Merry Christmas, Baby Maverick!
Brenda Harlen
RUST CREEK RAMBLINGSThere’s no place like home for the holidays. But Trey Strickland’s house is about to become a bit more crowded than he anticipated. Merry Christmas, Baby Daddy! The sexy Thunder Canyon rancher has no idea he will soon be a father.But just who is carrying Trey’s baby? Dear readers, the answer may shock you! Let’s just say that it is someone well known to this reporter. Our mystery mama can’t figure out how to tell Trey she is in a family way after their one night together. What will happen when the truth comes out? Will her cowboy crush race off for parts unknown, or will he deliver the perfect Christmas proposal in a tiny velvet box?
“How have you been?” he asked.Pregnant.
The word was on the tip of Kayla’s tongue because, of course, that reality had been at the forefront of her mind since the little plus sign had appeared on the test she’d bought at the pharmacy in Kalispell. But she didn’t dare say it aloud, because she knew he couldn’t understand when he didn’t even remember sleeping with her.
“Fine,” she said instead. “And you?”
“Fine,” he echoed.
She nodded.
An awkward silence followed.
“I wanted to call you,” he said, dropping his voice to ensure that his words wouldn’t be overheard by any passersby. “There were so many times I thought about picking up the phone, just because I was thinking about you.”
Her heart, already racing, accelerated even more. “You were thinking about me?”
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you since we danced at the wedding.”
Since we danced?
That was what Trey remembered about that night? She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
* * *
Montana Mavericks:What Happened at the Wedding? A weekend Rust Creek Falls will never forget!
Merry Christmas,
Baby Maverick!
Brenda Harlen
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
BRENDA HARLEN is a former attorney who once had the privilege of appearing before the Supreme Court of Canada. The practice of law taught her a lot about the world and reinforced her determination to become a writer—because in fiction, she could promise a happy ending! Now she is an award-winning, national bestselling author of more than thirty titles for Mills & Boon. You can keep up-to-date with Brenda on Facebook and Twitter or through her website, www.brendaharlen.com (http://www.brendaharlen.com).
For loyal readers of all the Montana Mavericks series, from Whitehorn to Thunder Canyon and Rust Creek Falls.
This book is also dedicated to Robin Harlen (May 8, 1943–December 20, 2014)—a wonderful father-in-law to me and granddad to my children. He would be pleased to know that I finished this book on schedule.
Contents
Cover (#uf5183288-9db2-5d7d-aa7f-2cb1f07446f3)
Introduction (#u2bfc8728-9ed3-53cc-8412-cba379d074de)
Title Page (#u5f1da2a7-3096-5b56-bf8d-8dfd98396edb)
About the Author (#u51dbf5bc-75bf-54e5-bec0-6f6defb4f581)
Dedication (#u89efeff6-8db8-5c90-8492-6ac88055fbd0)
Prologue (#u8ee9979c-af1f-57b7-ba21-8ff6c23b0a6a)
Chapter One (#u3749e564-2daa-585e-bacd-aae565af39a1)
Chapter Two (#ub644b26f-e4c7-5efa-820b-067e6d9194b0)
Chapter Three (#u97637f4e-71a0-59ff-bd08-2330d37c3b03)
Chapter Four (#uf866d401-9431-59fe-82ec-c11a91e3d4ec)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Prologue (#ulink_0fc97ede-19dd-5220-85a2-1d522dc00f42)
Fourth of July
Trey Strickland did a double take when he first spotted Kayla Dalton at the wedding of local rancher Braden Traub to Jennifer MacCallum of Whitehorn.
Although Trey was only visiting from Thunder Canyon, his family had lived in Rust Creek Falls for a number of years while he was growing up. His best friend during that time was Derek Dalton, who had two older brothers, Eli and Jonah, and two younger sisters, twins Kristen and Kayla.
Trey remembered Kayla as a pretty girl with a quiet demeanor and a shy smile, but she’d grown up—and then some. She was no longer a pretty girl, but a beautiful woman with long, silky brown hair, sparkling blue eyes and distinctly feminine curves. Looking at her now, he couldn’t help but notice the lean, shapely legs showcased by the short hem of her blue sundress, the tiny waist encircled by a narrow belt, the sweetly rounded breasts hugged by the bodice...and his mouth actually went dry.
She was stunning, sexy and incredibly tempting. Unfortunately, she was still his friend’s little sister, which meant that she was off-limits to him.
But apparently, Kayla was unaware of that fact, because after hovering on the other side of the wooden dance floor that had been erected in the park for the occasion, she set down her cup of punch and made her way around the perimeter of the crowd.
She had a purposeful stride—and surprisingly long legs for such a little thing—and he enjoyed watching her move. He was pleased when she came to a stop beside him, looking up at him with determination and just a little bit of trepidation glinting in her beautiful blue eyes.
“Hello, Trey.”
He inclined his head in acknowledgment of her greeting. “Kayla.”
For some reason, his use of her name seemed to take her aback. “How did you know it was me?”
“I haven’t been gone from Rust Creek Falls that long,” he chided gently.
Soft pink color filled her cheeks. “I meant—how did you know I was Kayla and not Kristen?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. But the truth was, he’d never had any trouble telling his friend’s twin sisters apart. Although identical in appearance, their personalities were completely different, and he’d always had a soft spot for the shyer twin.
Thankfully, she didn’t press for more of an explanation, turning her attention back to the dance floor instead. “They look good together, don’t they?”
He followed her gaze to the bride and groom, nodded.
They chatted a little bit more about the wedding and various other things. A couple of older women circulated through the crowd, carrying cups of wedding punch to distribute to the guests. The beverage was refreshingly cold, so he lifted a couple of cups from the tray and handed one to Kayla.
When they finished their drinks and set the empty cups aside, he turned to her and asked, “Would you like to dance?”
She seemed surprised by the question and hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Yes, I would.”
Of course, that was the moment the tempo of the music changed from a quick, boot-stomping tune to a soft, seductive melody. Then Kayla stepped into his arms, and the intoxicating effect of her soft curves against him shot through his veins like the most potent whiskey.
A strand of her hair had come loose from the fancy twist at the back of her head and it fluttered in the breeze, tickling his throat. The scent of her skin teased his nostrils, stirring his blood and clouding his brain. He tried to think logically about the situation—just because she was an attractive woman and he was attracted didn’t mean he had to act on the feeling. But damn, it was hard to remember all the reasons why he needed to resist when she fit so perfectly against him.
As the song began to wind down, he guided her to the edge of the dance floor, then through the crowd of people mingling, until they were in the shadows of the pavilion.
“I thought, for a moment, you were going to drag me all the way to your room at the boarding house,” Kayla teased.
The idea was more than a little tempting. “I might have,” he said. “If I thought you would let me.”
She held his gaze for a long minute then nodded slowly. “I would let you.”
The promise in her eyes echoed her words. Still, he hesitated, because this was Kayla—Derek’s sister—and she was off-limits. But she was so tempting and pretty, and with her chin tipped up, he could see the reflection of the stars in her eyes. Dazzling. Seductive. Irresistible.
He gave in to the desire churning through him and lowered his head to kiss her.
And she kissed him back.
As her lips moved beneath his, she swayed into him. The soft press of her sweet body set his own on fire. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer as he deepened the kiss. She met the searching thrust of his tongue with her own, not just responding to his demands but making her own. Apparently, sweet, shy Kayla Dalton wasn’t as sweet and shy as he’d always believed—a stunning realization that further fanned the flames of his desire.
He wanted her—desperately and immediately. And the way she was molded to him, he would bet the ranch that she wanted him, too. A suspicion that was further confirmed when he started to ease his mouth away and she whimpered a soft protest, pressing closer.
“Maybe we should continue this somewhere a little more private,” he suggested.
“More private sounds good,” she agreed without hesitation.
He took her hand, linking their fingers together, and led her away.
Chapter One (#ulink_73faa6e2-d198-506a-8606-71ace93e0a34)
Kayla walked out of the specialty bath shop with another bag to add to the half dozen she already carried and a feeling of satisfaction. It was only the first of December, and she was almost finished with her Christmas shopping. She’d definitely earned a hot chocolate.
