The Baby Contract (The Billionaire Bachelor Series)

by Olivia Starke

  Caroline grasped her fingers in her cool hands, her skin feeling like fine parchment paper.

  “Oh, child, please don’t cry. You’re raising the baby on your own? Has my son been unkind to you?”

  Abby blinked, trying to clear her vision. She couldn’t tell Caroline the truth. “It’s complicated.”

  Caroline’s smile returned and it warmed the chill that Abby had felt.

  “Let me tell you about my son, Abigail. He has a habit of making the simplest things in the world too complicated.” She reached out and stroked a hand over Abby’s hair in a motherly touch. “He’s a hard man. His father was a hard man, and he needed a hard son. I regret the influence he had on Liam, but when my boy grew old enough I couldn’t stop what my husband wanted Liam to learn.” Her eyes took on a distant look and Abby thought she saw the shimmer of tears within them. “I did my best to teach him right from wrong, and I believe somewhere in his heart there’s a part of me left in him.”

  “You’re such a wonderful and caring person,” Abby said. “Sometimes I’ve thought I’ve seen glimpses of you in him.” She paused, not sure if she should say any more, not wanting to offend her patient. “He’s different, more reserved with people outside of you.”

  “You can say it—he’s as bullheaded as they come. Always has been. He got it from his father, and a bit from me.”

  “What was Liam senior like? I’ve heard the rumors, but I’d rather hear it from you.” Abby wasn’t sure why it mattered when the question popped out of her mouth.

  The distance returned to Caroline’s gaze. “Once, in my youth, he was the most handsome man alive—tall, commanding, and quite the charmer. He was a complete gentleman too. All the girls wanted his attention, and my sister was the one who won it. Unfortunately, my father had already decided the appropriate man for her to marry, Henry Davidson. Liam II didn’t have a lot of money back then but Henry did.”

  Abby cringed with the last name; no doubt Henry was Spencer’s father.

  “I fear my Liam didn’t take the news kindly. He had a spiteful streak. My father lost his store to him, and he also lost me. I had a young woman’s heart and when Liam asked for my hand, I said yes. It didn’t matter to me that I was second best. I was used to that with my sister. She’d always been the brightest, prettiest, and most loved. Liam and I had a sweet first few years together, and I got my son. My son has made it all worthwhile.”

  Abby remained silent.

  “Everything you go through these next few months...once that baby is born, you’ll see it’s all been worthwhile. That’s what children do, Abigail. They show us that no matter the struggle, we’ve got something precious to hold on to. Give Liam time to get used to the idea of being a father. I know he’s spent a lot of years telling himself that he likes being alone, that his independence is all that matters to a man like him, but a man like him needs something greater to hold on to. While he’s mirrored his father in many ways, he’s never been cut from the same cloth. I believe he’ll come around.”

  Abby couldn’t help herself when she grabbed Caroline in a hug. The woman returned her affection, and for the first time in weeks, Abby felt hope spring to life that she’d move past the pain and find real happiness again. Though she didn’t know if she did want Liam in the baby’s life, she couldn’t deny him if he made that decision.

  “Can I ask you, why did you and your husband separate?” It seemed a prying question, but Abby needed to know if Spencer had spoken the truth about their reason for separation. If there had been violence in their home Abby wanted to know. It was important to know if something like that lurked in Liam’s past.

  “Honestly, he and I were so different. We argued too much, and my husband spent too many nights in the office. In the end it was a mutual decision to live our lives away from one another. Neither of us carried any bad feelings toward each other for it. I guess that’s why we never officially divorced, it never felt necessary.”

  There wasn’t any pain in her patient’s gaze, only contentment. Which meant Spencer had lied, so had he lied about Liam? Sure, Abby had glimpsed his temper, but she certainly had lost hers many times in her life. Maybe she’d misjudged him?

  Perhaps she should try to make amends with Liam? Perhaps he really had wanted to help her family, and the only way he knew to do so was to pay off the ranch’s debts? What she’d labeled as a way to force his control over her life could’ve been an offer of peace after their fight at the dinner.

