The Texan's Bride

by Linda Warren

  The doorknob turned. “Jessie, open this door.”

  “No.”

  “Jessie, please.”

  His voice washed over her like warm soothing water. Why wasn’t he running in the other direction? She was the daughter of a stripper who was paid to have her? And…she couldn’t even say the rest in her head. It was too awful.

  “Jessie, please.”

  Oh, that strong, compelling voice had her. Getting to her feet, she unlocked the door, crawled into the middle of the bed and sat cross-legged, the folder clutched against her chest.

  As Cadde entered, she said, “Please go away.”

  He sat on the bed, facing her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Why?” She brushed away a tear and held out the folder. “Haven’t you read this?”

  “Yes. You now know the circumstances of your birth and who your mother is. Why would that affect me other than to be concerned for you?”

  “Because I’m just like him.”

  He frowned. “What?”

  “He paid Angela for a baby and I tricked you into having one. I’m a horrible, horrible person just like my father.” She dissolved into tears and couldn’t seem to stop them.

  “Jessie, stop crying.” He tucked strands of her hair behind her ear and she wanted to absorb herself into him, not caring that the letter had clearly pointed out her selfish inherited faults. “Our situation is completely different from Roscoe’s and Angela’s. We’re married and building a life together and you didn’t trick me into anything. I went into our marriage with my eyes wide-open.”

  “But you didn’t want a baby.” For her own sanity she had to point that out.

  “I do now. And we tore up the agreement, remember?” He stroked her wet cheek and once again she burst into tears. He was so gentle, so kind and she didn’t deserve it.

  “Jessie, please…wait, I’ll get you some tissues.”

  As he walked into the bathroom, she tried to stop the tears, but couldn’t. The more she wiped them away, the more they flowed.

  “Jessie,” Cadde called. “There’s a pregnancy test on the vanity and there’s two pink lines in the window. What does that mean?”

  “What? Oh…oh!” She’d forgotten about the test. She leaped from the bed and frightened Mirry. “It’s okay, Mirry,” she reassured the dog, and dashed into the bathroom to gaze at the results.

  “What does that mean?” Cadde asked again.

  “It means I’m…uh…we’re pregnant. We’re pregnant!” She jumped up and down in excitement.

  Cadde grabbed her and swung her round and round. “We’re pregnant,” he said in awe.

  The wonder in his voice brought on more tears and she sank to the floor in a blubbering heap, totally confused with her reaction.

  He squatted in front of her. “Why are you crying?”

  “I don’t know!” she wailed.

  “I’m happy. You’re happy, right?”

  “Yes!” she wailed louder.

  He scooped her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. Gently depositing her on the bed, he lay beside her, boots and all. Pulling her against his side, he said, “Cry all you want.”

  And she did just that. She could hear this insane woman boohooing and she thought it surely couldn’t be her. But it was. All the heartache from her past ebbed from her system. It was replaced with the bright glow of the future.

  She rubbed her wet face on his white shirt. “We’re having a baby.”

  “Yes,” he replied, and she felt him stiffen.

  “Why did you do that?”

  “I’m waiting for more tears. I’ve heard pregnant women get emotional.”

  She wiped her face against him again. “I’m through crying.”

  “Good.” He pulled her closer.

  “I look like my mother,” she murmured, playing with a button on his shirt.

  “Yes. She’s beautiful, but you’re more beautiful.”

  She turned her head to see his face. “You think so?” That sounded as if she was fishing for a compliment and she wasn’t. He’d said it many times when they were naked, but never when they weren’t.

  “Most definitely.” He kissed her forehead and that touch, that reassurance, made her feel better.

  “I wonder where she is now.”

  “I had my computer guy do a background check on her.”

  She sat up on her knees, eager for any news about her mother. She didn’t understand it, but that thirst for information was there.

  “And?”

  He pushed into a sitting position. “She died when you were nine years old.”

  “Oh.” Her hands fluttered against her mouth as a poignant moment of sadness hit her.

