The name McCoy was a force to be reckoned with in central Texas. Aron headed up a conglomerate than managed everything from cattle and minerals, to a foundation that funded cancer research and scholarships for young cancer survivors. How the family would react to one of their own running a tavern was yet to be seen.
“Will you dance with me, Aron? I think I could use the practice before the Harvest Hayride. Would you mind?” Libby looked at Aron with such heat in her eyes that Aron almost scooped her up and headed for their bedroom.
“Of course, I’ll dance with you, Libby-mine. I’d never turn down a chance to have you in my arms.” They shared a sweet kiss, which had Nathan rolling his eyes, and the others wishing they had a Libby of their own.
******
“I’ve got you now.” Keith McCay thought as he folded the slip of paper where he had wrote down the directions to Tebow Ranch. He’d bet everything he had that Jessie would head straight to that playboy cowboy to confess she was having his baby. And when she did, he would be close by - waiting.
*****
If it was a boy, she liked Michael; or they could go with Colt. The former University of Texas quarterback, Colt McCoy, was famous in these parts. A girl could be Amanda or Meghan. She wondered what name Jacob would prefer, or if he would want to help her choose a name. Laughing, she placed her hands on her tummy and thanked the good Lord there was a precious baby on the way. How could she have ever thought, after carrying it under her heart for nine months, that she could give it up to someone else? From the time she first felt the little flutters of movement within her growing bump, Jessie had known giving the baby over to the McCay’s was going to be the hardest thing she had ever done. Thankfully fate had intervened; the McCay’s lawyer had informed them that the sperm used to impregnate her had not been that of Keith McCay. It had belonged to Jacob McCoy. The Austin Cryobank had made a whopper of an error.
Thinking back, Jessie knew in her heart she wouldn’t change anything that had happened for the world. This baby was hers and she wanted it, desperately. She was hopelessly in love with her child. The day Keith McCay approached her about being a surrogate mother, she had seen it as a way to make something of herself. Working twelve hours a day cleaning offices was not how she wanted to spend the rest of her life. But with her disability and no high school diploma, Jessie had very few options. The McCay’s offer seemed like an answer to a prayer.
They had insisted she quit her job and move in with them. After a few weeks, however, their true colors had begun to show. By that time, it was too late. She was pregnant with their baby and at their mercy. Thank God, she had been able to escape when she had.
“Nathan, you can ride your bike to the Barkley’s if you promise to be careful.” Aron spoke to his little brother like a father would.
“I’ll be careful, Aron.” Nathan didn’t mind being told what to do. His brothers loved him and he knew it. His memories of his parents were almost nonexistent. For all practical purposes - Aron, Jacob and Joseph were his dads. Noah and Isaac were older than he was by ten years or more, but they had never taken up the reins of responsibility the way the older three McCoys had. Especially Aron. Aron would die for him in a heartbeat and Nathan knew it. Throwing his arms around his brother, Nathan hugged him hard before he set out on the three-mile bike trip to the Barkley ranch.
Walking down the sun-dappled road, Jessie enjoyed the warm sunshine. She ran her hands over the tiny mound of her abdomen. Even though she was over four months along, she really wasn’t showing very much. Jacob had seen her naked. Had he noticed the small baby bump? From the beginning, the terms of the pregnancy were not what she was expecting. First, she had been under the impression that she would just be a surrogate, providing a uterus for the egg and sperm of a couple who could not have a baby on their own. As she received more information, she had found out that it would be her own egg and the McCay man’s sperm. His wife had no viable eggs and she had a condition that caused her immune system to attack any sperm that was introduced into her uterus. Apparently, Dr. McCay had some performance problems of his own, but that had not been her business. His physician had extracted enough sperm to insure a successful insemination, even if they had to make more than one attempt.
