by Cora Seton
“What did she do?” Ned asked.
“Who?”
His brother chuckled. “Any time a man looks like that, a woman’s involved.”
“I’ll tell you another time.”
Ned cocked his head. “Sounds serious. I’m leaving for my honeymoon tonight. Sure you don’t want to tell me now?”
“Nope.” Luke shoved his hands in his pockets and with an effort changed the subject. “Guess I’ll get changed. What about you? You ready for this?”
“For marriage? Hell, yeah.” A smile lifted the corner of Ned’s mouth. “You’d better watch out—like Dad said this morning, he’s got his sights on you now. You’re the only one he hasn’t helped marry off.”
“He can’t help me.”
Ned misunderstood his meaning. “Don’t underestimate the ability of Holt Matheson to bring about matrimony in the strangest of ways.” He looked at his watch. “Guess I’d better get dressed.” He headed for the door.
Luke just shrugged. If only their father could help him sort out this mess.
“Fact is, I thought you’d be halfway to marrying Mia by now.” Ned’s tone turned serious as he hesitated with one hand on the doorknob.
“Yeah, so did I.”
“You love her, right?”
Luke blinked. He and Ned had never discussed love before. “Yeah.”
“Then get on with it. Don’t let anything get in your way.”
Get on with it. Ned was right. He should get on with it. Nothing had really changed—except now he knew why Mia was holding back. She liked him all right, maybe even loved him, but was afraid he wouldn’t want her in her current condition.
Well, he did want her, and he’d have her, too—after he paid Ellis a visit and made it damn clear the man had better stay out of their lives.
The door burst open again, slamming into Ned hard enough to knock him off balance. Luke jerked forward to steady him with a hand to his bicep before he fell to the ground. Wouldn’t want the groom to break his leg for a second time—on his wedding day.
“Hey!”
“Sorry.” Jake came in and shut the door behind him. His shirt was untucked and his hair stuck up every which way. “Shoes. Where the hell are my shoes?”
“They’re on your feet.” Ned regained his balance and pointed to Jake’s beat-up cowboy boots testily.
“Not these. My dress boots. Mom would kill me if I wore these in the wedding.”
“Aren’t they in the hall outside your room? Mom polished them all last night.”
“I saw them there earlier. Now they’re just—gone!”
“Luke, help the idiot find his boots. I’m going to get dressed. Fila will clobber me if I’m late to our wedding. Or Camila will do it for her.”
He left, chuckling. Jake didn’t share his amusement. “Someone took them.”
“Why the hell would anyone want your boots?”
“I don’t know! Are they in here?” He commenced searching through the closet and under the bed. Luke helped him, promising himself he’d confront Ellis right after the wedding. When they turned up empty they split up and searched the other rooms on the second floor. Forty-five minutes later Luke was still looking when he heard a ruckus from down the hall.
“What the hell, man?”
Luke traced the sound to find Jake and Rob squared off in Rob’s old room. Jake shook a pair of cowboy boots at Rob. Rob ducked.
“I didn’t take them.”
“They were under your bed.” Jake swung at him.
Rob backed up, hands raised. “I didn’t put them there. Besides, I haven’t slept in that bed in a dozen years.”
“Man up and admit it. You always loved to play a joke.”
“I’m over that.”
“You’re late!” The new voice was decidedly feminine, with a trace of a Mexican accent that made it easy to place. Luke turned to find Camila behind him. She wore a beautiful red dress and her dark hair flowed around her shoulders like a shawl. Large gold hoop earrings swung as she talked. “You all need to get downstairs, now. You’re keeping the bride waiting.”
The men sprang into action. Jake slipped on his boots and tucked in his shirt. “I’ll get you back for this,” he said to Rob on his way out of the room.
“I didn’t do a damn thing.”
Camila shushed them both. “It’s like dealing with a pack of children,” she said to Luke as they walked down the stairs. Evan Mortimer stood at the bottom.
“Everything all right?” he asked. “Sounded like a barroom brawl up there.”
