Saved by the Rancher - By Jennifer Ryan Page 0,109
walked in wide circles.
The sun warmed her face. Thanks to the full skirt of her sundress, her legs stayed covered as she rode. Blue read her mood and kept the pace slow and steady. She took in the trees, the grass, and finally the house with the garden out front. She was home.
She returned Blue to the barn and Pete, who would take care of him for her. She walked out of the barn and couldn’t help but smile at the two men in the driveway. Identical down to the way they stood, both men leaning over the engine of the Camaro Jenna had given to Jack a few short months ago. She made her way up to them.
“I’m going inside to take a nap before Ben arrives. Will you come with me?”
“Yeah, honey. I still have a surprise for you.”
“Oh, God. I forgot. I’m sorry. I needed to—”
“I know,” he interrupted and pulled her to him and hugged her. “It’s okay. Let’s go inside.”
Sam slammed the hood of the car and they all walked up the front walkway into the house. As soon as Jenna stepped inside the front door, the quiet and something else hit her. The house didn’t feel right.
“Jack, there’s something missing.” And then she figured out what was bothering her. “She’s gone and now the house is empty. I’m sorry. He killed Sally, and it’s all my fault,” she cried, taking in the empty house.
Jack stood in front of her and cupped her face in his warm hands. “Nothing is your fault. This house could never be empty. It’s ours, yours and mine, and soon it’ll reverberate with the sounds of babies. This house has a family, our family.”
“But Sally. She was more than just a dog to you, to me.”
“Come upstairs with me. I have a surprise I think you’ll like.”
Jack led Jenna to their bedroom door. He pushed the door open and let her go in first. Beautiful. He’d redecorated to reflect them both. Before, the bed had a blue comforter, but now a beautiful amethyst silk quilt accompanied it along with matching pillows. He’d added an antique dresser for her. On top sat a beautiful set of glass perfume bottles and a huge crystal vase full of Stargazer lilies. Their sweet scent filled the room. Between the bed and the large window sat an antique cradle lined in pale green fabric with a small white ruffle.
“Jack, it’s beautiful. You didn’t have to change the room for me. I liked the way it was, even if it was a little single-guy blue.”
“Single-guy blue? That some new weird color name?”
“No,” she laughed. “Why did you add purple?”
“Because it’s our room, and I wanted you to feel at home. You like to wear purple and it looks good on you. I figured it must be one of your favorite colors, and, well, it went well with my blue.”
“It does make a nice compliment.”
“You’ve been scrunched into my closet and small dresser. I thought you might like the antique dresser. The perfume bottles where my great-grandmother’s.”
“They’re beautiful,” she said and traced a finger over the delicate crystal. She smelled her favorite jasmine perfume. “It’s been a long time since I had something pretty in a room. Most of the time the places I stayed were sparsely decorated, and everything belonged to someone else. Isn’t it funny? I have tons of money and hardly any possessions. What little I managed to keep, I sent to my mother.”
“Honey, this is your house, too. I thought that, since we are engaged, I’d try to show you this room is ours. It’s not just the bed we share, but everything.”
“That bed looks really inviting. I’m so tired. You must be too.”
“You haven’t seen all of your surprise yet. Look inside the cradle.”
“It’s beautiful. Was it yours when you were a baby?”
“Mine and my brother’s, Summer’s, and my father’s and his siblings and his father’s. It’s been in the family for several generations. I think it was carved by my great-great-grandfather. There might be one more great in there. Now we’ll bring our babies home and they’ll sleep in it. I’m beginning to really like all these traditions, now that I have you.”
“I can see that. So, what’s in the cradle?” She walked past the bed and nearly fell to her knees when she saw Sally sleeping on a dog bed on the floor at the foot of the cradle, her midsection wrapped in bandages.