“I know. But it will seem strange if you stay there too long.”
He was right. They would need to keep up appearances. “Come with me.”
“Unfortunately, I have horses I need to keep maintained because bull riding isn’t my only rodeo event, it’s just the one I’m really good at. And then there’s my job here at the ranch, but we can get to that in a minute. For now, I think you should stay here. At least in the beginning.”
He had a point. “Okay, fine.” She took a deep breath. “I think we should also work out some of the other details.”
“You mean other than telling people we eloped and I knocked you up?”
He smiled, and it was the kindness in his eyes that made her think she could have done far worse when it came to picking a father to her baby.
Her stomach dropped again at the thought of their baby growing inside her.
Sooner or later she’d get used to the idea, but for now, she needed to focus. “Daytona is in a couple weeks and my family will need my help, especially now that I’m leaving them in the lurch. Hopefully, my mom will have broken the news to my dad that I’m pregnant and he’ll have started searching for a replacement driver.”
Her phone hadn’t blown up, so she kind of doubted her mom had spilled the beans yet.
Chicken. You should have told him.
But she just couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t be able to stomach the disappointment in his eyes. And that was something, at least, she and Shane shared—they both had fathers that were an integral part of their careers.
“How about I fly home for few days and then come back next weekend?”
He nodded. “I could fly to North Carolina with you the following week. That would give me time to find someone to take over my ranch duties.”
“You could meet my parents.”
He winced. “What fun.”
It was her turn to smile reassuringly. “They’re not that bad.” Probably less intimidating than his family.
As if she’d summoned them with her thoughts, someone knocked on Shane’s bedroom door.
“You guys decent?” It was his aunt Crystal. “Can I come in?”
Shane leapt up from the bed and opened the door.
“Well,” she said, placing her hand on her hips. “That news couldn’t have been shared in the worst possible way.”
“Aunt Cr—”
“No, no.” She lifted a hand. “Your dad stormed off in a snit, Lord knows why. It’s not like he has a leg to stand on.” Crystal turned to her nephew while Kait mulled over what the other woman could mean by that comment. “Or didn’t you know you almost had an older brother?”
No, he hadn’t known. Kait could see it in his eyes.
“It’s why your dad and mom got married.” She emphasized the words with a nod of her head. “But that’s neither here nor there.” She included both of them in her gaze. “The rest of the family is dying to hear the details. And I think I have a solution to at least one of your problems, or did you already rent a place in town?”
Shane shook his head.
“That’s what I thought. There’s the old ranch house by the south entrance. You’ll live there.”
“Aunt Crystal,” Shane said, “that belongs to you and Uncle Bob.”
“I know, I know. But it’s not being used. We’d always planned to refurbish the place and give it to one of the boys, but they’ve all settled into their own places. It might be a little run-down but it’ll do for you, at least until you figure something else out. And I’m sure we can come up with enough furniture to get you settled. We’ll have it set up in a snap. I mean, you can’t exactly let her live with you and your brothers and cousins in the bunkhouse.”
Is that where he lived? With his family? Yet another thing she hadn’t known.
“So now that’s settled. Help your bride on up, Shane. We’re holding an impromptu wedding reception out on the back porch and you two are the star attraction.”
* * *
SHANE WOULD BE grateful to his aunt Crystal for the rest of his life. She ushered them out to the back porch with a wide smile on her face.“Here they are. The happy couple.”
And it didn’t matter that his dad was nowhere to be found. Nobody mentioned Kait’s pregnancy. Everybody gave her a hug and wished them both well. Someone even went to the local store and came back with a cake. Without his dad around, the tension on the patio had completely disappeared.
Afterward, everyone headed over to the home he’d be sharing with Kait. His aunt and sister swept and mopped the place. His brothers scoured the ranch for extra furniture. By the time the sun went down, they were settled into their new home, and Shane had to admit it was a huge relief to know he had a place for them both.
“Your family is nice,” Kait said.
Everyone except his dad. He tried not to think about his dad and how he had disappeared. He was probably down at the barn working with one of his cutting horses. That was what he did when his temper flared. He’d done it all the time when his mom had been alive. Their arguments had always ended with a door slamming and his dad disappearing for hours. His mom had often said at least he didn’t go to a bar to cool off. His mom had always been gracious and understanding.
“What?” she asked. “What did I say?”
Only then did he realize his face reflected the sadness of his thoughts. “Just thinking about my mom.”
They had settled at the kitchen table someone had found somewhere and that had clearly seen better days with its scarred surface and spindly wooden legs. He wondered what Kait thought about the tiny house his aunt and uncle had provided for them. Probably not what she was used to given her high-dollar career and famous family back in North Carolina. Their lives had been completely flipped on their ends. But Kait hadn’t complained. She’d taken everything in her stride, and if he were honest, he admired the hell out of her for it.
“Tell me about her.”
Thinking about his mom hurt. Not a day went by that he didn’t picture her face or hear her voice in his head. She’d truly been the yin to his dad’s yang. If she’d still been alive, his dad would never have gotten away with storming off. Never.
