Read Online Rescue Me (Colorado Blues) by Ann B Harrison - Free Book Online Page B

stairs. When she passed Rory’s bedroom she paused, her
inquisitive nature getting the better of her. Opening the door, Gina glanced
in. The room was the same as hers without the clutter she already had spread
around. The woodsy smell she associated with him perfumed the room and she
closed the door, guilt chasing her tail all the way down to the kitchen.
    Gina
found oatmeal in the pantry and decided that was a good start for the both of
them. She let Fisher play on the kitchen floor with a small pot and a wooden
spoon while she cooked their breakfast. Together they ate at the table, the
baby on her lap which made for a messy meal. Gina was used to it. She was becoming
a master at avoiding small busy hands that reached for her spoon every time she
tried to get something in her own mouth.
    After
a quick clean up, she decided to do a load of washing and hurried back upstairs
to grab their dirty clothes bag, bringing it back downstairs. Fisher hadn’t
moved from his position under the kitchen table and Gina headed to the back of
the house and loaded up the washer. When she returned to the kitchen she had a quick
glance in the freezer, and pulled out big bag of steak for a casserole. She
left it in the sink to thaw out.
    “Hey,
baby, feel like a walk outside? Let’s go and see the animals.” She scooped him
up and walked outside. There was a nip in the air and the sky was crisp and
clear, but it was so good to be out in the country and not in the city anymore.
She could see the snow caps on the mountains and smiled. This would be a first snowy
winter for her too. Making snowmen with her baby was going to be so much fun—that’s
if she was here long enough to do so.
    Chickens
scratched in the yard and a few of them ran up to her expecting food. When she
had nothing for them, they gave up and went back to their earlier foraging.
Fisher clapped his hands when he saw the horses in the paddock and Gina stopped
and called out, hoping to attract at least one of them but to no avail. They received
a curious glance and nothing more.
    She
pushed open the door to the barn and looked inside for the chicken’s food. It
might be a good idea to feed them and collect the eggs. Every small job she did
around the ranch was something the others didn’t have to do and in a small way,
it also made her feel like she was pulling her weight. Tubs of wheat were lined
up against one wall and they had scoops inside. Gina looked around for a bucket
and half filled it with wheat and with Fisher on her hip, went looking for the
chicken pens.
    She
sprinkled wheat as she walked, feeling like the pied piper as the chickens all
hurried to join her. Fisher squealed in pleasure and wriggled to get down. “Not
yet, baby. Let’s wait until we come to somewhere cleaner and you can go for it.”
    When
they’d fed the chickens and collected the eggs, she carried Fisher up to the
house and let him down on the grass to play. Since she never went very far from
him, she sat down on the back porch and watched as he explored his new
surroundings. It was pleasant here. More than pleasant actually, it was
wonderful. She gazed out over the ranch and sighed. What she wouldn’t do to
make this work between her and Rory.
    Gina
plucked a piece of grass and started shredding it with her nails. She’d been
prepared to struggle with her feelings for the man she was to marry and Gina
was ready for that. After just spending time with him yesterday and this
morning, she doubted not getting on with him was going be an issue. He held
down a good job, had a ranch of his own, and great family surrounding him.
Everything she was missing in her own life.
    It
wouldn’t have been fair to Fisher to not take this chance. Staying in the city
hadn’t been worth thinking about, not when she had struggled with the decision
to give up her baby. It was close, so close, and now she felt sick in the
stomach thinking about it. It had taken days of soul searching after she lost
her job and