The Texan and the Cowgirl

by Victoria Chancellor

  Colby put a glass of iced tea in front of her. “We’re not much on fancy dinners around here, so just help yourself.”

  “That’s fine with me,” Cassie said, reaching for the brisket. “Darla and I eat out of containers and use paper plates whenever possible, too.”

  Charlie handed her the sauce. “How are you feeling today?”

  “Just fine. I’m like the reverse of a vampire. Give me sunlight and I’m okay. At night, I’m a mess.” She looked up at Colby, her eyes round. “Oh, I guess Charlie told you.”

  “Yeah, he did. Um, congratulations.”

  “Thanks,” she said with a lack of enthusiasm.

  Charlie liked the fiery, fun-loving Cassie better than this polite, fragile-looking woman. He felt he knew the other Cassie, the one who loved to dance and kissed like there was no tomorrow.

  Except there was a tomorrow. And a next month, and nine months after…

  “You should try the brisket,” Cassie said, turning to him. “It’s delicious.”

  Colby and Cassie were eating while he was just sitting there like a bump on a log, as his mother used to say, thinking about what the hell he was going to do about the future. He couldn’t pretend she was the same Cassie he’d met two and a half months ago. They needed more than chitchat at Sunday dinner to figure things out.

  “Right.” He reached for the container and forked several slices of brisket to his plate, then loaded up on fried okra and potato salad, finishing everything off with sliced jalapenos and pickles. A man had to keep up his strength.

  He had a feeling his life was about to get a lot more complicated than worrying about auditions or planning how to open a rodeo school.

  The one role he hadn’t considered for himself was daddy. How was he supposed to prepare for that?

  “WELL, I GUESS I’D better get on out to the barn,” Colby said. “I have some, uh, saddles to clean.”

  “Sure. See you later, bro.” Charlie sounded as if he’d been expecting Colby to leave.

  “Thanks for the hospitality,” Cassie said.

  “No problem.” Colby picked up his hat from the rack on the wall by the back door and headed outside.

  Cassie took a deep breath, knowing she and Charlie needed to talk, but not at all sure she wanted to get into this discussion. “I’ll help you clean up.”

  “Okay,” he said, gathering the containers. “Why don’t you toss the plates in the trash at the end of the counter?”

  She worked silently for several moments, watching Charlie search for a place for the food in the refrigerator, which seemed to be stocked mostly with milk, beer, soft drinks and a few condiments.

  “So, when are you going to the doctor again?” he asked, hunkered down in front of the open refrigerator door.

  “Not for three more weeks, unless I have problems.”

  “What kind of problems?” He sounded genuinely worried as he stood up and closed the door.

  “Oh, nothing in particular. I’m fine. That’s just what they tell you.” She took another load of garbage across the room.

  “I looked up some information on pregnancy online, since this is all new to me. Did you get a sonogram?”

  “Yes.” She dumped the last of the dirty plates and napkins in the container and turned around.

  “Can I see it?”

  She frowned. “Well, sure. It doesn’t show much. It doesn’t even look very much like a baby, and the picture is kind of fuzzy.”

  “I’d still like to see it.” Charlie walked to the sink and got a dishrag, then went back to the table. “Colby said Wyatt had a video of his baby.”

  “I didn’t get a video. Besides, Toni is further along than I am.” Cassie wondered if Charlie was interested and sentimental, or if he doubted there was a baby. Since she couldn’t think of a way to ask, she let the question drop. “I’ll make you a copy of the sonogram image at the office tomorrow.”

  “I can come by and get it.” He wiped down the table, then arranged the salt and pepper shakers and the napkins in the center. Cassie would bet that’s just the way his mother used to do it when he was a child.

  He balled up the rag and tossed it into the sink from across the room, the same way he’d probably done it as a child, which had likely irritated his mother. “Want some more iced tea?”

  She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

  “Want to go sit down in the living room?”

  She nodded. “Sure.” She would feel awkward talking to him about their situation no matter where she sat. No, not a situation—their baby.

  And she knew she couldn’t walk away without hearing what he had to say now that he’d had time to think.

  She’d try her best to put her feelings aside for the moment and talk rationally. After all, she did that at work all the time. Maybe she could pretend he was a particularly uncooperative contractor she had to work with.

  She took a deep breath and settled herself at one end of the couch, which faced a big television that sat on top of a stereo cabinet that had probably been in the house since the 1980s. Also in the room was a massive recliner, which she assumed was Colby’s personal domain, and a coffee table with a stack of magazines and mail.

  The house might have been their parents’ home, but now it appeared to be a typical bachelor pad, minus empty beer cans and dirty clothes, which she’d seen in other men’s apartments. At least the Yates brothers were fairly neat.

  Charlie sat down on the other end of the couch. “I’ve been thinkin’ about us a lot last night and this mornin’.”

  “Okay.” She noticed that he reverted to more of an accent when he was stressed or flirting. Today, it must be stress. She couldn’t imagine that he had flirting on his mind when he wasn’t sure how he felt about her.

  “Since you’re the one carryin’ the baby, even though it’s just as much my responsibility, you should decide what you want to do.”

