That Night in Texas - Delores Fossen Page 0,12

scalding, she was the one to pull him back to her. Chest to chest this time. And she did some kiss deepening of her own. Part of her knew she should be trying to keep some distance between them so she could think with a clear head, but this was a heck of a lot more fun than thinking.

And that fun had led her to possibly being pregnant.

The reminder did stop her because this felt as if she was leading him on. Of course, he was likely trying to coax her to bed so he could finish this kissing the right way along with getting her to say yes to his proposal. But Amelia wasn’t ready for either of those things. Not with the pregnancy test looming over their heads.

When she eased back from him, she saw that Harley understood that bed coaxing wasn’t going to happen tonight. He wasn’t upset. Not even frustrated. Okay, maybe he was a little frustrated. She certainly was, and her body was trying to nudge her into stepping right back into his arms. However, he gave her a chaste kiss.

“I’ll get us something to eat from the café,” Harley offered, “and we can talk if you want.”

She did want to talk. Amelia could feel every nerve in her body, and the one person who could help ease all that hot tension inside her was Harley.

A knock on the door had them both groaning at the interruption, but Amelia soon heard something else that alerted her that there’d likely be a lot more groans to come.

Her mother.

“Amelia,” her mother said, and it was obvious she was crying. No, not just crying, but rather sobbing. Loud, hiccupping wet sobs punctuated with more knocks on the door. “Let me in, please.”

Even without the rare please, Amelia wouldn’t have just ignored her. But that was what she wanted to do. Mercy, did she. Her mother wasn’t on her good side right now, considering that she’d gone snooping in her house.

Harley stayed back when she went to the door and opened it. Her mother practically threw herself into Amelia’s arms. Nadine blurted out something through the sobs, something that Amelia couldn’t decipher, but apparently Harley figured it out.

“Your father,” Harley muttered, coming closer.

Swiping away tears, Nadine nodded, and with sob-filled breaths, she said, “Your father went through with it. He filed for a divorce.”

CHAPTER FOUR

HARLEY TRIED TO throw himself into work, and it wasn’t as if he didn’t have plenty to do. He’d already moved some of the horses to the back pasture and drawn up the monthly work schedule for the hands, but he wasn’t sure if he’d done either of those things well. Because his mind kept straying back to one thing.

Well, two actually.

Amelia and a possible baby.

Their baby. And no matter how many times he mentally repeated that, it caused his worries to soar. He hadn’t exactly had a good role model in the father department. Or the mother department for that matter.

The notion of fatherhood seemed overwhelming in a good/bad kind of way. Good because it’d be Amelia’s and his son or daughter. Bad because he wasn’t sure how Amelia would react to a positive test result. Or even a negative one. Either way the test turned out, she could decide to end things with him and make a fresh start.

Amelia hadn’t wanted him to go with her to her doctor’s appointment, and Harley had respected her wishes. Waiting, however, was a bitch, and that was why he’d decided to work while he waited. That way, he wouldn’t be under the prying eyes of his mother, Liv, Darla or any guest who happened to show up if he’d gone into his office at the main house.

Harley had just about convinced his body to go off high alert and give his worries a rest when he heard a truck pull up in front of his place. He saw Amelia through the front window, and the high alert returned with a few of its friends to add to the level of intensity.

As she walked toward the porch, he examined her face, looking for any clues, but he saw only the fatigue and worry. He opened the front door, and she kept on walking until she was right in his arms. All in all, that was the best place possible.

“I don’t have the test results yet,” she immediately said and sort of sagged against him. “The doctor put a rush on it at the lab, and he’s going