Luke shook his head and sighed. “Just life as usual in the Matheson household.”
Mia could hardly breathe as she stood up beside Hannah in front of the gathered guests and watched Fila move up the aisle created between the lines of folding chairs in the large back room and solarium of the Matheson house. Fila was radiant in a silvery white sheath with a lacy train. Ned looked proud enough to burst out of his skin as he watched his bride come down the aisle on his father’s arm. Fila’s parents had been killed in Afghanistan, and she had no relatives present, but everyone had come to know her during her time in Chance Creek, and she was surrounded by friends. As for Ned, since he’d grown up right here on one of the preeminent ranches in Chance Creek, he might as well be local royalty.
As the couple stood in front of Joe Halpern, the preacher, Mia willed herself not to cry. It wasn’t just her sorrow that made it hard to catch her breath, nor was it the grim expression on Luke’s face as he stood next to Ned. Her dress—a plain cobalt-blue sheath that echoed Fila’s—had fit just a week ago when she visited Ellie’s Bridals a final time. Now it stretched tight across her abdomen, making her want to fold her hands protectively in front of it.
She forced herself to keep them by her sides, and tried to keep her mind on the ceremony. This was one of the most important days of Fila’s life. It made no difference that Mia had ruined her chances of ever marrying the man she loved. Fila, unlike her, deserved happiness, and Mia would do nothing to mar it.
When the ceremony was over and the chairs were being shifted to circle the tables that the men helped to set out, she slipped into a bathroom and took a few minutes to calm herself.
Where would she go tonight when the wedding was over? Normally, she’d run to Autumn’s place if there was trouble, but not today—not when Autumn’s baby had just been born. She couldn’t stay here on the Double-Bar-K, either. She wasn’t sure if Luke would even let her back into his cabin. Perhaps she could impose on Bella and Evan? Surely there was an out-of-the-way room in their mansion she could inhabit just for a day or two—until she found her own place. Or maybe she should rent a motel room for the night?
“Don’t worry,” she whispered to the small hard lump growing in her belly. “I’ll make a life for us, I swear I will.”
Knowing she couldn’t disappear for too long without raising suspicions, she returned to the reception, where she bumped into her mother and father, who stood near a table full of hors d’oeuvres. Standing with them was Linette Wilcox, who was friends with both her parents and Lisa Matheson. Linette headed up several committees at the conservative church Mia’s parents attended on the outskirts of town. She had never been friendly to Mia. In fact, Mia thought she was mean and selfish, but she’d done her best to always be civil, in respect for her parents’ attachment to the church and to the woman herself.
“Mia Start—there you are. I was looking for you.” Linette’s voice cut through the murmur of the crowd like chalk on a blackboard. She took Mia’s hand and tugged her closer. “See, I told you there was something different about her, Enid. Mia, you’re getting fat!”
Mia’s cheeks flamed as her mother turned around to look. Surely the old busybody couldn’t have spotted her pregnancy. She searched for a quick retreat. “Sorry, Mrs. Wilcox. I have to go help out in the kitchen.”
“Nonsense. You never could cook. See Enid? What did I tell you?” Her bony fingers wrapped more tightly around Mia’s wrist.
Mia saw heads all around them turn her way. Damn it—she had to get out of here.
Before she could move, Linette reached down and patted Mia’s belly, giving a hard push on her abdomen. Mia sucked in a gasp of air.
“I knew it!” Linette crowed. “I know a pregnant woman when I see one! Did I or did I not say your daughter was hiding something, Enid? Mia always was sly. Shame on you, keeping a secret like that, girl. Where’s the ring on your finger?”
Mia thought she would die. Now everyone had turned to look at her. This was the stuff of nightmares—the very reason she hadn’t told a soul except for her closest friends. Her mother turned pale as parchment. Her father stood as still as the statues on Lisa’s mantelpiece. She’d get no help there. They would be thinking of their church—their friends—the same friends who turned a cold shoulder to anyone with a wayward child.
