by Stuart, Amie
The stew he’d eaten for dinner solidified in his stomach.
"How long have you been having them?"
"A while." He couldn’t stop shaking. A remnant of the excess adrenaline. "But I haven’t had one in weeks."
He watched her walk across the room, unable to read the expression on her face as she settled in his lap and draped her arms around his neck. "You scared the shit out of me. Have you see a doctor?"
He nodded, glumly. He should just tell her the truth. It was the perfect opening. But he didn’t. "She said they were temporary. That they’d stop. I’m sorry."
"We need to talk about money, don’t we?"
It took a minute for the change of subject to register, then his stomach rolled over at the mention of money. At this rate he could kiss his dinner goodbye. Breathe. "Rhea and the lawyer wiped me out." Dr. Ritter’s therapy had helped. "The house...is in Dad’s name but the payments come out of my check."
"My ring?" she whispered.
"The last of my savings—" He gave her a shaky smile "—and worth every penny."
She kissed his forehead, whispering, "Well, I guess today is your lucky day, Ty honey, cause I’m far from wiped out."
"I didn’t realize cuttin’ hair was so lucrative," he said chuckling softly, the shakes slowing down.
If she didn’t stop playing with his hair, he’d fall asleep for sure. He always crashed after an attack.
"It is when you own your own business."
That got his attention.
"I...think I missed something somewhere." He shook his head, trying to kick his brain back into gear. "You own...I thought Jeff—"
"I own The Blue Moon, baby. Have since I was nineteen. Why in the world would you think Jeff did?"
She’d owned her own business, practically since high school. He was too shocked to be angry. "The way he treated you...he called you honey. You own...a business?"
"I told you...he’s almost family." She squeezed his hand. "As a matter of fact, when I expanded, Jeff designed The Blue Moon. He’s an architect."
And he was a broken-down cowboy who probably wouldn’t inherit the ranch until he had grandkids of his own. He shook his head, then rubbed his temples, trying to take it all in.
"Well." She stopped, clamping her lips shut.
"Well what?"
She sighed heavily. "I’ve never had to discuss finances or financial decisions with anyone, not even Angi. Hell, I’ve never had to discuss anything...it’s always been just me. I’m sorry, Ty."
"I just realized the other night when you brought those clothes home. Babies are expensive."
She nodded and gave him a tiny smile. "I splurged, too. She’s my first."
"She?"
"Okay, so, I confess. I want a girl. I was afraid you’d be mad because I chose Beatrix Potter and didn’t ask you how you wanted to decorate the nursery."
"No, that’s fine. Whatever you want. It really is beautiful, I just—"
"Freaked out," she finished for him. "Long day?"
"I fell in a creek," he confessed with a laugh. This was different. This was his Bee. No wonder he loved her.
* * *
Tuesday was another long day, but at least Ty managed to stay in the saddle this time. Dancer was as sure-footed as they came and the fall hadn’t been the gelding’s fault, but the rider’s. And the weathers.
Late in the afternoon Ty headed for the creek and the cottonwood, passing Handy and Pate, Dad’s two full time hands, with a wave. He gave Dancer his head, letting him stretch his legs, then walked the last half mile.
He sat, watching the rushing water below him, his head filled to capacity. There was just too much to process, and he still hadn’t figured out how to tell Bee about Rhea. At least Rhea hadn’t shown up on his doorstep—but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t.
With a sigh, he turned at the sound of hoofbeats. So much for sneaking off. "Daddy."
"Pate and Handy said you came out this way. Wanna talk about it?"
"About what?" Great! He’d hoped after the to-do with Jessa his family would quit interfering. He slumped a bit in the saddle. Had Tim told his dad about the nightmares or fight with Bettina. It was one thing to ask for advice, but all the interference had gotten plumb old.
"Let’s take a walk." Jerrod dismounted and Ty followed suit. Walking meant talking.
Reins in hand, they walked the soggy creek bank. A stiff breeze blew up, ruffling the tall grass.
"How are things with Betti?"
