Merry Christmas, Baby Maverick!

by Brenda Harlen

  “Actually, she’s not—Kristen knows that I’m here to kidnap you.”

  “Kidnap me?”

  “Well, I’m not going to throw you over my shoulder and carry you off against your will, but I asked Kristen to help me figure out a way to spend some time with you, and this was the plan we came up with.”

  The surprise that her sister hadn’t given her any details—or warning—about. “Are you going to tell me anything else about this plan?”

  “You don’t like surprises?” he guessed.

  “I guess that would depend on the surprise.”

  “How does a romantic dinner and a luxury suite at a local B and B sound?”

  “It sounds like you’ve thought of everything—except what I’m going to tell my parents about where I am.”

  “They think you’re spending the night at your sister’s place,” he told her, taking her hand. “I just wanted us to have some time together—just the two of us—away from all of our well-meaning but nosy family and friends in Rust Creek Falls.”

  “It’s a good plan,” she said and resigned herself to the fact that her promise to tell him about their baby tomorrow had been bumped forward to tonight.

  * * *

  Trey was having a hard time reading Kayla.

  She was going through the motions, but her attention seemed to be a million miles away. The restaurant he took her to for dinner had been highly recommended for both its menu and ambience. The lighting was low, the music soft and the service impeccable. His meal was delicious, and Kayla assured him that hers was, too, but she pushed more food around on her plate than she ate, and although she responded appropriately, she didn’t attempt to initiate any conversation.

  Needless to say, by the time he pulled into the driveway of the bed-and-breakfast, he was certain that he’d made a mistake—he just wasn’t sure where. Was it the surprise aspect that she objected to? Would she have preferred to be involved in the planning? Or was she worried about his expectations? Did she think that because he’d paid for the room and dinner he’d expect her to get naked to show her appreciation?

  He suspected it might be the latter when he opened the door to their suite and she caught sight of the enormous bed that dominated the room. And yeah, when he’d made the reservation he’d hoped they might share that bed, but he knew there was a sofa bed in the sitting area if Kayla decided otherwise.

  He guided her past the bed to the sofa and sat her down. “What’s going on, Kayla? What did I do wrong? Because it seems obvious to me that there was something.”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said. “Not really. It’s just that... I’ve come to the realization that we want different things.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I want what Shane and Gianna have,” she told him. “I want to fall in love and get married and have a family.”

  “So? I want those things, too.”

  “‘Someday,’” she remembered.

  “And when I think of that someday, I think I’d like it to be with you.”

  That announcement gave her pause. “You do?”

  “I do,” he assured her. “I’ll admit the whole conversation threw me for a loop, and it’s probably going to be a while before I’m ready for marriage and babies, but please don’t give up on me—on us.”

  Then he held out his hand to her, and Kayla gasped when she saw her teardrop earring sparkling against his palm.

  “Ohmygod. I can’t believe...” Her words trailed off as her eyes filled with tears. “I thought I’d lost it forever.”

  “I’ve been carrying it around with me since July,” he told her. “Waiting for the right time to give it back. I should have returned it sooner. I did plan to give it back to you the next day, but you seemed so embarrassed by what happened between us.”

  He’d been carrying it around with him? Why? Was it possible that night had meant as much to him as it had to her? Or was she reading too much into his words because she wanted his gesture to mean more than it did?

  “I was embarrassed because I thought you didn’t remember,” she admitted.

  “I was fuzzy on the details,” he acknowledged. “But I knew it was your earring and how it ended up in my bed.”

  She lifted the delicate piece from his palm. “Thank you. It’s not worth a lot of money, but it used to be my grandmother’s and it means a lot to me.”

  “I have to admit, when I found it in my sheets, I felt a little bit like Prince Charming after the clock struck midnight—except I had an earring instead of a shoe.”

  She knew that accessories weren’t the only difference between her life and that of the fairy-tale princess, and yet his claim of wanting a future with her gave her hope that her story with Trey might also have a happy ending. But she knew that wasn’t possible until she was honest with him about what had happened at the beginning.

  “Will you give me another chance?” he asked her.

  She looked around the room, noting the flowers and candles, the bottle of champagne chilling on ice. He wouldn’t have gone to so much effort if he didn’t think she was worth it, but would he still think so if he knew the truth she’d kept from him for so long?

  “There’s something I have to tell you—something that’s going to change everything.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I should have told you a long time ago—I wanted to tell you. But I was afraid that it would change how you felt—”

  “Nothing is going to change how I feel about you,” Trey said. “I promise you that.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t. Please, don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

  “I don’t know what’s going on here, but you’re starting to scare me,” he admitted. “So whatever it is, I wish you’d just tell me so that we can deal with it.”

  She buried her face in her hands. “I’m messing this up.”

  “What’s wrong, Kayla? Are you—” He hesitated, as if he didn’t even want to ask the question. “Are you sick?”

