BROKEN (19 page)

Mitch covered her hand with his.
 
“Maybe I should take you to see Dr. Stewart tomorrow.”

“I don’t need a doctor,” she snapped.

“Be reasonable, Jess.
 
You’re tired and run down, you still have dizzy spells now and then, and your appetite is practically non-existent.”

“He’s right,” Hank said.
 
“Go see Doc Stewart and have her check you over.”

Jessie sighed in exasperation.
 
“There
is
nothing wrong with me that a little extra sleep won’t cure.”

“You slept all afternoon and you still look like hell,” Mitch pointed out.
 
“I’m taking you to see Dr. Stewart and that’s final.”

When the other men started in on her again, Jessie’s temper got the best of her.
 
“Stop badgering me,” she growled.
 
“I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.
 
I’m not sick and I don’t need any of you bullying me into wasting Liz’s time.”

Mitch arched a brow.
 
“If you were taking good care of yourself, you wouldn’t look like death warmed over right now.”

Jessie stood up so fast her chair went sailing out behind her.
 
Furious at all the men for hounding her and even more furious at Mitch for being so pushy and telling her she looked like hell, Jessie completely lost it.
 

“I am
not
sick,” she gritted out between clenched teeth.

Mitch rose to his feet, towering over her.
 
“You
are
sick.
 
You’re just too stubborn and mule-headed to admit it.”

Jessie’s chin jutted up.
 
Did he really think that macho man routine would intimidate her?
 
She leaned towards him, jabbing her finger into his chest.
 
“I am not stubborn or mule-headed, and for the last time
,
I am not sick!”

Mitch grabbed her hand on the third sharp jab.
 
“Look at the way you’re behaving.
 
Doesn’t that tell you there’s something wrong with you?
 
You’ve been dragging your heels for weeks
,
and even right now you look like you’re ready to drop.”

Jessie wrestled her hand free.
 
Her head was starting to throb and she was tired and cranky and hungry.
 
Irrationally, she blamed it on Mitch.
 

“What would you know?
 
What would any of you know?
 
You have no idea what this does to your body!
 
Of course I’m tired,” she ranted, “I haven’t been able to hold down a decent meal in weeks.
 
You try existing off of toast and soda crackers and see how much energy you have.”
 
As h
er anger picking up steam, she lashed out at Mitch.
 
“And if I look like hell, it’s all
your
fault!”

Mitch’s eyes widened.
 
“My fault?
 
How on God’s green earth did you come to that conclusion?”

“Because
you
did this to me!”

“Did what?
 
Jessie, what are you talking about?”

“I’m pregnant!”
s
he shouted.
 
“Now will you all just leave me alone?”
 

Dead silence followed her emotional outbreak.

They all sat there mutely, their eyes moving from Jessie to Mitch and back again.
 
The anger that only moments ago had her ranting and raving like a lunatic evaporated into thin air
,
leaving
Jessie
drained and more scared than she
had
ever been in her life.

What had she done?
 
Panic welled up inside her.
 
Why was he just standing there not saying anything?
 
Jessie opened her mouth then closed it again.
 
There was nothing she could say to soften the blow she’d just dealt.
 
All she could do was wait for his response.
 
 
 
 

Mitch swayed unsteadily on his feet as her words began to sink in
.  W
hen he was finally able speak, his voice was nothing more than a hoarse croak.
 
“You’re pregnant?”

“I’m sorry,” she grimaced, “I didn’t mean to tell you like this.”

Mitch braced one hand on the back of his chair to steady himself.
 
“You’re pregnant?”
 

Jessie’s eyes welled with tears.
 
His face had drained of all color and he was looking past her, staring blankly at the wall behind her.
 
She thought she was prepared for this, but in the back of her mind she’d held out hope that he
would
be happy about it.
 
Instead, he looked as if he’d just been sucker punched.
 
In a way, she supposed he had.
 
She peered up at him anxiously, conscious of the fact none of the other men had moved a muscle and were probably staring at her with the same vacant look in their eyes.

“It…it was an accident,” she stammered.
 
“I never meant for it to happen.
 
You have to believe me
. 
I wasn’t trying to trap you or…”

“You’re pregnant,” he said again, but this time his voice was jubilant.
 
Mitch grabbed her up in his arms, surprising her with a long hard kiss.
 
“A baby!
 
My God…”
 
He crushed her to his chest
,
then abruptly let her go and whirled around to face the men.
 
“Did you hear that?
 
I’m going to be a father,” he said proudly.
 
As the reality of it hit him, his knees began to buckle and the room started to spin.
 

“You’d better sit down before you pass out,” Hank chuckled.

Mitch braced himself against the table, drawing in huge gulps of air as the men exploded in light-hearted laughter.
 
There was a soft rustle of movement behind him, then Jessie’s hand timidly touched his arm.
 
He turned around and gathered her back in his arms, his heart so full he thought it would burst.

Pressing his cheek to hers, he murmured, “You’ve made me the happiest man in the world.”

“You’re not just saying that?
 
You really are happy about it?”

“Happy doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel.”

Behind them, Hank cleared his throat.
 
“The rest of us are trying to eat here so maybe you could save all that lovey-dovey stuff until later.”

“Get used to it, old man,” Mitch shot back at him.
 

A soft blush colored Jessie’s cheeks.
 
“Maybe we should eat dinner before it gets cold.”

“Yes, of course
.  Y
ou must be starved
,
and now you have the baby to think about too.”
 
He ushered her to her seat and took it upon himself to add more food to her plate.

“I’m eating for two, not an army,” she grumbled.

“How far along are you, Jess?”
 
Kenny asked.

“A little over six weeks.”

Mitch gaped at her.
 
“Six weeks?
 
How long have you known?”

Jessie smiled guiltily.
 
