Texas Two Step: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 1

by Cynthia D'Alba

  “I’m five,” the boy said, holding up five fingers spread wide apart.

  This child’s black hair and blue eyes were straight out of his gene pool. If a picture of five-year-old Mitch were placed side by side with a picture of Adam, he doubted his own mother could tell the difference.

  Olivia hugged the boy close to her, as though Mitch would snatch him. The little boy pushed against his mother’s chest to sit upright. Olivia flinched, either from fear or pain, and right now, Mitch didn’t care which. He was so mad that—

  He shoved his anger at the child’s mother into another compartment of his mind. Compartmentalizing. It was one of his strengths. “Five. Wow. You’re really getting old, huh?”

  Adam—his son—nodded.

  Mitch smiled through gritted teeth and decided to bide his time until he could speak with Olivia alone. No need to upset the boy…his son.

  His son. Oh God. He had a son.

  “Mitch is my friend,” Olivia explained to Adam. “He helped me get home last night. But he lives far away and has to go home.”

  Mitch dropped into the overstuffed reading chair he’d pulled next to the bed last night. “No, I don’t have to go home right now,” he said. Was it only a few hours ago he’d sat in the exact chair and considered a future with Olivia?

  “My dad lives far away too,” Adam said. “Well, he’s kinda my dad and—”

  “Mitch doesn’t need to hear your life history,” Olivia said, tousling Adam’s hair.

  “Oh, but I’m interested,” Mitch said in a tone reserved for horse thieves and cattle rustlers. “Tell me about your kinda dad. Where does he live?” The pounding in his head made it almost impossible to hear Adam’s reply.

  Adam looked at his mother, then back at Mitch. “’Oming.”

  “Wyoming,” Olivia corrected. She smoothed his hair with her fingers. “Remember? Drake is living in Wyoming right now.”

  Adam huffed. “That’s what I said. ’Oming.” He looked at Mitch. “I don’t have a real daddy, so Drake said he’d be my daddy. But I’ve got a bunch of uncles.”

  The muscles in Olivia’s face buckled as she gnawed the inside of her cheek.

  Mitch’s jaw ached from being clenched so long and so hard. No real daddy, his ass. Adam’s real daddy lived in south Texas. He rasped in a deep breath and let it out slowly, a trick he’d learned to help keep his anger in check, something he had to do for now.

  He glanced toward the young woman who leaned against the doorframe observing the soap opera playing out in front of her. One sandal-covered foot rested on top of the other. “I’m Mitch Laundry.” He stood and stretched his hand across the bed.

  The girl stepped forward to grasp his hand. “I’m Nancy Luther. My husband and I work at Jim’s Gym with Olivia.”

  “Nice to meet you, Nancy. Thank you for taking such good care of Adam last night. I know how worried Olivia was about him.”

  Olivia squinted her eyes in a threat and frowned at Mitch.

  She didn’t scare him. He’d faced down mad bulls and wild horses. He moved his gaze from her to Adam, his son.

  Good Lord. His son.

  He backed up until his legs hit the chair and he sat.

  False cheer brightened Olivia’s face when her gaze moved from him to Adam. “I guess Momma was wrong. Mr. Mitch isn’t leaving right now.”

  “What did the doctor say?” Nancy asked.

  He watched in a fog as Olivia told Nancy about the emergency department visit and the doctor’s recommendations. His mind continued to reverberate from the shock of realizing he had a son.

  I have a son.

  “So, that’s about it,” Olivia said, drawing his attention back to the discussion. “I’ll be up and around before you know it.” She hugged Adam. “Honey, Momma needs to get some rest. I bet Nancy has some fun things for you to do today. And then tonight we’ll go get pancakes for dinner. Chocolate-chip pancakes. Would you like that?”

  Adam’s bottom lip jutted out in a pout. “I don’t wanna go back to Nancy’s. I want to stay here and play with my Legos.”

  “I know, sweetheart, but I’ll see you in just a little while.”

  “No. I’m not going.”

  Adam twisted out of Olivia’s embrace and accidentally bumped her leg. She grimaced. That bump must have hurt, but right now Mitch was too irate to feel sorry about her pain.

