One Night Standoff - By Delores Fossen Page 0,71
his mouth to form words.
“Very good. Everything looks great. Fingers, toes, heartbeat...” But Dr. Landry’s explanation ground to a halt, and she glanced back at them. “You want to know the sex of the baby?”
Clayton looked at Lenora to see how she felt about that, but she only shrugged. He was still debating it when he looked at the screen again and saw what had caught the doctor’s eye. Even though the image was alien-like, Clayton had no trouble seeing that.
“Sorry, sometimes it’s hard to conceal the sex,” the doctor explained.
Apparently, Lenora saw it, too. “It’s a boy,” she mumbled. Her breath caught in her throat.
Clayton’s breath caught, as well.
A son.
He would have been happy with either, but now that he knew they were having a boy, it was easier to see him. Not just as a baby, but growing up, too. He could be the father to this child that Kirby had been to him.
And better.
Because his son would have a better start to life than either of them had had.
“You’ll change diapers?” Lenora asked, her joke cutting through the silence.
“Definitely.” He’d walk through fire for both of them, and he let her know that with another kiss. And Clayton didn’t care if this one was too hot and too long for the doctor to witness. Everything around him disappeared except for Lenora and their son.
“Good thing Lenora’s already pregnant,” the doctor mumbled, “or else she’d soon be that way.”
That caused Lenora and Clayton to laugh. They had to break the kiss, temporarily, but they stayed wound around each other.
“I’m very happy,” Lenora whispered against his mouth. “And in love with you.”
“I’m very happy,” Clayton repeated. “And in love with you, too.”
“All right,” the doctor said, putting aside the ultrasound device. She wiped the goop off Lenora’s stomach and helped her pull her jeans back up. “This is getting a little too private for my ears. You can go ahead and take Lenora home—and to bed. But congrats. Sounds as if you two will be married before this little fella makes his way into the world.”
Oh, yeah.
If Clayton had anything to say about it, they’d be married tomorrow. He didn’t want to wait another minute to start his life with Lenora. Clayton scooped her up in his arms and started for home.
* * * * *
The Marshals of Maverick County continues
next month! Look for OUTLAW LAWMAN
by USA Today bestselling author Delores Fossen
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Chapter One
“This special news report just in—an amber alert has been issued for six-year-old Hank Forte. Hank was last seen at the county fair in Amarillo.”
Brody Bloodworth’s heart clenched as a photo of the boy appeared on screen. The little boy had blond hair, was wearing a black T-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots. He could be one of the kids on the BBL, the Bucking Bronc Lodge he had started for needy children.
But he reminded him more of his own little brother, Will, and launched him back seven years ago to the day Will had gone missing.
Not from a county fair but from the rodeo where he was supposed to be watching him.
Self-loathing and guilt suffused him, once again robbing his lungs of air. He understood what the family of that little boy was going through now. The panic. The fear.
The guilt.
If only they’d kept a better eye on him. If only they hadn’t turned their head for a minute.
What was happening to him? Had he just wandered off? Would they find him hiding out or playing somewhere at the fair? Maybe he had fallen asleep in a stall housing one of the animals...
Or had someone taken him? Maybe a desperate woman who’d lost a child and was out of her mind? A child predator who’d do God knows what?
A killer?
The reporter turned the microphone to Hank’s parents, a couple who were huddled together, teary-eyed and frightened. A second later, they began to plead for their son’s return,