“Sophie...”
“I’ve got to go home. I want to call Mom again and get the latest news on Dad. I’ll see you tomorrow. We can talk in the office about anything you feel is necessary.”
With that she picked up her small overnight case and her purse and headed to the door of the office. “I enjoyed this weekend. Thanks for taking me along. Sorry I had to go and spoil it.”
Clay watched from the window as she went outside and walked to where her car was parked. With one last wave, she backed out of the parking space and headed for the road that would take her back to the cottage.
Clay wasn’t in the office Monday morning. It was a first for him, but not really all that surprising considering what she’d dropped on him over the weekend. She thought she would hear from him but apparently not. What did that mean? She had no clue. Part of her said she was exactly where she thought she would be with regard to their relationship. He’d taken the news of the pending birth in stride, just like he did everything else. He’d accepted it, hadn’t questioned if the child was his, and life went on. She knew better than to expect emotion; still, she was slightly disappointed. But she reminded herself that it could’ve been much worse.
The office phones began to ring, indicating a typically busy start to a Monday morning. She had told him she would work another two weeks, not wanting to leave him shorthanded even though he had plenty of secretaries he could get here at a moment’s notice. She put in a call to the home office’s human-resources department and requested the same two secretaries who’d helped them out before when they were dealing with the Everest PR crisis. They had already been trained on the basic office procedures and would be able to step in without any problems. They would start the following Monday.
When she contacted her mother after getting back to the cottage on Sunday afternoon, it had come as a relief to hear the smile in her mother’s voice. Everything had been arranged. Her father was to have the heart transplant on Wednesday. The prognosis was good. She let her mom know she had given her notice and would be coming back to Indiana. She’d call her again when she had a definite time of arrival.
Sophie got up and walked to the large picture window in her office. It looked out over the distant barns, forest and to the right the miles and miles of open range. She would miss this. She would miss working for Clay. This job, and Clay, had become her life. She spent more time in this office and with him than she did in her cottage. Maybe she and the baby could come back to visit in the future. She’d also made friends with a lot of the ranch hands and their families who lived on the spread. She knew when they found out she was pregnant they would want to see the baby. But she wasn’t the kind of person to pick up the phone and tell someone. At least not until Clay had made his intentions perfectly clear. For all she knew, he might not want anyone to know he was about to become a father. As these were his employees, she would leave it to him to tell them or not.
It was sad when she realized the greatest joy in her life was one she had to keep to herself. Maybe Clay would come around. He might not want to raise the baby under his roof, but at least her pregnancy would serve as no embarrassment to him. Miracles were in short supply this year and she had given her allotment to her dad.
Twelve
Friday morning as Sophie entered the office, she immediately saw Clay behind his desk, hiding behind his newspaper as usual.
“Good morning,” she offered. “I’m glad to see you back. I hope you enjoyed your vacation.”
“I did.”
“Well, when you decide to go to work, there are several calls you need to make. The messages are all on your desk and in the order you need to return them.”
“How are you feeling?”
His question surprised her. “Good. Well. Thank you. Still having the morning sickness but I should be through it soon. It usually goes away by the second trimester.”
That brought the newspaper down as he looked at her carefully. “I hadn’t realized you’d been sick. I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do?”
“Nope. It’s just part of being pregnant.”
He rose from his chair and walked to her. Catching her chin with his fingers, he raised her face to his. In what seemed like slow motion, he lowered his lips to hers. “I want to be with you through this, Sophie. I want to be there for you to ensure anything you need is at your disposal. I want you to marry me, Sophie. I realize this isn’t the way things should’ve gone down. This is neither the place nor the time to ask for your hand in marriage but I want to take care of you and I want to take care of our son or daughter.”
“You don’t have to be married to take care of your son or your daughter. As I said before, I don’t really want anything from you. Don’t feel you are required to give up your freedom simply because I got pregnant.”
Inside, Sophie’s heart was beating hard against her chest. She couldn’t deny to herself how badly she wanted to tell him yes. She wished this would turn out differently. Yes, she wanted to marry Clay. She wanted to be his wife in every sense of the word. She wanted them to be a family and live on the ranch. But she’d realized long ago people didn’t always get what they wanted. She knew he loved her in his own way but that wasn’t enough. Being her best friend did not make him husband material.
