To Take a Chance

by Rochelle Alers

  * * *

  Sheldon cradled Renee to his chest, staring into the flickering flames in the fireplace. A gentle smile touched his mouth. It was a perfect scenario: a man and woman in bed together while their dog slept on a rug in front of the fireplace.

  He’d come to the cabin with Renee because he needed to be away from the farm…and alone with her. Here he hoped he would be able to face his fear and come to terms with his feelings for her. He had known there was something special about her from the very beginning, yet he could not have imagined he would fall in love with a woman carrying the fruit of her love for another man inside her.

  Once he’d recovered from the shock that she was pregnant it had become insignificant. Kelly had married Ryan and had become mother to Sean, his son from a prior marriage. Kelly had legally adopted Sean the year before.

  Sheldon closed his eyes, sighing softly. If he married Renee before the birth of her daughter, then she would automatically become a Blackstone.

  “Have you thought of a name for the baby?”

  Renee snuggled closer and wiggled her nose when the hair on Sheldon’s chest tickled her. “I’ve thought of a few.”

  “Do you want to tell me, or it is a secret?”

  “It’s not a secret. I’m considering Virginia, because it was my grandmother’s name. I also like Sonya and Hannah.”

  “They’re all strong, traditional feminine names. Have you picked out ones for a boy, just in case?”

  Pulling out of his embrace, Renee sat up. “I can’t have a boy.”

  Sheldon noted the look of distress on her face. “Why not? Sonograms aren’t always that accurate.”

  Tunneling her fingers through her hair, Renee held it off her face. “I don’t want a boy, because…” Her words trailed off, locked in her throat.

  Reaching for her, Sheldon pulled her up to sit on his lap. “Why not, Renee?”

  She stared at him in the wavering light from the fireplace fire. “A boy needs a mother and a father. I know I can raise my daughter by myself, but not my son.”

  “I’ll help you, darling.”

  She froze. “What?”

  “I’ll help you raise your son. I’ve made mistakes with Ryan and Jeremy, yet they’ve turned out all right. I’m very proud of them.”

  Renee shook her head. “No, Sheldon. I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “Didn’t you ask me to protect you and your baby?”

  “Protect, not assume responsibility for raising it.”

  A weighted heaviness settled in Sheldon’s chest as he digested Renee’s statement. She would permit him in her life but not to share in it.

  His life had come full circle. Julia had married him, borne his two sons, yet she had withheld a part of herself from him, had concealed her illness until it was too late.

  Was he destined to repeat the same mistake? Had he fallen in love with a woman like Julia?

  Now it was his turn to hide, hide his true feelings from Renee. He had fallen in love with her, would probably always love her, but it was something he would never reveal to her or anyone else.

  He squeezed her shoulder. “Let’s get some sleep because we’re going to have get up early tomorrow to go fishing.”

  * * *

  “Let’s go, sleepyhead. Time to get up.” Renee mumbled in her sleep, but did not wake up. Sheldon shook her harder. “Renee.”

  Her lids fluttered wildly as she opened her eyes. Where was she? She heard a soft yelping and came awake. Rolling over on her back she saw Sheldon leaning over her.

  “What time is it?”

  “Four,” he whispered.

  “Four o’clock in the freaking morning?”

  Grinning, he nodded. “Let’s go while the fish are biting.” He nuzzled her ear. “Okay, princess. If I catch the fish you’ll have to clean them.”

  Renee sat straight up. She hated cleaning fish. “No. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready.”

  Sheldon sat down on the side of the bed, watching her as she walked to the bathroom. She was moving more slowly now. Cupping a hand over his mouth, he closed his eyes.

  He had spent a restless night wondering whether he’d coerced Renee into living with him. Renovations on her bungalow were nearing completion, and he thought about giving her the option of moving out of his house and into her own.

  But seeing her waddle across the room while massaging her lower back squeezed his heart. He couldn’t leave her—not now. Not until after she delivered the baby.

