Summer Texas Bride

by Katie Lane

  She didn’t say a word. She just sat there, looking stunned. She hadn’t even attempted to put on her bra. As soon as he was dressed, he sat down on the couch next to her.

  “It’s going to be okay.” He helped her put the bra on, then hooked it. “It’s going to be okay.”

  He repeated the mantra all the way to the pharmacy. But it didn’t make him feel any better. It just made him more anxious. He bought every kind of pregnancy test they had on the shelf. He’d just tossed another box into the plastic basket he carried when a bleached blonde wearing heavy makeup walked up. He didn’t recognize her, but she seemed to know him.

  “You’re Ryker Evans, aren’t you?” she said in a thick Texas accent. “You’re just as hot as your daddy. My mama about had a conniption fit when Cord Evans checked into the Bliss Motor Lodge. She already has a picture of him and her hung up behind the cash register like they’re the best of friends. Of course, you stayed at the motor lodge too, didn’t you? But only for one night.” She paused and smiled slyly, her heavily mascaraed eyes narrowing on the boxes in his basket. “But one night is all it takes.” When he didn’t say anything, she waggled her fingers. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around, Ryker Evans.”

  He watched her walk off with an exaggerated wiggle of her hips and realized he’d made a big mistake by shopping for pregnancy tests in a small town where everyone knew everyone’s business. But it was too late to worry about that now. He had other things to worry about.

  He paced outside the bathroom door while Summer did what she needed to do for the tests. As if sensing that something was up, Sherlock and Watson had followed them upstairs. Sherlock watched him pace while the kitten chased after Ryker’s heels. When the bathroom door opened, Ryker turned so quickly he almost stepped on Watson.

  “So?” he asked.

  “All the results were negative,” she said, but before his shoulders could relax completely she added. “But the instructions said that for the most accurate test, you need to wait two weeks after you’ve had sex.”

  It had only been a few days since they’d had sex. For an accurate test, they needed to wait a couple weeks? He wasn’t sure he had the stamina. He was having trouble breathing as is. He leaned down and scooped up the kitten, needing comfort in any form he could get it. “Okay, then we’ll wait.”

  “But don’t you have to go back to Dallas?”

  He did need to get back to his business, but there was no way he could do that now. “I’m not leaving until we know for sure.”

  She rubbed her arms as if she was cold. She had always looked so vibrant and strong, but at the moment, she looked pale and about to drop. “You being here won’t change anything, Ryker. I promise I’ll call you as soon as I know.”

  She was right, but for some reason, he couldn’t stand the thought of her facing the results alone. He handed her Watson and walked into the closest bedroom and grabbed a throw blanket off the bed. He brought it back and wrapped it around her shoulders.

  “I’m not going anywhere. We did this together. We’ll face it together.”

  For a moment he thought he saw tears glistening in her eyes, but then she blinked, and they were gone. “You’d better go,” she said. “We don’t want Granny Bon to think something is going on between us.”

  He adjusted the blanket, then brushed a loose strand of hair away from her forehead. She no longer wore a bandage and her stitches stuck out like stiff black whiskers along her hairline. “Are you going to be okay?”

  She nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

  He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Sleep tight then.”

  He let himself out. When he got in the truck, his hands were shaking so badly that he had a hard time turning the key to start the engine. Since he couldn’t go back to Dirk’s without Granny Bon and Gracie knowing that something was wrong, he decided to stop at the Watering Hole for a drink. Or two.

  “We close in less than forty-five minutes,” the bartender said as soon as he stepped in the door. Ryker had never heard of a bar closing by ten, but he nodded as he took a seat at the end of the bar.

  There were only two other patrons in the bar. Two old guys were watching a Texas Rangers baseball game on one of the big-screen televisions above the bar. Ryker loved the Rangers, but he paid no attention to the game as he drank the double shot of whiskey he ordered. He tried to think logically about what he would do if Summer was pregnant, but the reality of that was so overwhelming that his brain couldn’t process it.

  So he just sat there, staring down at his drink.