Tim had a big mouth. Ty weighed his words out carefully. "She uh—" he shrugged, "—we had our first fight the other day, but everything’s fine. I...uh, I still need to figure out how to tell her about Rhea."
Jerrod held him at arms length, and Ty fought the urge to squirm under his father’s penetrating gaze. "You haven’t told her? What about the nightmares and the...attacks?"
Even his dad couldn’t call ‘em what they were. "I’m workin’ on it. After Thanksgiving. I don’t wanna ruin our first holiday, Dad."
His dad nodded in understanding. "Taking your meds?"
"I haven’t needed ‘em!" Ty backed into Dancer, who whinnied and pranced a bit.
"You have got to tell her, Tyrell!" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before continuing. "After everything we’ve gone through with Delaney, I guarantee you’ll save yourself a hell of a lot of heartache if you just come clean. You damn sure don’t want her finding out from someone else."
"Nobody outside the family knows."
"Rhea does."
And Rhea was a free woman.
"After Thanksgiving. I swear."
* * *
Wednesday morning Ty nervously whipped through his chores until, with a laugh, his dad declared him useless and ran him off. He hadn’t been this excited since...well...forever. Being at St. Elizabeth’s for something other than his appointment with Dr. Ritter felt weird.
"Nervous?" he asked once they were in the elevator. Soon he’d get to hear his baby girl’s heartbeat. ‘Cause just like Bee, he wanted a daughter.
"Anxious, but not really nervous." She gave him a big grin. "I’m excited. We’ll get to see the baby."
"Me too." He wrapped his arm around her and gave her a gentle squeeze as the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. "I didn’t know midwives did sonograms?"
"Her partner, Dr. Tombs, has a sonographer on staff," she explained as they stepped out of the elevator.
In the doctor’s office they signed in and waited, surrounded by other couples and women alone in various stages of pregnancy. Ty spent the time tapping his foot and trying not to stare at the woman seated across from them. Surely she couldn’t just be carrying one baby in there. He resisted the urge to wince as she shifted from hip to hip, obviously unsuccessful at finding a comfortable position.
"Blanchard," the tech called out fifteen nerve-wracking minutes later.
Frowning at the sound of her maiden name, Ty stood up and led her toward the young woman waiting at the door.
"Blanchard?" she asked with a smile.
"Yes, ma’am." Bettina responded before he could, then introduced him to the tech who sported a smock with pink and blue pacifiers on it.
They’d definitely have to fix the name problem, but for now, he kept quiet.
"I’m Cindy and I’ll be doing your sonogram. Do we want to know the sex?" She lead them down a short hall and into a dimly lit room with pink walls, a padded table and a huge machine.
"Ty?" Bettina lightly squeezed his arm.
"Huh?" He refocused on her.
"We wanna know the sex, right?"
"Yeah." They wanted a girl.
She gave him a tiny smile, then looked away. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear she’d been hit with a bout of shyness, but that wasn’t like Bettina at all.
"Good," the tech said. "It’s unanimous. Alrighty, Mom, kick your shoes off and get comfortable, and we’ll get started. Dad, you can pull up that stool and sit on her other side."
Once they had Bettina ready, he propped his elbows on the edge of the table and silently watched as the tech turned on the huge machine then squirted gel on her tummy.
"Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll take a look around, get some measurements, tape everything and try to determine the sex, but we don’t guarantee the sex, okay?"
Ty chuckled and turned as he felt Bettina’s nails graze his arm. She wiggled her pink fingers and he slowly took her hand. Kissing her fingers, he struggled against the sudden lump in his throat and slid toward her head so they could watch together.
"Is that like the little Doppler they use to pick up the heartbeat?" Bettina whispered.
"Exactly." Cindy placed the instrument on Bettina’s belly and swirled it around, spreading the gel. "Let’s see what we have." For the next few minutes she continued to roll while punching buttons on the machine. A swishing sound filled the room. "One hundred and thirty-nine beats per minute."
"Is that good?" he asked even as Bettina squeezed his fingers.
"Very good, Mr. Boudreaux."
