Kitabı oku: «The Texan's Surprise Baby»
She refused to look like a coward in front of Andrew, despite the nerves quivering inside of her.
He rose as she approached. Bypassing a greeting, Andrew went straight to the question she had expected. “Why didn’t you call me?”
She cleared her throat, wishing she’d prepared herself somewhat better for this conversation. “What makes you think you’re—”
“Hannah.” He gave her a look. “Don’t even think about it.”
She sighed in surrender. “Fine.”
She’d simply been stalling for time, anyway. Even if she wanted to—which she didn’t—there was no way she’d convince Andrew he wasn’t the father of this baby.
“Were you going to tell me?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“When?”
About the Author
GINA WILKINS is a bestselling and award-winning author who has written more than seventy novels for Mills & Boon. She credits her successful career in romance to her long, happy marriage and her three “extraordinary” children.
A lifelong resident of central Arkansas, Ms Wilkins sold her first book to Mills & Boon in 1988 and has been writing full-time since. She has appeared on the Walden-books, B. Dalton and USA TODAY bestseller lists. She is a three-time recipient of a Maggie Award for Excellence, sponsored by Georgia Romance Writers, and has won several awards from the reviewers of RT Book Reviews.
The Texan’s
Surprise Baby
Gina Wilkins
MILLS & BOON
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For my family, as always—
my wonderful husband, three extraordinary offspring, amazing son-in-law and precious baby grandson. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe what you all mean to me.
Prologue
“Pregnant?” Andrew Walker figured the hard thud in his abdomen was his heart falling straight into his stomach. “Hannah is expecting a baby?”
“Yeah. That was the first thing I noticed when I met her this morning after she came home from visiting her mother’s relatives in Shreveport. I guess no one in the family thought to mention her condition to me before.” His twin brother, Aaron, sounded a bit surprised by Andrew’s apparent overreaction to a fleeting comment during an announcement-filled phone call.
“How, um, how is she?” Andrew asked, trying to wrap his mind around the news.
“Well, she nearly keeled over when I first saw her. Turned stark-white and swayed on her feet, scaring her family half to death. I thought she was startled by seeing me, for some reason, but it turned out she was just operating on very little sleep. Maybe a little dehydrated after a long drive.”
Andrew’s fingers had tightened so hard around the phone that he thought he heard the case groan in protest. “How, uh, how far along is she?”
His own uncharacteristic stammering annoyed him, but Aaron didn’t seem to notice. “Shelby said she’s due in mid-September, so about six months. I guess it’s a surprise to you, because you haven’t seen her in almost a year.”
Six months. “Um. Right. And the father?”
“Not involved. No one really talks about it, but I got the impression this was sort of a one-time-thing accident, you know? Shelby told me it’s totally out of character for Hannah, but the family figures she was still stinging after the fiasco with her ex-husband and indulged in a little ego boost that left her with unintended consequences. She’s doing well, though, and everyone’s excited about welcoming the first member of the new generation of Bells.”
Not knowing what to say, Andrew just sort of grunted in response.
Aaron quickly changed the subject away from Bell family gossip. “Anyway, I just wanted to catch you up on what’s been going on here. I hope you’re happy for me.”
Andrew hadn’t been surprised to hear that Aaron had become seriously involved with a woman he’d known for only a matter of days. Even though he’d heard about Aaron’s adventures with Shelby Bell only by telephone for the past week, there’d been something in his brother’s voice that suggested Aaron had fallen hard and fast. Andrew had met Shelby the previous year and he could see how Aaron would be drawn to her. Apparently, the attraction had been immediate and mutual.
“Of course I’m happy for you,” he said. “So you’ll be staying at the resort?”
“Yes. Now that Shelby’s brother is down with a broken leg, they need extra help here this summer. The opening will become permanent when he leaves in the fall to start his firefighter training. Because I’m looking for a new career anyway, I’d like to try working in a fishing-and-camping resort. So far the behind-the-scenes part of it has been fascinating.”
“It’s hard work. I saw that during the two weeks I spent with them.”
“I’ve never been afraid of hard work. Just boredom. And I can’t see myself getting bored here with Shelby and the rest of her family. I can understand why they have so many loyal returning guests. It’s a great place for a getaway. A great place to make a home.”
