The Child Between Them (Men Of Mulhany Crossing Book 2)

by Helen Lacey

  “You expecting someone?” he asked as he got to his feet.

  She stood and shook her head. “At this time of the morning? No,” she said and looked down. “I’m not exactly dressed for greeting someone.”

  Marshall pushed the chair in. “I’ll go, but you should get changed.”

  She quickly disappeared and Marshall headed for the front door, calling on his dog to stop barking. He pulled the door back and discovered a tall, well-dressed, sixty-something man standing on the other side. Recognition flickered and he tried to figure where he knew the man from. There was a car parked out front and Marshall spotted two other occupants in the vehicle.

  “Can I help you?” he asked, his suspicion rising.

  The man’s mouth thinned. “I’m looking for my daughter.”

  “Is she lost?” he asked quickly and then realization dawned. The man looked familiar because there was a picture of him on the mantle in the living room. “You must be Holly’s…”

  “Father,” the other man supplied, still not smiling. “Is my daughter home?”

  Marshall called Reggie to heel and nodded, opening the screen. “Come inside.”

  “Dad!”

  Holly was rushing down the hallway, tugging at the hem of a T-shirt she had clearly put on hastily over her jeans. She greeted her father with a brief hug and then the older man waved to the two other occupants in the car and within seconds two younger men were striding up the pathway.

  Her brothers.

  Excellent.

  “What are you all doing here?” she asked, clearly distressed.

  “We came to see you,” her father replied once the two younger men were behind him. “We stayed at a motel last night and wanted to see you before you start work.” He gave Marshall a scathingly disapproving look. “We expected you to be alone.”

  In fairness, Marshall figured that if the tables were turned and he arrived on his own daughter’s doorstep at eight in the morning and was confronted by a man he knew nothing about, he figured he’d have the same angry reaction as the man in front of him.

  A few minutes later, once Marshall had introduced himself, the five of them were in Holly’s living room. There was enough tension in the room to slice through it with a carving knife.

  “So, you’re Holly’s…what?” the youngest brother, Ben, asked.

  “Friend.”

  “Fiancé.”

  He and Holly spoke at the same time. And the fact she was prepared to introduce him as a mere friend, got his blood boiling. The three men all looked shocked and didn’t bother hiding the fact.

  “Her—what?” Alistair, the older brother, asked incredulously and then shot a scowling glance at his younger sister. “You’re engaged? When the hell were you planning on telling us this?”

  She shrugged and Marshall instinctively moved to half-shield her from their obvious censure. He went to grab her hand, but she put them behind her back.

  “It’s a recent development,” she said and shrugged.

  Colin Berrigan’s face turned beet red. “I guess he’s the reason you’re staying in this ass-end-of-earth town and not coming home where you belong?”

  Marshall pulled back his temper. Father or not, he wasn’t going to allow Holly to be bullied by anyone. He cared about Holly. And she was the mother of his child. He would do whatever he had to do to protect her.

  “Mr. Berrigan,” he said quietly, his voice controlled and polite, “I understand you’re concerned about Holly’s welfare, but be assured that she is a very capable woman and has made her home in Mulhany Crossing because that’s what she wants to do.”

  The older man wasn’t impressed. “I think I know my daughter better than you.”

  “Of course,” he replied. “But Holly and I have become close over the past six months and plan on making a life together.”

  “He’s right, Dad,” she said, her shoulders back. “We’re getting married in a month,” she announced and he ignored the sudden twinge in his gut. “And we’re having a baby.”

  It wasn’t exactly pandemonium that broke out—but close enough to it that Marshall endured about thirty seconds on both Ben and Alistair Berrigan’s ranting before he told them to shut the hell up. By then, Holly was sitting on the sofa, her eyes glistening, and Colin Berrigan was shaking his head as though he was the most disappointed he’d been in his life. And Marshall realized she had probably been over-protected and simultaneously ranted at for most of her life. They loved her, clearly—but they also believed they had some right to tell her what to do. She was the youngest child, the only daughter and had been raised in a house full of arrogant males who thought they knew it all. Well, be damned if he would stand idly by and witness her being spoken to as though she was some foolish girl who didn’t know her own mind.

  “Enough!”

  Everyone stopped speaking. And Holly stared up at him, wide-eyed. The silence in the room was suddenly deafening.

  “You’re surprised about this,” Marshall said evenly, ignoring the growing resentment from the other men in the room. “Understandably so. But Holly and I are engaged and as she said, will be getting married in a month. Instead of wasting time arguing about it, can I suggest that we all go out to dinner tonight, and discuss the wedding and your invitation and Holly’s plans to stay in Mulhany Crossing for the foreseeable future, in a civilized way.”

  All three men grumbled under their breaths and Holly got to her feet and said she was making coffee because everyone looked as though they needed it. She also dragged Marshall to the kitchen with her.

  “I don’t think a family dinner is a good idea,” she said once they were out of earshot. “My father—”

  “Needs to get used to the idea that you are a grown woman and are entitled to live your own life,” he said, cutting through her protest. “We need to do this, Holly. For the baby’s sake. For our sake. Those men in there are a part of your family and they clearly care about you. I’m sure that if my folks were alive, they’d be as protective of Leisa. Even for me, it was hard to see her go to London and pave her own life. I knew I had to do it, and your father will see that too, you just need to talk to him rationally and make him see that you’re happy.”

