by Sharon Sala
He took off his Stetson, laid it brimside up on the seat beside him and was combing his hair with his fingers when someone slapped a menu in front of him.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
He looked up. It wasn’t Marilee who was asking, but whoever she was, she looked pissed.
“How about some iced tea?” he asked, and flashed her a grin.
She glared.
It was the first time he’d ever gotten that kind of a reaction from something as simple as a smile.
“What’s good today?” he asked without opening the menu.
“I’ll take your order when I bring your tea.”
Justin was taken aback. Whoever this woman was, she needed an attitude adjustment. It wasn’t until she stomped away that a thought occurred. What if Marilee didn’t work here anymore? What if she’d moved? What if he never saw her again?
A sheen of cold sweat suddenly beaded across his forehead. It was panic, pure and simple.
God. He’d waited too long.
He glanced around the room, his stomach in knots, and then immediately the panic receded. There she was, on the other side of the room! He’d recognize those long legs and that topknot of chocolate-brown hair anywhere. He stared at her back, willing her to turn, and then when she did, every thought in his head just stopped. Everything about her was the same—just as he’d remembered, just as he’d dreamed—except for the fact that she was obviously pregnant.
“Lord Almighty,” he muttered as his bones turned to mush.
He thought back to that night and of the countless times they’d made love. He hadn’t used protection, which was careless, of course. But it wasn’t as if he’d planned on having sex. And he’d just assumed that she was protected. Women her age knew the score. It wasn’t as if she’d been a virgin, and she’d been damned willing.
Then reason surfaced. What the hell was he thinking? Just because he’d spent the night in her bed didn’t mean he was the only one who had. For all he knew, he was just one of many. But the moment he thought it, he knew that he was wrong. He’d known plenty of easy women, and Marilee Cash just hadn’t come across that way.
All of a sudden another thought hit. What the hell was wrong with him? Six months had come and gone. Hell, she was probably married. And the moment he thought it, he groaned. He didn’t want her married. He didn’t want her coming apart in someone else’s arms.
So, since when does what you want matter in her life? You had your chance, buddy. You walked out without so much as a “thank you, ma’am.” She doesn’t owe you anything, especially allegiance.
But the pep talk he gave himself didn’t help. He watched her from across the room, trying to see if she was wearing a wedding ring, but he couldn’t tell.
And then his waitress came back. He actually found himself wanting to duck when she swung the glass of iced tea through the air before plunking it down at his place.
“Know what you want yet?” she asked.
“Yeah. Some consideration would be nice,” he muttered.
“You have to give it before you receive it, buddy.”
His eyes narrowed as he studied her face. Something told him that there was more than a bad attitude under the little waitress’s behavior.
“I want to talk to Marilee,” he said. “Will you tell her I’m here?”
“Oh, she already knows.”
The answer hit like a fist to the gut. For a moment he couldn’t think what to do. Then reality surfaced. By God, he wasn’t going to be ignored. He shoved the menu aside and picked up his hat, jamming it on his head as he got up from the booth.
“Leaving so soon?” Dellie asked.
Justin glared. “I’m not going anywhere until I talk to Marilee,” he muttered, and pushed past her.
Dellie frowned. This wasn’t what she’d expected him to do. In her experience, men who got women in trouble didn’t go looking for conversation. She tried to get Marilee’s attention, but it was too late. Justin got there first.
* * *
Marilee was in the midst of taking an order when Justin appeared at her side.
“Do you want fries with that?” she asked.
“Marilee, I need to talk to you,” Justin said.
The couple at the table looked a bit startled, and the man she was talking to hesitated to answer. Heat was spreading up her neck to her cheeks, but she stood with her pen to the order pad, looking directly at her customer as if Justin hadn’t said a word.
“Uh, yes, I believe I do,” the man said.
“Fries, it is,” she said, then smiled at his wife. “And how about you, ma’am? Do you want fries, too?”
“Marilee! I’m talking to you,” Justin muttered.
Marilee took a deep breath and kept looking at the woman.
“Do you have those yummy curly fries?” the wife asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Then I’ll have those,” she said, eyeing the big cowboy who was standing between their waitress and the kitchen.
“Great choice,” Marilee said. “I’ll bring you some more iced tea.”
She pivoted sharply, sidestepping Justin as if he was nothing more aggravating than a chair that had been moved out of place, sashayed to the pass-through, handed in her order and picked up a pitcher of iced tea on her way back to the tables. Justin was right behind her.
“More tea, sir?” she asked, calmly refilling a glass here and a glass there as she made her way back to the couple’s table. She was pouring tea in their glasses when Justin grabbed her by the arm.
“Damn it to hell, Marilee. Look at me.”
She topped off the glass, ignoring the couple and their curious stares as she looked up.
“What?”
Reeling from her anger and scared spitless that he already knew the reason for it, he still had to ask.
“Have you forgotten how to talk?”
“No more than you,” she drawled.
