The Cowboy's Baby Surprise - A Billionaire Romance (Billionaire Cowboys Book 2)

by Holly Rayner

  “You must have me mistaken for someone else,” he told the woman quickly. He pulled out a deposit slip and began to write on it. “Good day, now.”

  He could feel her eyes on him still, but thankfully she didn’t ask any more questions. Instead, she stepped up to the teller’s window and Colt heard her start to request money from her account.

  November 13th. The number nagged him.

  Marissa is due toward the end of the month, he thought, as he finished filling out his deposit slip.

  That means my child—if it’s mine—is going to be born soon.

  And I won’t be there to welcome my little baby into the world.

  This thought crushed him and lingered on his mind as he joined the line, stepped up to the teller window, and finished his transaction.

  With his banking done, he stepped back outside. The sky was overcast; gray clouds hung low in the air, looking like they might at any moment open up in a downpour.

  The air was thick with humidity.

  It all reminded him of the day that Keller Jenkins was sentenced to twenty years.

  Vance told me that I’d pay for putting his father behind bars, Colt thought, and despite all that I’ve done to evade harm for myself and those around me, he’s still managed to inflict pain.

  The pain might not be physical, but it’s real.

  It’s emotional pain. I want to know my child. I want to be there when my baby is born. The due date must be getting so close, yet here I am in Austin, miles and miles away from Marissa.

  He got into his car and looked into his rearview mirror. As usual, he saw Charlie and two other men get into a car just behind him. Charlie and his crew maintained an around-the-clock protective service for Colt since Vance still had not been apprehended.

  Colt steered away from the curb and pulled out into traffic.

  He was supposed to drive to his downtown office, but his fingers twitched against the wheel.

  I can’t let Vance win, Colt thought to himself. I can’t let him cause me pain like this.

  He read the street signs as he drove past them, looking for the route that would take him toward Kansas. Finally, he spotted it, and he yanked the wheel left, steering onto the ramp that would take him up to the interstate.

  Immediately, his cell phone rang. He clicked a button on his steering wheel, and Charlie’s voice sounded through the car’s speakers. “Colt, where are you headed? You have a meeting at two.”

  “I’m going to call my PA and cancel it,” Colt said. “I’m going to Kansas.”

  “The girl,” Charlie said with a sigh. “I knew it.”

  “Charlie, man, I’ve got to see her. I think the baby’s mine. I have a feeling about it—and I can’t let her have that baby without being there to give some support. I want to welcome my child into the world.”

  “I thought you said she was with a new man?” Charlie asked.

  Over the last few months, since July, Colt had gone over the story of his trip to Dulcett many times with his trusty top security officer.

  “She does,” Colt said. “But I’m going anyway. I have to do this. I’ve been fighting this urge for too long, Charlie. All these months, since July, I’ve been holding back… longer, even. I’ve been wanting to see her again since the moment she walked out of my penthouse back in March. I can’t wait any longer.”

  “We’re right behind you,” Charlie promised. “Just give us a chance to keep up with you despite all this traffic. And take a few pit stops, won’t you? I’m getting old, and my bladder isn’t what it used to be.”

  Colt chuckled and eased off the gas. “Got it, old man,” he teased. “I’ll be sure to stop for a break every few hours.”

  Ten hours and five breaks later, Colt pulled off of the interstate at the nearest town to Dulcett that had an inn. It was twenty miles, according to his GPS, from Marissa’s home. He slept well, knowing that she was near. He was up bright and early, and he arrived in Dulcett at seven a.m. He drove to her address and spotted an elderly woman out front, busy with a pair of pruning shears. She stopped pruning and looked up with curiosity as Colt slowed to a stop, and Charlie and his boys stopped right behind him.

  Marissa’s car wasn’t in the driveway. Thinking that the woman might know where Marissa was, Colt got out and approached her. He sensed Charlie and the two other guards in their second car watching him as he said, “Morning, ma’am,” and tipped his cowboy hat in her direction. “I’m a friend of Marissa’s. Do you happen to know where she might be this morning? I have to talk to her, and it’s rather urgent.”