  The idea wormed its way into her mind the rest of the day, leaving her staring at her cellphone that evening. She simply couldn’t make the call to Liam. It’d been a month, and most likely she’d burned the bridge between them.

  The rest of the week passed, and Abby packed an overnight bag and drove to see her father and brother. While Caroline’s reaction had been quiet and understanding, her father’s wasn’t so amicable when she’d finally forced the words out.

  “What!”

  “Dad, calm down—”

  His face turned a deep worrisome red. “What do you mean you’re pregnant? Who’s the father? He better put a ring on your finger.” He stomped back and forth through the living room while Abby cowered on the couch.

  Her brother sat on the recliner, staring at her like she’d sprouted a second head.

  Abby took a deep, steadying breath. “Dad, it’s the twenty-first century, and there are a lot of single mothers out there. I did this because I wanted a child, but not a husband.”

  Her father waved his hands in the air. “I don’t want to hear none of this progressive, twenty-first century bullshit, Abs. You’re my daughter, for God’s sake, you deserve better than a…a howdy do then see ya. And so does the baby.”

  “Who is the father?” her brother chimed in when their father paused long enough to breathe. The first words Mark had spoken since she’d broke the news to them.

  Abby looked down to her hands balled in her lap and swallowed. Maybe she shouldn’t say? Maybe she could tell them she went to a sperm bank in Austin and spare them the truth. Spare herself from having to tell them. But eventually she’d have to divulge the fact the Double H had been signed over to her.

  “Dad, will you please sit down?” she said, forcing a calm tone to her voice. “Please.”

  Her father relented and plopped down in the second recliner opposite her. His complexion looked splotchy, making Abby worry. The last thing she wanted was him to have a heart attack.

  She assembled her best smile. “Okay, let’s keep in mind that in a few months we’ll have a brand new family member. A little girl or boy to love and spoil in all the ways I know you will. You two will be Grandpa and Uncle Mark, the greatest two men on the planet. That’s the end result here regardless of how upset you may feel right now.”

  “Abs?” Mark pressed. “You do know... I mean, well…” He turned a dark shade of pink and looked away in embarrassment.

  “Yes, Mark, I know who the father is.” A deep breath. “It’s Liam Whitmore III, the man who bought the ranch. He’s placed it in my name until the child comes of age. Then it’ll be passed to him or her, so the Double H will stay in the family. Now you can put your profits back into the place instead of trying to pay off the mortgage. He thought he was doing us a favor, I think.”

  Both Mark and her father lost the color in their faces and she could’ve heard a pin drop.

  “Did you know he was going to buy the place out from under me?” her father asked when it finally seemed the quiet tension would explode like a nuclear bomb.

  She shook her head. “No, otherwise I would’ve told you, I swear.”

  He pushed out of the chair. “I need some air.” He disappeared out the front door.

  Abby closed her eyes and fell against the couch back before shoving a piece of ginger candy in her mouth.

  “How did this happen?” Mark asked. “I mean, I know how it happened, obviously, but how in the world did you two meet?”

  She’d hoped to explain the whole deal t
o the both of them at the same time, but practicing on her brother felt easier. She went into the situation with Liam needing an heir, their needing the cash, then how she’d turned down the money when she’d found out about the ranch.

  “Abs, this whole thing is unbelievable.”

  Mark rose and left the same way her father had. Being left alone felt intolerable so she went out the back door, to avoid a run-in with them, and walked toward the barn. Her old mare nickered a greeting and walked to the fence. She rubbed the girl’s muzzle.

  “You’ve got more gray hairs, Misty,” she said to the horse.

  Her father and brother still worked cattle with horses. Though the mare had long ago lost her usefulness, thanks to age, the ranch horses were kept until their last days. A section of land had been set aside for their burial once they were gone. Her father had always said they spent their lives in service, parroting what his father and his father’s father had believed, and they needed to be treated with respect for the hard work they did. Abby agreed; they deserved better than an auction house in their old age.

