But she’d brought this on herself, dammit!
“Roy said your grandfather’s putting the ranch up for sale.”
Conner’s eyes flew open to see the object of his thoughts standing in the doorway of his office, wearing a gray sweat-suit that covered her completely yet managed to make her body appear soft and inviting. It was nearly midnight. He hadn’t expected to be interrupted by anyone, least of all Delaney, whom he avoided as much as possible. Why hadn’t he heard her approach?
A quick glance at her feet told him she was barefoot, and he felt the impulse to tell her to put on some slippers so she wouldn’t catch pneumonia and make matters worse. But he knew he had no right to say anything.
“Is it true?” she asked when he didn’t answer.
“Is what true?” He’d forgotten her question. She’d moved and the gentle sway of her br**sts indicated she wasn’t wearing a bra. For a moment the mental image of her naked flashed into his brain and robbed him of coherent thought.
“That you and your family are selling the ranch?”
He cleared his throat and opened the account books again, to distract himself from the fact that, despite everything, he still found her appealing. It was easier to keep his distance when he wasn’t remembering the more intimate details of their past.
“Yes, we are. We’ve already listed it.”
Having satisfied her curiosity, he thought she’d leave so he could go back to convincing himself that she was cold and calculating. But she didn’t move and her gaze never faltered from his face.
“How long do you think it’ll take to sell?”
“No telling. It could take a month. It could take a year.”
“And then what’s going to happen?”
He shrugged as if the ranch didn’t mean anything to him. What good did it do to care? It was out of his hands, not his decision to make…. So you’re giving up?
“Someone else takes over,” he said, loudly enough to drown out the echo of Roy’s words in his head.
“And you’ll go back to California?”
Dropping the pretense that he didn’t have time for the interruption, he linked his hands behind his head and crossed his legs in front of him. “That remains to be seen. Did you think you’d get rid of me that easily?”
“Stop it,” she said. “I didn’t have to tell you.”
“About the baby?”
“Yeah.”
“You did if you want any kind of financial help.”
“You know I don’t.”
“Well, I would’ve found out about the baby eventually,” he said.
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
He considered her freshly scrubbed look, remembered the body those baggy sweats concealed and realized that suddenly he was having difficulty remaining angry.
“So why’d you do it?” he asked. “Why’d you tell me?”
“Because I feel bad about what I did. I wanted a baby and I got tired of waiting around for it, so I decided to make it happen on my own. I was wrong. But you should understand something else.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“I won’t let anything come between me and this child,” she said.
Turning, she walked out of his office, and Conner stared after her, amazed at the jumble of emotions she left in her wake. When he thought about what Delaney had done, he still felt betrayed. When he thought about the time they’d spent together, he seemed almost willing to forgive her. When he thought about the ranch and the baby and the future…
He rubbed his temples. Who would’ve believed he could care so much?
THE NEXT MORNING, Conner wasn’t particularly pleased to find Rebecca instead of Delaney in the kitchen, preparing eggs, bacon and toast.
“Where’s Delaney?” he asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
Rebecca considered him, then went back to turning the bacon that was sizzling and popping in the frying pan on the front burner.
“Where’s Delaney?” he asked again, and she finally deigned to answer.
“She had a doctor’s appointment.”
He almost said “Good,” but caught himself just in time. He’d been worried about the weight loss and wondering why her doctor wasn’t doing something to help with the nausea.
He took his usual place at the table with Roy, Grady, Ben and Isaiah, who were each cradling a cup of coffee while waiting for breakfast. “You didn’t have to fill in for her. She could’ve told me she needed the morning off.”
Rebecca widened her eyes. “Maybe she didn’t want to ask you for anything.”
“I can think of a few things she should’ve asked me two and a half months ago,” he grumbled under his breath.
But Rebecca heard him. Spatula in hand, she leaned against the counter and addressed his comment, even though it wasn’t specifically directed at her. “What happened two and a half months ago was more my fault than hers.”
Conner glanced at the others. “Let’s not talk about it right now.”
“Why not?” she countered. “It’s not like I’d be telling them anything new. It’s all over town.”
His co-workers stared into their cups as though coffee had suddenly become very fascinating. All except Roy, who seemed to have difficulty biting back a smile.
Conner shot him a dark look to see if that might help him regain his composure. “I don’t care what’s going around town. It’s my business.”
“Fine. I’m just trying to tell you that I put her up to it.”
“Great. So I have you to blame?”
She shrugged. “You can blame me if you want. Just quit feeling so sorry for yourself. I mean, you enjoyed what happened as much as she did.”
This time Conner was sure he heard a chuckle from Roy, and though he couldn’t quite see their faces, he had no doubt the others were smiling behind their mugs.
Standing, he strode across the room, wrested the spatula out of Rebecca’s hand and made a great point of giving it to Roy. “Watch the food,” he said, then dragged her into the hall.
“Whether or not I enjoyed myself in Boise is beside the point,” he whispered harshly, once they were alone. “I thought Delaney and I had an understanding about what was going on in that room.”
“You did. And she’s mostly lived by that understanding. You’re the one who showed up and then proceeded to throw a wrench into everything.”