Texas Two Step: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 1 (15 page)

He stood, stared down at her. The ire in his icy blue eyes made her shiver. “You have a small gym and a married couple to help run it. Hell, they want to buy the place. Of course they’ll take care of it. I have a sixty-thousand-acre ranch and run thousands of head of cattle. Which one of us can be away from the business longer?”

His expression, which had been hard and impersonal, softened. He sat beside her on the bed and sighed, his back releasing some of its rigidity. “You be reasonable. I can’t stay here waiting until you decide it’s now acceptable for me to get to know my son. Whether you listed me on his birth certificate or not, I am his father. I have rights.”

A tear leaked from her eye, the first of many she feared. So much for remaining strong. She nodded and drew in a deep breath. “I know, Mitch. I do. But Adam is my life. I’ll do anything to protect him. I thought giving him Drake’s last name was one way to shelter him from being hurt.”

“You thought I would hurt him? Joanna would hurt him?”

“I didn’t know. You were gone. Someone else’s husband. You’d left me behind. Moved on.” She laughed and wiped a tear. “I do believe my brothers would have strung you up if I’d have let them.”

“Must have been a real kick in the ass to them to see how much Adam looks like me.”

She smiled. “Actually, for me it was like having a piece of you with me every day. Some days, it was almost more than I could take.”

“I’d have never married Joanna if you’d told me, Olivia. I’d have come to you.”

She shook her head. “Maybe, but I didn’t want you on those terms. I didn’t want you to want me because I was pregnant. I told myself that if you’d loved me, you wouldn’t be marrying another woman. I had to make a life without you for my—our—son.”

He uttered a foul cuss under his breath. “My marriage wasn’t what you think.” He shook his head, a dark curl sliding over his brow. She battled the urge to brush it back.

“Well, I’m here now and I’m not going away, not without getting to know my son.”

She rubbed her eyes and acknowledged her defeat with a nod.

“I suggest you make whatever management arrangements you need to for Jim’s Gym. You and Adam are coming home with me.”

She surrendered because not only did he have a valid point, but she couldn’t see that he’d left her any options. A custody fight would hurt everyone. She could make Adam believe this was a vacation, some place fun to go. He loved going to his Uncle Travis’s ranch, so this would be an exciting trip for him.

Now, if only she could convince herself that learning to live without Mitch after being with him all day, every day, for weeks would be a breeze.

“Mitch, I’ll come and bring Adam, but don’t tell him you’re his father. Not yet. I want him to think we are taking a wonderful trip to visit some new horses. Visiting a new friend. He needs to get to know you.”

He nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

“You do that. In the meantime, it’ll take me a couple of days to get everything in order to be gone for while. I need to pack for both of us and that’ll be slow. Why don’t you go on home and we’ll come down in a week or so.”

He shook his head. “Not happening, babe. I’m not leaving without Adam.”

She noticed that Adam was his priority. Would he even notice if she wasn’t there but his son was?

“You don’t trust I’ll bring Adam to the Lazy L?”

“I don’t know, Olivia. Once I would have trusted you to do what you say, but now I just don’t know. I want Adam to come home with me.”

She sighed, remembering how stubborn he could be. “Unless you’re planning on driving my old car for a couple of days to get home, I’ll have to get plane tickets, arrange for Nancy or Mark to open and close Jim’s Gym every day. There are lots of things I need to do before we can leave.”

He shook his head again. “Remember when I said I wasn’t leaving immediately after the wedding? I’ve bought a new plane for the ranch. A company rep is flying it up today for the test flight tomorrow. If everything checks out, I’ll take possession. Getting you and Adam to the Lazy L isn’t a problem.”

He stood and handed her a telephone. “Call whoever you need to get the ball rolling. I want you and Adam packed and ready to fly home by Tuesday at the latest. Tomorrow would be even better. I need to go out for a little while. Can you manage for an hour or so?”