He frowned while Bettina snorted, trying to hold her laughter in. No one had ever called him Mr. Boudreaux before.
"Here’s the heart...and spine."
His mind went blank as he watched the gritty gray picture on the screen in amazement, the cursor flicking here and there, pointing out different body parts. He could see the heart beating, a tiny nose and eye sockets, a little arm and legs. He glanced at Bettina, who gave him a shaky smile, then back at the screen, blinking back his tears.
Ty eyed Bettina’s belly and the screen repeatedly, trying desperately to reconcile the image he was seeing with the heartbeat that filled the room. Their baby’s heartbeat.
"Everything looks good, but I can’t tell the sex. Let’s wait a few minutes and see if he or she moves around."
For a few minutes, they sat quietly while Cindy moved the Doppler around.
"It’s a girl." Ty came up off his stool and pointed at the screen, leaning forward for a better look. "Is it a girl? It looks like a girl. I don’t see a..." he stammered, his face warming from embarrassment.
"Stem on the apple," Cindy prompted with a giggle.
"Way to go, honey," Bettina teased.
He kissed her fingers and grinned down at her, releasing a huge sigh of relief. Another wave of emotion hit him and he ducked his head with her fingers still pressed to his lips before she noticed. They’d gotten their wish.
Once Cindy finished up and left them alone Ty helped Bee up. At a loss for words, Ty kissed Bettina hard, then led her out of the room, the sonogram tape clutched in his hand.
In the hallway a middle-aged blonde woman appeared from around the corner, a smile on her face. Bettina introduced her as Marilyn Carstairs, the midwife and they stopped in her office long enough to discuss the sonogram, the marriage and how Bettina was feeling.
On their way out, he made sure the name on her file was changed to Boudreaux.
Today was definitely a good day. So why was Bee so quiet?
Chapter Twenty-Three
PRIDE AND JOY
We spent lunch discussing the sonogram and the baby while I plowed through two plates of fruit, chicken fried rice and Hunan beef. I just couldn’t seem to shake my craving for Chinese food. Or how overwhelmed I’d felt during the sonogram.
Out in the parking lot I shoved the car keys into Ty’s hand. "Would you drive?"
"Sure. You okay?" He pulled me close and I sagged against him.
"I’m just tired," I whispered, tears appearing from nowhere, not caring that I had repeatedly broken all my rules in regard to Ty. Everything finally caught up with me. I tossed Number Eight’s "Not Clinging" rule out the window.
She was a healthy baby girl. I was about to become a mother. It wasn’t like I hadn’t had any practice, but this was completely different. What if I flubbed it? My own sister—who I had raised—wouldn’t even speak to me. If I couldn’t raise her right, what made me think I could do better by my own child? "I’m sorry, Ty."
He held me and rubbed my back, then with one last squeeze, he led me to the Mustang and helped me in. "It’s okay, baby. Lets get you home and tucked in for a nap."
"I have to make those damn pies," I sniffled, snapping on my seatbelt.
"Want some help?"
"If you want." I looked up at him, shielding my eyes from the sharp winter sun.
"I want."
* * *
We rode in silence for a while before he spoke again. "This drives nice."
"I know and I’ll miss it."
"Miss it?"
"I think we need something bigger with a baby. I could barely get all the groceries in here on Saturday. Hey, you could drive this and we could trade your truck in on an SUV."
"And where exactly would I load the feed or hay?" he asked with a grin.
I giggled. "Sorry. Wasn’t thinking. In that case I can probably get a good used Tahoe or a 4-Runner for what the payments on this run me."
"Do I even want to know?"
"Not while you’re driving," I teased.
"So, looks like all that Peter Rabbit stuff has to go back?" He chuckled and visibly relaxed against the seat, taking my hand with his free one. I liked holding hands with him.
"Peter had sisters and a mom and Miss Moppet, the cat."
He snorted, slowing to turn into the ranch.
"Are you really not upset over it being a girl?" I asked softly.
"Not a bit." He turned, but instead of speeding up, stopped the car and unhooked his seatbelt. "C’mere."
