by Anna Jeffrey
“What is this?” she demanded, looking at them. Just then, Prissy barked. “Is that a dog?”
He opened the pet carrier and lifted the puppy out. She began to fidget and lick with her little pink tongue and strain toward Shannon. In spite of the tension, Drake smiled. “Look, Shannon, she loves you.” He stepped nearer, putting Prissy within Shannon’s reach and capturing her eyes. “As do I. Honest to God, I do.”
His profession of affection went ignored, but she didn’t ignore Prissy. She hesitated, then reached out and rubbed Prissy’s head with two fingers. Drake took advantage of the moment. “Her name’s Prissy.” He placed the dog in her arms. He could see her open up, could see that maybe, just maybe, he had hit a homerun. Prissy played it to the hilt, snuggling and licking and squealing.
Shannon fingered the black velvet pouch tied to Prissy’s collar. “What’s this on her neck? I said I didn’t want you to bring me a present.”
“It isn’t a present. Just look at it.”
“I don’t need gifts,” she said, but she untied the pouch and peeked inside. She looked up at him, not fooled. A jeweler’s ring box was hard to disguise.
“Just open it. Just look at it. See what you think. I’ve had it for a couple of weeks.”
Without letting go of Prissy, she eased down to the edge of a fancy little red sofa’s cushion. He wanted to sit down beside her, but the sofa looked so fragile, he feared it wouldn’t hold his added weight. He took a seat across from her a few feet away. Her breath caught when she opened the box. She looked at him. Prissy looked at him, too and gave a puppy bark.
“We can make it, Shannon,” he said softly, trying to hold her eyes with his.
She started to say something, but he raised his palms, stopping her. “I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to say we haven’t known each other long enough, but how long is long enough? If I didn’t believe we belong together, I wouldn’t be here now.”
She sniffled. “I have a hard time dealing with the surprises you keep throwing at me. I told you from the beginning I don’t want to be hurt. And our arrangement was no sharing.”
He sighed. “It was a goofy agreement designed to fail. I knew that.”
“You seem to have an awfully long list of admirers.”
“All I can say is I can’t erase the past. Neither can you. I swear to you, there hasn’t been anybody but you since the minute I saw you at that TCCRA party. You’re all I think about, Shannon. I want to grab onto the future we can have together. I’ve never felt that way about any other woman.”
Prissy let out a snore that belied her size and changed the tenor of the conversation. She had snuggled on Shannon’s lap and gone sound asleep. “This is a house dog,” Shannon said. “I don’t know if I can have it. You know my grandmother has a spoiled cat.”
“If it doesn’t work out, I’ll take her.”
She nodded. “I’ll see.” Then she got to her feet, tucked Prissy under her arm and handed the ring back to him. His heart sank.
He stood up, too, only a foot away from her. Every part of him wanted to take her in his arms. He stepped to a small table beside a chair and placed the ring box on it. “I’m going to leave this right here. When you get time, maybe you’d like to try it on. It’s a size seven.”
She looked down at her hands. “I don’t have any rings. I don’t know what size I wear.”
Hope inched forward within his chest. Maybe she was tempted. “Not a problem. If it doesn’t fit, we can have it fixed. I love you, Shannon. And I’m excited about the baby. What do I have to do to show you?”
“I don’t know right now. I’m still trying to come to terms with it myself. I guess I can let you know.”
****
Training Prissy and Arthur to live together took much of Shannon’s time the next few days. Prissy was enthusiastic; Arthur was sarcastic. Drake called every day just to chat, something he had never done.
Shannon was a wreck. She was also insane. What sane woman would have turned down Drake Lockhart? And a big diamond ring that was now tucked into her lingerie drawer?
One who was terrified, that’s who.
…I love you, Shannon. And I’m excited about the baby….The words played over and over in her mind. She had never expected to hear them fall from Drake’s mouth.
…All I can say is I can’t erase the past. Neither can you. I want to grab onto the future we can have together….
Had he somehow learned about her past, the part she had so carefully guarded? She wouldn’t be surprised. She had to admit that her past was probably just as worthy of criticism as his. Yet, he had never questioned her. He had taken her as she was on blind faith. Why couldn’t she make herself be equally open-hearted?
Because she knew how real estate broker’s worked, she might be convinced that he didn’t
know about her thirty acres, but believing he had no feelings for his former fiancé was harder. The woman was beautiful and she had been in his condo. Shannon knew, because Drake had told her, that few women ever were ever invited to his condo. And she was pretty sure the ones who had been there had slept with him. The thought was as painful as a stab.
But he had sworn he had been faithful. And he had never lied to her, something she couldn’t say about herself.
She missed him. She liked him. Adored the time she had spent with him. She had already admitted, at least to herself, that she loved him.
And now Christa’s words pestered her: ….You need to give him a chance to explain. If you’re going to have his baby, you can’t just shut him out without giving him a chance….
And while all of that swirled inside her head, he called. “Hey,” he said. “How you doing today?”
“I’m good,” she said and couldn’t keep from smiling.
“Are you sick or anything?”
