Free The Last Honorable Man by Vickie Taylor Page B

in place, but she drew her brows together.
    Elisa’s fingers dug into the sides of the bed. “What is it? What’s wrong with my baby?”

Chapter 5
    D el had seen Elisa in noble-jungle-princess mode, cool, aloof and wearing her pride like a crown jewel. And he’d seen her as the warrior queen, full of passionate fury and righteous indignation at the injustices done her.
    The Elisa who’d walked out of the women’s center with him fifteen minutes ago clutching a grainy black-and-white printout from her sonogram and a pack of vitamins was neither.
    This was the vulnerable Elisa. The one he’d caught a glimpse of in the cemetery chapel before she’d realized he was there, and again on her knees on the side of the road, purging her stomach over a steel guardrail.
    This was the Elisa who haunted his sleep. Who shredded his gut to bloody ribbons with a single look and left his soul in tatters every time she referred to him as “Ranger” instead of by his given name.
    This was the Elisa he couldn’t let walk away. Despite her insistence she could take care of herself, sending heroff alone would be like throwing a kitten into a junkyard full of rabid dogs.
    The problem was he didn’t have any choice. Even if she wasn’t an American citizen, she still had rights. He couldn’t hold her against her will. They were almost at the bank, and he couldn’t think of any way to keep her from leaving him once they were done there, other than driving his Land Rover into a tree, which didn’t seem like a smart plan, given her pregnancy.
    He clutched the steering wheel until his fingers cramped, then flexed the digits, glancing at Elisa from behind his aviator sunglasses. She was still staring at the sonogram picture as if it was the key to the mystery of life.
    In a way it was, he supposed. The first look at a new life. He couldn’t tell butt-from-backside in the picture, and still a flutter of emotion rippled through his chest at the sight of it. He couldn’t begin to imagine how Elisa must feel, seeing her baby for the first time. Knowing that little being was growing inside her.
    Judging by her rounded shoulders and the pinched lines at the corners of her mouth, it must be overwhelming.
    â€œYou look wiped out,” he said, noting how thin and colorless her lips looked. “Maybe we should put off this bank thing for a few hours. Go home and have lunch, get some rest first.”
    She didn’t look up, just mumbled, “Yes, you are probably right.”
    Del damn near did run his Rover into a tree. Jerking the vehicle to a stop on the side of the road, he gave her a long look. More than just her lips had lost their color. The flesh beneath her fingernails was white, and the picture she held trembled in her unsteady hand.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” he asked more gruffly than he’d intended.
    When she finally looked up at him, her eyes as bleak as a picture of a nature preserve after a forest fire. “You were correct the other night. I cannot take your money. It would not be right.”
    â€œHoney, I think you’re taking this motherhood thing a little too seriously. This is no time for you to develop a conscience.” He laced the words with sarcasm. Meant them as a joke.
    Only, Elisa wasn’t laughing. To Del’s horror her eyes swelled with tears.
    â€œAw, God damn it. Don’t cry.”
    She flinched at his expletive, made the sign of the cross, and he cursed himself again silently. He knew she had a thing about using the Lord’s name. Hell, he respected her for it.
    She held her tears in check, though Del didn’t know how, her eyes were so full. “I won’t take your money,” she said, her hands twining in her lap. “It would be wrong.”
    When she looked up, she seemed calmer, but still devastated. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “But if your other offer still stands…”
    Del’s jaw