With a sigh, I leaned over, meeting him halfway for the lightest gentlest kiss. Damn pies.
A horn blew, scaring the daylights out of both of us. We eased back into our seats, watching a little blue BMW fly past.
"Zander?"
Ty nodded slowly, a scowl on his face, and drove the rest of the short distance home.
"I didn’t know the FBI paid so well," I joked.
"What do you mean?" His voice had a distinctly flat quality to it.
"A BMW?" This was not good. A muscle in Ty’s jaw tightened and relaxed.
"What about a BMW?" he snapped, pulling into our driveway. His tone said, "What’s the fucking big deal about a car?"
"That’s well over fifty-thousand dollars sitting in Tim’s driveway."
"Please, God, let it rain," he muttered, climbing out.
"What, baby?" I asked, barely able to keep from laughing. We both knew it had rained enough recently.
"Nothing. Just thinking how much we needed rain."
"Liar." With a grin, I eyed him over the roof of my car. "Ty Boudreaux, you just want it to rain in your brother’s fancy-schmancy sports car. You’re jealous."
"I am not," he insisted. For a minute, he looked mortally offended.
"The hell you ain’t, baby."
Over at Tim’s I could see a lot of backslapping going on. Maggie was headed across the road, a plateful of some treat in her hands and Zack, Jessa and Travis came from the other direction.
"Ty," I said, soft and low, eyebrow raised. He came around the side of the car and took my arm, leading me up the walk.
"This is his second trip home in nine years." His expression was grim, his lips barely visible beneath his goatee.
"And you’re mad because?"
"He hadn’t been home in two years. Not since he came back to Texas from Georgia, and now, here he is." Once inside, he almost slammed the door. "The world just stops because the prodigal son has returned. Slaughter the calf." Frowning down at me he softly added, "I sound jealous, don’t I?"
"A little, yeah." I hung up my coat and kicked off my shoes, grinning at the pile I’d created by the front door. "What do you plan on doing about it?" I asked just as softly.
"I guess I need to go over there and be sociable, huh?"
I could easily understand his anger, but wasn’t quite sure what to say. "Or you could stay here and help me make pies."
"And we could watch our first home movie."
* * *
He really tickles me. I changed then made the two cheesecakes while Ty watched the sonogram. After a while, he wandered in and started on the dishes for me. Once they were in the oven, I brewed us a pot of tea.
"These aren’t bad." He held up a biscotti, then looked at me. "I thought you were making pie?"
"Cheesecake...pie, same difference."
"You wanna go watch the sonogram again?"
As if he needed to ask twice. With a laugh, I stood and picked up my mug of tea. "You’ll wear that disc out and we won't have anything to show her first boyfriend."
"Oh God." He winced. "I hadn’t thought about that."
"I won’t mention it again for at least ten or so years." I planted a soft kiss on his forehead, resisting the urge to melt against him at the feel of a hand squeezing my hip.
We headed into the living room, ready to watch the sonogram one...or two...more times when our front door flew open.
"Zander’s home." Zack slammed the door behind him with window-jarring force. As if he lived here.
Enough was enough!
"Zachary Boudreaux!"
"Yes ma’am." He gave me his best smile, but it wasn’t working.
"Young man, don’t you ever again walk into my house without knocking. Do you understand me?" One fist on my hip, I waited. Ty slid a hand up my back, gently squeezing my neck.
Zack sheepishly watched us standing there with our mugs of hot tea in our hands.
So, what? Weren’t we allowed to be domestic?
"You heard the lady."
I smirked and raised my chin a notch, causing Zack to laugh and give me a little bow.
"Yes, ma’am, it won’t happen again. You coming over?"
"Later." Ty gave me another little squeeze. "We want to watch the sonogram again."
Take a hint, please.
"Oh man, I forgot. How’d it go?"
I smiled up at Ty. "You want to give him the good news?"
"She’s a girl." The proud grin on his face was priceless.
"Aww that’s great. Well then, I’ll leave you two alone to celebrate." He gave me another gallant little bow, then finally made himself scarce.
