come here and shock you with it,” she said hastily. “But I needed you to know. Whatever you want to do is okay—”

“El, you can’t possibly question what I’m going to do.” He pulled her close and held her. “Don’t you understand? I’m in love with you.”

“I know we weren’t planning for this.”

“We weren’t planning for any of it,” he said. “I wasn’t planning to fall in love, but that happened. And if we’re going to have a baby, I know that’s going to be every bit as wonderful as knowing you and loving you has been. I’ll be right there with you the whole time, El. We’re in this together, and I’m not about to let anything come between us.”

“You’re not upset?”

“Upset? I’m excited, El. We’re going to have a baby.” The words felt strange as he said them aloud. It wasn’t something he’d ever expected to happen, and he had certainly never believed he would feel enthusiastic about it.

But the fact that it was El standing before him and telling him that she was carrying his child changed everything. There was no other woman he would have wanted to share this moment with, but because it was her, he wanted it wholeheartedly. He wanted to share everything life had to offer with her.

She wiped the tears from her eyes. “I should go,” she said. “You can still get out there.”

“Go where?” They weren’t going to let her stay on the concourse alone.

“Marilyn is here,” she said. “She’s waiting in the car. I’ll go back and meet up with her, and — I guess we’ll go back home, and you and I can talk later?”

And suddenly, Mac knew what he had to do. It had never been more clear to him.

“I’m coming with you,” he said.

“Mac, you’ve got to go perform,” she said. “You’ll lose your spot on the circuit.”

“I don’t need it,” he said. “I thought rodeo was my whole life. I thought it was what made me want to get up in the morning. But I know better now. I don’t need rodeo. I don’t need the circuit. All I need is you, El.”

He pulled her close and kissed her, and for the first time, it didn’t matter who saw them. It didn’t matter what anyone thought. All that mattered was that he got to keep her in his arms. All that mattered was that, after everything the two of them had been through, he could finally admit his love for her and say that she was his.

“Give me five minutes to tell someone I’m leaving,” he said. “And then you and I can go back to my hotel and figure everything out.”

She nodded. “I’ll let Marilyn know it’s okay to go home without me,” she said, pulling out her phone. “But we’re going to have to figure out what we’re going to say to Jeff!”

Mac laughed. For the first time, the idea of confronting Jeff about this didn’t seem so intimidating. After everything he and El had come through together, he knew this last hurdle was one that could easily be managed as long as they stuck by each other’s side.

EPILOGUE

18 MONTHS LATER: EL

The screen door banged shut behind Mac as he came inside the ranch house. He grabbed the dishtowel from the hook by the sink.

El snatched it away and swatted him on the shoulder with it. “How many times do I have to tell you that our kitchen towels are not your sweat rags?” she said. “Think about the example you’re setting for Caleb.”

Caleb — not yet a year old — looked up at the sound of his name. He wasn’t talking yet, but he was very expressive and very responsive to what was going on around him. Now he reached out his arms for his father. Mac lit up in response, as he always did in Caleb’s presence, and went to take him out of his booster seat.

“He’s not finished eating,” El warned. “If you take him away now, he’s going to bug you for more food later.” In the first months of Caleb’s life, she’d tried to stick to a strict schedule when it came to meals, but she had learned that his appetite couldn’t be regulated by schedules. Now she was a bit more relaxed about such things, letting him eat when he indicated he was hungry, and he’d been sitting in front of his cut-up fruit without eating any of it for the past ten minutes. A little time away from the table might do him good. But it would be Mac’s turn to feed him later.

“That’s fine,” Mac said, tossing Caleb lightly into the air and catching him, making the boy laugh with delight. “That’s fine, right, Caleb? We’ll get a snack later. We’ll play now.”

“How were the students today?” El asked.

“Pretty good,” Mac said. “I’ve got Bradley cantering.”

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