Andrew couldn’t help thinking of his brother’s so-far limited attention span, so restless that at only thirty Aaron had already experimented with maybe half a dozen careers. Andrew, on the other hand, had worked in the D’Alessandro-Walker Agency, their family’s Dallas-based security and investigation business, from the time he was in high school and was now solidly entrenched to move into upper management when his father and uncles were ready to retire.
Through his job at the agency, he’d been hired by the Bell family almost a year ago to investigate a slick operator who’d been married to one of their own—Shelby’s beautiful cousin, Hannah. The ex-husband had been in the process of trying to bankrupt the resort after Hannah divorced him. Andrew had found evidence that not only was Wade Cavender’s legal posturing little more than a bogus extortion attempt, but he’d also been systematically stealing from the family for more than two years. Wade was now serving a too-short jail sentence for embezzlement. Andrew had thought he’d put his own complicated entanglement with the Bell family behind him—until his twin had stumbled upon a brochure for the Bell Resort and Marina in Andrew’s office and had impulsively decided to take a vacation there.
Trying to focus on the conversation, Andrew pushed thoughts of Hannah to the back of his mind. Yet he knew those images would lurk there in the darkness, ready to taunt him again as soon as he let down his guard—just as thoughts of her had been doing for almost a year now. “Have you told Mom and Dad yet that you’re staying there?”
“Just talked to Mom. Needless to say, she and Dad can’t wait to meet Shelby. Shelby and I are planning a quick trip to Dallas soon to meet the folks and pick up some more of my things.”
The Bell Resort was located on Lake Livingston, almost a four-hour drive south of Dallas. Aaron had planned to stay only a week or so, needing a chance to recharge and contemplate after leaving a job in which he’d been unhappy and unfulfilled. He couldn’t have predicted then that he would find a new love, a new home and a new career there.
“How does Shelby’s family feel about your moving in with her after knowing her only a week?”
“They’re—” Aaron paused as if searching for a word, then finished with “—adjusting.”
Aaron had saved Shelby’s life the day before when she’d been attacked and kidnapped by a criminal who’d been using the resort as a base for his stolen-goods fencing operation. Shelby had stumbled onto the scheme and had a knife pressed to her throat as a result. Fortunately Aaron rescued her unharmed, which made him the newest Bell family hero. Still, it had to be unnerving for her parents and grandparents to see how quickly she and Aaron, who was little more than a stranger to them, had become lovers.
As for Andrew himself, well, when it came to the Bell women, he was in no position to judge.
“I’d better go,” Aaron said. “Bryan’s waiting for me to help him repair an outdoor light fixture. A couple of punk kids broke it by throwing rocks at it.”
Aaron already sounded like an indignant resort property manager, Andrew noted. Had he not just been stunned by his brother’s unwitting announcement, he might have found it rather amusing. As it was, he sat for a long time after disconnecting the call, staring blindly at his work-cluttered desk and wondering what the hell he was supposed to do now.
Chapter One
Hannah Bell figured she had a few days at the most to decide whether to run or stand her ground. She’d never considered herself a coward, but she was leaning toward running. She’d be leaving behind her loving, close-knit family, a marketing job she’d trained for all her life and her cozy manufactured home in the family owned Texas lake resort where she’d grown up. She would miss this tidy little two-bedroom trailer, the first place she’d ever lived that was hers alone.
Sitting in her neutral-toned living room, she sighed heavily, one hand on her swollen tummy as she silently conceded she wouldn’t be going anywhere. As inviting as it sounded to disappear before the inevitable confrontation with Andrew Walker, she would stay and face the consequences of her own unprecedented behavior on one reckless winter night. It wouldn’t do any good to run anyway. Andrew was a P.I. He’d find her if he wanted to.
Would he want to?
Four rapid knocks sounded on her front door—her sister Maggie’s characteristic signal. “It’s unlocked,” she called out, too tired to rise.
