by Marin Thomas
Lydia started the car and watched Gunner climb into his pickup. In a few minutes she’d learn if he’d come because of the baby or if he was here because of her.
He’s here, isn’t he? Does it matter why?
Lydia’s stomach turned somersaults all the way home and up the flight of stairs to her second-floor apartment. “I owe you an apology,” she said after closing the door behind him. She set her purse on the couch and walked into the kitchen.
Gunner stopped in the doorway and leaned a shoulder against the jamb. “Apology accepted.”
She removed the bowl of homemade spaghetti sauce from the fridge and placed it on the counter, then faced him. He was letting her off the hook for leaving town before the motel was finished. Before they’d set up a game plan for the future. Before they’d said goodbye. “This is a bigger mess than the motel renovations, isn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t call a baby a mess.”
“You know what I mean.” She added olive oil to the frying pan, then dumped leftover noodles into it. “You never wanted children.”
“Either way, I’m still our baby’s father.”
“I know.” She poured the leftover sauce on top of the noodles and stirred the food, then turned down the heat. “I have water or—” she poked her head inside the fridge “—beer, diet cola, milk and orange juice.”
“I didn’t know you drank beer.”
“I don’t.” She kept it on hand just in case she invited a date back to her apartment for a nightcap, which hadn’t happened in over a year. “On second thought the beer’s probably expired.”
“Water’s fine.” Gunner pulled a chair out at the bistro table and sat.
Lydia prepared their plates, the heat of his stare burning her back. He made her nervous. He hadn’t driven all this way just to find out how her doctor’s appointment went. If she’d known he’d planned to visit, she could have prepared herself. Hoping to buy a little time to get her nerves under control, she steered the conversation in a different direction. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m a professional designer, so why is my apartment boring.”
His gaze roamed around the room. “I wasn’t thinking that, but now that you mention it...”
“Because I work out of my apartment, I keep it as sparse as possible so my tastes don’t influence the designs I create for my clients.”
“If you decorated your place, what would it look like?”
“A cottage.”
“I would have guessed modern or contemporary. What does cottage look like?”
“Cottage is more a frame of mind. It’s laid-back with blended styles of furniture and ordinary treasures. My rooms would be humble, unpretentious and full of heart.”
He grinned. “That sounds like something a designer would say.”
Embarrassed that she’d carried on, she set their plates on the table.
“This smells great. Is it homemade?”
She nodded. “There’s a farmers’ market a few blocks away where I buy my fruits and vegetables.”
Gunner waited for Lydia to take the first bite before digging into his meal. The cowboy had better manners than most of the men she knew. They ate in silence, Gunner scraping his plate clean.
He leaned back in his chair. “What did you find out at the doctor’s appointment?”
“I’m a little anemic.” When he frowned, she said, “It’s nothing to worry about yet. She gave me a prescription for an iron supplement.”
“Do you have a due date?”
“Around April 4.”
“Maybe the baby will be lucky and arrive on April Fools’ Day.”
“You would see that as a bonus.” She pictured Gunner playing all kinds of pranks every year on their child’s birthday and the little tyke loving it.
“Did Karl get the new flooring installed in the office?” she asked.
“It’s done. And the owner of Smith Painting and Drywall showed up Friday afternoon to look over the property. His crew is supposed to start today.”
“Who’s watching over the motel?”
“Gramps and Amelia are manning the motel office until I get back.”
Lydia raised an eyebrow.
Gunner chuckled. “I’m sure they’ll provide plenty of entertainment for the painting crew.” His face sobered, and he leaned his elbows on the table. “I should have warned you that I was coming.”
“I’d say we’re even, since I didn’t tell you I was leaving...until I’d left.”
“I’m here because I want to make sure you and the baby are okay.”
Lydia’s heart sighed at the sincere tone in his voice. He cared about her and their child. He’d never planned on being a father, but he wasn’t dodging his responsibility.
Gunner’s not running—you are.
“We’re having an open house this weekend to show off the motel remodel. Your aunt’s hired a catering company and a local band.” His gaze pinned her. “Will you come back for the celebration?”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” The drive from Texas to Wisconsin had given Lydia way too much time to think. With each passing mile she’d felt as if she’d left a part of herself behind in Stampede. She blamed her pregnancy hormones in order to avoid facing the truth—that the dusty little town had grown on her.
But most of all she’d missed Gunner the second her car had left her aunt’s driveway. Missed him more than she’d ever imagined. And it scared her silly, because they had little in common.
You share a baby—that’s what matters most.
“If the motel takes off, the entire town will have you to thank,” he said.
“Without my aunt, the motel never would have gotten a face-lift.”
“You should be there, Lydia.”
She carried their plates to the sink. “I just came up with the design. You and Karl did most of the work.”
Gunner left his seat and approached Lydia. He took her hands in his and stared into her eyes. “We’re both navigating our way through this baby thing, but I’ve been thinking...”
Her breath caught when he brushed the hair from her eyes and his fingers lingered against her cheek.