  The woman furrowed her brow. “You must not know her well,” she said. “If you did, you’d know she’s not in Dulcett anymore. She moved out right at the beginning of fall—back to her parent’s house.”

  Colt frowned. “I didn’t know,” he said. “Mind telling me where that is?”

  The older woman hesitated. “I’d better not,” she said. “I don’t want to share personal information.”

  “I’m a friend,” Colt said.

  “If you’re truly her friend, call her and ask,” the woman stated. She then turned and sauntered back to the large house that was positioned far back on the property.

  Colt stood and watched her walk away. He felt like a fool for driving so far, only to find that Marissa was no longer living in Dulcett.

  Then, a memory struck him. “Peabody!” he whispered to himself. He took out his phone. “She said something about growing up in Peabody, Kansas. Where’s that?”

  A quick search showed him the route. That’s where she grew up, he recalled. Maybe that’s where her parents live, now. There’s a chance she’s there.

  He approached the SUV that Charlie was driving and held up three fingers.

  Charlie rolled down the window. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

  “Three hours—that’s how much farther we have to drive,” Colt said.

  Charlie groaned. “You’re kidding me!” he said. “You mean the girl’s not here?”

  Colt backed up and then turned to jog toward his own vehicle. “She has a name, Charlie,” he called out with a grin as he ran. “It’s Marissa!”

  Then, he got into his car, made a U-turn, and headed back toward the interstate.

  It was quarter to eleven when he arrived in Peabody. The town was smaller even than Dulcett. Main Street was a dirt road lined with a church, library, post office, and a restaurant of some sort. On either side of the small town, prairies stretched out as far as Colt could see. The sun was high in the sky, and he was hot as he walked from one establishment to the next, asking folks if they’d seen Marissa.

  At the library, he heard that she came in once in a while since she moved back to town, but she hadn’t been there in nearly a week. A kind older gentleman named Ralph at the post office gave Colt the address to Marissa’s parents’ house.

  Colt drove to the address that the man gave him. It was for a small, split-level house on the outskirts of town. He removed his hat as he approached the front door.

  Marissa’s red Jetta was parked in the yard. Is she here? he wondered as he rang the bell. How is she going to react to the sight of me?

  He waited, tapping his boot against the cement stoop to dispel some of his pent-up energy. A round woman, about Marissa’s height and with Marissa’s kind eyes, came to the door. “Oh!” she said, as her gaze traveled up, up, up and then met Colt’s eyes. “You are tall!” she exclaimed with a smile.

  Colt laughed. He suspected that the woman was Marissa’s mother, and he liked her already. “A little over six feet,” he said with a grin. “You must be Marissa’s mother?”

  She nodded and continued peering up at him. “And you are?” she asked.

  “Colt,” he answered. “Colt Thorpe.” He offered his hand and she shook it, but she didn’t show any signs of recognizing his name. Marissa must not have told her much about me, Colt realized. And she must not watch the news. The woman was still smiling in a friendly manner. “You’re
a friend of Marissa’s?” she asked.

  He nodded. “I am, ma’am,” he said with a nod. “And I’d love to talk to her. Is she home?”

  He couldn’t help but peer past the woman into the cozy home beyond. He could see into a small living room area that was empty, and just beyond that he could see a sliver of the kitchen, which was also empty. A radio was playing softly, broadcasting oldies. The woman shook her head, confirming what Colt was beginning to suspect: Marissa was out.

  “Do you have any idea where she might be?” Colt asked. “I’d love to find her. I have something important to speak to her about.”

  Again, the woman eyed him with curiosity. But instead of asking him for details, she simply said, “I wish I could help you, but I don’t know where she goes off to every day. She walks out of here early in the morning and often doesn’t come back ’til dark. She’s been in a quiet mood lately… Henry and I have been giving her plenty of space.”

