Rodeo Baby

by Mary Sullivan

  He blew out a lungful of air. “Whew.”

  There’d been more in the lovemaking and Vy wanted more now. She realized what the more looked like for her. A vehemently independent woman at all times, right now she wanted comfort.

  She wanted Sam to wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything would be all right.

  But that didn’t happen, and she didn’t think it would anytime soon, judging by the shell shock on his face.

  “I live in New York and you live in Montana.” He shook his head, bewildered. “How can we work this out?”

  “I won’t live in New York and you won’t live here.”

  “I can’t stay here. I have to go back to New York. In a dozen days, my new company goes live.”

  “And you have to be there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I have to. I have to make sure it’s a success.”

  “Money is that important to you?”

  “It isn’t about the money.”

  That took her aback.

  “It isn’t? Then why start the company?”

  “To prove a point to my ex-wife that she picked the wrong man to end our marriage for. He’s not a fraction of the businessman I was. He’s now running my old company.”

  He shot out a breath. “I want revenge for her betrayal. I plan to get it by starting a company that will be so successful she can’t help but feel regret.”

  Okay, so the guy was hurting because of his ex-wife. How did he go from New York to Rodeo?

  “Why are you here?”

  He jammed his hands on his hips and hung his head. He didn’t, or couldn’t, meet her eye. “I can’t tell you why.”

  When he met her gaze, his eyes were filled with regret. “I wish I could be the most honest man you’ve ever met.”

  “Me, too.” Regrouping, pulling her broken heart together shard by shard, she asked, “What can you do for this baby?”

  “I can give the baby a life of relative ease. A good education. The best nannies so you can still run the diner.”

  She had been right all along about him being wealthy.

  “I assume you want to still run the diner,” he said.

  “Oh, yes. It’s my life.”

  “So is my work in New York.”

  Stalemate.

  “I’m tempted to tell you what you can do with your money...”

  His jaw tightened. “Don’t. You’ll need it. Take every single thing I offer you.”

  “How do you know I won’t come to you with constant demands, to bleed you dry?” She was pushing him, yes. Her tone hinted of anger and maybe desperation. She’d hoped for so much more than this business arrangement.

  “We could draw up contracts.”

  Contracts. Worse and worse. Not only was there no more in this conversation, there was a whole lot of less.

  And her heart broke a little more.

  Bitter and chagrined, she turned to walk away. “Your lawyer can talk to my lawyer.”

  “We don’t need lawyers. You don’t trust me?”

  “I’ve had precious little reason to trust the people in my life in the past. And you haven’t exactly been forthcoming, have you?”

  He nodded. “I’ll sign anything.”

  So. That was it. Disappointment thrummed through her. She’d given up thinking that any man had anything to offer her, but apparently, as she’d just learned, hope dies a hard death. A tiny corner of her had hoped Sam would come through.

  So unreasonable, Vy, and so unrealistic.

  But still she’d hoped.

  Vy swept out of the stable to begin to make plans for the rest of her life with her child.

  If she wanted to cry... If she felt like she’d just lost something huge...well, tough.

  * * *

  SAM LEANED AGAINST a stall door and slid down until his ass hit cold concrete, his heart beating like Mick Jagger prancing onstage during a sold-out show.

  How had this happened?

  Well, he knew how it happened, but how had the two of them, mature adults both, allowed themselves to get caught like this?

  That afternoon, why hadn’t one of them stopped for one precious second to say “Wait, do you have anything? Are you on the Pill?”

  But there’d been no thought. Only action. Glorious, unprecedented...irresponsible action.

  And now they’d created a little human being.

  Holy crap.

  They’d screwed up royally.

  He’d never known so much desire in his life. Apparently, Violet had felt the same way.

  Their lovemaking, their passion, the pure and utter coming together of—no, it was too melodramatic to say souls...but of their bodies—had been unlike anything he’d ever experienced.

  But did he want to become a father again? Now?

  Did he want to leave New York permanently to live in Montana?

  No.

  Absolutely not.

  He had a plan.

  He had a lot at stake back home.

  Success is the best revenge. His mantra. His sanity.

  Yeah, he needed success after the way Tiffany had betrayed and gutted him. The clock was ticking. He needed to get home.

  Vy was pregnant.

  What a disaster. Out-of-his-control life events just kept happening to him.

  No, not to him. He’d brought this on himself. It was purely his fault. Like a randy boy, he’d made love to a woman without using a condom.

  Yes, he’d been lost in the moment.

  Yes, he’d been angry with Violet and it had inspired passion they’d both felt.

  Yes, he’d wanted her more than he’d ever wanted a woman.

  Not one of the above was a valid excuse for the poor actions he’d taken.

  Their actions had created a child.

  What a freaking mess. There was a baby.

  How did he explain this to his daughter?

  He guessed there was no time like the present. Feet heavy, he trudged toward the house.

  Chelsea sat with Tori on the sofa reading a book.

  “Chelsea,” Sam said.

