The Rancher's Baby Surprise

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“Garrett,” Hannah said, “I’m scared.”

That made two of them, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “We’ll be at the hospital before you know it. Tucker’s calling to let them know we’re on our way.” He followed his words of assurance up with a silent prayer. One for the baby and one for himself, because he was going to have to step through those dreaded hospital doors.

They were met by hospital personnel with a wheelchair for Hannah at the emergency room pull up. Her son, now laboring for breath, was quickly whisked away ahead of them. Hannah looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “It’s going to be all right.”

As soon as she was settled, the hospital attendant wheeled her in through the automatic sliding doors.

Garrett, heart pounding, nausea roiling in his stomach, stood staring at those same doors as they slid shut behind the departing wheelchair. Hannah needed him. But so had Grace. Please, Lord, let us have gotten here in time.

Gathering his courage, more courage than he’d ever needed back when he was riding bulls and broncs professionally, Garrett followed them inside.

Chapter Three (#u8ccca835-5fc2-5ed8-8950-00444300ebad)

Fighting a yawn, Garrett pulled out his cell phone to check the time—9:37 a.m. He wondered if Hannah had awakened yet. The previous day’s events had clearly left her spent, and understandably so. And what about her son? Lord, he prayed the infant that he’d held in his arms shortly after his birth was faring well. The emergency room personnel had taken him straight to the neonatal intensive care unit as soon as they’d arrived at the hospital and he hadn’t gotten to see the baby again before he’d left to head home.

Hannah hadn’t been the only one under emotional stress when they’d arrived at the hospital the day before. Garrett hadn’t stepped foot inside the place since the day Grace had taken her last breath there. Truth was, he dreaded ever having to return there again, but none of that had mattered when Hannah’s son’s life was at stake.

Once Hannah had been examined, she’d been placed in a private room just down the hall from the NICU. Garrett had then done his best to calm her fears, pushing his own aside. Despite the doctor’s reassurance that it was common for a baby born five weeks earlier than expected to need a little help breathing, that his lungs would strengthen in the days and weeks ahead, she’d been beside herself. So much so, that Garrett had ended up staying by Hannah’s bedside until late into the night, talking to her about anything and everything to keep her mind from going into the dark places he knew all too well. Places he’d gone to when Grace had taken a turn for the worse, with all the whys and what-ifs.

Exhaustion threatened to drag him down. He had remained seated at Hannah’s bedside the night before until sleep had finally claimed her. And that hadn’t been until well after midnight.

“Morning,” Garrett muttered as he stopped by the corral on his way to the barn.

“Morning,” Tucker replied. His brother stood in the center of the corral, working with a green mare they’d purchased to use as a saddle horse. Breaking in horses was one of his brother’s specialties. “Didn’t expect you in this early. Not after the late night you put in.”

Garrett raised a brow. “How did you know about that?” He’d been in touch with his family from the hospital to update them, but he hadn’t called anyone when he’d finally headed home. It had been too late.

“Couldn’t sleep,” his brother admitted. “I was sitting on the porch when you drove past. How was Hannah doing when you left?”

“As well as can be expected, under the circumstances.” Garrett glanced around, seeing their other brother’s truck parked beside the far end of the barn. “Where’s Jackson?”

“In the barn,” Tucker replied, his gaze remaining fixed on the young mare. “Just got back from running feed out to the veteran horses.”

Unlike a lot of rodeo stock companies that unloaded their retired stock once the animals’ profitability was gone, the Triple W Rodeo Ranch kept theirs. They had a special section of land fenced off specifically for the older horses where they could live out the remainder of their lives in leisure, being grain-fed daily. They had worked hard during their rodeo years. In his opinion and his brothers’, they deserved no less.

Garrett nodded, not that his brother had seen him do so. Tucker’s visual focus remained solely on the mare he was coaxing to pick up her pace as she ran around the outer edge of the fenced-in enclosure.

Shoving his phone back into his jeans, he leaned against the fence, watching his little brother at work.

“Didn’t expect to see you here this morning.” Jackson’s familiar voice came from behind him.

Garrett glanced back over his shoulder to see his brother striding toward them. “Why wouldn’t I be here?”

“You having had such a late night and all,” his brother prompted.

Garrett’s gaze shifted back to Tucker.

His youngest brother must have felt his accusing stare, because there was no way Tucker could have seen it with his back to them the way it was. Yet he called back over his shoulder, “I might have mentioned to Jackson that there was a good chance you’d be hitting Snooze on your alarm clock today.”

