Summer Nights

She smiled widely. “I’m so happy.”

“Congratulations,” Annabelle told her. “That’s great news. Is it still a secret?”

“Yes. We’re not telling everyone until next week. We just found out yesterday and we didn’t want to take away from Heidi and Rafe’s wedding.” Nevada hugged her. “I’m so lucky. First Tucker and now a baby.” She laughed and then released Annabelle. “I need to get back to my sisters. Let’s have lunch next week.”

“I’d like that.”

Annabelle watched her walk away. She started to walk toward Shane, then stopped as her champagne-induced buzz disappeared as if it had never been. Cold sobriety hit her along with an impossible possibility. Nevada’s words rang in her head, as loud as bells, as frightening as the thunderous roar of an approaching train.

An unexpected pregnancy. They’d used protection. An unexpected pregnancy.

“No,” Annabelle whispered. “No. I’m not. I couldn’t be.”

They’d been careful. All those long nights of making love over and over again. They’d been careful.

If she was pregnant, Shane would…

She couldn’t begin to imagine, but it would be bad.

She told herself to stop it. Not to worry. That there was no way she was going to have a baby. But the knot of worry that had quickly formed wouldn’t go away. Which meant she was going to have to find out for sure. As soon as she could.

* * *

SHANE STABBED THE STRAW viciously, wishing it would fight back. He was pissed and had nowhere to put his anger. He’d been awake since dawn, taking care of Heidi’s goats then cleaning out the stable. The hard work had done nothing to dull his sense of betrayal.

To think he’d been the chump who’d offered to relieve Annabelle of her offer to milk Heidi’s goats while the happy couple was spending the weekend in San Francisco. Had she secretly been laughing at him the whole time? Why not? Here he was, being played again.

“You’re up early.”

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Clay had walked into the barn. His younger brother had a mug in his hand. He held it out.

“I brought you coffee. Mom said you were gone before she could make any.”

Shane put down the pitchfork and walked to his brother. He took the mug of coffee, set it on a nearby bench, then drew back his fist and hit Clay squarely in the jaw.

His brother went down like a sack of potatoes, landing on his butt. He stared up at Shane with an expression of disbelief.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Shane rubbed his stinging knuckles. Despite the pain, he actually felt a little better. “Stay away from my girl.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Annabelle.”

“I know who, asshole. What is this about?”

Shane picked up the coffee and took a drink. When he’d swallowed, he stared at Clay, still on the ground. “Yesterday. At the wedding. You were all over her.”

Clay moved his jaw back and forth. “Good thing I’m out of the business. You can’t hide a bruise in a picture that’s going to be on a billboard.” He sat up straighter and rested his arms on his knees. “Listen. I heard from Mayor Marsha that Annabelle still needed someone to help her with her festival. Something about a male sacrifice. I told her I’d do it. That’s it.”

Shane’s relatively good mood faded as the fury returned. “You are not going anywhere near her.”

“I’m helping your girlfriend. That’s what brothers do.”

“Sure. Pretend you’re helping. What else are you doing? Are you seeing her? Were you with her last night?” Because he’d planned to spend the evening with Annabelle, but she’d pleaded a headache and had gone home early.

“I was here,” Clay told him. “With you. What is going on? Why are you—” Clay’s expression of outrage shifted to something more like compassion. “I get it.”

“What?” Shane demanded.

Clay climbed to his feet. “She’s not Rachel,” he said quietly. “She’s nothing like her. For what it’s worth, I think you’re damn lucky to have found someone like Annabelle. You’re my brother, Shane. When Rafe was being a jerk, you were always there for me. We’ve been close our entire lives. You know I’d never do anything to hurt you. I never touched Rachel and I would never get between you and Annabelle. But you already know that. What I can’t figure out is why you’re looking for trouble. Are you worried that she’s like Rachel, or terrified that she isn’t? Because if she isn’t, if she’s just what she seems, then you’re going to have to step it up and be worthy.”

“You’re talking like a girl.”

“You’re avoiding the question and the truth. You’re not mad at me. I don’t think you’re even mad at Annabelle. You’ve got a burr up your butt about something and you need to figure out what.”

With that he left the barn.

Shane stared after him, then turned back to his work. But he’d lost the energy for it. His brother’s words mocked him as he wondered if they could possibly be true. Was he looking for trouble where none existed or was he seeing things clearly? And if this was just leftover trash from his first marriage, how did he get rid of it and believe in someone else?

* * *

ANNABELLE PACED THE length of her living room. “I’m going to throw up.”

Charlie eyed her cautiously. “Is this drama, or are you serious?”

“I don’t know.” She pressed a hand to her roiling stomach. She hadn’t felt right since the wedding, two days ago. She wanted to blame the champagne, but couldn’t. Maybe it was hormones.

She turned to the sofa, thinking she should sit, then realized she was too upset and that the walking back and forth helped.

She looked at her friend. “This is so bad. Really, really bad. He’s just starting to trust me.”

“Shane,” Charlie said, in a tone that indicated she was still playing catch-up.

Annabelle reminded herself she’d called the other woman and begged her to come over without telling her why. Explanations were required.

She dropped to the ottoman in front of Charlie’s chair. “Shane was married before.”

“I know that part.”

“From what I’ve been hearing, she was pretty awful. Wild and unfaithful. Shane isn’t the kind of guy who gives up easily. His word matters. So he tried to make the marriage work and she kept cheating and then it was over.”

“Nearly everyone deserves a second chance,” Charlie said cautiously. “Now he’s done with her. What’s the problem?”