Making her way toward the center court of the mall, she passed a long line of children and toddlers impatiently tugging on the hands of parents and grandparents, along with babies sleeping in carriers or snuggled in loving arms. At the end of the line was their destination: Santa.
She paused to watch as a new mom and dad approached the jolly man in the red suit, sitting on opposite sides of him after gently setting their sleeping baby girl—probably not more than a few months old—in his arms. Then the baby opened her eyes, took one look at the stranger and let out an earsplitting scream of disapproval.
While the parents fussed, trying to calm their infant daughter so the impatient photographer could snap a “First Christmas with Santa” picture, Kayla was suddenly struck by the realization that she might be doing the same thing next Christmas.
Except that there wouldn’t be a daddy in her picture, an extra set of hands to help console their unhappy baby. Kayla was on her own. Unmarried. Alone. A soon-to-be single mother who was absolutely terrified about that fact.
She’d always been logical and levelheaded, not the type of woman who acted impulsively or recklessly. Not until the Fourth of July, when she’d accepted Trey’s invitation to go back to his room. One cup of wedding punch had helped rekindle her schoolgirl fantasies about the man who had been her brother’s best friend. Then one dance had led to one kiss—and one impulsive decision to one unplanned pregnancy.
She owed it to Trey to tell him that their night together had resulted in a baby, but she didn’t know how to break the news when he apparently didn’t even remember that they’d been together. Even now, five months later, that humiliation made her cheeks burn.
She wasn’t at all promiscuous. In fact, Trey was the first man she’d had sex with in three years and only the second in all of her twenty-five years. But Trey had also been drinking the wedding punch that was later rumored to have been spiked with something, and his memory of events after they got back to his room at the boarding house was a little hazy. Kayla had been relieved—and just a little insulted—when he left Rust Creek Falls to return to Thunder Canyon a few weeks later without another word to her about what had happened between them.
But she knew that he would be back again. Trey no longer lived in Rust Creek Falls but his grandparents—Gene and Melba Strickland—still did, and he returned two or three times every year to visit them. It was inevitable that their paths would cross when he came back, and she’d have to tell him about their baby when he did.
Until then, she was grateful that she’d managed to keep her pregnancy a secret from almost everyone else. Even now, only her sister, Kristen, knew the truth. Thankfully, she’d only just started to show, and the cold Montana weather gave her the perfect excuse to don big flannel shirts or bulky sweaters that easily covered the slight curve of her belly.
Regardless of the circumstances of conception, she was happy about the baby and excited about impending motherhood. It was only the “single” part that scared her. And although her family would likely disapprove of the situation, she was confident they would ultimately support her and love her child as much as she did.
The tiny life stirred inside her, making her smile. She loved her baby so much already, so much more than she would have imagined possible, but she had no illusions that Trey would be as happy about the situation. Especially considering that he didn’t even remember getting naked and tangling up the sheets with her.
She pushed those worries aside for another day and entered the line in the café. After perusing the menu for several minutes, she decided on a peppermint hot chocolate with extra whipped cream, chocolate drizzle and candy-cane sprinkles. She’d been careful not to overindulge, conscious of having to disguise every pound she put on, but she couldn’t hide her pregnancy forever—probably not even for much longer.
Which, of course, introduced another dilemma—how could she tell anyone else about the baby when she hadn’t even told the baby’s father? And what if he denied that it was his?
The sweet beverage she’d sipped suddenly left a bad taste in her mouth as she considered the possibility.
A denial from Trey would devastate her, but she knew that she had to be prepared for it. If he didn’t remember sleeping with her, why would he believe he was the father of her child?
“It really is a small world, isn’t it?”
Kayla started at the question that interrupted her thoughts, her face flaming as she glanced up to see Trey’s grandmother standing beside her table with a steaming cup of coffee in her hands. Not that Melba Strickland could possibly know what she’d been thinking, but Kayla couldn’t help but feel unnerved by the other woman’s unexpected presence.
She forced a smile. “Yes, it is,” she agreed.
“Do you mind if I join you?”
“Of course not.” There weren’t many empty chairs in the café, and it seemed silly for each of them to sit alone as if they were strangers. Especially considering that Kayla had known the Stricklands for as long as she could remember.
Melba and Gene were good people, if a little old-fashioned. Or maybe it was just that they were old—probably in their late seventies or early eighties, she guessed, because no one seemed to know for sure. Regardless, their boarding house was a popular place for people looking for long-term accommodations in Rust Creek Falls—so long as they didn’t mind abiding by Melba’s strict rules, which included a ban on overnight visitors. An explicit prohibition that Kayla and Trey had ignored on the Fourth of July.
“Goodness, this place is bustling.” Melba pulled back the empty chair and settled into it. “The whole mall, I mean. It’s only the first of December, and the stores are packed. It’s as if everyone in Kalispell has decided to go shopping today.”
“Everyone in Kalispell and half of Rust Creek Falls,” Kayla agreed.
The older woman chuckled. “Looks like you got an early start,” she noted, glancing at the shopping bags beneath the table.
“Very early,” Kayla agreed, scooping up some whipped cream and licking it off the spoon.
“I love everything about Christmas,” Melba confided. “The shopping and wrapping, decorating and baking. But mostly I love the time we spend with family and friends.”
“Are you going to have a full house over the holidays this year?” Kayla asked.
“I hope so,” the older woman said. “We’ve had Claire, Levi and Bekka with us since August, and Claire’s sisters have hinted that they might head this way for Christmas, which would be great. I so love having the kids around.”
Kayla smiled because she knew the kids referred to—Bekka excluded—were all adults.
They chatted some more about holiday traditions and family plans, then Melba glanced at the clock on the wall. “Goodness—” her eyes grew wide “—is that the time? I’ve only got three hours until I’m meeting Gene for dinner, and all I’ve bought is a cup of coffee.”
“Mr. Strickland came into the city with you?”
The older woman nodded. “We’ve got tickets to see A Christmas Carol tonight.”
“I’m sure you’ll enjoy it,” Kayla said. “The whole cast—especially Belle—is fabulous.”
Melba smiled at her mention of the character played on the stage by Kayla’s sister. “Not that you’re biased at all,” she said with a wink.
“Well, maybe a little.” Her sister had always loved the theater, but she’d been away from it for a lot of years before deciding to audition for the holiday production in Kalispell. The part of Scrooge’s former fiancée wasn’t a major role, but it was an opportunity for Kristen to get back on stage, and she was loving every minute of it.
In support of her sister, Kayla had signed on to help behind the scenes. She’d been surprised to discover how much she enjoyed the work—and grateful that keeping busy allowed her to pretend her whole life wasn’t about to change.
“Lissa and Gage saw it last week and said the costumes were spectacular.”
“I had fun working on them,” she acknowledged.
“But you have no desire to wear them onstage?”
“None at all.”
“You know, Kristen’s ease at playing different roles has some people wondering if she might be the Rust Creek Rambler.”
Kayla frowned. “You’re kidding.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t expect you to betray your sister if she is the author of the gossip column.”
“She’s not,” Kayla said firmly.
“I’m sure you would know—they say twins have no secrets from one another,” Melba said. “Besides, she’s been so busy with the play—and now with her new fiancé—when would she have time to write it?”
“I’m a little surprised there’s been so much recent interest in uncovering the identity of the anonymous author, when the column has been around for almost three years now.”
“Three and a half,” Melba corrected, proving Kayla’s point. “I suspect interest has piqued because some people think the Rambler is responsible for spiking the punch at the wedding.”
Kayla gasped. “Why would they think that?”
“The events of that night have certainly provided a lot of fodder for the column over the past few months,” the older woman pointed out. “It almost makes sense that whoever is writing it might want to help generate some juicy stories.”
“That’s a scary thought.”
“Isn’t it?” Melba finished her coffee and set her cup down. “The Rambler also noted that you were up close and personal with my grandson, Trey, on the dance floor at Braden and Jennifer’s wedding.”
Kayla had long ago accepted that in order to ensure no one ever suspected she was the Rambler, it was necessary to drop her own name into the column every once in a while. Since her turn on the dance floor with Trey hadn’t gone unnoticed, the Rambler would be expected to comment on it. As for up close and personal—that hadn’t come until later, and she had no intention of confiding that truth to Trey’s grandmother.
