James Bravo's Shotgun Bride

by Christine Rimmer

  And still he refused to believe her.

  She was having Brandon Hall’s baby. That ought to serve as something of a turnoff.

  Nope. He was still hot for her. He hadn’t been this attracted to a woman since Vicki.

  And look how that turned out.

  He said, “I thought I told you that by the end of it, my ex-wife didn’t have much appreciation for my many sterling qualities.”

  Addie tipped her head back and gave him a tired smile. “You did tell me that. And I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

  “I’m pretty much over it. It was a long time ago.” Reluctantly, he reminded her, “And I should get on the road.”

  She ducked free of his hold and sat forward, leaving his arms feeling empty without her. “You sure it’s not too much, stopping by the ranch house?”

  He pulled out his phone and brought up the memo app. “Just tell me what you want and where to find it.”

  * * *

  After James left, Addie took a shower and brushed her teeth. In her bra and panties, she set the bedside clock to give her two hours of sleep and climbed between the soft white sheets. Not that she expected any sleeping to happen. She just knew she would end up lying there wide-awake, worrying about Levi.

  The alarm went off what seemed like five minutes later. She whacked the off button to stop the noise and realized she’d conked right out and slept straight through.

  Dragging herself to her feet, she trudged to the bathroom and splashed water on her face. Then she combed her hair, pulled on her clothes and returned to the hospital.

  Carmen said that they’d just been in to see him. “They took out the breathing tube, so he’s breathing on his own.”

  “He asked about James again,” Devin reported in a wary tone.

  “He said he wanted to talk to James,” Carmen added gingerly.

  “Talk to James about what?” Addie demanded and tried not to sound hostile. It wasn’t Carm’s fault that their grandfather had a screw loose when it came to James.

  Carmen winced. “About the, um, wedding.”

  Chapter Four

  A low noise rose from Addie’s throat. She realized as she made it that it sounded a whole lot like a growl. “What wedding? There’s no wedding.”

  Carm put on her innocent face. “Ahem, well, apparently, PawPaw thinks that you and James are getting married.”

  Addie drew three slow breaths through her nose and then said with quiet reasonableness, “PawPaw has it all wrong.”

  “Well, we know that,” said Carmen. “We’re only telling you what he said—and where is James, by the way?”

  “He went home to pick up a few things.”

  “But he’s coming back?”

  “Carm. You are altogether too concerned about what James Bravo is doing.”

  “Well, I like him. He’s a great guy and at a time like this, it’s good to have someone like him around. Is that so wrong?”

  Dev jumped right to Carm’s defense, wrapping an arm around her, pressing a husbandly kiss at her temple. “I like him, too. The man is solid.”

  Addie looked from Dev to Carm and back to Dev again. “You both get that none of this is his problem, right? You get that he’s only helping out from the goodness of his heart. And why he could find any goodness there for PawPaw, I haven’t a clue. Not after what PawPaw did to him. James owes us nothing. Get that? Not. A. Thing.”

  Carmen sniffed. “Sheesh, Addie Anne. Defensive much?”

  “I just need to make that stubborn old man see the light, that’s all.”

  “Not right this minute, you don’t,” Carmen argued. “Right this minute, he doesn’t need anything upsetting him. He needs to rest and get better.”

  Addie got that. She did. She just hated the idea of allowing their grandfather to continue in his delusion that James was the father of her baby. Worse, he was completely locked in to the idea that James’s imagined paternity automatically meant she and James needed to be married.

  It was so stupid. Earth to PawPaw. The 1950s called and they would like their rigid moral standards back.

  And how was her standing here arguing about it with her sister and brother-in-law going to help PawPaw see the light?

  It wasn’t.

  She gave them the key to the suite, explained that the unused bedroom was theirs and told them to go get some rest.

  Once they were gone, she used the phone on the wall by the double doors to check with the nurses’ station. They said Levi was resting and, yes, she could come in and sit by his bed.

  She spent an hour in there, just watching him sleep. He looked so sick and frail. It broke her heart to see him that way.

  But then he opened his eyes and the first word out of his mouth was a raspy “James?”

  She bent closer to him. “Shh, now,” she whispered, way too aware of the other patients trying to sleep nearby, of the other patients’ relatives, sitting quietly in the dark. “Rest, PawPaw. Get your strength back.”

  “Where is he?”

  “It doesn’t matter. He’s got nothing to do with you.”

  “I want to talk to him.”

  “Shh. You’ll wake the other patients.”

  He grabbed her hand, his grip surprisingly strong, given that he’d just been through open-heart surgery. “You get him in here.” The machines hooked up to him started making insistent beeping noises as the fluorescent green rows of wavy patterns leaped and dipped across the heart monitor screen over the bed.

  “He’s not here.” She jerked her hand free of his grip. “PawPaw, settle down.”

  Two nurses hustled over. One bent over Levi as the other spoke softly to Addie, “He’s going to be fine. Come on with me.”

