Free EXPECTING HIS CHILD by Leanne Banks Page A

the battle scars?"
    "I feed her," Noah said, his lips twitching as he imagined Martina's enjoyment of the cheesecake he'd left her.
    Still wearing headphones, Jonathan glanced up at him and nodded, yelling, "Hi."
    Noah pulled back one of the earphones. "I gave her the Mozart CD for the baby."
    "What'd she think?" Jonathan asked.
    "I don't know, but she didn't look like she wanted to slap me. That's an improvement."
    "Any chance there'll be a wedding soon?"
    Noah felt a burning determination. "Damn straight." He looked at his oldest brother, who he'd noticed hadn't said anything. "Talk," Noah said to him. "Front porch."
    Adam glanced at him and slowly rose from his easy chair. "Okay." Setting Homer's Odyssey aside, Adam joined Noah on the front porch. In his boxers, he was an incongruous picture of a "good ol' boy" traditional cattleman with a closet appreciation for literary classics.
    "What do you want now?" he asked, as he had asked Noah dozens of times before. Although Adam gave the impression of being reluctant to change, he offered a steadiness that had provided a balance to him and his brothers.
    "When I walked into the house tonight, it occurred to me that a woman considering moving into our home might find the prospect difficult."
    Adam propped his beer on the porch rail and glanced down at his skimpy attire. His mouth quirked in an ironic grin. "I don't know why."
    "Oh, something about the combination of the World of Wrestling full blast on the TV, men sitting in their underwear drinking beer, smoking cigars and yelling at each other."
    Adam shook his head. "You're gonna have a hard time changing our habits."
    "I'm not planning on it."
    Adam took another drink of beer. "Then what?"
    "You know that building we've been putting together for offices?"
    "Yeah."
    "I was thinking about using some of my own money and making it into a house, instead."
    Adam let out a long breath. "Has she agreed to marry you?"
    "No, but—"
    "Don't you think you're gambling against the house? You keep forgetting her family hates us."
    "I haven't forgotten it," Noah said. The reality of the grudge burned like a hot poker in his gut every waking minute. "But Martina is going to marry me."
    "She and her brothers just don't know it yet, right?"
    Noah appealed to his brother's sense of the bottom line. "I'll take it out of my own pocket," he said. "I've done pretty well with some of my day trading."
    Adam scratched his head and shot him a glance mingled with doubt and respect. "Good luck. You're gonna need it."

----
    Chapter 7
    « ^ »
    A ringing sound jerked Martina from her sleep. Disoriented, she sat up in bed. The ringing continued and she shook her head, trying to clear it. When she realized the sound was coming from the phone, a dozen thoughts flew through her mind.
    If this was Noah, she was going to give that man a piece of her mind. He hadn't just been late this time. He hadn't shown up at all. She'd paced the house the entire evening watching the clock and then had a difficult time going to sleep.
    What if it was someone else, though? Brock? Tyler ?
    She reached across the bed and snatched the phone from the cradle. "Hello?"
    "Martina Logan?" a male voice said.
    "Yes."
    "Sorry to call so late. This is Jonathan Coltrane. Noah won't be able to make it tonight."
    Martina glanced at the fluorescent-blue numbers on her alarm clock. "Since it's after
2 a.m.
, that thought had occurred to me."
    "Yeah, well, he was in an accident on his way to see you. The doctor says he's gonna be okay, but—"
    Martina's heart sank to her knees. "Doctor?"
    "Yeah, the ambulance took him to the hospital. His truck is totaled. He's gonna be real pissed off."
    Martina swallowed over her racing panic. "How is he?"
    " Broken ribs, punctured lung, concussion and one of his legs is bruised pretty bad. He'll be sore and cranky the next few days."
    Wide awake now, she clenched her hands to keep them from trembling. "Which hospital is he in?"
    "
County
Hospital
. We'll