by Helen Lacey
“I’m not seeing anyone,” he said quickly. “Are you?”
She touched her belly again. “No. I’m single and plan on staying that way. I also plan on raising this child with the proviso that you can have as much or as little input as you would like.”
“This child is a Culhane,” he reminded her. “And he or she has a birthright. Which is this ranch and my name. Do you really think for one minute that I would deny my child either of those things?”
Her cheeks instantly blotched with color. “For someone who doesn’t want children, you’re sounding very—”
“I have never said I didn’t want children,” Mitch said, cutting her off as rage and helplessness filled his chest. “I said I didn’t intend to get you pregnant again.”
“If I remember correctly, you threatened to have a vasectomy!”
And there it was. The real reason she had left. Her words were loud and accusatory and the raw truth. He had said he would have the procedure done, to do his part to prevent the failed pregnancies. But instead of ending her determination to have a baby, it had ended their marriage. Mitch knew she believed his intention to take children off the table as an act of betrayal. She was wrong. Tess was the one who betrayed their marriage by acting as though they weren’t strong enough to survive without children to bind them together.
“You know why,” he said, and propped his hands on his hips. “You were being completely unreasonable.”
“Because I wanted to have a baby?”
“Because you put that want above everything else,” he shot back. “Regardless of what that did to our relationship.”
She tilted her chin in that defiant, annoyed way he was used to. Nothing had changed between them. The feelings were still there. The resentment that had driven them apart. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Mitch. Their marriage had ended because he’d refused to try again. And now, here she was, in his living room, back in his life, because of one crazy afternoon. All because he couldn’t control his damned libido when it came to his wife. Ex-wife, he corrected.
But, heaven help him, she was so beautiful. And pregnancy had only amplified her loveliness. Her skin was luminescent, her cheeks tinted with color and even though her brown eyes were regarding him with outrage, he couldn’t help the way his blood heated simply by being in the same room.
And it had been like that from the beginning.
He was twenty-four when they met, she was twenty-one and in her first year teaching at the local high school. Born and raised in Rapid City, she’d taken the job in Cedar River when her parents moved to Wyoming. Mitch had been called to the school to discuss his younger brother Grant’s failing grades. Tess had been standing in the classroom, her attention focused on wiping down the whiteboard. And he was a goner. Lust at first sight had been replaced quickly by a deep and abiding love within weeks of their first date. And ten months after they met, they married in a lovely ceremony with their families and friends present. She moved to the ranch, continued to teach part-time at a local school, and also took over the reins of running the house and helping with Ellie and Grant, who still lived at home. With Tess at his side, Mitch felt as though he finally had someone who could share the responsibility of being head of the Culhane family.
But five years and four failed pregnancies later, and they were over.
“Tess!”
Ellie’s high-pitched shriek cut through his thoughts. Mitch snapped his head around and spotted his sister in the doorway, eyes as wide as saucers.
“Hello, Ellie,” Tess said gently.
His sister was in the room in seconds and quickly hauled Tess into a hug. Which was when she pulled back and stared down at his ex-wife’s protruding belly. “Oh, my goodness...you’re pregnant?”
Tess nodded and glanced toward Mitch. “Yes.”
“Congratulations,” Ellie said with genuine warmth. “I know what this must mean to you. I didn’t realize you’d gotten married again. Last time I bumped into Annie she didn’t say anything.”
“I’m not married,” Tess said quietly.
“Oh, then who...” Ellie was a smart young woman, and it took barely a moment for her to look at Mitch and jerk a thumb in his direction. “Are you...is the baby...? Have I missed something here? Are you guys back together and—”
“No!” Tess said quickly.
Mitch noticed the way Ellie winced and he offered his sister an assuring smile. “What Tess means, is that, yes, we are having a baby. And we’re trying to work out what that means.”
Ellie didn’t look altogether happy. “I don’t understand...”
“Your brother and I bumped into one another at a conference in Sioux Falls six months ago,” Tess said evenly. “We slept together and now I’m pregnant. That’s the whole story.”
Ellie pressed a hand to her forehead in the kind of dramatic expression he expected. His little sister was never one to hold back her feelings. “But shouldn’t you guys get back together again or something? I mean, you’re having a baby together. This is a huge deal.”
“Ellie,” Mitch said quietly. “Please don’t interfere.”
She scowled. “Are you serious? You’re saying that to me? You constantly interfere in my life.”
Mitch pushed back his temper. He adored Ellie, but she expressed every emotion without a filter, while he was exactly the opposite.
“It’s complicated,” Tess said, and Mitch saw the flicker of unity in her eyes. For now, at least, they were on the same side. “Your brother and I will work this out. For the moment, I’m going to stay in Cedar River and have the baby. My old friend Lucy is a doctor at the local hospital, so she’s going to make sure I see an obstetrician and get prepared for the birth.”
Mitch listened as she talked and admired the way she had quickly defused Ellie’s outrage. Tess knew his sister well, and her softly spoken words had an instant effect. By the time she finished speaking, Ellie was nodding and talking about planning a baby shower.
