He’d walked out of the showroom with a great big, fancy pickup truck. That sucker could haul a lot of hay, maybe even a dead moose. Not that he had any intention of loading it up with either. As he’d driven off the lot, he’d been convinced he was doing a darn fine job of turning himself into the image of a rancher. Who would ever have thought it possible? Certainly not him, not in his wildest dreams. And while he would never in a million years admit it to his boss, he loved that truck. He just hated getting behind the wheel.
He glanced up at the television monitor in his office in time to see Megan and Peggy pull a perfect chocolate raspberry soufflé from the oven. His mouth watered. The town of Whispering Wind might not have the caliber of restaurants he’d frequented in Manhattan, but the recipes Megan and Peggy whipped up on their cable show almost made up for it. Unfortunately the show was taped and that soufflé was a distant memory. This week’s tapings were heavy with summer salads, which were healthy enough but hardly appealed to his taste for the exotic.
“Can you believe how incredibly well that soufflé turned out?” Megan asked, walking into his office just in time to see the close-up of the finished product. “It never ceases to amaze me that I can actually cook when I put my mind to it.”
“You don’t cook. You let Peggy do all the tricky stuff,” Todd reminded her with a grin. “Boiling water tests your skills. That’s why you refuse to let the housekeeper out at the ranch retire. Whispering Wind doesn’t exactly cater to your best culinary achievement—ordering in.”
His boss frowned at him. “Have you forgotten who’s in charge around here?” she asked with feigned indignation. “Besides, I was cooking all alone on the show for quite a while before we asked Peggy to take over those segments.”
“All alone?” he repeated skeptically. “I seem to remember finished products being prepared by expert chefs so you wouldn’t look like an idiot at the end of the show.”
“Okay, okay, so cooking isn’t my strong suit, which brings me to the reason for dropping in. What would you think of spinning Peggy’s segment off into a full half-hour show? The response has been terrific. The audience is growing. Requests for recipes are up and that catalog we put together to sell gourmet ingredients is doing terrific business. Maybe we ought to capitalize on all that.”
“How’s Johnny going to feel about that? They’re just beginning to get their marriage back on track. A show of her own will eat up a lot of Peggy’s time.”
Megan frowned at the mention of her best friend’s rocky marriage. “It’ll be up to Peggy, of course, but I think she needs to maintain as much financial independence as she can. It was only when Johnny began to see that she could walk away from him that he finally started to shape up. If you ask me, the relationship is still on shaky ground.”
“Okay, so the ball is in Peggy’s court on that one. How about you? Don’t you have enough on your plate without starting up another television show?” Todd asked, even as the idea began to take hold in his imagination.
Megan’s friend had turned out to be a natural in front of the camera. The viewers loved her. Advertisers clamored for the available commercial spots during her segments. Selling her show to the syndicator would be a breeze. And, to be perfectly frank, she was a whole lot less demanding than the woman seated in front of him. Peggy was a nurturer. Megan was a type-A control freak.
“It wouldn’t be on my plate,” Megan said. “It would be on yours. You’re the executive producer around here.”
“That’s my name on the credits,” he agreed. “But you’re in charge. You still oversee every detail on the show and for the magazine. You vowed to let up once you married Jake, but I haven’t seen any evidence of it.”
“I’m letting up now,” she said, an uncharacteristic blush on her cheeks.
“And I’m a full-fledged cowboy,” Todd retorted, not believing her for a minute. Megan was far too obsessive-compulsive to give up any control of her empire.
“No, I am letting up,” she insisted, then took a deep breath and blurted, “I’m pregnant.”
Todd stared, then jumped up and let out a whoop as he scooped her out of the chair and spun her around. He was genuinely delighted for her. The ultimate career woman, Megan had taken a long time to realize that she was mother material. Thrust into the role when she’d assumed guardianship of her grandfather’s illegitimate eight-year-old daughter less than a year ago, she’d panicked, then thrived, ultimately proving that she could handle career and motherhood without missing a beat. Over time she and Tess had built a better relationship than most kids had with their natural parents. She’d even found room in her heart and in their lives for Tess’s biological mother, Flo.
“Congratulations! It’s about time,” he enthused.
“We haven’t been married that long,” Megan reminded him. “Just a few months.”
“From what I’ve heard it only takes one night, especially if you’re not planning on it. What does Jake think? Never mind. He’s probably over the moon. How about Tess?” he asked.
“Still full of surprises. Jake and I worried how she would react, since she’s just beginning to believe that I intend to be a real mother to her. Apparently, though, she thinks this is something we’ve done especially for her. She’s looking forward to having a little brother or sister she can boss around. Says it’ll be even better than all those kittens she’s managed to sneak into the house.” She surveyed him intently. “How about you? Think you’re ready to be a godfather?”
Taken by surprise, his palms began to sweat. “Me? You can’t be serious. I can’t even remember the last time I set foot in a church. What kind of role model would I be?” he asked, dismissing the idea out of hand.
“Who else would we want? Jake agrees. You’ve been with us through thick and thin. We want to share this with you. And you can always start joining us in church on Sundays. You’ll feel perfectly at home by the time the baby gets here.”
Todd regarded her uneasily. As thrilled as he was for her and Jake, this was definitely a twist he hadn’t anticipated. It made his stomach constrict just thinking about it. How could he tactfully decline something most people would consider an honor?
“I’m flattered, really I am, but maybe you’d better think that over,” he said carefully. “I haven’t spent that much time around kids. I’d probably mess it up.”
“You’re wonderful with Tess.”
“She’s a real person. This would be a baby.”
“Not forever,” Megan pointed out. “We’re counting on him or her growing up eventually.”
On the verge of a full-fledged anxiety attack, Todd murmured, “Call me when that happens.”
Obviously the depth of his uneasiness finally sank in. Megan studied him with that probing, take-no-prisoners look she usually reserved for tough on-air interviews. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Like I said, I’m flattered, but I really don’t think I’m the best candidate.”
But Megan was not willing to let the subject drop. “I’ve known you for a long time. It’s not like you to turn down a new project just because it’s unfamiliar turf. You were on my case from the beginning when it came to Tess. You didn’t let me back away from that challenge, just because I was scared out of my wits. So why should I let you?”
“This isn’t a new project or a half-grown kid,” he said tightly. “It’s a baby, a helpless little baby. I’m telling you I can’t do it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Megan, how many ways do I have to say it? No. Not in this lifetime. Never. Forget it.”
“Okay, okay,” she said, backing down. “There’s a long time to go. Maybe the idea will grow on you. Maybe you’ll