Wild Montana Nights (22 page)

the baby. As soon as we can arrange it, we’ll get married and…” He

trailed off.

“No, we don’t have to get married just because I’m pregnant. If

I’m pregnant,” Darla said.

“Of course we do. Our baby will have our name and be

respected,” Randall insisted.

Marcus nodded his head at Randall to get his attention. When

Darla was looking at Randall, he shook his head at Randall to let him know he didn’t think they should tell her right then with her probably being pregnant. They needed to give her a couple of days to get used

to the idea before they hit her with the other.

Darla looked back and forth between the two of them and

frowned.

“Besides, we don’t know that I am pregnant. I need to take a test.”

“We’ll get one in town tomorrow,” Randall assured her. “I’ll go

myself and get one while Marcus stays here with you in case you need

anything.”

“I just can’t believe I could be pregnant after one time,” she

fussed, wringing her hands. “Oh, Lord.” She fingered the glass of

milk, obviously worried.

Randall wondered what this would mean to their plans to marry

her. Would she let them now? She’d already balked when they’d

suggested it earlier. Surely she would settle down and realize that

their love didn’t change just because she was pregnant.

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The rest of the morning went by with Darla carrying on as if

nothing was wrong. After lunch, she went upstairs to take a nap.

Randall figured that would be what her routine would be like from

now on. Marcus could take care of her in the afternoons when he

checked on the ranch. He’d be there for her in the mornings should

she need anything.

The more he thought about a baby, the more excited he became.

Then he remembered they still had to tell her they’d had her checked

out. She would be furious with them for lying to her. She’d get past it, though, he was sure, especially if she really was pregnant. She’d want her baby to have its fathers.

Now he wondered if he needed to shred the papers or hand them

over to her unread. He hadn’t broken the seal. Surely that would

account for something. All he could do was hope.

* * * *

Early the next morning, Darla woke up again sick to her stomach

and raced for the bathroom. She heaved until she couldn’t anymore.

Randall and Marcus were right there with her, holding cool clothes to her head and neck. They picked her up once she was finished and

carried her back to bed, where they cuddled her until she fell back

asleep.

Once she woke up for good, she showered, dressed, and eased

down the stairs. Randall and Marcus were talking in the kitchen when

she walked in. They stopped talking to stare at her.

“What?” she asked, suddenly self-conscious.

“You just look so beautiful, baby,” Marcus said and pulled her in

for a kiss and a hug.

Randall pulled her from his brother’s arms and kissed her as well.

“I’m on my way to town. Do you need anything else while I’m

there?” he asked, rubbing up and down her arms.

“No, I can’t think of anything.”

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“Get those prenatal vitamins they have while you’re there. She

needs to be on those from day one,” Marcus told him.

“I might not be pregnant!” she shouted, then frowned at her

obvious temper tantrum.

“It won’t hurt to be prepared in case you are,” Marcus told her.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. If you need anything at all, let

Marcus help you, baby. Okay?” Randall leaned in for another kiss.

“Okay,” she sighed.

She watched Randall pull out of the drive in the truck. She had

plenty of chores to keep her busy all morning. Between the washing,

fixing lunch, and preparing something for dinner, she would keep her

mind occupied and away from that niggling feeling that they were

right and she really was pregnant.

Around lunchtime, she figured Randall would be home soon and

went in search of Marcus. He wasn’t in the office, so he would

probably be out in the barn. She’d have to wait until he came in to fix the sandwiches.

Before she got out of the office, the phone rang. She raced to

Randall’s desk and picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Is Randall in?” a male voice on the other end asked.

“No, he’s in town but should be back at any time now. Can I take

a message?” she asked.

“Please.”

She scrambled, trying to find something to write with. Not a pen

lay in sight. She pulled open his drawers, thinking to find one in them.

Instead, she found a sealed envelope with her name and social

security number on it as well as a lawyer’s insignia.

“Ma’am? You still there?” the voice on the other end of the phone

asked.

She grabbed at a pen and told him to go ahead. She took his name,

and number, and left it on the desk. After she hung up, she pulled the envelope out and sat down in Randall’s desk chair.

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Why would they have an envelope with her social security

number on it? Why was it sealed? She’d filled out the paperwork

they’d given her. They claimed they didn’t need to check her

references. What would be in that envelope other than information

about her? Why would they use a lawyer to find out anything about

her? They could have just called the phone numbers.

She fumed and huffed out a breath. They’d lied to her. She tore

open the envelope and began reading all about her miserable life.

Every little detail was in there, including her indiscretion with her ex.

Everything. Tears threatened to fall, but she held them in. She wasn’t going to break down. She wanted to throw it in their face for lying to her.

She heard Randall’s truck pull up in the front yard. Now that he

was home, she just needed Marcus to come in and she could confront

the bastards about it. How dare they! Fury had her heart racing and

her hands shaking as she folded the envelope of information and stuck it under her arm. She picked up the phone message for Randall and

left the office to find them.

* * * *

Randall walked in the house. Something didn’t feel right. He

didn’t hear anyone, for one thing. Then Darla came out of the office

and held out a note to him.

“You have a phone message. I’ll be in the kitchen getting lunch

ready. See if you can find Marcus and come eat.” She breezed out

again.

What was up with her? She hadn’t so much as hugged or kissed

him. He didn’t like this one bit. Randall folded the paper and stuck it in his pocket, then went in search of Marcus. Maybe he knew what in

the hell was going on.