“I’ve got a bummed up leg, not a broken back. I’ll be fine. As I told you last night, I’m used to doing for myself.”

He left, then popped his head back around the doorframe. “In case you were wondering, I’m not moving to a hotel. I’ll be staying here until we leave.”

The door banged as he stormed from her house. Her life, her perfect life, would never be the same. God only knew what the future held.

The house was so quiet she could have heard a feather land on the carpet. No air conditioner cutting on and off. No refrigerator humming. No laughing squeal of a little boy. The only sound was her heart pounding in her ears like a bass drum.

She’d never meant to hurt Mitch, or her son. Guilt ate at the lining of her stomach. At the time, she’d done what she’d thought best for everyone. Okay, no use crying over spilt milk. Done’s done and all that.

She lifted the receiver from the phone Mitch had set on her mattress and dialed a familiar number. “Hi, Mom,” she said as soon as the phone was answered. “I need a little help here.”

Once she’d finished talking to her mother, she called Drake, and then her lawyer.

As Mitch closed Olivia’s front door the line, “Honey. I’m home,” sprang to mind. With the old Olivia, he’d have yelled that and she’d have thrown herself into his arms. Now he figured she’d throw something at his head. He dropped her car keys on the entry table.

“Hello, Mitchell.”

He turned toward the voice, raising his gaze to the top of the stairs.

“Hello, Jackie.”

Olivia’s mother lifted two suitcases. “Give me hand, will you?”

Mitch met Jackie Montgomery halfway down the stairs and took both luggage pieces. The weight suggested they were packed but neither was very heavy.

“Adam’s clothes,” she explained as they made their way down the stairs.

Mitch glanced at his watch. Four p.m. “Is he home yet?”

Jackie shook her head. “Not yet. Olivia asked Nancy to keep him until I could pick him up. I’m heading over in a couple of minutes.”

Mitch set the luggage by the door. “Where’s Olivia?”

“In her room. She was on the phone a couple of minutes ago. She’s probably avoiding me.”

Mitch lifted an eyebrow. “Now why would your daughter be avoiding you, Jackie?”

Jackie leaned against the entry hall table. “Probably because of what I said. The same thing I’m going to tell you.” She laid her hand on his chest. “Right now,
you
are not important.” She pointed toward Olivia’s closed bedroom door. “
Olivia
is not important.” She picked up a framed picture. “The only person who matters right now is my grandson. I will not let the two of you tear him apart.” She held up her hand to stop him from speaking. “I know you feel Olivia was wrong in not telling you about Adam six years ago when she first discovered she was pregnant. It was not a decision she came to lightly. Trust me. She suffered. I suffered with her. She’s my child. I know she’s not perfect, but at the time she felt she was doing the best thing for all concerned.”

Mitch scoffed.

“Mitch, try to put yourself in her place. You had just lost your brother. You’d gotten married and were starting a new life with someone else.”

“That’s bull and you know it.”

Jackie shook her head. “You hurt her, Mitch. No doubt about it. She was crushed when you broke off with her and devastated when she heard about your marriage. But I honestly believe she thought she was doing the right thing. That doesn’t matter now. It’s old news. You two have to find a way to work together, move forward. I’ll tell you both the same thing, park your emotions at the door and do what is best for your child.” She touched his chest again. “Listen with your heart and—” she bopped the side of his head with her fingertips “—not this hard head.”

He smiled for the first time. “Hard head, huh?”

Jackie chuckled. “Between my daughter, three sons and my husband, I know hard heads. Okay, I’ve gotta scoot and pick up Adam. You and Olivia bring the tension level between you down.” She kissed his cheek. “I’m not sorry you found out about Adam. I’m sorry how it happened, but Adam is a great kid. He’ll have you in the palm of his hand in no time.”

Mitch figured she was right…about everything.

As soon as the front door closed behind Jackie, the door to Olivia’s bedroom swung open. She stuck out her head and looked around. “Is she gone?”

“Yep.”