  She glanced up, noticed his expression and sobered.

  “Can we talk?” Even to his own ears, Sam’s voice sounded unnatural.

  “Sure, we can talk.” She dropped the book onto the coffee table and stood.

  Tori stood, as well. “I talk, too.”

  “No, Tori,” Chelsea said. “I need to talk to my dad alone.”

  Sensing the tension and darkness radiating from Sam, Tori started to cry.

  Sam called, “Rachel?”

  She entered from the kitchen with Beth asleep in her arms.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I need to talk to Chelsea alone for a few minutes. Tori is picking up on...um...tension.”

  “Okay. Tori, come sit with Beth and me.” Rachel sat on the sofa and Tori tried to crawl onto her mother’s lap. “Just a sec.” Rachel put the baby down beside her and then hugged Tori.

  Before leading Chelsea out to the backyard, Sam said, “When she goes down for a nap, you might want to consider phoning Violet. She’s going to need a friend right now.”

  Rachel frowned but nodded.

  In the backyard, sitting at a picnic table Travis had installed just a few days before, Chelsea said, “What is it, Dad? You’re kind of scaring me.”

  “I don’t know how to say it without just blurting it out.”

  She made a sound in her throat of impatience. “So, just blurt it out.”

  “Vy’s pregnant.”

  Chelsea waited for more. “You have to give me more to go on, Dad. Is that good news for her
or bad?”

  “I don’t honestly know. The part that affects you and me is that I’m the father.”

  Chelsea did a fair imitation of how Sam must have looked to Violet. Her mouth fell open and stayed open.

  “How did it happen? I mean, I know how. Do not share any of that! I do not want to see those kinds of images of my dad! I mean, how could the two of you sleep together and not use birth control?” Agitated, she stood, walked away and then returned. He let her work through it.

  “Wait a minute, when did it occur? How did you even freaking get together? You sleep in this house. Did Vy sneak in at night? How could the two of you have an affair in Rachel’s house when she’s been so nice to us?”

  “Stop! We didn’t sleep together here. There was never any sleeping around.”

  “Then when did it happen? And where?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Those are details a father doesn’t share with his daughter.”

  Chelsea thought and thought. “You two barely know each other. How could you sleep together?”

  “It happens.”

  Chelsea crossed her arms. “Well, it shouldn’t. Aren’t you supposed to be teaching me all about responsibility and safe sex?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “This kind of thing isn’t an accident. It’s because people are thoughtless.”

  “Violet and I behaved irresponsibly.”

  “A baby,” Chelsea whispered and stared across the fields, trying to process what Sam had told her.

  “Chelsea, I’m sorry. I screwed up.”

  “There was no thought of birth control.”

  Sam sighed. “That’s correct. Neither of us thought of it.”

  “Not cool, Dad.”

  “Not cool at all.”

  “What now?”

  “I’ll send child support, of course.”

  Chelsea stared at him.

  When he said no more, she yelled, “That’s all?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re not going to raise her? Or him?”

  “I’ve raised you. I’ve already raised my family. I’m a little old for starting over.”

  “Thirty-nine isn’t ancient. It isn’t too old to have children.”

  “You didn’t seem to think I was that young when we first got here. You kept talking about how old I am.”

  “I was joking!”

  “I’m not. I don’t have time to start a new family. I have a huge new business to run. It’s what’s most important to me right now.”

  “Change what’s important to you!”

  Success is the best revenge pounded through his veins. He couldn’t change it.

  “What you want doesn’t matter,” Chelsea said, voice still raised but no longer shouting. “What’s important is what the baby will want.”

  “How can we know what that is?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, Dad. A home. A solid family life. I had one until Mom decided she wanted to ruin it. Now everything is awful.”

  “Life isn’t perfect. Every one of us has hardship in one way or another.”

  “Some more than others. Vy will be a wonderful mother. You’ve been a good dad. Until now.”

  She ran away. Sam watched her jump into his vehicle and slam the passenger door shut.

  What the hell?

  He shot off the picnic table, but his long legs got caught in the braces and he ended up on the grass on his back.

  He swore pungently.

  When had his life started to go so wrong?

  Twenty months ago, everything had been fine. Normal. Predictable. Now he couldn’t see from day to day what was going to crop up next.

  He wished he could lie here all day long but he couldn’t.

  He sat up and walked to join Chelsea. Once inside the SUV, he asked, “Why are we here?”

  “I want to go see Gramps.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I just want to see him.”

  He’d sprung a real doozy of a surprise on her. Driving her to see her great-grandfather was the least he could do.

  At the nursing home, Chelsea ran into her great-­grandfather’s room well ahead of Sam. By the time he entered, he found Chelsea sitting on Gramps’s lap, saying, “Vy’s pregnant and it’s all Dad’s fault.”

  Gramps’s white eyebrows shot to his white hairline. “Vy is pregnant?” He glared at Sam. “You did this to her?”

  “I didn’t do anything to her. We did something together.”

