The Texan's Baby (Texas Rodeo Barons)

Shock registered on his parents’ faces, and his mother was the first to speak. “A baby?”

“Yes,” Lizzie answered. “Around the middle of October.”

“Oh, my stars.”

“You’re going to be a grandma,” Chris said, grinning. “Better get your knitting needles out.”

“A baby,” she repeated. “Oh, honey. It’s so fast, but you look happy....” She looked at Lizzie. “I know your family probably doesn’t expect it, but we’d like to help with the wedding.”

Lizzie froze next to him and he took a breath. “That’s a little premature.” He tried to keep the mood light and upbeat. “We’re just taking things one day at a time for now.”

“One day at a time. What does that mean?” This from his dad, who’d sat quietly for the past thirty seconds.

Chris started to speak but Lizzie put a hand on his arm to forestall him and spoke instead. “I know it’s not ideal, but I just stopped being sick every morning, and pretty soon I’ll be showing. We’re still getting used to the idea ourselves, and my dad is mostly in a wheelchair at this point. Not to mention I’m running the company in his absence. We just decided to deal with everything going on first. There’s plenty without adding on the stress of a wedding, too.”

“You’re having a baby, you should be married,” Bob insisted.

“Bob,” Debra chastised quietly.

“Well, they should.”

“This wasn’t really planned, Dad,” Chris said. “And I would want Lizzie to have a beautiful wedding day and not a rushed justice of the peace deal at the courthouse, you know?”

He could feel Lizzie’s gaze on him and wondered if he was so transparent she could see what he was feeling right now. That the idea of marriage no longer scared him as it had once. He figured if she could really see that, she’d be hightailing it in the other direction.

His dad still didn’t seem happy and his mom’s eyes were worried. “Hey,” he said gently, “I know it isn’t the way you would have wanted. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a blessing, okay?”

“I was taken by surprise,” Lizzie added. “And afraid. But Chris has been there for me from the first moment. He’s right. It is a blessing.”

He looked over at her and she at him. And in that moment he knew. He was in it all the way. Heart, body and soul. And then she smiled at him and he put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

When he released her, his father’s face had softened and his mom had tears in her eyes.

“Well, then, congratulations.” Debra got up and came over to the swing, bending down to give Chris a hug. She let him go and turned to Lizzie. “To you, too, dear.” And she hugged Lizzie, as well.

After his mom let Lizzie go, she cleared her throat. “I’d better get supper on the go. We have celebrating to do.”

Lizzie got up from the swing. “Let me help you. My fried chicken never turns out. Maybe you’ve got a secret to share.”

When the porch door clapped shut behind them, Bob finally said what was on his mind. “I expect you to do the right thing, Christopher.”

“It’s not that simple,” Chris answered.

“It damn well is.” Bob’s brows knit together. “You have an obligation....”

Chris’s

temper snapped and he forced himself to keep his voice calm. “I know very well what my obligations are,” he answered tightly. “And I’ll do this on my own time and in my own way. Without interference.”

His dad raised one eyebrow. “Do you love her, son?”

Chris’s throat tightened. “More than I realized,” he replied quietly, looking over at the porch door. “And if you taught me anything, it was to do things the right way and not the fastest way. Trust me on this.”

Chapter Thirteen

The condo was dark when they got back from Chris’s parents’. Lizzie opened the door and flicked a switch, turning on a soft lamp in the living room. A plastic container held leftover fried chicken, given to them by Debra who’d insisted her secret ingredient was seasoning salt. Chris was behind her and he shut the door and locked it for the night.

He was a part of her life now. They’d made the pact to take it slow. To not make promises or plans. But now she was wishing he would.