Instead, she lifted her cup to her lips—only to discover that it was empty. She set it down again. “We danced,” she admitted.
“That’s all?” Melba sounded almost disappointed.
“That’s all,” Kayla echoed, her cheeks flushing. She’d never been a very good liar, and lying to Trey’s grandmother—her own baby’s great-grandmother—wasn’t easy, even if it was necessary.
The older woman sighed. “I’ve been hoping for a long time that Trey would find a special someone to settle down with. If I had my choice, that special someone would live in Rust Creek Falls, so that he’d want to come back home here—or at least visit more often.”
“Maybe he already has someone special in Thunder Canyon,” she suggested, aiming for a casual tone.
“I’m sure he would have told me if he did,” Melba said. “I know he sees girls, but he’s never been serious about any of them. No one except Lana.”
“Lana?” she echoed.
Melba’s brow furrowed. “Maybe you don’t know about Lana. I guess Jerry and Barbara had already moved away from Rust Creek Falls before Trey met her.”
Kayla hadn’t considered that the father of her baby might be involved with someone else—or that he might even have been in a relationship when he was visiting in the summer. Thinking about the possibility now made her feel sick. She honestly didn’t think Trey was that kind of guy—but the reality was that neither of them had been thinking very clearly the night of the wedding.
“Anyway, he met Lana at some small local rodeo, where she won the division championship for barrel racing,” the other woman continued. “I think it was actually her horse that caught his eye before she did, but it wasn’t too long after that they were inseparable.
“They were together for almost two years, and apparently Trey had even started looking at engagement rings. And then—” Melba shook her head “—Lana was out on her horse, just enjoying a leisurely trail ride, when the animal got spooked by something and threw her.”
Kayla winced, already anticipating how the story would end.
“She sustained some pretty serious injuries, and died five days later. She was only twenty-three years old.”
“Trey must have been devastated,” Kayla said softly, her heart aching for his loss.
“He was,” Melba agreed. “We were all saddened by her death—and so worried about him. But then, when I heard that he was dancing with you at the wedding, well, I have to admit, I let myself hope it was a sign that his heart was healed.”
“It was just a dance,” she said again.
“Maybe it was,” Melba acknowledged, as she pushed her chair away from the table. “And maybe there will be something more when you see him again.”
* * *
“Did you leave any presents in the mall for anyone else to buy?” Kristen teased, as she helped her sister cart her parcels and packages into the sprawling log house they’d grown up in.
The Circle D Ranch, located on the north side of town, was still home to Kayla, but her twin had moved out a few weeks earlier, into a century-old Victorian home that their brother Jonah had bought after the flood for the purposes of rehabbing and reselling. Since Kristen had started working at the theater in Kalispell, this house, on the south edge of town and close to the highway, had significantly cut down her commuting time—and given her a taste of the independence she’d been craving.
“Only a few,” Kayla warned her, dumping her armload of packages onto her bed.
“That one looks interesting,” her sister said, reaching for the bag from the bath shop.
Kayla slapped her hand away. “No snooping.”
“Then it is for me,” Kristen deduced.
“You’ll find out at Christmas—unless you try to peek again, in which case it’s going back to the store.”
“I won’t peek,” her sister promised. “But speaking of shopping, I was thinking that you should plan a trip to Thunder Canyon to check out the stores there.”
Kayla gestured to the assortment of bags. “Does it look like I need to check out any more stores?”
Kristen rolled her eyes. “You and I know that your shopping is done—or very nearly, but no one else needs to know that. And shopping is only a cover story, anyway—your real purpose would be to see Trey and finally tell him about the secret you’ve been keeping for far too long.”
Just the idea of seeing Trey again made Kayla’s tummy tighten in knots of apprehension and her heart pound with anticipation. Thoughts of Trey had always had that effect on her; his actual presence was even more potent.
She really liked him—in fact, she’d had a major crush on him for a lot of years when she was younger. Then his family had moved away, and her infatuated heart had moved on. Until the next time he came back to Rust Creek Falls, and all it would take was a smile or a wave and she would be swooning again.
But still, her infatuation had been nothing more than a harmless fantasy—until the night of the wedding. Being with Trey had stirred all those old feelings up again and even now there was, admittedly, a part of her that hoped he’d be thrilled by the news of a baby, sweep her into his arms, declare that he’d always loved her and wanted to marry her so they could raise their child together.
Unfortunately, the reality was that five months had passed since the night they’d spent together, and she hadn’t heard a single word from him after he’d gone back to Thunder Canyon.
She’d been pathetically smitten and easily seduced, and he’d been so drunk he didn’t even remember being with her. Of course, another and even more damning possibility was that he did remember but was only pretending not to because he was ashamed by what had happened—a possibility that did not bode well for the conversation they needed to have.
“I know I have to talk to Trey,” she acknowledged to her sister now. “But I can’t just show up in Thunder Canyon to tell him that I’m having his baby.”
“Why not?” Kristen demanded.
“Because.”
“You’ve been making excuses for months,” her sister pointed out. “And you don’t have many more left—excuses or months.”
“Do you think I don’t realize that?”
Kristen threw her hands up. “I don’t know what you realize. I never thought you’d keep your pregnancy a secret for so long—not from me or the rest of your family, and especially not from the baby’s father.
“I’ve tried to be understanding and supportive,” her sister continued. “But if you don’t tell him, I will.”
Kayla knew it wasn’t an idle threat. “But how can I tell Trey that he’s going to be a father when he doesn’t even remember having sex with me?”
Kristen frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“When I saw Trey—later the next day—he said that his memory of the night before was hazy.”
“A lot of people had blank patches after drinking that spiked punch.”
She nodded. “But Trey’s mind had apparently blanked out the whole part about getting naked with me.”
“Okay, that might make the conversation a little awkward,” Kristen acknowledged.
“You think?”
Her sister ignored her sarcasm. “But awkward or not, you have to get it over with. I’d say sooner rather than later, but it’s already later.”
“I know,” Kayla agreed.
“So...shopping trip to Thunder Canyon?” Kristen prompted.
“Three hundred miles is a long way to go to pick up a few gifts—don’t you think Mom and Dad will be suspicious?”
“I think Mom and Dad should be the least of your worries right now.”
Kristen was right, of course. Her sister always had a way of cutting to the heart of the matter. “Will you go with me?”
“If I had two consecutive days off from the theater, I would, but it’s just not possible right now.”
She nodded.
“And no,” Kristen spoke up before Kayla could say anything more. “That does not give you an excuse to wait until after the holidays to make the trip.”
“I know,” she grumbled, because she had, of course, been thinking exactly that—and her sister knew her well enough to know it.
“So when are you going?” Kristen demanded.
“I’ll keep you posted. I have to get to the paper.”
RUST CREEK RAMBLINGS: THE LA LAWYER TAKES A BRIDE
Yes, folks, it’s official: attorney to the stars Ryan Roarke is off the market after being firmly lassoed by a local cowgirl! So what’s the next order of business for the California lawyer? Filing for a change of venue in order to keep his boots firmly planted on Montana soil and close to his beautiful bride-to-be, Kristen Dalton. No details are available yet on a date for the impending nuptials, but the good people of Rust Creek Falls can rest assured that they will know as soon as the Rambler does...
Chapter Two (#ulink_58924bcb-aae2-5ba3-be74-8127c73ac2be)
Trey Strickland had been happily living near and working at the Thunder Canyon Resort for several years now, but he never passed up an opportunity to visit his grandparents in Rust Creek Falls. His family had lived in the small town for nearly a decade while he was growing up, and he still had good friends there and always enjoyed catching up with them again.
Now it was December and he hadn’t been back since the summer. And whenever he thought of that visit, he thought of Kayla Dalton. Truth be told, he thought of Kayla at other times, too—and that was one of the reasons he’d forced himself to stay away for so long.
He’d slept with his best friend’s little sister.
And he didn’t regret it.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure he could say the same about Kayla based on her demeanor toward him the next day. She’d pretended nothing had happened between them, so he’d followed her lead.
He suspected that they’d both acted out of character as a result of being under the influence of the wedding punch. According to his grandmother, the police now believed the fruity concoction had been spiked and were trying to determine who had done so and why.