  * * *

  Renee lay on a wooden bench in the bathroom, her legs covered with foam. Sheldon straddled the bench, razor in hand. He had offered to shave her legs.

  He raised her foot to his thigh. “Relax, baby. I’m not going to cut you.”

  “I’ve always shaved my own legs.”

  Leaning forward, he laid a hand over her distended belly. “That was before, when you could bend down or lift your leg. Right now, you’re at my mercy.”

  Staring up at the recessed lights, Renee nodded. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  His right hand moved up her thighs and covered the furred mound. “You know I wouldn’t take advantage of you.”

  She slapped at his hand. “I know nothing of the sort.”

  “Maybe if I shave a little higher the hospital won’t charge you for that particular procedure once you go into labor.”

  “Stop it, Sheldon!” She laughed so hard that her stomach muscles contracted. “Now, I’m hurting,” she said between guffaws.

  “Where?”

  “My sides and back.”

  Hovering over her, Sheldon smiled. “I’ll give you a massage after I finish your legs.”

  Renee calmed down enough to remain still as he drew the blade over her legs.

  Sheldon finished one leg, then did the other. Gathering her off the bench, he cradled her to his chest.

  “I think you’ve gained a few pounds since yesterday.”

  Renee met his gaze. “Did you see how much I ate for Thanksgiving?”

  He shook his head. “No, because I was too busy stuffing my own face.”

  “I hope the doctor won’t put me on a diet after I weigh in.”

  “How much have you gained overall?”

  “Twelve pounds.” She’d doubled her weight gain since coming to the farm.

  “That’s not much.”

  “I know. But there are times when I feel like a beached whale.”

  “You look beautiful.”

  Tightening her hold on his neck, Renee kissed his stubbly jaw. “You’re so good for a woman’s ego.”

  He angled his head. “You are beautiful, Renee.”

  “Thank you. I’d like to cook for you tonight, Sheldon.”

  “Are you sure you know how to cook?”

  She remembered another time when he’d doubted her culinary skills. “Stay out of the kitchen, and you’ll see if I can. I’m going to check your refrigerator and freezer, and if you don’t have what I need then you’re going to have to drive me to the nearest supermarket.”

  He placed her on her side on a table in a steam room. “There are no supermarkets around here.”

  “Where do you buy your food?”

  “I usually bring it from the farm.”

  “Like the keg of beer you and your buddies drink during your annual fall frolic.”

  “If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone?”

  Sheldon’s expression was so serious Renee felt her heart stop before starting up again. “Yes.”

  “We usually drink a couple of six-packs, not a keg.”

  “Tricia said her grandfather brags about you guys emptying a keg in a couple of days.”

  Pulling over a stool, Sheldon sat down and gently kneaded the muscles in Renee’s lower back. “The first year we got together we bought a keg. We emptied the keg by pouring out more than three quarters of the beer. I’m lucky if I can drink two beers in one sitting.”

  “Then it’s all a lie?”
>
  He pressed his mouth to her bare shoulder. “It wasn’t a lie. When I said we emptied a keg everyone assumed we had actually drunk a keg of beer. We never bothered to clarify the misconception because that would destroy the wild bunch’s mystique. Do you know how many guys want in our elite organization?”

  Renee laughed again. “You guys are a fraud.”

  “And you better not tell,” Sheldon threatened.

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Renee!”

  “Okay, Sheldon. I’ll keep your secret.”

  Rounding the table, he hunkered down and kissed her until her lips parted to his probing tongue. The kiss claimed a dreamy intimacy that hinted of more as Sheldon gathered Renee off the table and carried her into one of the downstairs bedrooms. He lowered her to the bed, his body following; he supported his weight on his elbows.

  Reversing their positions, Sheldon pressed his back to the headboard and brought Renee to straddle him, her back against his chest. Lifting her slightly, he entered her, covering her breasts with his hands. The coupling lasted minutes, but when they climaxed simultaneously it was to offer the other the sweetest ecstasy either had ever experienced.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Renee stood at the cooking island, adding chopped fresh rosemary to a lemon marinade for the trout she’d planned to cook on the stovetop grill.

