Cowboy Sing Me Home (18 page)

            But really, what were the odds that was
going to happen?

            He leaned forward and cupped his hand over
his ear.  “I’m sorry.  What was that?”

            “You heard me.  I hope you did, anyway,
because I’m not in the habit of repeating myself.”

            Luke laughed and grabbed her for a quick
kiss.  “I’ve been called a ham.  Among other things.”

            “Mama told me you were already cozied up
to someone else.”

            Luke looked up to see Melinda standing
before them, one hand on her shot-out hip and her chin jutting out.

            She looked so furious that he had to
remind himself he hadn’t actually been caught doing anything wrong.  He and
Melinda had broken up weeks ago.

            “Hi, Melinda.”  He gave her a polite
smile, and kept one hand on the small of Dusty’s back.  “Did you have a nice
visit with your sister?”

            “Don’t stand there with that goofy grin
and pretend like nothing’s going on here.”  She narrowed her eyes at Dusty.

            He took one step forward to put himself
between Dusty and Melinda.  “Nothing
is
going on here.  You know we
broke up.  Remember?  You called me an infantile idiot and said you hated me?”

            “It turns out that we’re not as ‘broken
up’ as you might like.”   Her lips curved up in a smug, hateful smile.

            Luke didn’t know what she had up her
sleeve, but Melinda could be a real drama queen when she wanted to be.  And it
looked like right now she wanted nothing more than the attention of everyone in
the room.

            He glanced at Dusty to see how she was
handling this.  She merely eyed Melinda with that same cool disdain she gave
everyone else, but she pulled away from him.  “It sounds like you need to talk
to the girl, Cowboy.”

            Luke shook his head.  No way was he going
to let one of Melinda’s scenes ruin their night together.  “Melinda, I’m a
little busy right now.  I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

            Melinda was a good six inches shorter than
he, so it took some doing for her to look down her nose at him, but she gave it
her best shot.  “You can talk to me now, or you can talk to me later.  You’ve
got plenty of time.  Nine whole months of it.”  She lifted her brows and
crossed her arms over her chest.

            Nine months.  As soon as he heard those
words, Luke felt as if he’d been sucked into a soundless void.  He could see
Melinda, could see her mouth moving and her smirking face.  He could see Dusty,
from the corner of his eye.  But it was all far removed from him.

            Someone else’s voice coming from his mouth
asked in a cold, detached voice.  “What are you talking about?”

            He knew what her answer would be.  Knew it
with a dread certainty.  But until the words actually came out, it wasn’t real.

            “I’m pregnant, Luke.  With your baby.”

            Luke’s blood pounded at his temples as he
followed Melinda up the walk to her house.  He kept telling himself this was
real, this was really happening.  But he just couldn’t bring himself to believe
it.

            Pregnant.  A baby.

            Once he got her out of Tumbleweeds,
Melinda put her dramatics on hold and clammed up.  She kept clearing her throat
and twisting her necklace, her arms crossed at her waist like she was already
protecting her child.

            His child.  As soon as he cleared her
front door, Luke suggested they sit down to talk.  He didn’t think it was good
for the baby for Melinda to be so nervous, and he wasn’t entirely sure his own
legs would hold him up much longer.

            She sat on the end of the couch, leaving
him room to sit beside.  Instead, he sat on the ottoman across from her.  She
bit her lower lip and blinked a few times.

            More fearful of a crying jag than anything
else, Luke reached for her hand.  “It’s going to be okay.”  That sounded too
general, but in this dazed state, it was all he could think of.

            She cleared her throat and twisted her
necklace.

            “Have you seen a doctor?”

            She shook her head.  “Not yet, I have an
appointment tomorrow.  But don’t worry.  I took three different pregnancy
tests.  They were all definitely positive.”

            “How far along are you?”

            She cleared her throat again.  “I’m not
sure exactly.  Probably about six weeks.”  She narrowed her eyes and pulled her
hand free.  “Why?  You’re not going to try and say it’s not yours, are you?”

            He leaned back.  “Of course not.”  The
thought hadn’t even occurred to him.  He and Melinda had dated for almost four
months.  They hadn’t been together in the past month, but that still fit in her
time frame.

            She eased back a little.  “Good.  Well…”

            “Well.”  He didn’t know what to do with
his hands.  He couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eye, but he couldn’t
seem to look away, either.  “Are you feeling okay?”

            She chewed her lip and her eyes darted
around the room before she looked back at him.  “I’ve had morning sickness pretty
bad.  And I passed out, at my sister’s house.”

            His heart stopped beating.  “Passed out? 
Like fainted?  And you didn’t go to the doctor?”

            “It’s okay, it happens all the time when
you’re pregnant.”

            “Corinne never passed out when she was
pregnant with Cade.”

            “So, it happens.  And I really did pass
out.”

            “You’d better go to the doctor tomorrow. 
Make sure everything’s okay.”  What if something was wrong with the baby
already?

            “Can you take me?  I get dizzy sometimes
and I’m afraid I’ll run off the road.”

            “Yes, of course I’ll take you.  You get
dizzy?  That can’t be good.”

            She smiled and reached for his hands
again.  “You’re so sweet to be concerned about me.”

            He actually opened his mouth to say he was
concerned about the baby, but good sense kicked in at the last second and he
said instead, “Of course I’m concerned.” 

            They stared at each other across their
linked hands, and he reminded himself to breathe.  “So, what are we going to
do?”

            “What do you mean, what are we going to
do?  We’re going to have a baby, that’s what we’re going to do.”

