Texas Baby

by Kathleen O’Brien

  She heard footsteps coming down the hall, and her hands flew to her hair, trying to smooth the tangles. She caught a glimpse of herself in the dresser mirror, and forced them down again.

  What was the use? Her hair had lost the shine he used to admire. It wouldn’t spill like honey through his fingers anymore. She’d lost ten pounds, in all the wrong places. She’d cried off her mascara and worried away any hint of lipstick long before she got to the ranch. And now she had a bandage on her forehead and a black eye that made her resemble an off-kilter raccoon.

  Chase had turned his back on her two months ago, when she’d been pink-cheeked and bright-eyed with first love. His lust wasn’t likely to be reawakened by her “beauty” today.

  She’d have to appeal to his honor, or nothing at all.

  Which was why her hands started to tremble again as the footsteps drew closer. This was a man who hadn’t even bothered to leave a goodbye note. Honor probably wasn’t his strong point.

  She forced herself to watch the door steadily. She squared her shoulders, trying to look as dignified as possible. She didn’t need to cower before him. She hadn’t created this baby alone. They had done it together, with laughter and tenderness and passion, however short-lived it had been.

  She might be a poor waitress, and he might be a rich rancher. But this was the twenty-first century, and she had no intention of slinking away to starve nobly on the streets for her sins. She wasn’t a martyr or a fool.

  They’d made the baby together, and they would face the consequences together. She lifted her chin and waited for him to show up in the doorway.

  But the man who appeared there wasn’t Chase. He was older, for one thing. Short and neat, brunette and sober-faced.

  “Hello, Ms. Whitford,” he said. “I’m Chase Clayton’s lawyer. May I come in?”

  “His lawyer?” She felt some of the bravado whoosh out of her, as if a hole had been torn in her sail. So far she’d seen Chase’s doctor, his maid, and now his lawyer. Apparently he had an army of people he could send ahead, like the military’s front lines, to wear the enemy down.

  “Yes. Jim Stilling. May I come in?”

  She nodded. “Of course, Mr. Stilling. It isn’t my room. I’m not in a position to deny anyone access to it.”

  He smiled, waving that idea away and entered the room. He sat on one of the soft chairs, which were covered in butter-colored silk. He looked at home there, even though the decor was so feminine, with powder-blue and butter-yellow-flowered wallpaper, a white lace canopy on the bed and a huge window overlooking rolling green hills.

  She’d never slept in a room this beautiful, much less owned one. She’d been trying not to let that intimidate her.

  “And please,” he said, still smiling softly. “Call me Jim. So. Are you feeling better?”

  Josie knew a lot of lawyers. The Not Guilty Café was full of them. Her stepfather was a lawyer, too. But she’d never met one with such warm eyes and gentle smile.

  All the better to fool you with, my dear.

  “Yes,” she said politely. “Much better.”

  “Good. I’d like to talk to you a minute, if you don’t mind. Dr. Marchant has told me about your condition. Apparently you gave him permission to discuss it?”

  She flushed slightly, remembering. She’d told the doctor he could shout the news to the whole world if he wanted. She had been angry, embarrassed that she’d caused such a ruckus, ashamed of her scrawny, scraped-up body, which she’d been required to lay bare for his inspection, so that she could prove she wasn’t lying about the baby.

  “Yes,” she said. “He has my permission. The pregnancy isn’t something I’ll be able to keep secret very long, anyhow.”

  The lawyer steepled his fingers. “And is it your contention that Chase Clayton IV is the father of this child?”

  Her eyes narrowed. That sounded like something on a subpoena.

  “Maybe we should dispense with this prologue, Mr. Stilling, and get to the point.” She drew herself up even straighter in the bed. She put her hands under the blanket, to hide the tremor that hadn’t quite disappeared. She didn’t want to appear weak. She was tired of being weak. Now that she knew why she had been feeling so sick and exhausted lately, she wasn’t afraid anymore.

  And she was all through with cringing and enduring. She was going to be a mother, and that was a job that called for courage. It was time to find out if she had some.

