Texas Lullaby (Texas Montgomery Mavericks Book 7)

by Cynthia D'Alba

  “And we talked about children a lot. You never varied in your stance. Not once. You were adamant. When I accepted your proposal, I didn’t have children. Now I have three with a fourth on the way.” She patted her abdomen.

  “We have.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “We have three children and one on the way.”

  She shook her head. “The situation has changed, Jason. I’m on a totally different path than I was six months ago.”

  “Let me ask you this. If we had been married when Meredith and Jim died, would you have divorced me?”

  Drawing back, her face wore a mask of offense. “Of course not, but that would have been different.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t see the difference.”

  “The difference is we aren’t married. You can make a new life with someone who wants the same things you do.”

  He leaned forward and put his hand on her abdomen. “First, this is my baby. Do you believe for one minute that I’d walk away from my child? And second, I love your kids. Every day I don’t see them feels incomplete. And third, I don’t want a life with someone else.”

  “It was only a week ago that you accused me of sleeping with another man, trying to pass off another man’s child as yours.” She pushed his hand away. “How are you suddenly so sure that I haven’t been screwing around?” She snapped her fingers. “Semen analysis. You had one done and got the results back and found out you’re not as sterile as you thought, huh?”

  “Yes and no.”

  “Spoken like a true lawyer.”

  “I am so sorry about last Friday. I was just so shocked when you told me that you were pregnant. I may have overreacted.”

  She arched an eyebrow.

  “Okay,” he admitted. “I overreacted. I never expected to hear a woman say that the baby she was carrying was mine. I didn’t,” he added when she looked skeptical. “And, I guess I went nuts at the mere idea that you might be with another man.” He held up a hand when she started to speak. “Look, we’d been apart for a month, a timeout, if you will. I don’t for one minute think you would ever be unfaithful, but we were broken up. You’d booted me out of your house and your life. It terrified me that you might find someone else.”

  She crossed her arms. “So I ask again…why the sudden about-face? Semen analysis?”

  Holding up one finger, he said, “Hold on. Be right back.”

  He went back into their suite, opened the zipper inside his suitcase and pulled out the test results. Never would he have admitted it but his heart pounded in nervous fear. Back on the patio, he handed her the white envelope with the lab’s name and return address in the corner.

  “There. You were right. I did have a semen analysis run.”

  Lydia studied the envelope and then looked at him. “It’s not open.”

  He shook his head. “Nope. I don’t need lab results to tell me what I already know.” He dropped to his knees beside her chair. “We––you and I––made this baby. Maybe it’ll be the only one we ever have or maybe it’s the start of our own basketball team.”

  Her eyes shimmered with tears. “Oh Lord, no. No basketball team.”

  He smiled and leaned in. “I love you, Lydia. I love Ellery and Annie and Levi. And I love this munchkin inside you. I want to be your husband. I want to be the father to these children. Our lives together won’t be what we expected when we agreed to marry. It’ll be so much more.”

  He took her hand and pressed it to his heart. “I gave you my heart years ago. I don’t want it back. I want you to hold it for the rest of your life.”

  Fat, heavy tears rolled down her cheeks. “Are you sure, Jason? Being a parent is so hard. I had no idea.”

  “Hey, any kid with us as parents is going to turn out awesome.” He laid his head on her abdomen. For a minute, he basked in the knowledge that his baby grew beneath his head. Then he pressed a kiss there and stood.

  He joined her on the lounger, wedging in near her hip. “For the past five weeks, my life has been too quiet. I need to see you, touch you, kiss you. I need to hear Ellery and Annie playing dolls. I need Levi giving me wet kisses. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you. I want to get double massages and make love until we can’t move. And babies. I want to have babies with you. I know I’ve made some mistakes. I’ll make more, but I promise that no matter what the future brings, I will never leave. Marry me. I’ll be the best husband to you and the most awesome father to our kids.”

  She leaned forward, caught his face between the palms of her hands. “I think I fell in love with you when I walked off a horrible thirty-hour shift and found you waiting in the lobby for me.” Smiling, she rubbed her thumbs over his cheeks. “You waited six hours to get a cup of coffee with me. No person in their right mind would do that.”

  “I wasn’t in my right mind. I was in love.”

  As he leaned in to kiss her, the envelope holding his test results caught wind and landed in the middle of their small, private pool.

  “Your results,” she said and started to move.

  He stopped her with the kiss he’d been waiting to give her since she’d exited the limo that morning. Deep and wet and full of all the love and promises he could give her. When they finally came up for air, he glanced toward the water and back to her. “I don’t need those. Everything I need is in my arms.”

