“Actually, I do know.” She filled her mother in on where she’d been for the past few hours. “We’re on our way back to the ranch.”
Her mother didn’t say anything. Kait knew she was trying to assimilate the information.
“I’m flying out.”
“What?” She leaned forward a bit. “Mom, you don’t have to do that. I’m fine for now.”
“You’re doing too much. You need to rest. I’m telling your dad you’re not to fly back home until you get a clean bill of health.”
“Mom. I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t care what you think. I know how you are. You’ll keep going and going until you drop, but you can’t do that now. You’re carrying a baby. Babies,” her mother quickly corrected. “Did the doctor say you could resume normal activity?”
“Wellll...”
“I’m flying out in the morning. I have a few things I’ll have to wrap up here, but I’ll be out there no later than noon.”
“Mom—”
“I’ll let you know when I get there. Text me the address.”
“Mom!”
“I don’t want to hear it, Kaitlin. This isn’t your choice. This is my choice. As the grandmother of your future babies, I want to help. See you tomorrow.”
She hung up before Kait could say another word.
“What’s going on?” Shane asked.
Kait stared at the phone. “She’s flying out here.”
His brows lifted.
“Shane, she’ll want to stay with us.”
“So?”
“So? That means she’ll be watching our every move.”
And at last he caught on. “Meaning we’ll have to go back to acting like we’re in love.”
“And sharing a room and dealing with your family and my mom interacting with your family, which means they’ll tell her they’d never heard of me before last weekend. And then there’ll be fifty thousand questions from my mom about why no one had heard of me and why we got married so quickly and...”
“Relax.”
She was about to go on, but he touched her knee, and as he stared at her, his eyes went soft. She clung to his gaze as though she rode a buoy in a sea of uncertainty. How does he do that? she wondered. How could he soothe her with just a soft touch and a simple smile?
“It’ll be okay.”
She wished she were as confident.
Chapter Twelve
She’d never felt so useless in her life.
“You are not to overdo it,” her mother said, her red curls bouncing as she bobbed her head to emphasize her words. “I don’t care what you think, you shouldn’t be going to a rodeo.”
Kait released a sigh and grabbed her purse. Her mom had settled in for the long haul. Contrary to the doctor’s prediction, her cramping hadn’t gone away. A visit to a local ob-gyn had raised concerns that she might lose the babies if she didn’t keep her activity down to a minimum. That was all her mom needed to hear. She’d called North Carolina, canceled her plans for the next few weeks and gotten a hotel room in town. The good news was she was only around during the day, and it was usually while Shane was at work, which meant their acting skills hadn’t really been tested. The bad news was she insisted on following Kait around everywhere, like she was doing today. They were off to watch Shane compete at a rodeo, something her mom had very nearly forbidden her to do, but Kait couldn’t wait to get out of the house. She missed the buzz of the racetrack and being in the action, and she was sincerely looking forward to watching Shane compete.
“I told you, Mom, sitting in a car and then some grandstands is no different than lounging around here.”
Her mom grabbed her own purse off the counter. “That’s what you think, but you heard the doctor on Thursday. You need to stay off your feet as much as possible.”
Kait was pretty certain that her mom would chain her to a bed if she could. She took her job as nursemaid seriously. There were times when Kait could cheerfully kill her, but she honestly didn’t know what she would have done without her this week. Her mother had arranged for a cleaning service to give their tiny new home a makeover. Next, she’d insisted on helping to furnish the place. Kait had wanted to pay, but that hadn’t gone over well with Shane, who, as it turned out, had very traditional views on who should be the breadwinner in a family. He’d scored major bonus points with her mom. They’d given back everything but a gorgeous wood coffee table that Shane’s brother, Carson, had made. It was too beautiful to give up.
“I’ll be off my feet.”
Feeling like a fat cow in jeans that are too tight.
“I’ll be sitting in the passenger seat and then sitting in the grandstands.” In a blousy shirt that she used to think emphasized her trim figure but now looked more like a circus tent.
“Just the same, I want you to be extra careful, and if you feel even the slightest twinge, you’re to let me know.”
They emerged into the bright California sunshine. It was something she could really get used to, this constant barrage of sunshine and the cooler climate. They were so close to the ocean that even if it did warm up during the day, it always cooled down at night thanks to coastal fog and an ocean breeze that somehow managed to climb the tall mountains to the west. They were headed to an event about three hours away in a small town called Clovis and to a rodeo Shane said was one of the biggest and best in the nation. Shane had left the night before, saying something about his brother needing a team-roping partner. She’d learned then that Shane did some team roping to help supplement his income. She hadn’t even known Shane knew how to do that, much less that he was good enough to compete, but she’d said her goodbyes last night as he headed off to a Friday evening performance—or perf, as he called it—at a nearby competition. He’d insisted she stay at home, and so she’d heard via a text message that he and his brother had ended up second last night. Today they’d be roping again, trying for their share of a $20,000 purse but more important, riding bulls later that night.
