by Candy Gray
“How is the weather in D.C.?” I asked, wiping my hands dry on a towel. “No snow for you there?”
“No snow here, but I don’t mind a break from it. I just wanted to remind you that I’m hosting a joint Christmas party this year with Montana’s congressmen.”
I tensed at that. The last thing I wanted to do was to go to a Christmas party to overhear a million questions. My father had dropped the topic for now, but I knew the party would be an invitation for him to ask questions.
“I don’t know if that would be a good idea, Dad, for me to go,” I said. “That’s close to my due date. What if Scott arrives there, too?”
“He isn’t invited to the party, Amber. I’m not taking no for answer. You can’t hide in the shadows forever.”
“I can certainly try.”
He sighed into the phone. “Just please do me a favor and show up. That’s all I’m asking you to do. I won’t press you for information, if that’s what you’re worried about. Even if it would be nice to know who the father of my grandchild is.”
“I told you that I’m not going to talk to you about that right now,” I said, irritation sweeping through me. “I’ll go if you promise not to pester me about it. Nobody else can pester me, either.”
“That’s fine. Scout’s honor, dear. I’ll see you in a few weeks, then.”
“See you in a few weeks. Happy Thanksgiving, Dad.”
“Make a nice big turkey for Gage. This is his favorite holiday because it gives him an excuse to get fat.”
He hung up before I could reply to that. I set the phone back down in the cradle with a sense of dread growing inside of me. A pair of strong arms encircled my waist, resting on top of my baby belly. I leaned back against Gage’s strong chest without hesitation.
“Who was that?” he asked.
“My father,” I said. “He wanted to remind me that he is having a Christmas party here in Bozeman. He wants me to go.”
“Might be something fun to go to before Mollie arrives,” Gage said. “Why are you hesitating?”
“I just have a bad feeling about it, is all. I can’t explain it.”
Gage’s arms loosened from around me. He pressed a kiss to the side of my head with a smile.
“Try not to worry so much,” he said. “Nothing bad is going to happen. We will figure everything out like we have been. Okay?”
I forced a smile on my face, despite a little voice inside my head saying that shit was about to hit the fan. I could feel it. Something was bound to happen at the Christmas Party.
Chapter 27
Gage
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Amber asked again.
I sighed in exasperation at the question. I turned around to look at Amber as she readied herself for the Christmas Party. Her skin was a ghostly, pale white from anxiety, but she still looked beautiful in my eyes. Her nine-month belly poked out from beneath the black maternity dress she wore over a pair of thick leggings and knee-high boots. Her blonde tresses were pulled up in a messy bun.
“Yes,” I said, rolling my eyes as I tightened the knot on my black tie. “Everything will be fine, Amber. I don’t know how many times I have to keep telling you that.”
Amber looked back into the mirror on her vanity. “All the way until we get there. I can’t shake it, Gage. Something isn’t right about this party.”
“It’s just your nerves. It doesn’t help that you’re nine months pregnant, either.”
“This is the first time that I’ll be seeing my father since I found out that I was pregnant,” Amber said. “My mother isn’t here to protect me from his questions like she has been over the past few months. I’m surprised he hasn’t tried to pry information out of you, yet.”
I fastened the cuff links on my sleeves. “That’s because I don’t let the subject come up. I told him that it was better for you to stay here where I could keep an eye on you. That’s all we’ve talked about.”
Amber studied my face intently through the mirror of her vanity. “That doesn’t bother you anymore?”
“What doesn’t bother me anymore?” I asked, confused.
“Lying to my father,” she answered primly. “Not telling him that you really do know who the father is?”
“Bubble, remember? We talked about enjoying our bubble for as long as we could.”
“I don’t know how much longer that will be,” Amber said sadly. “If Scott goes forward with leaking the pictures, all of this will come crashing down on our shoulders.”
“Which the both of us are prepared for,” I reminded her, leaning in to press a kiss against her lips. “Don’t worry about it, Amber. This is a Christmas party filled with important people. Your father won’t be bothering us tonight. Trust me.”
“I hope so,” she said, sighing. “I really can’t take the secrecy any longer. I’m ready to have this baby.”
I rubbed the swell of her belly with a smile. “I am, too. If you’re that worried about showing up in the same car—”
“I am worried about that,” she interjected.
“Then, you tell your father that I drove you because of the roads being icy. I don’t trust your driving skills around the mountain roads.”
“I can drive!”
I laughed at her indignant protest.
“Come on now,” I said. “Let’s get the kids to Raychelle’s house before it gets too late.”