Randall found Marcus outside with the foreman talking over the

weird behavior of one of the horses.

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“Hey, you’re back. Did you get everything?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah. What’s going on with Darla?”

“What do you mean? She was fine when I left her in the kitchen. I

just ran out here for a few minutes to look at one of the horses.”

Marcus began to panic and head for the house.

“Whoa, she’s fine physically, but she’s acting weird. She didn’t

kiss me or hug me when I got home.”

“I don’t know. She was fine with me. Maybe it’s just pregnancy

hormones,” Marcus suggested.

“Maybe.” But Randall didn’t think so. Something was wrong.

“We’re supposed to come in for lunch now.”

“I’m ready.” Marcus waved off the foreman and followed Randall

in the house.

They shook off the cold and undressed from their outside clothes.

The table was set, and there were sandwiches in each plate in Ziploc

bags. There were chips and their iced tea sitting in front of them, but there were only two plates.

Randall figured she must still be feeling queasy. He looked around

for her in the laundry room but didn’t see her. Then he yelled down

the cellar steps, but the light was off, so he knew she wasn’t there either.

Just as he began to panic, she walked in and slammed down an

envelope, crumpled, but looking strangely familiar. His heart sank.

“Why did you have me investigated? You could have just called

my references like I told you to. Were you making sure I would be

good enough to be your woman? Your wife?” she yelled.

“Baby, we did it because we were worried you were running from

someone and might need help. You were so secretive about why you

left Mississippi that we worried you’d up and leave us if trouble

came. We didn’t want to lose you, Darla.”

“Like that makes everything okay. I should have known it was too

good to be true,” she said. She crossed her arms, an angry look on her face.

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“You’re not any better than my ex-fiancé. You lied to me just like

he did.”

Darla burst into tears and raced out of the kitchen. Randall

followed her, afraid she would do something crazy. He raced up the

stairs only to be closed out of the bedroom. He stood there a few

seconds, then opened the door only to find the bathroom closed and

locked.

“Baby, please let me in. I know what we did was wrong, but we

were scared you would leave instead of letting us help you.”

He could hear her crying behind the door. It tore him up inside to

know they had hurt her so badly. What could he do to get her to

forgive them? The crying turned to muffled sobs. This couldn’t be

good for the baby either. Marcus appeared in the bedroom doorway, a

stricken look on his face.

“She’s not going to forgive us, is she?” he said.

“She will. It will just take time,” Randall assured him. Inside, he

didn’t feel so sure though.

“Maybe we should leave for a little while until she calms down,”

Marcus said.

Randall figured he was right. He nodded his head and turned away

from the bathroom door. They would go out and check the cattle and

horses and give her some time alone to think. Although, he wasn’t

sure letting her think about it was a good idea.

Randall walked through the doorway, making sure Marcus

followed him down the stairs and into the kitchen. They pulled on

their coats and gloves after shoving their feet into their boots. Once they were out in the barn, Randall’s heart dropped. They were going

to lose her. He would hide her keys so she couldn’t leave. He should

have done that to begin with. Then he thought better of it. That

wouldn’t be any better than having her investigated like a criminal.

“Randall? She’s going to leave us, isn’t she?”

“I don’t know.” He didn’t want to put it into words as if that

would make it so, but deep down in his heart, he knew she would.

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They checked the horse in silence and then followed the fence line

around to where the water troughs were to break the ice. It had

already been taken care of though. He figured they could walk on

around to the bunkhouse and check in with his foreman again.

It hit him then. She’d said she had an ex-fiancé. They hadn’t

known about that. It was probably the reason she’d fled Mississippi. It was also the reason she was so upset. They had proved to be just as

bad as or worse than her last lover. He groaned just thinking about it.

He wondered what the ex had done to her for her to come all the way

to Montana. Surely it was worse. But he didn’t believe it.

They found his foreman and one of the men working on the mini-

dozer, the noise from the engine making it nearly impossible to talk.

His foreman held up his finger indicating he needed just a few

minutes more. He watched them work on it. Marcus paced around the

machine, obviously restless and upset.

Finally, they cut the engine and greeted them. They went over

how things were going and discussed the strategy for the next big

snow. It kept him from thinking about Darla for a few minutes

anyway. Then he and Marcus continued around the fence line until

they came to where the cattle were eating out of the troughs. The

water here had been take care of well.

Satisfied everything was good, at least with the ranch, he walked

back around toward the house. Marcus hadn’t spoken since they’d left

the barn. Randall knew he was mulling everything over in his head.

They walked into the house after stomping the snow off their boots.

Peeling off his coat and gloves, Randall sat on the bench and pulled

off his boots. Marcus did the same.

“Marcus, we’ll make it all right somehow,” he finally said.

“Even if she forgives us, she won’t forget it.” Marcus dropped his

boot to the floor with a loud plop.

Randall remembered he wanted to hide her car keys and pulled

open the junk drawer to look for them. He couldn’t find them. He

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nearly raked everything out on the floor looking for them. They

weren’t there.

“What is it?” Marcus asked watching him.

“Her car keys are gone.”

They looked at each other then ran for the stairs. Marcus beat him

to the bedroom. He flung open the door and went to the closet.

“They’re gone,” he said. “Her clothes and suitcase are gone.”