  “We close in thirty minutes,” the bartender said. Ryder thought the guy was reminding him of the time until he heard the door close behind him. He turned to see his father standing just inside the door. This was all Ryker needed. He turned back around, downed his drink, and motioned for another.

  Cord took the barstool next to his. He removed his hat and set it on the bar in front of him. “Hello, Ryker.”

  “I’m getting pretty sick of you following me.”

  “Can’t a man get a drink?” But when the bartender came over to refill Ryker’s glass, Cord didn’t order a drink. He ordered a Dr Pepper with plenty of ice.

  “Don’t tell me you’re on the wagon,” Ryker said.

  Cord rolled the cheap beads that dangled from his hatband between his forefinger and thumb. “Four years, three months, and eighteen days.”

  Cord’s confession that he was an alcoholic knocked all the sarcastic wind out of Ryker’s sails. He stared down at his drink. “That’s impressive.”

  “Not really. What would’ve been impressive is if I’d never let it get ahold of me in the first place.”

  Ryker took a drink. “Mom never mentioned your drinking.” In his peripheral vision, he saw Cord shrug his shoulders.

  “Maybe she didn’t want you thinking your old man was a rodeo bum and a drunk.”

  The bartender brought Cord’s Dr Pepper, and they sat there sipping their drinks for awhile before Ryker asked the question that had been plaguing him all his life. “Did you love her?”

  Cord set down his glass and went back to fiddling with the beads. “I loved her as much as a screwed-up kid in his late teens and early twenties could love anyone. But your mother deserved more than a rodeo bum’s love, and she was smart enough to figure that out.”

  “Damn straight she’s smart.” He took another drink.

  There was another long stretch of silence before Cord spoke. “I wish I could go back and be a better man, Ryker. But if I’ve learned anything in the last few years, it’s that I can only change this moment. I can only be a better man right now.” He paused. “So do you want to talk about it?”

  “About what?”

  Cord glanced at the bartender before speaking in a low voice. “About getting a girl pregnant.”

  Ryker had known the woman at the pharmacy was trouble. He just hadn’t realized how much. “Winnie Crawley?”

  Cord nodded. “She knocked on my door no more than a half an hour ago. She acted like she wanted to turn down my bed, but I soon figured out that she was more interested in gossiping about my son. She seems to think that you got Autumn Hadley pregnant. Who is Autumn Hadley?”

  “Summer’s sister.”

  Cord’s eyes widened. “You’re dating sisters at the same time and you got one pregnant? What the hell kind of morals did your mother teach you?”

  “More than you ever did!” He glanced at the bartender and lowered his voice. “And I’m not dating Autumn Hadley. I’m not even dating Summer.”

  “So Winnie’s gossip is completely wrong?”

  He didn’t want to talk to his father about this. He didn’t want to talk to his father at all. But for some reason, when he opened his mouth the entire story spilled out. When he was finished, he downed the rest of his drink and started to lift his hand to order another one, but his father stopped him.

  “Believe me, alcohol isn’t going to make this better.”

  Since hi
s father was right, Ryker didn’t argue. “Well, aren’t you going to say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree? Obviously, I’m as bad of a screw up as you were.”

  Cord placed a hand on his shoulder. “You are not a screw up. You made a mistake is all.”

  He pulled away. “Is that what I was? A mistake? Well, I’m not going to be like you. I’m not going to let Summer go through this alone. I’m going to be right there for her.”

  “You were never a mistake, Ryker. You are the only thing I did right.”

  Ryker thought he’d outgrown the desperate need for his father’s love, but it was right there, tightening his chest until he had to look away to hide his reaction from Cord. They continued to sit there without talking, Ryker sipping the watery remains of his drink and Cord rolling the beads through his fingers. When the bartender finally told them it was time to go, Ryker glanced down at Cord’s hat. “Where did you get that hatband anyway? It looks like a four-year-old made it in preschool.”

