“Not quite, sweetheart,” he quipped, “but I was awfully damned close.”
“How can you joke? This whole experience has just been awful.”
He cupped her face and kissed her softly. “Wrong again. Only some parts were. Others were pretty damned incredible.”
“Incredible?” Her gaze darted to his. “Really?”
“Yeah. Really.”
“Thanks for saying it, Zac.”
He smiled. “Anytime.”
A third rap sounded on the door. Nurse Ratched called through it, “Hello in there. Are you coming out or must I call security?”
Zac flung the door open. “Yeah, we’re coming out. And no, we won’t be coming back tomorrow. Or any other day.” She gaped when he shoved the empty container into her hands. “Feel free to put this where the sun don’t shine.”
“Zac!” Delaney protested as he dragged her out the door. “I have to deal with those people.”
“No, you don’t,” he said. “I meant it. I ain’t comin’ back here again.”
She halted in her tracks. “So you’ve changed your mind?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I told you I always stay the course.”
“So what now?” she asked.
“We’ll just have to find a better way,” Zac said.
“How?” she asked. “The only other clinic that does this is in Oklahoma City.”
“That’s not what I mean by a better way.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying let’s just skip all this bullshit and take a chance. I understand that you wanted to be sure I’m not gonna shoot blanks, but I’m asking you to just have a little faith in me.” He added softly, “Don’t I deserve that much?”
“Yes, Zac. You do,” she agreed. After all he’d been through, she didn’t know if he deserved a medal or a straitjacket.
“People have been making babies for eons,” Zac said. “I just don’t see how it can be all that hard. Your time is coming this weekend, right?”
“Yes,” she said. “My peak fertility window starts on Friday, not that it matters since you’ll be in Vegas.”
“Come with me,” he said. “There’s not a damned thing now to stop you.”
“There’s still my cows to think of.”
He squelched her argument with a raised hand. “Now you know as well as I do that you can’t do anything with them until you’ve preg checked the herd, and you can’t even do that for a whole week. That frees you up to take care of more personal business.”
He was right. It would be a total waste of time to do anything until she knew which cows were pregnant. Delaney bit her lip. “Even so, they still need to be cared for.”
“That’s an easy fix.” Zac whipped out his mobile phone and hit speed dial. “Hey, Bart. Zac here. I need you to send one of the hands over to Delaney’s to keep an eye on the place for a few days.... Yeah, I said a few days.... Don’t care what you think about that. You can spare one guy ’til I get back. Keep a civil tongue in your head ol’ man, or I’ll can your sorry ass.” He flipped the phone shut. “Got it all arranged. Bart said he’d be delighted to help you out.”
“I’ll bet he was very eloquent about it,” she replied dryly.
“That he was,” Zac replied with a broad grin. “How about if we get something to eat and then I drop you off at home? Think you can throw some things together? It’s too late to leave tonight. So we’ll need to head out real early in the morning.”
“You’re not planning to drive straight through, are you?” Delaney asked.
“I was,” he replied. “But I’m not in such a big hurry anymore if you’re coming along. Ty and Monica are flying out Monday morning. If we leave early tomorrow, we can be there Saturday afternoon, even if we stop overnight.”
She took a breath and figuratively cast the dice. “All right, Zac, I’ll take a chance. I’ll go with you to Vegas.”
CHAPTER TEN
Delaney was on the front porch, suitcase in hand, when Zac’s dually came up the drive. Hopping out of the truck, he surprised her with a kiss on the lips before tossing her bag into the backseat of his truck.
“What was that for?” she asked.
He cocked his head. “Felt like it. Do I need to have any other reason?”
“No,” she said. “I guess not. I just didn’t expect it.”
“You think and plan too much, Delaney. This trip aside, when was the last time you did anything spontaneous?”
She couldn’t answer him because she didn’t remember. She jutted her chin. “Maybe I don’t want to be spontaneous. There’s nothing wrong with having a plan,” she argued. “I just want to have a modicum of control over my life.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” he said. “But sometimes plans fail,” he added with a heavenward glance. “You gotta remember we’re not always the ones in control.” He opened her door and handed her up into the truck.