Ladd Haven (2 page)

Jimmy nodded, as though flying anxiety
were completely normal. “Cool.”

Casey smiled. So easygoing. Jimmy
accepted life as it came. He was smart, wise. It was Jimmy who was
able to convince her of the futility in taking drugs. There’d been
a time when she was so unhappy, so miserable, life didn’t seem
worth living. But he made her see there was hope over the horizon.
Change, freedom. Despite the people around you, life could be
enjoyed. And Jimmy knew what he was talking about. His parents
fought non-stop. They were loud and obnoxious but refused to get a
divorce. His grandparents took him in but they weren’t much better.
They were miserable. Yet throughout it all, Jimmy said he never
gave up hope. He hid behind a wardrobe of black for a while but
said he always believed in himself and his future. Today he lived
on his own in a cute apartment downtown, drove a nice car and was
taking classes to earn his degree. He didn’t know what he wanted a
degree in yet. Only that it would be something that would get him a
good job and get him out of this town.

Unfortunately, Jimmy wasn’t her type.
He was too tall, too skinny, but he was nice and he was her friend.
Casey set a hand on the enormous swell of her stomach. Two things
she had come to appreciate after Troy Parker left town. The love of
her life, and father of her child, had deserted her. By the time he
finally got around to telling her what he’d done, where he’d gone,
she’d been so mad she refused to take his calls. He’d moved to
Kentucky. Took a job on a ranch there and planned to settle down.
Troy didn’t ask her to come with him. He didn’t insist they never
spend another night apart. Nope. He up and left and didn’t call her
for a week.

A strange sensation pushed into Casey’s
stomach. It wasn’t nausea, it wasn’t a cramp. Pushing back in her
seat, she slid a hand over the rise of her belly, rubbing in a
circular motion as she allowed the feeling to pass. They seemed to
be occurring more often these days, feelings in and around the baby
inside her. They were physical sensations, but she was beginning to
have emotional ones too. An intuition she never had before. Too bad
it didn’t exist before she started dating Troy. Maybe then she
would have seen him for the train wreck he was.

Jimmy looked down at her stomach as
though it were a ticking time bomb. “Are you all right?”

“
Fine.”

“
Are you sure?”

She nodded. Like everyone else, Jimmy
was a worry wart when it came to her condition. There was nothing
wrong with her. It was just a feeling. Continuing to caress her
belly in a rhythmic motion, calming, Casey wondered if it could be
indigestion. Staring at the tall glass of half-drunk coke, she
wondered if it might be the carbonation unsettling her stomach. Or
maybe the biscuit drenched in honey butter. Strange how pregnancy
changed things. Not only was she experiencing new sensations and
feelings, but her tastes had changed. She used to love French
fries, but now they soured her stomach. Too greasy. Same with
cheeseburgers. She could no longer eat the two staples of her diet.
She glanced around the restaurant, her gaze landing on a waitress
carrying a heavily loaded tray of food through the diner. Circling
a table, she delivered fried chicken, fried okra, fried tomatoes
and cornbread. Casey frowned. Practically everything in the
restaurant was fried, which made her cringe. Good thing she only
had another two months or so. She wasn’t sure how much longer she
could tolerate it!

The front door opened, the clang of
bells reverberated in her heart.

“
Casey?” Alarm careened into
Jimmy’s gaze. “What’s a matter?”

Panic closed her throat. She couldn’t
speak. She couldn’t move.

Troy Parker, in the flesh, was standing
by the hostess stand.

Jimmy whirled around at the same moment
Troy spotted them. Removing his black hat as they made eye contact,
his familiar brown eyes latched onto Casey like a bee on a blossom.
Her heart squeezed, her legs dissolved beneath her. Troy was
here.

But why
?

He hesitated, glanced around tables and
booths in the crowded diner. Even from ten yards away, partially
concealed beneath those long brown bangs of his, she could see his
anger flash hot. Troy clenched his jaw and headed straight for
them. Instinctively, she jammed elbows to the table and leaned
forward, crossing her arms protectively over her stomach, catching
the edge of her plate which toppled, then spun loudly back in
place. Casey’s pulse shot wildly out of control—thudding so
hard—she feared it would break loose from her chest.