Maggie entered carrying a plastic cup with a straw. It was almost five, so she was probably finished with her work for the day. Maggie had chosen the job of housekeeping supervisor, hiring and overseeing the cleaning staff for the sixteen-unit motel and eight cabins available for rent in the resort. Having majored in business and Spanish in college, Maggie performed her job efficiently and cheerfully. She kept her employees on task and held them to high standards of cleanliness and customer service, yet they still liked her and would gladly do anything she asked. Hannah had always been impressed with her sister’s easy people skills. Even though she worked closely with the public herself in her role as marketing and scheduling supervisor for the resort, along with manning the front desk for check-ins, she was more naturally reserved and had to put a little more effort into her interactions.
“I brought you a strawberry smoothie,” Maggie said. “I figured you could use an energy boost.”
Hannah accepted the cup gratefully. “Thanks, sis.”
“You’re welcome. So, big news about Shelby and Aaron Walker, huh?”
Swallowing a gulp of the cold, fruity beverage, Hannah nodded, giving herself a moment to choose her words before answering. “I was shocked to hear Shelby’s gotten involved with Aaron Walker. But, then, I didn’t even know Andrew’s brother was here.”
Having been out of the state for a couple of weeks visiting their mother’s relatives in Shreveport, Hannah had missed the recent excitement here at Bell Resort and Marina, a business her family had owned for three generations. Her impetuous and imaginative cousin Shelby had suspected that a man renting one of the vacation cabins was involved in something illegal and had found herself in danger when she’d been proven right. Hannah shuddered to think of the knife that had been held to Shelby’s throat only the day before. Maggie had told her all about the nightmarish scene and about Aaron’s daring rescue of their cousin. Shelby sported an ugly bruise on one cheek from the ordeal.
Hannah would bet it would be a while before the family recovered from that shock, especially right on the heels of Shelby’s older brother Steven’s accident. He’d broken his leg and suffered a concussion when he’d overturned a mowing tractor while working around the campgrounds. Two near-tragedies in less than a week had been hard on their grandparents, not to mention Steven and Shelby’s parents. The family needed a few days of peace and comfortable routines.
Hannah was going to do her best to keep from upsetting them for a while. She had shocked them enough when she’d announced her pregnancy a couple months ago when it had started to become obvious. Now six months along, she still refused to name the father. She had let them believe her condition was the result of an impulsive and completely uncharacteristic one-night stand, which was true, with someone they didn’t know, which was not exactly accurate. She had made it quite clear that she wanted this child, that while her pregnancy might have been an accident, she would never label it a mistake. And bless their hearts, her family had rallied around her. She had no doubt they would welcome the newest member of their family with love and joy.
Sitting in a chair with the bottled water she’d brought for herself, Maggie brushed back her sun-streaked brown hair and studied Hannah with long-lashed hazel eyes. Hannah’s hair was a darker brown than her sister’s and her eyes were emerald-green. They would never be mistaken for twins, but she knew there were family resemblances between them, from their mother’s coloring to their father’s cheekbones.
“So, how are you feeling?” Maggie asked. “You looked pretty shaky when you arrived this morning.”
“That was probably too long a drive to make without more breaks,” Hannah admitted. “I thought leaving Grammy’s house at dawn to avoid the heat of the day was a good idea, but maybe I should have slept in a little longer.”
“You’re going to have to take better care of yourself,” Maggie fussed. “Eat better, get more rest. You can’t just—” She stopped with a laugh. “Oh, gosh, I sound like Mom, don’t I?”
Hannah smiled. “You do, but thanks for the concern anyway. I’ll be more careful.”
“You have a doctor’s appointment this week?”
“Yes, Friday. I’m having an ultrasound, so maybe this time I’ll finally see if it’s a boy or a girl.” She was eager to know the sex, but the little peanut hadn’t cooperated by getting into the right position during her earlier scan. Her ob-gyn had assured her they would probably know by the end of the upcoming visit.
Maggie grinned. “I can’t wait to find out if I’m having a niece or a nephew. I’m going to be the coolest aunt ever.”
Hannah laughed. “I have no doubt.”
Sobering, Maggie set her water bottle aside. “You should probably tell your doctor you almost fainted this morning. Your face went so white it scared me.”
Hannah concentrated on stirring her smoothie with the plastic straw. “Like I said, I was just tired.”