“Make those calls,” she said as she left his office for her own. “They’re important.”
Sophie glanced at her watch. It was almost ten o’clock. She needed to drive down to the local bank and Clay’s attorney’s to pick up the documents he needed to sign pertaining to Everest’s corporate restructuring. She pressed the intercom. “I’ve got to run to the bank. Anything you need me to get while I’m in town?”
“No, thanks.”
The drive from the ranch into downtown Royal took about twenty minutes. First National Bank of Royal was located on Main Street. Clay’s attorney had an office on the second floor. After stopping into the bank, Sophie headed upstairs. Mary Sue, the legal secretary, was waiting for her when she stepped off the elevator.
“Did you come to pick up those papers on the Everest reorganization?”
“Yep.”
“I have them ready for you right over here.”
Sophie followed Mary Sue to a side table with a large stack of paperwork. She placed them in manila envelopes and handed them to Sophie.
“Have you heard Joe Croswell’s business was targeted by what sounds like the same idiot who tried to bring Everest down?”
“No, I didn’t know. That person has got to be caught and stopped.”
“I don’t think you’ll find anyone in this town who would disagree with you there.”
“Well, thanks for the paperwork. I’ll get it to Clay right away.”
After a few more parting words, Sophie made her way out of the bank to her car and headed back to the ranch. As she drove, she contemplated Maverick. She couldn’t understand anyone who had so much hatred that they’d try to bring down every business in Royal. But she wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. Clay had overcome the crisis directed at his company; plus, she would be leaving next week.
She’d made quite a few friends here over the past five years and while she didn’t want to tell people she was leaving for fear of being asked why, she would miss them nonetheless. She hoped their friendship could continue on a long-distance basis.
Once she parked her car in her assigned space, she grabbed the envelope in her purse and hurried inside. Clay’s door was closed, which was unusual unless something was very wrong, but she certainly would respect his privacy. Before she could speculate further, her own phone began to ring. Grabbing the cell phone from her purse, she saw that it was a text from Clay telling her to please return to his office as soon as possible.
Was it possible that Clay had made a decision? Had he finally decided he wanted to be the baby’s father and a true husband to her? Could he have meant it when he’d ask her to marry him? They way he’d said he wanted to take care of her and their baby made it sound like the marriage offer was responsibility talking. Not love. Not a desire to be with her. Had she been wrong? Hope filled her heart as she walked to the closed door. Maybe he would even forgive her when he found out about her past. It hit her with the velocity of a freight train that there was nothing she wanted more. With those thoughts in mind, she knocked twice on Clay’s office door, then she opened it as she had done for years and stepped inside. Only this time Clay wasn’t by himself. Behind his desk—on his lap—was a beautiful blonde woman, her long hair touching her waist as she laughed at something that had just been said. After the initial shock, Sophie couldn’t help but notice the woman sat straddling Clay’s lap, her short skirt riding up almost to her panty line. Clay’s hands were around her waist and his face was covered in lipstick. Sophie could feel the blood drain from her face as she mumbled an apology and backed out of the room.
She knew the woman. She was one of Clay’s mistresses before he had his accident, before he’d become engaged. Carla. Her name was Carla something.
Tears stung Sophie’s eyes as she stumbled over the legs of her chair. Apparently, he couldn’t even wait until she’d left to carry on with his numerous affairs. It smacked of arrogance and the disdain he apparently had for her and their unborn child. After she’d grabbed her purse from under the desk, she ran for the outside door. But when she got inside her car, the engine wouldn’t start. Numbed, she looked around hoping a solution would fall into her lap. It did. Jesse May Holbrook came through the gate that connected the estate grounds with the barn and surrounding paddock areas. She didn’t know Jesse very well. Clay had just hired her as a trainer and ranch hand at the Flying E. Sophie couldn’t see for the tears running down her face, but she got out of the car and ran toward Jesse with sheer desperation urging her on.