Free Protecting Tricia by Pamela Tyner

you
know you shouldn’t.” The past few days were a prime example of that.
    Jenny tossed her napkin on the table and turned her
attention to Tricia. “I need to check on AJ, and then I’ll help you clean up.”
    “Clint, I’ll help you outside,” Neil said.
    Confused, Clint looked at him.
    Neil leaned closer to him and lowered his voice. “Either we
go outside and pretend to be busy, or we stay in here and take a chance of getting
drafted into washing dishes.”
    “Now that I think about it, there are some things that need
to be done outside.”
    Neil grinned and slapped him on the shoulder. “I thought
maybe there were.”
    Clint and Neil stood and headed for the door.
    “Hey,” Tricia called out.
    Both men stopped and turned to face her.
    “I’m going to tell Jenny.” The words were a threat, the tone
firm, but the teasing glint in her eyes gave her away.
    Neil chuckled. “No, you won’t, ’cause you’re too nice to
squeal on me,” he said as they continued outside.
    Clint cleaned the grill, and they walked out to the corrals
where they watched the horses graze in the pasture. After an hour, they decided
it was probably safe to return. When they stepped inside the house, they found
Tricia and Jenny in the kitchen.
    Tricia held AJ against her shoulder, stroking his back with
a gentle, steady rhythm. The baby had his hand balled into a fist which he had
stuck into his mouth, and he was sucking on ut as if it were the most delicious
thing in the world. AJ looked very content. Tricia looked…very maternal.
Clint’s stomach clenched at the thought of her carrying Matt’s child.
    “You ready to go?” Neil asked Jenny.
    “Yeah.” Jenny picked up AJ’s diaper bag, took the child from
Tricia, and they all walked to the door.
    “Where are my car keys?” Tricia asked Neil.
    Rather than answering, he jerked his head toward Clint and
continued on outside. “You take care,” Neil told her.
    “Be careful,” Jenny added.
    “You too,” Tricia replied.
    Clint closed the door and locked it. When he turned around,
Tricia was standing in front of him with her hand held out, palm up.
    “I want my keys,” she demanded.
    “I’ll hang on to them for a little while.”
    She propped her hands on her hips and glared at him. “What?”
    “I said I’ll hang on—”
    “I heard what you said,” she hissed. “Why?”
    “Because you don’t need to be taking off.”
    She threw her hands up in the air. “Where would I go?”
    “I don’t know, Tricia. Maybe you’d go to see Matt, try to
make a deal with him. Or maybe you’d just leave altogether—with no money and
nowhere to go.”
    “That’d be pretty stupid, wouldn’t it?”
    “Yes, it would be very stupid. But right now you’re not
thinking rationally, so until you are, I’ll hang on to your keys.”
    “That’s my property, and you have no right to take it,” she
said between clenched teeth, fury blazing in her eyes.
    “You’ll get it back eventually.”
    Tricia scrubbed her face with her hands and emitted a
frustrated growl. Without another word, she turned and headed down the hallway.
    “Tricia.”
    She spun around to face him. “What?” she spat out.
    He crossed his arms over his chest and braced himself for
her answer. “Are you pregnant?”

Chapter 5
     
    Tricia gaped at Clint, shocked at the question he’d tossed
her way. Where in the world had he gotten that idea?
    “What?” she sputtered.
    “Neil talked to Matt today. He claims you’re pregnant.”
    “Neil talked… Jenny didn’t say a word about it.”
    “Maybe Neil didn’t tell her.” Clint stared directly into her
eyes, almost as if he would find the answer to his question there. “Are you pregnant?”
    “No, I’m not.” She shook her head as everything in her body
shuddered. The thought of being pregnant with Matt’s child chilled her soul.
    “Then why do you suppose he said you are?”
    “I don’t know.” Her mind searched for an explanation. What
possible