Not long after she moved into the McCay home, it became clear that the husband was going to be a problem. Several times, she had awakened in the middle of the night and found him in her room. It had been so creepy. He hadn’t tried to hurt her; he had just sat in a chair at the end of the bed and watched her. The first time she had awakened to find him there, it had scared her to death. She had threatened to scream or tell his wife, but he told her she would be sorry if she did. His tone convinced her that he was off his rocker. Jessie had tried locking her door, but he had a key. Jesse had even gone so far as to put a chair under the doorknob, but he had been stronger than her chair. If the news of the sperm mix-up hadn’t happened when it did, Jessie didn’t know how long she could have stood his frightening midnight visits. Without a doubt they would have developed into something much worse over time.
What puzzled her most was why he had done it? She had never given him one ounce of encouragement. In addition, Jessie Montgomery knew she wasn’t a beauty. There wasn’t anything about her that should inspire a man’s obsession. And, she had no desire to start an affair with a married man. At twenty-three, she might be one of the oldest virgins around, but she didn’t intend to give her innocence to a crazy, bald-headed lecher who was afraid of his rich wife.
After the error with the insemination was discovered, everyone had jumped on the bandwagon to force her to get an abortion. Mrs. McCay had offered her a ten thousand dollar bonus as an incentive. Mr. McCay had been especially insistent. He told her that she was supposed to have his baby and no one else’s. But, Jessie refused. Things had gotten crazy after that.
The one thing she knew for sure - and was holding on to for all she was worth - was the fact that the baby was hers. And now she knew it was also Jacob McCoy’s baby, too. As far as she could tell, Jacob was a perfect father figure. And after seeing him in the barn pleasuring himself, - she knew that he was perfect in about every other way as well.
Chapter Two
A car whizzed by, causing Jessie to move farther off the road. The highway had narrowed, and she was now walking just off the shoulder. It would have been nice to continue strolling in the beautiful countryside, but a fence ran about twenty feet off the pavement keeping her from seeking shelter in the roadside trees and bushes. Tebow Ranch was huge and according to the signs, all the land surrounding her belonged to the McCoy family. Pastures rich with thick green grass flanked both sides of the road and the winding Guadalupe crossed ahead of her about a half mile in the distance. As she strolled along, Jessie smiled as she watched the horses grazing on one side and young calves ambling about on the other. It must be wonderful to have such an amazing home as this vast, magnificent land.
At the coffee shop, when Gretchen had searched for Jacob on the internet, Jessie had found out some interesting facts about his family. The McCoy ancestors had come to the Hill Country from Tennessee when Texas was still a Republic. Their piece of heaven was deeded to them by a land grant in 1842. From that day to this, the McCoy’s had lived on their legacy. To think that her child was connected to the strong-willed pioneers who had forged this Texas dynasty was amazing. That fact made what she intended to do even more difficult. Her child might never forgive her, but she was going to let Jacob McCoy off the hook. It was the only fair thing to do. He hadn’t asked to be a father, and it wasn’t fair that he be forced to acknowledge a child that had been conceived in such a random fashion.
Still, she couldn’t help but fantasize. What kind of reaction would he have to her pregnancy? Would he want to see the baby after it was born? Living in Kerrville wouldn’t be a problem for her; she had no ties to Austin or anywhere else. Jessie was alone. Still Jacob
might not want them around, especially if he had a girlfriend. Thoughts were whirling in her head. She was imagining every scenario possible. Feeling slightly dizzy, she put her hand to her head and forced herself to breathe normally. There was no use speculating on what ifs; it was better to wait and see what Jacob had to say when she gave him the big news.
******
Jacob eased back in his office chair and thought about how he could find out who his eye candy had been. Grabbing his Rolodex, he made a few phone calls. First to the Perry’s, their closest neighbor, maybe they knew her. After about three rings, old Sheldon Perry answered. Jacob supposed that she could be his granddaughter or something. “Sheldon - it’s Jacob McCoy. Hey, - yea - we’re doing fine. How about you and Velma? Good. Good. Yea, we need some rain. The hay crop is gonna wither in the field if we don’t get any. Irrigation? Yea, we’re irrigating right and left.” Jacob grimaced at the necessity for the small talk. “Listen, you wouldn’t happen to have a pretty brunette with long hair visiting with you, would you? What? No visitors? Oh, that’s okay. I just got a glimpse of a pretty girl that dropped by this morning. We had a small emergency . . . What? No, everything’s fine. Anyway, she left before I could find out what she wanted. Well, thank you anyway.” Whew! After, he had done the same thing five more times - Jacob was out of sorts and out of ideas. How in the world was he gonna track that sweet doll down? He’d have to give it some serious thought; not finding her was out of the question.
