The Great Texas Wedding Bargain

by Judy Christenberry

  “Sounds like their wedding was even more exciting than ours.”

  She didn’t want to talk about their wedding day.

  Finally she couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “Rick—”

  At the same time he began, “Megan—”

  They both stopped and Megan risked a brief glance at his face. Then she quickly looked away.

  “Megan, I owe you an apology.”

  “No!” she protested vehemently, surprising him. “You don’t. We had an agreement. Your private life isn’t any of my business. We’ll stick to the agreement, that and nothing else. Unless you’re not willing to continue the bargain.”

  “No! I mean—I want to continue—”

  The phone rang.

  She stood to go answer it and Rick caught her hand. “Let it ring. We need to—”

  “No. It might be Mom.”

  When she reached the phone, trying to breathe deeply, she discovered it wasn’t her mother, but Cal.

  “Megan? I spread the word about anyone asking directions to the ranch. Leroy at the gas station called. A man just left after getting directions. I’m on my way, but I wanted you to be prepared in case it’s Moody.”

  “Thanks, Cal.”

  “Is Rick there with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, play it cool.”

  “We will.”

  She hung up the phone and stood there, one hand over her mouth.

  She hadn’t heard Rick move, but suddenly he was there, his hands on her shoulders.

  “What is it?”

  “It was Cal. A man asked directions. Cal thinks it might be Drake. He’s on his way here.”

  “Cal or Drake?”

  With a burst of hysterical laughter, she said, “Both. Looks like we’re having company.”

  He squeezed her shoulders, but she didn’t turn around. Finally, he muttered, “I’ll clear the table.”

  At least he wasn’t urging her to eat anymore. Which would’ve been useless.

  She fixed another pitcher of tea. Maybe the cool liquid would help them stay cool, as Cal had ordered.

  They sat in silence, waiting, listening to the ticking of the clock. Conversation about the weather would’ve been impossible at that moment, much less the serious discussion they’d been having when Cal called.

  Besides, what else was there to discuss? Then she remembered. She hadn’t told Rick she wouldn’t take any of his money. That would be important to him.

  But she’d fix that omission as soon as Drake had been routed.

  The sound of a car turning into the drive made her stiffen her shoulders. Rick got up and moved to the kitchen window.

  “It’s Cal,” he murmured. “He must’ve driven pretty fast.”

  He held open the backdoor as Cal approached. “Doing a little speeding?”

  Cal grinned and said, “Police business.”

  Megan hadn’t moved, and she didn’t acknowledge Cal’s arrival until he greeted her. Then she nodded.

  “I passed him on the way, Megan. He’s a blonde, about mid-thirties. Does that sound right?”

  “Yes,” she said with a sigh. “Torie got her blond hair from him.”

  Another car turned into their drive and Megan closed her eyes. She wasn’t worried about her physical safety. Rick and Cal were big and strong. She knew they’d both protect her.

  It was Drake’s ugliness, inside him, and the horrible memories he brought with him, that disturbed her. The regrets and anger for the waste of her sister’s life.

  “He’s going to the front door,” Rick said. He started in that direction.

  “I’ll answer the door,” Megan said, rising, calm settling over her.

  Rick frowned at her. “No. There’s no need—”

  “There’s every need,” Megan assured him. “I won’t have that man thinking I’m afraid of him.”

  Cal nodded and rewarded Megan with a smile. “That-a-girl! Bullies like to smell fear. And we’ll be right behind you.”

  “I know you will,” she told him, thanking him with her smile.

  Rick held open the door and she passed by him just as the knock sounded. When she swung open the front door, girded for battle, the air suddenly rushed out of her.

  “Mr. Astin, I’m a reporter from Austin. I wondered if I could have a few words with you?”

  Megan stared at the man who had rushed into speech before any of them could speak.

  It wasn’t Drake Moody.

  That thought was all her mind could hold at the moment.

  It wasn’t Drake Moody.

  Then the realization hit her that she’d have to go through her fears until it was him. The worry and tension wouldn’t go away. Not yet.

  Tears pooled in her eyes and she stumbled back, away from the door.

  “Megan—” Rick called, reaching for her.

  “Mr. Astin, please—” the reporter pleaded.

  “You deal with him. I’ll see about Megan,” Cal told him and followed her as she hurried back to the kitchen.

  RICK DIDN’T want to deal with the reporter.

  Hell! Now that he’d been found, he was going to have to build a gate to keep them out. A posted gate, with an electric fence.

  But most of all, he wanted to be at Megan’s side, supporting her, comforting her.

  Instead, he had to talk to this stranger. But he knew better than to blow him off. He’d only come back again with others following him. He gave him five minutes of rapid-fire questions and answers, then showed him out.

  When he entered the kitchen, he discovered Cal sitting in his place across from Megan, both of them having a glass of iced tea.

  “Megan, are you all right?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Her calm both pleased and irritated him. He’d wanted to be the one for her to lean on. “Okay, then how about eating your lunch.”

  “You haven’t eaten yet?” Cal asked, lifting his eyebrows. “It’s almost two o’clock.”

  “And she skipped breakfast,” Rick added.

