Stone Cold Charade (A Stone Family Novel) (41 page)

“Hang on to your socks cowboy!” Alex bent
slowly toward Ty, willingly taking up the challenge he had set for her, she
started to make love to him.

Ty and Alex spent the next couple of days
enjoying the honeymoon they had missed. They savored every precious moment that
Ridge kept the band away, much to Steven’s disgust. They spent a lot of time
learning about each other as they walked on the beach. Learning about what Ty
dubbed “the fundamentals” of marriage put a whole new meaning on the term. As
he carried her to bed late one night, he joked about demonstrating each
“fundamental”, claiming he had a responsibility to impart the necessary
knowledge.

Aside from Ty working for Maximillion
Enterprise in the office he had established in a spare room, the two were
inseparable. It worked nicely, giving Alex time to complete her work on the new
album.

Wrapping up his calls one afternoon, Ty went in
search of Alex. He found her at the piano, and was hit by the melody and the
flowing lyrics as she preformed.

Casually leaning against the wall, not
recognizing the song, he was stunned as the words finally registered. She was
singing about their wedding night.

After hitting her last key, he cleared his
throat, finding it had closed from the beauty of her and her song. Glancing up
from her sheet music, she smiled at him. He walked further into the room and
asked her to play the other songs she was working on, finding his voice gruff
even to his own ears.

She beamed, thrilled to finally be able to
share this part of herself with her husband. She patted the bench next to her,
she began, holding back nothing as she preformed for him and him alone.

The amazing songs she had composed left him
breathless, at a loss for words. He felt so humbled. He was in awe of the love
she expressed for him in her music. Sam was right. She had a gift that she
could never walk away from.

Late one night as he patrolled the perimeter of
the villa with Ridge, they talked about what had happened before he arrived. He
learned how bad it had really gotten here before Steven came. He had really
helped Alex and he owed him big time. It stuck in his craw knowing that he did.

The day before the band was scheduled to get
together, Ridge was in the kitchen putting away supplies he had just brought in
when Steven snuck into the villa to see Alex.

“Hey, Red!” he said excitedly.

Swinging her gaze around at the sound of his
voice, she saw Steven stroll through the front door from her perch on the
kitchen counter. Spying him, Ridge raised an eyebrow in slight reprimand for
sneaking into the house. He knew Boss was in the other room making calls. When
he found out Steven had breached the security out front where the new guys were
posted, heads were going to roll.

“What are you doing here?” Alex asked,
suspicious.

“I came to see you, what else? The bodyguards
Ty hired wouldn’t even let me knock. I had to climb the fence just to make it
to the door and tore a hole in my new Armani slacks!” He shot a hostile look at
Ridge who was noting the rip in the knee of his pants with far too much
satisfaction.

They both laughed, enjoying Steven’s irritation.

She turned back to the task Steven had so
rudely interrupted, looking at Ridge to see if he had gotten what she was
after. He pulled out a square box from the grocery bag and she snagged it right
out of his hand. She had been living on just these and soda for the last couple
of days. Alex opened the cardboard box and tore open the cellophane wrapping to
bring a hand full of the crackers to her mouth.

“How many boxes did you get?” she asked Ridge
between bits of cracker.

“The boss said to get a case, and a couple
cases of the pop. Think that will hold you over?” Ridge laughed.

“Thanks, that should do for now. You’re a
doll,” she said eating more of the crackers.

“Red, why are you eating those things? Have
hubby make breakfast or go out for some real food. He can’t make you live on
those things!” Steven said puzzled.

“He’s not. It’s just that I can’t eat anything
else in the morning,” she defended.

“You’re still sick, it’s been two weeks!” he
yelled.

Steven glanced at the case of crackers then at
the soda and he shook his head. She looked better than she had on his last
visit though, like she was rapidly gaining back the weight she had lost. She
even looked radiant, if he had to describe her appearance. Suddenly he felt his
heart stutter. S
he can’t be! We have an album to finish, then the release!
God, please don’t let this be happening!
He felt his legs threaten to
buckle, Alex was pregnant?

She watched Steven as he suddenly lost all
color. She thought he looked like he was dizzy or going to pass out. He just kept
staring at her with his mouth hanging open and a really confused look on his
face. Then he began to act like he couldn’t get enough air in his lungs and
actually started turning blue.

Ridge saw him sway on his feet. Making a grab
for him, Ridge eased him onto the floor. Ridge went to the cabinets and started
digging in drawers. When he found what he wanted he handed him the small paper
sack.

Temporarily abandoning her breakfast, Alex was
feeling utterly helpless since she was completely oblivious to his problem.
Looking at the box of crackers, she wondered if he thought they were laced with
strychnine the way he was carrying on. Glancing at the floor she thought maybe
he saw a rat? On that thought, her gaze swung to the kitchen window, suspecting
he may have seen a reporter. Taking in the view and noticing nothing out of the
ordinary, just the beach, she turned back puzzling if he had gone off the deep
end. The pressures of being such a wanted playboy had finally caught up with
him!

“Easy buddy, try to breathe,” Ridge encouraged
while Steven breathed in and out of the bag. His panicked eyes were still
locked on Alex in stunned disbelief.

It was then that Ty strolled into the room with
Jack in tow.

“What the hell?” he questioned, taking in the
situation and confused by the sight of Steven sprawled on the floor. He was
leaning back against the cupboard and hyperventilating. He bent on one knee and
looked to Ridge for answers.