  Olivia pressed her cheek to Adam’s hair. “Nancy will bring you home this afternoon.” She looked at the young woman leaning on the doorjamb. “About four? I’m pretty sure he has clean clothes in my office.” She poked a finger into Adam’s belly, making him laugh. “Make sure he takes a shower too.”

  “We can do that. Tell you what, big guy,” Nancy said to Adam, “let’s go down to Jim’s Gym. You can ride the bikes and lift weights like your momma does. Then you can help me sweep the whole place. What do you think about that?”

  Adam tilted his head to one side as though in deep contemplation of Nancy’s suggestion, then he nodded and said, “Okay. Can I have ice cream this afternoon for helping?”

  Mitch wanted to smile at Adam’s oblivious manipulation of the situation, but he didn’t. He was too busy doing the math in his head. Had Olivia known she was pregnant when he left Dallas? Had she known when he’d called to tell her about marrying Joanna? Known and chosen not to tell him?

  Conflicting thoughts battled for control of his mind…and his emotions. The overwhelming confusion was too much to allow him the ability to perform anything more complicated than subtract five from six. He noticed his knee was shaking and leaned forward on his elbows, digging them in to quell the movement.

  Olivia kissed Adam’s cheek. “I think, just for tonight, you can have ice cream after your pancakes.”

  Pleased he’d gotten what he wanted, Adam slid from the bed. “Okay.” Nancy took his hand. “Don’t forget about the pancakes.”

  Olivia smiled. “I won’t. Momma loves you.”

  “Okay,” Adam said. “I’m ready to go now,” he said to Nancy with a big grin.

  “I’ll talk to you later today,” Olivia said to Nancy. “Thank you again for taking care of him. It’s one less thing I have to worry about.”

  “Sure thing, Olivia. The big guy and me are going to have some fun today. Right, Adam?”

  “Right,” his little voice said and he began pulling Nancy from the room. “Can I sweep first?”

  Olivia smiled and waved as Adam and Nancy left.

  Mitch stood and stared in stunned silence at the woman he thought he’d known so well and loved so deeply.

  The same woman who’d hid his son from him. Lied to him. Deceived him. Made a fool of him.

  “Isn’t there something you’d like to tell me, Olivia?”

  Chapter Seven

  She laid her head on the pillow and shut her eyes, praying he’d leave. No way she could get that lucky.

  “Olivia. You’re not asleep. Goddammit, open your eyes.” Fury radiated from every word.

  She flinched and squeezed her eyes tight. “Go away, Mitch. I need to rest.”

  “Not in this lifetime, baby.”

  The mattress dipped and she rocked. His scent and warmth surrounded her. She peeked through slit eyelids. He was braced on his hands, leaning over her. A battalion of shivers racked her body.

  “Don’t try to tell me that wasn’t my child who just walked out of here. Adam is my son.”

  What could she say? How could she explain? He’d never understand. Heck, he’d probably not believe her anyway. Besides, it was his decision to marry that had changed their lives.

  When she didn’t respond, he slapped his hands on the mattress. A jolt of fear shot through her. What was she going to do?

  “Answer me,” Mitch demanded. “I dare you to tell me that Adam isn’t my son.”

  Olivia opened her eyes, but she couldn’t find the words to speak. She slipped her hands under her thighs so he couldn’t see them shaking.

  If only she hadn’t fallen. If onl
y she hadn’t accepted his ride home. If only she hadn’t fallen asleep. If only…if only…

  There was no way to change the past. There was only the reality of the present. She struggled again to find the words. She swallowed, but the knot in her throat remained firmly lodged.

  Mitch jerked away from her and stood, staring down. The muscles in his cheeks flexed as his jaw tightened. “Damn it. How could you not tell me? How could you keep me from my son?”

  She scooted up in bed and crossed her arms. “His name is Gentry, not Landry. Drake Gentry is the only father Adam knows, and don’t you forget it. Drake. Not you.”

  He gave a snort of incredulity. “Surely you’re not going to try to bluff your way out of this.”

