The Maverick's Secret Baby

by Teri Wilson

  But the feeling was fleeting, because he wasn’t finished asking questions.

  “I think it’s high time your parents, especially your father, know what’s going on. Don’t you?” He turned to face her, and he was so close that she couldn’t help but stare at him and wonder if her baby would have those same features.

  Would he or she have those brown eyes with tiny gold flecks that she loved so much? The same nose? The same dimple that Finn had in his left cheek?

  Her face went warm and she nodded. “Yes, I do.”

  If she was going to come clean, she might as well do a thorough job of it. Besides, telling Finn he was going to be a father had been the most difficult thing she’d ever done. As crazy as it seemed, the prospect of telling her parents seemed easy in comparison. Even talking to her father seemed manageable, especially with Finn sitting beside her.

  They weren’t an actual couple, and they certainly weren’t getting married, but was it too much to think they could be something of a team where their baby was concerned?

  He crossed the room to collect her handbag from the pile of their untouched luggage and handed it to her. “I’m assuming your phone is in here?”

  She nodded. So this was happening now...as in, right now.

  She could do this. She was a grown woman. Having a baby was a perfectly normal thing to do.

  The phone trembled in her hand as she pulled up her parents’ contact information, and Finn’s gaze seemed to burn straight into her. She knew he fully expected her to chicken out, so she gave the send button a defiant tap of her finger.

  The line started ringing, and she glanced at Finn for a little silent encouragement, but he stood in front of her with his arms crossed, stone-faced. Having him tower over her like that made her heart flutter even more rapidly, so she got up so they could stand eye to eye. Technically, they were eye to chest since he was so much taller than she was, but still. It helped.

  The phone rang once, twice, three times. Then at last her father picked up. “Hello?”

  “Daddy, hi,” she said a little too brightly.

  “Hello, sweetheart. Are you on your way back from the spa? I was beginning to wonder if you were ever coming home.”

  “No, not exactly,” Avery said. Her gaze flitted again to Finn’s serious expression, and she knew the time had come for the truth. All of it. “I actually haven’t been to the spa. I’ve been in Montana.”

  There was a long stretch of silence before her dad responded.

  “Montana,” he said. “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m in Rust Creek Falls.” She didn’t need to elaborate. Her father was well aware the Crawford ranch had picked up and moved away from Texas. He’d practically thrown a party.

  Now his voice shifted from daddy mode to CEO mode in an instant. “Avery, what’s going on?”

  Before she could say anything, her mom picked up the other extension. “Avery? Hello? Are you okay? What’s happened?”

  Everything. Everything had happened. “I’m fine. I’m in Montana with Finn Crawford and, well, I have something I need to tell you.”

  Her eyes fixed with Finn’s, and he took her hand. It was the smallest possible indication that they were a united front, but she seized on it as if it were a lifeline.

  “We’re having a baby,” she blurted.

  “Oh, dear,” her mother said.

  “What?” Oscar Ellington boomed. His voice was so loud that Avery had to hold the phone away from her ear.

  “Daddy, calm down,” she said, and Finn’s brows drew together in concern.

  “I don’t understand.” Avery’s mother sounded mystified. “How did this happen?”

  The usual way, Mom. Avery wasn’t about to get into the details. Her father was already breathing loud enough to make her wonder if he was on the verge of a heart attack. “I’m four months along, and I came up here to let Finn know.”

  “Is the Crawford boy there right now? Put him on the phone,” her father demanded.

  The Crawford boy. What were they, twelve years old?

  She gripped the phone tighter. “No.”

  Now wasn’t the time for Finn and her dad to have a heart-to-heart, but this was probably the first time Avery had ever willfully refused her father...with the notable exception of sleeping with the enemy.

  “Avery, I’m sending a private jet to collect you first thing in the morning. Be on it,” her father said. Then he spat, “Alone.”

  “I can’t leave so soon, Daddy. There are things I need to figure out here. But I’ll be home soon.”

  “The hell you will,” Finn said with deadly calm. “We’re getting married, remember?”

  Avery froze. Why in the world would he bring that up now?

  She shushed him, but it was too late.

  “Honey, I’m not sure getting married is the best idea,” her mother said.

  Her father was far more insistent. “Avery, I forbid you to marry that man. I won’t have a Crawford anywhere near my business. The Ellingtons have the financial means to take care of a child without any help from him.”

  She wanted to explain that Finn wasn’t the horrible person her parents thought he was, despite the fact that he was trying to strong-arm her into marrying him. He was decent. He was kind. Under different circumstances, he might have even been the love of her life.

  But she couldn’t say any of those things—not while Finn was right there listening to every word she said. She wasn’t ready to put her heart on the line like that. Today had been a big enough disaster already. First and foremost, she needed to build a future for her baby. Love was a luxury she couldn’t worry about now.

  Maybe not ever.

  One thing was certain, though. She’d had enough of stubborn men telling her what to do. “Daddy, what exactly are you saying?”

  He wanted her to hightail it back to Dallas, but somehow she sensed there was more.