  “I’m having a Montgomery maverick baby,” she whispered.

  He chuckled and hugged her. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Epilogue

  “No. Absolutely not. I forbid it.”

  Lydia pulled the pies she’d made for the annual Montgomery Memorial Day bash from the oven and set them on the stove to cool.

  “Mom, tell Dad everyone else will be wearing bikinis.”

  Lydia turned from the stove, and as it always did when she saw her husband, her heart flopped over like a fish. “What’s the problem?”

  Thirteen-year-old Ellery posed in her pink and black bikini. Beside her, Annie struck a similar pose in her yellow and green suit.

  “Lydia. They barely have anything on,” Jason sputtered. “Those suits are indecent.”

  “They’re bikinis, honey. They’re supposed to be skimpy.” She circled her finger in the air to indicate the girls should turn around. They did. Their butts were covered, just barely, but covered. And the suits weren’t as skimpy as some of the others she’d rejected. These were downright modest compared to the original ones the twins had picked out. “They look great, girls. Do me a favor please. I don’t want to be late to your grandparents’ house. Can you see what Grayson is doing? He’s supposed to be dressed, but he’s probably playing.”

  “Do we have to?” Ellery whined. “I’ve got to do my hair.”

  “And I haven’t finished my makeup,” Annie said.

  “Makeup?” Jason whirled back to the girls. “No makeup. You’re too young.”

  “Mom,” Annie drew out.

  “Honey, you don’t need makeup. You’re already pretty enough without it.”

  Annie sighed. “But Aunt Caroline lets Britney wear eye shadow and lipstick.”

  “Aren’t you going swimming at Mimi’s when we get there?”

  Annie shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  Noah Graham was due home from law school. She figured the bikinis and new interest in makeup was probably all about showing Noah that she was all grown up, not that she was, nor would twenty-seven-year-old Noah notice a couple of teen girls. But she remembered trying to get the attention of a few older guys back in the day.

  “Okay, eye shadow and lip gloss only.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” Annie said and turned to leave.

  “Don’t forget to check on Grayson. And if he’s got another rope, let me know.”

  Five-year-old Grayson had recently decided he wanted to
be a cowboy. On more than one occasion, she or Jason had found him trying to lasso various targets in his room. Where he kept getting the ropes was the question, although her money was on her brother-in-law Cash.

  “Lydia.”

  “Jason.”

  He grinned as she did a perfect imitation of his voice. He wrapped his arms around her waist. “Those girls are going to be the death of me.”

  She chuckled. “Spoken like every father I know.”

  He kissed her. “You know those suits are just asking for problems.”

  “The other girls will be wearing similar suits. And I suspect the menfolk in your family will be having the same conversation with their wives.”

  Dropping his head on her shoulder, he asked, “When did I get so old and stuffy?”

  “Hey, five kids will do that to you.” She laughed. “For a man who didn’t want kids, you ended up with the most of any of your siblings.”

  “Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Levi or George.”

  At ten and nine, the boys were only sixteen months apart and almost inseparable. “They’re already gone. Porchia came by and picked them up early to take them on out to the ranch. I think all the boys went early to help your parents set up.”

  “How is it possible that you are as beautiful today as you were the day I married you?”

  “You’re old and your eyesight is failing?”

  He laughed. “Never.” After a long and rather passionate kiss, he held her away from him. “If we start that now, we’re going to be late.”

  Snuggling back in his arms, she said, “Want to send the kids out to the ranch without us? We could practice giving each other massages?”

  “Would you two stop it?” Ellery said. “It’s gross and you’re too old.”

  Lydia lifted an eyebrow at her husband. “Too old?” she whispered.

  “Never,” he answered. “I’ll never stop wanting you.”

  “Mom! Annie took my rope.”

  She sighed. “Think your parents will mind when we drive off and leave the kids there tonight?”

  “Us and everyone else.”

  “Twelve grandchildren.” She shook her head.

  “They’ll be in heaven.” He nuzzled the spot behind her ear that he knew drove her nuts. “As we’ll be later tonight.”

  “Would you two knock it off?” Annie said. “Here’s the latest rope I found in Grayson’s room. What time are we leaving?”

  Lydia gave her husband a quick kiss and stepped back. “Forty-five minutes.”

  Annie wheeled around and left the kitchen.

  “Not the life we envisioned, is it?” Lydia said.

  “Not even close,” Jason agreed. “It’s so much better.”

  And it was.