  “Fine!” she snapped. “I’ll eat lunch, but I’m not a child. You don’t have to hover over me.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he agreed as he removed her plate from the refrigerator and put it in the microwave. “How about you, Cal? Can I interest you in a meatloaf sandwich?”

  “Is it the meatloaf from yesterday?” the sheriff asked. At Rick’s nod, he said enthusiastically, “You bet.”

  “You haven’t had lunch either?” Megan asked, surprised.

  Cal looked sheepish. “Yeah, I have, but I’m still hungry.”

  For the first time since Cal called, she smiled. “I’ve heard that line before.”

  Rick fixed Cal’s sandwich and warmed up his own plate. Then he sat down beside Megan. He wanted to finish their discussion, to convince her things couldn’t be like they were. They couldn’t go back to an agreement, a bare, unemotional business arrangement.

  Not when they’d shared a bed.

  Not when he loved her.

  Not when she and Faith and the children were his family.

  Half an hour later, Cal left. Rick thanked him for the warning and for coming out. He promised to let Mac know what had happened, and to call if there were any more alarms.

  After seeing him to the door, Rick shut it and turned to face Megan.

  “I’ve finished,” she hurriedly said, standing to take her plate to the sink.

  She’d eaten a little, but he wasn’t going to insist she eat any more. He was, however, going to insist that she not run away and hide, as it appeared she intended to do.

  “Fine,” he said calmly, coming toward her. “Then we can continue our discussion.”

  “I’ve finished our discussion. Except to tell you I won’t take any of your precious money. We’ll pay our way if you’ll let the marriage stand until the custody hearing. But we can move out, if that’s what you want.”

  “You have no idea what I want.”

  She lifted her chin at
those words, her jaw squaring. Rick almost smiled at the sign that he’d riled her. Anything was better than that cold calmness she’d shown earlier.

  “I think I do. You didn’t tell me about the money because you were afraid I’d ask for a settlement in the divorce.”

  “I didn’t know there’d be a divorce when we made our agreement, did I?”

  “No, but that’s why you didn’t say anything, isn’t it? You hadn’t told anyone in Cactus.”

  “It wasn’t their business,” he assured her, taking a step closer, which he noted made her nervous.

  “It isn’t mine, either. You’ve done me a favor, and I hope we’ve paid you back with good housekeeping. That’s all that’s involved.”

  “I don’t think so. What about the other night?” He didn’t bother specifying which night. He knew they both would never forget it.

  She licked her lips and looked away. Then, with the courage she’d already shown, she faced him. “That was a mistake, one that won’t be repeated.”

  “A mistake? It was the most glorious night of my life,” he said softly, coming one step closer.

  Pain lanced through her eyes and she closed them briefly.

  “Megan, I love you. I wanted to tell you then, but I was a little distracted at the time. Afterward, you passed out on me. I didn’t want to wake you the next morning because you hadn’t gotten much sleep, but—”

  “Please, Rick, this isn’t necessary. I told you I wouldn’t take your money. I’m not your ex-wife. I’m not going to sue for half your fortune.”

  “You want my money, it’s yours.”

  She almost screamed. “I told you I didn’t want it! Okay? Is that clear? Your money isn’t important to me!”

  He grinned. “I know.”

  “Then why do you keep offering it to me?” she demanded, irritation in her voice.

  “Because it isn’t important to me, either.”

  That silenced her. She didn’t even protest when he pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her for the first time since he’d loved her. He closed his eyes, savoring the feel of her.

  Before he’d got his fill of holding her, as if he ever would, she pushed back. “But—”

  “Do you remember someone saying money wasn’t important? It was what you could do with it that mattered? Do you remember all those ideas you had?”

  She nodded, looking puzzled.

  “Well, we can do all those things. And we can add on to the house, so there’s enough room for all of us…and any other children that come along. And we can be happy. If you’ll let us.”

  “Me?”

  “You. You’re the key to everything, Megan. I love you with all my heart. I want us to be together until the end of time. But I don’t want to force you. I don’t want to buy you. I want you to choose me. To commit yourself to me, as I’m committing myself to you.”

  Megan leaned back and drew a deep breath. She’d come to the crossroads with an important choice to make. She’d promised herself she would never be in her sister’s shoes.

  Rick had lied to her. He had hidden something from her. But he wasn’t Drake Moody. He was a good man, and he loved her. With a sigh, she smiled.

  “I choose you, Rick Astin, as long as you understand that I come with some baggage. Namely, Faith, Torie and Drew.”

  Almost as she finished her last words, Rick’s lips covered her in a soul-searing kiss, made even more stunning by the promise in his touch.

  When he finally raised his head, he whispered, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Megan beamed at him. “You know, I made the best wedding bargain ever when I asked you to marry me.”

  Rick frowned. “I’m worried our children will think I’m a wimp when they hear that you proposed to me.”

  “I even seduced you,” she added, a saucy grin on her lips that made him kiss her again.

  “Hmm, I’m going to have to think of a way to prove my manhood,” he whispered, his lips traveling to her neck.

  “I think—”

  The phone rang again.

  “Damn it, won’t anybody leave us alone?” Rick exclaimed.