  She closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing in and out. No matter what her dad said, she couldn’t board a private jet first thing in the morning. She and Finn still needed to hammer out custody arrangements. That might take a while, since he still seemed to think there was a wedding in their future, although she was sure Finn would change his mind once he had time to sleep on it. After all, he’d never much seemed like the marrying type.

  Plus, Avery couldn’t leave without telling Melba and Old Gene a proper goodbye. The thought of moving out of the boarding house suddenly left her with a lump in her throat. The Stricklands had been so kind to her for weeks now. And what about Pumpkin? She’d miss the sweet little goat.

  Once you name an animal, it’s yours.

  Somehow she doubted her parents would welcome a baby goat any more than they’d welcome the news of her pregnancy.

  “I’m telling you to come on home, Avery,” her father said.

  Just as she’d expected...

  Almost.

  “But only after you cut Finn Crawford out of your life entirely.”

  Chapter Eight

  Finn felt his throat closing up as he watched Avery’s eyes go wide and fill with tears again.

  “Daddy, you don’t mean that.” Her voice was a shaky whisper.

  Why had he insisted on the phone call with her parents? Oscar Ellington’s disdain for Finn’s family was clearly far worse than he’d imagined. So far Avery had done a remarkable job of standing her ground, but something had just changed. Finn wished he knew what.

  “I can’t deprive my baby of his father.” Avery’s gaze flew toward his. “It wouldn’t be right.”

  Finn held out his hand. “Give me the phone, Avery.”

  He couldn’t let this continue. She was getting too upset, too shaken. What if it somehow harmed the baby?

  Finn wouldn’t be able to live with himself if something terrible happened to e
ither Avery or their unborn child all because he’d forced her to confront her parents.

  “Avery, please,” Finn said, working hard to keep his voice even and failing spectacularly.

  At last she dropped the phone in his outstretched hand. “Too late. They hung up.”

  “Good.” He tossed the phone onto the bed and jammed his hands on his hips.

  “Good? Are you kidding?” She let out a hysterical laugh. “I just told my parents I’m having a baby and they hung up on me.”

  We, he wanted to say. We are having a baby.

  Somehow he managed to bite his tongue. “The important thing is that it’s done. They know.”

  She bit her lip, nodding slowly. “You’re right. The worst is over. I’m sure my father will calm down after the news sinks in.”

  She didn’t look sure. The fairy lights wrapped around the delicately carved frame of the romantic four-poster bed brought out the copper highlights in her hair, and Finn fought the urge to bury his hands in her dark waves.

  He had the absurd wish that he could kiss her and make everything better. He wanted to lie beside her, take her into his arms and whisper promises that he knew good and well he couldn’t keep.

  It will all be okay.

  Your parents will come around.

  We’re in this together.

  He sat down beside her again, this time close enough for his thigh to press softly against hers. When she didn’t pull away, he reached for her hand and wove their fingers together. Progress.

  He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and dropped a tender kiss on her shoulder. She turned wide, frightened eyes toward him, but her lips curved into a wobbly smile. Maybe they really were in this together, after all.

  He took a calming inhale and said, “We can start planning the wedding as soon as we get back to Rust Creek Falls.”

  Avery rolled her eyes and dropped his hand abruptly. “Would you stop with the wedding talk?”

  And just like that, they were back at square one.

  “It’s not talk. I’m serious.” He stood and started pacing from the bed to the fireplace and back again. “You’re going to start showing soon, and everyone in town knows we’ve been seeing each other. I’ll be damned if people start whispering that Finn Crawford has a bastard child. I won’t do that to my baby. You shouldn’t want that, either.”

  “You have no right to tell me what I should or shouldn’t want. From what I hear, you’ve never been in any kind of committed relationship.” She looked him up and down. “What makes you think you’re so ready to jump into marriage?”

  “What makes you think I’m not?” he countered.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the dozens of women you’ve dated since our night together in Oklahoma.” She marched toward her suitcase while Finn stood, paralyzed.

  Of course she knew about all those silly dates Viv Dalton had set him up on. No one could keep a secret in a town as small as Rust Creek Falls.

  But it wasn’t as if he’d been trying to hide anything. When he and Avery had parted ways in Oklahoma, they’d both thought they’d never see each other again—other than in the normal course of business. He’d done nothing wrong.

  Then why did he suddenly feel like the biggest jerk in the world?

  “Those women meant nothing,” he said to her back as she gathered her luggage together. “I promise. If I told you the truth about why I’d been going on so many dates, you’d laugh.”

  She couldn’t leave. If she walked out the door, she could be on the next plane to Dallas and he’d never know. He willed her to turn around and stay until they figured things out.

  Together.

  She dropped her suitcase with a thud and spun around, arms crossed. “Try me. I could use a good laugh.”

  Finn drew in a long breath. “My dad wants all six of his sons married off. He’s offered a matchmaker in town a million dollars—possibly more—to find wives for each of us. Those were all just meaningless setups.”

  Avery didn’t laugh, but she didn’t grab her suitcase again, either. A small victory.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Because you didn’t intend to marry any of them?”