  “No, I’m not sick.” The words were little more than a whisper as she lifted tear-drenched eyes to his. “I’m pregnant.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Trey took a step back. Actually, it was more of a stumble than a step, which probably wasn’t surprising, considering that he felt as if the rug had been pulled right out from beneath him.

  “What did you say?”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  His gaze dropped to her stomach, hidden behind yet another oversize sweater. She smoothed a hand over the fabric to show the slight but unmistakable curve of her belly.

  Holy crap—she really was pregnant.

  His knees buckled, and he dropped to the edge of the sofa.

  “When...how—” He shook his head at the ridiculousness of the latter question. “Is it...mine?”

  She nodded.

  His stomach tightened painfully. “So you’re—” he mentally counted back to the wedding “—five months along?”

  She nodded again.

  “Five months,” he said again, shock slowly giving way to fury. “You’ve kept your pregnancy from me for five months?”

  Kayla winced at the anger in his tone. “I didn’t realize I was pregnant until the beginning of October.”

  “October,” he echoed. “So you’ve only kept it a secret for the past three months?”

  “I haven’t told anyone because I was waiting to tell you first.”

  “Really? Because I think if you wanted to tell me, you would have picked up a phone and called.”

  Her big blue eyes filled with tears. “You don’t understand,” she said, her tremulous voice imploring him to try.

  “You’re damn right I don’t understand. If the baby you’re ca
rrying really is mine—”

  She gasped. “How could you doubt it’s true?”

  “How can I doubt it?” he demanded incredulously. “How can I believe anything you’ve told me when you just admitted that you’ve deliberately kept your pregnancy a secret for three months?”

  She lifted her chin. “You have every right to be angry, but you should know me well enough to know that I wouldn’t lie about my baby’s paternity. And I wouldn’t have spent the past couple of weeks agonizing over how to tell you if the baby wasn’t yours.”

  “I am angry,” he confirmed. “And obviously I don’t know you as well as I thought because I never would have imagined you’d keep something like this from me.”

  “Please, Trey,” she said. “Listen to me. Give me a chance to explain.”

  “I’m listening,” he said, but his tone was grim, and his attention was focused on the screen of the cell phone that he’d pulled out of his pocket. His thumbs moved rapidly over the keypad, then he skimmed through the information that appeared. “We can be married right away, without any waiting period required.”

  Her eyes widened. “You want to get married?”

  “Under the circumstances, I can’t see that what I want is relevant right now,” he said.

  “You don’t want to get married,” she realized, her gaze dropping away. “You’re only trying to do the right thing.”

  “Of course I’m trying to do the right thing.” He looked at his phone again. “Come on—there’s an office in Kalispell where we can get a license.”

  “It’s Saturday night, Trey.”

  “So?”

  “So I doubt very much if the county clerk’s office is open right now.”

  He scowled. “I didn’t think about that.”

  “And even if it was open...I’m not going to marry you.”

  “Why not?” he demanded.

  “Because it’s not what you want.”

  “None of this is what I want,” he admitted. “But we’ve only got a few more months until the baby is born, and there’s no way any child of mine is going to be illegitimate.”

  “Illegitimate is only a label,” she pointed out.

  “And not a label I want applied to my child.”

  “I’m not going to marry you, Trey.”

  Something in her quiet but firm tone compelled him to look at her. The stubborn set of her shoulders and defiant tilt of her chin warned him that she was ready to battle over this, although he didn’t understand why. “You don’t have a choice in the matter.”

  “Of course I do,” she countered. “You can’t force me to marry you.”

  “Maybe I can’t, but I’m willing to bet your father—and your brothers—can and will.”

  At that, some of her defiance faded, but she held firm. “They would probably encourage a legal union, under the circumstances,” she acknowledged. “But they’re hardly going to demand a shotgun wedding if it’s not what I want.”

  “You’re saying you don’t want to marry me?”

  Her gaze slid away, her eyes filling with fresh tears. “I don’t want to marry you—not like this.”

  The words were like physical blows that left him reeling. He didn’t understand why she was being so unreasonable. She was carrying his child, but she didn’t want to marry him? Why the hell not? What had he done that she would deprive him of the opportunity to be a father to his child?

  And how could he change her mind? Because he had no intention of accepting her decision as final. But he also knew that he couldn’t talk to her about this anymore right now. There was no way they could have a rational conversation about anything when his emotions were so raw.

  He turned blindly toward the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted.

  “Please, Trey. Let’s sit down and talk about this.”

  He shook his head, his fingers curling around the doorknob. “I can’t talk right now. I need some time to try to get my head around this.”

  And then he was gone, and Kayla was alone.

  She sank down onto the sofa, her heart aching, and put a hand on the curve of her belly. “I’m sorry, baby, but I guess it’s just going to be you and me.”