Steven shot off a murderous look at him as Alex
said in a panicky voice, “Heck if I know! We were just talking about my
crackers and soda when he started having a fit!”

Removing the bag from his face he wailed, “And
I stood up for you? I could have objected at the wedding but no, I thought you
could make her happy! And then you stab me in the back like this. How could
you?” he accused, moving the bag back over his face to huff in and out.

Ty stood up slowly before he and Ridge started
laughing uncontrollably. They braced themselves against the counters which
barely kept them from toppling over to the floor. The sisters regarded each
other in total bewilderment before Jack’s gaze slid to the crackers, and
quickly putting two and two together, she started giggling too! Holding her
sides, she slapped Ty on the back as she broke into laughter.

“What’s going on?” Alex said starting to feel
hurt, wondering why everyone found this so amusing.

Ty forced himself under control and went to
her, placing his arms under her knees he pulled her off the counter and into
his arms, carrying her close to his chest.

Everyone took the hint and quickly sobered up.
Even Steven seemed to be able to breathe again.

“Do you have any idea what this is going to
entail for the group?” he complained as Ty stepped over his legs toward the
slider door.

“Jack, I’ll talk to you when we get back in
about an hour?” He saw her nod, still trying to keep a straight face. “As for
you, we will work it out. Quit acting like a mother hen when her chick finally
leaves the nest. It’s just sad,” he said, slipping out of the room, Alex still
cradled in his arms.

Once outside he carried her to the staircase
that would lead them down to the beach and set her gently on her feet. He
reached down and removed the sandals she wore before doing the same with his
own shoes.

“Take a walk with me?” he invited, holding out
his hand.

Seeing that whatever was going on with Steven
had Ty concerned, she slid her hand into his, completely trusting.

“Sure,” she said smiling up at him. Whatever it
was they would get through it together. She was growing more confident in Ty
and his feelings towards her every day, learning she could rely on him not to
hurt her again. Surprisingly, over the course of the last couple of weeks the
two of them opened up completely with each other, especially about the past.
They talked about anything and everything. He was once again her best friend.

He tucked her under his arm as they started
walking down the steps toward the seashore.

At first he had believed she was just holding
out for the right time to tell him that she was pregnant. So, he had been
waiting, giving her every opportunity to tell him in her own time. But as the
days passed by he quickly grasped that she really didn’t have a clue what was
causing her illness. He found himself torn between wanting to tell her what was
happening and needing her to figure out for herself what was transpiring with
her own body.

But their time had just run out. Since Steven
had unearthed the fact that she was carrying his child, it was just a matter of
time before he confronted her with it. Besides, if Alex kept on the way she was
going she would be in the delivery room before she finally discovered she was
pregnant. He needed the right way to approach the subject.

As they wandered closer to the shore he saw
Mark’s kids playing happily in the surf, splashing and giggling as they ran
about.

“Alex, you ever think about having kids some
day?” Ty asked glancing down at her.

“No. It’s not that I don’t want them, I’ve just
never considered that I could have any,” she replied honestly.

He felt his heart skip a beat and he nearly
stumbles as they walked, did she think she couldn’t conceive?
Is that why
she doesn’t realize she’s pregnant,
he wondered?

“Why? Is there something medical that makes it
so you can’t, or shouldn’t, have them?” he questioned, pulling her toward a
group of trees so they could sit and talk.

“No…. there’s nothing wrong with me, not that I
know of,” she reassured him. “I just didn’t think I would because I knew I
would never fall in love again like I had with you. I couldn’t see myself
starting a family with anyone else.”

He let out the breath he had been holding. Her
confession touched his heart, reminding him how much he loved her and how long
both of them had been made to wait before they reached this moment. They could
finally be together. All the time wasted. The dreams they both thought were
lost, were now within their reach. They could claim those dreams again
together, starting with their child.

“How would you feel about having a baby?” he
asked stopping to look down at her.

“I don’t know how that would work with Fire,”
Alex questioned worriedly.

“If we could find a way, would you consider
it?”

“Can I think about it?” Alex asked
apprehensively.

“Sure, you’ve got five minutes,” he chuckled.

She started to laugh with him as they reached
the trees and he sat down so he could lean back on a solid trunk. He pulled her
down onto his lap so he could look at her. He watched confusion seep into her
features as she laid back, reflecting on whether or not a baby was a good idea.

Does Ty want to start a family? He acts like he
does. I’m just wasn’t sure I’m ready for motherhood. I’m still working on the
album. The group could promote it without me once it hits the store shelves...I
could just do a couple of appearances. As for going on tour again, we could do
that in a year or two even... It could work if we time it right.

The emotions flit across her face as he
tenderly stroked her cheek. Removing a stray strand of her hair from the corner
of her eye, he pulled it softly behind her ear while watching her closely,
praying she would finally understand.

“Keep thinking that hard and you might break
something in there!” he joked, unable to resist the temptation to tease the
minx.

“You brute! I was just thinking about what you
asked. Do you want kids?” Alex asked softly.

“With you, yes. More than anything, knowing you
were carrying my child would give me the greatest pleasure!” His voice was
husky as he stroked her back and gazed lovingly at her.

“Maybe after the album comes out we could try?”

He groaned and started to laugh as he leaned
his head back and closed his eyes.

“What are you laughing about? Is this about
Steven? Well? Are you going to tell me or not?” Alex sat up straight and folded
her hands across her chest, glaring fiercely at him while he laughed.

“Alex, what am I going to do with you?” He
shook his head as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Alex, Steven is just
worried about you.”