Trey’s initial reaction to the news had been shock, followed quickly by relief that there was a credible explanation for his own reckless behavior that night. But whatever had been in the punch, the remnants of it had long since been purged from his system, yet thoughts and memories of Kayla continued to tease his mind.
As he navigated the familiar route from Thunder Canyon to Rust Creek Falls, his mind wandered. He was looking forward to spending the holidays with his grandparents, but he was mostly focused on the anticipation of seeing Kayla again, and the closer he got to his destination, the more prominent she figured in his thoughts.
He’d had a great time with her at the wedding. Prior to that night, they hadn’t exchanged more than a few dozen words over the past several years, so he’d been surprised to discover that she was smart and witty and fun. She was the kind of woman he enjoyed spending time with, and he hoped he would get to spend more time with her when he was in town.
But first he owed her an apology, which he would have delivered the very next morning except that his brain had still been enveloped in some kind of fog that had prevented him from remembering exactly what had happened after the wedding.
He didn’t usually drink to excess. Sure, he enjoyed hanging out with his buddies and having a few beers, but he’d long outgrown the desire to get drunk and suffer the consequences the next morning. But whatever had been in that wedding punch, it hadn’t given any hint of its incredible potency...
It was morning.
The bright sunlight slipping past the edges of the curtains told him that much. The only other fact that registered in his brain was that he was dying. Or at least he felt as if he was. The pain in his head was so absolutely excruciating, he was certain it was going to fall right off his body—and there was a part of him that wished it would.
In a desperate attempt to numb the torturous agony, he downed a handful of aspirin with a half gallon of water then managed to sit upright without wincing.
The quiet knock on his door echoed like a thunderclap in his head before his grandmother entered. She clucked her tongue in disapproval when she came into his room and threw the curtains wide, the sunlight stabbing through his eyeballs like hot knives.
“Get up and out of bed,” she told him. “It’s laundry day and I need your sheets.”
He pulled the covers up over his head. “My sheets are busy right now.”
“You should be, too. Your grandfather could use a hand cleaning out the shed.”
He tried to nod, but even that was painful. “Give me half an hour.”
He showered and dressed then turned his attention to the bed because, as his grandmother was fond of reminding him, it wasn’t a hotel and she wasn’t his maid. So he untucked one corner and pulled them off the bed. There was a quiet clunk as something fell free of the sheet and onto the floor.
An earring?
He slowly bent down to retrieve the sparkly teardrop, his mind immediately flashing back to the night before, when he’d stood beside Kayla Dalton on the edge of the dance floor and noticed the pretty earrings that hung from her ears.
Kayla Dalton?
He curled his fingers around the delicate bauble and sank onto the edge of the mattress as other images flashed through his mind, like snapshots with no real connection to any particular time and place. He rubbed his fingers against his temples as he tried to recall what had happened, but his brain refused to cooperate. He’d danced with Kayla—he was sure he remembered dancing with her. And then...
He frowned as he struggled to put the disjointed pieces together. She’d looked so beautiful in the moonlight, and she’d smelled really good. And her lips had looked so temptingly soft. He’d wanted to kiss her, but he didn’t think he would have made that kind of move. Because as beautiful and tempting as she was, she was still Derek’s sister.
But when he closed his eyes, he could almost feel the yielding of her sweet mouth beneath his, the softness of her feminine curves against his body. Since he’d never had a very good imagination, he could only conclude that the kiss had really happened.
And in order for her earring to end up in his bed—well, he had to assume that Kayla had been there, too.
And what did it say about him that he didn’t even remember? Of course, it was entirely possible that they’d gotten into bed together and both passed out. Not something to be particularly proud of but, under the circumstances, probably the best possible scenario.
He tucked the earring in his pocket and finished stripping the bed, shaking out the sheets and pillowcases to ensure there weren’t any other hidden treasures inside. Thankfully, there were not. Then he saw the corner of something peeking out from beneath the bed—and scooped up an empty condom wrapper.
He closed his eyes and swore.
The idea that he’d slept with Kayla Dalton had barely sunk into his brain when he saw her later that day.
She’d been polite and friendly, if a little reserved, and she’d given absolutely no indication that anything had happened between them, making him doubt all of his own conclusions about the night before.
It had taken a long time for his memories of that night to come into focus, for him to remember.
And now that those memories were clear, he was determined to talk to Kayla about what happened that night—and where they would go from here.
* * *
Kayla was on her way to the newspaper office when she spotted Trey’s truck parked outside the community center.
She’d heard that he was coming back to Rust Creek Falls for the holidays, but she wasn’t ready to face him. Not yet. There were still three weeks until Christmas. Why was he here already? She needed more time to plan and prepare, to figure out what to say, how to share the news that she knew would turn his whole world upside down.
The back of his truck was filled with boxes and the doors to the building were open. She’d heard that last year’s gift drive for the troops was being affiliated with Thunder Canyon’s Presents for Patriots this year, and she suspected that the boxes were linked to that effort.
“Kayla—hi.”
She didn’t need to look up to know it was Trey who was speaking. It wasn’t just that she’d recognized his voice, it was that her heart was racing the way it always did whenever she was near him.
But she glanced up, her gaze skimming at least six feet from his well-worn cowboy boots to his deep green eyes, and managed a smile. “Hi, Trey.”
“This is a pleasant surprise,” he said, flashing an easy grin that suggested he was genuinely happy to see her.
Which didn’t really make any sense. She not only hadn’t seen the guy in four months, she hadn’t spoken a single word to him in that time, either. There had been no exchange of emails or text messages or any communication at all. Not that she’d expected any, but her infatuated heart had dared to hope—and been sorely wounded as a result of that silly hope.
“How have you been?” he asked.
Pregnant.
The word was on the tip of her tongue because, of course, that reality had been at the forefront of her mind since she’d seen the little plus sign in the window of the test. But she didn’t dare say it aloud, because she knew he couldn’t understand the relevance of the information when he didn’t even remember sleeping with her.
“Fine,” she said instead. “And you?”
“Fine,” he echoed.
She nodded.
An awkward silence followed, which they both tried to break at the same time.
“Well, I should—”
“Maybe I could—”
Then they both stopped talking again.
“What were you going to say?” Trey asked her.
“Just that I should be going—I’m on my way to the newspaper office.”
“Do you work there?”
She nodded. “I’m a copy editor.”
“Oh.”
And that seemed to exhaust that topic of conversation.
“It was good to see you, Trey.”
“You, too.”
She started past him, relieved that this first and undeniably awkward encounter was over. Her heart was pounding and her stomach was a mass of knots, but she’d managed to exchange a few words with him without bursting into tears or otherwise falling to pieces. A good first step, she decided.
“Kayla—wait.”
And with those two words, her opportunity to flee with her dignity intact was threatened.
Since she hadn’t moved far enough away to be able to pretend that she hadn’t heard him, she reluctantly turned back.
He took a step closer.
“I wanted to call you,” he said, dropping his voice to ensure that his words wouldn’t be overheard by any passersby. “There were so many times I thought about picking up the phone, just because I was thinking about you.”
Her heart, already racing, accelerated even more. “You were thinking about me?”
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you since we danced at the wedding.”
Since we danced?
That was what he remembered about that night?
She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Under other circumstances, it might have been flattering to think that a few minutes in his arms had made such a lasting impression. Under her current circumstances, the lack of any impression of what had come afterward was hurtful and humiliating.
“I really do have to go. My boss is expecting me.”
“What are you doing later?”
She frowned. “Tonight?”
“Sure.”
“I’m going to the movies with Natalie Crawford.”
“Oh.”
He sounded so sincerely disappointed, she wanted to cancel her plans and agree to anything he wanted. Except that kind of thinking was responsible for her current predicament.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you around,” she said.
He held her gaze for another minute before he nodded. “Count on it.”
She walked away, knowing that she already did and cursing the traitorous yearning of her heart.
* * *
Trey helped finish unloading the truck, then headed over to the boarding house. He arrived just as his grandmother was slicing into an enormous roast, and the tantalizing aroma made his mouth water.
“Mmm, something smells good.”
Melba set down her utensils and wiped her hands on a towel before she crossed the room to envelop him in a warm hug. “I was hoping you’d be here in time for dinner.”
