by Pat Warren
Rachel’s heart was pounding so hard she was surprised it wasn’t leaping out of her chest. Could she be hearing correctly? These kinds of things only happened in the movies or books. “Love,” she said slowly, drawing out the word. “I don’t believe you ever mentioned that word in connection with me.”
“I didn’t, but I’m mentioning it now. I love you, Rachel. I want to marry you, to spend the rest of my life with you. I’ve grown to love Alyssa, too. I want to take care of both of you.”
“Don’t!” she said on a near sob. “Please don’t lead me on or lie to me, not about this. I—I’ve never loved like this before. I can’t handle it if you’re just saying what you think I want to hear.”
More sure of himself after hearing her, he took her hands. “I’m saying exactly what I believe. You once told me that what the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Love may have started in my mind, but it’s moved into my heart now, and it’s here to stay.” He pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her sweet-smelling hair. “I can’t bear the thought of you going back to Chicago with Richard.”
Richard? Where had that come from? Never mind, she’d ask him later, Rachel decided. But one thing couldn’t wait.
She pulled back from him and gazed into his eyes. “There’s something I have to tell you, Jack.”
“Anything, as long as you say you love me back.”
How was she going to find the words? She’d often fantasized that he’d come back to her and she’d find a way to tell him about her pregnancy, but she’d never really let herself indulge in the mind game. It hurt too much. “I—” She stopped, then blurted it out. “I’m pregnant.”
She averted her gaze, not daring to look at him, not wanting to see his reaction if it wasn’t the one she’d hoped for. But she knew she had to face it. She looked at him and saw the smile start at his lips and eventually rise to his eyes. “I’m going to be a father…” he said, as if feeling out the words.
“How do you feel about that?” she asked. She’d seen him with Alyssa that night in the rocker, and she knew how good he was with her, how he’d held her, crooned to her. She also knew how protective he felt toward Gina’s expected baby. She hoped…
“I feel…good,” he said. He cupped her face in his palms and lowered his mouth to hers in a gentle kiss of so much promise that Rachel felt tears well in her eyes.
“Say you’ll take me back, Rachel,” he whispered when he finally broke the kiss. “There’s no place I want to be but here with you.” He dropped a feather-light kiss onto her lips. “And Alyssa.” He kissed her cheek. “And our baby. I want to make a home with you. A family.”
There was so much they had yet to discuss, such as her decision to stay in Whitehorn, some problems to work on, some compromises to make. But for now she only knew that she was exactly where she wanted to be, back in Jack’s arms.
She smiled at him through the tears that trickled down her cheeks. “Welcome home, Jack.”
Special thanks and acknowledgment to Pat Warren for her contribution to the Montana Mavericks series.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6514-5
THE BABY QUEST
Copyright © 2000 Harlequin Books S.A.
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