“Your dad won’t like this, but he’ll bend to protect you. He’ll expect us to get married. I don’t want to get married, Becca. You shouldn’t want to either. We’re not ready.” He hefted the water bucket, strode past her to the stall and hung it on the hook inside. The gray-brown horse stamped a foot, and Becca heard the water being slurped into its mouth. Calvin had his back to her again, but he couldn’t ignore this. “I wasn’t keen on our living together, you know that. You talked me into it. Then you chickened out at that rental, so don’t try to tell me you can’t wait now to have a ring on your finger. I barely make enough to support myself.”
“You said we’d have enough if we put our money together.”
“If what you’re saying is true, this makes everything different. See? It wouldn’t be just you and me. There’d be three of us.” He turned to her. “What would we be getting ourselves into?”
“We’re already in—I was shocked too when Elizabeth guessed about the baby, but we’ll be fine, Calvin,” she said. “We would have gotten married in time anyway.”
“Would we?” Again, he had doubts far worse than hers. “Why are you so into this?”
The day they’d seen the rental house, she’d worried about her father, about sharing her belongings, her life, with Calvin. Now her decision seemed simple. “This baby is a product of our love, a happy change in our lives...”
“Happy for you.” He strode past her toward the barn doors.
“I can’t believe you’re acting like this.” She followed him outside and nearly ran into Hadley Smith.
Hadley stepped back. “Pardon, miss. Didn’t see you there.” His gaze fell on Calvin, whose face was set, his mouth a straight line. “I’m moving cattle from the south pasture. When you’re done here, join me.”
“Trouble threw a shoe. Dallas took the new horse. There’s nothing to ride.”
Hadley glanced again at Becca, probably sensing the tension in the air. “Guess I won’t need you, then. When you’re finished, find something to do. If you can’t find anything, ask Clara. She might need help at the house till I get back.” He tipped his hat to Becca then disappeared into the barn, where she could hear him saddling and talking to his horse.
“You heard him. I gotta get to work.” Calvin took a step before she stopped him.
He looked pointedly at her hand on his forearm. His skin felt warm, almost too warm, but his eyes were cold. “You want me to lose my job?”
He waited until she released his arm, then took a few more steps toward the barn. Hadley was leading his horse out. As one hoof clipped another, the iron shoes rang like bells. Warning bells when she’d expected, hoped, even prayed that Calvin would shelter her, wrap his strong arms around her again and tell her everything would be fine. He loved her and they’d be a family. Instead, he seemed to be rejecting her and their baby. His voice was so quiet she barely heard him.
“I gave you time to make your decision, Becca. Now I need time to make mine.”
PASSING BY OLIVIA MCCORD ANTIQUES, Dallas saw the lights were still on. The closed sign wasn’t on the door yet. He had good news to share, but couldn’t wait until he and Lizzie got home. He was also still riding high on her agreement to stick with the rodeo. You need me more than I imagined. Their quasi friendship had changed. He’d change it more if he could, but, remembering their talk in her backyard, he shouldn’t. She knew his plans to leave Barren for the circuit, to postpone any thought of a serious relationship. Dallas pulled into a parking space then walked into the store. He didn’t bother with preliminaries.
“Guess what?”
Lizzie glanced up from the front desk. For a second he saw the same dismay in her eyes he’d glimpsed the other night. “What are you doing here?”
“Hello to you too,” he said, undeterred. Nothing would spoil his mood. “Go on, guess.”
“I don’t know. You’ve won the lottery? You looked at your bank balance this morning and, what do you know, you’re a gazillionaire? You just mowed your lawn, noticed a hump in the backyard grass and dug up a cache of sapphires and emeralds? Pirate gold in the middle of Kansas?”
He smiled. “No, but I wanted to tell you this in person.” He crossed the room. “Some of my buddies are on for the rodeo. They’re going to contact more guys. Everybody loves our charity aspect. Grey Wilson said he’d lend us some Angus calves for the kids’ event, some horses for the adult rodeo. And Fred Miller’s lending us a bull from the herd he’s gradually liquidating. Hadley’s going to buy it afterward.”
“Slow down,” she said, coming out from behind the counter. “I was just closing up.” She flipped the sign around on the door. “Honest, I can’t keep up with you.”
He followed her around the shop as she tidied the displays and tallied the cash register receipts. “It’s going to happen,” he said. “And yeah, there were times I wondered if it would. I hope that didn’t show.” He caught her upper arms, drew her to him. “Confidence, huh?”
She laughed a little. “Your confidence makes me dizzy.”
“Guess what else.”
“Hmm.” One finger to her chin, she pretended to think. “Let’s see. You’ve won Cowboy of the Year.”
She was teasing, a good sign. Maybe he hadn’t said too much about his birth family in her yard. “National Finals aren’t till December. Next year will be my year.”
Her answering smile died. “I hope so, but that only reminds me you won’t be here then. Which, of course, has nothing to do with me.”
Obviously he’d said way too much about his career, though.
She lifted a hand to her forehead. “Actually, this hasn’t been my best day. I already had a headache
