Lone Star Baby Scandal(18)

Maybe Clay was right about the bull. Maybe it really had saved his life.

She backed away from the gate, turned and began walking to the front of the barn.

“Sophie!” he called. “Wait up.”

She didn’t want to wait. She wanted to be a million miles away from here, hidden from the world so she could bear the guilt over her cowardly behavior in secret. It was a mortal sin to take a man’s life. It was almost as bad to fall in love with her boss, sleep with him and not tell him she was expecting his child. There was no good end to this. There couldn’t be. She didn’t want to see the disappointment in his eyes. She didn’t want to hear him offer to marry her because it was the honorable thing to do. And Clay, for all his brooding, intimidating persona, was an honorable man.

She had to leave. Even facing the people in her hometown would be better than facing Clay after she told him the truth. And she had to do it before any more time passed.

“Sophie,” he called. “Will you wait a second? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she threw over her shoulder, refusing to slow down. “I’ve got to get back to the office.”

Now she’d added lies to the list. Would the nightmare never end? She had to leave Royal and she had to do it soon.





Nine

Sophie was about to take her bath that evening when her cell rang. Fearing it was Clay, she started to ignore it. She was tired, it had been a long day, and she really didn’t want to argue with him any further. But she scooped up the phone and saw it was a call from her mom.

“Hello? Mom?”

“Hi, sweetie. I’m sorry to call so late,” her mother said. “But I just wanted to call and let you know that it might be possible for your dad to have an open-heart transplant. Your father is very weak after all the tests and the travel to and from Cleveland, and he had a slight flare-up today. But the doctors say that won’t matter once they get the heart. We don’t know how long it will be, of course, but we are now on the list. And they’ll be able to perform the transplant here at the local hospital—he won’t have to go back to Cleveland. Just keep your fingers crossed he can hold on until he gets it.”

“Oh, Mom...” The tears blurred Sophie’s vision. “That is so great. It’s beyond great. But...”

“I know. It’s so frightening. But we have...a lot...to be thankful for.”

Sophie sat down in a kitchen chair, her own problems suddenly becoming small and unimportant. “Isn’t there a specialist he can see? There’s got to be someone who can do something.”

“Dr. Brixton is a specialist, Sophie. Your dad’s heart is just worn-out. There are just a lot of people who are in his situation and I guess they feel the younger ones... Well, you know what I’m trying to say.”

Yeah, she knew. And while she could see the logic, it was her father who suffered. After the earlier argument with Clay when she refused to move into his house and now this, the whole world seemed to need a redo.

“Mom, I’m coming home.”

“Of course, if that’s your decision. But I would suggest you wait a while. There is nothing you can do here. As I said, this time he’ll be fine. We have been provided a place to stay near the hospital. It’s small, but it’s a miracle we were able to get it. If you have any vacation, you might want to come back and spend some time with him once he is out of the hospital. If—no, when—he gets his new heart, he’ll want to spend as much time as he can with both of his girls. I know he would love to see you again. We both would.”

“I won’t be coming home on vacation leave.” She hesitated. “Mom, there is something I need to tell you.” Again, she wavered, not really wanting to tell her mother over the phone that she was about to have a grandchild. But she couldn’t keep it in any longer. “I’m pregnant.”

The silence that hung in the air was not completely unexpected. But she needed her mom. She needed someone she could talk to, someone who would stand up for her and the baby. She knew her mother would be in her corner even if she didn’t approve.

Her mother finally said, “Does...does the father know?”

“No.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know how to tell him.”

“It’s important, don’t you think?”

“He’s not someone who wants to settle down with a family. I’m afraid he may think this is entrapment, an attempt to coerce him into marriage. I don’t want a marriage like that. It would never last. Oh, Mom, I love him. But this happened with the wrong guy.”

“Sophie, you have to tell him. He has a right to know.” Then she asked the inevitable question. “Is it Clay?”

Sophie’s breath left her lungs. “Yes.”

“Then, by all means, tell him. He’s a good man. You might be surprised by his reaction. But even if you’re right, you know we are here for you.”

“Thanks. I’ll think about what you said and give you a call if I decide to head back to Indiana. Give Dad a big hug and kiss for me, will you?”

When the call ended, she laid her cell on the kitchen table. She had to go home. Her time with Clay was drawing to a close. First, she needed to tell him about her pregnancy and once that information was shared, he would either ask her to leave or she would be so uncomfortable around him she would leave on her own.

Then she needed to return home to be there for her dad. Her family. She could get a call asking her to return home at any time, so she knew she had to tell Clay about the baby even though he wasn’t cut out for a relationship, let alone fatherhood. She needed to go back to Indiana so she could be with her family. She had to tell him soon.



“Stay and have supper,” Clay said, standing in the open door between their offices the following day. “I’m tired of eating alone.”

Sophie eyed him with no small measure of suspicion. There were any number of people he could call on to have supper with. He didn’t need her. But maybe it would afford the opportunity to tell him about the baby.

“What are we having?”

“Steaks and baked potato.”

“With a salad?”

“Any way you want it.”

Clay put in the request and by seven o’clock they were seated outside on the terrace that overlooked land that went on as far as the eye could see. The rolling hills were green—a rarity, happening only in the spring and early summer months. Most of Clay’s acreage had been cultivated, seeded each year and fertilized to ensure plenty of grass and forage for the fifty thousand head of cattle that roamed over the land.

“I’m going to ride out to the branding site, probably in the morning. I’m ready to get out of here for a couple of days. I want to see the new calves and get a close-up look at the heifers. We’re looking to triple the herd this year and I’ve decided to add some new bulls to the mix. I need to pick those out, as well.” He looked at Sophie. “Want to go?”

“Are you going by horseback?”

“Nah. That would take three days each way. I’ll go in the chopper. One day to get there and check everything out, stay overnight to enjoy the campfire and back the next day.”

“Okay. Yeah, I’d like to go. How about I have Rose fix some sandwiches and ice down some sodas for the trip?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“When are we leaving?”

“Early.”

“How early?”

Clay shrugged. “How about if I wake you just before I’m ready to go?”

“There is a perfectly good alarm clock in my bedroom at the cottage.”

“Hell, Sophie. A clock is no way to start the day. There are other things a lot more...invigorating than that.”

She picked up her water and took a sip. She knew what he wanted with regard to waking her up. She wanted him, too. But this couldn’t go on without her telling him about the life growing inside her. A life he’d helped to create. A little life that might someday have his easy sexy smile and eyes that could melt the coldest heart.

“Name one,” she teased.

“Ouch. Now, that hurt.”

She set down her glass as Rose came to take away their dinner plates. Sophie then pulled the dish of homemade strawberry shortcake from the center of the table, her mouth already watering.

“Rose is a great cook. But there are some foods at which she absolutely excels. This is one of them.” Clay picked up his small dessert plate and placed it in front of him, losing no time digging into the tantalizing dessert.

“Oh, my gosh,” Sophie said, unable to hold her comment until she’d finished chewing. “This is amazing.” She laughed, covering her mouth with her napkin.

For a few minutes neither spoke. The only sound was the clinking of spoons against the bone-china dishes as they inhaled the dessert.

When she was finished, Sophie sipped her water and sat back in the chair, glancing out over the balcony railing at the haunting beauty of the landscape.

The sun was setting, adding a flare of color to the many hills and valleys. It was surreal sitting here with Clay, watching it unfold.

“You are awfully quiet,” Clay remarked.

“It’s just so stunning. In the five years I’ve worked for you, I’ve never taken the time to enjoy the natural wonders of the area. Granted, this balcony provides a perfect place to view it, but I never guessed a dry desert landscape could be so...so...”