The importance of family traditions. That was definitely something he understood, something his father had instilled into each of his children.
“The girls are lucky to have you,” Colt told her. “I’m sorry about your sister.”
He’d already apologized, but knowing more about the situation gave him another tug on his conscience. Damn it.
“I don’t want to talk about her.”
There was something in Annabelle’s tone that had him cocking his head and studying her. The sadness was there, but something else, too, something almost bitter or resentful.
“Do you want to lay her on the sofa?” he suggested. “We can talk while she rests.”
“You just want to talk? Don’t you think we’ve exhausted all the topics for the night? Unless you’d like to ask about my father’s gambling. Better yet, why don’t we talk about your father or why you have a limp.”
The limp he could discuss, but he didn’t want to talk about his father. He missed the man his father once was, and discussing him, given his current mental state, wasn’t Colt’s idea of a good time.
“Your father is a gambler and mine has dementia. That sums up that topic.” He pulled in a deep breath. “As for the limp, when a tornado ripped through Stone River last year, our main barn was torn up. I was helping to rebuild it when I fell off a ladder, shattering my hip bone and breaking my back. I’m still getting back to normal...if that’s even possible.”
Before she could offer pity, which he did not want, Colt opted to throw the focus back on her. He glanced down toward her half-empty plate. “You didn’t eat enough.”
Annabelle shrugged. “I haven’t had much of an appetite lately.”
“Which is why you passed out.”
“You’re not going to let that go, are you?”
Colt shook his head. “Not until I see you’re taking care of yourself properly.”
Annabelle wrapped both arms around Lucy as she turned and headed toward the patio off the kitchen. Colt followed, pleased she’d given up on the idea of just flat out leaving. For reasons he didn’t want to examine too closely, he wanted her there, in his home. Annabelle took a seat on the sofa and laid Lucy down beside her. After making a wall with throw pillows, Annabelle settled against the cushion and tipped her head back.
“It feels so good to sit and do nothing.”
Colt remained in the doorway, leaning against the frame. She looked so peaceful. Surprisingly, having Annabelle and Lucy there didn’t feel awkward. The women he dated didn’t have children, but Lucy was so damn adorable, it was impossible not to be lighter, happier in her presence. Both girls were precious and obviously so loved by Annabelle. She’d clearly do anything to keep them from harm.
But as Colt studied Annabelle, something shifted inside him. She was making him feel, she was making him want and that wasn’t going to work. He didn’t want to start thinking of her beyond business or the bedroom.
Maybe having her there wasn’t the best idea. He still wanted her, that wouldn’t go away until he’d gotten her out of his system. But he’d learned more about her, quite a bit, and she made him want to take care of her. She made it nearly impossible not to admire her acts of selflessness.
Annabelle Carter was one of the most amazing people he’d ever met.
And she’d just let out a most unladylike snore.
Colt stepped down onto the enclosed patio and stood over her. Her mouth was softer when she slept, her light lashes fanned out over her cheeks, her chest rose and fell so lightly, so steadily. She’d worn herself completely out.
Lucy whimpered and Colt’s gaze jerked to the baby who was starting to wake up. Fear gripped him. He didn’t want to wake Annabelle and he didn’t want Lucy to start crying.
When Lucy started squirming even more, her eyes opened and she whimpered once again.
Colt instantly lifted her from the sofa. Throw pillows slid to the floor as he hurried from the room. Annabelle needed sleep, probably more than she needed to eat. But what the hell did he know about babies? Fussy babies at that.
As he headed through the kitchen and to the front of the house toward the diaper bag, Colt figured he was about to find out.
* * *
Annabelle woke with a start. She glanced around the large room surrounded by windows and filled with indoor plants. Then she recalled she was at Colt’s house.
Her focus shifted to the sofa cushion beside her where Lucy had been. The pillow barrier had fallen to the floor.