  “Do you need me for anything before I go upstairs and wash my hair?” Sheldon asked as he walked into the kitchen. He had taken Sean with him to Staunton for a haircut.

  She smiled at Sheldon. “No. I’m good here.”

  After sharing cooking duties over the Thanksgiving weekend, she and Sheldon continued the ritual once they returned to the farm. He had been so impressed with her cooking skills that he had begun making special requests.

  He left the bed when she did, accompanying her on early morning walks, and returning to the house after stopping for breakfast at the dining hall. She had adjusted her work hours from nine-to-five to eight-to-four. Although she no longer required a nap during the day, she rarely slept soundly through the night. As soon as she got into bed the baby began her nightly aerobic workout.

  She concentrated on whisking the marinade, then placed it on a shelf in the refrigerator. Removing a platter with two cleaned and filleted trout, she lightly salted them, added freshly ground pepper, wrapped two slices of bacon around each fish and tucked bay leaves inside the fold close to the skin of the fish.

  Sheldon entered the kitchen as Renee was putting the finishing touches on the meal.

  Renee took several steps, stopping inches from the man whom she had fallen in love with and rested her head over his heart. It was pounding a runaway rhythm. “Talk to me, Sheldon.”

  Reaching out and pulling her to his body, he rocked her gently. “I love you, Renee. I love you, yet I’m afraid of losing you.”

  Tilting her chin, she saw pain in his eyes before he shuttered his gaze. “Why on earth would you lose me?” she whispered. “I plan to be around for a long time.”

  He released her shoulders, cradling her face between his hands. “I want you in my life not for a few months or for a few years, but for always. I know I can be a good father to your baby, but I doubt whether I can be a good husband to you.”

  “Why, Sheldon?”

  Lowering his head, he pressed his mouth to her ear, telling Renee about Julia, her illness and his selfish pursuit to make horse-racing history.

  “I saw her grow weaker and weaker, but whenever I asked if she was all right she reassured me she was okay. And like a fool I believed her.”

  “It’s not as if you didn’t ask her, darling. She just chose not to tell you the truth.”

  “I should’ve insisted.”

  Renee shook her head. “That wouldn’t have changed a thing. Not when you live with someone who chooses to conceal the truth.”

  Sheldon pulled himself from his past and back to the present. Not when you live with someone who chooses to conceal the truth.

  Julia had deceived him, and Donald had deceived Renee. The difference was Julia was gone and Renee was here. He should ask her to marry him and claim her child as his own.

  But could he risk it?

  “Yes,” he said softly.

  Renee stared at Sheldon. “Yes, what?”

  He blinked as if coming out of a trance. “Do you love me, Renee?”

  A flicker of apprehension coursed through her. Was Sheldon losing his mind? “What’s going on with you?”

  “Do you love me, Renee Wilson?” He’d enunciated each word as if she were hard of hearing.

  Her lids fluttered wildly, keeping time with her runaway pulse. “Yes, I do, Sheldon Blackstone. I do love you.”

  “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” She hesitated. “Yes or no, Renee?”

  “Yes.”

  “And will you also permit me the honor to be a father to your daughter?”

  As their gazes met, Renee felt a shock run through her. Sheldon was offering her what she had wanted all of her life: a man she could love and trust, a man who would protect her and her baby.

  She bit down on her lower lip to still its trembling. “Yes, Sheldon.” A delicious shudder heated her body when he dipped his head and kissed her. “Will this arrangement be strictly business?” she whispered against his mouth.

  Lines fanned out around his incredible eyes. “Oh, it will be business, all right. I want to marry you before the end of year, turn one of the upstairs bedrooms into a nursery, then when Virginia, Sonya or Hannah Blackstone is at least six months old we’re going to go on a belated honeymoon to somewhere exotic and make mad, passionate love to each other.”