“Mia! Say something!” her mother hissed. “Tell her she’s wrong.”
“I…I mean—” A chill swept over her, followed by another flush of heat. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t. Not at Ned and Fila’s wedding.
“See? I was right. She won’t even name the father. You certainly won’t find him in this crowd. I heard Ellis Scranton already left town. Things must’ve gotten too hot for him here. I bet you gave him what-for, didn’t you, Bart?” Linette looked utterly victorious—she knew as well as anyone else Mia’s father was not the type to confront anyone. Mia had a sudden flash of insight—this was about the Easter bazaar. Her mother had been nominated to run it this year. Linette’s face had looked like she was sucking lemons for a week afterward.
“I…it’s—” But what could she say to deflect Linette’s words? She didn’t want it known that Ellis was the father of this child. He was gone and good riddance. But she had to say something, fast. Maybe Ellis was right—she should say it was a one-night stand. Just a guy she’d met at the Dancing Boot. Someone she’d never seen again.
But when she opened her mouth to repeat the lie, she spotted Luke watching her. He stood just ten feet away and his face showed his feelings. Anger. Disgust. A sob caught in her throat. She needed to leave, now. Before she sank to the ground in a puddle of humiliation.
“Mia Start, you tell me if it’s true!” Her mother’s voice rang out, the finger she pointed at Mia shaking.
“It’s true.”
Mia jerked. She hadn’t spoken.
But Luke had, and every head in the room swiveled toward them at his authoritative tone. Luke stepped to her side with all the calm confidence of a lion strolling through the savannah, and Mia bit back a cry of pain. Why had she told him about her affair with Ellis? Luke was going to expose her. She’d never live it down.
“Mia is pregnant with my baby,” Luke announced to the crowd at large. “We’re getting married. We planned to make the announcement tomorrow.” He clamped an arm around her, which was a good thing, Mia thought.
Because she was going to faint.
Luke caught Mia when she began to sag and ushered her into the kitchen quickly, pursued by Mia’s mother. So much for finding Ellis and warning him off. So much for talking things through with Mia after the wedding. He’d started down a road from which there’d be no turning back.
“Luke? Oh, my goodness—what’s happened?” Lisa bustled over to meet them, a spatula still in her hand. Luke helped Mia to a seat at the rustic kitchen table and faced her.
“Linette Wilcox just forced our hand. We had to announce our engagement.”
Mia gaped at him, but he ignored her. As chaotic as this turn of events was, he felt in his element. He was a man of action, not words, and this situation called for action. He refused to let the woman he loved bear the brunt of other people’s wrongdoing.
“Your…engagement?” Lisa’s voice rose to an excited squeal. “You and Mia are engaged?”
“And pregnant,” Enid said, bustling into the room behind them, her face still red with the shock of her recent encounter with Linette. “Don’t forget pregnant, too. Enough to show!”
“Pregnant!” Lisa’s face lit up even more, and it felt like a kick in the gut to Luke. What would she say when she found out the baby wasn’t his? She’d better not say a damned thing.
No one had.
Then he remembered his mother’s words from this morning when he’d said he didn’t see any reason for rushing into matrimony. I’m afraid you will soon.
Had she known?
“When?” Lisa cried. Luke didn’t know if she referred to the wedding or the birth. He squared his shoulders. “The wedding is the first weekend in March. Two weeks from today.”
“Two weeks!” both mothers chimed.
“That doesn’t give us any time to plan,” Lisa said.
“You’ll figure it out.” He clamped a hand down on Mia’s wrist and hoped she understood his message. She was his now. She needed a man and he’d be that man. He wasn’t asking her—he was telling her, the way he should have months ago. And he didn’t care what anybody said.
“Mia? Have you chosen a location for the wedding?” Lisa asked.
Mia’s face paled even further—something Luke wouldn’t have thought was possible.
“I… I’d like to have it right here,” she said in a tiny voice. Luke’s chin came up in satisfaction. She’d gotten the message.