Pushing her hair away from her face, Annabelle came to her feet and smoothed her shirt back into place. She had no clue how long she’d been out. The last thing she remembered was sitting down for a second and Colt leaning against the door frame. She’d wanted just a moment to relax before heading home.
After dropping the bomb about her personal life, she figured he’d be done with her, but apparently not. He said he wanted company, that he enjoyed talking with her. And she had to admit, as much as she hated owing him money, she enjoyed their talks, as well. Who was she kidding? She enjoyed more than their talks. She enjoyed the way her body tingled when he entered the room. Enjoyed the way his slightest touch fired up her every nerve ending. She only wished they’d gotten to know each other under different circumstances.
But this was the hand she was dealt. Unfortunately, she had no idea what card to lay down next.
Annabelle stepped up into the kitchen. Colt wasn’t around. She headed through the wide hallway, not having a clue where he’d be. She wasn’t worried, she knew Colt had a handle on Lucy or he would’ve woken her up. At least, she hoped that’s what he would’ve done.
A wave of embarrassment swept over her. She’d obviously been even more exhausted than she’d first thought.
Glancing at a large wall clock at the end of the hallway, Annabelle realized she’d probably been asleep nearly an hour. She knew it had gotten later because the sun was setting, based on the pink and orange glow streaming in through the windows.
“Colt,” she called out. She heard absolutely nothing as she peeked in various doors and headed down another hall.
When Annabelle stepped into the spacious living room, she stood in awe of an entire wall of bookshelves. The amount of cookbooks she could fill those with made her baker’s heart speed up.
But she’d never be filling those shelves with anything. Pebblebrook wasn’t her house. She’d do well to cling to the home she had.
As her eyes swept over the room, she stilled when her gaze landed on the set of patio doors leading out to the side yard. With the sun setting, the magical glow stretching across the horizon and cattle like little black dots in the distance, Annabelle’s breath caught in her throat.
Colt stood beneath an old oak tree. He was cradling Lucy in one strong arm and feeding her a bottle. Annabelle had never witnessed a sexier sight than this man holding the child that had become her own.
Tears pricked her eyes as she gripped the handle of the patio door. She wanted to take in this moment, pretend that it wasn’t fleeting. What would it be like if this were her home? If Colt wanted her for more than sex, more than her land?
He’d be an amazing father. Obviously he’d taken Lucy so Annabelle could sleep. How could that act of kindness not make her look at him a different way? How could she not find herself even more attracted to him?
But she was realistic. In just a few months, she’d have her debt paid off and he’d have no use for her. If she slept with him, well, she didn’t know what would happen because she’d never been in that situation before. She obviously wasn’t a casual-sex person, but nearly every part of her wanted to know what being with Colt would be like. She had a pretty good imagination.
Pulling in a deep breath and praying for strength where that man was concerned, Annabelle opened the patio door and stepped outside. When she started making her way across the yard, Colt turned and met her gaze. His smile nearly had her knees buckling. That man could do so much without ever laying a hand on her.
“I’m sorry I fell asleep on you,” she told him as she drew closer.
“I won’t take it personally.” He glanced back down at Lucy who patted the side of her bottle with her chubby hand. “It got a little hairy when I was trying to hold her and read the directions on the formula can. I’m thankful you already had water in the bottle, so I hope I did everything right.”
Annabelle stepped closer, catching Lucy’s eyes. The instant their eyes locked, the infant smiled, milk streaming down the side of her mouth.
“Oops.” Annabelle laughed as she reached for the baby and the bottle. “She tends to get sidetracked easily.”
Colt swiped the dribble of milk from his forearm and shrugged. “I work with farm animals. I’m not afraid of a little formula on my arm.”
Annabelle took over feeding Lucy. She loved looking down into those green eyes. Loved seeing her sister’s reflection. For the past twenty-four years, Trish had been Annabelle’s best friend. At some point, she’d have to forgive her sister for her betrayal, but she wasn’t quite there yet. It was too fresh, too soon.
