Diana Palmer - Men to Trust - Boss Man / The Last Good Man in Texas / Lonetree Ranchers - Brant

But if she was pregnant, he couldn’t desert her. Not only would it be unworthy of him as a man, it would reflect badly on his character in a town the size of Jacobsville. The gossip would ruin Violet’s reputation and the shame might well kill her mother, considering Mrs. Hardy’s fragile health.

He cursed under his breath. If he’d never invited Violet home with him, none of this would ever have happened. Why couldn’t he have just let her go and left it at that? He’d landed them in hell with his uncontrollable passion. He couldn’t blame that on Violet. All the same, he didn’t know what he was going to do.

But he couldn’t let her quit. Not until he knew about her condition. He picked up the phone and punched in her number.

Violet had managed to hide her misery from her mother. She knew that Blake wouldn’t mind if she quit again. It would probably be a relief to him. He wanted her and he couldn’t have her on his terms. Perhaps it would make things easier if she went back to work for Duke. She should pick up the phone and call him, right now…

The phone rang, making her jump. She picked it up without thinking.

“Hello?” she said.

“Don’t quit,” Blake said quietly.

Her heart jumped up into her throat. “Excuse me?” she stammered.

“Let’s take it one day at a time, Violet. All right?” he asked, and he actually sounded as if he was rethinking the future.

She felt reborn. Her spirit soared. She could hardly contain the happiness she felt. “All right,” she said on a soft laugh. “One day at a time!”

For days, Violet and Blake were hesitant around each other. He was the soul of courtesy. He didn’t curse or yell. He didn’t throw anyone out of the office. He seemed to be a changed man.

Violet loved the tenderness he showed her. He never raised his voice or made sarcastic comments about her work. But he wasn’t forward in any way, either, and he didn’t touch her. He seemed to be waiting for something, watching. Violet wondered why.

Julie Merrill was arrested for the attempted arson of Libby and Curt Collins’s house the following Saturday, and Cash Grier had a big surprise for the city council at the Monday disciplinary hearing. The patrol officers were exonerated and the mayor was embarrassed for trying to force them to retract drunk driving charges against his uncle, State Senator Merrill.

The next day was the primary elections. Calhoun Ballenger won the Democratic nomination away from Senator Merrill in a huge upset, and the mayor lost his job in a special election won by former mayor Eddie Cane. It was a great day for Jacobsville.

But on Wednesday morning, Violet lost her breakfast at the office. Blake, walking past the bathroom, heard her retching. He felt sick himself. Violet was healthy as a horse. If she was throwing up, there could only be one explanation. She had to be pregnant.

It was the end of the world. Blake went around for the rest of the day in a daze. So did Violet. He overheard Mabel and Libby murmuring about Violet’s bout of sickness and her upcoming doctor’s appointment. They clammed up immediately when Blake walked into the room. It didn’t take much to figure out that if Violet was pregnant, her boss was responsible. After all, who else had Violet been crazy about for a year? More importantly, who had she been alone with lately? It didn’t take a lot of guesswork.

Violet was panic-stricken after she lost her breakfast. She phoned Dr. Lou Coltrain’s office and made an appointment, all too aware that Mabel and Libby could hear her doing it. She told them she thought she had a virus and she was afraid of giving it to her mother. But they were suspicious and it showed.

She drove to Lou’s office after work, leaving Libby and Mabel to close up. She swore Dr. Coltrain to secrecy before she even mentioned her symptoms. Lou gave her a worried look as she had her nurse draw blood for a simple pregnancy test.

“One time,” Violet choked when Lou gave her the results of the test a few minutes later.

“One time is all it takes,” Lou said ruefully. “Oh, Violet.”

“What am I going to do?” the younger woman groaned, with her face in her hands. “I can’t even step on ants, Lou!”

The other woman patted her shoulder sympathetically. “I’m sure once Blake knows…”

Violet gave her a horrified look.

“Who else could it be?” Lou asked reasonably. “He’s the only man you care about, and you spent half a day at his house,” she added, smiling ruefully when Violet flushed. “Well, on the positive side, it won’t be difficult to find your due date.”

“He doesn’t want children,” Violet said. “He doesn’t even want anything permanent. He said so…!”

Lou eased her back down into the chair she’d bolted from. “Don’t panic.”

“My mother has already had a stroke! She raised me to be good…!”

“People are human,” Lou interrupted. “Your mother isn’t going to disown you or throw you out into the street.”

“Everyone will know,” Violet groaned. She drew in a shaky breath. “I could move up to San Antonio,” she began.

“That would make it even worse,” Lou assured her. “And leave Blake to face the music all alone.” She pursed her lips and her dark eyes flashed. “Maybe that’s not such a bad thing. I thought better of him. He’s intelligent enough to know about using protection. He couldn’t have thought you were experienced!”

The flush got worse. “Am I wearing a sign?”

“It’s a small town,” Lou pointed out. “You aren’t promiscuous.”

Violet drew in another breath. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Go home and eat healthy. I’ll prescribe vitamins. You need to be in the care of a good OB/GYN specialist as well. I know one in Victoria I can send you to,” she added when Violet looked even more terrified. “She’s discreet.”

Violet ground her teeth together. “This isn’t how I planned my life.”

“Life is what happens when you make other plans,” Lou quoted. She frowned. “I don’t remember who said that, but it’s absolutely true.” She gave Violet a long, smiling look. “You’ll make a wonderful mother.”

A mother! In the terror of the moment, Violet had lost track of things. But now she realized that there would be a miniature version of herself or Blake. She felt…odd. Her hands went to her flat stomach in wonder. There was a baby inside her!

“Now you’re getting the picture.” Lou laughed. “There’s nothing quite like the feeling a woman gets when she realizes there’s a tiny life inside her body. When I knew I was pregnant, I could hardly believe it,” she added. “I was excited, and then afraid, and then I walked around in a daze of daydreams.” Her eyes misted. “It was the happiest nine months of my life. I can hardly wait to do it all over again, but we wanted to wait until our little boy was older. It’s hard to handle a baby and a toddler and a profession, all at the same time.”

Violet smiled, feeling torn by emotions. “I’ve always wanted children. I just hoped…well, I’d have liked being married.”

“Tell Blake and you will be,” Lou suggested.

Violet shook her head. “I can’t tell him. Not now. Maybe not ever.”

“He has an obligation to help support his child, Violet,” Lou said firmly. “You didn’t get pregnant all by yourself. As for keeping it from him, that isn’t going to be possible. Not in a town this small. For one thing,” she said, “when you get this prescription filled, everybody in the pharmacy is going to know what’s going on,” she added, writing it out. “It’s for prenatal vitamins.”

Violet had that base covered, at least. “I’ll drive up to Victoria and get it filled,” she said doggedly.