  Misty nuzzled her for treats. Abby frowned, feeling bad she hadn’t searched for a carrot in the kitchen, Misty’s favorite. “I’ll go find you something crunchy in a minute, I promise.”

  Misty blew through her nostrils with contentment, and her eyelids drifted closed as Abby dug her fingers in her short forelock. “I did something crazy, girl. I let a boy break my heart.”

  Abby glanced around, making sure she was still alone, before she climbed through the fence rails and poured her heart out to the placid equine. Misty never moved when Abby wrapped her arms around the mare’s neck, letting her heartache flow into her voice. When she’d emptied out her last words, she felt relieved. Talking to Misty had always been cathartic; she’d had the horse since childhood.

  Her visit wasn’t exactly pleasant the rest of the weekend, but at least her father calmed down. Mark was more open to the idea, and Abby was grateful she had him in her corner.

  Chapter 23

  “Liam, my son, tell me about Abigail.”

  Liam sat in his mother’s living room, staring at his clasped hands, feeling like a petulant child. His mother sat across from him, serenely sipping tea from a delicate china cup. She’d called him earlier, insisting she needed to speak with him. Abigail had spilled the truth. Liam felt annoyed—he’d intended on telling his mother about their arrangement…eventually. He ground his teeth, awaiting his mother’s reprimand. No one had ever been able to make him feel regretful like his mother. No one, save for Abigail.

  “Father left a stipulation in the will that I must provide an heir or lose the company to Spencer,” he explained. “I did what had to be done. I paid Miss Haden to have my child, except she didn’t take the money.” Which wasn’t the problem, of course, but he wanted her to take it. The money was part of the deal they’d made. He owed her that money.

  “Is that right?” His mother nodded gently. “And why’s that?”

  “I don’t know why, it was in our contract. She signed off on it.” He rubbed a hand over his jaw before smoothing it over his hair. “Well, I do, I guess. Her family was in financial trouble with a ranch they have up north. I bought it for the child. Abigail took it the wrong way. I wanted to help her, but somehow I messed everything up. Now she wants nothing to do with me, and I can’t understand why.”

  His mother leaned back in her chair, a slight frown on her face. “And do you think now, upon reflection, you should’ve taken such a matter up with her first?”

  Upon reflection, of course he should have, but saying so out loud was too much. He only stared harder at the floor, studying the floral patterns in the rug.

  “I believe you owe Miss Haden an apology, don’t you think?” his mother said in his silence.

  “Mom, I obviously have no idea how to make amends with a woman like Abigail. Buying the ranch was an apology for a fight we’d had earlier.”

  “There’s always a way to make things right, Liam, and they don’t always involve money. In my heart, I believe you know other ways.”

  No, Liam could honestly say, he had no idea what to do. The ignorance was frightening. When they’d made love after she’d confronted him, he’d been frightened then too, because they had made love. It hadn’t been sex, not for him. In their union he’d lost the fragile walls around his heart shielding him from Abigail. And when she’d walked out of his office, and his life, nothing had ever torn into him as painfully.

  “Not this time, Mom. There is no repairing what’s happened between the two of us.”

  Saying it out loud brought a choking ball of emotion into his throat, and he blinked. He wasn’t a man who cried. He hadn’t shed a tear in years, not even during his father’s funeral. He rubbed the heel of his palms over his burning eyes, and left his face buried there.

  “Liam, my boy, I have something important to tell you.”

  He dared not look at his mother until he had gained some control.

  “Before your father died, he came to see me,” she continued. “I believe he felt his time was near and there had been so much left unsaid between the two of us. One of the things we talked about was you, Liam. What he wanted for you. Yes, your father was a driven man and he wanted a son who’d emulate him. He’d also come to realize that you would never be exactly like him. Liam senior feared you’d never be able to cope with the pressures of Whitmore Incorporated and it’d break you. He knew you were someone who would need another at his side to offer support.”