“Well, I didn’t,” he said in irritation. At thirty-four he could still manage a late night here and there and still get up in time to help his brothers with ranch duties. How was he supposed to sleep in, anyhow, with thoughts of Hannah and her son weighing so heavily on his mind? “I have blood draws to do today.”

Every six months, they needed to draw blood from the rodeo stock to keep their health certificates up-to-date. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to transport the broncs from state to state to the various rodeos. Having an in-house vet on the ranch also saved them money.

Jackson lifted a brow. “Someone’s a little on the touchy side this morning.”

“Maybe a little,” he grumbled. “Lack of sleep, and then receiving some bad news, has a tendency to bring that about.”

Jackson’s head snapped around. “Hannah?”

He shook his head. “No. She and the baby are okay. Or, at least, they were when I left the hospital last night. The bad news is business related.”

That grabbed both of his brothers’ attention.

“Kade called this morning,” he explained. “He had to put Little Thunder down last night.” Kade Owens owned the Breakaway Ranch in Oklahoma where, along with raising beef cattle, he bred and raised bucking bulls. Little Thunder was one of Kade’s top, prize-winning bulls. The Triple W had partnered up with Kade a few years back to allow them, as a joint partnership, to qualify for a PRCA stock contractor card, which required the stock provider to own a minimum of twenty-five bareback horses, twenty-five saddle bronc horses and twenty-five bulls.

“What happened?” Tucker asked.

“Thrombosis of the inferior vena cava.”

“Which is what?”

“A liver abscess,” Garrett explained, “which led to a serious infection near the heart.”

Jackson shook his head. “A real shame. He’s been a good bull. Hopefully, The Duke and Wise Guy will come into their own this year.”

“They showed promise last season, so maybe this will be their year,” Garrett acknowledged with a nod, recalling the two newest additions to Kade’s rodeo bull lineup. “At least, Kade still has some top contenders that rank right up there with Little Thunder for the upcoming season.” Their first scheduled rodeo fell during the second week of June. Without having promising stock to offer for rodeo competition, contractors risked losing out on future contracts. That’s why they made sure their stock stayed strong and healthy, sending the best they had to offer out to the various rodeos.

“True,” Jackson agreed with a nod as they watched Tucker move in slow, fluid circles from where he stood in the center of the corral, following the movement of the mare as it made its way in larger circles around him.

Garrett slid his cell phone from his jeans pocket once again. A quick glance told him there were still no messages from Hannah or the hospital. That had to be a good thing. At least, he prayed it was. If something had happened, surely someone would have contacted him. Hannah had placed his name on the very limited visitor’s list, along with his cell phone number.

“You don’t need to be here, you know,” his brother said, his tone no longer teasing. “Tucker and I can handle things here if you want to go to the hospital to check on Hannah and the baby.”

“You and Tucker can’t see to the blood draws,” Garrett pointed out. “Besides, it’s not my place to be there with her,” he muttered, despite the pull he felt. The last thing he wanted to do was force himself in her life.

“You’re right,” Tucker agreed as he turned, following the horse’s path. “Best you stay here and be useless, because your focus is anywhere but on what you’re supposed to be doing this morning.”

“And I’m sure Hannah prefers to be alone in that big old hospital with no one to turn to if she starts feeling overwhelmed with everything,” Jackson tossed out. “And with her baby being in neonatal ICU, you can pretty much bet she’s at least a little fearful—”

“Point made,” Garrett grumbled. If he wasn’t already worried about Hannah, he would be hard-pressed not to be after his brothers’ guilt-inducing comments. But she’d refused to let him call her father the night before. She’d said she’d needed a little time to let everything sink in, and that even if her father had wanted to come to the hospital to be with them he couldn’t. Not while he was sick.

“Someone should be there for her.”

“I could go after I’m done here,” Tucker volunteered as he relaxed his posture, signaling for the horse circling about him to slow down. “Seeing as how you’re digging in your heels at the thought of doing it. I could pick up Autumn on the way. I’m sure she’d like to know how Hannah’s doing, her having helped with her baby’s birth and all.”

Garrett shot his youngest brother an incredulous look. “Appears I’m not the only one lacking focus today. Yours is supposed to be on that horse right now, not on other people’s conversations.”

Tucker chuckled. “What can I say? The good Lord blessed me with the ability to be a successful multitasker.”

“He is, at that,” Jackson agreed. “Listen, I’m almost done here. Why don’t I run over to the hospital and sit with Hannah for a few hours, seeing as how you and Tucker are going to have your hands full for a while with breaking horses and performing vet duties?”