  “All the security and protection was for nothing, but Roscoe never checked. I guess his pride wouldn’t let him.”

  She fiddled with the hem of her shorts. “How did she die?”

  “She married a guy named Juan Ruiz who was a member of a gang and crazy jealous. One night as Angela was stripping, a guy tried to touch her. Juan pulled a knife, confronting him. Angela jumped off the stage to stop the fight and Juan accidentally stabbed her. He spent five years in prison for her death.”

  “Oh, my.”

  “Chip was able to locate him. He’s back in Vegas, remarried with a family and no longer a member of a gang. Chip had a phone number, so I called. It’s amazing what people will tell you over the phone.”

  She looked up. “What did he say?”

  “Angela married him because he promised her that he and some of his gang members would help her steal you.”

  “Oh, no.”

  “Yes. The plan was to take you to Mexico to hide you from Roscoe. They tried three times, but the guards prevented them from getting anywhere near you.”

  “What guards? I didn’t have any guards until after Crissy was kidnapped.”

  “You had guards, Jessie. You just didn’t see them.”

  Could that be true? She was just a kid and never sensed anyone was watching her. “How do you know this?”

  “When Juan mentioned guards, I thought he was confused so I had Arnie check the payroll records from back then. Roscoe started paying guards when you were eighteen months old.”

  She shook her head. “I never knew.”

  “Juan said the first time they just walked up to the front door of Al’s house, intending to kick the door in and take you. Before they even made it to the door, two men were on them with guns. They managed to get away. The second time they attempted to break into your window at Roscoe’s. Once again the guards stopped them. The third time they tried to snatch you from a playground. Again, they were detected, and that time they went to jail. The cops didn’t have any evidence so they had to let them go. But Roscoe was very aware that Angela was still trying to abduct you.”

  “Did they try once we moved here?”

  “No.” Cadde glanced around the room. “This fortress was too high-tech for uneducated gang members. But Angela kept planning to get you back…until her death.”

  She sank back on her heels. “I guess that was the main reason for all the tight security. I can’t even imagine what my life would have been like had they succeeded.”

  “Not good,” he said with his usual honesty, and she had to admit he was right.

  She flipped back her long hair. “And I probably wouldn’t have been a thirty-year-old virgin.”

  “And I’m really, really grateful for that.” He caressed her thigh.

  Linking her fingers with his, she said, “It feels kind of strange that my life could have turned out so differently and it makes me angry at both of them for subjecting me, an innocent child, to that type of custody hell.”

  His hand gripped hers. “It’s over.”

  “I know, but it’s hard to take all this in.” She stroked his hand with her other one. “Daddy said my mother came from a poor family. Did she have any siblings? Any family?”

  “Your grandparents are dead. Your grandfat
her was Mexican and your grandmother was white.”

  Jessie touched her hair. “Since my father was also white, I guess that’s why I’m not as dark as my mother.”

  “Probably.”

  “Do I have any siblings?”

  “No.”

  “And my mother?”

  “She had two brothers and two sisters.”

  “Are they living?” That kernel of interest was still there.

  “The brothers are dead. One was a member of a gang and he introduced Juan to Angela. He was killed in a gang fight. The other worked in a casino and was a dealer in a back room high-stakes poker game. Something went wrong and he was shot.” He lifted her chin. “Guess what the middle sister’s occupation is?”

  “A hooker.” She grimaced.

  “No. A nun.”

  “What?”

  “She works in an orphanage in Italy.”

  “And the other sister?”

  “She was also a stripper and got involved in drugs and prostitution. When she was arrested, her sister, the nun, came from Italy and the police released her into her sister’s care. She works at the orphanage now, helping take care of kids who have no one.”

  “Is she a nun, too?”

  “Chip couldn’t find anything to confirm that. But she lives with the nuns and has done so for the past fifteen years.” He kissed her forehead. “Maybe one day we’ll go to Italy so you can meet them.”