  “Yes,” she said. “It is officially, legally, my contention that Chase Clayton IV is the father of my baby. Is it his contention that he is not?”

  “I didn’t say that,” the man said, shaking his head as if alarmed by her sudden adamance. “I haven’t spoken to Chase about this yet. I assume Dr. Marchant is filling him in on the situation at this very moment. He doesn’t know I’m here. In fact, I probably shouldn’t be here. It’s just that, I’m very fond of Chase, and I thought perhaps I might—”

  “Make me go away? Make me change my story? That isn’t going to happen, Mr. Stilling. Back in January, Chase and I spent a month as lovers. He may regret that now. In fact, given that he’s planning to marry someone else, I’m fairly sure he does. But regret doesn’t change the fact that it happened. It also doesn’t change the fact that I’m carrying his child.”

  “There’s no need to upset yourself, Miss Whitford. I’m not trying to make you do anything. It’s just that…” Stilling looked sincerely uncomfortable. “You see, I’ve known Chase a long time, and it’s hard for me to believe that—”

  “Chase is the father,” she said firmly. “I understand that you know nothing about me, about my character. Maybe you think that…I don’t know, that I have dozens of lovers, and I just picked the richest one to pin it on.”

  The lawyer shook his head. “No. Really. I’m not implying anything of the sort.”

  But he was thinking it. Of course he was. It would be the perfect out for Chase, if he could prove she was a tramp. This Stilling guy was a lawyer, and he represented a rich man accustomed to taking what he wanted and throwing it away when he was through.

  Like her stepfather. Funny, how that seemed to be her pattern. Her mother’s husband had forced her out of the house at eighteen. For her own good, he said. So that she’d learn to stand on her own two feet. A year later, in a moment of weakness, she’d asked him if she could move back home for a while, just until she got her AA. He was drunk, of course, but his answer was unequivocal. Hell, no. Having her show up again was the equivalent of having the trash guy bring back his garbage.

  As if the insult had happened yesterday, she felt tears pressing at the back of her eyes, and she fought them away. They were part of the old weakness, and she was done with them.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” she said. “But it simply isn’t true. I have had only one lover. It was Chase. I met him at the restaurant where I work, and he was—”

  Somehow she stopped herself. She didn’t need to justify herself to this man. She wasn’t on trial for immorality here. She didn’t have to tell him how lonely she’d been, and how the handsome cowboy had swept her off her feet, which were aching like fire from twelve-hour shifts. She didn’t have to admit how easily he’d romanced her with a fancy car, expensive meals and whispers about the stars in her eyes and the honey in her hair.

  That story wouldn’t make her look one bit better. It would make her look gullible and pathetic, which was worse than trashy any day.

  And anyway, how could she ever describe how sweet Chase had seemed, at the beginning? The first night, after they’d made love, they had stayed up for hours, eating the chocolates he’d brought her and telling each other stories about their childhoods.

  The sex had been nice, but it was those stories that had made her fall in love with him. She’d been able to picture him as a little boy of eight, fishing in the creek that bore his name and throwing ev erything back. And at nine, killing a rattlesnake with a golf club and shaking for an hour afterward.

  She’d never k
nown a man so willing to admit he had a tender heart.

  “Anyhow, it’s all true,” she said. “We spent a month together. Every day. I know all about him, Mr. Stilling. I know he got his first horse when he was fourteen, and its name was Captain Kirk. I know that when he was ten his collie died, and he carved the gravestone himself.”

  The lawyer’s eyes widened slightly.

  “The doctor says I can’t get out of bed, but if I could, I’d go to that window, and I bet I could see the stone from here. It says Yipster, the World’s Nicest Dog.”

  “Anyone could know those things,” he said carefully. “Anyone could—”

  “No,” a harsh voice from the doorway said. “Not anyone.”

  Stilling leaned forward. “Chase!”

  The man in the doorway didn’t take his gaze from Josie. “Only someone who knew me well could have told you those stories, Miss Whitford, and I’d like to know who it was.”