  Giggling and snuggling as close as her belly would allow her, Renee curved her arms under his shoulders. “We don’t have to go away to make mad, passionate love to each other.”

  Sheldon placed a hand over her middle. “Just once I’d like to make love to you without our daughter coming between us.”

  “Three months, then another six weeks. It’s not that far off.”

  “You’re right. I think I’m going to like having a daughter.”

  “I’m sure she’s going to love having you for her father.”

  His hands moving up and down her back in a soothing motion, Sheldon rested his chin on the top of Renee’s head. “I’m going to tell you now that I’m going to spoil her, Renee.”

  “That’s okay as long as she doesn’t become a brat.”

  “Let’s have dinner, then we’ll call Jeremy and Ryan and let them in on our good news. After that we’ll call your folks.”

  “I think I’d like to have a Christmas Eve wedding.”

  “And you will, princess. You can have any and everything you want.”

  Renee knew there was something special about Sheldon Blackstone the instant she stepped out of her car to find him staring down at her. So special that she fell in love with him despite her vow never to trust another man.

  Christmas Eve

  White damask tablecloths, delicate china, crystal stemware, sterling silver, beeswax tapers in sterling holders and large pine wreaths decorated with white satin bows and white rosebuds at Blackstone Farms’ dining hall set the stage for the nuptials between Renee Anna Wilson and Sheldon James Blackstone.

  Rumors were circulating throughout Virginia’s horse country that there was to be a wedding at Blackstone Farms, and for the first time in farm history no one deigned to confirm or deny the rumor.

  Sheldon had selected Jeremy as his best man, Ryan and Sean as his groomsmen. Renee had asked her brother to give her away, her sister-in-law had agreed to be her maid-of-honor and Kelly and Tricia were her bridesmaids.

  The farms’ employees began filing into the dining hall at seven forty-five, sitting at assigned tables. A string quartet played Mozart concertos, then at exactly eight o’clock, the lights dimmed. Jeremy and Sheldon, dressed in formalwear, entered the dining hall. An eerie hush fell over the room as groomsmen with burgun
dy silk ties and bridesmaids in floor-length matching gowns followed the procession.

  The distinctive strains of the wedding march began and Renee, clinging to her brother’s arm, concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other as she made her way over the white carpet leading to where Sheldon waited in front of the stained-glass window. Her dress, an off-white, long-sleeved satin gown with an empire waist, was designed to artfully camouflage her swollen belly. She looked at her mother and smiled.

  Edward Wilson tightened his hold on his sister’s hand. “We’re almost there, Rennie.”

  Edward had contacted Donald Rush after Renee informed him that she was marrying Sheldon, and told him that his sister had married. Donald offered his best wishes for her happiness, then abruptly hung up. The telephone call had closed the door on Renee and Donald’s past.

  Renee let out a soft gasp as she felt a strong kick. Her baby had awakened in time to celebrate her parents’ wedding. She focused her attention on the Reverend Jimmy Merrell, who waited to perform his first wedding as the farm’s resident minister.

  * * *

  After midnight, when Renee lay in the warmth of her husband’s embrace, she recalled her wedding and the reception dinner that followed. The resident chefs had outdone themselves with a reception that included passed hors d’oeuvres, seafood, carving and Asian stations. A seated dinner menu offered soup, salad, blue lump crab cakes and entrées of rib-eye steak and free-range chicken breast.

  Shifting to her right side, she placed her left hand over her husband’s chest, the light from a table lamp glinting off the precious stones in her wedding band.

  Sheldon squeezed the tiny hand, whispering a silent prayer of thanksgiving for his wife and the child kicking in her womb. He had been given a second chance to be a good husband. This time he was certain he would get it right.

  “Do you want to know something, Sheldon?”

  “What, darling?”

  “I just realized how lucky I am.”

  “Why?”

  “I get to have a sleepover with my best friend every single night.”

  Chuckling softly, Sheldon kissed her forehead. “Merry Christmas, princess.”