  She poked him in the chest. “You will never be able to stay away from Shilah that long.”

  He gathered her into his arms. “You never know.” Stroking her hair, he asked, “Are you okay?”

  “It’s like sleeping with the light off. As long as you’re here, I can do it. As long as you’re here, I can handle anything.”

  He turned her face to look at him. “Please never ask me to leave again.”

  “I won’t,” she said, smiling. “We’re having a baby.”

  “Mmm.” He took her lips and nothing was said for some time. All the bits and pieces from her past fit together like squares of a quilt to make it complete. And that’s the way she felt—complete in a way that surprised her. There was no wonder anymore. She knew exactly who she was and the enormous price her father had paid to have her. His life was fraught with fear and that was the biggest price of all.

  It was her life now and fear was not a part of it. She had Cadde and a baby on the way. That was what real life was about—loving and living. Against her will, a niggling doubt surfaced. Cadde hadn’t said that he loved her. It hadn’t ever bothered her before so why was it bothering her now?

  A baby changed everything and she wanted it all, just like a fairy tale. She held on to what she had, though— Cadde in her arms and in her life. Would their marriage be like her parents’ relationship? Would Cadde be unable to love her the way Angela couldn’t love her father? No, Cadde had said they were different and they were.

  But the niggling doubt remained.

  THE NEXT DAY THE PREGNANCY was confirmed. Jessie and Cadde were beside themselves with joy. The baby was due in early May. Jessie was unprepared for Rosa’s reaction. She screamed, she cried, she laughed and immediately went to town to buy yarn to start knitting baby things. Even Myra was happy for them. Jessie lived in a bubble of happiness and nothing and no one was going to burst it. Not even her doubts.

  Mirry was much better and Gavin removed the doughnut. It gave them a chance to talk.

  “I’m sorry, Jessie, about the bill. It got mailed by mistake.”

  “It’s fine, Gavin. You saved Mirry’s life.”

  “I shouldn’t have said what I did about your husband. I was way out of line and I apologize.”

  “Thank you, but I was thinking, for all concerned, that I need to find another vet.”

  “Jessie, please don’t do that.”

  She looked into his worried eyes. “I have to. Please understand.”

  He sighed. “I do.” They hugged briefly. “I wish you all the best, and I hope we can remain friends.”

  “That would be nice.”

  They parted as friends and Jessie was happy about that.

  TWO WEEKS LATER SHE WAS in town and stopped by Cadde’s office, as she often did. Chance and Kid were with him.

  “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  “You’re not interrupting,” Cadde said, and got up and kissed her.

  Kid snapped his fingers. “Wait a minute, Jessie, I have something for you.”

  Cadde groaned, his arm tightening around Jessie. “I don’t even want to imagine what that might be.”

  Kid came rushing back. “I thought you could put this on your Suburban.” He handed her a bumper sticker.

  Jessie stared at it. In big blue letters was written: Baby and Boobs on Board. For a moment she was speechless.

  Cadde jerked it out of her hand. “She’s not putting that on her vehicle, you idiot.”

  “Why not?” Kid wanted to know. “It’s fun. It’s a laugh. Doesn’t anyone around here laugh anymore?”

  Chance looped an arm over his brother’s shoulder. “Let’s go and I’ll explain tact versus tacky to you.”

  Jessie took the sticker from Cadde, walked over and kissed Kid’s cheek. “I’ll think about it, and thank you for thinking of me, boobs and all.”

  “Now there’s humor.” Kid pointed a finger at Cadde.

  For the first time Jessie felt like a Hardin, a real member of the family.

  After the brothers left, Cadde said, “You’re not putting that on your vehicle.”

  She lifted an eyebrow at his stern tone.

  “Please don’t put that ridiculous sticker on your car.”

  “That’s better.” She went into his arms and his hands trailed from her back to her pinned-up hair. “Oh, no, mister, I have a lot to do today.” She pulled back. “I have to decide on a color for the baby’s room. I’m thinking creamy pale yellow. What do…” Her hair tumbled down her back and Cadde’s lips blazed a path from her ear to the corner of her mouth. “Cadde, oh…Cadde.”