  “Exactly. I wasn’t looking for a relationship. I was just...”

  Having fun.

  He couldn’t say it, because he could suddenly see how the entire arrangement looked through Avery’s eyes, and it certainly didn’t seem like the actions of a man who was ready to marry anyone. Not even the mother of his child.

  “Things are different now.” He held up his hands, either in an effort to stop her from fleeing or as a gesture of surrender. He wasn’t sure which.

  “Because I’m pregnant,” she said flatly.

  Was that the entire reason?

  He wasn’t sure, so he refrained from answering her. His head was spinning so fast that he couldn’t make sense of his thoughts. Avery...a baby...a wedding. Was he ready for all of it?

  “Right. That’s what I thought.” Avery nodded, taking his silence as an admission. “Let’s table the marriage talk for now, okay?”

  For now.

  Finn’s jaw clenched. Powerless to press the marriage issue again so soon, he felt an overwhelming emptiness gnaw at him as she continued.

  “We can work out a generous visitation schedule while you and I get to know each other better.” Avery smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

  Where was that beautiful carefree woman who’d thrown her head back and laughed while one of his cows ate from her outstretched hand? Where was the light that always seemed to shine from somewhere deep within her soul?

  Was the prospect of having a baby with him really so awful?

  Perhaps, if they did it the way she was describing. She rattled off days of the week and alternating holidays in some crazy, mixed-up fashion that would require a spreadsheet to keep track of. She didn’t bother mentioning the fact that if she went back to Dallas, a shared custody arrangement would require multiple flights across the country on a monthly, if not weekly, basis. Maybe it was a good thing her father had a private jet at his disposal.

  The thought of Oscar Ellington made Finn grind his teeth so hard that he was in danger of cracking a molar.

  “Avery, I...”

  Before he could tell her he had no intention of shuttling an infant back and forth between time zones, her cell phone blared to life on the center of the bed. One word lit up the tiny screen: Daddy.

  Avery scrambled to pick it up while Finn let out a relieved exhale. Thank God. Surely her parents had come to their senses and Oscar was calling to take back whatever awful things he’d said that had left Avery so shaken. She was the apple of her father’s eye. His approval meant a lot to her, and once her dad had gotten over the initial shock, Finn and Avery could stop discussing the baby as if they were two complete strangers and get back to who they’d been in recent days.

  And who’s that exactly? The future Mr. and Mrs. Finn Crawford?

  The thought did seem oddly appealing, despite the fact that he’d been doing everything in his power lately to avoid the altar.

  “Daddy,” Avery said, smiling faintly as she gripped her phone to her ear. “I’m so glad you called back.”

  Finn took a tense inhale and reminded himself that the supposed feud between their families wasn’t an actual thing.

  But apparently hatred was a powerful emotion, even when it was one-sided. Avery’s face fell the moment her father started speaking. Finn couldn’t make out what was being said, but whatever it was seemed to suck the life right out of her.

  Avery’s beautiful brown eyes settled into a dull, glassy stare.

  “Daddy, be reasonable,” she said. Then, in a voice choked with tears, “Daddy, that’s not fair.”

  This time, when her father hung up on her again, she didn’t appear panicked or angry or even sad. There was no
spark of life in her expression whatsoever. Her hands dropped to her sides, and the phone slipped from her grasp. It bounced off the toe of Finn’s left cowboy boot and then skidded beneath the bed.

  His gaze snagged on it as it disappeared from view, and when he looked back up, Avery’s delicate face had gone ashen.

  She shook her head as she blinked back a fresh wave of tears. “I’ve just been disinherited.”

  * * *

  Avery lay in the dark, too exhausted to sleep. Too exhausted to do much of anything, really. Especially too exhausted to keep turning down Finn’s marriage proposals.

  What had gotten into him? It was as if finding out he was going to be a father had flipped a switch and transported him back to the 1950s. Hadn’t he gotten the memo about modern families? Single mothers weren’t unheard-of. Families took all shapes and forms nowadays. Just because she was pregnant didn’t mean she needed a ring on her finger. She was perfectly capable of raising a baby on her own.

  Or she would be, if she wasn’t suddenly unemployed.

  And homeless.

  And alone.

  Except she wasn’t technically alone. Not entirely. Finn’s long, lean form was stretched out beside her, looking more masculine than ever beneath the bed’s gauzy white canopy. He’d kicked off his boots but otherwise remained fully dressed on top of the covers. After her big announcement, what was supposed to be a romantic getaway had turned into something much more somber. Any lingering flicker of romance had been fully doused by the most recent phone call from her father.

  Now there might as well have been a line drawn straight down the middle of the bed.

  She and Finn hadn’t discussed the fact that they wouldn’t be sleeping together tonight. It had sort of been a given, though. Since she’d told him about the baby, that seemed to be the only thing they’d managed to agree on. Plus, nothing killed the mood like turning down a marriage proposal.

  Avery bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from crying again. Meanwhile, the father of her child was sleeping like a baby. Ugh, it was infuriating.