Pregnant by the Texan(23)
Once they had settled at their table and their drinks arrived—water for her and beer for Aaron—she listened to him describe his work at the Cattleman’s Club that day.
“How’s your sister?” Aaron asked when he was done.
“She’s fine. We had a nice time and had lunch together before I left. We don’t see each other much, just the two of us.”
“Any change with Mayor Vance?”
She shook her head. “No. But his wife told me he’s stable. He’s had a very rough time. I talked to Lark Taylor briefly. Her sister Skye is still in a medically induced coma, which sounds terrible to me, but I know it’s necessary sometimes. I didn’t ask further and, of course, she can’t tell me details.”
“How is Skye’s baby? Still in NICU?”
“Yes, but Lark said Skye’s baby is doing well.”
“That’s good,” he said. He tilted his head to look at her. “What?” he asked. “You look puzzled.”
“Most single men don’t have much to say about a preemie baby in NICU.”
He gave her that shuttered look he got occasionally. She seemed to have hit a nerve, but she didn’t know why. She didn’t pry into other’s lives. If Aaron wanted to share something with her, he would.
Their dinners came, and once again her appetite fled even though the baked chicken looked delicious.
About halfway through dinner, Aaron noticed. “No appetite?”
“We had a big lunch just before I went to the airport.”
She didn’t like looking into his probing brown eyes that saw too much. Aaron was perceptive and an excellent listener, so between the two qualities, he guessed or understood things sooner than some people she had known better and longer.
“One thing I didn’t mention,” she said, to get his attention off her. “Lark said they were searching for Jacob Holt.”
“Cole told me something about that. I imagine they are, with Skye in a coma and a new baby no one knows anything about. It’s tough. The Holts must be anxious to know if the child is Jacob’s.”
“You can’t blame him. Most people who’ve lived here long know about the Holt-Taylor feud.”
“From what Cole told me, that feud goes back at least fifty years. What I’ve always heard is that it was over a land dispute.”
“There are other things, too. A creek runs across both ranches, so they’ve fought over water rights,” Stella said.
“There’s been enough publicity, even nationally, over the tornado, I’d think Jacob Holt would have heard.”
“I can’t imagine he’s anywhere on earth where he wouldn’t hear something about it,” she said.
“If the baby is Jacob’s, she will be both a Taylor and a Holt and it might diminish the feud.”
“High time that old feud died. I wonder if Jacob will ever come back to Royal.”
“One more of those mysteries raised by the storm.” He smiled at her. “Now speaking of the storm—I have a surprise for you.”