“I’d tell you that I ignored the speed limit to make sure of it, but my grandmother would probably disapprove,” he teased.
“She certainly would,” Melba agreed sternly.
“In time for dinner but not in time to mash the potatoes,” Claire said, as she finished her assigned task.
His grandmother let him go and turned him over to his cousin, who hugged him tight.
He tipped her chin up to look into her brown eyes. “Everything good?”
“Everything’s great,” she assured him, her radiant smile confirming the words.
“Levi?” he prompted, referring to the husband she’d briefly separated from in the summer.
“In the front parlor, playing with Bekka.”
“It’s so much fun to have a child in the house again,” their grandmother said. “I can’t wait for there to be a dozen more.”
“Don’t count on me to add another dozen,” Claire warned. “I have my hands full with one.”
“At least you’ve given me one,” Melba noted, with a pointed glance in Trey’s direction.
He moved to the sink and washed his hands. “What can I do to help with dinner?” he asked, desperate to change the topic of conversation.
“You can get down the pitcher for the gravy.” Melba gestured to a cupboard far over her head. “Then round up the rest of the family.”
Trey retrieved the pitcher, then gratefully escaped from the kitchen. Of course, he should have expected the conversation would circle back to the topic of marriage and babies during the meal.
“So what’s been going on in town since I’ve been gone?” he asked, scooping up a forkful of the potatoes Claire had mashed.
“Goodness, I don’t know where to begin,” his grandmother said. “Oh—the Santa Claus parade was last weekend and the Dalton girl got engaged.”
The potatoes he’d just swallowed dropped to the bottom of his stomach like a ball of lead. “Kayla?”
His grandmother shook her head. “Her sister, Kristen.”
Trey exhaled slowly.
He didn’t know why he’d immediately assumed Kayla, maybe because he’d seen her so recently and had been thinking about her for so long, but the thought of her with another man—engaged to another man—had hit him like a physical jab.
He’d been away from Rust Creek Falls for months—it wasn’t just possible but likely that Kayla had gone out with other guys during that time. And why shouldn’t she? They’d spent one night together—they didn’t have a relationship.
And even if they did, he wasn’t looking to fall in love and get married. So why did the idea of her being with another man make him a little bit crazy?
“Who’d she get engaged to?” he asked, picking up the thread of the conversation again.
“Maggie Roarke’s brother, Ryan,” Claire said.
Trey didn’t know Ryan Roarke, but he worked with his brother, Shane, at the Thunder Canyon Resort. And he knew that their sister had moved to Rust Creek Falls the previous year. “Maggie’s the new lawyer in town—the one married to Jesse Crawford?”
His grandmother nodded. “She gave up her fancy office in LA to make a life here with Jesse, because they were in love.”
“I thought it was because he knocked her up,” Gene interjected.
Melba wagged her fork at her husband. “They were in love,” she insisted.
“And five months after they got married, they had a baby,” Gene told him.
His wife sniffed—likely as much in disapproval of the fact as her husband’s recitation of gossip. “What matters is that they’re together now and a family with their little girl.”
“Speaking of little girls,” Trey said, looking at his cousin’s daughter seated across from him in her high chair. “I can’t get over how much this one has grown in the past few months.”
“Like a weed,” Levi confirmed, ruffling the soft hair on the top of his daughter’s head.
Bekka looked up at him, her big blue eyes wide and adoring.
“No doubt that one’s a daddy’s girl,” Claire noted.
Her husband just grinned.
“Speaking of Kayla Dalton,” his grandmother said.
“Who was speaking of Kayla Dalton?” Gene asked.
“Trey was,” Melba said.
“We were talking about Bekka.”
“Earlier,” Melba clarified. “When I mentioned the Dalton girl got engaged, he asked if it was Kayla.”
“Hers was just the first name that came to mind,” Trey hastened to explain.
“And I wonder why that was,” his grandmother mused.
“Probably because he was up close and personal with her at Braden and Jennifer’s wedding,” Claire teased.
“Anyway,” Melba interjected. “I was wondering if you were going to see Kayla while you’re in town.”
“I already did,” he admitted. “She walked by the community center when we were unloading the truck.”
His grandmother shook her head as she began to stack the empty plates. “I meant, are you going to go out with her?”
“Melba,” her husband said warningly.
“What? Is there something wrong with wanting my grandson to spend time with a nice girl?”
Claire pushed away from the table to help clear it.
“Kayla is a nice girl,” Trey confirmed. “But if you’ve got matchmaking on your mind, you’re going to be disappointed—I’m not looking to settle down yet, not with anybody.”
“And even if he was, Kayla is hardly his type,” Claire noted.
Levi’s brows lifted. “Trey has a type?”
“Well, if he did, it wouldn’t be the shy wallflower type,” his wife said.
“Still waters run deep,” their grandmother noted.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Trey asked warily.
“It means that there’s a lot more to that girl than most people realize,” Melba said, setting an enormous apple pie on the table.
Claire brought in the dessert plates and forks.
“And ice cream,” her grandmother said. “Bekka’s going to want some ice cream.”
“I think Bekka wants her bath and bed more than she wants ice cream,” Claire said, noting her daughter’s drooping eyelids.
“Goodness, she’s falling asleep in her chair.”
“My fault,” Levi said, pushing his chair away from the table and lifting his daughter from hers. “She missed her nap today when I took her to story time at the library.”
“Didn’t I tell you to put her down as soon as you got back?” Claire asked.
“You did,” he confirmed. “But every time I put her in her crib, she started to fuss.”
“Why don’t you give in to me whenever I fuss?” his wife wanted to know.
He kissed her softly. “Are you saying I don’t?”
“Not all the time,” she said, a small smile on her lips as they headed out of the dining room.
“I guess they’ve worked things out,” Trey mused, stabbing his fork into the generous slab of pie his grandmother set in front of him.
“I really think they have,” Melba confirmed. “There will still be bumps in the road—no relationship is ever without them—but over the past few months, they’ve proven that they are committed to one another and their family.”
“If the kid doesn’t want ice cream, no one else gets ice cream?” Gene grumbled, frowning at his naked pie.
“You don’t need ice cream,” his wife told him.
“You didn’t need those new gloves you came home with when you were out Christmas shopping last week, but you bought them anyway.”
Trey fought against a smile as he got up to get the ice cream. His grandparents’ bickering was as familiar to him as the boarding house. They were both strong-willed and stubborn but, even after almost sixty years of marriage, there was an obvious affection between them that warmed his heart.
After they’d finished dessert, his grandmother asked, “So what are your plans for the evening?”
“Do they still show movies at the high school on Fridays?” Trey had spent more than a few evenings in the gymnasium, hanging with his friends or snuggling up to a pretty girl beneath banners that declared, “Go Grizzlies!” and had some fond memories of movie nights at the high school.
“Friday and Saturday nights now,” she told him.
“Two movie nights a week?” he teased. “And people say there’s nothing to do in Rust Creek Falls.”
His grandmother narrowed her gaze. “We might not have all the fancy shops and services like Thunder Canyon, but we’ve got everything we need.”
“You’re right,” he said. “I shouldn’t have implied that this town was lacking in any way—especially when two of my favorite people in the world live here.”
She swatted him away with her tea towel. “Go on with you now. Take a shower, put on a nice shirt and get out of here.”
Trey did as he was told, not only to please his grandmother but because it occurred to him that the high school was likely where Kayla and Natalie were headed.
Chapter Three (#ulink_aaba6802-d8ea-5ff6-b3c5-b90ba497db1d)
Kayla gazed critically at her reflection in the mirror and sighed as she tugged her favorite Henley-style shirt over her head again and relegated it to the too-tight pile. The nine pounds she’d gained were wreaking havoc with her wardrobe.
Of course, it didn’t help that most of the styles were slim-fitting and she was no longer slim. Not that she was fat or even visibly pregnant, but it was apparent that she’d put on some weight, and covering her body in oversize garments at least let her disguise the fact that the weight was all in her belly.
She picked up the Henley again, pulled it on, then put on a burgundy-and-navy plaid shirt over the top. Deciding that would work, she fixed her ponytail, dabbed on some lip gloss and grabbed her keys.
“Where are you going tonight?” her mother asked when Kayla came down the stairs.
