Chapter 15

It had taken Katie longer to get things squared away then she had originally anticipated. Fortunately for her Shelly was very understanding and told her to take whatever time was needed to get it done. Katie had arrived to the ranch after Shelly's things had been taken back to the cabin so she never knew anything about what had happened, and no one, not even the other guests were talking about it. Unbeknownst to Shelly and Justin, Mr. Wilson, Marcus, Matt and Chris had come up with a scheme/story to tell everyone that would keep any rumors from spreading. As far as the guests and staff were concerned, Shelly had to be moved to a room at the main house to minimize any chance for an infection to get into her wound, and that with Justin's leg being broken he was limited on what he could do to care for her. Nothing was ever mentioned about Shelly not eating or any of the other events.

Shelly had felt so bad about what had happened during that week, but she knew nothing she said could ever make up her treatment towards Justin. Justin had a hard time convincing her that she should stop feeling bad. That he was just so grateful that she and their babies were fine. Slowly Shelly's appetite did increase but then so did her being sick, it didn't matter how much she ate she was always sick. Pierre would fix each of her meals to Dr. Carter's specifications and what she ate and how much she ate was adjusted to accommodate what she and the twins required nutritionally. Of course he did sneak extra treats and goodies to her at least 3 times a week. Shelly was very grateful for all of the sweet treats that Pierre was giving her, they really made her feel like she was being naughty even though in reality it was within acceptable limits.

Two weeks before the wedding, Shelly and Justin were becoming concerned with Katie's lack of desire to do much, she was friendly enough and did an excellent job taking care of their personal affairs, but her unwillingness to participate in various activities was a concern. Shelly had asked Jennifer to talk to her since she was just a few years older than Katie. Jennifer decided to take Katie out on horseback to the beach that way they could talk in peace.

Jennifer had asked Matt to saddle up two horses one for her and one for Katie. Shelly had already informed Katie that she would be spending the afternoon with Jennifer and that they would be riding so to wear the new riding clothes that Shelly had ordered for her. In some ways Katie was looking forward to riding, but she was scared too.

Katie was still getting over the breakup of her boyfriend of 4 years; things had ended badly to say the least. Right before she went to the ranch to get Ms. Shelly up to date with her finances and affairs, he had told her he was moving out. So when she was offered the full-time position as Shelly and Justin's assistant she jumped at the opportunity. Although she couldn't explain it, Katie had not been felling well for nearly the last week, but she just kept doing her job and tried to ignore the waves of illness that kept coming over her.

Jennifer had met Katie at the dining hall for lunch then they headed to the stables. Matt was ready for them, when he saw Katie approaching, he smiled. Thinking to himself that she was a very pretty young lady, and clearly very bright, but he too noticed her melancholy state. It isn't exactly like Shelly's was when she first arrived, but there were something's that were still similar, he just wasn't sure how to get her out of her shell.

"Thank you Matt for having the girls ready for us" Jennifer said.

"You're welcome, try not to stay out to long; I don't like the look of the clouds to the east of us. If you see them getting closer then head back quickly."

"We will, I have been doing this enough years to know the drill." Then more quietly "I hope it won't take long to find out why she has been so down at out since moving up here."

"If you need any help with anything with Katie, just let me know, she is a pretty little thing and definitely worth getting to know. If she will open up to us."

"Why Matt, I think you have finally found someone you are interested in. All of the pretty young ladies who have passed through here the last six years that I have been here you have never even once looked at any of them or even been remotely interested in anyone."

"Okay Katie let's get going before that storm cloud descends upon us and we get soaking wet and end up sick."

Matt helped Katie up on to her horse as Jennifer nimbly climbed up on hers. He looked up towards her and asked her if everything was comfortable and she said it was okay, but since she had so little previous experience with horses that she would have to trust his judgment. He really does have beautiful gray eyes, she thought to herself, ones that she could easily get lost in, but the recent heartache of her break up and her not feeling well made her doubt herself in ways she never had before.

Jennifer and Katie took off on the path towards the beach going at a pace that Katie could easily handle. They rode in silence for awhile, Jennifer trying to decide the best way to bring up the subject of Katie's despondency.

"It is so pretty out here, I am glad Ms. Shelly hired me and I got this chance to get away from everything and just be able to do my job in a less stressful environment." Katie said out loud.

"Yes it is peaceful here; I am going to miss it once Marcus and I head back to his home in Maryland after the wedding. He did promise me we could come back during the summer."

"Katie ever since you got here, it has seemed like something has been bothering you, if you ever want to talk about it, either Shelly, Cassie or I would be more than happy to listen to you, between the three of us, there hasn't been much that we can't handle or haven't had to handle."

"Just before I came out her with Mr. Hensley, my boyfriend of 4 years decided to dump me and moved out while I was down here. But over the last week, I just haven't been feeling myself, moody, sick to my stomach, just overall not feeling well."