She had no intention of admitting that the unexpected sight of Aaron Walker standing with the rest of her family in the resort diner had drained all the blood from her head. For a heart-stopping moment, she’d mistaken him for his identical twin. She’d thought Andrew was there to see her, and a dozen panicked questions had flashed through her mind—most notably, had he somehow found out about the pregnancy?
Aaron had reached out to steady her when she’d swayed, and she’d realized almost instantly that he wasn’t Andrew. Even had he not worn his dark coffee-colored hair longer than his brother, she’d have known the truth with one look at his face. There was something in his eyes that was fundamentally different from Andrew’s, something she couldn’t quite define but recognized nonetheless. She couldn’t say she remembered much more about that meeting with Aaron, other than to make note that Aaron and Shelby had just announced they were a couple and that Aaron would be staying to work in the resort. Which meant it was inevitable that Andrew would eventually visit again to see his brother.
She rested a hand on her stomach, feeling the baby do a lazy turn inside.
“Have you decided on names yet?” Maggie asked.
“Not yet. I’ll wait until I know the sex.”
Maggie slipped in one more question in the same chatty tone. “Told the dad yet?”
Hannah gave her a look. While the rest of the family had accepted her refusal to discuss the matter, her younger sister didn’t give up so easily. “No.”
“Going to?”
“Yes.” She had always planned to do so eventually, though she’d yet to decide how or when. She’d thought she had two or three more months to figure it out. Now it seemed her time was up.
As if in confirmation of that acknowledgment, her cell phone chirped to announce a text message. She checked it warily, and was not as surprised as she probably should have been to see the sender’s name.
“I have to run to town for a little while,” she said, setting her half-empty smoothie cup aside.
Maggie blinked in surprise. “I thought you were going to rest this afternoon.”
“I’ve rested all day. There are some things I need to do now because I plan to be back at my desk first thing in the morning.”
Looking concerned, Maggie rose as Hannah did. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, thanks. I won’t be long.” At least she hoped not.
“Hannah—”
She rested a hand on Maggie’s arm. “I’m okay,” she said, trying to sound reassuring. “There’s just something I need to see to, okay?”
“You’ll let me know if you need me?”
“You know I will.”
Even though Maggie didn’t look happy about it, she let her go. Hannah drew a deep breath for courage as she headed for the door.
The public boat launch was set on a cove a fifteen-minute drive away from the Bell Resort and Marina. Shaded by tall leafy trees, it consisted of little more than the launch ramp, a parking lot and a few picnic tables. The place was nearly deserted on this Monday afternoon in mid-June, though a couple of parked trucks with empty boat trailers attached indicated fishermen would return later. A dark gray sports car looked out of place among the pickup-and-trailer combos.
Parking her own sensible little sedan, Hannah glanced through the windshield at the dark-haired, dark-eyed man who was watching her gravely from one of the picnic tables. He sat backward on the bench, facing the parking lot, his long legs stretched out in front of him. Wearing a blue polo shirt and jeans, Andrew Walker looked casual and relaxed, as though he had nothing more on his mind than an appreciation of the warm, cloudless afternoon. Hannah knew that impression was deceptive.
It wasn’t their first time to meet alone here. They’d come here to talk when he’d worked for her family early last August, trying to help them clean up the mess her ex-husband—now known in the family as “the evil ex”—had deliberately created. It wasn’t easy finding privacy among her ever-present family at the resort, so she’d brought Andrew here one afternoon to discuss the case frankly, telling him things about her failed marriage she hadn’t confided even to her relatives. She’d ended up sobbing into his shoulder, a memory that still made her cringe with embarrassment, but he’d been so kind and understanding that she’d probably fallen a little in love with him that very afternoon. She’d done her best to hide her feelings for him—feelings she neither trusted nor expected to lead anywhere—until that momentous, wholly unexpected night in December.
She couldn’t keep procrastinating getting out of her car. She refused to look like a coward in front of Andrew, despite the nerves quivering inside of her. Chin held high, she opened her door and climbed out. She hadn’t gained much weight so far during her pregnancy. Her sister teased her that it looked as though she had a basketball tucked beneath her shirt because the rest of her body was pretty much unchanged. Giving one self-conscious tug to the peasant-styled yellow top she wore with drawstring white cotton pants, she walked toward Andrew.