Her tummy fluttered at the thought of him getting atop a two-thousand-pound bull. It was a unique experience. Usually she was the one doing something dangerous. Tonight she’d get a taste of what her mom went through every time she climbed behind the wheel of a car.
“I brought you a blanket and a pillow,” said her mom, settling into the driver’s seat of her rental car. “There’s water in the backseat and I brought an extra phone charger. It’s right there in case you want to plug your phone in.”
Kait stared at the spotless dash and the charging nub where a cord hung and shook her head. How had her mom done it all those years—been the support group for the whole family, watching not one person you loved but three of them, up until her father had retired, get behind the wheel of a race car?
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“Push your seat back and sleep.”
And now here she was, supporting her in another way. Damn, she was grateful to have her.
She didn’t want to sleep, though. She’d done enough of that in the past week to last her a lifetime. Her mom said to store it all up, that she’d need all her reserves in a few months. She really didn’t want to think about that.
“Did Shane arrive all right?”
Her mom glanced at her quickly before backing away from the quaint little ranch home Kait had been sharing with Shane this week, and the less she thought about Shane the better. Being in close quarters with him served as a constant reminder of their attraction to each other. He’d kept his distance, but there had been times when she’d wished...
“You look worried.”
She glanced at her mom, her mouth opening to tell her mom she was just worried about Shane riding. Her mom would understand that, especially since they were supposedly in love, but as she was about to say the words, she fell silent instead. She was tired of it all, she realiz
ed. Tired of being worried about her babies. Tired of the charade. Tired of trying to understand why she felt so let down every time Shane settled on the couch at night. Why she tossed and turned not because she was in pain but because the father of those babies had been keeping his distance all week.
“Kait?” her mom prompted.
She took a deep breath. “I’ve been lying to you, Mom.”
Sarah glanced at her in puzzlement. “What do you mean, honey?”
It took a few more gulps of oxygen before she could say, “It’s all a sham, Mom. Our so-called happy marriage. How we fell in love. Our joy at my being pregnant. It’s not real. Well, except for the part about the baby. Babies, I mean. I genuinely want to have him...her...them.”
To her complete shock, her mom smiled and said, “Oh, sweetie, I knew all that.”
Kait’s mouth dropped open.
She nodded, eyes focused on the road ahead. “I’m not a complete fool, you know. You tell me everything. The fact that you kept your so-called relationship with this man to yourself told me something was up. And then I saw the two of you together and I’ll admit you put on a good show, but you can’t fool me.”
She closed her mouth, but only for a second. “Does Dad know?”
“Goodness, no.” Her mom shook her head, her face in profile as she drove. “He’s on a need-to-know basis right now. I didn’t want to add to his stress on top of everything else.”
That everything being her bailing from the first race of the year and the fact that she could no longer drive for the rest of the season. That was the other thing. She hadn’t known how much she’d miss strapping herself into a race car until it was gone.
Not forever, she quietly thought, patting her belly.
Her mom caught the motion. “I’m proud of you for keeping them, Kait. A lot of women wouldn’t, you know.”
“I could never get rid of them.”
Her mom reached out and touched her hand. “I know that.” She shot her a smile. “So we’ll keep you here in California. Or maybe not. You could just chuck it all and admit the truth. There are bigger scandals in the news media, I’m sure.”
“No,” Kait said. “I’ll be doing enough damage to my career by sitting out a year. The only thing I have right now is my untarnished image. I won’t risk that.”
“We don’t live in the dark ages anymore, honey. This isn’t the ’50s. Women get pregnant out of wedlock all the time.”
“We’ve already set the stage, Mom. To back out of it all now would make things seem even more tawdry. No. I’m going to stick it out.”
But for how long? The question had been plaguing her. So had her crazy reaction to Shane sleeping on the couch all week. Why did she feel so...let down? The doctor had said everything could still go on as usual. She just needed to take it easy as much as possible.
“I’m here for you, you know.”
And it was all she could do to swallow back a sudden lump in her throat. “I know.”
Her mom lapsed into silence but Kait didn’t mind. It gave her time to think. This week had given her a new perspective. One, she absolutely, unequivocally wanted to be a mom. No doubt. Two, she had feelings for Shane, and not just the you’re-the-father-of-my-unborn-babies type of feelings. Oh, no. It went much deeper than that. Each night when she went to bed, she’d been filled with a longing she couldn’t explain. She hated that she couldn’t control those feelings. Couldn’t just will them away somehow.
It scared her to death.
“Things have a way of working out.”
Not this. She’d gotten pregnant by a near stranger, and now that man didn’t want a thing to do with her, apparently. And then the babies would be here before they knew it and she’d be gone. Best to keep her feelings to herself.
Her mom patted her hand. “Chin up. You’ll get through this.”
Yes, but would she survive with her sanity intact? That was the question.
* * *
THE PLACE WAS PACKED, Shane admitted to himself. Not unusual given they were at one of the richest rodeos in the nation. He wouldn’t be alone chasing the average, not this weekend.
