brides for brothers 03 - cowboy groom

by Christenberry, Judy

“I’ll go with you.”

  She stared at him. “Why would you do that?”

  “Gabe’s my friend, and anyway I think you’re too tired to go by yourself.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I go by myself all the time.”

  “But it’ll be dark before you get back. And you’re not used to driving my truck.” Brett raised his chin and squared his jaw.

  She shook her head in exasperation. The last thing she needed was Brett Randall beside her. “I’ve gone out in the dark before, Brett. Stay here. Sylvia may need you.”

  “Sylvia’s already gone to bed for the night.”

  “Is she all right? Do you want me to see her before I go?” She didn’t think Sylvia’s behavior was normal—not even for a pampered rich girl.

  “Nope. I think she’s mad at me.”

  That theory held water. “Well, that may be true, but if she changes her mind and finds you gone with me, she’ll be beyond angry.”

  “I’m not letting you go without me.” He crossed his arms over his chest as if to punctuate the statement.

  “Brett—”

  “Why don’t you let him go, Anna?” Jake’s commanding voice interrupted her protest.

  “I didn’t know you were here, Jake,” she said, catching sight of him over Brett’s shoulder.

  “Just caught the tail end of the argument. Take him with you, that way he’ll stay out of trouble. And maybe he can be some help, too.”

  Anna couldn’t tell Jake that Brett carried trouble with him. That being together in his truck would only create more problems. She licked her lips and found Brett’s gaze pinned on them. “Fine.”

  She started to put her dinner plate in the refrigerator when Brett stopped her.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Putting this food away. I’ll eat it when I get back.”

  “Nope. You need to eat. Wrap it up and eat it in the truck while I drive.”

  “What about you? Have you eaten?”

  “I’ve almost finished. I’ll grab another bite while you get your stuff.” He loped off for the TV room, where he’d been.

  “Don’t worry, Anna. Brett will behave,” Jake said with a grin.

  But did Jake understand the problem? She doubted it, since the problem was her reaction to Brett. An engaged man. A man totally out of her reach. With a shrug of her shoulders, she followed directions. What choice did she have?

  BRETT DROVE through the night, watching Anna eat her supper out of the corner of his eye. He drank some coffee from the thermos Red had insisted on filling.

  “Is Carrie real sick?” he asked.

  “It may be the virus that I heard is going around. But her pregnancy hasn’t been trouble free, unlike Janie’s. I don’t want to take any chances.”

  “I ran into Gabe just after they found out about the baby. Man, he was excited.”

  Anna smiled, and Brett fought the urge to reach out to touch her. If he did, he might never let her go. And Sylvia waited for him back home.

  “Most people are excited about having a baby. I feel sorry for the ones who aren’t, though.”

  “Why?”

  “A new baby is a miracle, a gift from God. Everyone should appreciate it.”

  “You’re right. How many babies do you want to have?”

  His question seemed to surprise her. She turned those big blue eyes on him, her brows raised. “Me?”

  “Sure. Do you only deliver babies? Can’t you have some, too?” He pictured Anna, her belly swollen with his child. That thought filled him with delight. Oddly enough, he couldn’t even imagine Sylvia pregnant.

  “Yes, of course, if—if I ever marry.”

  “Don’t you think you’ll marry?” Something in her voice told him she didn’t expect to.

  “I don’t know. Here’s the turnoff.”

  “I know the way. Why don’t you think you’ll marry?”

  “I didn’t say I wouldn’t. And you could answer the same question,” she retorted, and then blushed, the color visible even in the dashboard lights. “Sorry, I forgot you’re engaged.”

  He laughed. “That’s okay. Sometimes I forget, too.” He wanted to tell her that he didn’t expect to be engaged to Sylvia much longer, but that wouldn’t be right. Sylvia should be the first to know that he wanted to break the engagement.

  They stopped in front of the house, and Anna quickly got out. Brett joined her as they waited for Gabe to answer the knock.