  She frowned. Do? She was having this baby and she’d already decided that she would keep it. She’d thought briefly about giving it up for adoption, but she knew if she did, she’d always wonder how her child was doing.

  If she were in a different situation, if she didn’t have a good job or supportive friends, she might consider adoption a viable option. But she knew this baby would be warmly welcomed by everyone…well, except maybe her aunt and uncle.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  He drew in a deep breath, looking uncomfortable. “Well, we live in a small town and pretty soon folks are gonna know about our…situation. Have you thought about gettin’ married?”

  “Heavens, no!” That was the very last thing she was thinking about, right after moving away to another town and changing her name.

  He looked relieved for an instant, then frowned. “Why not?”

  She sat back. “We hardly know each other. We’ve spent maybe thirty-six hours together total since we met at the wedding reception. Maybe in the movies or in novels it happens that fast, but not in real life. Not in my life.”

  “We might not have spent a lot of hours together, but we’ve talked on the phone.”

  “Yes, several times, but that’s not a courtship.”

  He narrowed his eyes and his mouth thinned. “A lot of women expect to get married if they’re pregnant.”

  “I have a good job and lots of friends. Having a husband might be ideal for raising a family, but it’s not necessary.”

  “What about your aunt and uncle?”

  “That’s going to be difficult, but I’m hoping they’ll get over it once the baby is born.” Praying they would understand was more accurate. “Since they have no children of their own, this little one will be the closest to a grandbaby that they’ll ever have.”

  She paused, clutching her hands together. “What about your parents? Are you going to tell them?”

  “My parents? Um, sure. I’m going to tell them.”

  “How are they going to take the news?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know.”<
br />
  “Look, how you tell them is up to you, but I would prefer that you told them soon so they don’t find out from someone else around town. I’d like my baby to know your side of the family unless that’s going to be a problem for them.”

  “No, no problem. They’ll be okay with it.”

  It would be nice if at least one set of grandparents would be more than “okay” with their new grandchild, but she didn’t have any control over their feelings any more than she did over Charlie’s. As long as they weren’t unkind to her or the child, they would be welcome.

  “I’m not going to keep the baby’s parentage a secret. That’s not fair to anyone, least of all the child.” She wanted to make that clear from the start.

  Charlie nodded. “I want my name on my baby’s birth certificate.”

  “Okay, I’m sure that can be done.” She’d have to ask her doctor the rules when the parents weren’t married.

  He rubbed a hand over his face. “There’s a lot to consider.”

  “Yes, there is.” Probably more than they could imagine at the moment, since they were novices.

  “We’ve been talkin’ a lot about the baby, but what about us?”

  “Us?” There really wasn’t an “us.” Maybe there would have been, if circumstances had been different.

  He stretched his arm across the back of the couch and looked at her intently. “I’m sorry I didn’t take the news very well yesterday. I was thinkin’ about how good it was to see you and how fast we could get back to your place, and then you told me about the pregnancy.”

  She looked down at her hands, clasped in the thin cotton of her dress. He’d wanted to see her, to be alone with her. Until she’d dropped the bomb on him.

  “After I got over the shock, I knew I still wanted to be with you.”

  She looked up. “You do? You don’t think I tried to trap you into marriage or picked you out to be the father of my child?”

  He grimaced. “I’m sorry about all that. Like you said, we don’t know a hell of a lot about each other.” He fingered one of her flyaway curls. “But we know some important facts. I know how you look all sleepy and pretty in the morning. I know you like to eat peanut butter from the jar but you don’t drink milk from the carton. I know you’re a good friend and folks really like you.”

  “Um, you remembered that?”

  “Yeah, and lots more. Like those little sounds you make when I—”

  She jumped up from the couch and put some space between them. “Okay, I get the picture. We’re…compatible in many ways.” She didn’t want to think about how good she’d felt when she was with him.

  He wasn’t about to let her get away, though, and walked toward her. He put his hands on her upper arms and looked into her eyes. “Cassie, darlin’, are you sure it wouldn’t be best to get married now?”

  “I’M NOT MARRYING YOU or anyone else just because I’m having a baby. That’s a terrible reason to get married if you’re not in love, which we aren’t, of course.” Cassie pulled away and paced the room. “As I said, we barely know each other. Besides, we can both have a legal relationship to the baby without any…um, personal involvement.”

  “We can’t ignore the fact that we’re attracted to each other,” Charlie said. He’d missed her. A lot. Today he remembered many of the reasons he liked her so much. She had a smile that lit up the room and beautiful skin and all that bouncy hair that he loved to run his fingers through. He remembered how her loose curls looked spread out over the pillow in the morning when they’d woken up together. He recalled how she smelled so flowery and her skin was so soft.

  Most of all, he remembered how positive she was that life was one grand adventure. Back a couple of months ago, her adventures consisted of dancing, partying and riding her horse. Now she was about to have a whole other kind of adventure and damned if he didn’t feel that he should be a part of it.

  “That’s…physical,” she said carefully. “We are involved with the baby, of course.”