Troy’s long jean-legged strides closed
the distance in seconds. Jimmy turned back to face her, the full
impact of what was coming gripping his expression steps before Troy
made it to their table, arriving in a sweep of tension, emotion
churning the air around him. He stared down at the two of them,
eyes darting between her and Jimmy, hostility pulsating beneath his
surface of calm. Casey gulped. “Casey,” he said tersely.

“
Troy,” she returned,
scratching out the single word.

Jimmy sat pensive, clearly unsettled by
the surprise appearance of her ex-boyfriend, a position he’d been
vying for himself of late. Jimmy wanted to give her baby a name. He
wanted to support her, be there for her where this man had not. It
was a gesture she appreciated but declined. She couldn’t be with
Jimmy. She wasn’t interested.

There was only one guy who
held her interest and he was standing before her very eyes, glaring
at her like she was a traitor or something. He stood bolted in
place, looking between the two of them, as if waiting for Casey to
fill the void. “I thought you were in Kentucky,” Casey sputtered,
even as she battled a chest full of nerves and her heart
sang,
Troy’s home
.

“
I’m not,” Troy replied.
“I’m here.”

“
We can see that,” Jimmy
wisecracked, swiping Casey with a sidelong gaze.

Troy’s hand flinched, giving Casey a
start. “Why are you here?” she asked quickly, diffusing the powder
keg between the two. Troy didn’t care for Jimmy and the feeling was
mutual.

“
I quit.”

Her spirits burst like a
balloon. Troy quit.
Of
course
.

It’s what he did.

“
It’s not what you
think.”

“
We don’t have to
think
,” Jimmy said,
surprising Casey with his show of nerve. “It’s what you do. It’s
expected.”

Troy turned on him. “Why don’t you hold
your tongue before I rip it out of your mouth?”

Casey jumped at the sheer nastiness he
was displaying. “Troy!” He could break Jimmy in two and probably
love the chance to do just that. “Please!” she cried. A few nearby
diners were taking in the trio, but none with any knowledge as to
the significance of what was happening.

“
Why don’t you get
lost?”

Casey stared across the table. This was
a side to Jimmy she had yet to see. Usually he preferred to hang on
the sidelines, avoid confrontation altogether. He did it the last
time he and Troy faced off, did it with their professor at
school...

“
You first,” Troy
spat.

“
Stop it,” Casey thrust
between them.

Troy tossed a fiery glare her way but
quickly extinguished it. “I don’t need him interferin’.”

“
Interfering with what?” she
asked, annoyed and disconcerted at the same time. Troy was back. He
was fighting with Jimmy. Continuing to conceal the round of her
stomach, she smacked, “You’re the one who walked up on us,
remember?”

Taken aback by the edgy
response, he gave her a double-take—which gave Casey a warped
pleasure.
That’s right, Troy. You’re the
one interfering. We don’t want you here
.
But for some reason Casey couldn’t give voice to the first word.
She was too happy to see him.

Troy straightened. He pushed back his
muscular shoulders and announced, “I came by to tell you I’m back.
For good.”

Casey laughed, but it was strangled,
ineffective. What she intended to be hurtful fell short. She
couldn’t look at Troy and instead sought refuge in the safety of
her friend and supporter, Jimmy Sweeney. His Adam’s apple rose and
fell as he accepted her lead. “Sure you are,” she muttered, wishing
his return wasn’t on public display. There were so many things she
wanted to say, to know. Troy was home. He’d quit. What would he
think about the baby?

“
I am, Casey.” Appearing to
dull the blade of his attack, Troy shifted weight from heel to
heel, holding her steadily in his gaze. His eyes were molten with
emotion, his surprise discovery of the two of them together surely
unsettling. Troy was the jealous type and, worse, had always
suspected Jimmy of being interested in more than friendship. To
find them together had only underscored that suspicion. “I made you
a promise when I left here and I aim to keep it.”

“
Too late. You already broke
it.” Uttering the words broke her heart all over again. On their
last night together, the most beautiful of her life, Troy had
promised they’d be together forever. He was talking future and
family. Her heart pinched at the memory. Stupidly, she’d believed
him. Tearing her gaze from his face, she sought the safety and
security of Jimmy.