“Whew. Only so much mothering I can take in a compressed time period.” She hobbled out of the bedroom, her crutches firmly planted under her arms, her injured leg not touching the floor. “You get the lecture?”

“The lecture?”

“Yeah. You know, how
we
—me and you—aren’t the important ones here. How we have to get along for Adam. That lecture.”

“Got it.”

She nodded. “I figured as much.” She swung the crutches forward and moved toward the kitchen. “What time do you want to leave tomorrow?” she tossed over her shoulder. “I see Mom’s got Adam ready to go.”

“Mid-morning would be good.” He followed her to the kitchen. “You packed?”

She shrugged. “Pretty much.” She lifted a carafe of coffee from the warmer. “Want a cup?”

He nodded. “Sure, but I can get it.” As he neared, scents of soap, minty shampoo and light perfume battled with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. He inhaled deeply. “Smells good,” he said, not positive if he was talking about the coffee, her, or both. “Why don’t you grab a barstool and I’ll hand you a cup.”

“Sounds good.” She hobbled to the counter and slid onto a stool.

“You still take it with milk?”

She sighed. “I know I shouldn’t…all those extra calories, but yeah. There is creamer in the fridge. Cups are directly above the coffee pot.”

He opened the cabinet door, pulled down two large mugs, then pushed the door shut with his elbow. After pouring two coffees, he sat hers down in front of her, then retrieved the cream. He watched as she gave her cup a liberal dose of milk.

Holding out his cup, he said, “Black. The way coffee is supposed to be drunk.” He took a sip and his eyes opened wide. “Wow. That’s some kind of strong coffee.”

Olivia laughed. “I know. Mom’s used to making coffee for Dad and the ranch hands, and you know how cowboys like their coffee.”

“Hot, black and strong enough to stand without cup support.”

She leaned forward and clinked her cup against his. “Exactly.”

She tilted her head toward her cup. “That’s why I use the cream. Sometimes at their house, I fill my cup with half coffee and half water.”

Mitch slipped onto a stool beside her and gathered his thoughts. After a couple of minutes of quiet, he turned toward her. “Why the sudden change? When I left, I was sure you would call your brothers to bring a rope. When I get back, you’re almost friendly.” His eyes narrowed. “What are you trying to pull?”

She took a sip of coffee. “The next couple of weeks are going to be hard enough without fighting with you the whole time. We’ve agreed we’re not in love. There never will be anything between us again. So, for the sake of my son, I’m doing the best I can to get along with you. That’s all that’s going on. Okay?”

He stared at her, trying to read the expression on her face. She seemed sincere, but her calm exterior was making him antsy.

“Okay. I’ve thought a lot about what you said earlier. Regardless of what you think of me, I’d never do anything to hurt a member of my family. I don’t want to upset Adam or do anything that could damage my relationship with him before it even has time to begin. I won’t say anything to him…not yet. I want him to get to know me. But the day will come when Adam will know everything. I hope he can forgive us both.”

She nodded, but said nothing. Her face betrayed nothing.

He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t think for one minute that I’ve forgiven you. I can hold a grudge when someone knees me in the balls and I have to say, you’re the queen of ball racking. Right now, I’m not sure how I feel about you.”

What a lie. He knew exactly how he felt. He loved her…and hated her. How could those two emotions be so closely related?

“Same here.”

Thank goodness cowboys don’t cry, because her words shredded his aching heart. He fought back the only way he knew how…with words as caustic as hers.

“I’m glad you’re not in love with me. No, not glad…more like relieved, because I could never have feelings for someone I couldn’t trust, and frankly, Olivia, you’ve shown you are not to be trusted. So no love lost between us. I’ll do what I can to make your stay at the Lazy L restful but that’s about it.”

“You stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours. Deal?” She held out her hand.

“Deal.”

He knew he held her hand a little too long, a little too snug. When she didn’t pull it back or struggle to break the hold, he wondered, what if?