His brother’s suggestion immediately had Garrett rethinking his decision to put off going to the hospital until after he’d done blood draws. There was no reason he couldn’t finish them up on the remaining horses later that day, or even tomorrow, for that matter.

“I rescued Hannah and her baby from that rising creek,” he said determinedly. “That makes them my responsibility. So, if anyone’s going to the hospital to sit with her, it’s going to be me. I can see to the blood work later.”

Jackson’s mouth tugged up at one side, displaying the lone dimple all three brothers had inherited from their father. “Far be it from us to try and usurp your responsibility, big brother.” He started for the barn, calling back over his shoulder, “Tell Hannah she’s in my thoughts.”

“Give her my regards as well,” Tucker called out as he turned, gaze fixed on the young mare he was working with as he queued her to speed up.

With only a wave of acknowledgment, Garrett walked away. He would go to the hospital, but he was only going to stay long enough to make certain Hannah and the baby were doing all right. He didn’t want to feel as if he needed to be there with Hannah and her son. Didn’t want to care more than he already did in the brief time since he’d come across Hannah’s partially submerged car at the washed-out bridge. Because other than the love he held for his family, he preferred not to care with any real depth for anyone else ever again.

He had just reached his truck when his mother called out to him from the chicken coop, “Garrett!”

Turning, he started toward her, meeting her halfway. “I was just—”

“Heading to the hospital,” she finished for him as she switched the basket of eggs she’d collected to the crook of her other arm.

“How did you know?” he asked in surprise.

“Because I know you, and you’re not the type of man to leave something unfinished.”

He looked at her questioningly.

His mother tilted her head to look up at him, the morning sun glinting off her smiling face. “You’re the reason Hannah and her son are alive today, with the good Lord’s guiding hand, of course,” she was quick to add.

“He’s not her son,” he said. “She was carrying that little boy for her sister who died in a car accident a few months ago.”

“I know,” she said, her eyes filled with compassion. “Jackson explained things to me when he called for us to come over and help with the baby’s birth. And then Hannah filled in the rest when Autumn and I were helping to deliver her baby. Such a heartbreaking way to become someone’s mother. And that’s what she is now—that boy’s mother. Something Hannah might not have even had the chance to experience if you hadn’t come along when you did.”

He nodded in agreement.

“That being the case,” his mother went on, “it only stands to reason that you would feel the need to look in on them today and for however long they’ll be in the hospital. The three of you will forever share a very special connection.”

“What if I’d rather not feel any sort of connection to them?” he muttered with a frown.

His mother’s expression softened even more. “Honey, I know you’d rather live your life free of any sort of emotional entanglements, but they’re a part of life. No matter how large or how small, they help to shape the man you are and the man you will become.”

He was content with the man he was now. He had a good life. A supportive family. A successful veterinary business. Part ownership of a thriving rodeo stock company. He didn’t need shaping, and he certainly didn’t want entanglements of any sort.

“Your needs aside,” she said in that motherly tone he knew so well, “you and I both know there are still going to be some hard days ahead for Hannah. Not only with her own physical and emotional recovery, but with the baby’s health as well.”

“Garrett Austin,” he said, recalling Hannah’s words the afternoon prior.

His mother looked up at him in confusion. “What?”

“Hannah asked if I would mind if she named her son after me.”

His mother’s eyes teared up. “What a truly touching thing for her to do.”

Ignoring the lump that formed in his throat, Garrett muttered, “I just hope Hannah doesn’t regret that decision down the road.”

“Whatever makes you think she’ll regret it?”

“Because she’s been through so much,” he explained. “Losing her mother, and then her sister and brother-in-law so close together. Then having to come to terms with the knowledge that she’s going to be the one raising her sister’s son. And if that wasn’t enough for one person to shoulder, she got caught up in a flash flood while in labor. She might have second thoughts on a name she chose when her emotions were so taxed.”

His mother nodded. “It’s true. That poor dear has had more than her share of tough times. But she’s here, her son’s here, because of your selfless actions yesterday. You and I both know how easily that ground along the side of the creek could have given way while you sought to rescue Hannah from her car. Garrett, you took such a risk to save them.”

He could hear the worry in her voice. “But it didn’t. Although I admit I did a fair amount of praying yesterday.” The second he’d realized someone was trapped inside that partially submerged car, he knew he would have done whatever he could to help. “From the moment Hannah looked up at me through the driver’s side window, her eyes wide with fear, I knew I couldn’t—wouldn’t