  Colt thought this through. Where would Marissa walk? If she took long walks in town, he would have seen her during his cruise through.

  She must go out into nature, he thought. Suddenly, he remembered something that Marissa said on the night that they first met. “Ma’am, she mentioned an oak tree once to me—an old oak that she loved to spend time under as a kid. Does that sound familiar to you?”

  The woman furrowed her brow. “An old oak,” she said, tapping her lip. “Nothing comes to mind. Marissa was a very private child. She lived in her own little world with her books and didn’t chat often.”

  The sound of a man’s voice floated through the house. “Linda? Linda, who’s there?”

  A man in his seventies appeared in the kitchen doorway. The man crossed the living room and joined Marissa’s mother at the door.

  “It’s a nice young man looking for Marissa, Henry honey,” Linda said. “He’s asking about an oak tree. Did Marissa ever mention one to you?”

  “Sure!” the man said. “She used to go there when she was younger. It’s the tallest tree around—the oldest, too. Over one hundred years old. It’s on the edge of the Johnson’s farm, up that little hill, just this side of the irrigation ditch.”

  “Oh!” Linda said with a nod. “I know just the tree you’re talking about. I didn’t know our girl liked to spend time there. Colt, honey, here’s how you’ll get there. See that little footpath?” she pointed across the road. “Follow it about a mile, and then…”

  Colt listened carefully to the directions that Marissa’s mother offered. Then, he thanked the kind couple and spent a moment talking to his security team. Though Charlie wanted to accompany him out to the old tree, Colt asked him not to.

  “I have to do this alone,” he told Charlie. “Y’all just wait here, or go into town and have some lunch. There’s nobody out there but Marissa, and I’d like to talk to her in private.”

  Charlie agreed, and with that, Colt headed toward the footpath that would bring him to the old oak tree. I hope she’s there, he thought, as he began to hike.

  Chapter 16

  Marissa

  Marissa looked up at the tree branches far above her. Bright green oak leaves formed a canopy that almost blocked the blue sky beyond. She could see little slivers of the sky through holes in the canopy, and occasionally a sunbeam would find its way through the umbrella of leaves and warm her face. She lay on her back. The grass was soft under her. Her hands were on her protruding belly, feeling for the occasional movements that she’d come to love.

  At first, it had been so strange to feel the baby move inside of her, and occasionally kick, but over the past few months she’d grown accustomed to the movement. The doctors that she had been working with, first in Dulcett and more recently at the hospital closest to Peabody, told her that the movement was a sign that her little one was doing well. Now, when she felt the absence of movement, it worried her, and she always felt reassured when the baby started to stir once again.

  “You’re feeling active, aren’t you?” she said aloud to her baby bump.

  She knew that the baby could hear sounds, and she often liked to talk or sing aloud. With her hands still on her belly, she started to hum.

  It’s so peaceful out here, she thought, listening to the sounds that she made mingle with the songs from the birds around her. There’s no one here who will ask me prying questions about the baby’s father. No one out here, under this tree, will look at me in that judgmental way that I’m so tired of. At least these birds aren’t hoping for a bit of juicy gossip to share with their neighbors. They only want to sing along with me.

  She kept humming, and her eyes drifted closed.

  It’s so nice out here, all alone… just me, my baby, and the birds.

  “Marissa?” a deep, gentle voice nearby caused her eyes to pop open. She sat up slowly and carefully, shifting her weight side to side to manage her large belly, and then looked around.

  She saw Colt, standing just outside of the shade of the tree. He was wearing his cowboy boots, jeans, a pale, plaid button-up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and of course, his cowboy hat. His shoulders were just as broad as she remembered, his chest just as strong, and his smile just as bright. As she stared at him in shock, he removed his hat and grinned wider. He took a step closer.

  “I was hoping I’d find you here,” he said gently, in that slow, deep drawl that she remembered so well.

  Marissa lifted her hand up to her brow, feeling for signs of a fever.