  His mother paused to sip her hot tea. Liam looked up, not sure what to make of her declaration. His father believed that he was weak? Renewed contempt built within him until he had its bitter taste on his tongue.

  “I had no idea what my husband had planned for you.” She placed the tea cup aside. “Until Abigail came to me with news she was pregnant with your child. I believe the change in his will was a way to assure you wouldn’t try to live a lonely life. One that you’ve never been cut out for and your father knew it. He did love you, in his own way, and he did what he believed best in the end.”

  Liam sat up straight. “I am perfectly content being a bachelor.”

  His mother smiled. “Is that so? Then why are you so concerned with what Abigail thinks of you? You’ve never been able to hide your feelings from me, Liam. I know you care deeply about this girl, and there’s no shame in it. Don’t believe for even a moment there could be shame in loving another person.”

  He considered his mother’s words, overwhelmed that his father had ever had a moment of empathy for him or a shadow of love. He’d never once shown any sort of affection outside of a handshake or slap on the back, and the idea of fatherly love seemed too alien to comprehend. Liam had spent his entire life with a distant father who cared only for his company. That was the man he knew, and he wasn’t sure if he would ever comprehend another version.

  And what of Abigail? Those words weighed heaviest. No, there wasn’t any shame in loving her. It wasn’t a weakness he needed to suppress. God, even his father had known him better than he’d known himself. Liam senior had seen through the man his son had tried so hard to be. Yes, he wanted a partner in life—a woman to share his triumphs with and to lessen the pains of failure. Liam wasn’t cut out for a lifetime of lonely nights and empty flings.

  He had to go to Abigail, and hope that he could win her over. Tonight he’d pour his heart out to her, and lay his entire life on the line. What he desired was the two of them together with their child. He wanted her to move in with him. He wanted to find time for soccer games and ballet recitals. He wanted so many things he couldn’t begin to name, but they all rested on how Abigail felt about him. The crux of his doubts.

  “I don’t know, Mom. What if…” Liam swallowed, feeling like an insecure young boy again. “What if she doesn’t share my feelings? What if I screw it all up again?”

  His mother’s gentle smile warmed the cold place inside his chest. “What ifs mean nothing, my boy. What ifs
only get in the way of the things we truly need. Go to Abigail, tell her what’s on your mind. I believe once you’ve opened that line of communication with her, you’ll be surprised with what she has to say. It’ll all come out in the wash.”

  Liam felt terrified as he kissed his mother’s cheek and wished her goodnight. Their conversation had carried on much later than he intended and she looked tired as he left her home. Outside, a chilled northern breeze rushed by, a tease of cooler weather to come. Yet, as he stood beneath the waning moon, a bad feeling settled in his gut. He shook it off as he climbed in his car. His cellphone buzzed with an incoming text. It was from Abigail. He fumbled with his phone as he pulled it up.

  He sucked in a sharp breath as he read her message, and every single plan he’d just made withered and evaporated. Confused, he read then reread it.

  I’ve had a change of heart, and I don’t want to see you again. Goodbye, Liam.

  * * * *

  “I don’t know what Richard has told you, but I don’t want the woman killed.” Spencer stared up at the massive man whose shadow swallowed him in the vacant parking lot. He glanced around nervously, fearing they might be accidentally overheard. The abandoned part of the city had few inhabitants, except for drunken winos, this late at night. “I have every intention of reasoning with her first.”

  The massive man grunted, and Spencer wasn’t sure if it was in agreement. A nameless oaf Richard had hired to make their problems go away, and it’d fallen on Spencer’s shoulders to make sure the plan was carried out. God damn him and Martin. Leaving Spencer to do the dirty work wasn’t simply a matter of convenience for them, he knew beyond a hint of doubt that if things went south all fingers would point to Spencer Davidson. CFO of Whitmore Incorporated, and the man with everything to lose. He had motive—losing Whitmore.