“She was an angel.”
There was no better way to describe her. She’d put up with so much from his dad. As a kid, he’d lived in fear that she would walk out on them, but she’d stuck it out. Now that he knew the reason for her marriage to his dad, it all made a little more sense. Still, there was a part of him that wondered if the stress of being married to Reese Gillian hadn’t contributed to her early death. Stress could lead to all kinds of health problems.
“When did she die?”
“Seven years ago.”
He’d been in the midst of qualifying for his first NFR. Hip deep in a rodeo season that’d been brutal between bad weather and wounded horses. He’d almost had it done—been right on the cusp of the qualifying bubble—when his sister had called, bawling, admitting that their mom had gone in for emergency surgery...and never woken up.
He shot up from his chair. His brothers had stocked their refrigerator with a six-pack of beer. He went and grabbed one and almost offered one to Kait before remembering she was pregnant. He popped the lid and took a swig before turning to her.
“You want anything?”
She shook her head, and she looked beautiful sitting there with the light of a lamp illuminating one side of her face, the red top she wore setting the curve of her bare shoulders aglow. The shirt clung to her curves and showed off her figure. Nobody would even know she was pregnant. Her jeans still hugged her hips and flattened her tummy, and he couldn’t help but think he was a very lucky man. She might be famous, but she didn’t act it, not at all.
“Look,” he said, taking a seat, “I’ll sleep on the couch tonight. You can take the bed. In the morning, we’ll sort out our travel arran
gements to North Carolina.”
She nodded and he had to admit to disappointment. He knew this wasn’t a real marriage and yet there was a part of him that...
What?
Hoped they could make it work? Why? He’d always sworn off women. Yet here he was wondering if there was any way a woman like Kait could fall for an average-Joe cowboy like him.
“Thanks.” She peered up at him with her big blue eyes. “I think I’ll turn in now.”
He didn’t say anything, just nodded, then took another swig of his beer. For the first time in his life, he was tempted to drink his troubles away.
“Good night.”
She stood, turned away, and his mouth opened, his vocal cords tightening as he fought the urge to call her name.
He didn’t.
Instead, he watched her walk away.
Chapter Eight
Kait awoke from a sleep so deep that at first she didn’t know where she was when she opened her eyes. Then it came back to her.
Las Vegas. Gillian Ranch. Shane.
Her phone trilled. She sat up in bed, but when she caught sight of the boldfaced text that spelled out who was calling, she sucked in a deep breath.
Dad.
She didn’t want to answer but she’d never been a coward. Clutching the covers up around her, she reluctantly pressed the accept-call button.
“Hi, Daddy.”
The use of the pet name was instinctive, something she’d done since she was a little girl when she knew she was in trouble and sought to sweet-talk him. It didn’t work.
“Have you seen the front page of ProRacing.com?”
It felt like someone had slapped her with a defibrillator, because she knew where this was headed.
“You need to look,” said her dad in as stern a voice as she’d ever heard, and it was amazing because she was a grown woman, and yet he could make her feel five years old all over again.
“I don’t have internet,” she admitted.
“Then let me read it to you.”
No. Please. Don’t. She didn’t want to know.
“‘Stockcar’s Supergirl Knocked Up.’”
Oh, dear goodness. It was worse than she’d thought. She’d been thinking someone had leaked her getting married, not this.
“My phone’s been ringing off the hook.”
Who? Who would leak this? Someone in her doctor’s office back in North Carolina? That had to be it.
“I’m so sorry, Dad.”
“And then I hear from your mom that she knew about it all along.”
She clutched the phone. “She only found out yesterday.”
“That’s one day ahead of me, and I had to find out from a sportszine.”
And he was angry. She didn’t blame him.
“Do you have any idea how many résumés I’ve received so far today?”
She was sure at least fifty. Word spread fast when there was an opening with a top team, and Cooper Racing was about as good as it could get.
“I’m sending the jet for you.”
“Wait, what? No, Dad. You don’t have to do that. I was planning on coming home this week, anyway.”
“You told Amanda you’d be home yesterday.”
She twisted so she sat on the edge of the bed, tried to calm her rattled nerves because she had sort of fudged the truth with her publicity agent. “That was the plan, but things sort of...got out of hand.”
“You got married.”
She winced. “I did.”
And then her father’s voice changed. He pitched it lower, his words barely audible. “I never would have thought you would want to walk down the aisle without me.”
Kait closed her eyes, a hot flush of shame turning her cheeks red. “I’m so sorry, Daddy.”
She heard him take a deep breath. “Chuck said he can be there by noon your time. He said there’s an airport by the coast with a jet center. Be there by noon.”
“You don’t have to have Chuck fly all the way out here.”
“It wasn’t a suggestion. I want you home.”
She winced again. “Okay.”
“And bring your new husband.”
He hung up before she could explain that it wasn’t like that. Shane couldn’t just take off. But it was clear her father didn’t want to hear it.
