Jake (Downton Cowboys #2) - Miley Maine Page 0,42

my favorite beverage in the world, has been making me nauseous.

What’s the deal with that?

Did I catch a bug of some sort?

By the sixth day, it starts to dawn on me… I might be pregnant.

Holy shit!

Just as my realization of this possibility kicks in, I walk out of my room and my mom immediately stares at me with a suspicious look on her face.

She stops in front of my bedroom door with the mail in her hands. “Honey, are you all right?”

“Good morning to you, too?” I shake my head and walk toward the kitchen.

Grimacing, I step away from the coffee machine and pull a mug, heading for the boiler to make herbal tea instead.

“Belle?” She follows me, tossing the mail onto the table as she does. “You look really tired.”

“Yeah,” I pour the hot water over the teabag, “my stomach’s messed up.”

“Are we sure it’s your stomach?” She stands next to me, her head tilting to examine my face.

“What do you mean?” I’m nervous but I try to hide it.

“For the past week, you’ve been coming out of your room looking like you’re about to throw up. You haven’t had any coffee in days, and you constantly look pale.”

“Well, I just told y—”

“Are you pregnant?” she interrupts me, hissing out a whisper as her eyes widen.

“I—I don’t know.” I shrug, picking up the cup and turning around without making eye contact.

“Good morning, ladies,” my dad announces his presence, casually sitting down at the table and pulling the day’s newspaper from under the mail.

Without regarding him with a look, we both say, “Good morning.” Mom takes me by the hand and leads me out of the kitchen, slowly walking with me into the living room.

“What if you are? Huh?” She lowers her voice, her tone furious. “Do you know what people around here say about situations like this?”

“Mom—”

“No. You listen to me.” She wags her index finger in my face. “If that rich cowboy thinks he can knock up my daughter and get away with it, he has another thing coming.”

“What?” I wince. I can’t believe that’s what she thinks of Jake.

“You heard me. If he got you pregnant, then he has to marry you.”

“Oh my God.” I roll my eyes, shocked by the pace of her thoughts.

“God frowns upon procreating out of wedlock,” she stresses.

I press my lips into a thin line and shoot her a death stare, which doesn’t make her flinch.

“Belle Viola Frances, how could you?”

Ah, here comes the full name lecture.

“I thought you had a sensible head over your shoulders!” she whines, waving both hands in the air. “How could you be so careless?”

“I wasn’t, I—”

“Oh no? Then how are we in this situation?” She raises her eyebrows, eyes glaring at me.

“We?”

“Give me a break from your generational bullshit.” She grits her teeth, that index finger once again pointing at me. “Our reputation in this town relies on you and you alone. Do you understand me?”

My eyes begin to water but I remain silent.

“If you don’t go over there this instant and tell him, so help me God, I will bring him here, in front of your father, and it will be—”

“Enough,” I sternly interrupt her, raising a steady hand. “I’ll handle this.”

Narrowing her eyes at me, she parts her lips to say something before Dad’s holler from the kitchen stops her.

“Hey, are we havin’ breakfast or what?”

“Be right there.” She tries to make her voice as chirpy as possible, while her face looks as grim as ever. “Today,” she leans over and orders me before turning around and marching over to the kitchen.

For a few seconds, I just stand there, trying to regulate my breathing.

I’ve always known that my mother loathes the idea of sex before marriage, but it’s always been Dad who manages to balance things out in our household. He’s the one who encourages me to go out with guys and date like a normal person, while Mom bites her tongue and rolls her eyes.

She didn’t do this with Jake, though, and I know why. It’s because he’s rich, and she always wanted me to marry into money.

Now, the possibility of my pregnancy is giving her the perfect excuse to act the way she wants, claiming that it’s all about the neighbors and the town. In reality, she just wants to pressure the wealthy rancher to marry me.

How could I be so stupid? How did I overlook this?

Well, it wasn’t always the case. We did use protection at first, but the cabin was