  “And seemed to forget everything your parents must have taught you about sex and contraception.”

  “In the heat of the moment, yes. We did forget.”

  Gramps smiled.

  “Why are you doing that?” Chelsea demanded.

  “Doing what?”

  “Smiling at a time like this?”

  “Children are special. They are always a blessing.”

  “Yeah, but—” Chelsea said. “Shouldn’t people plan for them?”

  “Yes. Yes, they should, but your dad didn’t. A child is on the way and we will celebrate.” He forced Chelsea’s head away from his shoulder. “Chelsea, my dear favorite great-grandchild, can you do me a favor?”

  “I’m your only great-grandchild.”

  “Not for long.” Gramps’s eyes sparkled brightly.

  “What’s the favor?”

  “Please go to the front desk and tell Angela I have good news to celebrate. Ask her whether she can get someone from the kitchen to bring us three bowls of ice cream.”

  “But—”

  “Please, dear.”

  “Okay.” Chelsea left the room.

  “How can you be happy about this, Gramps?”

  Gramps frowned. “I love you, Sam. I like Vy. You two made a baby. It will be lovely.”

  “Lovely? It’s a huge complication. I live in New York, remember?”

  Gramps’s happy expression fell.

  “You won’t stay here now that Vy is pregnant?”

  “Gramps, I already told you. I have to leave for New York in one week. My partners have been more patient with me than I deserved. They’ve covered for me all over the place. If I don’t return, they’ll gut me.”

  “You said you got a lot of money from that company you sold to Tiffany’s father.”

  “Yes, I made a bundle.”

  “So why do you have to start another company? Why not retire for a little while here in Rodeo until you figure out what you want to do next in your life?”

  “I already know. I want to start this company.”

  “Why now? Why so soon after everything that happened with Tiffany?”

  “To prove to her that she made a mistake.”

  Oh, crap, he hadn’t meant to blurt that out. He hadn’t meant to be so honest.

  “You want to salvage your pride.”

  He might as well go all the way. “I want to make a hugely successful company and rub Tiff’s and her father’s noses in my success.”

  “Ah. Success and revenge.”

  Sam completed the thought. “Success is the best revenge. It’s what’s been keeping me going since all of this started.”

  Gramps nodded. “I understand.”

  “You do?”

  “Sure, I do. It’s a natural reaction. Wrongheaded but natural.”

  “Why wrongheaded? This I have to hear.”

  “Because bitterness and the need for revenge will eat away at your soul.”

  Sam didn’t respond, his revenge was important to him.

  “You could always stay here with Vy. Have a real strong marriage this time. A real love.”

  “What I had with my wife was real. At least fo
r the first ten years or so.”

  “I guess.”

  Stunned, Sam paced the room.

  “You guess? Gramps, there was a time when I loved Tiffany very much. If I’d never loved her, her betrayal wouldn’t have hit so hard.”

  Carson sobered. “I can see that.”

  “Tiffany wasn’t bad. She was just misguided. I didn’t realize when I married her that the only things we had in common were shallow.”

  Carson nodded. “Like your backgrounds, your financial situation, your education.”

  Sam leaned back against the windowsill and crossed his arms and legs, settling into the knowledge that he’d been so wrong about himself and Tiffany. “All of those things. I guess I thought it all mattered. Plus, she was attractive. Unnaturally so. Doll-like. Perfect.”

  “And what do you think now?”

  “There wasn’t enough depth underneath the trappings. Tiffany wanted to live on the surface. She loved the money, the big house and the expensive clothing and jewelry. Even knowing it an illusion, she liked it. Then she began sleeping with someone else and blew all of my illusions out of the water.”

  “You never suspected.”

  Sam shook his head. “I thought of her as an honest woman. I’ve learned how truly little I knew about her.”

  “Happens to the best of us. How long would the marriage have lasted if she hadn’t left you?”

  “I don’t know. I believed in honoring our vows. I would have worked my butt off to keep us together, at the very least for Chelsea’s sake.”

  “So you were happy?”

  Sam mulled that over before giving in to his innate honesty. “No. Not for a few years. I wanted more,” he admitted. “I got some of that when we had our daughter but...you know, I had to work hard to convince Tiff to have even one child. She thought it would ruin her figure. She refused after the first pregnancy to do it again. I always wanted two or three.”

  “And soon you’ll have another child.”

  Sam’s gaze sharpened. “The timing couldn’t be worse.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have had unprotected sex.”

  Yes. True. “I’ll pay her generous child support. The child will have the best education and nannies.”

  “I’m sure that will keep Vy warm at night.”

  “Vy made the same mistake I did.”

  “Yes. You both erred. Big-time.”

  “Gramps, I’m confused. I’m kind of scared. This isn’t what I thought would be happening in my life.” He turned to stare out the window, trying to take solace from the scenery beyond. “Violet and I would never make a successful couple even if I did think I could handle getting married again. We’re too different. I’ll do the best that I can for her, though.”