  She forgot about colors. She forgot about everything, but the man holding her, kissing her, driving her crazy. As she gave herself up to a fun afternoon she thought there had to be love in this much happiness.

  There just had to be.

  SEPTEMBER FADED INTO OCTOBER. Cadde asked that she think about stopping her volunteer work at the center until after the baby was born. She agreed. She didn’t want any stress in her life.

  She felt she owed it to Fran to tell her in person. As she suspected, Fran was happy for her and wished her only the best. Jessie stopped short when she was leaving Fran’s office. Nina stood in the hallway, within ear-shot of Fran’s door. Had she heard what Jessie had told Fran?

  “It’s not what you think.” Nina immediately went on the defensive.

  “I’m not thinking anything. I’m just surprised to see you.”

  Fran came up behind Jessie. “The counselor that Nina and Vernon are working with told Nina to leave when Vernon gets in one of his moods.”

  “That’s what I did,” Nina said rather hotly. “He didn’t hit me and he wasn’t drunk.”

  “I’m glad you found a way to work things out.”

  “No, you’re not,” Nina snapped. “You have no idea what my life is like.”

  Fran intervened. “Jessie has been nothing but nice to you. What’s with the attitude? Every time you come in here you ask for Jessie.”

  “I’m sorry.” Nina wrapped her arms around her waist and Jessie saw she was trembling. “I’m on edge. I need a cigarette.”

  “Cathy might have one, but you know the rules. You can’t smoke in here. You’ll have to use the patio.”

  Nina turned and walked off.

  “What did I do?” Jessie asked, rather befuddled at Nina’s reaction. “She seems to hate me.”

  “I think she’s jealous because you seem to have it all.”

  “Me?” Jessie asked, more confused than ever. “She doesn’t know anything
about my life.”

  “She wants to be like you, beautiful, composed and in control.”

  Jessie wanted to laugh at the description. She wasn’t in control of anything and any composure she had was pure strength of will.

  Fran turned her toward the door. “Go home and don’t worry. You know the women here have big problems.”

  But Jessie did worry and she discussed it with Cadde. He was just glad she wasn’t going back to the center. As the days passed she forgot about Nina and concentrated on getting ready for the baby. Cadde kept saying it was too early and she needed to slow down. Against every instinct in her, she took his advice. But she couldn’t resist the occasional outfit or toy. Mainly because she spent a lot of time in baby stores. Rosa had knitted enough blankets to last the baby’s lifetime.

  Cadde and Kid painted the baby’s room. She wasn’t allowed to smell the fumes. One wall was a soft yellow and another a pale mint-green. They had to paint the yellow wall four times before they got it the color she wanted.

  Kid pointed the roller at her. “This is it, woman. I’m beginning to look a little yellow.”

  They all laughed and Jessie knew this was what it was like to be a part of a family—a real family.

  NOVEMBER ARRIVED BEFORE they knew it. Cadde wanted to spend Thanksgiving at High Five ranch so she could meet all of his extended family. Rosa and Felix went to visit Felix’s sister in San Antonio. They hadn’t seen their families in years. Myra reluctantly agreed to go with them.

  Meeting so many people at one time was overwhelming, in a good way. Everyone was so nice, especially Aunt Etta and Uncle Rufus. They made her feel welcome. They made her feel at home. She met Chance’s wife, Shay, for the first time and they instantly formed a connection. They planned to meet for lunch one day.

  She was drawn to the kids like a magnet and she carried Skylar’s and Cooper’s one-year-old son around as long as he would let her. Soon he wiggled out of her arms to play with his cousins.

  She wondered what her and Cadde’s child would be like. Would he or she be a little terror like Caitlyn’s twins? Or angels like Maddie’s kids? Or sweet and adorable like Skylar’s daughter Kira? Or spunky like Darcy?