Absentminded Angel(Divine Creek Ranch 20)(23)

“You’re what?”

Frowning again, she firmed her lips and said, “I’m afraid that you’ll have this dawning moment, where it finally sinks in that I’m like the town pariah, an outcast by my own actions, and you’ll finally wash your hands of me right about the time I—” She clamped her lips shut and shook her head.

Right about the time you fall in love with us?

“Finish what you were about to say, kitten,” Jared said, closing the distance between them. Up close, he could see the way her chin trembled as she held Whit and swayed him comfortingly, probably without even realizing it.

“You deserve to have a woman in your life who doesn’t come with as much baggage as I do.”

“Even if you’re what we want? However you come?” Kendry asked as he lifted a fluffy blanket from her rocker and wrapped it around her and the baby. “Since the night we first laid eyes on you in the Dancing Pony, you’ve been on our minds, in our thoughts.”

Presley Ann gave a dry chuckle but Jared could see the way her eyes grew shiny. “Even several months pregnant? Why?” Her tone clearly suggested she thought they were crazy, but he could see the vulnerability in her eyes.

Jared let out a breath and rolled his tight shoulders. “Why? Believe it or not, the fact that you were pregnant wasn’t the first thing either of us noticed. After Vincent introduced us, you talked to us and asked us questions that had nothing to do with whether we were already taken, or if we had money, or status. You were just…you. Expecting to go unnoticed by us would be like expecting us to not notice the sun on a cloudless day. Even if I was blind I’d still feel the warmth. People around here may remember you from your growing up years—or whatever—but we know you for who you really are. Whether that growing up took you a few extra years or not is inconsequential to us.”

“You can say that only because you weren’t around for any of those years. I was horrible. I don’t deserve…”

Kendry shook his head as he touched the spot on his chest where his surgical scar was located. “Don’t say you don’t deserve to be happy. There was a point where I thought my time finally had run out and I’d never have the chance—” He looked toward the door, clearly trying to control his emotions. “Sorry. Sometimes you don’t need a lot of time to “know” things. I think Leah and the guys would agree.”

She seemed to give that some thought, and Jared could almost hear the gears turning in her head. He knew from listening to Leah talk about Patterson the day they’d met her, that she’d regretted never sharing with Patterson how she really felt about him. He didn’t feel especially noble about it, but he’d use every vehicle he could to demonstrate that maybe she should trust them and take the chance they were offering her.

“I have to prove my Aunt Dorothy wrong, and everyone else in this town that looks down on me or thinks I’ll give up.”

“Your pride? Really?” Jared posed the question in a soft tone, not wanting to offend her.

He could see the pleading in her eyes as she said, “Someone, or something, has always been there to catch me when I fall, Jared. My dad. My sister. Shopping. Other…men.” She gulped and the sound was loud in the room. “I’ve got to prove this to myself. It’s not that I care so much what other people think. I need to know I can make this work on my own.”

Kendry crossed his arms over his chest. “And what if we’re just around, watching you work through this, worrying about things like what happened tonight when hardly anyone knew you were even on the road? We’re not allowing harm to come to you and we’re not hiding our concern from you.”

“I don’t expect that, Kendry.” Even as she said it, the way she held the baby made him think she was hiding.

Jared said, “I respect you for wanting to prove you can do this, for yourself and for everyone else, but there’s going to come a point where the satisfaction of proving them wrong won’t keep you warm at night. I admire your spunk. Just know that while you’re proving you can do it, we’ll be proving we have staying power. Okay?”

She drew breath to speak and then stopped. Finally she said, “What do you want?”

Kendry brushed a lock of hair over her shoulder and said, “I think the real question—the one with the lasting answer—the answer we care about, is what do you really want?”

Presley Ann didn’t hesitate this time. “I just want to survive the next few months with all my sanity intact. You’re interested in romance with me? You must be crazy,” she said while shaking her head, and they all laughed. At least she was honest. “And didn’t you say that you couldn’t spend time over here if you were on duty? I don’t want you to get in trouble.”