He rose as she approached. To give him credit, his gaze focused on her face, not her tummy. He wore his dark coffee-colored hair short, neatly trimmed, brushed off his clean-shaven face. His eyes were almost black. His jaw was firm, his nose straight, lips beautifully shaped, though stern now. He was still the best-looking man she’d ever known—though of course, Aaron looked exactly like him with the exception of a longer hairstyle. Yet looking at Aaron that morning, she’d instantly decided Andrew was still the more handsome—a ridiculous fancy, even though she held that same belief now.
Bypassing a greeting, Andrew went straight to the question she had expected. “Why didn’t you call me?”
She cleared her throat, wishing she’d prepared herself somewhat better for this conversation. “What makes you think you’re—”
“Hannah—” he gave her a look “—don’t even think about it.”
She sighed in surrender. “Fine.”
She’d simply been stalling for time anyway. Even if she wanted to—which she didn’t—there was no way she’d convince Andrew he wasn’t the father of this baby. He could count on his fingers as well as any guy. And even though they’d spent only a few short weeks in each other’s company during the ten months since they’d met, he’d gotten to know her well enough that he would have no doubt that night with him had been an anomaly for her.
“Were you going to tell me?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“When?”
“Soon. I just—” She paused, then shrugged. “I didn’t know what to say.”
Both his voice and his expression softened in response to her helpless tone. “I can understand that.”
She clasped her hands in front of her and looked down at them, unable to meet Andrew’s eyes just then.
His hands were gentle when they fell on her shoulders, but still her pulse raced in response to his touch. “Are you okay? You haven’t had any problems?”
She shook her head. “I’m in perfect health. And so is the baby.”
His gaze lowered then, focusing on her middle. He cleared his throat. “Is it—do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
“I’ll find out Friday.”
His eyes rose and she saw the emotions he’d concealed to this point. She had learned during their one night together that the rather stoic control Andrew usually displayed masked an intense, passionate nature. Memories of that passion made her catch her breath, her heart thudding hard against her chest. A muscle flexed in Andrew’s jaw and the slightest tremor moved his fingers against her shoulders, making her suspect the same images were flashing through his mind. She felt her cheeks warm in a way that had nothing to do with the hot afternoon temperature.
Andrew dropped his hands a little too abruptly, shoving them into his pockets. By unspoken agreement, they both shifted to put another couple of inches between them.
“Have you told your family? About me?” he clarified.
She shook her head. “They have no idea. I never even told them I saw you in Dallas in December.”
“I see.”
So much of that fateful evening had hinged on impulse. She’d been in Dallas for an annual holiday gathering with some college friends, and had dropped by Andrew’s office with the excuse of giving him an update about her ex-husband’s sentencing—which he’d already known, having kept up with the case. He’d politely asked her to dinner and they’d had drinks at her hotel afterward. One thing had led to another, and then …
Automatically, she rested a hand on her stomach.
“I guess Aaron told you I was pregnant.” She’d known that was inevitable from the moment she’d seen Aaron with Shelby.
Andrew nodded. “It slipped into our conversation earlier today. Needless to say, it threw me for a loop. I—well, I guess the precautions we took that night weren’t enough. I know there’s always a chance, but still …”
The awkwardness was unlike him, merely another sign of how shaken he’d been. “You didn’t say anything to Aaron about—”
He quickly shook his head. “I just threw some things in a bag and headed this way.”
Normally it was a four-hour drive from Dallas to the resort. Hannah suspected Andrew had made it in less today.
She twisted her fingers more tightly together. “You’re coming to the resort?”
“Yes.”
“Would you—could we not say anything to the family just yet? About your being the father, I mean. We’ll tell them,” she added quickly, when he started to frown, “just not until we’ve had more time to talk privately about … things.”
To her relief, he nodded to concede that she had a valid point. “We will need to talk.”
“Yes.” And she dreaded it. Everything was so complicated. “But it’s going to take a while. And I can’t do it now, the family will be wondering where I am. The way I rushed off without an explanation, they’ll be worried if I don’t go back soon.”