"Katie when did you last have your period, you sound a lot like Shelly did in the first few weeks of her pregnancy?"

"I can't be pregnant, I took precautions to make sure that it didn't happen, I wanted to be married before having children, what am I going to do?"

"First thing in the morning I will call Dr. Carter and see if he can get you in for a pregnancy test. After that, you will have all the support you need in whatever decision you make. I will have Matt drive you to the doctor office for your appointment once I get it made. I will leave it up to you who you tell and when, but remember no matter what we will do what we can to help you."

"Thank you Jennifer, um, what can you tell me about Matt, he really does seem nice? Maybe I shouldn't be thinking that right now, neither he nor anyone else is going to want someone who is pregnant in their life especially if it isn't theirs."

"Don't be so sure, Matt has never in my six years of working here ever looked at any one the way I have seen him look at you. Let's see what Dr. Carter has to say first, and then go from there. Just get to know him and let nature take its course."

"I will see what happens; maybe soon I will feel up to getting out and doing more" Katie replied.

"Good, we better head back in those clouds look like they might beat us back and if they do Matt will have a cow."

"That would be funny to see" Katie said giggling.

It had just started raining cats and dogs when Katie and Jennifer pulled up to the stables, and did Matt ever look pissed. "I thought I said to be back before this hit?"

"Sorry Matt, but it got here faster then we could. I did try, but luck was not on our side."

"Katie, go run to your cabin and get out of those wet clothes and dry off, I will let you know when I can get you an appointment with Dr. Carter, and then I am sure Matt here will be only too happy to take you to town for your appointment. Right Matt?"

Matt just stared at Jennifer for a moment when he saw her nod her head and he knew he would find out more after Katie went back to her cabin. "Yeah sure, not a problem just let me know when she needs to be there, I will be happy to take her."

They both watched Katie quickly dash for her cabin. "Matt, I can't tell you everything, but she has just recently broken up with a guy she had been dating for 4 years and how do I say this? Remember how Shelly felt those first few weeks of her pregnancy?"

"Oh, is that all that is wrong with her, let me guess, she figures no guy would want her if they knew she was pregnant with some other guys kid?"

"Pretty much yeah, but don't let on that I told you, we all need to build her trust and let her know that we will be there for her no matter what her choice is. But if she is pregnant, she will really be down, she said that she did everything to try to avoid being in this situation until she was married."

"Thanks Jennifer, I think I can manage now that I have a clue as to what is really the problem."

Matt decided to break the ice then instead of waiting till Katie was even more depressed then she already was. Calling the kitchen Matt asked Pierre of a bowl of soup that could be taken down to Miss Katie's cabin since she and Jennifer had gotten caught out in the storm. When Pierre said give him 10 minutes Matt said that he would be there in about 10 min. Getting the soup Matt headed down to Katie's cabin, trying to figure out a way to show his concern and interest in her, without her finding out Jennifer had told him anything.

Katie had just gotten out of the shower when she heard a knock on her door. She wasn't expecting anyone so figuring it had to be Shelly or Jennifer; she just threw on a short terry cotton robe and opened the door. To say the least she was shocked to see Matt standing there with something hot in his hands.

"Hey there, I figured you would be cold and a bit hungry after your ride so I thought I would bring you some soup to help you warm up a bit."

Katie backed up and indicated that Matt could enter. Closing the door behind her, she smiled awkwardly at him, not being used to anyone especially a guy do anything like that for her.

"Thank you, the shower helped some, but I am still a bit chilled."

"Let me start a fire for you while you go change into something warmer before you catch a cold and get sick." Matt then proceed to get a fire going in the fireplace while out of the corner of his eye he watched Katie grab warmer clothes to go change in the bathroom. Katie had always been shy about changing in front of people, even her ex-boyfriend didn't really get to see her all that often naked in the daylight. By time Katie came back out of the bathroom, Matt had gotten the fire going and the bit of chill that was in the air due to the cold front that had brought the rain was leaving the room. Matt moved one of the oversized chairs in the room in front of the fireplace so Katie could eat her soup and be warm at the same time.

"Well I guess I should get going, don't want to overstay my welcome," Matt said and as he was getting ready to open the door Katie surprised him by saying "You haven't overstayed your welcome, and if you don't have other chores to attend to, I wouldn't mind the company, it can get a bit lonesome out here." Katie never meant it to sound like she was desperate, but Matt could hear the nervousness in her voice and it called to his male protective side that just wanted to shelter her in his arms. Instead he just pulled the other chair up next to hers, and sat down. As the afternoon progressed, Katie and Matt had basically told each other almost all there was to know about each other, the only thing Katie didn't say was her fear of being pregnant, she really liked Matt and hoped that she was wrong and that it was just stress causing it. As Matt was getting ready to leave to do his evening chores before dinner, Katie got this look on her face like she was going to be sick; Matt had seen it numerous times with Shelly especially with her being sick pretty much all the time.