throat. Oh, God, please donât let me start bawling, she thought. Tears had a way of derailing any serious discussion. Not to mention if she got too emotional he was liable to flee in panicâand she wouldnât blame him if he did. She took a deep breath, marshaling control.
âIâm glad to hear it,â she said gently. âAnd you can do that. You donât have to be a husband to be a father, any more than I have to be a wife to be a mother.â
He swallowed, his Adamâs apple jumping in his throat. âI donât know anything about being a good father. My own dad did a pretty lousy job.â
Heâd never said a word about his father before. All she knew about his family could be summed up in a few sentences: His mother lived in Florida, he hadnât seen any of them in years, and he rarely talked to them. She had the impression he had a sister somewhere, though he never talked about his father. She resisted the urge to ask for more details; now wasnât the time.
âI donât know anything about being a mother either, but I guess weâll learn. People do it all the time.â She tried to sound more confident than she felt. There was only a personâs life at stake here; she could think of a hundred different ways they could screw this up.
He wore his stubborn look again. âIt doesnât seem right, letting my kid be a bastard.â
This surprised a laugh from her. âHello! This is the twenty-first century. Things like that donât matter anymore.â
âThey matter to me.â
Who would have guessed such traditional emotion ran through the heart of an avowed rebel? âJameso, it will be all right, really.â
âWhat about your dad?â
Her father? What did Jake have to do with this? âWhat about him?â
âI know he ran out on your mom right after you were born. I want to prove to you I wonât be like that.â
This was why she loved the manâhe had a talent for getting to the heart of the matter. âThen the way to prove it is to stick around. A marriage license didnât stop my dad from leaving.â
âI do love you, Maggie.â He held out his arms and she went to him, the tension draining out of her as his arms encircled her.
âI know. And I love you. But thatâs not enough.â Sheâd loved Carter, too. At least in the beginning. But the love hadnât lasted. She wasnât sure it ever could. And she was certain that marrying someone because you thought it was what you should do, instead of what you wanted to do, was a surefire way to kill whatever passion they shared.
âSo what are we going to do now?â he asked.
âWe go on the way we have been, and weâll decide how to work things out when the baby gets here. Weâve got seven or eight months to figure it out.â
He held her tighter. âThat doesnât sound like long enough to me.â
Or to her, but it was seven or eight months for her and Jameso to get to know each other better and to figure out if they had a future that went beyond a shared child. A thought occurred to her and she nudged his shoulder. âDid you buy me a ring?â
âA ring?â
âAn engagement ring. Did you buy me an engagement ring?â After all, heâd said he wanted to do things right.
âUh, yeah. I went to a jewelerâs in Montrose this afternoon.â
That answered Rickâs question about what Jameso had been up to. âLet me see.â
He stepped back. âUh-uh. You turned me down, remember?â
âOh, come on, let me see!â She might never wear Jamesoâs ring, but she could at least see what heâd picked out for her.
âNope.â He shoved both hands in his pockets. Was that where heâd stashed the ring? âIf I hurry, theyâll probably give me my money back.â
âYou can still show it to me.â
âNo, I donât
Sharon Kleve, Jennifer Conner, Danica Winters, Casey Dawes