            He took another deep breathe and reminded
himself she was in a delicate condition and emotional.  Of course, she’d been a
drama queen before she ever became pregnant, but still… “Yes, we’re going to
have a baby.  But… I mean…” He didn’t know what he meant anymore.  He still
couldn’t quite bend his mind around the idea of it.

            “I’d like to set the date right away,” she
said.  “I don’t want to walk down the aisle with a big belly.”

            Luke’s mouth fell open.  “The date?”

            “Yes.  Probably within the month.”  She
heaved a great sigh.  “I won’t get to have my dream wedding, but I suppose that
can’t be helped.”

            “The date,” he said again, stupidly.

            She lifted her chin.  “You know, you could
do something besides just sit there and say ‘the date, the date.’  I’m not
expecting you to whip out an engagement ring, but I don’t think a bended knee
would hurt you any, considering.”

            “But… we can’t get
married
.”  Just
the word filled him with cold dread.

            She let go of his hands and dropped back
against the couch.  “Why not?’

            “Because I don’t –”  Again, common sense
stepped in and kept him from saying ‘I don’t love you.’  “We don’t – we never
planned –”

            “I never
planned
to get pregnant,
Luke Tanner.  I didn’t plan on throwing up every morning, or getting fat ankles
and stretch marks.  You told me you used protection.”

            “I did use protection and you know it.” 
Which evidently didn’t work.  Dear God, a baby
and
married?

            Suddenly, irrationally the image of Dusty
leapt into his mind.  Dusty, with her cool blonde hair and warm green eyes.  If
he were going to marry anyone…

            He looked at Melinda, at the tears
brimming in her eyes, and was filled with shame.  He’d been called a lot of
things, from a womanizer to an all-out jerk, and he’d always prided himself on
knowing that, whatever his reputation, he never treated a woman with anything
less than honor and respect.  But now he felt like every one of those things he
was called, and worse.

            He put a hand on Melinda’s knee. 

She pushed it aside, blinking her eyes
rapidly.  “Oh. My. God.  You’re not going to marry me?”  Her chest heaved with
her rapid breath and her eyes darted around the room again.  “What am I going
to do?  I can’t raise a baby alone.  I can’t!”

            He tried to pat her again, feeling clumsy
and idiotic.  “It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re not alone.  I’m here.  I’ll be
here.  We’ll be equal partners.”

            “Oh, shut up!  You’ll be here until the
first time you have to change a stinky diaper or get spit up on.  Once the new
has worn off, you’ll be gone and I’ll be lucky to get you to babysit once in a
while.  Everyone will stare, the gossips at the beauty shop will have a field
day.  Look at poor Melinda Brownlow, unwed mother at her age.” 

            “Melinda, it’s not that bad.  I swear we
can work something out.  I’m not going to leave you holding the bag, I
promise.”

            “I’ll have to get an abortion.”

            Every drop of blood in Luke’s veins
froze.  “What?”

            “I’ll have to.  I can’t be a single
mother, Luke.  I can’t handle all that on my own.”

            “If you’d just listen me… you’re not on
your own.  I’ll be here.  I’ll help out with everything, whatever you need.”

            “You won’t marry me, so you won’t have to
stay when things get tough.  And no other man will ever marry me, either,
because no one wants to raise someone else’s child.”

            “Then let me raise the baby,” he said
desperately, knowing it was a crazy idea even as he said it.

            “And let the entire county call me a
monster for giving up my own child?”  She sniffed.  “Besides, I couldn’t live
without my baby.”  She put one hand to her stomach and turned swimming eyes up
to his.  “If you refuse to marry me, I’ll have to get an abortion.”

            “Then let’s get married.”  The decision
was instant and agonizing, like intentionally jumping on a train bound for a place
he desperately did not want to go.   But he knew without a doubt he could not
let her abort his child.  “Let’s get married.”

            She swallowed and blinked.  “Are you
sure?”

            He nodded, although he was not sure at all
and felt like he was one breath away from drowning.  He slid to one knee before
her and gripped her hands.  “Marry me.”

            She smiled and threw her arms around his
neck.  “Oh, Luke.  You won’t be sorry.  Everything’s going to be great, I
promise.”

            If she noticed that he didn’t return her
hug, she didn’t say anything.  He knelt on the floor and tolerated her arms
around his neck, her tears on his shirt, and reminded himself that it was the
woman’s right to choose.  His mother had always told him that, and he’d grown
up believing that.  But it took everything he had not to recoil at Melinda’s
touch, everything he had not to be reviled by this woman who had just
threatened to kill his child.

            He tried to push the thought aside,
reminded himself that if he had any decency in him at all he would be proud to
stand up and do his duty.  But all he could feel was manipulated, and horrified
that the woman in his arms had just threatened her own flesh and blood to force
him.

            Not her fault, he reminded himself as he
pulled away from her.  She’d trusted him to not get her pregnant.  And he
couldn’t blame her for not wanting to be a single mother.  A child needed two
parents.

            He forced himself to hold her hands in
his, although her touch made him cringe.  When she turned her face up for a
kiss, he couldn’t do it.  He turned away and pretended he didn’t know that was
what she was after. 

            He gave her a quick brotherly hug and
stood.  He had to get out of there.  He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, and
if she kept looking at him with that hero worship in her eyes, he was going to
crawl right out of his skin.  “Okay then.  That’s settled.”

            She laughed.  “You don’t have to look so
nervous.  People get married all the time.”

            He forced a smile.  “Cold feet already. 
Don’t worry, though.  It’s going to be okay.”