When You're Back(69)

“Charlie, this is wonderful news. We knew they’d get married. So what if the baby came before the proposal?”

Oh, God. I was going to throw up. He’d never mentioned a proposal. She was assuming something that wasn’t in the works.

“He moved her in here without proposing. He’s had plenty of time. Haven’t you, Mase? It’s a shame this poor girl has to be treated like this. Thought I raised you better.”

My knees felt weak. If Mase hadn’t been holding me up, I wasn’t sure I’d still be standing. His stepdad was saying everything that had been haunting me and confronting Mase with it. Would this send him running? Change his mind?

“I moved her in with me because I couldn’t live without her. My intentions have always been to spend the rest of my life with her. I was just taking this one step at a time.”

“And you got those steps all screwed up,” Charlie said. “Your momma can be excited, but I’m thinking of the big picture here. That girl deserves to have a ring on her finger if she’s having a baby. She needs that security. You had a single mother for the first few years of your life. You know better than anyone how important it is to be the man your kid deserves. Fix this.” His words sounded like a demand.

Mase was tense beside me, and Maryann looked shocked at Charlie’s outburst. I couldn’t say anything. I could hardly breathe.

“I don’t want that pie. I’m going home,” Charlie said, and he headed out the door.

“I am so sorry. He’s just . . . he has ideas of how things should be done. He doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s excited about this baby. Just give him time,” Maryann said.

“He’s got a funny way of showing it,” Mase said tightly.

Maryann walked over and hugged him, then turned to me and kissed my cheek and hugged me. “I couldn’t have asked for a better mother for my grandchild. Thank you,” she whispered in my ear.

As she stepped back, I wanted to burst into tears. Having her accept this and be happy about it helped. “I’m leaving the pie with the two of you. I have a man to straighten out,” she said, then gave Mase an apologetic smile.

Mase didn’t reply. His mother finally turned and left the house.

I had no idea what to say to him.

“He’s wrong. He’s got old-fashioned ways. Ignore him,” Mase said, still holding on to me.

As much as I didn’t want to talk, I knew I had to say something. I had to clarify that I wasn’t expecting a ring. I certainly didn’t want one under these circumstances. “I don’t want a ring. This baby is not meant to force you into something you weren’t planning on doing. I’d never allow you to be pressured to marry me. So, please understand, I won’t marry you if you ask me now, not if it’s because I’m pregnant. The baby can have your last name. We don’t have to be married for that to happen. Just don’t . . . don’t think about anything he said.”

Mase frowned. “I’d never ask you to marry me because I felt pressured to do it,” he said, his voice sounding sincere.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I nodded. “Good.”





Mase


The teardrop-shaped pale pink morganite stone was set within a halo of diamonds embedded in a rose-gold band. It was unique, and it was beautiful. It had stood out to me from the thousands of diamond rings I’d been shown, and the simple setting had struck me as perfect. I could see it on Reese’s hand. I didn’t need to see another ring.

Having it sized had been tricky, because the diamonds ran along the band of the ring, so it had taken a few weeks for it to be done correctly. Holding the finished product in my hand was exciting and terrifying. Timing was important, and I was afraid I’d royally screw this up.

Reese was adamant that I not propose to her because she was pregnant. If only I’d been able to give her this ring just a week ago. But I hadn’t been, and all I had now was proof that it had been purchased three weeks ago. This had to be handled delicately. I didn’t want her memory of our engagement to be tainted by my begging and pleading for her to believe me. I wanted it to be special. Something she would love to remember.

My mother knew about the ring—I’d told her when I found it—so she had been aware that I was going to propose before the pregnancy news came. Charlie knew that, too, now. My mother had made sure he understood how out of line he’d been. Given that he had apologized to me this morning at the stables, Momma must have been hard on him.

I tucked the small black velvet box into my jeans pocket and headed to the house. I had to plan this, and I had only three hours left before I went to pick up Reese from work. Momma was going to help me, and even Charlie was going to play a part. I just had to pull it all together.