  He stared at her and quickly realized she didn’t look happy at all. And that’s what the people who loved her most could clearly see.

  “You should go,” she said as she turned to make coffee.

  “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

  She offered him a tight smile. “I won’t be alone. They’re my family. They love me. All they will do is spend the next hour or so telling me how to live my life. I’ve handled it for twenty-six years, I can cope with it for an hour.”

  “You need to invite them to the wedding,” he insisted, discomforted by her dismissal.

  She shrugged. “They can come if they want to. Anyhow, I’ll see you later.”

  Marshall frowned. “Holly, I don’t think I should leave like—”

  “Please,” she pleaded. “Just go. I’ll deal with them in my own way. But thank you, for standing up to them. It was...sweet.”

  Sweet? Marshall grabbed her hand. “I’ll always protect you, Holly. And about what you said earlier. I know you think you—”

  “Please,” she said again and shoved him gently. “Just go. I’m embarrassed enough by my overbearing family, don’t remind me about what I said in this room half an hour ago. I’ll see you later.”

  He left, begrudgingly, after offering a polite farewell to her father and brothers. Everyone looked relieved that he was leaving, and the idea didn’t sit right with him.

  As he drove off, her front door already closed, Marshall experienced an uneasiness in his stomach. Despite spending the night with Holly. Despite making love with her. Despite meeting her family. Despite her revelation that she was in love with him. He felt the divide between them had just widened considerably. And he wondered, letting out a long and weary sigh, if it was simply too wide a hurdle to cross.


  *****

  The first thing Holly did after Marshall left was send Sam a message to say she would be late for work and then texted Faith and asked her to start her clinic shift earlier. Then she headed back to the living room.

  “You’re really going to marry this cowboy?” Alistair, looking immaculate in his pressed chinos and white shirt, asked incredulously.

  Holly nodded. “Yes.”

  “He’s a lot older than you,” Ben said, scowling. “Right?”

  She didn’t deny it. “Eleven years, but I don’t see how that—”

  “Has he been married before?” her father asked.

  Holly gave them a brief history about his life, his career and his marriage to Lynette and her tragic passing.

  “So, he’s the Marshall Harris?” Ben asked, his eyes wide. “M.K. Harris…The saddle maker?”

  She nodded. “That’s him.”

  Ben let out a long whistle. “Nice work, kid. Let’s have a look at the ring.”

  She waved her hand and shrugged self-consciously. “I didn’t want anything flashy. I’m very low maintenance these days.”

  Both her brothers laughed but it was Alistair who spoke next. “Who are you kidding? Even that bridle you made that nag of yours wear had sparkles in the head band.”

  “Does he love you?”

  Her father asked the awkward question. Marshall had given a lecture about behavior and marriage, and not once had he said he cared about her. No wonder her father looked so skeptical. And after her foolish declaration of love, where she had poured out her heart and got sympathy in return, the last thing she wanted to do was spend time with her fiancé. Pity, she’d quickly discovered, was about as low as it got between two people who were about to be married.

  “He proposed, Dad. Isn’t that enough?”

  “He knocked you up,” Ben said crudely. “Isn’t that why he’s marrying you?”

  Holly ignored his sarcasm. “Are you coming to the wedding?”

  Her father frowned. “Are we invited?”

  “Of course,” she replied. “I want you there. All of you. You’re my family and you mean the world to me.”

  “Could have fooled me,” her father said and shook his head. “Are you sure you’re doing the right thing? Marrying for the sake of a baby…seems like disaster waiting to happen. You could come home and raise the child around your real family. We’d all help you. Don’t make the mistake I did, Holly, and tie yourself to someone who doesn’t love you.”

  “Mistake…” she echoed her father’s word and shook her head. “I don’t understand?”

  “Your mother never loved me, Holly. We got married because she was pregnant and look how that ended.”

  “You said she left because she didn’t want to be a mother.”

  Her father’s cheeks slashed with color. “She didn’t want any of us. You or me. But the truth is, we should never have got married in the first place. Come home,” he pleaded. “Come home and we’ll look after you and the baby.”

  Holly took a shuddering breath and spoke. “I don’t need to be looked after, Dad. I just need your support. I’d really like you to come to the wedding,” she lied, thinking the last thing she wanted was for her family to witness her marrying a man who didn’t love her. Because as he father just pointed out—it was a disaster waiting to happen.

  She made a few vague comments about the wedding and then told them she had to go to work. They weren’t easily convinced, and it took about five minutes of cajoling to get them to leave. She said she’d call later with a time and destination for dinner and told them to look around the town for the day.

  By the time she got to the clinic it was well past nine-thirty and Sam greeted her with a curious expression.

  “I’m really sorry,” she said as she dropped her bag into her locker. “Family emergency.”

  He frowned. “Everything alright?”

