His Texas Baby

by Stella Bagwell

  He’d not necessarily set out to hire a woman for the job, but Viveca had been in the business for a long time and she knew her stuff. When she’d divorced her husband, an East Coast trainer, she’d been looking for a job and a home. Liam had given her one on the Diamond D and never once regretted it.

  But Liam could truthfully say there’d not been much he’d done in his life that he had regretted. Most all the choices he’d made, he’d made for reasons that had been basic and solid. He’d never been an impulsive type of guy. Even his courtship and marriage to Felicia had been long and carefully thought out. They’d started dating in high school and gotten married after both of them had graduated college. Their marriage had been predictable and tranquil with no surprises or conflicts.

  So what had happened to him? He’d fallen in bed with a woman he’d never so much as kissed before. His behavior that night had been impulsive and reckless and totally out of character. It didn’t matter that he’d been acquainted with Kitty for several years, or that he was somewhat attracted to her. He shouldn’t have lost his head. But something about the woman had made him behave in ways he couldn’t understand or explain.

  Now, incredibly, there was a baby on the way. And yet, he somehow couldn’t regret that fact. A few years ago, when his brothers, Brady and Conall, had married and started having children of their own, he had been thrilled for them. But he’d also felt rock-bottom empty. Only God knew how much he’d longed to have a child of his own, to be a father like his brothers. And now, right or wrong, he was going to be.

  But would he be a father in every sense of the word? That was the question that was rolling round and round in his mind. He didn’t want to fight Kitty about this. And he certainly didn’t want to hurt her. Proposing marriage had been another impulsive act on his part, but from his perspective, he’d had no other choice.

  His future was now in Kitty’s hands and all he could do was wait to see what she intended to do with it. For a man who liked to always be in control, the idea was twisting him in knots and he seriously doubted he’d get a wink of sleep tonight.

  He was shutting off the computer and considering taking another walk down the shed row, when a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

  Fearful that one of the grooms had discovered a horse in distress, he hurried over to open it. But when the door swung back he found Kitty standing on the threshold, staring solemnly up at him.

  She was bundled in a black jacket, her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, her face totally clean of makeup. She looked incredibly young and vulnerable and her eyes looked suspiciously red, as though she’d been crying.

  His heart clenched as he uttered her name. “Kitty! What are you doing here at this late hour? Is anything wrong?”

  “I wanted to talk to you. And I didn’t know what hotel you were staying in so I took a chance on you being here,” she said.

  Completely dismayed by her appearance, he said, “You have my telephone number. You could have called me.”

  She shook her head. “I couldn’t say what I have to say over the phone.”

  Reaching for her arm, he pulled her into the room then shut the door behind them.

  “And what is that?”

  Her breasts rose and fell as she heaved out a heavy breath. “That I’ve made a decision regarding your marriage proposal.”

  His hand on her arm tightened perceptively. He’d never expected an answer from her tonight. He’d wanted her to weigh the situation and her feelings about it carefully. But apparently she’d made up her mind without too much thought.

  He tried to mentally brace himself as he studied her grave expression. “Are you sure, Kitty?”

  Her eyes never wavered from his. “Yes. I’m sure that I want to be your wife.”

  Chapter Four

  “Kitty!”

  Her name came out in an awed whisper, and as he stared at her, she glanced away from him and swallowed hard. Apparently, she wasn’t jumping for joy over the idea of becoming his wife. Strange, he thought, how much that idea hurt. He didn’t expect her to suddenly be in love with him. But it would be nice to think she needed and wanted to be with him. Every man wanted that from his wife.

  Not waiting for her to say more, he led her over to a small couch that was pushed against the back wall of the room.

  “I thought you were going to think about this,” he said as he sank down next to her on the burgundy-colored cushions. “I wanted you to think about it before you made a decision.”

  “So did I,” she said in a strained voice. “But after you left the hotel I realized there wasn’t much to think about.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Her hand slipped to her stomach and Liam’s gaze settled on her fingers as they splayed against the small mound. That was his baby growing there, he thought with amazement. His child nestled snugly in her womb. One day, God willing, he could hold it in his arms, nurture it, love it. Just the idea swelled his chest with emotions. He refused to think about any other possibility, to remember the child he’d once hoped for and lost.

  “This baby didn’t have a choice about how it came to be. But once it arrives, it seems the least we can do is try to give it a proper home with two parents. It deserves that much from us.”

  A strange mix of relief and joy was suddenly coursing through him, shocking him with the intensity of his feelings. This wasn’t the woman of his dreams, promising to love him forever. It wasn’t a time to start handing out cigars and shouting from the rooftop. It wasn’t even close. But the happiness inside him refused to run away and hide. He was going to be married and become a father! Tomorrow he might worry that some tragedy would yank it all away from him a second time. But for tonight he was going to allow himself to feel joy.

  He must be losing his mind, he thought, as his gaze lifted to the plush pink curves of her lips. He wanted to kiss her, drag her into his arms and hold her tightly against him as if they were a real loving couple.

  “You didn’t feel that way earlier,” he pointed out as he tried to bring himself back to earth. “You said we couldn’t force a real family.”

