tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed the lobe. “I was thinkin’ maybe we’d name her Anything instead of Something or maybe even Everything.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” She frowned. “Have you finally realized that you’re going to be a daddy, and it’s affecting your thinking?”
“You said yesterday that you wanted to name our baby girl Something Joy,” he reminded her.
She slapped him on the thigh. “You know what I meant, but thanks for making me think about something—” Her sentence ended abruptly, and she stared at him with a blank look. “I forgot what I was saying.”
“Are you talking about our daughter, Something?” he butted in with a chuckle.
“No, but every time I say that word from now on, I’ll think of a cute little blond-haired girl,” Alana said.
“Or maybe a little dark-haired one with your brown eyes.” He laid a hand on her knee and squeezed gently.
The waitress brought over two glasses of water and set them on the table. “Can I get y’all some appetizers or something to drink other than water?”
“Sweet tea,” Pax said.
“Lemonade, and maybe an order of fried green tomatoes. I’m ready to order now too,” Alana said. “I’ll have the meat loaf special with green beans, mashed potatoes, and brown gravy, and a side salad with ranch dressing.”
“The same,” Pax said.
“Have those drinks and tomatoes right out,” the waitress said and hurried back toward the kitchen.
“Okay, now that we’ve discussed a girl’s name, let’s talk about the divorce issue,” Pax said. “Can we stay married until the baby is born at least? I can’t stand the thought of not being there with you. What if you fell or you wanted watermelon at two in the morning?”
“The longer we put it off, the harder it will get,” she cautioned.
“Maybe,” Pax agreed, “or maybe we’ll both be ready to call it quits by then. I’ll even sleep in a different room if that’s what you want, so that at least you won’t be in that big house all alone.”
“That does scare me a little,” she admitted. “Not that I haven’t ever stayed alone, but to actually be there by myself if something were to happen where either you or the baby’s concerned, spooks me a little. I can’t believe we’re talking about this, Pax. When I asked you to help me make Daddy happy with a fake engagement and wedding, I never intended for us to have sex, much less to do it without protection.”
“I know sweetheart,” he said. “But like our folks have told us for years, everything happens for a reason.”
Chapter Nineteen
Is there such a thing as a lie not being a lie?
That’s what Alana typed into the search engine on her phone as she and Pax drove back to the parking lot at the doctor’s office so she could get her truck. The answer she got was exactly what she needed to hear, and it came from an educated psychiatrist: Lying is not harmful or deceptive if someone lies in order to refrain from hurting another’s feelings or to help them over a difficult situation.
“I didn’t have a malicious bone in my body when I set this little ball in motion,” she muttered.
Pax turned down the volume on the radio “What did you say?”
“I just read this”—she read the exact quote from her phone—“and I said that I didn’t tell Daddy that first lie with anything mean in my heart.”
“Of course, you didn’t.” Pax took her hand in his. “I’m a little worried about how we’re goin’ to tell him about the baby. We’ll be together, but which one of us will actually say the words?”
“I’ll do it,” Alana said. “At least, it’s the solid truth, and I’ve got the pictures to prove it.”
He parked right beside her truck, and she kissed him on the cheek before she got out. “Thanks, again, for being there for me.”
“Whoa, let’s talk a minute,” he said before she could slam the door shut.
“What about?” she asked.
“Are we telling him as soon as we get to the ranch, or tonight after supper, or when?”
“The sooner the better,” she answered. “If he’s in the house, we’ll tell him right then. If he doesn’t come in until supper, I’ll give you a call, and you can come over and we’ll tell him then. We’ll have to play it by ear.”
“Okay, then,” he said with a smile.
The ranch was five miles from town, and Pax didn’t seem to be in a bit of