“
I didn’t break anything,”
Troy countered. “I quit drinking, I’m on a better
road...”

But the fight had left him. From the
corner of her eye, she could see him waver. Troy wasn’t sure what
to do. She understood his instinct was to stay and argue, but her
voicing her position in no uncertain terms seemed to undermine him.
He wasn’t sure how to proceed.

From across the table, she could feel
Jimmy’s displeasure. He was mad—at her, at Troy—at the whole
situation. He’d been warning her about this day, warning her that
Troy might come back and try to convince her to give him another
chance. As if she’d forgotten, Jimmy constantly reminded her how
Troy had run around with Jeremiah Ladd’s girlfriend, flirted with
Jillian Devane, all while professing he cared for Casey. Then
dumped her, ran off and left her pregnant.

Casey didn’t need reminding. She lived
with the pain every day of her life. At the moment, it was dulled
in comparison to Troy realizing she was pregnant. That conversation
was sure to stir up a hornet’s nest of trouble. Glaring at Jimmy,
she needed Troy to be gone. She could only sit hunched over the
table for so long before it became awkward and he saw the size of
her stomach beneath the flimsy cotton dress.

“
I’m finished with it all,”
Troy said. “No more.”

“
Yeah,” Jimmy replied
snidely, “until the next eighteen-wheeler pulls into the lot with a
case of Jack Daniels.”

“
Jimmy!”

Troy glowered. “Why don’t you shut your
mouth before I knock your skull into next week?”

“
It’s the truth,” Jimmy
continued, angling his shoulders to face Troy. “You’re a waste of
breath.”

Ignoring him, Troy thrust angrily to
Casey, “We need to talk. This isn’t over ‘til we do.”

“
What isn’t over?” Jimmy
asked. “You already dumped her. What more do you have in
store?”

Troy stood rigid, his wrath aimed
squarely at Jimmy. “This ain’t none of your business.”

“
It is my business when
you’re standing here talking to my girlfriend.”

Casey gasped. Troy froze. He
locked onto Jimmy. “
What did you
say
?”

“
You heard me,” Jimmy
repeated.

Gawking at Jimmy, Casey was
met by a challenge.
Tell him the
truth
. Fastening his gaze to hers as though
daring her to say otherwise Jimmy hitched his chin toward
Troy.
Go ahead. Tell him you’re
pregnant
.

Casey freaked. Did he think he was
helping? Did he think taunting Troy with a statement like that was
going to settle the matter?

Troy pounced on her, his brown eyes
searching. “Is this true? Is what he said true? You two are
dating?”

Fear zipped up and down her
spine as she evaded his question. No—it wasn’t true—but maybe Jimmy
was right. Judging by Troy’s reaction, maybe this was
exactly
what he needed to
hear to get a taste of how it felt to be dumped—flat on his
face.

“
Answer me.”

“
I don’t answer to you,”
Casey defied. Drawing strength from Jimmy’s presence, Troy’s anger,
she flipped her gaze up to meet his and nearly fell out of her
seat. Instead of angry, the upheaval in Troy’s gaze undid her. He
wasn’t angry. He was crushed. Guilt washed over her in a flood of
surprise. But if he was here because he quit, he sure as heck
wouldn’t be happy to hear she was pregnant with his
child!

Nerves pushed in at her
stomach. Uncertainty flapped in her breast. Pregnancy changed
everything. Things were different. She couldn’t dash out on a last
minute picnic or hike along the river’s edge. They couldn’t lie
around in a field late at night, stargazing until the wee hours of
morning. Pregnancy meant bills, diapers, a screaming baby... It
meant responsibility. Stability. Troy couldn’t quit work on a whim
or get fired for impulse decisions. Being a father meant a whole
new lifestyle, one that didn’t suit Troy’s temperament. No matter
what he promised that night, that beautiful, wonderful night,
reality would prove different. Casey struggled against tears. It
was
her
reality
now. Something he was going to have to get used to. “When you left
me, Troy, you gave up your right to have a say over what I do, or
don’t do.”