She’d mentioned her plans at dinner—when she’d asked her dad if she could take his truck into town—but her mother obviously hadn’t been paying attention. Ever since Ryan put a ring on Kristen’s finger, her mother had been daydreaming about the wedding.
“I’m meeting Natalie at the high school,” she said again. “We’re going to see A Christmas Story tonight.”
“Is it just the two of you going?” her mother pressed.
“No, I’m sure there will be lots of other people there.”
“Really, Kayla, I don’t know why you can’t just give a simple answer to a simple question,” Rita chided.
“Sorry,” she said automatically. “And yes—it’s just me and Natalie tonight. We’re not sneaking out to meet boys behind the school.”
“Your turn will come.”
“My turn for what?” She was baffled by the uncharacteristically gentle tone as much as the words.
“To meet somebody.”
“I’m not worried about meeting somebody or not meeting somebody,” she assured her mother.
“I had sisters, too,” Rita said. “I know it’s hard when exciting things are happening in their lives and not your own.”
“I’m happy for Kristen, Mom. Genuinely and sincerely.”
“Well, of course you are,” she agreed. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t be a little envious, too.” A career wife and mother, Rita couldn’t imagine her daughters wanting anything else.
She’d been appalled by Kristen’s desire to study theater—worried about her daughter associating with unsavory movie people. She’d been so relieved when her youngest child graduated and moved back home to teach drama. Unfortunately, Kristen had faced numerous roadblocks in her efforts to get a high school production off the ground, causing her to turn her attention to the community theater in Kalispell.
Kayla was actually surprised their mother had approved of Kristen’s engagement to a Hollywood lawyer. But Ryan had fallen in love with Montana as well as Kristen and was planning to give up his LA practice—as his sister, Maggie, had done just last year when she moved to Rust Creek Falls to marry Jesse Crawford.
But, of course, now that Kristen and Ryan were engaged, it was only natural—to Rita’s way of thinking—that Kayla would want the same thing. Her mother would be shocked to learn that her other daughter’s life was already winding down a very different path.
“Getting out tonight will be good for you,” Rita said to Kayla now. “Who knows? You might even meet someone at the movies.”
Meet someone? Ha! She already knew everyone in Rust Creek Falls, and even if she did meet someone new and interesting who actually asked her to go out on a date with him, there was no way she could say yes. Because there was no way she could start a romance with another man while she was carrying Trey’s baby.
And no way could she be interested in anyone else when she was still hopelessly infatuated with the father of her child.
“I’m meeting Natalie,” she said again. Then, before her mother could say anything else to continue the excruciating conversation, Kayla kissed her cheek. “Don’t wait up.”
* * *
When Kayla arrived, Natalie was standing outside the main doors, her hands stuffed into the pockets of her coat, her feet—tucked into a sleek pair of high-heeled boots that looked more fashionable than warm—kicking the soft snow.
“Am I late?” Kayla asked.
“No, I was probably early,” Natalie admitted. “I needed to get out of the house and away from all the talk about weddings.”
She nodded her understanding as she reached for the door handle. Natalie’s brother had also recently gotten engaged. “When are Brad and Margot getting married?”
“That was one of the topics of discussion. Of course, Brad was married before, so he just wants whatever Margot wants. But Margot lost her mother almost three years ago, and her father’s been AWOL since the infamous poker game, so as much as she’s excited about starting a life with my brother, I think it’s hard for her to be excited about the wedding, and I don’t think my mother’s being very sensitive about that.”
“Believe me, I understand about insensitive mothers,” Kayla told her friend.
They paid their admission at the table set up in the foyer for that purpose then made their way toward the gymnasium.
“I always get such a creepy feeling of déjà vu when I’m in here,” her friend admitted.
“I know what you mean,” Kayla agreed. “It doesn’t help that Mrs. Newman—” their freshman physical education teacher “—works at the concession stand.”
Natalie nodded her agreement. “Even when I count out the exact change for her, she gives me that perpetual look of disapproval, like I’ve just told her I forgot my gym clothes.”
Kayla laughed. She was glad she’d let her friend drag her out tonight. Not that much dragging was required. Kayla had been feeling in a bit of a funk and had happily accepted Natalie’s invitation. Of course, it didn’t hurt that A Christmas Story was one of her all-time favorite holiday movies.
“Oh, look,” she said, pointing to the poster advertising a different feature for Saturday night. “We could come back tomorrow for The Santa Clause.”
“Well, I’m free,” Natalie admitted. “Which tells a pretty sad tale about my life.”
“Actually, I’m not,” Kayla realized.
“Hot date?”
“Ha. I’m helping out at the theater in Kalispell tomorrow night.”
“Well, even working in the city has to be more exciting than a night off in this town,” Natalie said. Then she stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh. My. God.”
“What?” Kayla demanded, as alarmed by her friend’s whispered exclamation as the way Natalie’s fingers dug into her arm.
“Trey Strickland is here.”
Her heart leaped and crashed against her ribs as she turned in the direction her friend was looking.
Yep, it was him.
Not that she really believed Natalie might have been mistaken, but she’d hoped. After a four-month absence, she’d now run into him twice within hours of his return to town. Whether his appearance here was a coincidence or bad luck, it was an obvious sign to Kayla that she wouldn’t be able to avoid him while he was in Rust Creek Falls.
Natalie waved a hand in front of her face, fanning herself as she kept her attention fixed on the ginger-haired, broad-shouldered cowboy. “That man is so incredibly yummy.”
Kayla had always thought so, too—even before she’d experienced the joy of being held in his arms, kissed by his lips, pleasured by his body. But she had no intention of sharing any of that with her friend, who she hadn’t realized harbored her own crush on the same man. “Should we get popcorn?” she asked instead.
“I’d rather have man candy,” Natalie said dreamily.
Kayla pulled a ten-dollar bill out of the pocket of her too-tight jeans and tried to ignore the reason her favorite denim—and all of her other clothes—were fitting so snugly in recent days. “I’m going for popcorn.”
“Can you grab me a soda, too?” Natalie asked, her gaze still riveted on the sexy cowboy as he made his way toward the gym doors.
“Sure.”
“I’ll go find seats,” her friend said, following Trey.
Kayla just sighed and joined the line for concessions. She couldn’t blame her friend for being interested, especially when she’d never told Natalie what had happened with Trey on the Fourth of July, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be around while the other woman made a play for him.
When she entered the gymnasium with the drinks and popcorn, she found Natalie in conversation with Trey. Though her instinct was to turn in the opposite direction, she forced her feet to move toward them.
Trey’s gaze shifted to her and his lips curved. “Hi, again.”
“Hi,” she echoed his greeting, glancing around. “Are you here with someone?”
Please, let him be here with someone.
But the universe ignored her plea, and Trey shook his head.
“Why don’t you join us?” Natalie invited, patting the empty chair on her left.
“I think I will,” he said, just as an elderly couple moved toward the two vacant seats beside Natalie.
Trey stepped back, relinquishing the spot she had offered to him. Kayla didn’t even have time to exhale a sigh of relief before he moved to the empty seat on the other side of her.
She was secretly relieved that her friend’s obvious maneuverings had been thwarted, but she didn’t know how she would manage to focus on the screen and forget that he was sitting right beside her for the next ninety-four minutes.
In fact, she didn’t even make it through four minutes, because she couldn’t take a breath without inhaling his clean, masculine scent. She couldn’t shift in her seat without brushing against him. And she couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that her naked body had been entwined with his.
She forced her attention back to the screen, to the crowd gathered around the window of Higbee’s Department Store to marvel at the display of mechanized electronic joy and, of course, Ralphie, wide-eyed and slack-jawed as he fixated on “the holy grail of Christmas gifts—the Red Ryder two hundred shot range model air rifle.”
“Are you going to share that popcorn?” Trey whispered close to her ear.
“I am sharing it,” she said. “With Natalie.”
But deeply ingrained good manners had her shifting the bag to offer it to him.
“Thanks.” He dipped his hand inside.
She tried to keep her attention on the movie, but it was no use. Even Ralphie’s entertaining antics weren’t capable of distracting her from Trey’s presence. It was as if every nerve ending in her body was attuned to his nearness.