We gathered up Lily and Ethan from the living room to buckle them into the truck. Amber was quiet on the drive down to Raychelle’s house. I could feel the apprehension radiating off her in waves. She was worried about her father’s questions, and what he would think once we told him the truth. The topic had come up quite a bit recently, since our baby girl’s arrival to the world was approaching fast.
I reached up to touch the small box in the inner pocket of my suit jacket. She had no idea. No idea that I planned on taking that nervous plunge to let everyone know that Amber Roselynn was mine, and that she was carrying our baby. By the end of the night, it wasn’t going to be a surprise when Amber left in my truck to come back home.
I didn’t let Amber see my own nerves, though. I was sick of lying to Beau every time he brought up the topic of wondering who the father was. The baby wasn’t Scott’s. That much, Beau had learned, but he was relentless in trying to figure out who it was. That was why he had never once questioned why Amber wanted to come out of hiding to live with me. He had hoped that I would be the one to figure out who the father was. Some nights, I stayed up late, feeling our baby move underneath the palm of my hand while guilt threatened to eat me alive. Still, I refused to let that threaten our joy and future together.
I took Lily and Ethan down the dark pathway to the front porch of Raychelle’s house after they bid Amber goodbye. Ray welcomed the both of them in, with a wide smile, before waving to Amber in the passenger seat of the truck.
“Thank you for watching them,” I said and gave her a quick hug. “I really appreciate it.”
Raychelle waved me away. “Go on, now. The kids will be fine with me. I rented several Christmas movies to keep them occupied throughout the night.”
“Make sure to play the old Frosty movie,” I said. “Lily is in love with that movie. I promised to play it for her, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”
I hopped back into the driver’s seat of my truck to back down the driveway. I started down the quiet road in the direction of the city lights piercing through the cold winter night.
Amber chewed on the pad of her thumb nervously as she watched the city lights blur around her. She sensed a change coming like I did. I didn’t care how upset Beau got, or how anyone would perceive our relationship. We were going to move forward with our life together. If no one else wanted to be a part of it, then that was going to be their problem. Not ours.
I reached through the darkness and lights from the dashboard to rest a hand on Amber’s bouncing knee.
“It’s going to be fine, honey,” I said. “Trust me
when I say that it’s going to be okay. The sun will still rise tomorrow. Our daughter will still be arriving sometime in the next week or so.”
“I do trust you,” she replied, dropping her hand to grasp mine. “I’m just nervous about it. I can’t get over this feeling that I have, that everything will be different by the end of the night.”
“It will be,” I said. “I can promise you that it will be very different. In a good way, though. I promise.”
City Hall was decorated elaborately with Christmas decorations when I managed to find a parking spot close by. A giant Christmas tree shimmered with silver tinsel and Christmas balls in the middle of the marble lobby when I led a hesitant Amber inside. The sound of Christmas jingles, along with loud and happy voices, filled my ears when we entered the main conference room where at least a hundred people were gathered around various tables of food and drinks.
I took in the sight with an impressed whistle. I looked over at Amber as she unbuttoned her coat.
“Your father sure knows how to throw a party,” I said.
“You’ve never been to one of my father’s parties?” Amber asked, handing her coat over to one of the staff members checking in coats. “I’m surprised you haven’t been to a Christmas one.”
“Just barbecues,” I replied, handing over my coat as well. It took all my strength to not reach forward to grab Amber’s hand, to lead her through the crowd of people. “All right. Let’s find a table.”
“There you are, Amber!”
Beau appeared alongside Amber with a frown. “I have been trying to call you for the past hour. Do you not answer your phone anymore?”
“I just got here,” Amber said defensively. “I left my purse in Gage’s truck, so I don’t have my phone.”
“Your purse is in Gage’s truck?” he asked.
Amber’s eyes widened when she realized the slip. She looked up at me, desperate for help. For a wild moment, I was tempted to tell Beau everything right there. I had hoped the party wasn’t crowded, but everyone with money and status crowded the conference room. There was no private place to talk that I could see.
“I drove her here because of the roads,” I said. “They’re icy up on the mountains this late at night. I didn’t want her driving in the dark on her own.”
Beau’s eyes flicked between us, with that same scrutinizing manner of trying to read our emotions. If he didn’t believe me, he didn’t voice it. He wrapped an arm around Amber to give her a big hug.
“I’m glad you came,” he said. He glanced down at her belly with a strained, but small smile. “Only two weeks left, right? You’re about to pop.”
Irritation filled Amber’s eyes.
“That’s how I feel,” she said. “I didn’t want to come tonight because I’m sure that my water is about to burst.”
“At least you’re in the city close to the hospital,” Beau said. “Now, I know that I promised to leave you alone.”
“Please don’t bring this up here,” Amber cut in, shaking her head. “You did promise me to keep quiet.”