It was a slap-in-the-face reference to the fact that he left her without saying goodbye, and truth be told, he knew he deserved it.
“Look, we need to talk.”
“I’m busy.”
He glanced down at her belly then up at her face.
“You’re also pregnant.”
“Yes. That sometimes happens when you have sex.”
The woman at the table snickered. Her husband frowned at her and shook his head, but it was too late. Justin had already heard. He glared at her and then back at Marilee.
“You know what I’m saying, damn it. Are you going to talk about it or not?”
In the background of the noisy room, Marilee heard Calvin ring the order-up bell and she started to push past Justin, but he wasn’t going through this all over again. He grabbed her arm, his voice just shy of a shout.
“Is this baby mine, or not?”
“Excuse me,” Marilee said, smiling at the couple as she set the tea pitcher down. Then she drew back her hand and slapped Justin’s face. The sound ricocheted above the melee of conversations like a gunshot.
Suddenly the room was silent as Marilee picked up her pitcher and headed for the kitchen. Without breaking stride, she picked up three plates of chicken-fried steak with all the trimmings and headed for one of her other tables, well aware that Justin was on her heels. The room was dead silent. People were staring, their food forgotten as they watched the unfolding drama.
“Damn it to hell, Marilee! I want an answer!” Justin yelled.
Marilee served the food to a man and his two teenage sons.
“Can I get you anything else?”
They looked a bit nervous and quickly shook their heads.
“Enjoy your food,” Marilee said, and then started toward the kitchen again.
In his whole pampered life, Justin Wheeler had never been thwarted like this. When Marilee turned her back on him again, he suddenly yelled.
“Marilee, if you don’t stop and talk to me now, you’re going to be sorry.”
She s
topped, and even as she was turning around, knew she wasn’t going to be able to hide her anger any longer.
“Sorry?” she shrieked. “I’m going to be sorry? What more could you possibly do to me than you’ve already done?”
Scalded by her fury, he still needed to hear it said.
“Then that baby you’re carrying is mine!”
She walked toward him, and when she was only inches away from his face, she took off his hat and handed it to him, then calmly poured the rest of the tea in the pitcher down on his head.
There was a collective gasp from the customers as Justin stood there in shock, cold liquid running from his hair into his eyes. He should have been angry, but he’d seen the hurt on her face and it had shamed him instead. He’d questioned her morality in front of dozens of strangers. What the hell had he been thinking? Then he sighed. That was the trouble. He hadn’t had a rational thought since six months ago when she’d jumped up from that Monopoly game, crowing that she’d won.
“Marilee, I—”
She turned and walked away, passing Calvin who was on his way out of the kitchen.
“What the hell is going on?” Calvin asked.
Marilee kept on walking.
Suddenly Justin realized that his actions had not only embarrassed her, but they could have gotten her in trouble with her boss. He couldn’t let that happen.
“It’s nothing,” Justin said quickly. “We had a little spill, and it’s all my fault.”
“Well, he finally said something that’s beginning to make sense,” the woman said.
“Loretta, hush your mouth,” the man said, and then looked at Justin and shrugged, as if to say it was out of his hands.
“I’ll get a mop,” one of the other waitresses said as Dellie bolted into the kitchen after Marilee.
* * *
Marilee felt as if her heart was in shreds. By the time she reached the kitchen, she was choking back sobs. Splaying her hands across her belly in a protective manner, she staggered into the break room and then started to cry. It was the tears she should have shed six months ago when Justin left her to wake up alone. They burned like acid, blinding her to everything but the pain. Frantic that Justin would find her like this, she tore off her apron and began gathering her things. She had to get out of here now, before it was too late.
Seconds later Dellie rushed into the break room.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” she hissed.
Marilee nodded as she opened her locker and reached for her purse.
“Well, I’ll have to admit, he didn’t tuck tail and run like I thought he would,” Dellie said. And then she added, “But I’m still on your side, girl. You get yourself on home. We’ll cover for you here and Calvin won’t care.”
Marilee turned and impulsively hugged Dellie. “Thank you,” she mumbled.
“That’s what friends are for,” Dellie said. “Now get, before he storms back here and tears up what’s left of the place.”
With her car keys in one hand and her purse slung over her shoulder, Marilee exited the Roadrunner and headed for her car. Even though she knew Justin Wheeler wasn’t through with her, she needed to be on home ground when their showdown ended.
Justin was still apologizing to Calvin and helping the waitress mop up the tea that Marilee had poured on his head when he happened to look out the window. He’d only seen it once, but he recognized her old car, and it was sailing out of the parking lot in high gear.
He handed the mop to Calvin.
“I’ve got to go,” he said as he bolted for the front door.
Halfway across the room, someone suddenly yelled out, “It’ll be the biggest mistake of your life if you don’t go after her.”
He kept on running. They didn’t have to tell him something he already knew.