  “I’m glad you got here, Anna.” Gabe sounded exasperated. “That crazy woman won’t listen to me!” He nodded at Brett, but Brett could tell all his thoughts were on his wife. Brett didn’t blame him.

  All three of them found Carrie in the kitchen, seemingly going through the cabinets.

  “Hi, Carrie, how are you?” Anna said in a deceptively calm voice.

  “Fine. But I can’t find my—my…I don’t remember what I’m looking for.” She whirled around and almost lost her balance. Even Brett could see that she looked pale.

  “That’s all right. I know just where it is,” Anna said, taking Carrie’s arm and leading her from the kitchen. The men trailed helplessly after them to the bedroom door.

  “Wet several cloths and bring them to me,” Anna whispered over her shoulder.

  Gabe looked torn between doing her bidding and staying with his wife.

  “I’ll take care of it,” Brett said, and returned to the kitchen. He found the drawer where Carrie kept her dishcloths and dunked several of them in cold water before retracing his steps. By the time he got to the bedroom, Anna had Carrie back in bed, softly talking to her.

  In the same tone of voice, a lilting rhythm that almost entranced Brett, she said, “Take Gabe to the kitchen and give him some of Red’s coffee.”

  Brett took the other man’s arm and led him from the room.

  “But I want to stay with Carrie,” Gabe protested when he realized he was being taken away.

  “I think we’d better follow Anna’s orders. After all, Carrie seems to listen to her.”

  “When I talk to my own wife, she ignores me, disagrees with me.” Gabe shook his head, as if unable to understand why, and Brett hid his grin.

  “Women are contrary, aren’t they? But what would we do without them?” He sat Gabe down at the table and got some cups from the cabinet, then poured coffee from the thermos.

  Gabe accepted the coffee without comment. Finally he looked up at Brett. “I didn’t tell you. Carrie was pregnant before. She lost the baby when she was about four months along. Tore her up. I was grateful she was okay, but she’s mourned that baby every day since then.”

  Brett’s stomach clenched. Babies seemed to arrive so effortlessly when he heard about someone having one. But he could tell now that it wasn’t as easy as he’d thought. Of course, Janie and Megan would be glad to tell him that every day, but he really hadn’t thought about it.

  He reached out and held Gabe’s shoulder. “Anna will take good care of her.”

  “Yeah, she’s been a real help. Ever since Carrie found out she was pregnant again, she’s been worrying. After she talks with Anna, she’s okay for a few days. Then she frets again. And it isn’t just about the baby. Some days she’s sure I’m going to dump her because she’s not pretty anymore.” Gabe gave a disgusted laugh. “Can you imagine such silliness?”

  “She really thinks that?”

  “That’s what she says.”

  “Having a baby must make a woman crazy,” Brett decided.

  “Yes, it does,” Anna said from the doorway, a tired smile on her lips.

  Brett leapt up and guided her to his chair. “Here, sugar, sit down.”

  She gave him a grateful smile and looked at Gabe. “I need to talk to you, Gabe.”

  “Shall I wait outside?” Brett hurriedly asked, but Gabe assured him he could stay. Wanted him to stay, in fact, to support him.

  He pulled up a third chair and waited.

  “Gabe, can you afford to have someone come in every morning and c
lean? Carrie is worrying because she’s too tired to keep up with all the work there is to do. If you could hire a woman to work half a day and leave Carrie in bed until noon, I think some of the problems would be solved.”

  “Is she going to be okay?”

  “I think so, if she gets enough rest.”

  “Well, sure, I’ll hire someone. I don’t know— How about Mildred?”

  Brett looked up. “She’s helping Red until Janie’s babies are born, and maybe longer.”

  “I heard Betty Froman is looking for some extra work,” Anna said. “You know their son starts college this fall.”

  “I’ll call her.” Gabe jumped up from the table, unwilling to wait till morning.

  Anna stood. “I’ll go check on Carrie again. Ask Gabe to write down all that Carrie ate today after he makes his call. Okay?”

  Brett nodded and watched her leave the room. It was as if the light dimmed when the door closed behind her.