But raising her babies was easing the pain, it was bridging that gap even though her sister wasn’t there. Annabelle knew in time, she’d forgive Trish, because there was no way to care for those babies and still hold ill feelings.
“My sister and my fiancé were killed in a car accident.”
She didn’t know why she just blurted that out. Maybe she thought it would be therapeutic to get her feelings out in the open.
“They were seeing each other behind my back.” Okay, that didn’t make her feel any better at all. If anything, now she felt like a fool. “I didn’t know they were involved until the day of the accident. We got into an argument. My sister was crying, Matt was trying to justify their actions. Then they left and that was the last time I saw either of them.”
Colt took a step toward her, but Annabelle kept her gaze on sweet Lucy. She didn’t want to look up and see pity in Colt’s eyes.
“Annabelle...”
She smiled. “Now you use my name?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, not a trace of humor in his voice. “I had no idea about this. I just knew your sister had passed away.”
“It’s crazy. For so long, I looked up to her, wanted to be like her. She was a wonderful mother to Emily and Lucy. I couldn’t wait to get married and start my own family.”
She’d have to wait a little longer for that. She had plenty of other things to get straightened out in her life first.
“After the wedding, I planned to come back here and get my business off the ground.”
“What business?”
Annabelle shook her head, meeting Colt’s worried gaze. “It’s nothing.”
He reached out, curling his hand around her shoulder. “It’s something important enough to bring you back home.”
It was everything. The dream her mother had had, the affection she’d had in her voice when she’d talk about opening the B and B, the people that would hopefully fill it and enjoy the beauty that Stone River had to offer.
“Tell me.”
The command was delivered so softly, she knew he cared or he wouldn’t pursue the issue.
“A bed-and-breakfast,” she murmured, looking back down at Lucy. With the bottle nearly empty, Annabelle pulled it from Lucy’s puckered lips and eased the baby upright. “It was a goal my mother had before she passed. She taught me how to bake, telling me that’s what would be the heart of our business. People who came to stay with us would want good food. I couldn’t wait to grow up and help her run the place. After she passed, I was nervous to do it all alone. But this past year, I got engaged and thought it was time to just go for it.”
Holding Lucy on her hip, Annabelle looked out to the horizon and forced her emotions down. She didn’t want to break here, not in front of Colt.
“Over the past few months, these setbacks nearly destroyed me. But I know my mom wouldn’t want me to give up, so I’m not. I’m doing all of this for her.”
That last word came out broken as tears clogged her throat. Apparently she wasn’t as strong as she thought.
“I don’t know what to say,” he murmured, squeezing her shoulder.
Annabelle turned her attention back to him. “There’s nothing to say. Life sometimes has other plans for us. If I gave up each time I had a stumbling block, I would’ve thrown in the towel a long time ago.”
Colt’s bright blue eyes studied her and Annabelle wanted to know what was going through his mind. Did he see her as weak because she couldn’t hold on to the life she’d wanted? Did he think she was pathetic because she had no real vision at the moment? Her life was in chaos and there was no clear picture in sight.
“You’re one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever known,” he stated.
Lucy tugged on Annabelle’s hair and pulled some into her mouth. Annabelle eased the strands from the baby’s clutches and pushed them behind her shoulders.
“Then you don’t know too many people,” she laughed.
Colt’s hand trailed up to cup the side of her face. “I know people all over the world. None of them has half the tenacity for life that you do.”
Such a compliment coming from Colt Elliott warmed her...as if she needed to be warmed in any more areas where he was concerned.
He leaned in, and Annabelle knew he was going to kiss her. She shifted Lucy slightly on her hip and tipped her head to meet Colt’s lips. The gentle way he swept his mouth across hers while stroking his thumb along her jawline...yeah, that man was powerful without being forceful. He made her want things. Things that she would never have with him.