  “I still believe that,” she said, then bending her head, murmured, “but we can try.”

  “Yes. Try is one thing we both have,” he agreed. “We’ll have that much going for us—and the baby.”

  And the baby. Kitty knew that Liam would never let her forget for one minute what this marriage was all about. And maybe that was a good thing, she thought wearily. Maybe she’d never have the chance to let her head drift in the clouds.

  Lifting her gaze to his, she said, “Well, that’s all I came to say. I’d better get back to the hotel. I have an early morning ahead of me.”

  He studied her face for long moments and Kitty got the feeling there was much more he wanted to say, but he must have decided it could wait. He quickly rose from the couch and offered her a hand up.

  “If you’re too tired I’d be happy to drive you back to your hotel,” he offered. “The roadways are dangerous and I certainly don’t want you to have an accident.”

  Her wan smile was nothing but grateful. “Thanks, but I’ll be careful. The traffic has eased, so I can manage.”

  He took her hand and pressed it between his two. As his warm fingers wrapped around hers, Kitty had to stifle a sigh. Everything inside of her wanted to lean into him, to rest her cheek upon his chest and let herself believe, if only for a few moments, that he loved her, that he wanted her for a real wife.

  “We have a lot to talk about, Kitty. Do you think we could have dinner again tomorrow night? Or maybe we could drive over to the beach tomorrow afternoon?”

  Being out in the relaxing sunshine might be the very thing to help give her a positive attitude about the future—their future, she thought. “The beach sounds very nice. I’ll try to situate my schedule to have the afternoon free.”

  “Great,” he said with a smile. “I’ll do the same.”

  She made a step to leave and he kept her hand fir
mly ensconced in his as he strolled with her to the door. Once there, she turned to him.

  “Good night, Liam.”

  One corner of his lips curved upward in a lazy grin. “Is that any way for a newly engaged couple to part for the night?”

  Confused, she said, “I don’t know what you mean.”

  His brows arched slightly. “Don’t you? I thought a kiss would be more appropriate.”

  Kiss? Suddenly her heart was hammering. She’d been trying not to let herself think of such things. And she’d certainly never expected his mind to be on such a track. “We, uh, haven’t been drinking,” she couldn’t help but remind him.

  “That will make it much nicer, don’t you think?”

  Bemused by this lighter side of him, she shook her head. “Oh, Liam,” she said softly.

  The faint smile on his lips was all she could see as suddenly his head bent down to hers and his face grew ever so closer. And then as his lips settled over hers and her eyelids fluttered downward, she could see nothing at all.

  But she could definitely feel and the taste of him was exactly as she remembered; his hard mouth just as enticing. Only seconds passed as her senses began to slip and she started kissing him back.

  Maybe it was her eager response that caused him to swiftly lift his head or perhaps he’d meant for the meeting of their lips to be nothing more than a brief extension of their goodbye. Either way, Kitty had to wonder what he would think if he knew just how much she wanted him, how many times she’d envisioned him making love to her in the light of day, their minds clear, their hearts beating as one.

  “That’s a much nicer way to say good-night.”

  “If you say so,” she murmured.

  He cast one more long glance at her, then reached to open the door. Kitty quickly scrambled through the opening before he had a chance to read the longing on her face.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” she said, then hurried down the dimly lit shed row and away from him.

  *

  Before five o’clock the next morning, Liam was sitting at his desk, wolfing down cold pastries and a pot of hot coffee while going over racing schedules and recent workouts. But the time fractions and furlong distances became little more than a jumble of numbers as Kitty continued to push at the fringes of his thoughts.

  After a while, he decided to put the work aside and call the Diamond D to give his family the news of his impending marriage.

  Fiona, his mother, was the first Donovan to pick up the phone and as soon as Liam blurted out his plans, she very nearly shouted in his ear.

  “You’re going to do what?”

  Leaning back in his chair, he momentarily closed his eyes. “I said I’m getting married, Mom.”

  “Is there something wrong with this connection? That’s the second time I thought you said married.”

  “Nothing wrong with the phone,” Liam assured her. “You heard me right.”

  The silence that followed went on for so long that Liam began to think his mother had fallen over in a dead faint. No doubt he’d shocked her. Nearly seven years had passed since he’d lost Felicia and their baby and that many years since a woman had been in his life. For a long time now his family had pushed and prodded him to find someone to share his life, but he’d stubbornly resisted the idea. Now he could only imagine what a shock this news was going to be to the whole Donovan family.

  “Mom? Are you still there?”

  “Yes. I—I’m just trying to collect myself, son. You’ve stunned me.”

  Liam could have told her that he was pretty stunned himself. In a matter of a day’s time he’d learned he was going to be a father and a husband. His head was still reeling from the impact and the changes that were surely about to come to his life.

  “In a good way, I hope.”

  She let out a brief laugh, but Liam could tell it was full of nerves instead of joy. He rubbed his thumb and forefinger against his closed eyelids.

  “Well, of course, Liam! I’m happy if you are.”

  The image of Kitty’s face drifted behind his closed eyes. The taste of her lips rose up from his memory. “I am.”