“In a month or two,” Tess assured her. “Okay? It’s still too soon. And I know Annie will want to help with the plans. You can talk with her about the arrangements. But please wait until I have had a chance to talk to her first.”
Ellie nodded and grinned. “Sure. I promise. So, tell me everything,” she said, and chuckled. “You two hooked up at a hotel?”
He was relieved when Tess replied. “I was visiting a friend who works there, and your brother was at a conference and...things happened.”
“It sounds romantic,” Ellie said, and raised her brows. “And like fate. I mean, what were the chances of you both being there at the exact same time?”
“Coincidence,” Tess replied.
Heat crawled up Mitch’s neck. He certainly didn’t want to have a discussion with his little sister about his relationship with Tess, because he had no idea what the status of their relationship was. Exes, certainly. Friends, definitely not. There was too much old baggage for them to ever be friends. And a few hours getting it on in a hotel room wasn’t enough to make them real lovers.
He looked at Tess. She was tired but trying to hide the fact.
The reality of the situation hit him with the force of a freight train. It didn’t matter that their marriage was over or that they had said countless regretful things to each other. The past suddenly seemed like a lifetime ago. It was the future that mattered. The future was all he could control.
They had a baby coming.
Which changed everything.
Yeah...things were definitely going to change.
* * *
Exhaustion seeped through Tess from head to toe. It had been a long and anxious drive, and being at the ranch and seeing Mitch again had depleted all her energy. She wanted to crawl into bed, pull up the covers and sleep like a hibernating bear for as long as possible.
Not even Ellie’s sudden enthusi
asm for a baby shower and baby shopping increased her energy levels. She sighed and dropped her shoulders. Glancing toward Mitch, she saw his gaze narrow and realized he knew exactly what she was feeling.
“Ellie,” he said, and touched his sister’s elbow. “Tess and I need to talk for a while. How about you go and ask Mrs. Bailey to make coffee and we’ll be in the kitchen soon.”
The younger woman frowned and then nodded. “Sure, but don’t be long. We’ve got so much catching up to do.”
Once Ellie left the room, Tess raised her brows. “She is a whirlwind.”
He grinned fractionally. “Always was. Always will be.”
“We still keep in touch occasionally,” she admitted. “I wasn’t sure if you knew that.”
“I suspected,” he replied, and fiddled with a couple of ornaments on the mantel. “I saw the birthday card you sent her last year and I know your handwriting.”
Tess shrugged lightly. “I didn’t mean to overstep. I know I should have—”
“You’ve known Ellie since she was a teenager. You helped raise her. It makes sense that you would want to maintain a connection.”
Guilt pressed between her shoulders. “She probably didn’t tell you because she didn’t want to feel as though she betrayed—”
“I’m not angry, Tess,” he said quietly, cutting her off. “I’m glad you stayed connected to Ellie. It will make things easier.”
Tess frowned. “What things?”
“You and me things,” he replied calmly, turning back around to face her. “Raising our child together.”
Tess stilled and her breath caught in her throat. “We’re not really doing that. Yes, we will be raising our child...but not together.”
He came around the sofa, watching her, the burning intensity in his gaze searing through to the blood in her bones. Then he spoke. “I want shared custody.”
“But I—”
“Fifty-fifty,” he said. “Nothing less.”
Tess felt as though her feet were suddenly stuck in cement. This wasn’t what she had expected. Parental rights, certainly, but not a shared-custody arrangement. She inhaled heavily. “It’s not up for negotiation.”
“Exactly,” he said.
“You’re hardly in a position to look after a baby even in a shared capacity, Mitch, since running the ranch takes all of your time.”
“I’ll make time for my child,” he assured her, his voice firm and clearly unassuageable.
His child.
Right. The line had been drawn. Tess met his gaze evenly. God, he was ridiculously handsome. She could barely look at him without thinking about that crazy afternoon just a few short months ago. In a moment of madness she had succumbed to every dormant fantasy she harbored about him. Chemistry like that didn’t just fade, particularly considering how abruptly their marriage had ended. It had simply lain in wait, waiting to be fanned back into life. Waiting for their paths to cross so they could rekindle the incredible connection they had always had. Mitch hadn’t been her first lover, but he was the only one who had mattered. He was the only man she had ever loved.
He was also the only man who had ever broken her heart.
The moment he’d told her he intended to have a vasectomy, Tess had shut down. It was the ultimate betrayal. His way of denying her what she so desperately wanted. His way of controlling her because Mitch Culhane had to control everything and everybody. And while she understood why he was like that, because he’d been forced to step up at eighteen and take care of his family, Tess had no intention of allowing Mitch to control her. She was her own woman, independent and quite capable of deciding what she wanted and needed. And having a child was on the top of her list.
“I didn’t come here to argue about this, Mitch,” she said, firmer this time. “I’ll let you see as much of the baby as you want, but he or she will live with me.”
“Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear, Tess,” he said quietly. “I have no intention of being a part-time father. And this isn’t just your decision. It’s our child, remember? That is what you came all this way to tell me, isn’t it?”