“Was that your dad?”
She looked up and there he was. Shane, standing in her doorway without his shirt on, a hint of hair on his chest, the strands thicker by the waistband of his jeans.
Don’t go there.
“Yes.” She stood up, felt woozy for a moment, but it was just stress.
“You okay?”
He’d crossed the room without her noticing, his blue eyes full of concern. Without his cowboy hat and with stubble staining his chin and his dusky sideburns, he looked like something from a website specializing in hot men. She had to look away because she suddenly felt self-conscious in her T-shirt and underwear. Ridiculous, stupid thing to think given their current circumstances.
“Fine. Just disappointed in myself.”
He reached for her hand, and, as always happened when he touched her, electricity danced up her arms. The chemistry between them couldn’t be denied, but she needed to keep it under wraps because the last thing she needed was to develop feelings for him. They would be living apart one day soon. She frowned as she recalled her conversation with her father. Maybe sooner than they thought.
“Don’t be disappointed in yourself,” he said. “We’ve both made mistakes. We’ll deal with it together.”
She finally had herself under control, enough that she could look him in the eye without him seeing something she didn’t want him to see. Humiliation. That was what she sought to keep from him.
“He’s sending a jet.”
Shane’s brows lifted. “Your family owns a jet?”
“Of course. All the big teams have them.”
He clearly hadn’t known that, and she wondered what else he didn’t know about stock-car racing. He’d never admitted to recognizing her the first night they’d met, although, to be honest, she hadn’t asked, hadn’t cared. But now she wondered if he had known who she was.
“He wants you to come home with me.”
He straightened. “I told you, I have a job here to do. And a rodeo to practice for. And things to pack and unpack from the last trip on the road.”
“It’d just be for a day or two. Maybe your brother could help out.”
She could tell by the way he frowned that he didn’t want to ask anyone for help. Pride. He had it in scores. That was the kind of man he was. She admired that about him.
“Please?”
He took a deep breath, his eyes softening, and she knew she’d won. It was such a relief that she took a deep breath, too. “Thank you.”
“Just promise me your dad won’t meet us at the airport with a shotgun.”
She crossed her heart. “I promise.”
* * *
SHANE HAD HEARD about private jets. Hell, some of his rough-stock rider pals liked to charter them from time to time in order to hit more rodeos, but as a “timey,” too, he didn’t have the luxury of hopping on a plane, not unless charter jets could carry his horse. So to say he felt as uncomfortable as a baby chick in a room full of cats was an understatement. It didn’t help that they’d been greeted at the base of the twin engine’s stairs by a man who’d greeted Kait by name. “Chuck” had smiled and offered his congratulations. Clearly, there was some history there.
“At least I didn’t have to fly back home commercial,” she said as she settled on a plush leather seat. He took the one opposite and the thing damn near swallowed him whole.
“I could definitely get used to this,” he said with a smile.
She nodded, pulling out her phone and
tapping at some keys. She’d done that the whole way to the airport, too, and he tried not to be offended. He knew she had a busy life. Heck, her star was certainly higher than his own, but he couldn’t help but think something had changed since her conversation with her dad. She seemed more closed off. Less...warm.
When the jet pushed away from the tarmac, he expected her to look up, but she didn’t. He cocked his black cowboy hat back so he could stare out the window better, watching as they approached the runway. They were on some sort of preferential take-off list because, in a matter of seconds, the engines had powered up and they were sailing down a strip of asphalt that gleamed like the surface of a river in the afternoon sunshine. It was one of the perfectly clear days on the coast. The ground raced by faster and faster, and then his belly seemed to dip toward his feet as they took off.
It was his favorite part of flying, Shane’s nose pressed to the window and as they gained altitude, he spotted the ocean to his left. They banked, heading out over the Pacific. It shimmered beneath them like a bottle of glitter that had spilled on a dark blue carpet. He turned to tell Kait. She’d leaned her head back on her seat, and as he stared at her he noticed the sun painted the one side of her face like a Rembrandt. Her blond hair was loose around her shoulders and she looked timelessly beautiful in that moment. He watched as the lines on her forehead relaxed. Saw the way her shoulders slipped down. Spotted her hand sliding off the arm of the chair and into her lap.
Asleep.
Just like that. He glanced out the window again. She is probably used to this, he thought. Probably thought nothing of taking off on a small jet and of the view down below because she’d seen it a hundred times.
There were no flight attendants, but Kait had explained he could help himself to the refrigerator in the back. He’d met the pilot and copilot before they’d taken off, but the two men seemed content to stay in the cockpit. He turned back to the window, alone with his thoughts. So many emotions coursed through him as he thought about meeting her parents. Anticipation. Curiosity. Dread.
He awoke with a start what must have been hours later, surprised to realize he’d dozed off. It had to have been the sound of the engines, because they’d changed, and he realized they were dropping altitude. Not only that, but the sun had started to set. A quick glance at his cell phone revealed the time had automatically changed.
Rodeo Legends--Shane Page 6