  She shook her head, feeling nauseated again. She wondered if her blood sugar might have dipped again, from all the stress. She couldn’t quite follow what seemed to be happening. Who was this? Were they trying to fool her, bringing in someone to pose as Chase and hope she’d snap at the bait?

  The man glaring in at her was very tall and beyond handsome, with thick golden hair and the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. They were also the coldest eyes she’d ever seen.

  “It was Chase who told me,” she began, her voice betraying her anxiety. It was like walking on a road rigged with land mines. She didn’t know what they were trying to do.

  “No,” the man said roughly. “That’s a lie.”

  A woman stood at his elbow, just behind him. She looked familiar, though Josie had no idea why. “Chase,” the woman said gently. “That’s too harsh.”

  “It’s not harsh—it’s true. You are lying, Miss Whitford. I told you nothing. Until you wrecked your car in my driveway this afternoon, I had never seen you before in my life.”

  Dr. Marchant’s low, gruff voice came from the hall, somewhere out of sight. “Chase, really.”

  Josie tilted her head back, trying to make enough room in her lungs to breathe. Thank God she wasn’t standing up. She would have fallen into a heap, like a puppet with no strings.

  “Well? I’m waiting for an explanation, Miss Whitford. I swear on my life, I have never seen you before.”

  He sounded…so certain. So indignant.

  So exactly how an honest man unjustly accused would sound.

  The bed seemed to tilt. Her heart hitched.

  But then everything cleared. And suddenly she understood.

  Yes, she thought as she took in the man’s generous mouth, his wide, clear brow and his intelligent eyes, everything finally made sense. The one mystery, the one thing she hadn’t ever been able to figure out, came clear. She’d never understood how a boy who had cried over killing a rattlesnake could grow into a man who could break a woman’s heart without batting an eye.

  How could anyone change so much?

  He couldn’t. That was the simple, terrifying answer.

  He hadn’t changed. The dashing heartbreaker she’d met, and the tenderhearted rancher’s son whose stories had won her heart…they were two different men entirely.

  “Damn it, woman. Say something.”

  She met his furious gaze helplessly. She had nothing to say. Not to him. All she could possibly say was…

  “I’m so sorry, Mr. Clayton. I’ve never seen you, either.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  IT TOOK SEVERAL MINUTES for Chase to clear the room. Obviously, once Josie had dropped her bomb, no one wanted to leave before the mystery was sorted out.

  The lawyer, in particular, resisted. He used euphemisms, but Josie wasn’t an idiot, so she understood. He was trying to warn Chase about being alone in a bedroom with a woman like her. According to Stilling, Josie probably planned to wait thirty seconds, scream “Rape!” and live off the hush money for the rest of her life.

  But apparently no one ordered Chase around in his own house, even for his own good. Though he never once raised his voice, pretty soon everyone was filing out, slowly and still chattering, offering last-minute advice.

  Everyone except the woman Josie had seen earlier, standing just behind Chase in the doorway. As soon as the auburn-haired beauty entered the room, Josie recognized her. She was Susannah Everly, Chase Clayton’s fiancée. Apparently she was going to be the official witness.

  Josie wondered whether Susannah was staying to protect Chase from the crazy lady in the bed, or to protect her own romantic interests. Either way, Josie could imagine how much the woman must resent an interloper on a day like this. Josie had already gathered that she had crashed an engagement party…literally.

  “Okay, Ms. Whitford,” Chase said, his voice hard. “Let’s talk.”

  Josie braided her fingers in her lap, hoping that would keep them from feeling so shaky. “I wish I knew what to say. Obviously someone’s been impersonating you, Mr. Clayton, and I fell for it. I was upset this morning, when I set out to come here. I’d just learned I was pregnant, and I…I didn’t think it through, I suppose.”

  She looked at him, trying to believe what seemed to be true—that he was the real Chase Clayton. “It was terrible timing. I’d say I’m sorry for causing such a commotion, but that doesn’t seem to quite cover it, does it?”

  “No,” he agreed. “Not even close.”

  She waited, unsure where to go from here. On the exhausting drive to this ranch, she’d been fueled by fiery indignation, believing she must make Chase do right by his own child. But now…

  Now she just felt like a fool.