She was a Matheson now.
‡
Chapter Five
Mia was beginning to think she might pass out if her head didn’t stop spinning. All around her, friends offered their congratulations as they moved in and out of the kitchen helping Lisa and Camila with the food for the wedding guests. Even after the wedding party took their seats at the head table and the rest of the guests found their spots, Mia couldn’t move. She wasn’t sure what was real anymore. Had she actually delivered a baby today?
Was she getting married to Luke?
What had made him cross that room and claim her for his bride in front of everyone? He could just as easily have walked out and left her to confess her guilt. That was what she’d expected him to do. Did he actually mean to go through with it? Or was this a ruse to get them through the day? Would he tell the truth to all and sundry tomorrow after the wedding was safely over?
She jumped when he dropped down in the chair across from her in the now quiet kitchen. Even Lisa and Camila had gone into the main room to listen to the groom toast the bride.
She raised her eyes to meet Luke’s steely gaze.
“I meant it,” he said without preamble. “We’ll get married in two weeks. We’ll pick up a ring tomorrow. You’ll be my wife.”
She couldn’t make her lips form a single word.
“And that baby will be mine. Do you understand?”
She searched his face. Did he really mean that? “People know,” she protested feebly. “You can’t keep a secret in a town like this.”
“I know that.” His tone was implacable. “I won’t deny who put that baby in your belly, but I’ll be its father. Understand?”
She wasn’t sure she did and it must have shown. Luke’s expression softened just a bit. “If I’m going to marry you, I don’t want to be on the outside looking in. That baby won’t call me Luke. He’ll call me Daddy, understood? I’ll raise him. I’ll provide for him. We’re not taking a dime from that man. Are we clear about that?”
Mia raised her chin. “I already have.” And she meant to keep that money, too.
Luke stilled. “What do you mean?”
“Ellis gave me a check. This morning. He’s clearing out of town. Never coming back. He said that’s all I’ll get from him and that he never wants to see the baby.”
“Well, good.” Luke leaned back in his chair, visibly relaxing. “Keep the check. Use it to buy something nice for the baby. But that’s the last I want to hear about Ellis Scranton. He’s not your husband. That’s my job. Agreed?”
Was that how he saw it? As a job? Was he marrying her out of pity, for heaven’s sake?
And did he mean to carry this t
ake-charge tone into their marriage? Mia had never seen this side of him before except when he was directing chores on the ranch. And she didn’t like it aimed at her. She studied the man across the table. His short blond hair. His clear gaze and strong jaw. Luke Matheson was a force to be reckoned with—a proud man. Was that what this was all about? His need to know whether she’d allow him that pride?
“Yes.” The word was out of her mouth before she could stop it, because Luke wasn’t normally like this. She could count off a hundred instances of his kindness—times he’d been there when she needed him, times he’d gone out of his way to give her what he thought she wanted. This new stiffness had to be a result of his hurt feelings. He’d get over that, she hoped. Meanwhile, she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, regardless of the impossibility of this situation.
Her only question was, when the excitement of the day was over would Luke still want to stake his claim on her?
Or now that he finally had her, would he turn and walk away just as Ellis had?
Luke let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. She’d said yes. A smile tugged up the corner of his mouth. He hadn’t expected to become Mia’s fiancé today. He certainly hadn’t expected to become a father to another man’s child. But she’d said yes—she’d said yes—and that turned him on more than he could say. Mia was his. Forever. And that was all that mattered.
Mia stared at him. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yeah.” He touched her hand. Gathered it into his. “Hell, yeah.”
Something flashed in her eyes. Humor? Desire? “You’re going to be my husband,” she whispered.
He nearly laughed out loud with relief. The last few hours had slammed him with enough surprises to last a lifetime, but now they were over the worst. Now they had their whole lives ahead of them. Together.
“Mrs. Matheson,” he whispered back.
Mia ducked her head, her cheeks blazing pink.
He tugged her hand. “You’d better come here, Mrs. Matheson.”