It probably didn’t help that they were in the high school—the setting of so many of her youthful fantasies. So many times she’d stood at her locker and watched him walk past with a group of friends, her heart racing as she waited for him to turn and look at her. So many times she’d witnessed him snuggled up to a cheerleader on the bleachers, and she’d imagined that she was that cheerleader.
Back then, she would have given almost anything to be in the circle of his arms. She would have given almost anything to have him just smile at her. She’d been so seriously and pathetically infatuated that just an acknowledgment of her presence would have fueled her fantasies for days, weeks, months.
When his family had moved away from Rust Creek Falls, she’d cried her heart out. But even then, she’d continued to daydream, imagining that he would come back one day, unable to live without her. She might have been shy and quiet, but deep inside, she was capable of all the usual teenage melodrama—and more.
Sitting beside him now, in the darkened gym, was a schoolgirl fantasy come to life. But he wasn’t just sitting in the chair beside her, he was so close that his thigh was pressed against hers. And when he reached into the bag of popcorn she was holding, his fingertips trailed deliberately over the back of her hand.
At least she assumed it was deliberate, because he didn’t pull his hand away, even when her breath made an audible catch in her throat.
Natalie glanced at her questioningly.
She cleared her throat, as if there was something stuck in it, and picked up her soda.
She felt a flutter in her tummy that she dismissed as butterflies—a far too usual occurrence when she was around Trey. Then she realized it was their baby—the baby he didn’t know about—and her eyes inexplicably filled with tears.
You have to tell him.
The words echoed in the back of her mind, an unending reel of admonishment, the voice of her own conscience in tandem with her sister’s.
He has a right to know.
You-have-to-tell-him-he-has-a-right-to-know-you-have-to-tell-him-he-has-a-right-to-know-you-have-to—
“Excuse me,” she whispered, thrusting the bag of popcorn at Trey and slipping out of her seat to escape from the gymnasium.
The bright lights of the hallway blinded her for a moment, so that she didn’t know which way to turn. She’d spent four years in these halls, but suddenly she couldn’t remember the way to the girls’ bathroom.
She leaned back against the wall for a minute to get her bearings, then made her way across the hall. Thankfully, the facility was empty, and she slipped into the nearest stall, locked the door, sat down on the closed toilet seat and let the tears fall.
In recent weeks, her emotions had been out of control. She’d been tearing up over the silliest things—a quick glimpse of an elderly couple holding hands, the sight of a mother pushing her child in a stroller, even coffee commercials on TV could start the waterworks. Crying in public bathrooms hadn’t exactly become a habit, but this wasn’t the first time for her, either.
No, the first time had been three months earlier. After purchasing a pregnancy test from an out-of-the-way pharmacy in Kalispell, she’d driven to the shopping center and taken her package into the bathroom. Because no way could she risk taking the test home, into her parents’ house, and then disposing of it—regardless of the result—with the rest of the family’s trash.
She remembered every minute of that day clearly. The way her fingers had trembled as she tore open the box, how the words had blurred in front of her eyes as she read and re-read the instructions to make sure she did everything correctly.
After she’d managed to perform the test as indicated, she’d put the stick aside—on the back of the toilet—and counted down the seconds on her watch. When the time was up, she picked up the stick again and looked in the little window, the tears no longer blurring her eyes but sliding freely down her cheeks.
She hadn’t bothered to brush them away. She couldn’t have stopped them if she’d tried. Never, in all of her twenty-five years, had she imagined being in this situation. Pregnant. Unmarried.
Alone.
She was stunned and scared and completely overwhelmed.
And she was angry. At both herself and Trey for being careless. She didn’t know what he’d been thinking, but she’d been so caught up in the moment that she’d forgotten all about protection until he was inside of her. Realization seemed to have dawned on him at the same time, because he’d immediately pulled out of her, apologizing to her, promising that he didn’t have unprotected sex—ever.
Then he’d found a condom and covered himself with it before he joined their bodies together again. She didn’t know if it was that brief moment of unprotected penetration that had resulted in her pregnancy, or if it was just a statistical reality—if she was one of the two percent of women who was going to be a mommy because condoms were only ninety-eight percent effective in preventing pregnancy.
Of course, the reason didn’t matter as much as the reality: she was pregnant. She didn’t tell anyone because she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know how she felt about the situation—because it was easier to think about her pregnancy as a situation than a baby.
She found an obstetrician in Kalispell—because there was no way she could risk seeing a local doctor—and then, eighteen weeks into her pregnancy, she had an ultrasound.
Everything changed for her then. Looking at the monitor, seeing the image of her unborn child inside of her, made the existence of that child suddenly and undeniably real. That was when she finally accepted that she wasn’t just pregnant—the unexpected consequence of an impulsive night in Trey’s bed—she was going to have a baby.
Trey’s baby.
And in that moment, when she first saw the tiny heart beating, she fell in love with their child.
But he still didn’t have a clue about the consequences of the night they’d spent together—or possibly even that they had spent the night together—and she’d resolved to tell him as soon as possible. He had a right to know about their baby. She didn’t know how he would respond to the news, but she knew that he needed to hear it.
Of course, at the time of her ultrasound, he’d been in Thunder Canyon, three hundred miles away. So she’d decided to wait until he came back to Rust Creek Falls. And another three-and-a-half weeks had passed. Now he was here—not just in town but in the same building. And she had no more excuses.
She had to tell him about their baby.
She pulled a handful of toilet paper from the roll and wiped at the wet streaks on her cheeks. The tiny life inside her stirred again. She laid a hand on the slight curve of her tummy.
I’ve always tried to do what I think is best for you, even when I don’t know what that is. And I’m scared, because I don’t know how your daddy’s going to react to the news that he’s going to be a daddy. I will tell him. I promise, I will. But I’m not going to walk into the high school gym in the middle of movie night and make a public announcement, so you’re going to have to be patient a little longer.
Of course, there was no way the baby could hear the words of reassurance that were audible only inside of her head, but the flutters inside her belly settled.
“Everything okay?” Natalie whispered, when Kayla had returned to her seat inside the darkened gym.
She nodded. “My phone was vibrating, so I went outside to take the call.”
Lying didn’t come easily to her, but it was easier with her gaze riveted on the movie screen. Thankfully, Natalie accepted her explanation without any further questions.
When the credits finally rolled, people began to stand up and stack their chairs. Trey solicitously took both Kayla’s and Natalie’s along with his own.
“I’m sorry,” Kayla said to her friend, taking advantage of his absence to apologize—although she wasn’t really sorry.
“For what?”
“Because I know you wanted to sit next to him.”
Natalie waved away the apology. “I should be sorry,” she said. “When I invited him to join us, I completely forgot that you two were together at the wedding—”
“We weren’t together,” Kayla was quick to interject.
“Even the Rust Creek Rambler saw the two of you on the dance floor.”
“One dance doesn’t equal together.”
“Well, even if that’s true—” and her friend’s tone warned Kayla that she wasn’t convinced it was “—I’m getting the impression that Trey is hoping for something more.”
She shook her head. “You’re imagining things.”
“I am not imagining the way he’s looking at you,” Natalie said, her gaze shifting beyond her friend.
Kayla didn’t know what to say to that. She didn’t know how—or even if—Trey was looking at her because she was deliberately avoiding looking at him, afraid that any kind of eye contact would somehow give away all of her secrets to him.
“Which means I have to find myself a different cowboy,” Natalie decided.
“Do you have anyone specific in mind?” Kayla asked, happy to shift the conversation away from Trey—and especially talk of the two of them being together at the wedding.
“I’m willing to consider all possibilities,” Natalie said. “And since it’s still pretty early, why don’t we go to the Ace in the Hole to grab a drink?”
She shuddered at the thought. “Because that place on a Friday night is a bad idea.”
The local bar and grill was more than a little rough around the edges at the best of times—and a Friday night was never the best of times as the cowboys who worked so hard during the week on the local ranches believed in partying just as hard on the weekends. As a result, it wasn’t unusual for tempers to flare and fists to fly, and Kayla had no interest in that kind of drama tonight.
Natalie sighed. “You’re right—how about a hot chocolate instead?”