He didn’t look particularly pleased with the delay, but he didn’t try to argue. “So how are we playing this?”
“We’ll show up at the resort at different times so they won’t know we’ve already seen each other. You can go ahead, I need to stop by the store anyway.”
“And I suppose you’ll be completely surprised to find me at the resort when you get back.”
She shrugged, intending to play it exactly that way.
Andrew sighed and ran a hand over his hair. “Fine. We’ll do it your way. I’ll keep your secret. For now. But somehow or another we’ll have to find opportunities to talk, and soon.”
She nodded grimly, knowing his patience would last only so long. “We’ll talk.”
She turned toward her car, only to be stopped by his hand on her arm. “Hannah.”
Looking up at him, she whispered, “What?”
“It’s going to be okay.”
She moistened her lips. “I know.”
He smoothed a strand of hair away from her cheek. “I’ll see you at the resort.”
Nodding, she hurried toward her car, resisting an impulse to lay a hand on her cheek where his fingers had touched.
She drove straight to the grocery store. She had forgotten to bring a list and she was still so rattled from her brief meeting with Andrew that she could hardly think about what she needed. She drifted down the aisles of the store fifteen minutes after parting from him, staring blankly at the shelves and trying to focus on the task at hand rather than the challenges that lay ahead. With yogurt, fresh fruit and a bag of cookies in her cart, she turned a corner only to have her day take yet another downturn as she came face-to-face with her former in-laws, Justine and Chuck Cavender. It was the first time she had seen them since their son had been arrested for embezzlement and attempted extortion against Hannah’s family.
“Hannah!” Justine’s first startled reaction was pleasure. She and Hannah had gotten along well enough before the acrimonious divorce. But then her gaze lowered and her smile was replaced with a stricken expression. “Oh. You’re—”
Chuck had never been particularly fond of Hannah to start with—primarily, Hannah suspected, because he’d believed every lie Wade had told about what a terrible wife she’d been. Chuck had enabled, apologized for and deflected blame for his son for all of Wade’s life, which Hannah believed was part of the reason Wade sat in jail now. Wade could be charming, convincing and manipulative—her marriage to him was proof enough of that—but the streak of meanness that lay beneath his amiable mask came straight from his father.
Chuck snarled at Hannah, “Get out of our way.”
She scooted her cart as far to one side as she could. She almost apologized for being in his path, but she bit her tongue. She’d apologized too many times to both Wade and his father for things that had not been her fault. She was not sliding back into that pattern now. Chuck shoved his cart forward, almost slamming into hers despite the room she had left him.
Falling into step behind her husband, Justine gave Hannah a mournful look. “I’d always hoped you and Wade would give us grandchildren,” she murmured.
“Instead, she sent our boy to prison,” Chuck snapped over his shoulder, discounting Wade’s part in his fate. “And then went slutting around and got herself knocked up when she’s not even married. Personally, I’m glad she isn’t a mother to any grandchildren of ours.”
Miserably aware of a few gawkers within hearing range, Hannah held her chin high with an effort, moved toward the front of the store with her few purchases, paid as quickly as possible and left with as much dignity as she could scrape together. Her day had gone from bad to worse, but maybe she had needed that awful encounter. It would serve as a painful reminder that her track record with men was not good.
In the past, she’d seen what she wanted to see, trusted when she shouldn’t have, believed when she should have delved more deeply. She wasn’t that naive, sheltered, starry-eyed girl now. Nor was she the lonely, vulnerable woman who’d been swept into a reckless night of passion by a sexy smile and a gleaming pair of dark eyes. She knew now who she was, where she belonged and what she wanted—and she would do well to keep those things in mind during the coming days.
At half past six, the day was still sunny and warm, the sprawling blue lake still busy with boaters, skiers and swimmers. This time of year, the resort would bustle every day of the week with families taking vacations from jobs and school, and the Bell family would be kept hopping, though Andrew hadn’t heard them complain during the two weeks he’d spent here last summer. With the exception of Shelby’s brother, Steven, they all seemed to love the jobs they’d chosen. Steven had grown restless and would be leaving soon to try his hand at his boyhood dream of firefighting, but Andrew figured there was a chance he’d be back someday to take his place in the family business.