  Megan left his embrace and answered the phone, grinning at him over her shoulder.

  Mac was calling. “Megan, I have some news for you.”

  She flashed a look at Rick that brought him to her side, his arms going around her.

  “What is it?”

  “Drake Moody is dead.”

  She gasped and Rick took the phone from her ear. “What did you say?”

  “Rick, Drake Moody is dead.”

  “What? How?”

  “Apparently he was celebrating his release and got drunk. He hit a tree going ninety miles an hour.”

  “So it’s all over?”

  “Yeah. I don’t think his parents will sue for custody.”

  “No, I don’t, either. Thanks for calling, Mac.”

  He repeated the conversation for Megan’s benefit.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.” She breathed a deep sigh. “So all our worry was for nothing. We didn’t need to move here. I didn’t have to marry you. It was all for nothing.”

  Rick’s heart stopped. “Megan—”

  Her arms went around his neck and a brilliant smile lit up her face. “I’m the luckiest woman in the world!”

  Still worried, he asked, “Because you’ll have custody of the kids?”

  “That, of course, but…but I found you. I found my belief in love and marriage. I found happiness. If I hadn’t come here and done those things, I’d still be an angry, bitter woman in Fort Worth.” Something about his stillness must have alarmed her. “You do still want me, don’t you?”

  He gave her a kiss that knocked her socks off. “Want you? I’ll always want and love you, sweetheart. And I’m going to prove it to you right now.”

  He swept her into his arms and started up the stairs.

  “But I should call Mom and let her know she can come home. I mean, here.”

  “You had the right word. This is home, for all of us. But we’re going to have a couple of hours of honeymoon first, wife. We’ve earned it. And I can’t wait any longer.”

  Megan convinced him of her agreement without speaking a word.

  Epilogue

  “Megan, Rick called me about the child care program!” Samantha said, as Megan entered her office a month later. “I’m so excited about it.”

  Smiling, Megan agreed that it was wonderful.

  “And I heard he’s putting computers in the schools. He’s even starting a company right here in Cactus. He’s doing all those things we talked about at dinner that night.”

  “I know. He’s wonderful, isn’t he?” Her contented smile told Samantha she believed her words.

  “Yes, he is, but don’t tell Mac I said that. He might get jealous,” she warned with a chuckle.

  Megan laughed, too.

  “Everything’s turned out so well. I’m glad for both of you,” Samantha said. “All you need now is a baby on the way, and you’ll be as happy as me.”

  Megan continued to smile. “That’s why I’m early. I think we’d better run a test.”

  Samantha sprang to her feet, which wasn’t easy since she was getting bigger every day. “A test? You mean you think you’re pregnant?”

  “Yes. I think I’m pregnant.” She was pretty sure, actually. And she suspected she got that way the first night she and Rick made love.

  A few minutes later, she was proved right.

  “Is Rick going to be happy?” Samantha asked. “After all, you already have your sister’s children.”

  “He’ll be thrilled. But meet us at dinner tonight at The Last Roundup and you can ask him yourself. Cal and Jessica, Tuck and Alex and Spence and Melanie are coming. We’re going to celebrate our good fortune and thank all of you for your support.”

  “Wonderful! When are you going to tell Rick?”

  “As soon as I get home from work.”

 
; A few hours later, she reached the house. Though she’d suspected her pregnancy, she hadn’t said a word to Rick. She wanted to be sure before she told him.

  “Where’s Rick?” she asked her mother as she entered.

  “I believe he went to the barn to talk to Jose,” Faith said. She was putting dishes in the dishwasher.

  “Are the kids down for their naps?”

  “Yes, though Torie protested. She thinks she’s getting too old for a nap.” Faith sighed. “The only way I got her to lie down was to tell her Flower was a growing dog and needed her rest. They’re in bed together.”

  Megan grinned. When she’d been a child, her mother hadn’t wanted any pets in the house. How things had changed in a glorious, wonderful way.

  “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  She hurried to the barn. Rick had hired Jose as his foreman, upping his pay considerably, so he could quit and manage his own place sooner. Now there were several men to work under Jose.

  Rick had combined ranching with a return to business that gave him the best of two worlds. And a lot of time to spend with his family.

  And making love to her.

  “Rick?” she called as she entered the barn.

  “Back here, Meg,” he called and she heard his boots as he hurried to meet her.

  Even with Jose behind him, he swept her into his arms for a mind-blowing kiss. “You’re home,” he murmured into her ears. “Hang on a second, and I’ll be free.”

  She smiled and he finished giving directions to Jose, his arm wrapped around her.

  Jose, after nodding to her, left the barn, and Rick turned his attention completely to her. “Want to go take a nap?” His suggestive grin told her what he had in mind.

  “Mmm, yes. Samantha suggested I take a nap.”

  “Really? Were you sleepy at the office? I didn’t think we stayed up too late last night.”

  “We didn’t, but in my condition—”

  She waited for the other shoe to drop. It didn’t take long.

  “You’re pregnant? Really?” He whooped and lifted her into his arms, spinning around.

  When he finally put her down, she asked, “Why are you surprised? You’ve been working on it ever since that first night.”