  Cord glanced down at the beads as if he hadn’t even realized he was touching them. He smiled. “Actually, it was a five-year-old.” He glanced up, his brown eyes filled with a love that Ryker couldn’t look away from. “You gave it to me for Father’s Day before your mother took you away.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Summer didn’t sleep at all. It was hard to sleep with a lump of fear the size of a softball in her stomach. Pregnant. She couldn’t be pregnant. While Autumn and Spring had always talked about having babies, Summer had never given it a thought. She had already been a mama to her siblings. She was in no hurry to be a mama again. Especially when she wasn’t that good with babies. Dirk and Gracie’s triplets still screamed whenever Summer walked into the room. And how was she supposed to support a child when she couldn’t even support herself? And how could she support herself if she had a child she had to worry about? She couldn’t start a new online business with a baby.

  The vicious cycle of questions went around and around in her head for most of the night. When the first rays of light shone through the curtains, she couldn’t take it anymore and decided to get up and go for a run. She left Watson and Sherlock. She didn’t want to worry about carrying the cat or being tugged to the diner and having to talk with Carly or Ms. Marble. She didn’t want to talk to anyone. She just wanted to run until she couldn’t think anymore.

  It worked. By the time she got back to the house, her mind was focused on her throbbing shins, the stitch in her side, and the twinge of pain in her ankle. She held her side as she limped around the house to the back door. She expected Sherlock and Watson to be waiting for her in the kitchen. She did not expect Granny Bon to be there. As soon as she saw her grandmother, she thought about turning tail and getting out of there. Granny could read her better than her sisters could. She would know something was wrong within minutes. But before Summer could make a run for it, Granny Bon spoke.

  “Don’t just stand there dawdling in the doorway, Summer Lynn. Come in and sit down.”

  Summer tried to school her features to give nothing away. “Good morning, Granny,” she said as she closed the door. “What brings you here?”

  “I plan to head back to Waco on Monday and I wanted to check in with my granddaughter to see how she was doing. I took a chance that you’d be up early.” Granny Bon poured coffee into two cups and brought them over to the table. “Everyone was still sleeping when I left the house this morning. Which is understandable given that my great-granddaughters were feeling their oats last night and wouldn’t go to sleep until after ten. And Ryker didn’t get in until close to midnight.”

  Summer was surprised. Not that he had gotten home at midnight, but that he had gone back to the ranch at all. She thought for sure that he’d hightail it out of town as fast as he could—regardless of what he’d said. She’d kind of hoped that he had. She couldn’t think clearly when he was around. And now was a time for clear thinking.

  She shrugged nonchalantly as she took her cup of coffee from Granny Bon. “Maybe he was enjoying the nightlife Bliss has to offer.”

  Granny Bon sat down at the table. “Or maybe he was impregnating your sister.”

  The cup slipped from Summer’s hand and crashed to the floor, shattering glass and splattering coffee everywhere. Granny Bon didn’t flinch. She simply got a roll of paper towels from the counter and gave them to Summer. Granny believed that everyone should clean up their own messes. She also believed in not beating around the bush.

  “Ms. Marble called me last night. She said that Mrs. Crawley had called her under the pretense of wanting a cake for her daughter Winnie’s birthday. But instead of talking about cake flavors, she wanted to gossip about Winnie catching Autumn coming out of Ryker Evans’s motel room. She also wanted to talk about Ryker buying pregnancy tests at the pharmacy.”

  Damn. Summer had been so upset, she hadn’t even thought about the repercussions of buying pregnancy tests in a small town. Now she would have to bluff her way through. She kept her gaze lowered as she knelt to clean up the broken cup and coffee. “Well, you know a small town. They’re always coming up with one crazy thing or another to gossip about.”

  “Is it crazy?”

  She cleared her throat as she carefully placed the ceramic pieces in a square of paper towel. “Of course it is. You know as well as I do that Autumn doesn’t have time for an affair. Especially with Ryker. They barely know each other.”

  “But you, on the other hand, seem to know Ryker extremely well.”

