The Texan's Surprise Baby (Bell Family 2)

Going on the defensive, he said, “Not that this is any of your business really, but I would think you’d approve that I want to do the right thing by Hannah and the baby.”

“Do the right thing? Oh, Andrew, you just keep making it worse.” Despite the words, Shelby’s tone had warmed and softened now, sounding almost pitying rather than critical. Which didn’t make him feel any better.

“She made it clear that she wasn’t interested in remarrying for any reason, practical or otherwise. She said she married for the wrong reasons before and didn’t want to do it again. I have to respect that decision.” He’d talked to Hannah that morning, he remembered glumly, having taken a few minutes out of an insanely busy morning just to hear her voice. Maybe he’d hoped to hear that she missed him, if only a little. Instead, she’d blithely assured him that she was doing very well, and that there was no need for him to hurry back to the resort.

“Think about it, Andrew. She was married to a man who lied to her, used her, ran around on her, obviously never loved her. Of course she doesn’t want to be married next to a man who considers it a sound financial and logistical decision.”

He cleared his throat. “Look, I know you have your cousin’s best interests at heart, but I don’t think she’d appreciate our talking about her this way. Suffice it to say that I suggested marriage, she shot me down—hard—so we’ll just concentrate on working together in the future for our daughter’s best interests. As Hannah pointed out Sunday evening, we’d appreciate the family’s support and respect.”

“Just think about the things I said, okay? And maybe ask yourself if finances and logistics were the only reasons you asked her. Oh, and by the way—” he heard her clear her throat before she added “—maybe you won’t mention this call to Aaron? He, um, suggested I should probably mind my own business.”

Despite that suggestion, Aaron would quite likely be highly amused that Shelby had contacted Andrew just to call him a “dummy.” Twice.

Shaking his head, Andrew slipped his phone into his pants pocket, then turned to find his aunt Michelle D’Alessandro standing behind him, two margarita glasses in her hands. Still pretty and deceptively fragile in her late fifties, his father’s younger sister had always held a special place in his heart. He’d spent a lot of time with her growing up; Michelle and his mom, Taylor, had been best friends long before his parents had even met. He loved all his aunts, both by blood and marriage, but he and Michelle had a special bond.

“Your mom made her famous frozen strawberry margaritas for dessert,” she said, approaching him with one of the frothy pink confections extended. A thin slice of lime decorated the sugar-encrusted rim of the glass. “I thought you might like one.”

“Sounds good. Thanks.”

Michelle and her husband, Tony, had joined Andrew, his parents and his uncle Joe and aunt Lauren for dinner. During the meal, Andrew had finally announced that he was soon to be a father. Responding to the seemingly million surprised questions that had followed, he’d told them about Hannah, about the events that had brought her into his life, about her family and the resort. After the initial shock, his family had accepted the news well.

Reassured that he would be active in his daughter’s upbringing and that they would see her often, his parents seemed pleased to think of themselves as grandparents. Unlike Hannah’s family, his didn’t ask about the possibility of marriage—probably because they knew he’d have told them if such plans were in the works. Still, he had a feeling his mom would get around to asking in private. He wondered if his dad would feel compelled to remind him of all those pregnancy-prevention lectures he’d given his sons through the years.

“Your mom and Lauren are in there discussing possible grandmother nicknames,” Michelle said with a smile. “The more Taylor thinks about it, the more excited she is by the thought of having a granddaughter. She knows how much fun I’ve had with my two grandsons and how besotted Joe and Lauren are with their little Madelyn.”

Michelle and Tony’s daughter Carly and her husband, Richard Prentiss, had two sons, Dexter and Liam. Cute kids; Andrew saw them often at family events. The third generation so far ranged from his cousin Brynn’s eighteen-year-old son, Miles, to his cousin Casey’s three-year-old daughter, Madelyn. Claire Elizabeth, as he was already starting to think of his daughter, would have plenty of playmates when the family gathered.

“I’m sorry for eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help overhearing something you said when I came out,” Michelle said as Andrew took a savoring sip of the tart, icy margarita. “Feel free to tell me to butt out, but did I hear you say you proposed to Hannah and she turned you down?”

After only a momentary hesitation, he nodded. Avoiding any mention of the word logistics, he gave a quick summary of the situation to his aunt. She listened intently, sipping her drink, asking no questions but seeming to understand.

When he finished, she slipped an arm beneath his and leaned her head companionably against his shoulder. “Andrew, did I ever tell you that I was once engaged before I met your uncle Tony? I was swept off my feet by the guy—Geoff—and I was convinced he adored me. He certainly told me often enough that he did.”

“No, I haven’t heard about Geoff. What happened?”

Looking out at the moon-bathed lawn beyond the patio fence, she sighed lightly. “Turned out he was much more interested in my adoptive parents’ money than he was in me. He wanted a high-ranking position in my father’s company and a guaranteed spot in Dallas society, and he thought marrying me would get him those things.”

Orphaned very young, Michelle and her six siblings had been separated for almost twenty-five years. Several of the siblings—Andrew’s father and his twin included—had spent years in foster care. Michelle had been adopted by a wealthy couple here in Dallas and the youngest, Lindsey, by a family in Little Rock, Arkansas. After the death of her adoptive parents, Michelle had been the one to initiate the search to bring the siblings back together, hiring private investigator Tony D’Alessandro to find them. By the time they’d all been happily reunited, Michelle and Tony had fallen in love and married.

“You said Hannah told you she doesn’t want to be married for the wrong reasons,” Michelle continued. “I can understand that.”

“Yes, but your situation doesn’t apply here. Hannah works for the family business, which is reasonably successful but hardly an empire. I make a good salary myself.”

Michelle shook her head with a soft laugh. “No. Even though it sounds as though Hannah’s ex wanted a large piece of her family business, I’m sure she knows you aren’t after money. But she’s been badly burned, and those scars take a long time to heal. Tony certainly had his work cut out for him when he courted me. As gun shy as I was, he had to convince me he wanted to marry me for the right reasons, not for the wrong ones.”

“Tony was smart enough to know you were the real treasure.”

She hugged his arm fondly. “That’s very sweet, thank you. So, there are some questions I think you need to ask yourself before you talk to Hannah again. Don’t answer me, but just think about them, okay?”

“What questions?”

She hardly hesitated to make a mental list before speaking. “First, do you really want to marry her or do you just think you should because of the baby? And if you do want to marry her, why? And finally, would you still want to marry her if she wasn’t carrying your child? Your honest answers to those crucial questio

ns should tell you whether you asked her for the right reasons.”

“And if I did? And she still says no?”

His aunt reached up to pat his cheek. “Then she doesn’t know a treasure when she sees one. I’m afraid that’s just a risk you’ll have to take, my darling.”