The Texan's Surprise Baby (Bell Family 2)

Andrew shot his brother a look, making Aaron grin unapologetically. Aaron, of course, was equally capable of running a background check, but Andrew could probably do so more quickly.

Shelby shook her head. “Lori would hate you for it.”

“She wouldn’t have to know,” C.J. commented, looking thoughtful. “Not if Andrew doesn’t find anything worrisome.”

“You understand it would just be a surface check,” Andrew warned. “I’m not going to follow him around and spy on him. I hardly think that’s warranted, and I don’t have time anyway. I really have to be back in Dallas Monday.”

As if to support his insistence, his phone chirped to announce a text message. Murmuring an apology to his dinner companions, he glanced at it, saw that it was a business question from one of his cousins who was working late at the agency and replied with a few quick thumb movements.

Lori’s parents and brother all agreed that Andrew should run the check when he had time, though Shelby still looked doubtful. “It still seems sneaky to me. Lori would be angry and hurt.”

“Maybe if someone had done this for Hannah she wouldn’t have gotten tied up with Wade,” C.J. murmured. “We’d have found out about all the secret debt Wade ran up before he married Hannah. Not to mention his tendency to sneak around with other women even when he was engaged to her. Would have spared that poor girl a truckload of heartache and saved the family a lot of trouble.”

None of this was news to Andrew. He was the one who’d uncovered all that information—belatedly, of course. And while he would have given anything to have saved Hannah the pain she’d been through, if he hadn’t been hired to help them resolve the issues with her ex, he never would have met her. He was beginning to understand what a great loss that would have been.

He scooped up another spoonful of the excellent beef vegetable soup Sarah had served him. “I’ll let you know what I find out. Sarah, this soup is excellent.”

Beaming, she jumped to her feet. “Let me get you some more.”

“No, that’s—”

But she was already in motion, snatching his mostly empty bowl from the table in front of him and heading for the counter.

Shelby grinned across the table at him, then glanced at Aaron. “Did you and Uncle Bryan get all the roof repairs done before the rain started?”

Aaron made a show of crossing his fingers. “I think so. As far as I know, no one has called to report a leak.”

Aaron glanced at Andrew then. “The new security lights we ordered were delivered while you were gone with Hannah. We thought we’d start installing them tomorrow. The closed-circuit cameras will be in next week.”

According to the security plans Andrew had drawn out and presented to Bryan, there would be three continuously running cameras installed at various points in the park. He’d actually recommended that measure last year, but it had taken Shelby’s kidnapping to make them take that suggestion to heart. “Give me a call if you have any questions about my diagrams.”

Aaron nodded. “We will.”

Sarah set the refilled soup bowl in front of Andrew, then took her seat again. “Shelby, now that we know the baby’s a girl, I’m going to start that quilt we discussed. Want to help me with it?”

“Of course. I think Hannah will stick with the sage and cream nursery colors she was considering, but we can add some touches of pink now.”

“Pink for a girl? A little on the nose, isn’t it?” Aaron teased her.

She dimpled at him. “Yes, but I happen to like pink for a baby girl. Doesn’t mean I won’t buy her a toy truck or teach her how to swing a bat later, of course.”

Andrew wanted to be the one to teach his daughter to swing a bat. He wanted to share his awe at the thought of soon having a daughter to teach. He wanted to see how his brother’s expression changed when he realized that Shelby’s little cousin was also his niece. He wanted to tell his parents they were going to meet their first grandchild in a few months. But mostly, he realized, he wanted to be sitting with Hannah now rather than with this particular branch of the Bell family, as much as he liked them all.

He glanced at his watch, then toward the windows. The rain was still coming down, but not as heavily as before. By the time the meal was finished and cleared away, it was down to a drizzle. The family walked out beneath the outside awning, watching the rain while C.J. locked up behind them.

Leaning on his crutches, Steven drew a deep breath of rain-scented evening air. “Always liked the resort when it rains. Come late August, we’ll be wishing for any drop of rain we can get.”

Andrew could understand why Steven enjoyed the rain. Lights from the campgrounds glowed through the light rain like a misty watercolor painting. He imagined families gathered around tables in their campers or on the floors of their tents with cards and board games and snacks while listening to the drops hitting the roof. At least, that’s what his family would have done.

“Your dad and I are going to run to town for a few things,” Sarah said to Steven and Shelby. “Anyone need us to pick up anything?”

Andrew wasn’t surprised they were going supplies shopping late on a Friday evening, probably at the twenty-four-hour superstore some fifteen miles away. With the long hours they put in at the resort this time of year, this would be the only time both were free to leave for a couple hours. He knew they could have had someone shop for them, but they would probably enjoy getting away for a bit, even if just to grocery shop. The families took vacations each year during the off-season, closing the resort for a week in December and another in February, but there was no getting away during the summer, especially with a long holiday weekend rapidly approaching.

He thought guiltily of his own piling-up responsibilities back at his office, but pushed the concern to the back of his mind for now. His company’s mantra had always been Family First—and he was definitely here for family reasons.

He drove Steven back to the trailer in the golf cart. The rain had completely stopped by the time he turned onto the private drive leading into the family compound. Water splashed from shallow puddles beneath the wheels as he drove through the dark stretch of road just beyond the sign. Within a few days, this area would be well-lit, which would make him feel somewhat better about leaving Hannah here.

Eh, what was he thinking? Nothing was going to make that parting any easier.