“Only when I brush my teeth. There’s something about toothpaste.”
“Really?” he asked, sounding extremely interested and concerned. “Is that unusual?”
“I don’t know,” she answered.
“How’s it going with Prissy and your grandmother today?”
“She’s won Grammy over. Arthur’s coming around. I don’t see them ever becoming close friends though.”
“I was thinking about coming down to visit her today,” Drake said.
“Prissy?”
“Sure. I’m her savior.”
“I suppose that’s okay. Grammy Evelyn’s at home all day.”
“You won’t be there?”
She hesitated, noticed she was gripping the phone as if it might spring out of her hand if she let go. “I, uh…I guess I could be.”
“Would you? It’s important.”
“What time are you coming?”
“I can be there by five.”
And he was. Shannon stood behind the front door and watched as he strode up the brick sidewalk to the wide front porch. Holding Prissy under her arm, she opened the door and met him. He tickled the puppy’s head with his finger. “I’d call this a lucky dog,” he said, grinning his cute half grin. She loved his grin.
His expression turned serious. “Can we sit down and talk? Maybe in the parlor like we did before?”
Her pulse rate accelerated. No doubt this visit was something about the baby. She led him into the parlor and took a seat on the sofa as she had before and he sat down in the chair across from her. He pulled a blue-backed document out of his coat’s inner pocket. She stiffened. She was right. He was about to hand her some kind of legal document about her baby.
“I figured out what you were trying to do with that thirty acres,” he said.
She lowered her eyes and stared at the dog. Okay, not the baby. He was going to try to buy the thirty acres from her. A payoff.
“I know why you needed the five acres.” He offered the blue-backed document to her. “This is the deed. It’s yours. To do whatever you want to with it.”
She stared at him, “But I can’t take that. I won’t take i
t. Your agent. He’s owed a
commission. You said—”
“Not a problem. Gabe will get his commissions.” She blinked in confusion. “This deed has a condition attached to it, Shannon.”
Of course it did. Wasn’t he the master negotiator? “I should’ve known.”
“It’s a wedding present.”
“But—”
“We can make it, Shannon. I know we can make it. In spite of everything, I know we can make it.”
He got to his feet and came over, grasped her shoulders and drew her to her feet. “I’ve
never felt about anybody the way I feel about you. I need you. My life’s been a mess this past couple of weeks. I can’t be happy if I don’t have you with me, near me. I want to take care of you and the baby. And I want to make a home for him where he’ll grow up secure and happy. Do you think I’d let a child of mine run around the world without me to guide him?”
Now she was really a wreck. Her knees wobbled. “But—but…we’ve…we’ve…Oh, God, I’m stuttering.”
He smiled. “You can’t say the words?”
They seemed to be stuck in her throat. She knew only one thing. She could no longer fight this battle. She didn’t know what lay ahead, but she had to take the risk. She broke into tears and pressed her face against his shoulder. “I love you, dammit. I didn’t plan to, but…” She sniffled. “But I promise you, if you ever cheat on me, I’ll stab you in your sleep.”
****
Drake squeezed his eyes shut, fighting back tears of his own as he stroked her back, caressed her neck. She had saved him.
He had cleaned up his act in short order. Tammy already knew he had bought a ring. He had told Heather he planned on getting married. He had told Donna that if she did one more thing to harm Shannon, he would tell her father that she had used his security company for a nefarious purpose, something he suspected would anger Don Stafford a lot. He valued his reputation as an ethical businessman.
Just then, his cell bleated and he recognized Pic’s ring. Pic always called at inopportune moments, but with Troy’s future hanging, he didn’t dare ignore the call. “That’s my brother,” he said. “Something’s going on at the ranch. Is it okay if I take it?”
She nodded.
Still hanging onto her, he keyed into the call.
“Drake, they’ve re-arrested Billy Barrett,” Pic said. “He confessed and he’s talking.”
THE END
BOOKS IN THE CALLISTER BOOKS TRILOGY:
The Love of a Cowboy, Book 1
The Love of a Stranger, Book 2
The Love of a Lawman, Book 3
BOOKS FROM THE WEST TEXAS BOOKS TRILOGY:
Sweet Water, Book 1
Salvation, Texas, Book 2
Sweet Return, Book 3
BOOKS FROM THE SONS OF TEXAS TRILOGY
The Tycoon, Book 1
The Cattleman, Book 2 (Coming Soon)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anna Jeffrey is an award-winning author of mainstream romance novels as well as romantic comedy/mystery. She has written six romance novels under the pseudonym of Anna Jeffrey and two as Sadie Callahan. She and her sister have co-written seven comedy/mystery novels as USA Today Bestselling Author, Dixie Cash. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and several of its chapters. She enjoys many hobbies—reading, painting and drawing, crafting, needlework and beading among others. She and her husband live outside a small town in North Central Texas.
You can keep up with her on her website, www.annajeffrey.com; her blog, www.annajeffreyauthor.wordpress.com ; her Facebook page at Anna Jeffrey Books; on Twitter @annajeffrey and on LinkedIn.
Or you can write to her at [email protected]
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