  There was another pause and then she asked in a perplexed voice, “Do I know this woman you’re going to marry? You’ve not said anything and—”

  “You’ve met her, Mom. It’s Kitty Cartwright. Will’s daughter.”

  He heard her soft gasp and realized he’d shocked her all over again. Although, he didn’t understand exactly why his mother found this revelation so surprising. It was all very logical to him. Like him, Kitty was a horse trainer. Where else would he have the opportunity to meet a woman besides the track or the training barn?

  “Oh. Yes. I remember meeting her at Sunland Park a couple of years ago.”

  This was not the response he’d expected from his mother. Hell, she, more than anyone in the family, had pestered him about getting married again. But now the tone in her voice implied she was skeptical about Liam’s choice of fiancée.

  “Is that all you can say?”

  “Well, what can I say?” she replied. “I don’t really know this girl.”

  “You might start with congratulations.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Liam,” she quickly responded. “Naturally you have my congratulations. It’s just that—well, Kitty is very young.”

  “Yes. But not too young.”

  “And she’s in the same business as you. How is that going to work?”

  “Well,” he answered brusquely, “she knows how important my job is to me and I understand how essential her position is to her. Since Will died she’s stepped up as head trainer for Desert End.”

  Fiona didn’t question his reasoning. Instead, she said, “Yes, Mr. Cartwright’s passing was an awful blow to the industry and all who knew him. As I recall, you attended his funeral.”

  “Yes. I loved Will. And I wanted to be there for Kitty.” Even though she’d not appeared to need him at that time, Liam thought grimly. She’d been pregnant with his child even then, but she’d not said a word to him about her condition. The fact still irked him, but he wasn’t going to dwell on that now. She’d been in a traumatized state of mind and he could forgive her that much.

  “So you two have been seeing each other for a while?” Fiona asked.

  For some reason, the image of Kitty naked and writhing beneath him popped into Liam’s mind, making it very nearly impossible to focus on his mother’s words. “We’ve been acquainted for six or seven years. But we, uh, didn’t start getting close until a few months ago.”

  “I see. Well, you’ve certainly done a good job of hiding it. I would’ve never guessed you had marriage on your mind,” she said in a perplexed voice, but then she laughed and her tone changed to a happy one. “So when and where? Tell me all about it. The rest of the family will be plying me for information.”

  A waiting call was continuing to beep in his ear and the pestering sound reminded him that this hour of morning wasn’t the time for a lengthy family conversation. “We haven’t decided on the details yet. I’ll call you later with all of that, Mom. And I can hear Dad yelling in the background, so you’d better get off and have breakfast.”

  Fiona agreed and after making her son promise to call back soon, she ended the connection. Liam tossed his phone onto the desk where it immediately began to ring again. But he didn’t make a move to answer it. He had to stop his whirling thoughts before he could contend with business calls.

  He hadn’t had the guts to tell his mother about the baby. But he’d already said enough to get the whole Diamond D buzzing. Besides, there would be time enough before the wedding to tell the family about Kitty’s pregnancy.

  And then what would they all think? That he was entering some sort of shotgun wedding? That without the coming child, there wouldn’t be a wedding at all? That whole notion bothered Liam, although he didn’t exactly understand why. He only knew that he didn’t want anyone thinking he was being forced into marrying Kitty. Becoming her hu
sband was an honor he was only too glad to accept. That’s what he wanted everyone to see.

  But if he and Kitty didn’t appear to be madly in love, how was anyone going to believe their marriage was anything more than an arrangement of convenience? They’d have to pretend, he concluded. And he had no idea whether she would go along with such a ruse. She’d barely seemed to accept the idea of becoming his wife, much less acting as though she liked it.

  With a weary groan, he scrubbed his face with both hands and rose to his feet. He couldn’t be worrying about any of it now. Reckless Rendezvous and five other horses were scheduled to work this morning. He needed to give the jockeys their instructions.

  Rising to his feet, he shoved his cell phone into his pocket before reaching for a stopwatch and a pair of binoculars. The sun was rising and he had a job to do.

  *

  Later that day, at the back of the barn, Kitty was standing beneath a small shade tree with Clayton, a chestnut filly named Pink Sky, and a track farrier. When she’d examined the horse earlier this morning, she’d discovered a small fissure had developed in the toe of her hoof. Kitty hadn’t liked the look of it, but the farrier continued to assure her that a new shoe would prevent the crack from spreading.

  Kitty could only hope the man was correct. Right now she needed anything positive to hold on to.

  “All right, Mr. Johnson. Do what you think is needed,” she said. “But right now the turf track is extremely firm. I’m afraid the pounding will spread the crack all the way to the hairline and if that happens I’ll have to scratch her off the whole spring meet.”

  “Don’t worry, Kitty. Shep is the best in the business. You can rest assured he’ll fix your filly’s hoof.”

  At the sound of Liam’s voice all three in the group turned to look at him. And like always, Kitty’s heart sped to an excited rush. He was dressed casually in jeans and a pale yellow shirt with the sleeves rolled back on his arms. It wasn’t exactly beach wear, but she noticed he had exchanged his usual alligator boots for a pair of smooth brown bull hide.