Getting up, he poured himself a cup of coffee from his own personal pot. As he walked across the room, he heard the crackle of the envelope that he had stuck in his back pocket. The letter. Crap! If it were something important, he couldn’t afford to ignore it.
Acquiring land was a passion of his. Just recently, he had bought a treasure; a block of rocky land covered with scrub mesquite had fallen into his lap. No one else had wanted it. He had taken a gamble and it paid off. The land was found to be sitting on a pocket of methane gas. And it all belonged to him. Noah and Aron had been against the purchase, so it wasn’t part of Tebow nor family land - it was Jacob McCoy’s personal property. Now, he was a millionaire in his own right - by his own smarts.
Pulling the letter out of his pocket, he read, ‘PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL’ written in big red letters. Scary shit! This didn’t look like any land papers he had ever seen. Careful, as to not damage the documents inside, he tore open the letter. And what he read was the biggest shock of his entire life.
God In Heaven! He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The letter was from the Austin Cryobank where he had stored some of his own sperm about five years ago at the recommendation of the Kerrville Fire Department where he was a volunteer fire fighter. It was common practice to advise first responders, police, firemen and soldiers to store their sperm in case of an accident or exposure to some type of a chemical. Frankly, Jacob had forgotten about it. This notification reminded him in a way that he had never expected. He read it the second time.
Austin Cryobank Office of Critical Issues
Dear Mr. Jacob McCoy
We regret to inform you that an unfortunate error has occurred in the management of your sperm deposit. Due to a lab error, our records indicate that your sperm was released by mistake and used in a surrogate pregnancy. Due to the possibility of an unauthorized use of your deposit, we regret to inform you that a Ms. Jessie Montgomery may be eighteen weeks pregnant with a child conceived using your sperm and her egg. She has refused to terminate the pregnancy. Ms. Montgomery disappeared before we could perform additional tests to confirm parentage. All financial support and insurance she had received from the contract couple has been withdrawn and terminated.
We do not have any contact information for Ms. Montgomery, other than what you see below. She is no longer at the address we were given, nor is her telephone number in service. To protect you, no information other than your name was given to Ms. Montgomery. If she chooses to get in contact with you, it will be of her own volition. We apologize for any embarrassment or inconvenience this will cause you. Be aware that under state law you are in no way responsible for this child. If a situation arises whereby Ms. Montgomery approaches you about the child, we encourage you to insist upon a neo-natal paternity test.
We realize that you will have legitimate questions and concerns. Our administrator and legal counsel are awaiting your call. To you, again, we owe our sincerest apologies. Mistakes like this are truly unfortunate, but due to the human factor - correcting them is not always an easy task.
Sincerely
Horace Brown
Director of Austin Cryobank
Jacob was stunned! A child! Somewhere, there was a woman who may be carrying his child! He looked at her name again. Jessie Montgomery. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind - he had to find her! He might not be responsible under state law, but that didn’t make a damn bit of difference to him. Immediately, he called the PI that his family kept on retainer. He gave Roscoe all the information the letter contained and was assured that Roscoe would be in contact with all parties involved and gather all information that he could find. Jacob felt better, if anybody could find Jessie Montgomery, Roscoe could.
After setting the ball rolling, Jacob couldn’t be still. Now, there were two women that he would give his eyeteeth to find - one might be carrying his child, but the other had made off with a little piece of his heart.
Grabbing the letter off the desk, Jacob headed off to find Aron. He needed to talk to his big brother.
