Wild Montana Nights (31 page)

phone closed and replaced it in its holder at his waist.

“Who’s been taking care of the ranch all this time? It seems like

every time I woke up, one or both of you were there.”

“We took turns, and Jim helped Randall out while he was here,”

he told her.

“Looks like your brother is here and ready to go,” the nurse

pointed out.

Darla looked up and sure enough, the big rig was parked at the

entrance along with a bundle of balloons and a bouquet of flowers.

Tears filled her eyes, but she managed to keep from letting them fall.

How would she ever be able to leave them after all they’d done for

her? Somehow she had to find it in her heart to forgive them, but right now, it hurt too badly.

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Chapter Eighteen

Marcus and Darla talked most of the way home. Randall listened

but didn’t join in. He had too much on his mind. Between the ranch,

the weather, and Darla, he was stretched mighty thin. The thing was

she was his priority. Taking care of her and figuring out how to get

her to stay with them took precedence over everything else. His love

for her knew no boundaries. Somehow he had to convince her that he

and Marcus truly, deeply loved her.

As they neared home, Randall noticed that Darla had grown quiet

and appeared tired. This was her first outing since the accident, and the trip had taken well over an hour. It was no wonder she was asleep on her feet. He grinned. It was actually her sweet ass. Her head rested on Marcus’s shoulder. They looked good together.

Marcus raised his eyes and met Randall’s. They were in perfect

agreement. Darla would accept them and complete their family. The

baby was an added bonus—provided she didn’t lose it. There was still

a chance she would miscarry. More than asking that the baby be

healthy, Randall didn’t overload the good Lord with petty requests.

He saved up his prayers for the really big things that mattered. Darla and the baby mattered.

Marcus caught his attention as he pulled to a stop in the drive

under the covered garage.

“I’ll carry her in if you can start unloading,” Marcus offered.

Randall laughed. “You think you’re sneaky, don’t you, little

brother?”

Marcus shrugged, relinquishing his hold on the sleeping woman in

his arms. Randall could tell it cost him to let her go. That one woman
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could bring them to their knees seemed impossible to imagine. Still,

history was full of men who’d fallen thanks to their love or lust for a woman. Look at Sampson and Delilah.

Randall followed Marcus inside, carrying their woman in his

arms. He took the stairs without a problem, but negotiating the bed

proved to be troublesome. She was sleeping so peacefully that he

hated to wake her up. Still, she needed to get undressed and into bed.

It had been a long day for her. She was still recovering from her

accident. He suspected she shouldn’t be out of the hospital yet

anyway.

“Marcus, help me undress her.”

Marcus and Randall each took a boot and removed it, letting it

plop to the floor. Darla didn’t move. Secondly, Randall unbuckled the belt and unzipped the pants before calling it quits and declaring her as comfortable as he could manage. He watched his brother patiently

remove the jeans, then the socks and lastly, her shirt and bra.

The minute her breasts were loose, Randall groaned and tried to

take a step backward, only to realize he’d stepped closer to her instead of backing away. Things could head south fast, Randall knew, if he

didn’t exert some manner of control. He pulled her more firmly

against him and walked over to the bed. He gently laid her on the

double mattress. Larger than a regular king-size bed, it sported four pillows and the softest sheets he’d ever slept on. This was where

they’d spent hours exploring each other. Actually, they’d hogged the

time and explored her more than she’d gotten to them. He would have

to remedy that once she was healed and feeling better.

Marcus walked out of the bathroom and nodded at Randall.

“It’s all ready,” he said.

Randall smiled and picked her up and carried her to the bathroom

where a bath had been drawn, complete with bath salts and her

favorite milled soap. She stirred in his arms.

“What are you doing with me?” she asked, her voice slurred with

sleep.

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225

“Giving you a bath. You’re sore from the wreck and soaking in

the tub will help with the soreness.”

Marcus called from the bedroom. “Remember not to get those

wounds wet.”

Randall smiled to himself. Mother hen, he thought.

“I’m on it,” he called out.

“I just had a shower.” She was a little more awake now.

“Like I said, a soak in the tub will work wonders on the soreness.

Don’t argue with me, Darla.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll soak in the tub and get all wrinkly,” she fussed.

Randall lifted her once again only to carefully lay her in the tub,

making sure the water didn’t touch the bandage on her shoulder.

“If I leave you alone, are you going to be able to stay awake, or do

you need me to sit with you?” he asked.

“I can stay awake,” she told him. “I’m not a child.”

“I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He closed the door behind him to

keep the warmth in the room.

Marcus had the bed turned back and ready for her.

“It didn’t sound like she was none too pleased to take a nice bath.

I thought all women loved to soak in the tub.”

“She’s just bitchy because of the baby hormones, and because

she’s probably in pain and won’t say anything,” Randall told him.

“Damn, what can she have for pain that won’t hurt the baby?” he

asked.

“Tylenol is all they put on her paperwork. If it is severe, we have

to take her back for them to monitor her.”

“We need to get a pregnancy book so we can take care of her,”

Marcus said.

“Good idea. We can order one off the Internet. See what you can

find.”

Marcus nodded and left the room.

Randall pulled out her sleep shirt and some underwear and laid

them on the bed. Then he checked the time and figured she had been

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in long enough now. When he opened the door, he cursed. Her eyes

were closed, and she made that cute snoring sound. The one good

thing was that she hadn’t slid into the water and gotten her bandage

wet.

“Okay, sleepyhead. Let’s get you out of there. I think your

prediction is right. You look all wrinkly.”

