Page 7 of Hot Times in Heart Falls, Vignettes Vol 3

“Yeah, well, maybe it’s me who’s got it this time.” She snickered again. “I do want a baby with you. I haven’t been obsessing over it, though. Just figured we can keep having fun and it’ll happen when it happens.”

He squeezed her shoulders, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. To her forehead. Tilting her face up so he could kiss along her jaw. “It has been fun, and if you’re not pregnant, we’ll keep having fun. Also, not just to get you pregnant. I like sex with you, Ginny Stewart.”

“Ditto, Tucker Stewart.” She reached down and picked up the plastic bag. Peered in. “Okay. Let’s go find out if I’m drinking chicken noodle soup for my cold or diving into pickles and ice cream.”

Tucker stood and pulled her to her feet, tucking her against his body and savouring the warmth and the way she leaned into him, hands curled around his biceps. “Either way, I love you. I’m here for you.”

“I know.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s do it.”

The wind outside whistled against the rafters, a soft tone that made the inside of the house feel safe. Home.

Ginny took his hand, lifted the test kit, and tugged him toward the bathroom.

* * *

Softer now, the wind eased. The temperature leveled out as a thick layer of clouds rolled in overhead. Covering the sky, the grey and black clouds turned the night sky into a solid, starless canvas. Nothing to see, no trace of light, as if waiting for the next brush strokes to fall and continue the story.

One final gust rattled the barn door hard enough that it sprang open, the children not having pulled it tight. The cold outside a harsh contrast against the warm animal-scented air in the barn…

* * *

Dustin sprang to his feet and hurried to push the door shut, the cold spinning into the barn deep enough to make him shiver.

He stopped for a moment despite the temperature to stare up into the sky. Dark, blank.

Lonely.

Enough. Shutting the door firmly, he strolled back to the stall where Patchwork Annie had decided to have her pups. Probably didn’t need to supervise, but he was on night duty, and the border collie was special.

Dustin had liberated the beast from his uncle’s ranch a year earlier. She adored him, and Annie was his more than any of the other working dogs around the Silver Stone ranch. Hell, he had the bill to prove it.

She glanced up as he settled on a nearby bale. Close, but not too close. So far, Annie was doing just fine without his help, curled up in the warm nest made of clean straw and a couple of blankets he’d brought for her. A row of three puppies nestled against her belly, with maybe one or two more to come.

In a while he’d go and work through the list that Tucker and Ashton had left for him. But the night was young, and his shift wasn’t over until six a.m. There was no reason he couldn’t linger a bit longer.

He leaned back against the stall wall, propped his boots up on another bale and stared into the rafters. No reason he couldn’t be the one to work nights most of the time.

There was no one for him to go home to.

Pity party, much?

Dustin shook his head. Yeah, maybe it was stupid, but he had to admit he wanted what his brothers and sister had—someone who was theirs, through and through, for all the right reasons. He might be young, but he’d seen how happy his siblings were. He’d watched them build those connections over the past years.

Only made sense to want that same happiness for himself. To want to give like that to another person…someday.

Patchwork Annie made a soft noise. Dustin snapped his attention off his musings and back on her. “Hey, darling. You okay?”

She wagged her tail as he settled beside her, the pups a small mass of warmth under his palm. He stayed close for another hour until all the puppies had arrived, then brushed Annie’s head gently.

“I need to get to work. You done good, mama,” he told her after leaving her fresh water and a snack near at hand.

Annie rested her head on her paws and let out an enormous sigh. Contentment in every inch of her as the six pups lined up at her teats wiggled and squirmed as they nursed.

Dustin chuckled as he rose, humming softly as he began his chores. A night working in the quiet of the barns was on his agenda.

And for now, it was enough.