Nathan was excited. A swim party with girls was a big deal. He didn’t know if he would actually swim, but he had brought his trunks. Most likely, he would stand around with the other guys and watch the girls swim. Standing up, he pumped his bicycle up the low grade of the small hill. Topping it, he was surprised to see a woman walking down the side of the highway. She had long, dark hair that was hanging down in a braid, like an Indian girl. As Nathan got closer, he realized that this was the girl he had seen that morning taking a swim “Hey! Wait up!” he called out. When she stopped and turned around, Nathan braked to a stop next to her. “I know you!” he said with a friendly smile.
“Nathan, isn’t it?” Jessie couldn’t help but smile right back. Nathan McCoy was as cute as a bug. There was a definite family resemblance. He had the same thick, dark hair and sea blue eyes as his brothers – all except Noah – Noah was a blonde. She wondered if her baby would be as handsome as the McCoys. She certainly hoped so. Jessie knew her own limitations. They had been pointed out to her often enough. Jessie had no illusions about her looks. She was plain of face and her curves were too generous to attract a man.
“Yeah. What’s your name?” He looked at her with such a friendly expression that she felt like she had known him for a long time.
“My name is Jessie Montgomery.” He held out his hand and she took it. He shook it firmly, just like a little man.
“Where are you headed?” he got back on his bike and they began to slowly move forward.
“I’m going into town to hunt a job.”
“Really? What were you doing at our house this morning?”
Jesse thought about how to answer, but she decided that being as truthful as possible was always the best plan. “I came to meet Jacob.”
“He really enjoyed meeting you,” Nathan knew that repeating what Jacob had said, verbatim, wouldn’t be the gentlemanly thing to do.
Jesse didn’t know what to say. Since they hadn’t actually been introduced, Jessie knew Jacob had to have mentioned their unorthodox encounter to the family. Nathan let her step ahead when they came to the bridge over the Guadalupe River. It was much narrower than the actual road, and Jessie glanced back to check the traffic. What she saw made her heart go up in her throat. A pickup pulling a trailer was closing in on them. A hay bailer attachment on the trailer was sticking too far out on the side; it hadn’t been loaded or secured properly.
“Nathan watch out!” she screamed. But, it was too late. The truck and trailer whizzed by and the farm implement clipped Nathan. In the next breath it glanced off of her - not nearly as hard as it had hit Nathan - but hard enough to make her lose her balance and be pushed too far to the right to stay on her feet. In one broad, horrific motion both her and Nathan and even his bike were swept off the bridge. Jesse felt herself falling. She screamed, still trying to keep her eye on the young man that had been hit first.
Afraid for her baby, she wanted to cry and scream. God, she had to keep her head about her. It felt like they fell forever, but she knew it was only a split second. Hitting the water, she plunged to the bottom - the shock of it shooting through her body like razor blades. Flailing, she tried to get control of her equilibrium and make her way to the surface. This was not how she wanted to die! She had too much to live for - her baby - - for Jacob.
Jessie knew her feelings were instinctive and instantaneous. Everything in her heart was boiling to the forefront. Breaking the surface, Jessie fought for air, frantically looking around to see if she could find Nathan. Nowhere. He was nowhere. Lord, where was Nathan? A patch of red on the water downstream caught her eye. Oh, Lord - it was him. He was facedown - spread eagle in a typical dead man’s float.
“Nathan! Nathan!” Ignoring the twinges of pain, she swam to him. Turning him over, she tried to find a pulse or determine if he was breathing. He wasn’t. No! No! Putting her arm around his neck, she towed him to the shore, gritting her teeth at the discomfort in her side where the piece of steel had hit her. Mad rushes of adrenaline were fueling everything she did. Pulling him up on the bank, Jessie began CPR. She cleared his mouth and began breathing for him, while doing chest compressions. “Come on, Nathan. Breathe. Please,” she begged.
Hell Yeah! Box Set With Bonus Cookbook Page 20