“You ready for this?” Carson asked as he patted the horse beneath him. Skeeter just tossed his head, not that Carson noticed. Nothing rattled his brother, probably because he looked upon team roping as a hobby, not a career. It still irked Shane that he’d made it to the NFR without even trying. He’d probably make it again this year, too, thanks in part to their win last night. That irritated the heck out of him, too. He hadn’t roped with his brother in months, maybe even a year, and yet the two of them had gone out there like old-time partners, scoring a win and helping Carson get one step closer to the NFR while he had to work his butt off riding bulls.
Figured.
“I’m ready for this to be over,” he quipped. Team roping wasn’t his favorite sport, much to his father’s chagrin.
“You know, we could really make a go of this if you ever wanted to.”
Shane looked over at Carson. “I thought you were the one that didn’t take roping seriously.”
“I don’t. I like cutting horses better, but I enjoy making money at it. And we’re good together, clearly. I’m just saying, if you ever get tired of riding bulls...”
“Forget it, bro. Bull riding’s my thing. Roping is yours...when you feel like it.”
His brother just shook his head and looked away. Shane patted his horse, Hotrod, the gelding’s neck sweaty beneath the California sunshine. The rodeo grounds were on the fringes of town, not a whole lot of shade to be found. That was okay. He was used to working in the sun. Back at home he ran cattle for his dad or rode horses for the cutting side of the operation. Carson? Not so much. He preferred making things with his hands, and he was good at that, too.
“Just make sure you turn him fast,” Carson teased. “If you catch.”
Shane hardly paid attention to the dig, and it was a dig, because the truth was that Shane had more trouble catching a steer’s horns than Carson ever did the heels. Shane liked to say that was because it was easier to catch the back legs, but that wasn’t true. Both required skill. The difference was his brother had been born a team roper and Shane hadn’t.
She hadn’t arrived yet.
The abrupt change of direction of his thoughts took him by surprise until he realized he’d spotted someone standing outside the warm-up area that looked so much like Kait he had had to do a double take. The woman must have noticed his stare because when she caught his eye, she smiled in a provocative manner. She wore a hokey-looking hat, but her hair was the same shade of blond and her figure just as trim. He looked away, and for some reason his cheeks heated up like a kid caught staring at a girlie magazine.
She didn’t hold a candle to Kait. His wife. His pregnant wife. A wife he’d had a hell of a time keeping his hands off all week.
“Well, look who’s here.”
Shane’s head whipped around, and he couldn’t keep the smile from his face when he spotted her walking toward him. Only she didn’t look happy. Neither did her mother and he realized why an instant later when the same woman who’d caught his eye earlier walked up to him, touched his knee and said with a suggestive smile, “Can I have your autograph?”
Damn. Kait had caught him staring at the woman.
“Sure,” he said, nodding toward Kait and her mother. “Just as soon as I say hello to my wife.”
The woman stepped back in surprise. He all but kicked Hotrod into a gallop. He saw the woman’s eyes go wide just before he trotted off. Kait saw him, too, taking a few quick steps back when he pulled his horse up in front of her.
“There you are,” he said, hopping off Hotrod before bending down to kiss her.
He saw her eye his horse askance, but then her gaze focused on him, and as always happened, all it took was one look and the chemistry shot betwe
en them, and he found himself bending and kissing her before he could think better of it.
“Now, now,” said her mom. “Save that for the bedroom, you two.”
The bedroom. A place he’d fantasized about all week. But he’d been afraid to touch her, worried that he might harm her in some way if she allowed him to make love to her. But there was another fear, too. He worried she’d turn him away. Only as he kissed her did he realize she wouldn’t have done that. They might be near strangers, but there would always be this, the crazy chemistry that made him come alive whenever he kissed her.
She drew back and looked up at him, arching a brow. “Who’s your new friend?”
He turned and realized the woman had followed him. She held a straw hat in her hand, a pen in the other one.
“To tell you the truth, I thought it was you at first.”
She lifted the other brow.
“Except I should have known you’d never wear a cowboy hat.” He tweaked her nose, and he realized in that moment that he was so happy to see her his heart had jumped in excitement.
“Kaitlin Cooper?”
And now it was his turn to lift a brow because it was clear she’d been recognized, too.
“It is you, isn’t it?” said a kid who didn’t look old enough to drive, much less follow racing. “Wow. I read you were married to a rodeo guy, but I didn’t think I’d actually see you here today.” The kid turned toward a woman who shot them all a look of apology. “Mom, do you have a piece of paper? I need an autograph. And a picture. Man, Patrick won’t believe this.”
“I’m so sorry,” said the mom dressed in traditional rodeo garb right down to the fancy Western shirt and jeans. “We didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Mo-om.”
“It’s okay,” Kait said with a smile. “To tell you the truth, it’s flattering to be recognized.”
She smiled so kindly at the kid and at the mom that Shane could only stare. She wasn’t like so many celebrities he’d met over the years. Kait was genuine and down to earth, and he decided then and there to hell with it. He wanted Kait in his life. Not just as the mother of his babies. He wanted more. Much more.
Rodeo Legends--Shane Page 9