“When you took me to see Liz three weeks ago she ran a pregnancy test.”

“You’ve known for three weeks and you didn’t tell me?”

“Go easy on her,” Hank came to her defense.
 
“Sometimes it’s just hard to find the right words when you have something important to tell.”
 

The point was well taken.
 
“I’m sorry, honey.
 
I’m just glad you finally told me.”

Jessie laughed.
 
“I didn’t exactly tell you, shouted is more like it.”

“Well, I was being a bit of bully,” he admitted.

“Yes
,
you were
,
but I forgive you.”

The rest of the mealtime was filled with light banter and laughter
. 
Jessie was beside herself at how easily they
had
all taken the news of the baby in stride.
 
The whole lot of them w
ere
extremely over-protective of her
,
so she’d been a little worried they
would
look at Mitch as some sort of fiend for getting her pregnant.
 
To her amazement, their reaction was quite the opposite.
 

While the boys cleared the table and washed up the dishes, Mitch fetched
Jessie
a glass of iced tea then hovered over her, his chest swelling with pride every time one of
them congratulated him.
 
Even Del kissed her on the cheek before he left and
said
how happy he was for her.
 
Only after the kitchen was put back in order and they’d all gone back to the bunkhouse was she allowed to leave her seat at the table.

“I’m very proud of you,” Mitch said as he pulled her into his arms.
 
“You didn’t grumble once about letting everyone else help clean up
and
you ate almost everything on your plate.”

“I was too tired to argue
,
and for once I didn’t feel queasy after only a few bites.
 
I just hope you don’t try to get me to eat that much at every meal or you’ll have to roll me to the hospital when it’s time.”

Again Mitch felt a little weak kneed.
 
“I can’t believe we’re actually going to have a baby.
 
How did it happen?”
 
He chuckled when she arched a brow.
 
“I don’t mean it that way.
 
I thought birth control pills were like ninety-nine point nine percent effective.”

Jessie didn’t bat an eye.
 
“I missed one,” she lied.
 
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.
 
I guess I thought missing one pill wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“I’m glad you missed it,” he said softly.
 
“I would have preferred to be married first but…”

Jessie’s heart leapt to her throat.
 
“Married?”

“Well…yes.
 
I think we should be married as soon as possible, don’t you?”

She pulled away from him.
 
“No, I don’t.”
 
Shocked by her own response, Jessie floundered for an explanation.
 
“I don’t want to get married just because I’m pregnant.”

“But I want to marry you, Jess.”

“No you don’t,” she said, outwardly the epitome of calm.
 
Inside, her heart was silently breaking.
 
“If you wanted to marry me you
would
have asked me before now.”
 
Even if he had asked her before, how could she marry a man who
was claiming to be someone else?

Mitch went to her, settling his hands gently on her slim shoulders.
 
“Sweetheart, you have no idea how many times I’ve thought of it.
 
Marry me, Jessie.
 
I love you, I need you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

It took every ounce of strength she had not to throw herself in his arms and say yes.
 
But she couldn’t, not until he came to grips with Adam’s death and confessed his true identity to her.
 
Somehow she
would
get through to him and make him see it was okay to let his brother go and get on with his own life.
 
She shared his anguish
,
but there were too many years ahead of them and
Kincaid
wouldn’t have wanted either of them to mourn him forever.
 
Reaching up, Jessie cupped his face in her hands.

“I love you with all my heart, but I can’t marry you right now.”

Hurt and disappointed by her rejection of his proposal, Mitch struggled to keep from lashing out at her.
 
He tried to keep in mind that it was Adam who
had
made her feel insecure and that she still didn’t trust him not to walk out on her.
 
But he couldn’t help feeling resentful after working so hard to assure Jessie just how much she meant to him and that he wasn’t going to pick up and leave.
 
He gripped her hands in his own, kissing each soft palm before leaning forward to capture her lips.

“I won’t give up,” he warned, propelling her out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the bedroom.
 
“I’ll keep asking until I drive you crazy and you’ll be forced to say yes just to shut me up.”
 
When they reached the bed, he pulled her up tight against his body.
 
“I love you, Jessie, more anything in the world and I
am
going to marry you.”

She started unbuttoning his shirt, a soft smile curving her lips.
 
“I never said I wouldn’t marry you, Kincaid.
 
I said I wouldn’t marry you right now.”

It wasn’t a yes, but it wasn’t a no either and it gave him hope.
 
He kissed her cheek, sliding his lips slowly down the delicate line of her jaw.
 
“Mark my words,” he whispered, working his way to her lips, “we
will
be married before the baby is born.”

Jessie sank into him, losing herself in the seduction of his mouth, his hands, the pressure of his hard, muscular body against hers.
 
Her love for him was boundless, timeless and she was certain the strength of that love would eventually set things right.
 
She wouldn’t give up either, not ever.
 
And she
would
marry him all right, but when the minister pronounced them husband and wife, she
would
walk away as Mrs. Mitch
ell
Kincaid.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                           
***

Sitting on the porch swing enjoying the warmth of the early summer breeze, Jessie marveled at the changes in her body in the four short weeks after revealing her pregnancy to Mitch.
 
Her breasts, which had been ample enough before, were already becoming fuller and more sensitive to the touch.
 
Not that she or Mitch minded.
 

Her belly now had a decided little bulge and her normally slim hips were starting to round out.
 
Mitch delighted in the new curves and spent a great deal of time each night trying to discover any subtle changes he might have missed the night before.
 
An impossibility really, considering how thorough he was in his search.

She was impatient for him to return home because she had some exciting news to tell him and couldn’t wait to see his reaction.
 
She’d gone into town to have a routine check up
,
and though he’d insisted on going with her, she convinced him to stay behind to help Hank repair a piece of fence that had come down during the last storm.