  Summer should’ve known that Granny would put two and two together, but she stubbornly refused to fess up. “Not really. I mean, we’ve seen each other occasionally. But only because he’s helping me with my business plan.” She got up and carried the wet paper towels and broken cup to the trash can. But Granny wasn’t going to let her off that easily.

  “Summer Lynn Hadley, I was not born yesterday. You were with Ryker the night of Spring’s wedding, weren’t you? It was you, not Autumn, who Winnie saw. Which would explain why you were still wearing your maid-of-honor dress when you had the accident. It would also explain the text I read.”

  “Fine!” Summer turned around and threw up her hands. “I had sex with Ryker. But only once. I swear.” She didn’t think she needed to mention the sex they’d almost had last night.

  Granny’s eyes grew concerned. “Did you use contraception?”

  Summer hated to disappoint her family. She hated it so much she almost lied. But Granny disliked lies more than she disliked stupidity. And soon enough, the truth would be out.

  “No.”

  Granny Bon studied her for a long moment before she nodded. “So I’m going to assume that you took one of the pregnancy tests Ryker bought.”

  “They all came back negative,” she said. “But because it’s still so early, they might not be accurate. I need to wait another week or so to be sure. But I don’t want you to worry, Granny. I’m not pregnant. I mean it was one time. Just one time.”

  She waited for Granny to agree. Or maybe she prayed that Granny would agree. But her grandmother didn’t. Instead, she got up and went to the refrigerator. “You need to eat a healthy breakfast.”

  But Summer didn’t feel like eating. She felt like throwing up. “Please don’t tell the rest of the family, Granny Bon. At least not until we know for sure. I just don’t want them being disappointed in me unless they have to be.”

  Granny closed the refrigerator and turned to her. “They would never be disappointed in you. You’ve been like a second mother to all of them, and they love you.”

  Summer fought back tears. “I don’t know why. I’m bossy and controlling. And now I can add stupid to the list. How could I let this happen? Didn’t I learn anything from what happened to Mama? At least she had the excuse of being young and in love when she got pregnant. I have no excuse.”

  Granny walked over and pulled her into her arms. The strength and love that radiated from her body calmed Summer like nothing else had. “Life doesn’t follow
a straight path, Summer Lynn. There are twists and turns to navigate, and hills and mountains to climb. But God doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle. If you are pregnant, we’ll deal with it just like we deal with everything else. Until then, I don’t want you putting the cart before the horse. Now feed Sherlock and Watson while I make you some breakfast.”

  Summer tried to take Granny’s advice, but it was hard not to put the cart before the horse. She couldn’t stop thinking about what she would do if she were pregnant. She had been so mad at Lucy Arrington for giving away Granny Bon, but now she had a lot more sympathy for her great-grandmother. A baby was a huge responsibility. One you had to be prepared for. And Summer didn’t feel prepared. She felt terrified. So terrified she couldn’t take more than a few bites of the eggs and bacon Granny Bon made her. Not wanting her grandmother to know how upset she was, she tried to slip Sherlock and Watson bites. But as usual, Granny caught her.

  “You’ll make those animals sick if you keep giving them table food.” She took Summer’s plate to the sink. “When I talked to Maybelline Marble on the phone, she mentioned having plenty of orders to fill this weekend. It would certainly be nice if you helped her.” She glanced over her shoulder. “It would also keep you from sitting here feeling sorry for yourself.”

  Since that was exactly what she was doing, she couldn’t really argue. She headed upstairs to shower. When she came back down, Granny was gone. But she’d left a note on the refrigerator.

  Summer Lynn,

  I know you’re scared. But you are one of the strongest women I know. If anyone can handle this, you can.

  Love, Granny Bon

  Her grandmother’s faith in her snapped Summer out of her depression and self-pity. She was strong. If she were pregnant, she would handle it. She would handle it like she handled her father being a deadbeat and her mother dying. She could be a single parent. Her mother and grandmother had done it. Summer could do it too. Babies might make her a little nervous, but she could work through that. With her grandmother heading back to Waco on Monday, Gracie would need help with the triplets. Summer would volunteer to babysit. How hard could it be to wrangle three cute kids?