* * *
When Megan woke this morning, finding Nash already gone, it had been bright outside. And stupidly early. Something she had become accustomed to over the last week. The baby seemed to like mornings. Megan had felt far better in the last week than she had for the last couple months, all because she was waking up before eight o’clock. She figured this didn’t bode well for a baby who slept a lot. Which made the fact that two days ago she had promoted Bethany to head bartender, and Bethany had taken over the closing shift, for the best. For the last couple of shifts, Megan had gone into work at ten o’clock and managed the paperwork, then opened the Spurs at eleven. She stayed until five and came home to have dinner with Nash. Lord, she had never been so domesticated.
All in all, the new schedule was working. And her employees seemed on board with the changes.
Things were great. Really great. And being only one week from her second trimester, she was thrilled.
Before she went in for her shift today, and after she fed the kittens, since they were now on wet food, she drove to her parents’ house. That was where she’d been sitting for the last half an hour while Mom had gone inside to answer the phone. Megan rocked in the chair, staring out at the working cattle ranch, rubbing her little belly beneath her tights. Maybe she’d become so used to the guest ranch now that her father’s ranch looked bare . . . or maybe just boring in comparison. Regardless of the hard times Nash had been facing with all the bumps in the road, there was so much life at the Blackshaws’ ranch now. At Irish Creek, it was—and always had been—nose to the grindstone, hardworking cowboys, getting the job done or else they’d be fired.
Megan smiled down at her belly, and the baby she couldn’t wait to meet. She had gotten her father’s work ethic, but her mother’s heart. And she was glad for it. While Megan had worked her ass off to make Kinky Spurs successful, she liked taking a step back and seeing her employees handling the show. Besides, her only focus right now was creating a good world for her baby to enter. And that wouldn’t happen if she was spending all her time at the Spurs.
“You’re glowing,” Mom said, when she returned outside with a couple of glasses of lemonade. Homemade. And to die for. “Did you know that?”
“I’m glowing because I’m happy,” Megan confirmed.
Mom smiled softly. “I’m glad you’re happy, but I meant that pregnancy looks good on you.” She dropped a kiss to Megan’s forehead. “Does that also mean that your father and Nash have found some middle ground?”
Megan shrugged. “They’re both trying. That’s all I can ask. At least now I feel like finding some peace is possible.”
“You’ve done a good job through all this, honey.” Mom took the seat next to Megan. “They’ll do the right thing. Don’t doubt that.”
For the first time, Megan actually thought that was a possibility. Not that Nash and her father would
ever truly get along, but that they loved her enough to tolerate each other. “For a long time, I don’t think either Nash or Dad cared enough about doing the right thing,” Megan admitted to her mom. “They only saw their pride.”
“They are men, sweetie.” Mom smiled.
Megan laughed. “True enough.”
“My beautiful girls,” Dad called.
Megan looked at the barn, finding her father walking toward them. His clothes were clean and unwrinkled. Obviously, he’d done more overseeing this morning than getting his hands dirty.
He climbed the steps. Kissed his wife first. Then dropped a kiss onto Megan’s forehead. “How are you and my grandbaby doing?” he asked.
She smiled, rubbing her belly again. “We’re both great.”
Dad moved to the post on the porch and leaned against it, crossing his arms. “You’re up early? Is that a new thing?”
Of course he would notice that. “I switched up the shifts at the bar. I’m home earlier now.”
“Makes sense,” he said, surprising her by being so agreeable. “You must get tired.”
“So tired,” Megan muttered.
Mom gave her a sweet smile and reached for Megan’s hand. “I’m so proud of you. You’re being selfless and loving . . . You’re going to be such an amazing mother, Megan—”
Squealing tires stole the tears rising in Megan’s eyes. She turned in their direction, finding Nash’s truck speeding up the driveway, billowing dust behind him.
The truck came to a sudden stop, and Nash was out the door a second later, leaving it ajar. “Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find out?”
Mom heaved a sigh. “I thought we were actually getting somewhere.”
Yeah, so did Megan. Her lips parted to step in, when she was momentarily stunned by the rage on Nash’s expression. Megan had seen him hate her father before. But this was different. Dad had done something unforgivable. She knew it, and deep down she had a bad feeling that what he’d done had to do with all the problems at the guest ranch.
She slowly looked at her father. His face was growing redder by the second. No, this couldn’t happen again. No.
“You’re going to answer for what you’ve done,” Nash snarled.