  “You know that’s not what I’m talkin’ about. We would’ve spent a lot of time together after the wedding reception if I didn’t have to get back to L.A. Now that I’ve finished up out there—” at least for the time being “—there’s no reason we can’t…”

  “Just start back up where we left off?” She folded her arms under her breasts and narrowed her eyes as she stood next to Colby’s TV. “Like I’m not pregnant and we aren’t going to have to deal with it?”

  “Let’s pretend we just met and we’re attracted to each other. You’re not pregnant and I didn’t act like an ass. What would we do then?”

  Her face relaxed a little, as if she was tempted to smile. “I guess we’d do what we were doing inside Dewey’s at the reception. Dance, have a few beers, eat some food. Maybe we’d go riding, meet each other’s friends.”

  “Exactly. We’d be datin’. Since you don’t want to jump right in and get married, that seems like a good start.” He was pretty sure he could convince her that they needed to spend time doing other things as well.

  “You do realize I’ll be showing in another month or two. Already my waist is a little bigger. My jeans are getting tighter.”

  He shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll be gettin’ a lot bigger soon.” He’d seen some women who looked like a house, although he hoped Cassie didn’t get huge. She was built kind of small, and walking around with an enormous belly seemed really tough for a little thing like her.

  “What I meant is that we can’t pretend I’m not carrying a baby. You’d be dating a pregnant woman. A very pregnant woman.”

  “So? Since it’s my baby, what’s the problem?”

  “Everyone’s going to be talking about us! Besides, you could be in Hollywood, dating size-zero women.”

  Charlie chuckled. “Maybe, but they aren’t you and they don’t have my baby in their belly.”

  She smiled a little and he breathed a sigh of relief. All she had to do was give them a chance to get reconnected.

  Maybe that was a better idea than jumping into marriage, even if he did know that lots of folks would be expecting wedding bells. After he got used to the idea that he was gonna be a dad, he’d thought they should get married. But they could take it slow. He might have a real challenge in front of him convincing Cassie to make their relationship legal, but he was used to tough competitions.

  He wasn’t about to tell Cassie this, but his dad would likely have his hide when he found out that his first grandchild was going to be born without Charlie putting a wedding ring on the mother’s finger first. Not that he lived his life to satisfy his parents, but they were good folks and he hated to disappoint them. And that’s exactly what he’d be doing to his mother. She’d say, “Charlie, I’m disappointed in you,” and he’d feel like a lowlife who’d never set foot in Sunday School or grown up in a loving family.

  “I’d like to see that horse of yours and watch you ride. I’d like to meet your friends and take you dancin’, but no drinkin’ for another seven or eight months.” Several of the websites he’d looked at last night emphasized the danger of lots of ordinary things, like tuna fish and alcohol.

  “I guess we could try dating, but only because we would have probably done that anyway. Not because I’m pregnant.”

  He’d ignore that crazy logic. “So, you want to go somewhere later tonight? We could go back to Dewey’s.”

  “Remember, nights are not good for me right now. I’d hate to order a steak and then bolt for the ladies’ room.”

  “Good point. How about lunch tomorrow? I’d like to see Toni’s new offices. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the company.”

  “Sure, come by whenever it’s convenient. I usually go to lunch around eleven-thirty or eleven forty-five, before the crowd at the café. Or I bring my lunch and eat at my desk.”

  “Well, don’t you bring lunch tomorrow. I’m gonna take you wherever you want to go.”

  “Okay. And I’ll make a copy of the sonogram for you.”
/>   “Now that we’ve got that settled, do you want to see the ranch?”

  “I’d love to. Do you have your horses here?”

  “I sure do, darlin’. Beau and Skiddles are semiretired, just like me.” His two quarter horses had been stabled in California when he lived there. Before that they’d been on the circuit with him. He was pretty sure they were getting fat without anyone to ride them for the past two months, but they’d earned their retirement.

  He rose from the couch and held out his hand. “Come on, darlin’. I’ll give you the deluxe tour.”

  Chapter Six

  Cassie arrived at work early on Monday morning, refreshed after a good night’s sleep. Her nausea hadn’t been as bad yesterday evening, and the resolution that she’d reached with Charlie seemed to calm her.

  Maybe they could establish a basis for a relationship, if not for themselves, for their child. She didn’t want to be angry with Charlie for the next eighteen years, she thought as she made coffee for herself and Toni.

  She didn’t want to think about the conflicts she and Charlie might have over child rearing, support and custody. She didn’t want to be a mom who had to be in court constantly to get what her child deserved, or defend her rights from an overzealous dad.

  She’d worked with women who had been in both situations. The stories she’d heard about custody disputes were depressing.

  Yesterday Charlie had been charming as they toured the barns, the old shed where meat had been smoked, which still smelled like mesquite and hickory, and the empty, dusty foreman’s cottage and ranch hands’ bunkhouse. Now everyone employed by the Lazy Y lived in their own home, so the old buildings weren’t needed. Besides, as Colby had explained when they met up with him, modern equipment had made many cowboys and horses unnecessary.

  Cassie heard the key turn in the back door. Toni entered, wearing a loose shirt that disguised her growing tummy. She was carrying her purse and a leather satchel for project plans, samples and other design tools.

  “Good morning,” Cassie called out from the other end of the hallway. “I’m making decaf.”