  II WAS ALMOST TWO in the morning before Anna felt safe leaving Carrie. With her history, Carrie’s was a high-risk pregnancy. Because of that, Anna wasn’t scheduled to deliver the baby, but she was working in conjunction with Doc to try to bring the baby to term.

  Brett insisted on driving back, and she was too tired to argue. She leaned her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes. The next thing she knew, they were turning off the road onto Randall property…and she had her head on Brett’s shoulder, his arm holding her against him.

  She tried to sit up, but he held her close.

  “Shh, don’t move. We’re almost home.”

  “But I shouldn’t—”

  “Yes, you should. I didn’t have to do anything back there, but you worked a miracle.”

  She let her head rest on his shoulder, distracted by his exaggeration. “I didn’t do much.”

  “Yeah, you did. You not only calmed Carrie’s fears, but also Gabe’s. I didn’t know that they’d lost a baby before.”

  “Gabe told you? Carrie didn’t want anyone to know. She seems to feel losing the baby was her fault.”

  “Was it?”

  “No. These things happen. A lot of times, we never know why.” Her eyes drifted shut, and she struggled to open them again.

  “Will she make it this time?”

  Anna sighed against his broad chest. Strange that something so hard and muscular could make such a comfortable pillow. “Who can say? I hope so. I’ll go over in the morning and see how she’s doing. And convince her to let Betty do the cleaning.”

  He chuckled. “Too bad it’s not Sylvia you have to convince. She doesn’t have any trouble lying in bed while someone else cleans.”

  Anna immediately struggled to a sitting position. It was much too easy to forget about Sylvia.

  “Hey! What happened? I thought you were resting.”

  She didn’t want to answer his question, and she was grateful they had reached the Randall house. “Thanks for going with me and driving.”

  “No problem. Want me to carry you to the house?”

  “No! No, I can make it. You’re the one who’ll have trouble. You’ve got to roll out early.”

  “I’ll bet you won’t be far behind me.”

  Probably not. But she’d do her best to miss him.

  ANNA DID SLEEP a little later than usual the next morning. But not as late as she’d planned. She was awakened by a sound she heard a lot.

  Someone was throwing up in the bathroom next to her bedroom.

  Wearily she shoved back the covers and found her robe. Maybe Carrie did have a virus, and it had traveled to the Randall ranch. She knocked on the bathroom door.

  The person cleared her throat and croaked out, “Yes?”

  “Sylvia, is that you? Can I help you?”

  There was a response of some sort, but Anna couldn’t comprehend it. She opened the door to find Sylvia kneeling before the toilet. Quickly she hurried to her side to hold her forehead and brace her body.

  After the bout of nausea was over, she led her to the sink and washed her face for her. “Have you been running fever?” she asked, feeling Sylvia’s forehead.

  “No!” the other woman snapped, showing no appreciation for Anna’s assistance.

  “When did you first feel nauseated?” Anna asked.

  “About a week ago!” Sylvia retorted, anger on her face.

  Anna felt foolish when she finally put two and two together. She should’ve known at once, since she was a midwife. But she hadn’t expected it.

  “How long have you known you were pregnant, then?”

  Chapter Eleven

  In the silence that filled the room, Anna feared Sylvia would hear her heart pounding. In spite of her warnings to herself, she’d hoped that Brett would break up with Sylvia. Now that hope was gone.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sylvia retorted, but Anna noticed her gaze refused to meet Anna’s.

  “We both know you’re pregnant, Sylvia. Have you seen a doctor?” Anna spoke with more confidence than she felt, and she hoped Sylvia didn’t notice the trembling of her voice.

  “No.” Her response was abrupt and filled with resentment.

  “How far along are you?”

  “Just three weeks.” She seemed to gather herself together and lowered her lashes in a modest pose. “The first time, we were so overcome with desire, it took us by surprise. We weren’t prepared and—” She looked directly at Anna finally. “I’m sure you understand. The Randall men are so…” She shrugged her shoulders and didn’t finish her sentence.

  Not that she needed to. Even Anna, not married to a Randall man, could fill in the blanks. When Brett could turn her on without even touching her, she could easily imagine him causing her to forget anything and everything else.

