Free One Wedding Night... by Shirley Rogers Page B

marry her, it would be nice to know if pregnancy was a factor. “Do you want to turn around?” he asked.
    “And buy one in Crockett? Good heavens, no!” She straightened and settled more comfortably in her seat. “Can you imagine walking into Walker’s Grocery and buying a pregnancy test? Do you want everyone in the county to know I could be pregnant?”
    Walker’s was the small local store with a pharmacyin the back that everyone in Crockett frequented. It also was a meeting place for some of the older folks to pass the day. “I see what you mean.”
    She sighed deeply. “We should have picked one up while we were in San Luis. No one there would have known us.”
    Russ pushed the gas pedal and slowly started the truck moving again. “Do you want to go back to San Luis now?” he asked, glancing at his watch. It was afternoon, and they really needed to get back to the ranch.
    “We don’t have time. There’s a lot to do this afternoon,” she said, thinking they’d have to work hard and fast just to get everything done before sunset.
    “Yeah,” Russ agreed as they approached the wood-and-iron sign stating they were on McCall land. He turned the truck onto a side road and continued up the hillside leading to the main house.
    “We’ll just have to get one as soon as possible. Maybe I can get away in a couple of days,” she said as they passed over a small ridge. They drove by the narrow airstrip and hangar designed for the Cessna plane that Jake and Catherine had taken when they’d left for their honeymoon.
    Russ steered the truck behind his quarters and stopped it, letting the engine idle to keep the air-conditioning going. “I guess we’d better get to work,” he commented, realizing that he wasn’t really anxious to be relieved of Lynn’s company.
    Lynn favored him with a look that told him she had other plans. “You don’t think I’m gonna walk into the house by myself, do you?” she demanded.
    Shrugging and looking confused, Russ replied, “What are you talkin’ about?”
    Lynn exhaled, and her bangs flew upward. “This ring is what I’m talking about,” she informed him, shaking her hand in his face. Her voice sounded cynical.
    Russ stared at her. When she didn’t go on, he prompted, “What about it?”
    “Men!” Lynn huffed, and opened her door. She got out as Russ killed the engine and joined her.
    Looking at a loss, Russ stared at her, his face blank. “What?”
    “Oh, just forget it.” She walked away from him, muttering something under her breath about the male gender and their lack of intelligence.
    “Wait a minute!” Russ called, catching her by the arm and pulling her around to face him. Her momentum carried her into his embrace. He slipped his arms around her and held her so she couldn’t move. “What are you trying to say?” he asked, sounding dumb-founded.
    “Never mind,” she replied not looking at him, stubbornly refusing to enlighten him. “Let me go.”
    “Not yet,” he told her, though he was thinking that was exactly what he should do. He needed to let her go before he did something stupid—like kiss her. Feeling her against him, smelling her, made him want to do more than hold her. Russ worked to get his thoughts under control. “What’s the problem?”
    Taking a deep breath, Lynn lifted her face to his. “Do you know what’s going to happen when I walk in that door?”
    Russ shook his head.
    “Ashley’s going to be all over me, fussing over the ring and this whole engagement mess.” She didn’t want to contend with her sister-in-law’s excitementalone. Thank goodness Catherine’s younger sister, Bethany, had already left, as well. That was one less person she’d have to face.
    “Oh.”
    “Yeah, oh.”
    “You’re right. I should have thought about it. We’re in this together so I’ll go up to the house with you,” he told her. He let her go, but took her hand. “C’mon.”
    Lynn tried to pull away from him as they started toward the