Beau looked over at me in exasperation. I shrugged my shoulders indifferently because I had nothing to say. Not yet, at least.
“Why don’t we get some water?” I suggested to Amber. “You said you were feeling thirsty on the way in.”
“Yes,” Amber said, seizing hold of the cue with a grateful smile. “Thanks, Gage. I do need some water.”
“Hurry back,” Beau said, waving to a couple who waved him over. “I have some people for you to meet tonight, Amber. Good men who can take care of you.”
My fingers clenched into fists at that. I ushered Amber forward in the direction of a tub full of ice and bottled waters. She rested her hand gently on my forearm briefly in concern.
“Are you okay?” she whispered. “You know that I’m not interested, right?”
“I know,” I said smoothly. “I’m just ready to tell the truth, Amber. I’m ready to let the world know.”
Amber picked out a bottled water. She shook the excess water and ice free while giving me a pleading look. “Just keep quiet for a little bit longer. This isn’t the place to do it. My father thinks he’s doing me a favor.”
“I know. I know what he’s trying to do.”
It was driving me crazy, too. My heart raged with jealousy at the thought of another man touching Amber. It was already killing me having to keep my distance as we navigated back through the crowded room when Amber suddenly tensed up beside me. Her fingers latched down onto my arm quickly.
Alarm skittered through me as I turned to find her eyes wide and focused on something near the back doors.
“What is it?” I asked, turning to look in that direction as well. “Who are you looking at?”
“It’s Scott,” Amber whispered, her nails digging into my shirt sleeve. “Let’s go, Gage. I don’t know why he’s here.”
I resisted Amber’s tugs on my arm. Just seeing that smug look on Scott’s face was enough to set my blood on fire. My vision went red when Scott’s beady eyes settled on us, and he approached without hesitation.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded, putting myself between him and Amber. “You aren’t on the guest list. I’m sure of that.”
Scott sneered in my direction as he looked over my shoulder to where Amber was cowering behind me.
“I’m here for my wife,” he said loudly. Heads turned in our direction. “I’d like to thank you for keeping her safe and sound, Gage. Very noble of you to do so.”
“Ex-wife,” I corrected coldly. “I don’t care how much you threaten us, you abusive prick. I’m sure you’re a big man when you’re smacking a woman around. Try that shit here and I’ll rip your fucking balls off.”
“Gage,” Amber whispered harshly. “Don’t do this. Don’t make a scene.”
“I’m sure Beau Roselynn would love those photographs of you and her,” Scott continued on boldly. “I didn’t think Amber could bend in those positions. Good to know for the future.”
My vision went from red to black. I was dimly aware of the sound of bones crunching beneath my knuckles. Gasps filled the air. I found Scott huddled on the ground with a stream of blood pouring from nose as he clutched at his face with howl of pain.
“Go ahead,” I snarled, loosening my cuff links just in case this needed to continue. “Threaten her again, you piece of shit. I’ll break more than your fucking nose. And release those photos. I don’t care anymore. It doesn’t matter after tonight.”
Scott stumbled up to his feet. His eyes glittered with anger as he glanced over at Amber, who stood behind me with her hand clasped over her mouth in horror.
“We’ll see how you much you don’t care,” he said. “Get used to being called a whore, Amber. That’s what everyone is going to think come noon tomorrow. I bet my entire damn life and kid on it.”
“Get the fuck out of here,” I said, taking another step forward. “Don’t make me ask you again, or you’ll be crawling out of here.”
I raised my fist, and Scott scurried in the direction of the back doors like the fucking rat he was. A stunned silence still followed Scott’s retreat as security filed out the door to make sure that Scott left. I turned to look back at Amber, who looked torn between relief and anger. She glanced around at the crowd of onlookers with a grimace.
“What the hell are you thinking?” she asked.
“Don’t worry,” I said, grasping her hand briefly. “You’ll see what I’m thinking here in a minute.”
I grabbed a champagne glass from the table to tap it with the side of a knife to gain everyone’s attention. I waited until the room was completely silent before grabbing ahold of Amber’s hand in my own.
“I need everyone’s attention,” I announced, squeezing Amber’s fingers tightly. “Amber and I have an announcement to make together, but I have to ask her something important first.”
I caught sight of Beau pushing through the crowd with a frown. Sucking in a deep breath, I turned to look at Amb
er who was shaking like a leaf in a cold autumn wind. Her eyes widened visibly when I smiled comfortingly.
“Everyone. I’m in love with Amber Roselynn. I’ve been in love with her for over a year now. The baby that she is carrying right now is my baby. I am the father of this child.”
Chapter 28
Amber