When he eased back, Annabelle knew she needed to go. If she stayed any longer, she’d start getting delusions that this life could be hers, that she could live on a sprawling ranch like Pebblebrook. That a man like Colt could fall in love with her. This wasn’t a fairy tale. This was real life and she was crawling day after day to get hers back.
“I need to go,” she stated, licking her lips to taste him once more. “Thanks for dinner.”
He dropped his hand and stepped back. “I’m sure Winnie would love for you to come back again.”
“And you?” She couldn’t resist asking. “Would you love for me to come back again?”
Heat filled his eyes as he stared at her mouth. “I think you already know the answer to that.”
Yeah, she did. And Annabelle knew if she came back for dinner, she would not be bringing a baby.
Twelve
Annabelle rifled through her purse before work the next morning. She needed a pen to jot down that recipe for Winnie, but she couldn’t find one.
She also couldn’t find the fifty dollar bill she’d had in there yesterday. She’d given her father some money for the store, and he’d put the change back like she’d told him to. She hated immediately thinking he took the cash, but she knew full well she didn’t use it. Where had she been besides the barn, Colt’s house and her house?
Dread filled her stomach.
Annabelle sank on the edge of her bed. She was going to have to confront him. She’d not only looked in her purse that had been on her bed, she’d looked all around the bed, beneath the bed, thinking maybe it had fallen out.
She should’ve known better than to leave cash around, but she’d sincerely hoped he was trying to be a better man, be the father she’d asked him to be.
Annabelle didn’t know if she wanted to cry or throw her hands in the air and give up.
She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and texted Colt to tell him there had been an emergency and she’d drive herself over a little bit later. Shoving her phone in the pocket of her jeans, she cast a glance at Emily and Lucy, still sleeping in their cribs against the far wall. Both girls tended to wake once a night to eat and since they’d both gotten up at four and were wide-awake until six, they now opted to sleep in. Of course they fell asleep right when she needed to get ready to go to the farm.
The scent of
coffee filtered up from the first floor—a sure sign her father was awake. She took a few minutes to compose herself before she went into full attack mode.
Pulling in a breath, Annabelle went downstairs and into the kitchen. Her father had his back to her as he poured himself a mug of coffee.
“Did you take money from my purse?”
His shoulders stiffened. “You gave me money for the store. I put the change back like you said.”
The fact that he evaded her question told her everything she needed to know. Her heart sank—and her hopes weren’t far behind.
“What was it this time, Dad? A ball game? A horse race? Online poker?”
Neil Carter dropped his head between his shoulders. “I’ll pay you back. I know that investment will return—”
“It’s not an investment, Dad,” she all but yelled. “We have no extra money. I’m not only paying off this house, I’m trying to raise two babies now. When will you be a responsible adult? When will you see that this habit of yours is destroying us? Because it doesn’t matter how much I want you to change, you have to want it, too.”
Could he not see that this wasn’t just about him or her anymore? Emily and Lucy needed them—they had no other family. No matter what happened with the farm, with the gambling, Annabelle vowed to hold strong. She would not fail those babies. She loved them like they were her own, and she wanted to honor her sister’s memory, despite what had gone down in those final days.
Her father set the mug on the counter and turned to face her. “I do, Belle. It’s just going to take time.”
The subtle tap on her front door had Annabelle cringing. Colt. No doubt he’d shown up even though she told him she’d be late.
“Time is something we don’t have,” she whispered before turning away.
“Belle,” he called after her.
“I have to go to work,” she stated without looking back as she headed to the front door. “Someone has to hold this family together.”
Considering she only had a few ones in her purse, she wasn’t even bothering to take it. He could have her last dollar. What did it matter at this point? The money for the house wasn’t even going through her hands. Colt was keeping her wages, so at least that was something. But she didn’t have any extra and she knew she’d have to go to the store soon. Not to mention the bills would be coming due. Apparently, her father had no respect for such necessities as water and electricity.
Twin Secrets (Mills & Boon Desire) (The Rancher’s Heirs 01) Page 10