  But she didn’t want to imagine him doing so with Sylvia.

  “Are you having any pain?” Anna asked abruptly.

  “Pain? Oh, no. Just this stupid morning sickness. How long does it go on?”

  Anna forced herself to speak gently. “It’s different with every patient. Sometimes six weeks, sometimes three months. When will you see a doctor?”

  “I did one of those self-tests. I’ll go see a doctor when I get back home. But please don’t tell Brett you know. He wants to keep it a secret from his family until after the wedding.”

  “No, I won’t discuss it with Brett. But I don’t think his family would object.” In fact, a baby was the one thing that might sway his family to accept Sylvia.

  “We’ll break the news to them when we’re ready. Besides, you have to not tell. Doctor-patient privilege.”

  “I’m not a doctor,” Anna said automatically. She guessed it was human nature to react to the smug expression on Sylvia’s face. Especially when she’d just stomped all over her foolish dreams.

  “Well, you just don’t let on to Brett that you know, or you’ll regret it. I won’t stand for you messing in my business.”

  Anna’s cheeks flushed, and she clung to her temper, remembering Brett’s teasing. “And I don’t appredate being threatened. If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

  She slipped from the bathroom without saying anything else. It was the only way she could control that temper she’d assured Brett she didn’t have.

  In her room, she sat down on the edge of the bed, staring into space. She’d actually come to believe that Brett would break off his engagement with Sylvia. She’d even dreamed that he would turn to her.

  Foolish, foolish dreams. Even if Brett wanted to break the engagement, now there was a child to consider.

  And after her bleak childhood, Anna would never wish the same for a baby who didn’t ask to be born. She did everything she could to give each baby a healthy start in the world, but she, more than most, knew that wasn’t enough.

  Wearily she rose from the bed and gathered her clothes for the shower. She felt a strange reluctance to go back to the same room she’d just shared with Sylvia. But she couldn’t go without a shower. And
Carrie was waiting for her care, hopefully in bed.

  ANNA SPENT THE MORNING chatting with Carrie and Betty, who’d been thrilled to earn some extra money.

  “I feel so lazy,” Carrie complained.

  “Why? You’re doing your job. Right now your first duty is to your baby. Gabe agrees. If that means lying in bed, eating chocolates, someone has to do it,” Anna suggested with a grin.

  “Chocolates?” Carrie asked, her eyes lighting up.

  “A figure of speech, young lady. You get carrot sticks.” She ignored Carrie’s protests. “You just remember to stay down all morning. And take a nap in the afternoon if you feel like it.”

  “I think you’re spoiling me,” Carrie said with a sigh.

  “Sure am. But if you’re ever going to be spoiled, now’s the time. Once that baby gets here, you’re going to think back on these days as absolute heaven.”

  As she left the house just before noon, she ran into Gabe coming in for lunch.

  “How’s she doing?” he anxiously asked.

  “Just fine. But you remember to wait on her and encourage her to stay off her feet. We need to keep that baby from delivering as long as we can.”

  “I’ll do everything for her, I promise. Thank you so much for all you’re doing, Anna. We’re both so happy about the baby.” His face was lit up with excitement.

  “Try to stay calm, too. I don’t want Carrie to get too excited.” She suspected that warning would fly out the window. As she drove back to the Randalls’, she thought about Gabe and Carrie and their excitement about the baby. Janie and Pete and Megan and Chad were thrilled about their babies, too. How did Brett feel?

  Brett and Sylvia. She needed to start thinking of them together, permanently. The way she should’ve been thinking all along.

  Instead, she’d cuddled up against him last night in the truck, which filled her with guilt. Even if she’d been asleep when she settled against him, she still hadn’t moved away when she woke up. And Brett had encouraged her.

  “Which either means that Brett’s unbelievably friendly, or he’s not the kind of man I thought he was.”

  Somehow she couldn’t bring herself to believe Brett would cheat on his wife…or his fiancée. “Just goes to show what a miserable judge of character I am.”