“Sometimes he thinks I’m like her. That I’m wild and flighty.”

“You’re not.”

“I know, but the first time he saw me was after he’d moved back. The night I did the dance of the happy virgin at Jo’s bar. It painted a different picture.”

“I can see that. But now he knows you. He trusts you.”

“He was starting to. I think. I hope. But then Lewis showed up and we weren’t really divorced.”

“Not your fault.”

“Agreed, but it was awkward. It seems like every time he starts to get close, something happens.”

Charlie stared at her. “And something has happened again?”

“I’m pregnant.”

Charlie’s mouth dropped open. She closed it and swore. “Seriously?”

Annabelle fought tears. “Yes. I found out this morning. I suspected at the wedding.” She hesitated. Nevada hadn’t announced her good news, and she didn’t want to steal her thunder. “I was thinking about how great things were with Shane and suddenly I wondered. I went to the drugstore as soon as it opened and got a test.”

She pressed her lips together. “I’m happy about the baby, of course. It’s shocking, but good. Honestly, I can’t wrap my mind around that part of it. I’m so caught up in wondering how bad this is going to be with Shane. Just when he’s starting to trust me, you know? He’s not going to believe this is an accident. He’s going to think the worst of me. He’s going to assume I did it on purpose.”

Which wasn’t true, she thought sadly. She hadn’t had a clue. Which had meant an emergency visit to her gynecologist, stick in hand, to find out if she’d done anything bad by drinking a glass of champagne at the wedding. Thankfully Dr. Galloway was used to hysterical pregnant women and had taken a few minutes to reassure her before sending her off to schedule a regular visit.

“He’s as much responsible as you are,” Charlie told her. “This isn’t your fault any more than it’s his. You used protection.”

“Faithfully.”

“Then you tell him he has good swimmers and he should be proud.”

“I doubt he’s going to see it that way,” Annabelle murmured. “This is so much worse than Lewis. That was just a paperwork error that didn’t affect him directly. This is a baby!”

Charlie leaned forward and grabbed her shoulders. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Give Shane a chance to screw up before you assume the worst. He might surprise you.”

“Good advice,” Annabelle whispered. Too bad she knew Shane well enough to believe he wasn’t going to surprise her this time. At least not in a good way.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“SHOULDN’T YOUR BUSINESS partner be doing this with you?” Shane asked as he followed his brother into yet another building in the center of Fool’s Gold. So far they’d looked at three potential office locations. To Shane they were all the same—open spaces with windows and doors. Weren’t all offices the same?

“Dante’s hiding out in San Francisco,” Rafe told him, using a laser tape measure to take quick calculations. “Resisting the inevitable.”

The inevitable being the company’s move. “Dante’s not a small-town kind of guy,” Shane pointed out. “I’m not sure how he’ll fit in here.”

“He’ll do fine.” Rafe nodded appreciatively. “I like this one. I wonder what’s upstairs?”

Temporary space was needed for Rafe’s company. He and Dante had bought a building on the edge of town, but it needed major remodeling and wouldn’t be ready for at least eight months. Which meant either commuting to San Francisco, something Rafe didn’t want to do, or getting a temporary location.

Shane wasn’t sure why he’d bothered tagging along. Getting away from the ranch had seemed like a good idea, but now that he was standing alone in the big open office space, he realized he could still hear himself thinking. He needed more of a distraction.

“Would you take it as is?” Shane asked, checking out a small alcove that was obviously a break room. There was a refrigerator, microwave, table and chairs, cupboards and plenty of counter space. Nothing fancy, but workable.

“Yes. I don’t want to put any money into remodeling. It’s only for a few months. We can make do.”

Shane walked back into the main room. “There aren’t any private offices.”

Rafe grinned. “Dante is going to love this place.”

“Why do you want to torture your business partner?”

“For sport,” Rafe admitted. “Yup, this is it. We can get all the desks in here. Half the staff will be staying in San Francisco until the new building is ready, so there’s plenty of room.”

He made a few notes on a tablet, then clipped the laser tape measure onto his belt. “Let’s go talk to the owner about a short-term lease. I want everything signed before Heidi and I leave for Paris in a few weeks.”

Shane followed him out. When they reached the sidewalk, Rafe paused.

“You don’t have to go with me,” he said. “If you have somewhere else you’d rather be.”

“Like where?”

“The library. Don’t you want to see Annabelle?”

They were standing by the stairs that led to the second-floor businesses. A couple of young girls—maybe ten or eleven—walked by and started up the stairs. Shane shifted to the left to give them room.

“You’re still pissed,” Rafe said when the girls were out of earshot.

“No.”

“You are. I can tell. You’re being an idiot.”

“You didn’t see what happened,” Shane told him, feeling his temper rise.

“I heard about it. Clay agreed to be Annabelle’s sacrifice for her dance and they hugged.”

Shane kept telling himself that was all there was to it. But he couldn’t shake the feeling of being played for a fool. Something he’d felt too often with his ex.

“If it was more—” he began.

Rafe cut him off with a shake of his head. “Isn’t the bookmobile important to Annabelle?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that why she came to see you in the first place? To learn to ride and do the horse dance?”

Shane shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded.

“Didn’t she tell you about the program and ask you to be the sacrifice? Didn’t you refuse?”

“Stop being logical. This isn’t about that.”

“No. It’s about you being stupid. You’re making this more than it is. The worst part is deep inside, you know that, too. You’re so busy worrying about Annabelle being like your ex-wife, that you’re pushing her away when she’s done nothing wrong. But you’ll never be free from your past until you learn to let go.”