until after the wedding to announce the good news, that’s up to you, but Matt is going to be ecstatic, and you know it. He told me the last time I saw him that he wanted to see you settled down and know he was having grandchildren before he dies. I’ll need to do a blood test to be absolutely sure, and after that we can do an ultrasound.”
“Do the test.” Alana held out her arm. “I’m not telling anyone, not Pax or Daddy, until it comes back positive.”
Doc reached into a cabinet and pulled out a sample bottle of prenatal vitamins. “Start these tomorrow morning. I don’t have to tell you about no alcohol, and if you have morning sickness, sweet tea and crackers before you get out of bed might give you some relief. Congratulations, Alana. You and Pax will make wonderful parents.”
“I had a beer a week ago,” she blurted.
“Then no alcohol from now on. I’ll send my nurse in to get a blood sample. Now go home and stop worrying. Things have a way of working themselves out for the best.” He gave her another pat on the shoulder and left the room.
She made up her mind right then not to accept the results of the tests she’d taken that morning, no matter if they had pink lines or blue plus signs. Until the results of the blood test came back on Monday and made it official, she was going to pretend that all of them were wrong. She would throw the bagful of the tests in the Dumpster behind the doctor’s office and keep the news to herself.
* * *
Matt was sitting in the dining room when she got home at noon. His nose was in the morning paper and his coffee cup was empty. He looked up over the top of the paper and smiled at her. “The sale was a bust. The bull we were interested in sold before the sale even started, and nothing else looked good, so we came home. But…” His eyes twinkled. “You up for a little overnight road trip? Delbert, the foreman down at the Broken Arrow Ranch near Odessa, has a bull that I’d love to buy. The two of us got to talkin’ and he said that he wouldn’t sell it to just anyone, and he damn sure wouldn’t bring it to any sale. Says it’s as much a pet as it is a breeder, and he wants it to have a good home. I thought we might have a father-daughter trip. I can drive myself if you and Pax have plans. Since I got off that medicine, I’m pretty clear-headed.”
A vision of her father sitting on the tailgate of his truck earlier in the week flashed through her mind. What if he got turned around on the four-hour trip and wound up halfway across New Mexico? Besides, it would take up one whole day of the weekend. That was one day that Pax wouldn’t be able to see the worry in her face and ask questions.
“I’d love to have you all to myself for a little while,” she told him. “When are we leaving?”
“My bag is packed,” Matt said. “I figured we’d stop in Lubbock at that café we both like so well. I think I could eat one of those big old chicken-fried steaks. Then we’d drive on down to Odessa. I booked two rooms down there for the night. Delbert said we could see the bull about ten in the morning, so I figured, if we buy him, we can be home by suppertime or a little after.”
“Give me ten minutes.” Alana headed out of the room. She stopped halfway up the stairs and yelled. “Is Lucas hooking up the cattle trailer?”
“He’ll have it around to the front of the house by the time you get packed. You want to invite Pax to go with us?” Matt raised his voice.
“No, let’s have some time with just the two of us,” she hollered as she went the rest of the way to the second floor. She threw a nightshirt, some underwear, a pair of jeans, and a shirt in a bag. She always kept a travel makeup and toiletry kit ready to go, so all she had to do was toss it in the bag and she was ready.
She toted the bag to the bottom of the stairs, picked up her purse, and followed her dad out the door. Lucas was standing by the