  About the Author

  New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Cynthia D’Alba started writing on a challenge from her husband in 2006 and discovered having imaginary sex with lots of hunky men was fun. She was born and raised in a small Arkansas town. After being gone for a number of years, she’s thrilled to be making her home back in Arkansas, living in a vine-covered cottage on the banks of an eight-thousand acre lake. When she’s not reading or writing or plotting, she’s doorman for her two dogs, cook, housekeeper and chief bottle washer for her husband and slave to a noisy, messy parrot. She loves to chat online with friends and fans.

  You can find her most days at one of the following online homes:

  Website: www.cynthiadalba.com

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/cynthia.dalba

  Twitter: @cynthiadalba

  Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/cynthiadalba

  Newsletter: http://cynthiadalba.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=13edc42ab44c965943cbcccea&id=fd9f2bcd88

  Or drop her a line at cynthia@cynthiadalba.com

  Or send snail mail to: Cynthia D’Alba PO Box 2116 Hot Springs, AR 71914

  Look for these titles by Cynthia D’Alba

  Now Available:

  Texas Montgomery Mavericks

  Texas Two Step

  Texas Tango

  Texas Fandango

  Texas Twist

  Texas Bossa Nova

  Texas Hustle

  Don’t miss the other titles in Cynthia D’Alba’s Texas Montgomery Mavericks series!

  They’re different as night and day…but it’s the right time for love.

  Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 6

  Porchia Summers was born into a family who gave her everything except affection. She acted out until her parents sent her to Whispering Springs before their high-society friends found out about her arrest record.

  She builds a good life in Texas, but then the old boyfriend who got her in trouble tracks her down. Desperate to find a way to keep her past and present separate, she places a bid at a bachelor auction on the one man who’ll get her out of town for a few days.

  Darren Montgomery is thrilled when Porchia wins him and a week of camping with his entire family in a charity bachelor auction. He’s also curious. He’s been flirting with the town’s sweet, sexy baker for years. Sometimes she flirts back, but she’s never let things go further than that. Darren’s not complaining, but he wonders just what’s going on behind Porchia’s pretty eyes.

  Warning: Watch out for chigger bites, love bites, and secrets that bite.

  He plans to take the wander right out of her wanderlust.

  Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 5

  Magda Hobbs’s job as ranch housekeeper—and its daily dose of cowboys—wreaked havoc on her libido. Especially one certain cowboy she couldn’t resist. Scared of going down the same path as her mother, Magda jumped on her motorcycle and hit the road.

  Five months later, her father’s mild heart attack has forced her back to Whispering Springs. While she’s grateful for the cleaning job at one of the Montgomery ranch houses, she’s not so thrilled one of the cowboys she’s looking after is the one she fell for last spring.

  Reno Montgomery’s parents hiring a housekeeper for him and his brother is a nice surprise, but he’s shocked to discover it’s Magda, the woman who up and left just when things were getting serious between them.

  When a freak snowstorm cuts off the outside world, the isolation rekindles their desire. But when the weather and the roads clear, Reno has to work hard and fast to keep the woman of his dreams from accelerating right out of his life again.

  Warning: Contains a woman born with a bad case of wanderlust, and a cowboy determined to show her that life’s a dance that doesn’t have to two-step her out of his life.

  Real bad boys can grow up to be real good men.

  Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 4

  Hit hard by the death of her parents, Paige Ryan needs to figure out what to do with her life. She moves to Whispering Springs, Texas, to be near her step-brother. But just as she starts to get her life on track, the last man she ever wanted to see again sends it right back off the rails.

  Cash Montgomery was on the cusp of having it all. Three bull riding titles, fame, fortune and respect from his family. Until a bad bull leaves him injured, angry and searching for comfort at the bottom of a bottle. With nowhere to go, he moves into his sister-in-law’s old ranch house in Whispering Springs—which he’s surprised to find already occupied.

  As Cash rebuilds the dilapidated home and Paige starts out on her medical career, their old friendship begins to reemerge and sparks are ignited. Paige knows that Cash is nothing but a heartache waiting to happen. But maybe this bad boy has grown up to be a real good man?

  Warning: Watch out for falling lumber, falling in holes, and falling for the wrong guy…again. You can leave your hard hat on.

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  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

  11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

  Cincinnati OH 45249

  Texas Lullaby

  Copyright © 2016 by Cynthia D’Alba

  ISBN: 978-1-61923-390-4

  Edited by Heidi Moore

  Cover by Angela Waters

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: April 2016

  www.samhainpublishing.com