  “My father and two brothers arrived on my doorstep early this morning,” she explained and made a face. “And since my fiancé—who none of them knew about—answered the door, you could say it turned into an interesting discussion.”

  Sam raised both brows. “Ouch.”

  She slumped into a chair. “When did life get so complicated?”

  Her boss shook his head. “I think it starts getting complicated the moment we let someone into our heart.”

  “Just so they can break it, you mean?”

  He nodded. “Yep…something like that.”

  She sighed. “You’re a nice man, Sam.”

  “Too nice for my own good, you mean,” he said and began sorting through a box of medical supplies. “Yeah, I’m starting to figure that out.”

  “Love hurts,” she said humorlessly. “We’re just the fools who get in the way of it. Anyway, enough of this pity-party, I’ve got work to do.”

  She spent the remainder of the morning restocking the surgical room with supplies and booking appointments and it was around one when Marshall texted her and suggested they all meet up for dinner at Lola’s. Holly had been to the bistro at tavern several times and knew the food and service was good. As she responded with a yes and said she’d meet him there at seven, and quickly called her father and brothers with the details, only one thing kept chanting through her mind...

  Don’t make the mistake I did, Holly, and tie yourself to someone who doesn’t love you.

  Her father’s words had been ringing in her ears all day.

  She discovered that Marshall had asked Sam to join them, who in turn had asked Levi, and then she found out that Nate and Joley were in town for an appointment and before she knew it they had been invited along too. So, what was meant to be a quiet family get-together, suddenly became like an impromptu engagement celebration.

  She was home, showered, dressed and ready to leave by six-thirty when there was a tap on her front door. It was Marshall, of course, collecting her for what was supposed have been a quiet date with only the two of them but had somehow turned into a circus with almost everyone she knew in attendance.

  “I said I’d meet you there,” she reminded him, ignoring how gorgeous he looked in dark jeans, white pressed shirt, belt, polished boots and bolo tie.

  He shrugged in that maddening way she was so used to. “Not appropriate, Holly. It’s my job to be beside you at this kind of thing.”

  She grabbed her small bag and shoulder wrap and smoothed down her dress. “Okay.”

  He looked her up and down as she closed the front door. “You look lovely.”

  “Thanks,” she said stiffly.

  He went to take her arm but she pulled away. “Have I done something to upset you?”

  “Not a thing,” she flipped back and headed down the steps. She was in his truck and belted up and hardly said a word on the trip into town.

  Because she was mad.

  Seething.

  And hurt.

  Because he was obviously oblivious to her feelings. He didn’t even have the decency to act sorry for not loving her. He really was the biggest and most unfeeling jerk of all time!

  Her father was right. Marrying Marshall would be the biggest mistake of her life.

  When they pulled up into the carpark at Lola’s, Marshall switched off the engine and grasped her hand before she could get out of the truck. “What’s wrong, Holly?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “Only to myself,” she said through gritted teeth. “Can we please go inside?”

  He reached up and touched her face and she flinched. “I know your moods well enough to figure out when you’re angry. So, spill?”

  “Okay,” she said and pulled back far enough that his hand dropped. “I’ve decided that I don’t want to marry you.”

  He didn’t even have the effrontery to look surprised. Only impatient and slightly bored. “What’s this nonsense, Holly? Where’s it coming from?”

  From my heart, you insensitive horses ass!

  She suck
ed in a sharp breath. “You don’t really want to marry me. You’re only doing it because of the baby.”

  He didn’t deny it. “People get married for all kinds of reasons, some of which are much less important than that.”

  “I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself, Marshall,” she said sarcastically, hurting all over. “And I’ve decided that you’re too old for me, anyhow.”

  He raised one dark brow. “It’s a little late to drag out that card, Holly, not now my ring is on your finger.”

  Her temperature rose. “And that’s another thing…if you knew me at all, you’d know that I only chose this bland and boring thing because I felt like I’d trapped you into this and was too principled to choose some big flashy diamond that screamed, yes, I’m marrying this man and he’s off the market! But you’re not off the market, because you were never on the market. You might have taken off your wedding ring, but in your heart, you’re still married to Lynette. And I’m just the stupid fool, romantic fool who happened to fall for you, imagining that maybe one day you’d have the courage to take a risk and let someone into your heart again.”

  He sighed, clearly exasperated. “I’ve never deliberately deceived you about who or what I am, Holly. I don’t understand why we’re having this conversation. I’m prepared to marry you, I’m willing to do the right thing…why are you trying to make things difficult or complicated?”

  Holly couldn’t believe his arrogance. Of course, she’d always known that underneath his brooding indifference and mysterious, wounded cowboy exterior, he was pure alpha male—but she was stunned by his egotistical and condescending tone—as though he was some great prize and she should be grateful for his utter compliance to become her husband.

  “And frankly,” he went on to say, “you could have picked any damned ring you wanted. If you want to go back to the jewelry store tomorrow, we’ll go.”

  She felt immature and mean and couldn’t believe she’d thrown their age difference in his face, when in truth, she couldn’t have cared less how many years separated them. And the whole discussion about the ring made her feel small and greedy. Because she knew he would have bought any ring she’d chosen without batting an eyelid.