  Out in the waiting room, the nurse reassured her that they would give her grandfather something to relax him. She wanted to know what had agitated him.

  Addie gave a hopeless shrug. “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Whatever you can tell us will help us to help him.”

  She gave in and told the nurse that she was pregnant and her grandfather refused to accept who the father was but had fixated on someone else and was determined to make her the wrong guy’s shotgun bride. “In the, um, figurative sense, of course,” she hastened to add and felt her silly cheeks flaming at the lie.

  “Of course,” the nurse repeated. Because it was the twenty-first century and everybody knew that there were no real shotgun brides anymore.

  “My grandfather wants to talk to the guy he thinks is the father. He’s just sure he can get the poor man to give in and marry me—even though I’ve told him repeatedly that he’s got it all wrong. And that’s not even taking into account the fact that I have no intention of marrying anyone.”

  The nurse listened patiently and then suggested, “Maybe the best thing is to leave him to us for the night. We’ll keep him calm and make sure he gets the rest he needs.”

  What could she do but agree? “Okay. But I’ll be right here in the waiting room—either me or my sister.”

  The nurse reassured her that she would be notified immediately if there was any change in Levi’s condition. And then she said that she was sure everything would work out and Levi would soon come to accept that he needed to stop upsetting himself and focus on his recovery.

  Addie fervently hoped that the nurse had it right.

  The nurse returned to ICU and Addie went over and dropped into a chair. Her phone, which she’d set on vibrate, buzzed from the outer pocket of her purse.

  It was James. “I’m on my way. About twenty minutes out. Where are you?”

  Her silly heart leaped. She really shouldn’t be so overjoyed just to hear his voice, to know he was coming, that he would be here soon. “I’m at the hospital.”

&nb
sp; “Did you get any rest at all?”

  “I did, yes.” She forced a little brightness into her tone. “Two whole hours. I was out like a light. I got back here to the hospital about an hour and a half ago and sent Carmen and Dev back to the hotel.”

  “How’s your grandfather doing?”

  “He’s fine. They’ve got him resting comfortably.” It wasn’t a lie, exactly. The nurse had promised they would quiet him down. “You should go straight to the hotel. Get a little sleep.”

  “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  “Did you hear what I said, James?”

  “Every word.” He sounded amused, which annoyed her no end. “Gotta go. See you in a few.”

  “James?”

  But he’d already hung up.

  * * *

  James came around the corner from the bank of elevators and saw Addie alone in the CSICU waiting room reading a paperback book.

  He hung back for a moment and just looked at her. She had her elbows on the chair arms, her bright head bent to the page, legs crossed, one booted foot bouncing a little. He smiled at the sight.

  That was the thing about Addie. Most times, just the sight of her made the day—or in this case, the middle of the night—seem a whole light brighter.

  As he stood there and grinned, she suddenly looked up and caught sight of him. Those big eyes softened—but only for a second. Then she pursed up her mouth at him. Because he’d been watching her unawares? Because he hadn’t followed her instructions and gone to the hotel?

  Who knew?

  And it didn’t matter. Whatever her mood, he liked to look at her.

  He went and claimed the chair next to her. “Good book?”

  “Yeah, as a matter of fact.” She flashed him the battered cover, which showed a passionately embracing, nearly naked couple, both with seriously ’80s hair. “I read it years ago. It was in my mother’s stash of romances in the closet of her old room. Carm and I read them all.”

  “So...now you’re reading it again?”

  She shrugged. “I found this copy under that chair against the far wall. Just the sight of it made me smile. It’s about this teacher who takes a job in North Dakota in the early 1900s. She meets this grouchy farmer. They’re always bickering. It’s funny. And sweet. Made me cry, too. And right about now, I’m grateful for anything that takes my mind off my burning desire to strangle my grandfather.”

  Apparently, something had happened with Levi. Why wasn’t he surprised? “Come on, whatever he did, it can’t be that bad. He’s barely out of surgery. He doesn’t have the strength to make trouble.”

  She slanted him a glance—and then muttered, “You’d be surprised. He’s so unbelievably stubborn. He gets some crazy idea in his head and he won’t give it up no matter what.”

  James waited for her to get more specific. When she didn’t, he asked, “And this crazy idea he won’t give up is...?”

  She bit her soft lower lip and shook her head. “Take a wild guess.”

  Guessing wasn’t necessary. “He still thinks I’m the baby’s father and he wants us married now or sooner.”

  “It is so wrong on so many levels.”

  “Hey.” He waited until she turned her head and met his eyes. “How about if, tomorrow, when he’s feeling better, I try to talk to him?”

  Her round cheeks went bright red. “Are you kidding? That’s what he wants. To get you in there and beat up on you. He’s just so certain you’re going to see the light and say you’ll marry me—as if I’m waiting around in a white dress for you to finally agree to make an honest woman of me.” She shook her head some more. “Uh-uh. No way are you going in there and dealing with him. He’s going to have to wake up and face reality. That’s all there is to it.”

  * * *

  The next day, when Levi refused to start drinking clear liquids until he’d spoken with James, Addie tried to hold firm.

