Aunt Millie rushed to reassure him. “Of course there’s no problem,” she said. “She’ll start week after next, as soon as the library closes.”
“What a nice young man you’ve turned out to be,” Vern told Conner.
Yeah, what a guy, Delaney thought. Conner believed he had her cornered, and he wasn’t about to let her escape. But she’d show him. She’d show them all with a quick and absolute refusal.
Except, she couldn’t think of a single objection they couldn’t easily override. Conner was being too reasonable. And she was afraid that if she pushed him, he’d end up telling the room at large that he was the father of her baby. Worse, he might explain exactly how he had come to be the father of her baby and destroy everyone’s good opinion of her in one fell swoop.
All over one mistake…
“Why not come out to the ranch tomorrow so we can show you around?” he asked, his manner deceptively casual.
“Will Dottie be there?” Delaney asked.
“For another few weeks.” His grin made her feel unsettled. “After that, we’ll be on our own.”
Delaney nodded weakly. “Great.”
“No problem,” he said. “Happy Easter.”
HER HEAD WAS GOING TO EXPLODE if the ringing didn’t stop. Shooting out an arm from beneath the comforter Rebecca must’ve thrown over her sometime during the night, Delaney almost fell off the couch as she fumbled around on the coffee table, searching for the telephone. She sighed in blessed relief when she succeeded in disconnecting it from its base and restoring silence.
A few seconds later she remembered that the ringing of a telephone generally meant someone was on the other end of the line.
“’Lo?” she mumbled, barely managing to bring the receiver to her ear without knocking herself on the head with it.
“Rebecca?”
Aunt Millie’s hearing was getting worse all the time. Delaney squinted at the clock above the television, surprised to find it after ten, then promptly squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to stop the room from spinning. Morning sickness on top of a bad night. Wonderful.
“Hi, Aunt Millie,” she said. “It’s me, Delaney.”
“You sound funny. Did I wake you?”
From the dead. “No, I mean, yes, but I have to get up, anyway. I need to do some housework before I go to the library.”
“I was just wondering what time you were going out to the Armstrong ranch.”
The ranch. Conner. God, it hadn’t been a dream. “I’m not sure. I’ll have to give him a call.”
“Want me to arrange it for you?”
“No!” Delaney shoved her tangled hair out of her face and struggled to a sitting position. “You’ve done enough, thanks. I’ll handle it from here.”
There was a long silence, during which Delaney realized, rather belatedly, that Aunt Millie was treating her in an almost normal manner. Yesterday, she’d even given her a hug goodbye. “I know you’re trying to help,” she added. “And I appreciate it.”
“Well, I love you, you know that.”
“I do.”
“I still don’t agree with what you’ve done, though.”
“Of course not.” Even Delaney didn’t agree with what she’d done. But she was left with the consequences of it, and those consequences just seemed to keep coming and coming and coming.
“You’ll probably lose your job over this.”
“Maybe.”
Another pause. “So that’s not good. But I think I’ll enjoy having a grandbaby. I’m not getting any younger. Sooner’s probably better than later, huh?”
Delaney smiled in spite of the ball of nerves that had lodged in the pit of her stomach at the mention of Conner. “I needed to hear that,” she said. “Tell Uncle Ralph I wouldn’t mind if he were to forgive me, too.”
“Ralph thinks you’re about the best thing since sliced bread. He’ll come around.”
Delaney felt her throat tighten at this matter-of-fact pronouncement. They still loved her, bless their wonderful old hearts. “You two have always been there for me.”
“And we’re not going anywhere, least not till we don’t have any choice in the matter.” She chuckled. “Call Conner Armstrong and make sure you get that job. It’s exactly what you need, especially since you’re having a baby.”
His baby. Conner’s job was the last thing she wanted, but Delaney wasn’t going to argue now that Aunt Millie had decided to let bygones be bygones. She promised to call back once she’d talked to him, then hung up and sat staring at the phone while the ball of nerves in her stomach turned to acid.
Hi, Conner. We don’t know each other. We have nothing in common. So maybe you’d be willing to go about your business and just forget about me and our baby….
Hi, Conner. Just calling to say there’s no need for you to get involved in my life. I can take care of this baby just fine on my own.
Yeah, right. Like he was going to buy that. He knew she didn’t even have a reliable job.
Taking a deep breath for courage, she picked up the receiver, hoping something brilliant would occur to her—or that Conner would already be gone for the day. But Dottie answered on the first ring and assured her that he was just out in the barn.
“I’ll get him,” she said. “He’s been expecting your call.”
Don’t throw up…don’t throw up, Delaney encouraged herself while she waited, but as soon as she heard Conner’s voice, she had to dash for the bathroom.
Unfortunately, he was still there when she returned.
“Where’d you go?” he asked.
She tried to catch her breath and ignore the nausea so she could think straight. “I’m not feeling very well.”
“I hear pregnancy will do that to a woman.”
“So I’m learning.”
“Sorry if I’m having a difficult time dredging up much sympathy. When are you coming out here?”
Delaney grimaced as the unrest in her stomach increased. Not again…“I’m not coming out,” she said. “I think we should talk.”
“Isn’t it a little late for that? Talking’s not going to solve anything at this point.”
“Any chance you’d believe this baby isn’t yours, after all?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so. What about the possibility that you might forget about us and go on your way?”