“I want to tackle parenthood with you,” he said.
“What are you saying?”
“I want us to get married and raise the baby together.”
Lydia’s heart tumbled to the bottom of her stomach. How had Gunner known that was exactly what she’d been thinking during the drive back to Madison? Except when she’d envisioned him proposing, it hadn’t sounded like a business deal.
And therein lay the problem. When Lydia had driven across the Illinois-Wisconsin state line, she’d finally accepted that her love for Gunner wasn’t just an infatuation that would go away after she put some distance between them. Hundreds of miles couldn’t stop her from loving his laid-back attitude. His goofy obsession with rodeo when he wasn’t any good at it. His quick grin and sexy stride. His courage in facing a future he’d never planned for himself.
She was in love with the way he treated his grandfather. With his baby-book reading, lavender oil and fruit-water recipes. So what if he lived in a motel room and didn’t have a 401(k)? So what if he didn’t have a college degree or if he used a golf club instead of a yard trimmer to knock the heads off dandelions? And because she loved him, she didn’t want him to be chained to a life he didn’t want.
“I appreciate the offer, Gunner, but you shouldn’t have to pay the price for an unplanned pregnancy.”
“Sometimes things happen for a reason.”
The man was too honorable.
He trailed a finger down her cheek. Then he brushed his mouth against her forehead. “I intend to be a part of my child’s life, Lydia.”
“I’m not going to keep you away from our baby.” She wanted to bury her face in his shirt; instead she settled for playing with one of the pearl snaps, rubbing her fingertip over the glossy stud. “But it’s hard to trust that this is the right thing to do when I know marriage and having kids wasn’t in your plans.”
“It’s true that I never pictured myself as a family man, but life throws curveballs and I’d rather take a swing than let this pitch pass me by.”
“My life and my job are in Wisconsin and you and the motel are in Texas.” The words rang hollow in her head.
“I get that Stampede isn’t the capital of the design world, but—”
“My friends are here as well as my cousins and my parents.”
He drew a hand down his face. “We haven’t talked about your parents much. Are you close to them?”
Put on the spot, Lydia confessed, “They’re busy with the law office, but we spend holidays together.”
“I could move up here and look for work.”
Now he was being silly. “You can’t rodeo in Wisconsin.”
“Sure I can. The Mid-States Rodeo Association has events in Ohio and—”
“What about your grandfather?”
“Logan will look after him.”
“And the motel?”
“Gramps can hire someone else to manage the place.”
The motel was special. It was her and Gunner’s project. She didn’t like the idea of a stranger running the business.
He’s willing to give up everything for you and the baby.
She expelled a frustrated breath. “We can raise our baby together, Gunner, but we don’t have to be married to do it.”
“I know you believe if you find the perfect man on that dating site, you’ll be together forever, but being a perfect match doesn’t guarantee a marriage will last. If the reason you love someone is because they have the same interests and goals as you, then it’s not real love.”
“What do you know about real love?”
His gaze softened as it ran over Lydia. “I know that when I look at you, I feel good inside. And when I kiss you, I forget that your crazy obsession with to-do lists drives me nuts. When I wake up with you in my arms, I think maybe I don’t want to go it alone in life.” He brushed his thumb over her lip. “And I know that the hollow feeling in my gut when I think about us not being together means I love you.”
He walked over to the table and placed his hat on his head. “I’m not running from you or the baby, Lydia. I’ll be in Stampede waiting for you when you’re ready to come home.”
The quiet click of the front door triggered a flood of tears. Gunner had said he loved her, but could she trust that his love was the forever kind and he wasn’t just saying it because he wanted them to get married for the baby’s sake and get his grandfather off his back?
Lydia reached for her cell phone. When Sadie picked up, she said, “Can you come over after you get off work?”
“I’ll have to bring the boys.”
“That’s fine. And will you see if Scarlett can come, too?”
“What’s the matter? You sound like you’ve been crying.”
“I am crying.”
“Don’t tell me you went through with that stupid idea and joined a dating site and now some guy’s hurt your feelings.”
“I did, but that’s not why I’m crying.”
“Then what is it?”
“Gunner Hardell asked me to marry him.”
Sadie gasped. “When?”
“Two minutes ago.”
“Wow. I can see a lot happened during your trip to Stampede.”
“There’s more.”
“More what?”
“I’m pregnant.”
“I’ll tell Scarlett to bring the burgers for supper and I’ll stop and get some cheese curds.” Wisconsin cheese curds made everything better.
After they said their goodbyes, Lydia went into the bedroom, stretched out on the mattress and then blubbered like a baby.
* * *
“I STILL CAN’T believe you and Gunner...” Scarlett ran her fingers through her blond locks. Of the three cousins, who were all blondes, Scarlett was the only one who sported a short, sassy hairstyle accentuating her huge brown eyes and high cheekbones, which she’d inherited from her father.
