Lone Star Baby Scandal (Texas Cattleman's Club: Blackmail 7)

Sophie didn’t know what to say. The bovine death trap standing five feet from her brought back memories. Memories of Clay gasping for another breath. Of his teeth-clenching moans, when he had been unable to keep the pain inside. Of the hours suspended by a breath held in the hope he would live another minute. Of all the tubes, the monitors, the people who’d passed by his bedside with a shake of their heads, silently indicating it was too bad a champion cowboy had almost been killed by the crazy life he’d chosen. Never mind the tickets sold to thousands who had come to watch the event unfold.

She had witnessed it all, never leaving his side. Clay had no one else and because of her own personal circumstances, neither did she. Day after day she wondered where his fiancée was and why she didn’t come in to check on him. Finally, during the physical therapy, when Clay needed her the most, the woman had stopped by. Just long enough to watch him struggle onto his feet and leave a message with Sophie along with the five-carat diamond engagement ring. Sophie had sat for days while Clay pushed himself to the limit, holding the ring so tight it cut her palm as she wondered how anyone could do such a thing. She’d prayed for the strength and the words to tell him, inwardly cursing the self-indulgent woman who clearly had no concerns for anyone but herself.

Maybe Clay was right about the bull. Maybe it really had saved his life.

She backed away from the gate, turned and began walking to the front of the barn.

“Sophie!” he called. “Wait up.”

She didn’t want to wait. She wanted to be a million miles away from here, hidden from the world so she could bear the guilt over her cowardly behavior in secret. It was a mortal sin to take a man’s life. It was almost as bad to fall in love with her boss, sleep with him and not tell him she was expecting his child. There was no good end to this. There couldn’t be. She didn’t want to see the disappointment in his eyes. She didn’t want to hear him offer to marry her because it was the honorable thing to do. And Clay, for all his brooding, intimidating persona, was an honorable man.

She had to leave. Even facing the people in her hometown would be better than facing Clay after she told him the truth. And she had to do it before any more time passed.

“Sophie,” he called. “Will you wait a second? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she threw over her shoulder, refusing to slow down. “I’ve got to get back to the office.”

Now she’d added lies to the list. Would the nightmare never end? She had to leave Royal and she had to do it soon.

Nine

Sophie was about to take her bath that evening when her cell rang. Fearing it was Clay, she started to ignore it. She was tired, it had been a long day, and she really didn’t want to argue with him any further. But she scooped up the phone and saw it was a call from her mom.

“Hello? Mom?”

“Hi, sweetie. I’m sorry to call so late,” her mother said. “But I just wanted to call and let you know that it might be possible for your dad to have an open-heart transplant. Your father is very weak after all the tests and the travel to and from Cleveland, and he had a slight flare-up today. But the doctors say that won’t matter once they get the heart. We don’t know how long it will be, of course, but we are now on the list. And they’ll be able to perform the transplant here at the local hospital—he won’t have to go back to Cleveland. Just keep your fingers crossed he can hold on until he gets it.”

“Oh, Mom...” The tears blurred Sophie’s vision. “That is so great. It’s beyond great. But...”

“I know. It’s so frightening. But we have...a lot...to be thankful for.”

Sophie sat down in a kitchen chair, her own problems suddenly becoming small and unimportant. “Isn’t there a specialist he can see? There’s got to be someone who can do something.”

“Dr. Brixton is a specialist, Sophie. Your dad’s heart is just worn-out. There are just a lot of people who are in his situation and I guess they feel the younger ones... Well, you know what I’m trying to say.”

Yeah, she knew. And while she could see the logic, it was her father who suffered. After the earlier argument with Clay when she refused to move into his house and now this, the whole world seemed to need a redo.

“Mom, I’m coming home.”

“Of course, if that’s your decision. But I would suggest you wait a while. There is nothing you can do here. As I said, this time he’ll be fine. We have been provided a place to stay near the hospital. It’s small, but it’s a miracle we were able to get it. If you have any vacation, you might want to come back and spend some time with him once he is out of the hospital. If—no, when—he gets his new heart, he’ll want to spend as much time as he can with both of his girls. I know he would love to see you again. We both would.”

“I won’t be coming home on vacation leave.” She hesitated. “Mom, there is something I need to tell you.” Again, she wavered, not really wanting to tell her mother over the phone that she was about to have a grandchild. But she couldn’t keep it in any longer. “I’m pregnant.”

The silence that hung in the air was not completely unexpected. But she needed her mom. She needed someone she could talk to, someone who would stand up for her and the baby. She knew her mother would be in her corner even if she didn’t approve.

Her mother finally said, “Does...does the father know?”

“No.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know how to tell him.”

“It’s important, don’t you think?”

“He’s not someone who wants to settle down with a family. I’m afraid he may think this is entrapment, an attempt to coerce him into marriage. I don’t want a marriage like that. It would never last. Oh, Mom, I love him. But this happened with the wrong guy.”

“Sophie, you have to tell him. He has a right to know.” Then she asked the inevitable question. “Is it Clay?”

Sophie’s breath left her lungs. “Yes.”

“Then, by all means, tell him. He’s a good man. You might be surprised by his reaction. But even if you’re right, you know we are here for you.”