  Chase was watching her through narrowed, appraising eyes. She lifted her chin. Okay, she had been a fool, but she didn’t have to be a pitiful fool. If only she were sure her legs would hold her, she’d get out of the bed and…

  And what? Her car was in bad shape. And she certainly didn’t have money to take a cab all the way back to Riverfork.

  “I think maybe you’d better start from the beginning,” he said slowly. “For starters, how did you meet this…this man you thought was me?”

  “About three months ago, he came into our café, the Not Guilty Café in Riverfork. I wait tables there every morning.”

  She almost added that she went to school in the afternoons, that she was just one semester away from getting her associate’s degree, but she bit her lip. He hadn’t asked for her life story. And besides, she wasn’t ashamed of being a waitress. She didn’t have to impress this man or his elegant fiancée.

  She noticed that Susannah had subtly separated herself from the conversation. The tall, slender woman stood over by the window, silhouetted against the deep blue, dying light. Of course she could still hear every word, but Josie appreciated the tact. At least Josie didn’t have to look into her eyes while she revealed her own stupidity.

  She turned back to Chase. “He came in every day for a week before he ever asked me out. He always requested one of my tables. He was friendly. We talked a lot. He said his name was Chase Clayton IV. He told me all about his life, his ranch, his—” She stopped. “I guess it was your life, though. Your ranch.”

  “Apparently. But you just swallowed the story whole? You didn’t check him out? You didn’t even ask for identification?”

  “No. It never occurred to me. Some things you just take for granted, don’t you? You can’t go around suspecting everyone of fraud. Do you check out every single person you meet?”

  “Absolutely. Especially if it involves business, or anyone who will be granted…a degree of intimacy.” He took a step closer. “Like sleeping in my guest room, for instance. Stilling is downstairs doing a LexisNexis search on you right now. If you have a criminal background, he’ll find it. And if you do, then believe me, Miss Whitford, you’ll be out of that bed in a hurry.”

  She frowned, stung by his tone. “And you can believe me, Mr. Clayton, that I have no intention of being your guest one second longer than is
absolutely necessary.”

  She felt herself flushing. “I’m not sure what you suspect me of, Mr. Clayton. I’ve already admitted, in front of witnesses, that I made a mistake. That I’m not accusing you of being the man who…the man I…”

  Over by the window, Susannah stirred. “Chase, Dr. Marchant said she needed to rest. Don’t you think…” She let the sentence dwindle off.

  Chase looked at her for a minute. Then he took a deep breath. “Yeah, you’re right, Sue.” He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, mussing the golden waves of hair that curled around his collar. “You’re right, darn it. You always are.”

  He smiled. It was just a one-sided, self-mocking smile, and it wasn’t even directed at Josie, but it was enough to make the soles of her feet tingle under the covers. Wow. She could only imagine the sex appeal if both sides were in play.

  Susannah Everly was a very lucky woman. But then Josie had known that from the moment she glimpsed the woman’s beaming face in the paper.

  Chase turned back toward the bed. “I’m sorry, Miss Whitford. I’m being a jerk. If my mother were alive, she’d tan my hide. You are my guest, and I’m not doing a very good job of being a host. And honestly, I don’t always see a conspiracy behind every shrub. It’s just that—”

  “I know. I embarrassed you in front of your guests. I’m very sorry. Your reputation—”

  He waved his hand. “I don’t give a damn what the guests think. Most of them are my friends, and they’ll understand. The rest of them don’t matter. And, just for the record, the only reputation that matters around here belongs to my horses.”

  “Yes, your quarter horses. They’re considered the best in Texas. Especially Alcatraz, right? And you almost didn’t buy him, which would have been a terrible mistake. His stud fees alone—”

  “Damn! He knew everything about me, didn’t he?” He narrowed his eyes. “Who is this guy? What can you tell me about him? Did he look like me?”

  She gazed at him. “No.”

  “What did he look like? Tell me everything you remember. If he knew me that well, I might recognize him.”