Love Again (Cowboys & Angels 4)

How could I make them understand? I’d been dreaming of a family since I was a little girl. That was the one promise Jack held over me because he knew how desperately I wanted it, and he knew he could eventually wear me down, which he did.

“That’s the thing…I went to a sperm bank in San Antonio. To see what I’d need to do to get pregnant on my own.”

“What?” all three of them said at once.

“Waylynn! Why would you go through something like that without telling us?” Amelia asked.

Something like anger rushed through me. Maybe anger mixed with jealousy. Whatever it was, it was about to show its ugly head.

“Because, Amelia, I wasted my time on a husband who strung me along year after year with promises of starting a family, only to emotionally beat me down to the point where I gave up. Because I don’t have a man warming my bed every night like y’all do, or kids running around my house chasing goats! Or a baby in my stomach. I don’t have any of that, and goddamn it, it’s all I’ve ever dreamed about, and for some reason God won’t let me have it!”

All three of them stared like I had finally snapped. Maybe I had. Tears threatened to spill but my anger kept them at bay.

“Don’t look at me like that. Don’t the three of you dare look at me like that! You have no idea what my life has been like. All those years I plastered on a smile for everyone and pretended everything was okay when I knew deep down that my rotten husband was cheating on me. A husband who wanted a trophy wife at his side for his functions. Every time I told him I wanted kids, he would take me on a trip to Paris or Italy. Shower me with attention and jewelry and romantic evenings and I fell for it…each and every single time. What does that say about me? That I can be tricked with a shower of gifts and affection? That I’m willing to give up my dreams for a man?”

The tears finally won out. One blink and they trailed down my face. “Hell, he couldn’t let me get pregnant. It would ruin his perfect image! The powerful millionaire and his Barbie doll wife. But he…got his whore pregnant and splashed it all over the New York Times how excited he is to have a baby.”

“What?” Corina asked, grabbing my hands. She pulled me back onto the bed. “He’s going to have a baby?”

I nodded while the sob I was trying to hold back came out. Corina pulled me into her arms and I forced myself not to cry harder.

“What a cocksucker!” Amelia gasped.

“Bethany Lenard wrote this?” Paxton asked. She was reading the article that was written in the Oak Gazette that I had handed her earlier.

I cleared my throat and nodded. “Yeah, I guess. I have no clue who she is, but she certainly likes to talk shit about my ex-husband.”

Amelia took the article. “She’s Jonathon’s ex-girlfriend. She sometimes writes guest articles because she’s friends with Kenzie Lewis, who works for the Gazette.”

Pinching my brows together, I asked, “Wait, isn’t that who Jonathon brought to Steed and Mitchell’s birthday part?”

Paxton nodded. “It looks like Bethany has a little bit of a jealous streak.”

“What does the article say?” Corina asked.

“It basically says that Waylynn is a washed-up dancer who couldn’t make it happen in New York so she hooked up with a rich guy who ended up cheating on her, causing her to come back to Oak Springs with her tail between her legs.”

I stared at Paxton. “Wow. Thanks for that great summary, Paxton.”

She frowned. “Sorry. I can’t believe I didn’t see that article sooner.”

Amelia tossed the newspaper down. “Holy shit. What a C-word!”

Laughing, I dropped onto my bed. “She wrote that right after I hired Jonathon to help with the dance studio. It was before we’d even hooked up. I don’t even know her!”

Corina was now reading the article. “I mean, they put it on a page where it could easily be missed. Probably on purpose. Waylynn, if your parents saw this they would have laid into the Gazette.”

“They did see it. Mom brought it to my attention. I asked them not to make a big deal and draw more negativity to our family.”

Amelia huffed. “Why? Oh, my gosh, Waylynn. Why would you let them write this trash about you?”

Sitting back up, I looked at my baby sister. “Meli, I’ve had worse things written about me when I was in New York and when I was with Jack. A lot meaner, as well. I figured rumors would fly when I came back.”

“Sure, rumors, but to put it in the newspaper? I have lost respect for the Gazette. They’re not a rag magazine.” Amelia placed her hands on her hips, her cute nose turning red the more pissed she got. “I’m writing a letter to the editor. They can’t get away with this.”