  His expression kept changing from anger to disbelief, to disappointment, then back to anger for another cycle. She wasn’t sure which bothered her the most, his anger or his disappointment in her.

  Turning away from her, he paced around the room while he uttered savage cuss words under his breath. His fingers curled into fists, relaxed, then curled again. Abruptly, he picked up the water glass from last night and smashed it against the far wall. His fingers balled again into fists, then released.

  “Did breaking my water glass help?”

  He whirled to face her again. “I don’t give a rat’s ass who you were married to at the time or whose name you wrote on that birth certificate. That boy is my flesh and blood.” When she opened her mouth to reply, he said, “Don’t even bother to deny it. You’d just be wasting your breath. He’s my fucking clone.”

  Beneath her thighs, her fingernails dug into her flesh as she infused steel into her backbone and her voice. “You are not going to barge into our lives, throw your weight around and get what you want. It doesn’t work that way. Adam is a great kid with a man in his life who loves him.”

  “In his life?” Mitch scoffed. “He doesn’t even live in the same state with this ‘incredible man in his life’. God, Olivia. How could you have let some other man claim my child as his own?” He raked his fingers through his hair, tugging on the roots in frustration. “Could you not have found ten minutes to call me and let me know I was going to be a father?”

  Heat infused her cheeks, a touch of embarrassment mixed with a pound of resentment. “Let’s see, Mitch,” she said, venom dripping from every word. “I guess I could have told you when you called to explain that you were marrying your dead brother’s fiancée because she was pregnant and you wanted the baby born as a Landry. Telling you then seemed a little tacky. I thought one unplanned pregnancy was enough of a burden on you.” She leaned toward him, “But then I guess you could have gotten your younger brother to marry me. You know, keep it all in the family.”

  He slapped the back of the chair near her bed. She startled, pressing her back into the headboard.

  “Damn it, Olivia. That’s not funny.” He paced away from her. “You should have told me.”

  He didn’t turn around and she wondered if he was unwilling to look her in the eye, unwilling to acknowledge his culpability in their current situation.

  “When?” she yelled in frustration. “When would have been convenient? My God, Mitch, you were marrying someone else. You had already told me that you didn’t want to marry me. How do you think that made me feel? Did you ever stop to think about what you were doing to me? Did you ever even think of me at all?”

  He turned toward her. Sadness emanated from his eyes. “Of course I thought of you…every damn day.” He resumed pacing the room then kicked the dresser before slamming the bathroom door against the wall.

  “You have a mighty strange way of showing it. You never called. You never came to see me. Never made any effort at all to get in contact with me. I realize calling me while you were married would have been wrong, but you’ve been divorced for a while now.”

  He dropped into the chair furthermost from her bed. “I did call. You changed your phone number. Travis hung up on me when I called him.” He exhaled loudly. “I knew when I married Joanna that I’d screwed things up with us. At the time, I thought I’d done the best I could with a bad situation. I figured you hated me. I just didn’t know how much.”

  “I did hate you. Despised you with every cell in my body. For a long time, any time your name was mentioned, I got queasy. But that wasn’t healthy for my baby. I didn’t want him to grow in such hate. Then I married Drake, and you became my past. Hear what I’m saying…you are the past, Mitch. I want you to stay in my past. Neither Adam or I need you in our lives today.”

  He held his head in his hands. Strands of black hair hung over his fingers. His voice was eerily calm and quiet as he said, “I can’t believe no one told me about Adam. Especially your brothers, my faithful fraternity brothers. On second thought, why didn’t any of them come down to the Lazy L and beat the crap out of me?”

  “Travis had to almost chew his arm off to keep from calling you. Mom took Jason’s truck keys on the weekend of your wedding and hid the rest. Cash was in Montana in a PBR event. Trust me. You’re a dead man to my brothers.” Realizing that her fingers no longer shook, she pulled her hands from under her legs and adjusted the sheet. “I’m not surprised Travis hung up on you. He never told me about the call. You have to believe me about that.”

  “Your marriage. Does what’s-his-name think he’s the father?”