“Told you so,” she managed to say around a yawn.

“So you did. Okay, up you go.” He helped her stand up then step

out of the tub.

Randall took a towel off the warming bar and began drying her

off. She didn’t protest, but she growled when he paid extra attention to her breast and her pussy. He couldn’t help himself. Her breasts

were so delightful. He wanted to run his tongue all around the nipple then suck it in his mouth to tease it with his tongue. Randall groaned and adjusted his dick trying to relieve some of the pressure.

“I suppose you’re putting me to bed,” she groused.

“Soon as we get your T-shirt on, baby.”

He carried her into the bedroom and helped her slip into the shirt

and panties. She was a little bit incapacitated, though she wouldn’t admit it and ask for help. So, he helped her without asking.

Darla finally stopped fighting him and relaxed. He suspected part

of it was that she was tired and part of it was she realized she couldn’t fight and win with him. He tried to hide his smile, but she noticed and glared at him.

“You know, you’re not winning any brownie points with me.”

“I didn’t expect I was,” he said as he covered her up in the bed.

“I’m just going to rest my eyes for awhile. Then I’ll be up and fix

dinner tonight.”

He started to tell her she wasn’t going to be fixing dinner, or

breakfast, for that matter, until her shoulder healed, but she’d already closed her eyes and drifted away.

Randall eased away from the bed and turned to find Marcus

watching him from the doorway.

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“What?” he asked.

Marcus shrugged. “Just wishing, is all.”

“Wishing what?” Randall asked.

“That she loved us enough to forgive us.”

* * * *

Darla woke disoriented to a dark room. What time was it? The

fact that the room was dark meant it was around dinner time. She

should have been up cooking it already. Reaching for the bedside

lamp, she winced. She had forgotten about her shoulder. It definitely didn’t like being stretched out.

With the light on, she could see that the alarm clock had been

turned around so she wouldn’t be able to see the time. They were

sneaky little devils she decided. When she looked at the time she

huffed out a breath. It was past time for dinner—nearly nine o’clock

at night. They’d let her sleep the day away. It didn’t matter that she probably needed to. It was the principle of the matter. She had a job to do. Without the job, she had no reason to remain. Deep down, she

wanted to be there to see if they could work things out.

The trip to the bathroom wore her out, but she made it on her own.

Spending so much time in bed made her weak. She needed to be up

doing something, or she’d never be able to get out of the bed. After tending to her needs, Darla dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. They

were soft and a little large on her. Perfect for her sore shoulder and muscles.

The trip down the stairs proved to be an ordeal in patience and

balance. She held onto the banister for dear life as she maneuvered

down the stairs. When she entered the living room, two sets of eyes

widened. Marcus jumped to his feet and raced to pick her up with

Randall right behind him.

“You shouldn’t be out of bed, baby,” Marcus scolded in a soft

voice.

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“I can’t stay in bed, or I’ll get weaker,” she informed him.

“At least let us help you up and down the stairs. It could be

dangerous while you’re weak and taking that medicine for nausea.”

Randall followed them back to the couch.

Marcus settled her onto the center of the couch, then sat beside

her.

“I need to stop taking the medicine now anyway. I’m not getting

sick in the mornings anymore.” She rushed on when Randall started

to speak. “If I start back, I can still take the medication.”

“We’ll see,” Randall said.

Marcus squeezed her against him careful of her shoulder. She was

tired of being treated like an invalid. It had its advantages, but the drawbacks by far outnumbered them. She changed the subject.

“What did you two have for dinner tonight?” she asked.

“Ham sandwiches,” Marcus supplied.

“See, you’re already back to your old ways. You should have

woken me up so I could have fixed dinner. That is my job, you know.

“Until you are one hundred percent again, you’re not doing

anything but recovering,” Randall insisted.

“Then you don’t really need me after all.” She swallowed hard

and started to pull out of Marcus’s arms.

“The hell we don’t,” Marcus said.

Randall echoed this with a thundering voice.

“You mean everything to us. We need you more than we need

anything or anyone else in our lives.” Randall sat on the edge of the couch and took her hands in his. “Don’t leave us, baby.”

“How am I supposed to trust you when you lied to me? If you lie

about one thing, you’ll lie about another.”

“We admit we shouldn’t have done what we did. There is no

excuse, but don’t condemn us for making one mistake. Part of any

relationship is making mistakes. We are all going to make them. You

included,” he pointed out.

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229

She drew in a shaky breath and decided they deserved to know

why she wasn’t sure if she could forgive them.

“I was engaged to be married to who I thought at the time was a

wonderful man,” she began. “He failed to tell me that he was already

married to a woman in another town and had two children with her.

When I found out and called him on it, he swore they were getting a

divorce. I thought I was in love with him and believed him at first.

Then his wife showed up at my apartment one day to inform me that

he had done it in the past and would in the future.” She stopped to

swallow.

“She said she had no plans to divorce him because of the children.

She was afraid he wouldn’t pay child support if they were divorced.

She had threatened to take him for everything he had if he tried to

divorce her. She had proof of his infidelities, pictures that included me.”

Darla couldn’t look at them. She focused on the fire in the

fireplace instead. The changing colors of the flames mesmerized her.

She let it distract her for a few seconds.

“Darla. We aren’t like him,” Randall insisted. “Yes, we made a

mistake. It was a serious one, but we did it because we love you and

want you in our lives forever.”

“Please forgive us and give us another chance,” Marcus pleaded.

“I want to…” she began but stopped.

Did she really want to? Did she love them like she had loved her