CHAPTER 3
Justin came out of the parking lot just as Marilee’s old car disappeared around the corner of the block up ahead. He hit the accelerator and swerved into the turning lane, desperate not to lose her. Although he’d been at her house, they’d driven there in a snowstorm and he’d left the next morning in a mental fog. Finding it again without an address would have been next to impossible.
Two turns and five blocks later, he saw her take another sharp right. When he turned the corner, she was nowhere in sight. His heart dropped. Driving slowly down the street, he passed three brick homes, one green and white ranch-style bungalow and a large, yellow house. But when he saw the tiny, white frame house on the corner, it struck a familiar chord. And then he saw her car in the drive, hit the brakes and made a quick left turn. He killed the engine, breathing a sigh of relief.
As he started to get out, he hesitated, desperate to collect his thoughts. His gut was in knots and his hands were shaking. He’d never been so scared or as uncertain about what to say. He’d done the unthinkable and made a baby with a woman he hardly knew, but he wasn’t the kind of man who could walk away from that. Settling his hat a little more firmly on his head, he got out of the pickup and started toward the door.
* * *
Marilee was in the bathroom, washing her face with cold water when she heard the knock on the door. She looked up at herself in the mirror as she grabbed a towel. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying and her makeup was a mess.
Good. Maybe he’ll take one look at me and get the hell out of my life. It’s already complicated enough.
She heard him knock again. This time more forcefully. She sighed. There was no use delaying the inevitable. Lifting her chin, she pivoted sharply and headed for the door.
“What?” she said, yanking it inward.
Justin flinched. She’s been crying. Then he sighed. Well, hell, of course she’s been crying. He yelled at her for a good five minutes in front of God and everybody.
“Marilee, I’m sorry.”
“For what? Making a scene at my job, or because I’m pregnant?”
“For yelling at you.”
“Apology accepted,” she muttered, and started to close the door.
He grabbed it before she could shut it in his face, and then he stepped inside, taking off his Stetson and hanging it on a hook by the door. As he did, it hit him that he’d done this once before, on the night she’d given him shelter from the storm. Then he faced her, determination heavy in his voice.
“We need to talk.”
“About what? I thought you’d pretty much said it all.”
He shut the door behind him and frowned as she stalked toward the kitchen. Refusing to be put off, he followed her.
“Don’t patronize me, lady. I had a right to know about this.”
She spun, her anger alive and growing.
“Well said. I couldn’t agree more. However...since you snuck out of my bed without so much as a goodbye and disappeared from my life, I assumed you’d had all of me you wanted.”
He flushed, but held his ground.
“And there hasn’t been a day since that I have not regretted that.”
She frowned as if she didn’t believe him, and truth be told, he couldn’t blame her.
“Okay, so you’re sorry you were a coward and you’re sorry you embarrassed me at my work, and I have accepted your apology. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve had just about all of your apologies I can take for one day.”
“Please...honey, I—”
“The last thing I am is your honey.”
The wintry look she gave him was startling. It looked too much like hate.
“Marilee?”
She waited, arms folded across her chest in anger, unaware that it only accentuated the swell of her belly and how thin she’d become.
“Please,” he begged. “Will you sit down so we can talk?”
She stomped into the living room and plopped down on the sofa. When he started to sit by her, she glared. He opted for the chair instead, leaving a coffee table between them to mark a boundary. He looked at her then until her anger wavered, and she chose to stare at the floor instead.
�
�Now I’m going to ask this again, but please don’t take it wrong.”
She looked up.
“Why didn’t you let me know?”
“I don’t know where you live. In fact, I don’t know anything about you except your name, the little you’ve mentioned about your parents and the fact that you have a dimple in your left cheek when you smile. Besides, I blame myself. I let it happen. It’s my problem. I take care of myself.”
“Does your family know?” he asked.
“I don’t have any family. Remember?”
He felt his face redden. It shamed him to admit he didn’t remember a damned thing she’d told him about her personal life. All he remembered was the way she’d felt in his arms and the way she’d made him feel inside, as if he had conquered the world.
“Yes, I’m sorry. I guess I forgot.”
She didn’t answer. There was no need. He knew she’d seen through his feeble excuses. He’d taken her to bed. End of story for him. Unfortunately it had been only the beginning for her. He took a deep breath. It wasn’t exactly the way he’d ever planned this moment, but he had never walked away from a fight in his life and he wasn’t going to start now. Not when the life of his firstborn depended on it.
“Marilee, I’m sorry for everything you’ve suffered, and if I could, I would take it all away right now. However, you and I both know that’s impossible. But I can do something to relieve some of your burden and it would honor me if you would permit this to happen.”
She shrugged. “Short of giving birth for me, which we both know can’t happen, I don’t see what you think you can do.”
“You could marry me.”
It was the last thing she’d expected to hear. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in shock. She knew it to be so, because the room suddenly became brighter and her lips went dry. Overwhelmed, she started to cry—spilling huge, quiet tears that rolled down her cheeks.
“Marilee...don’t,” he begged as he got up from his chair. But when he tried to sit beside her, she wouldn’t be held.