Lydia peeked around the kitchen doorway, making sure her nephews were paying attention to the TV and not listening in on their mother and aunts’ conversation. “It just sort of happened.”
Sadie popped a cheese curd into her mouth. “The only thing I remember about the Hardell brothers is that Aunt Amelia said they were a wild bunch of hooligans.”
“And good-looking,” Scarlett said.
Lydia was still in shock after Gunner’s visit. He’d driven all the way up to Wisconsin from Texas just to go to a doctor’s appointment with her. That showed he cared for her and their baby. He’d confessed that he loved her, but was his love the strong, steady kind or the here-today-and-gone-tomorrow kind?
“You should be happy about being pregnant, not crying.” Sadie pointed at Lydia’s swollen eyes. “You said you wanted to get married and have children.”
“I wanted marriage to come first, then a baby.”
“It still can if you accept Gunner’s proposal.” Scarlett shrugged. “My parents got married because of me.”
“Promise you won’t tell anyone I told you.” Lydia’s gaze swung between her cousins. “Aunt Amelia said Uncle Robert got her pregnant and that’s why they married.”
Sadie glanced at Scarlett. “I thought Aunt Amelia couldn’t have children.”
“She had several miscarriages and then after a few years they stopped trying.”
“That’s sad.” Sadie pushed the grease-stained bag of curds toward Lydia. “I’m old-fashioned, but I vote you marry Gunner whether you love him or not. For legal reasons it’s important that the baby have his last name.” She snorted. “Not that it will guarantee child-support payments if you end up divorced.”
“I think love is important,” Scarlett said. “What if Lydia marries Gunner and then a year later she runs into the one?”
Lydia listened to her cousins debate the pros and cons of marrying, but the words didn’t register with her brain. “The entire time we were together I compared him to the men on the dating site.” She blinked. “And he’s nothing like the guys who were matched with me.”
“That can be good or bad, you know,” Sadie said. “Look at your mom and dad. They’re both lawyers. They finish each other’s sentences and they never argue. They’re like best friends.”
“And that’s good?” Lydia asked.
“In some ways, but it’s also boring.” Scarlett grasped Lydia’s hand and squeezed her fingers. “You don’t need your husband to be your best friend. You have Sadie and me for that.”
“She doesn’t need a husband at all,” Sadie said. “I’m raising the boys and working and I’m fine.”
Scarlett’s eyebrow arched. “You are not fine and you know it, but that’s a conversation for another time.”
“No arguing,” Lydia said.
“You’re attracted to Gunner or you wouldn’t have slept with him. Attraction is important, but I happen to think the best guys are the ones who keep us off balance. Who do the opposite of what we expect,” Scarlett said.
That was Gunner in a nutshell. She hadn’t counted on him making the trip to Madison. And she sure hadn’t expected him to propose to her a second time.
And never in a million years had she expected him to tell her that he loved her.
“Uh-oh,” Sadie said when the boys walked into the kitchen. “Looks like it’s time to leave before these guys grow bored and tear the place up.”
Scarlett looked at
her watch. “I should go, too. I’ve got a spin class at seven and I’m going to need to do a lot of spinning to work off the cheese curds I ate.”
Lydia walked everyone to the door, then gave the boys and her cousins a hug. “Thank you for coming over.”
“You have much to think about,” Sadie said.
“Or not.” Scarlett winked.
“I’ll keep you posted.” Lydia shut the door, then leaned her back against it, Scarlett’s words echoing through her brain. If she listened to her head, there wasn’t much to think about at all. If she listened to her heart, she had a lot of planning to do.
Chapter Fourteen
“Did Gramps send you over here to check on me?” Gunner set his screwdriver down and climbed to his feet.
“He’s too busy chasing after Amelia to worry about you.” Logan scowled. “You haven’t come out to the ranch since you returned from Wisconsin.”
Gunner spread his arms wide. “I’ve been busy.”
“I can see that.” He nodded to the crib Gunner had just carried into the motel room. “When did you decide to turn your bachelor pad into a nursery?”
“It’s a combination office and nursery.” When Lydia visited, Gunner wanted her close by with the baby while he worked, and what better way to keep them near than to give them their own room at the motel?
“The baby furniture looks handmade.” Logan examined the dresser and tested the drawers.
“I caught Lydia drooling over this set at the Fourth of July festival in Mesquite. The lady said Lydia had asked about a rocking horse, so they’re making one to match the furniture. I have to pick that up next week.”
“Isn’t this expensive?”
“It wasn’t cheap.” Gunner had used up most of his savings to buy the furniture.
“And you think converting the room into a nursery will change Lydia’s mind about marrying you?”
“Maybe.” He hoped it would prove that he’d do anything for her and their baby.
Gunner wished he hadn’t returned to Stampede and told his brother and grandfather that he’d proposed to Lydia again and that she’d left him hanging—again. When he’d gotten back to town, he’d sent her a text inviting her to phone anytime she wanted to talk. She’d texted back a Thanks, I’ll be in touch, and that was the last he’d heard from her.