  But they all ganged up on her. The nurses said that if James was willing to quietly discuss the matter with Levi, it could be helpful. Surely he might as well try to make the old man see reason. Carm and Dev agreed with the nurses. Why shouldn’t James try? What could it hurt? Maybe James could get through to him. Somebody had to.

  Addie said, “Oh, please. You know him. When he’s like this, there is no way to get through to him. He’s locked in to what he’s so sure is right. He will do anything—anything—to accomplish his goal. It’s a sickness, when he gets like this. And trying to talk to him, to humor him, to get him to see things differently? None of that will work. We just need to hold firm.”

  And then James said, all calm and noble and gratingly sure of himself and his charm and his talent for making people do things his way, “I would like to try.”

  Addie elbowed him in the side when he said that. “I told you. Weren’t you listening? You trying to reason with him will only make him surer that if he keeps pushing, we’re going to give in.”

  “Oh, come on, Addie Anne,” Carm pleaded. “At least James can try.”

  “No,” Addie said again.

  But they wouldn’t listen. Ten minutes later, James went through the double doors.

  Addie had to hand it to him. He stayed in there a long time. But when he finally came out, she could tell right away from the look on his face that the conversation had only made things worse.

  “At least I got him to drink some broth and eat a little Jell-O,” he said sheepishly when she and Carm and Dev surrounded him and asked what had happened.

  But Addie wasn’t reassured. She looked James straight in the eye—and his gaze kind of slid to the side. “Okay. You’d better tell me now. What did you do, James?”

  He sank to a chair. “He’s just so relentless. And he looks so sick and I...well, I couldn’t stand it, all right? I hated to see him like that.”

  Addie demanded for the second time, “What did you do?”

  James braced his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands. “I ended up promising him I would talk to you.”

  Glances were flying. Carm looked at Addie. Addie looked at Dev. Dev shrugged in confusion and frowned at James.

  Addie’s stomach lurched alarmingly. “You told him you’d talk to me?”

  James looked absolutely miserable. “Yeah. I, well, that was how I got him to drink the broth.”

  Somehow she kept her voice even and reasonable as she inquired, “Talk to me about what?”

  “Er, the wedding?”

  Dead silence. Then Dev said, “Man. Seriously?”

  Addie pressed a hand to her churning belly and asked very softly, “What wedding?”

  James dropped his hands between his spread knees, sagged back in the chair and groaned at the ceiling. “Our wedding.”

  That did it for Addie. “I’ll be right back.” She clapped her hand over her mouth and ran for the ladies’ room.

  “Addie?” Carm called from behind her, close on her heels.

  Addie didn’t turn. She didn’t dare. She knocked the door wide with the heel of her hand and made for the stall.

  * * *

  Addie needed him. James leaped to his feet. He started to follow after the women.

  Devin grabbed his arm. “Hold on, man. Let Carm take care of her. She’ll be okay.”

  James knew Dev was right. He collapsed into the chair again. “It seemed like a good idea at the time, you know? Just to humor him...”

  Dev took the chair next to him. “So you told Levi the baby was yours?”

  “Hell, no!” He said it way too loud. A couple of old ladies waiting together in the chairs across the room stopped whispering and glared at him. “Sorry,” he said. They glared a few seconds more for good measure and went back to their low conversation.

  Dev clapped him on the shoulder. “No offe
nse, dude. Just trying to understand what’s going on here.”

  James leaned his head against the wall. It pressed on the bump back there—the one Levi had made when he coldcocked him the day before. He winced and sat forward, bracing his forearms on his knees. “Maybe we’d just better wait until Addie and Carmen get back.”

  Dev grunted. “Yeah. No point in going through it all twice.”

  “Thanks,” James said wearily. His phone vibrated. He took it out and checked it. The emails were piling up and he needed to call the office.

  Later.

  He and Dev waited in a grim yet companionable silence until Addie and Carmen emerged from the ladies’ room.

  James asked, “You okay?” when Addie sat down next to him. Carmen took the chair on Devin’s other side.

  “I’m okay,” Addie said. “Tell us the rest.”

  He worried that she really ought to eat something. “Maybe you should have some soda crackers or something?”

  “James, just tell us what happened.”

  He speared his fingers through his hair. “What can I say? I tried.”

  She actually bumped him with her shoulder, a reassuring little nudge that somehow made him feel better about everything. And then she said, “I know you tried. We all do. We also know PawPaw. He has a sort of fixation with situations like this. He lost our grandma June when our mother was just five.”

  Carmen said, “And our mom, well, she just seemed born to heartbreak. She fell in love with two men and both of them ran off, leaving her behind—and pregnant, both times.”

  Addie went on, “Both times, our grandpa went looking for those men. Both times, he planned to make sure those fathers-to-be did the right thing. But he never found either of them. Then our mother died having me and PawPaw raised us on his own.”

  “We had a happy childhood,” said Carmen softly. “PawPaw saw to that.”