She took a breath and turned, walking to the window, looking out at the fields, her arms crossed over her chest. She wasn’t going to be cornered. She’d made her plans—come to Cedar River and tell Mitch about the baby, find a house close to her sister and deliver her child at the local hospital. Get a job. Live her life. Raise their child to know he or she had two loving and committed parents.
“Are you really going to be hardheaded about this?” she demanded. “And start making demands about custody even before the baby is born?”
“You don’t get to make all the rules, Tess. I have as much at stake in this as you do, even if you’re too selfish to see it.”
“Selfish?” she shot back, outraged. “Are you kidding? You’re the one who needs to control everyone. I came here to tell you about the baby and—”
“You came here on your terms and in your own time,” he replied so quietly she had to step closer to catch his words. “You’re six months pregnant, Tess, and yet you’re only telling me about this now. Why? Because you wanted to keep me in my place?”
Tess held her chin up. “That wasn’t my intention. I was really struggling with all this myself, Mitch, okay? And arguing isn’t helping.”
“I agree,” he said, and offered a tense smile. “In fact, we should probably head to the kitchen before Ellie sends out a search party.”
Tess knew he was trying to defuse her and the situation. But the last thing she wanted was a full-blown argument about the way things were between them with both Ellie and Mrs. Bailey in the house. So, she agreed and walked toward the door, conscious of how close they were as she passed him. She noticed he had grime on his cheek and his jeans were dusty—he had clearly been working before she’d arrived.
By the time she reached the kitchen, Mrs. Bailey was already walking toward her, arms outstretched. The older woman was as warm and welcoming as she remembered, and Tess swallowed back the burn in her throat. The kitchen, with its wide cedar countertops and shaker-style cabinets, was so familiar that she took a second to look around. Memories assailed her—learning how to bake with Mrs. Bailey, cooking up a stack of pancakes late at night with Mitch, sitting at the table with a cup of hot chocolate on a late winter’s afternoon and staring out at the sprawling ranch through the window. Long-ago memories, tucked away because they were filled with regret and bitterness and loss.
“How wonderful to see you,” Mrs. Bailey said, and stood back, her gaze making a beeline for Tess’s abdomen. Resting her gentle palm there for a moment. “And a baby is coming, what a lovely blessing.”
Tess’s eyes burned. Yes, her child was a blessing. And everyone in the room knew the road she had traveled to get to where she was, through loss and disappointment and bone-aching grief.
She turned a little and looked at Mitch. His green eyes burned into hers, stoking the fires of awareness that had been between them from the first time they’d met. Mitch had arrived at her classroom to discuss his younger brother’s failing English grade, and she’d been knocked breathless. In jeans and chambray, boots and buckled belt, his hat in his hands, Tess had never met a more attractive man in her life. The slick suit-and-tie city boys she’d dated in the past quickly became a dim memory. She’d done her best to concentrate on the meeting, but a part of her kind of floated through the moment, and on reflection, realized she’d observed him as though she’d never met a handsome man before in her life. But she was instantly smitten by his rancher’s swagger and the way he fitted out his blue jeans.
Ten years later, Tess still wasn’t immune to his good looks and the undeniable chemistry they shared. Case in point, jumping into bed with him in Sioux Falls.
In some vague, faraway place, she heard Mrs. Bailey mention something about having made coffee for Mitch and tea for the rest o
f them and how she’d put out her famous walnut-and-date loaf. And all the while, Tess kept her gaze connected with his. She placed a hand on her belly and watched as he observed the movement, their connection amplifying as the seconds ticked by.
We’re having a baby...
It had never felt more real to her than it did in that moment, and a profound sense of joy washed over her. And trepidation. And fear. Because she couldn’t deny that they were now joined together for the remainder of their lives. Their child would be an undeniable connection. A catalyst for change. Not knowing what that looked like scared Tess to pieces.
“So, what’s going to happen?”
It was Ellie’s voice cutting through the silence. Her former sister-in-law was eyeing them curiously, clearly eager to know what they had planned for the future. Tess managed a small smile and was about to reply when Mitch spoke.
“Isn’t it obvious?” He took a few steps toward her, unexpectedly grasping her hand.
“Obvious?” Tess echoed, trying to pull her fingers free of his touch. Trying not to react to the feel of his skin against hers. “What’s obvious?”
His next words shocked her to the core.
“We’ll have to get married.”
Chapter Three
Mitch knew he had taken a huge chance making the unofficial announcement in front of his sister and housekeeper, but he also knew he needed every edge he could get.
Tess was mad at him. In fact, she was furious. But he was angry, too. She had no right to keep her pregnancy from him for so long. And she had no right to offer the crumbs of being “involved.” He wanted to be a full-time father...and he would do a damned better job than his own ever had.
He watched her face flush, a sign of the emotion churning within her—but he wasn’t going to be deterred. They would get married again, be a whole family for their child. It was the only possible course of action. Mitch took her hand in his and gently pulled her closer.
“That’s so wonderful,” Ellie said, clearly delighted. “I can’t wait. When’s the wedding?”