  I must be feverish. I must be hallucinating, she thought with concern. Her brow wasn’t hot or clammy.

  I’ve fallen asleep, then, she thought. I’m dreaming.

  She squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again. She felt awake. Colt was still there.

  His smile faded, just slightly. “Say something, Marissa,” he said.

  She shook her head and a crease formed between her brows. “I—I can’t think of what to say,” she said honestly. “You can’t be here. I must be dreaming… You’re dead.” She shook her head and bit her lip. “You can’t be here. You can’t. I—I’ve been mourning your death for half a year, Colt.”

  Her breath came out in jagged bursts. Her heart was beating fast. She kept staring at Colt, hoping for some kind of explanation.

  He stayed rooted to the spot, just at the edge of the shade. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again.

  She began to get to her feet. It was harder than it used to be, thanks to the weight she was carrying. Before she could stand, Colt stepped into the pool of shade, walked up to her, and put out his hand.

  Though she could barely comprehend his appearance in Peabody, she reached for his hand and allowed him to help her up.

  Once she was on her feet, she eyed the man who was now just a foot away. Every inch of him was as perfect as she remembered. Her hand lingered in his—she didn’t want to pull it away just yet. A storm of emotion swirled through her. She was shocked at Colt’s appearance. She needed an explanation. At the same time, her body begged her to surrender to her attraction. She wanted to step in, wrap her arms around his neck, and kiss him deeply.

  As she tried to deal with her conflicting emotions, Colt stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. She was eye level with the top of his chest, and she could not yet bring herself to look up into his eyes.

  It all felt like too much.

  She focused on the sensation of his touch against her hand. She closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation for a moment. Then, thoughts filled her mind, pulling her away from the pleasurable sensation.

  How is it possible that he’s here in Peabody?

  The news said he was dead.

  Was all that a lie?

  A jolt of betrayal coursed through her. She spoke in a whisper. “What are you doing here, Colt?” Her throat was constricted, and her words came out sounding tight and angry.

  She heard Colt take a breath. Then he said, “Marissa, I am so sorry. I’ve hurt you.”

  She opened her eyes and pulled her hand away
from his. She placed her hand on her belly. Her gaze traveled up, up, up, and looked into his blue eyes. She felt her brows tent together. The world became shimmery due to the tears welling up in her eyes.

  “This whole time, I thought you died,” she said. “I’ve been trying to cope with the idea of having our baby alone. I’ve been struggling, every day—” She stopped abruptly and bit her lip.

  She didn’t want Colt to feel pity for her. She’d experienced enough pitying looks to last a lifetime. Her cheeks heated as she took a few deep breaths.

  Colt took the opportunity to speak. “Marissa,” he said. “I know this must be a shock, but—”

  “A shock? You make it sound like I’ve just touched an electric fence. This is more than a shock…” Her voice drifted off, as she tried to put into words the emotions coursing through her body. “I’ve gone through this entire pregnancy alone. Alone. Just me. Do you know how difficult that was, believing that you were gone? Worrying about what the future might bring? Worrying about how to raise our baby by myself?”

  Colt searched her eyes. “So, it. . . it’s mine?” he asked softly.

  “Yes, Colt,” she said.

  He paused, as if taking this in.

  She studied him, still reeling with the shock of seeing him. She had worked so hard to accept his death. Now, seeing him alive and well before her felt so surreal. It felt as though her world was spinning.

  “Marissa,” Colt said, reaching for her hand.

  His fingers weaved between her own. At the same time, a sudden, clenching pain gripped her womb. The intense, squeezing sensation took her breath away. She gasped, pulled her hand from Colt’s, gripped her belly, and bent over.

  “Oh!” she cried out. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing as the cramp intensified. Once it passed, she opened her eyes and looked at Colt. “That was the strongest contraction I’ve ever had,” she said, still trying to catch her breath. “Colt… I think I’m going into labor.”

  Colt’s eyes widened. “Here?” he asked. “Now?”