That offer was definitely more tempting. Though Kayla hadn’t experienced many cravings, and thankfully nothing too unusual, the baby had definitely shown signs in recent weeks of having a sweet tooth, and she knew that hot chocolate would satisfy that craving. But, “I thought you had to open up the store in the morning.”
Natalie waved a hand dismissively. “Morning is a long time away.”
“Hot chocolate sounds good,” she admitted.
“It tastes even better,” Trey said from behind her.
Kayla thought he’d left the gym after helping to stack the chairs, but apparently that had been wishful thinking on her part.
“But where can you get hot chocolate in town at this time of night?” he asked.
“Daisy’s,” Natalie told him. “It’s open late now, with an expanded beverage menu and pastries to encourage people to stay in town rather than heading to the city.”
“I always did like their hot chocolate,” Trey said. “Do you mind if I join you?”
“Of course not,” Natalie said, buttoning up her coat as they exited the gym.
They said “hello” to various townspeople as they passed them in the halls, stopping on the way to chat with some other friends from high school. A few guys invited Trey to go for a beer at the Ace in the Hole, but he told them that he already had plans. When they finally made their escape, Natalie pulled her phone out of her pocket and frowned at the time displayed on the screen. “I didn’t realize it was getting to be so late.”
Kayla narrowed her gaze on her friend, wondering how it had gone from “still pretty early” to “so late” in the space of ten minutes.
“I think I should skip the hot chocolate tonight,” Natalie decided. “I have to be up early to open the store in the morning.”
“You were the one who suggested it,” Kayla pointed out.
“I know,” her friend agreed. “And I hate to bail, but there’s no reason that you and Trey can’t go without me.”
Kayla glanced at Trey. “Wouldn’t you rather go to the Ace in the Hole with your friends than to Daisy’s with me?”
“Let me see—reminiscing about high school football with a bunch of washed-up jocks or making conversation with a pretty girl?” He winked at her. “It seems like a no-brainer to me.”
“Great,” Natalie said, a little too enthusiastically.
Then she leaned in to give Kayla a quick hug and whisper in her ear. “I’ll call you tomorrow to hear all of the juicy details, so make sure there are some juicy details.”
Chapter Four (#ulink_d6a0cb62-8f9c-517b-9190-1febde987ea8)
“She’s not very subtle, is she?” Trey asked Kayla, after her friend had gone.
“Not at all,” she agreed. “And if you want to skip the hot chocolate—”
“I don’t want to skip the hot chocolate,” he told her.
“Okay.”
It was one little word—barely two syllables—which made it hard for him to read her tone to know what she was thinking. But her spine was stiff and her hands stuffed deep in the pockets of her jacket, clear indications that she was neither behind her friend’s machinations nor pleased by them.
“Do you want to skip the hot chocolate?” he asked her.
Her hesitation was so brief it was barely noticeable before she replied, “I never say no to hot chocolate.”
Despite her words, he suspected that she wanted to but couldn’t think of a way to graciously extricate herself from the situation that had been set up by her friend.
Was she avoiding him? Was she uneasy because of what had happened between them in the summer? He couldn’t blame her if she was, especially since they hadn’t ever talked about that night. Not since that first day, anyway, before he’d had a chance to really remember what happened.
He didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable around him. Aside from the fact that her brother was one of his best friends, Rust Creek Falls was a small town, and it was inevitable that they would bump into one another. For that reason alone, they needed to clear the air between them.
“I’d offer to drive, but I walked over,” he told her.
His grandparents’ boarding house being centrally located, there wasn’t anything in the town that wasn’t within walking distance. Which included Daisy’s Donuts, only a block over from the high school.
“We’ll go in my truck,” she said, because driving was preferable to walking even that short distance in the frigid temperatures that prevailed in Montana in December.
She unlocked the doors with the electronic key fob, and he followed her to the driver’s side and opened the door to help her in. It was a big truck, and she had to step up onto the running board first. He cupped her elbow, to ensure she didn’t lose her balance, and she murmured a quiet “Thanks.”
By the time he’d buckled himself into the passenger side, she had the truck in gear. Either she was really craving hot chocolate or she didn’t want to be alone with him for a minute longer than necessary. He suspected it was the latter.
He wasn’t sure if she was sending mixed signals or if he was just having trouble deciphering them. When he’d stepped out of the community center earlier that afternoon and saw her walking past, he’d been sincerely pleased to see her. His blood had immediately heated and his heart had pounded hard and fast inside his chest. And he’d thought that she was happy to see him, too.
In that first moment, when their eyes had met, he was sure there had been a spark in her blue gaze and a smile on her lips. Then her smile had faltered, as if she wasn’t sure that she should be happy to see him. Which confirmed to him that they needed to talk about the Fourth of July.
As she parked in front of Daisy’s Donuts, he realized this probably wasn’t the place to do so. Not unless they wanted to announce their secret to all of Rust Creek Falls, which he was fairly certain neither of them did.
“Why don’t you grab a table while I get our drinks?” he suggested.
“Okay,” she agreed.
“Any special requests?” He glanced at the board. “Dark chocolate? White chocolate? Peppermint? Caramel?”
“Regular,” she said. “With extra whipped cream.”
“You got it.”
He decided to have the same and added a couple of gingerbread cookies to the order, too.
“I thought you might be hungry,” he told her, setting the plate of cookies between them. “Considering that I ate all of your popcorn.”
“I’m not hungry,” she said, accepting the mug he slid across the table to her. “But I love gingerbread cookies. My mother used to make a ton of them at Christmastime, but there were never any left when company came over because Kristen and I used to sneak down to the kitchen and eat all of them.”
“You said she used to make them,” he noted. “She doesn’t anymore?”
“She makes us do it now. She decided that since we eat most of them anyway, we should know how to make them.”
He nudged the plate toward her, silently urging her to take a cookie. She broke the leg off one, popped it into her mouth.
“Good?”
She nodded.
“My grandmother used to make gingerbread houses—one for each of the grandkids to decorate. When I think back, she must have spent a fortune on candy, and we ate more than we put on the buildings.” He broke a piece off the other cookie, sampled it. “I wonder if she’d make one for me this year, if I asked.”
“I’m sure she’d make anything you wanted,” Kayla said.
“What makes you say that?” he asked curiously.
“Three words.” She broke off the gingerbread boy’s other leg. “Vanilla almond fudge.”
He smiled, thinking of the plate he’d found on his bedside table—neatly wrapped in plastic and tied with a bow. “She does spoil me,” he admitted.
Kayla smiled back, and their eyes held for a brief second before she quickly dropped her gaze away.
The group of teenagers who had been sitting nearby got up from their table, put on their coats, hats and gloves and headed out the door. There were still other customers around, but no one close enough that he needed to worry about their conversation being overheard.
“Did I do something wrong?”
She looked up again. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “But I get the feeling that you’re not very happy to see me back in town.”
She sipped her cocoa and shrugged. “Your coming back doesn’t have anything to do with me.”
“Maybe it does,” he said. “Because I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I left Rust Creek Falls in the summer.”
She blinked. “You haven’t?”
“I haven’t,” he confirmed, holding her gaze.
“Oh.”
He waited a beat, but she didn’t say anything more. “It would be nice to hear that you’ve thought about me, too...if you have.”
She glanced away, color filling her cheeks. “I have.”
“And the night of the wedding?” he prompted.
He watched, intrigued, as the pink in her cheeks deepened.
“You mean the night we were both drinking the spiked punch?” she asked.
“Is that the only reason you started talking to me that night?”
“Probably,” she admitted. “I mean—I would have wanted to talk to you, but I wouldn’t have had the nerve to start a conversation.”
“And the kiss? Was that because of the punch, too?”
“You kissed me,” she said indignantly.
“You kissed back pretty good,” he told her.
She remained silent, probably because she couldn’t deny it.
“And then you went back to my room with me,” he prompted further.
She nodded slowly, almost reluctantly.
“Are you sorry that you did?”
She kept her gaze averted from his, but she shook her head.
“I’m not sorry, either,” he told her. “The only thing I regret is that it took me so long to remember what happened.”
“Lots of people had memory lapses after that night—because of the punch,” she said.
“Do you really think that what happened between us only happened because of the punch?”
“Don’t you?”
He frowned at her question. “I don’t know how drunk you
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