  She wasn’t really surprised. She’d always expected it would be like this. From the moment she’d realized she was pregnant, she’d anticipated that she would be on her own—a single mother raising her child alone.

  Over the past couple of weeks, she’d let herself imagine that things could be different. Spending time with Trey, she’d got caught up in the fantasy, believing that they were a couple and, with their baby, could be a family.

  Except that wasn’t what he wanted. Not really. But he had asked her to marry him—and for one brief shining moment, the dream had been within her grasp.

  And she’d let it slip through her fingers.

  She heard the sound of his boots pounding on the steps, fading away as he moved farther away from her.

  Would he have stayed if she’d agreed to marry him?

  It was what she wanted, more than anything, to marry the man she loved, the father of her child. But she’d meant what she said—she couldn’t do it. Not like this. Not because he was feeling responsible and trapped. Not without knowing that he loved her, too.

  And right now she was pretty sure he hated her.

  But she couldn’t let him storm off with so much still unresolved between them. She understood that he needed time, that he needed to think. But she suspected that if she let him go now, she could lose him forever. No—it would be better for them to talk this through. It was her fault that they hadn’t done so before now, but she wasn’t willing to put off their conversation any longer.

  She pushed herself off the sofa and turned quickly toward the door, determined to go after him.

  But she’d barely risen to her feet when the room started to spin, then the floor rushed up to meet her.

  * * *

  Trey was beyond angry. He was thoroughly and sincerely pissed off—possibly at himself as much as at Kayla.

  He felt like a complete idiot.

  Pregnant.

  Since July.

  And she hadn’t said a single word to him.

  Not. One. Single. Word.

  Worse—he’d been completely and frustratingly oblivious. Despite all the time he’d spent with her over the past few weeks, despite the numerous times he’d kissed her and the countless times he’d held her, he hadn’t had a clue.

  Her assurance that no one knew about her pregnancy didn’t make him feel any less like an idiot. He should have wondered about her sudden preference for baggy clothes, her unwillingness to go horseback riding with him and her determination to keep him at a physical distance. But he hadn’t, and the revelation of her pregnancy had completely blindsided him.

  How was he going to share the happy news with his family? If it was, indeed, happy news. A baby. His head was still reeling, his mind trying to grasp not just the words but what they meant to him, to his life.

  He yanked the steering wheel and pulled over to the side of the road. Christ. He was going to be a father. Him. And he was so completely unprepared for this his hands were shaking and his heart was pounding.

  Have you ever thought about having kids?

  Had it only been three days ago that she’d asked him that question, after they’d seen Shane and Gianna in town after the Candlelight Walk? At the time, he’d thought the question was out of the blue—now he knew differently. She’d been trying to figure out his feelings, anticipate his reaction to the news that he was going to be a father.

  And what had he said? How had he responded to her question about whether he wanted to have kids? “Someday,” he’d acknowledged. A lackluster respons
e that he’d immediately followed with, “There’s a lot I want to do before I’m hog-tied by the responsibilities of marriage and babies.”

  He dropped his head against the steering wheel.

  He’d actually compared being married to being hog-tied—no wonder she hadn’t replied with an announcement of her pregnancy and confetti in the air. He couldn’t have screwed things up any worse if he’d actually tried.

  And what was he supposed to do now?

  He had no clue.

  He was surprised by the sudden urge to want to talk to his father. Maybe that was normal for a man who’d just learned he was going to be a father himself, but he couldn’t begin to imagine how that conversation might proceed. No doubt his father would be completely stunned—although perhaps not so much by the news of his impending fatherhood as the identity of the mommy-to-be. Because who would believe that sweet, shy Kayla Dalton had gotten naked with serial dater Trey Strickland?

  When he thought about it, even he continued to be surprised by the events of that night. And especially the repercussions. Because one of his first clues that they’d done the deed was the condom wrapper he’d discovered on the floor beside the bed the next morning. Obviously they’d taken precautions to prevent exactly this scenario, and yet, it had happened. Condom companies advertised their product as ninety-eight percent effective, but the baby Kayla was now carrying proved that they’d beaten those odds.

  Unless she was taking advantage of his memory lapse from that night to make him think—

  No. As frustrated and angry and hurt as he was—and despite his own question to her—he knew that Kayla wouldn’t lie about something like that. There was no doubt that she was pregnant or that it was his baby. She wouldn’t have agonized over how and when to tell him if she was perpetrating some elaborate ruse.

  She was pregnant.

  More than five months pregnant.

  With his child.

  Nope—it didn’t get any easier thinking it the second, third or even the tenth time, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to say it aloud to anyone else, especially his father. Would his parents be disappointed in him? He was sure they would accept and love their grandchild, but he didn’t think they’d be particularly proud of his actions. Not in July and not now.