  She shook her head. “His name is Drake Gentry and no, he doesn’t. I was five months pregnant with Adam when we married. I told Drake everything. About you. About James. Joanna St. Claire. The pregnancy. Your marriage. Drake gave me the strength and stability I needed in my life. But never, ever doubt that he loves Adam. He does. And Adam loves him. I’d never do anything to come between them. And neither will you.”

  “So if Drake was such a great guy, why are you divorced?”

  She glared at him. “My marriage and my divorce are really none of your business. Same goes with my son.” She threw out the bluff and hoped he’d bite and leave. She didn’t hold out much hope.

  “You can’t possibly believe I’d walk away, do you? You’re smarter than that, Olivia.” He leaned toward her. “My child is my business. Tell me this though, is my name on the birth certificate?”

  She shook her head again. “No. I told you, Adam is a Gentry, not Landry.”

  He slammed his fist into his hand. “That’s so wrong, Olivia. I have a right to know my son and damn it to hell, he has a right to know who his real father is.”

  She pulled herself into an upright position and faked a confidence she didn’t feel. She was exhausted and in pain, but she would not let him see any vulnerability. “It doesn’t matter now. What’s done’s done. It’s too late.”

  “The hell it doesn’t matter. That’s my child. My flesh and blood. He carries Landry blood in his veins, not Gentry, and you know it.”

  “Look, Adam and I are doing great. We’ve done without you for five years. We’ll do without you for the rest of our lives. How many times can I say this? We don’t need you.”

  He snorted. “Says the woman lying in a bed supporting a sprained ankle and a knee brace with orders to stay off it for a couple of weeks. How the hell are you going to work and take care of Adam?”

  Incensed at his refusal to believe she’d built a life for herself and her son without him, her vision swam in frustration. Her mouth tightened. “You seem to forget, I have friends and family, Mitch. People who care about me. You met Nancy. She’s not exactly the babysitter. While it’s true she and her husband work for me, they’re more than employees. We’ve been in negotiations for them to become my partners in Jim’s Gym. Expand the personal-trainer services. Maybe move to a larger location and grow the services we offer. So my business is well covered. My mother will be here as soon as I call. My brothers would be here in a flash if Adam or I call. These are people who are here for me when I need them. People I can trust to stand by me.”

  “And you’re saying I’m not there for you? What about the last twenty-four hours? And h
ell, I didn’t even know about Adam. How could I have been there for you if I didn’t know about my son?”

  “My son. Adam is my son. You’re not a part of his life. He’s a little boy. Your walking into his life and announcing you’re his father will just confuse him. He has Drake, his uncles and my father as male role models. They’re good to him. Love him. Drake regularly sends him letters and pictures from his digs. Adam knows these men care about him. He doesn’t need you screwing up his life like you did mine.”

  He leaned close, almost nose to nose. She had to make herself not flinch or draw away. His scent filled her nose and threatened to cloud her mind. She fought to ignore the tingle between her thighs. Fought to ignore the attraction still gnawing in her gut.

  Damn him.

  “Then let me ask you this…what was all that crap you spouted about still loving me? How can you profess to love me and lie to me about my son at the same time?”

  “I do love you. You’re the father of my child and I’ll always love you for that. But I’m not in love with you. Not anymore. That died the night you broke it off with me. It was dead and buried the day you married Joanna.”

  He stood, his back ramrod straight. “Well, let me tell you something. You may have kept me from being his father for the first five years, but I’m damn well not walking away now. You might want to wrap your mind around the idea that I’m here to stay.”

  “Good Lord, Mitch. Think about Adam and not yourself for once.” Her tone was pleading, and she was. Please, please don’t screw up our lives. “He’s a happy child. He loves me. He loves Drake. He thinks of Drake as his father. We’ve built a good life here in Dallas. He doesn’t need you waltzing into his life messing with his mind. I don’t need you either. I learned a long time ago how to not need you.”

  Mitch raked his hands through his hair then kicked a lightweight trash can, spilling its contents. “I don’t care if you need me. My child needs a father…his father. Me. Not some pretend father.”