To Catch a Camden (18 page)
“Look,” he said impatiently. “If you’re getting cold feet about meeting the Calhouns, then don’t. They’re just normal folks like you and me.”
Under any other circumstances, Sassy would have burst out laughing. She’d been raised in a very modest home. And after her adoptive parents died, all she’d been left with had been a small amount of money from their life insurance, a few changes of clothing and an old pickup truck. For the past seven years she’d supported herself by working as a maid for the Cantrells. And though she hardly lived in poverty, she was so far down the totem pole from folks like the Calhouns that it was ridiculous.
“Normal? Jett, their normal would be a far cry from mine. But that’s not the reason I’m having second thoughts about meeting the Calhouns.” She drew in a deep, bracing breath. “Okay, I’ll just go ahead and say it. A few minutes ago the doctor told me that I—I’m pregnant.”
A look of confusion washed over his face. “Pregnant? Are you saying you didn’t know until just now?”
Just getting the word out gave her a measure of relief. “I’ve not been feeling exactly like myself lately, but I put it down to stress. The news about the baby was quite a shock. So maybe you can understand why I think I should go home to New Mexico.”
“Why?” he insisted. “Is there an immediate problem with your health?”
She pressed fingertips to her forehead and tried to slow the chaotic spin of her thoughts. “No. But surely you can see why my mind isn’t exactly on meeting Finn and the other Calhouns right now.”
“I can see that you’re probably anxious to get home and share the news with your husband.”
Even though she had no reason to be embarrassed, a blush moved over her cheeks. He didn’t understand. And why should he? During the brief conversations she’d had with this man, she’d never mentioned whether she was single or married. She’d never really clarified her relationship with Barry, either. And now, because she was pregnant, he’d simply assumed she had a husband.
“That would be nice—if I had a husband. But I don’t. The baby’s father is—was Barry Landers.”
His brows shot up. “Barry Landers! I didn’t realize you were that close.”
The blush on her face grew even hotter. “We were more than friends. And now— The baby changes everything.” Bending her head, she closed her burning eyes. “Meeting with the Calhouns doesn’t seem that important anymore.”
Suddenly she felt his hand settle on her shoulders, and even through the thickness of her coat she could feel its warmth spreading through her, reminding her that she wasn’t completely alone.
“Besides your adoptive parents, do you have any other family?” he asked gently.
His words brought her head up and she stared at him through misty eyes.
“As I said, all my grandparents are deceased. There’re two distant cousins up in Oregon. I’ve never met them, though.”
He grimaced. “Then the way I see it, you being pregnant makes meeting the Calhouns even more important. If they can help you find your real parents, it would be good for the baby to have roots and a medical history.”
Fishing a tissue from her coat pocket, she dabbed her eyes, then lifted her chin. “That’s true. But I figure that snow falling in Death Valley would be more likely to happen than me learning I belonged on a branch of the Calhoun family tree. And so do you.”
Her reply put a clever arch to his brow. “Did I agree to that assumption?”
What was he doing, she wondered, playing some sort of game with her? With this man it was hard to tell exactly what he was thinking or feeling.
“Not exactly. But—”
He put the truck in reverse and quickly backed out of the parking slot as though everything had just been settled. “Call the hotel and cancel your reservations. You’re going home with me.”
Dumbfounded, Sassy stared at him. “What are you talking about? I’m not going home with you. I barely know you.”
He suddenly chuckled and the sound helped to ease her tense nerves.
“If you’re worried about my character I’ll stop by the sheriff’s department. Rafe, one of the Calhoun brothers, works as a detective in Carson City and the outlying county. He, or any of the other deputies, can vouch that I’m a man of honor.”
“I don’t need a character reference! I hardly think a prominent family like the Calhouns would employ a sleazeball for their lawyer. I’m thinking of all the bother I’ll cause your family by barging into your home.”
“That might be so—if I had a family. But I’m a bachelor.”
Even though he had that wild and free look about him, the news that he was a single man set her back somewhat. At his age a man usually had a wedding band on his finger and kids at home. Clearly Jett Sundell was not the typical sort.
“Even so, I’m not sure that going to your house is the right thing to do.”
“Actually, it’s more than a house,” he corrected her. “It’s a ranch. The J Bar S. And before you jump to conclusions, it’s nothing like the Calhouns’. Just a little spread of my own. But it’s comfortable. And I think the solitude is just what you need. Besides, if you decide to faint again I want to be around to catch you.”
For some reason, his show of concern brought another rush of moisture to her eyes. She blinked it away and swallowed hard. “I’m not going to faint again,” she said flatly.
“How do you know? Your face still looks like a bowl of flour.”
“As soon as I get to my hotel room I’ll lie down and rest,” she argued. “And if I need help, I’ll have my phone with me.”
“How are you going to use the phone if you’re lying on the floor in a dead faint? No,” he said emphatically, “it’s decided. You’re coming with me.”
“But—”
“Look, if you’re worried about being alone in the house with a man you’ve just met, forget it. My older sister lives with me.”
“Oh.”
He looked at her and grinned. “I’ll take that as a word of disappointment.”
Straightening her shoulders, she settled back in her seat. “It was nothing of the sort. That was a word of confusion. My head is so mixed up right now it feels like it’s going to burst.”
He pressed on the accelerator and positioned the truck in a faster-moving lane of traffic. “That’s what a good lawyer is for. To help a person who’s confused and in need.”
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. There didn’t appear to be a tense muscle in his body and somehow that helped to calm her racing mind.
“I don’t know if you’re a good, bad or otherwise lawyer.”
He chuckled again. “Guess you’ll have to find that out for yourself.”
She wasn’t here in Carson City to bandy words with a sexy cowboy parading as a lawyer, or vice versa, she thought. She was here to meet the Calhouns and hopefully find some sort of clue to her past, her parentage and perhaps even her future.
Ignoring his last remark, she stared out the windshield at the passing shops and busy traffic. The desert town was totally different from the New Mexico mountains where she’d lived all of her life.
“Why are you going to all this bother?” she asked after a moment. “I’m not your problem. And you don’t have to pretend. It’s clear you think I’m chasing rainbows.”
“Like I said, you’re not a problem—yet. But now that I’ve met you in person, I get the feeling you’re going to stir up a pot of trouble whenever the Calhouns get sight of you.”
Turning her head, she stared uneasily at his rugged profile. “Why would the sight of me cause trouble?”
“Because you are a dead ringer for Finn Calhoun. Only a sight prettier, of course.”
Sassy gripped the armrest. Jett’s remark was almost exactly what Barry had said to her a few months ago. In fact, her resemblance to his friend Finn was the reason Barry had struck up a conversation with Sassy in the first place. Now Jett Sundell was implying the same thing.
Not wanting to let her hopes run wild, she said after a moment, “It’s just a coincidence.”
“Probably so. But it’s going to be fun to see all their faces when you walk through the door.”
Right now Sassy didn’t want to walk through any door. She wanted to run as hard and fast as she could. Away from this sexy, provocative man, away from the news of her pregnancy and the fact that her life was taking as many turns as a wild roller coaster.
But Sassy wasn’t a coward. She’d never run from a problem; she’d always faced them head-on. And she was going to prove to Jett Sundell and the powerful Calhoun family that she was more than a pitiful orphan without a direction.
Copyright © 2014 by Stella Bagwell
ISBN-13: 9781460333280
TO CATCH A CAMDEN
Copyright © 2014 by Victoria Pade
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