Victoria Chancellor - Coming Home to Texas

He stripped quickly and eased beneath the warm water, grateful that he’d installed a top-of-the-line shower stall with multiple jets of water to soothe tired muscles. Big enough for two. Not that he expected Jodie to open the glass door and join him, but that was exactly how their baby had been conceived.

Thinking back, he even knew the date. January fourth. He counted forward nine months. That meant their child would be born around October first. By Halloween, he could get one of those cute costumes for the baby. By Christmas, he’d have a son or daughter to buy gifts for. The idea was mind-boggling, nearly surreal, since Jodie looked exactly the same as she had when they’d first met.

He certainly hadn’t planned on having children—since he’d sworn never to marry again—but now it was almost all he could think about. Unlike his own father, he wanted to be a dad who changed diapers and took his child to the mall and read stories to him at night.

Would Jodie try to exclude him from their baby’s life, just as she’d tried to make all the decisions about their relationship? Their marriage?

He showered quickly, dried off and dressed in comfortable sweats. The house was silent as he made his way down the hall. The few lights on automatic timers revealed no sign of his guest. She hadn’t been in the kitchen, or if she had, she was one neat person. Not a glass or spoon was out of place.

He silently climbed the steps. Walking softly in his socks, he paused outside the guest bedroom. The faint sound of music filtered through the thick oak door. He knocked softly.

She might be sleeping. He’d heard that pregnant women needed lots of naps and a good night’s sleep. If so, he didn’t want to bother her. But the urge to check on Jodie, to make sure she was comfortable, overwhelmed his need to respect her privacy—and his good sense. He slowly turned the knob and eased open the door.

By the soft glow of an accent lamp, he saw her curled up in a chair beside the window. Her feet rested on an ottoman and she’d hugged her arms around herself, tugging her robe tight. She should be wrapped in a soft throw or blanket, but she hadn’t taken the time to do so before she’d fallen asleep.

He leaned down and looked out the window. She’d been watching the barn, he realized. Was she worried about him? Had she thought he’d gone off and deserted her?

He should have been more forthcoming about where he was going and how long he would be gone. He should have been more thoughtful, but he wasn’t used to having someone around. He’d had a few guests beside his sister Kate and her family, but no one else had ever lived in this house. He’d designed and built it after his divorce, when he’d moved to Ranger Springs to escape life in the city.

There was usually no one around to wonder what he was doing in the barn or to worry about him working through meals in his studio or to care whether he stayed out late at Schultze’s Roadhouse. And he liked it that way, he reminded himself.

He pulled a soft throw from the bench at the foot of the bed and draped it over Jodie. She stirred but didn’t awaken. He tucked the ends around her feet and she opened her eyes.

“Travis,” she sighed. Her husky, sexy voice invaded his mind and body like a mild electric current, putting him on alert. This was no time for sexual desire or any feelings that would sidetrack him. His focus would stay on what he had to say, because he had to make Jodie understand his position.

“You must be tired,” he said.

“I’m blaming it mostly on the time zone changes.”

“I’m thinking it has something to do with the baby.”

“Could be,” she murmured as she stretched. “Other than being a little more tired than usual, I haven’t noticed any changes.”

“No morning sickness?”

“No. I’ve been lucky.”

“I’m glad. That doesn’t sound like fun. I remember listening to my sister Kate and Kerry Jacks talk about their pregnancies. I thought then that pregnancy would be really tough on women who worked outside the home.”

“I sure wouldn’t want to have a lot of assignments, especially if I had to fly, if I were sick every morning.”

“You’ll be cutting back on your assignments now, right?”

“Very soon. Even though I’m plus size, a round tummy is going to show. I’ll probably stick with chest-high shots and my cosmetics obligations through the pregnancy.”

“But you won’t be working all the time, will you?”

“No, of course not.”

“Because I want you to take care of yourself and the baby. I don’t want you to overdo it.”

“I won’t.” She frowned. “But why the concern? I’m healthy. I’m not expecting any complications.”

“Can’t I be concerned? I care about you. And this is my baby, too, right?”

“Right.” She paused, then shifted in the chair, bringing his attention to her full breasts.

“So…where were you tonight?”

He looked back into her eyes. “Just doing some chores.” She didn’t have to know that he had a helper who cleaned the stalls and maintained the tack for him when he was busy with a project or out of town. “Thinking, too.”

“Oh? About what?”

“Us. The baby. What you want to do about it.”

She shifted in the chair, sitting up straighter. “Did you come to any conclusions?”

He could tell that what she really wanted to ask was, “Have you decided to do things on my terms?”

“Yes, I did.” He reached for her hands, noting they were cool and dry. He felt tiny tremors pass through her body, as though she was trembling in anticipation. “First, I have to ask you something.”

“What?”

“Do you think what we felt in Monte Carlo was real?”

“What do you mean, real? I certainly wasn’t faking anything!”

“I mean, do you think the immediate attraction we felt was genuine? Or was it a fluke? When you look back on that time, do you say to yourself that you were stupid? Or do you remember the weekend fondly?”

“Well…I think we were irresponsible that one time, but overall, I don’t think anything that happened was stupid. I don’t think we reacted to each other any differently there than if we’d been introduced in New York or L.A. And despite the inconvenient timing of this pregnancy, I can’t say that I’m sorry that we made a baby together.”

“For the record, I’m happy about the baby, too. It took me a while to get used to the idea, since I hadn’t planned to get married or to have children.”

“Well, it hasn’t been so long. I just showed up on your doorstep right after lunch.”

“True, but I’m an intuitive kind of guy. I just needed some time to think about us in relation to this…new development.”

“Still, this was a pretty big shock, I think.”

“I’m glad you told me right away, though.”

“It was only fair, especially since I also asked you to marry me right away.”

“Speaking of marriage, I’ve been giving it a lot of thought.”

“And?”

“I understand your position about your career and the contract you signed.”

“I feel a big ‘but’ coming on,” she said, pulling her hands away from his and tugging her robe tighter.

“I also believe that having two parents is best for a child.”

“Best, perhaps, but not necessary.”

“The thing is,” he continued, deciding to ignore her comments for the moment. She could get him into a tangential conversation far too easily. “I’ve been giving your ideas on marriage a lot of thought. And I simply don’t agree with your premise.”

“Which premise is that?”

“That this needs to be temporary. That we have no basis upon which to build a deeper relationship.”

“You want to stay married longer? For the sake of the baby?”