Yes, but that opened a whole Pandora’s box for Elizabeth, and she was quaking inside.
She now had her excuse to run. She said her hasty good-nights, on her way out the door promised to call someone—she forgot who—about having lunch one day, then sped home along the dark roads into Barren, her mind racing faster than the car.
In the house, she tore upstairs to her bedroom and scrambled through the nightstand drawer until her fingers closed around the box Harry had left there. While trying to conceive their new baby, the one she’d lost, of course they’d given up using protection. Then last May, she and Dallas had their one unplanned romantic interlude. Naturally he hadn’t come prepared. She stared in shock at the date on the box of condoms in her trembling hand. July. Two years ago. Expired.
She groaned aloud. Accidents happen. She needed a test kit from the pharmacy, but by now it was closed. Her pulse kept skipping. She’d have to wait until tomorrow, but she’d already borne three children, lost another. She knew all the signs, including her last missed cycle and the one due days ago, which she’d blamed on other factors. Nerves, the divorce, missing her kids...
This couldn’t be. But it was. Elizabeth was sure she was pregnant.
ON SATURDAY MORNING, Elizabeth was still reeling. She hadn’t slept at all. She had gotten up at dawn, gone to the drugstore and bought three home tests. All of them had read positive. The day of her divorce she’d taken one misstep, and now look. And as luck would have it, Dallas had phoned minutes after she’d taken the last test, while Elizabeth was still trying to absorb the fact that she was, indeed, pregnant. His deep voice, sounding excited about the venue he’d found for his rodeo, had sent another rush of shock through her, along with an unwelcome wave of awareness. How to tell him that his world was also about to be rocked off its foundation?
No wonder she’d been so tired and, more recently, queasy. She should have known.
“What are your plans today?” Dallas had asked.
Trying to keep my eyes open and my breakfast down. “Cleaning my pantry,” she said.
What else did she have to do besides search her shelves for expired cans of beans or tuna? Oh, yes. Let him know he was about to become a father. How would she ever find the right words knowing he probably wouldn’t welcome the news?
“Can I change your mind? Today’s the kids’ rodeo. I’d like you to see this lesser version of events—not on TV. Show you firsthand what the fun is all about. If it’s that important to you, we don’t have to go together,” he added. “You drive, I’ll drive, but you really should see this.”
Elizabeth couldn’t think of a good reason to say no. Maybe they’d find the opportunity to talk later. As if she didn’t already feel nauseated again, instead of going back to bed, she changed into fresh clothes then searched her closet for a pair of boots. And here she was, half an hour later, parked several cars behind Dallas’s truck on the verge of the driveway at the Sutherland ranch.
As she walked with him across the yard toward the outdoor arena filled with boys and girls all eager to ride, or whatever they did at a kids’ rodeo, Elizabeth stayed several paces behind. Though she tried to hide her misgivings, her disapproval sounded clearly in her tone. Dallas knew how she felt about the sport. “How long have the kids been doing this?”
His voice was low. “Don’t know. I wasn’t here.”
And Dallas wouldn’t stay longer than the end of this summer. She tried not to let that panic her. This was a first. She’d never been pregnant before without Harry to share the experience. What would Dallas say when she found the nerve to tell him?
In the ring, Logan from the Circle H looked harried without his brother, who was now in Kedar with Olivia, as he tried to bring order to chaos. Children clamored for his attention, shouted and laughed, and a number of parents crowded around, a few with the same uneasy expression Elizabeth was sure she must be wearing. And Jordan wasn’t even here.
“Are the events the same as in professional rodeo?” she asked.
“Not likely,” Dallas said. “There are no bulls.”
On the other side of the ring, Hadley had Dallas’s niece and nephew, the twins, by the hands and, his face intent, was showing them a calf. “That little Hereford is a surrogate steer for today, and last time I checked—” he glanced at a trailer rig parked nearby “—no one around here was raising sheep, but I guess Cooper must have found someone. I count two, three, four, no, five right there.”
The side of the truck hitched in front of the trailer read The Carter Farm. That must be Becca’s father’s rig. Elizabeth didn’t see Becca, though.
She glanced at Dallas. “What do they do with the sheep?”
He grinned. “Ride ’em. Instead of bulls or broncs. We call that mutton bustin’.”
“Really.” Elizabeth inhaled the gamy-smelling air, then wrinkled her nose. “No, thanks.”
“You’re glad your boy’s in Colorado, right?” He was still smiling, but her lips had firmed.
“If Jordan was here, my day would be even more of a challenge.”
“I’ll make a believer of you.” Striding in front of her, Dallas led the way through the throng of local ranchers and their families. She knew most of them and, when she stopped to say hi to Jenna, Dallas moved on to approach some men, many of them fathers with kids on their shoulders or in their arms.
“How are you today?” Jenna asked.
Elizabeth hesitated, wondering if she should tell Jenna, then decided against it. She needed to talk to Dallas first. “Much better. I didn’t mean to worry you last night.”
Jenna glanced toward Dallas. “Did you two come together? I can’t imagine you at a rodeo otherwise. You must have been
