“That’s a problem that never goes away,” Cole muttered. “But the truth is, I couldn’t take it when Catherine turned me down.”
“I-I couldn’t take it either,” came a tremulous voice from the backseat. “I loved Cole. Saying no to him turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life. When I discovered I was pregnant, I knew I needed to tell him. But I didn’t want the pregnancy to complicate the issue between us, so I kept him in the dark as long as I could. He kept coming to Reno to see me, and I continued to say no to him, all because of my stupid pride. Ultimately he found out I was expecting. That’s when it got really bad, because I knew I’d hurt him by not telling him. In the end I realized I’d been a total fool. Unfortunately it took until last week to get up enough courage to ask him to marry me because we had a daughter who needed her daddy as much as I did.”
Even if the story had been manufactured, the throb in her voice couldn’t be faked. It reached down inside the core of Cole’s psyche, moving him in inexplicable ways.
“Incredible. So how did you two meet?”
“At a resort on the north end of Lake Tahoe,” Catherine volunteered.
She had to be thinking of the one they’d gone to earlier in the week while they’d been waiting to hear from Jim. She was doing such a superb job, Cole was happy to sit back and let it all happen.
“One of the condos in my fourplex had a fire. I had to find a place to stay for a few days. When I went outside for a swim, your brother was doing laps in the pool. We more or less collided.”
“It was fate,” Cole pro claimed with a satisfied smile.
Another low whistle issued from John’s lips. “This is going to knock the family up one side of the Rubies and down the other.”
By now they’d entered the property, and would be coming up on the lake soon.
“It will get Penny and Rosemary off my back.”
“No kidding.”
“While Catherine and I settle in at my house, do us a favor and break the news to everyone? We’ll be over for dinner later.”
His brother’s head jerked toward him. “Your place isn’t exactly set up for a baby.”
“All we need for tonight is a crib. Tomorrow we’ll figure out everything else.”
“I’ll bring over the one we used for Susie. It’s in the storage room somewhere.”
Cole thumped his brother on the shoulder. “Thanks.”
“We appreciate your coming to pick us up,” Catherine chimed in. “Cole’s told me so much about his family. I’ve been looking forward to meeting all of you.”
“You don’t know the half of it. To be frank, our family has feared this day would never come!”
Cole made a grunting sound. “Now that it has, better make room for more Farradays. Bonnie’s going to need a little brother or sister before long.”
Brother or sister-
What?
Catherine broke out in a cold sweat.
A “real” marriage she under stood. Cole might have been giving her time to get used to the idea, but she realized he expected they’d be sleeping together soon. If only he knew that she could hardly breathe, waiting for it to happen.
However, another baby wasn’t something they’d ever discussed. If he was looking forward to getting her pregnant, then they needed to talk as soon as possible.
After they’d circled the lake to the house, Cole climbed out of the suburban with Bonnie, visibly excited they were home. She could tell because that air of restlessness about him while they’d been in Reno had left him.
While John took their things inside, Catherine hung back on the porch, ostensibly to look at the view. When he reappeared he told her he’d be back with the crib.
She put a hand on his arm to detain him. “That’s very kind of you, John, but I’ve been thinking about it, and I’d rather your family didn’t know anything about us until we come over for dinner. We’ll get the crib then.”
Or not.
She trembled. It all depended on Cole’s reaction once they’d talked.
His eyes danced. “You’re asking me to hold back that kind of news?”
Catherine liked John a lot. No doubt she would have felt the same way about Buck.
Her eyes implored him. “Do you mind?”
“Nope. We are a pretty terrifying lot.” Then he grinned. “Now that Cole’s a married man, he might as well realize up-front he’s no longer the big boss around here.”
She kissed John’s cheek. “Bless you.”
After waving him off, she walked inside the house. There was Cole at the living room window, chatting with Bonnie while they stared out at the spectacular vista. She studied them for a minute.
He’d bonded so completely with the baby, and she to him. If there was going to be an annulment after all, the two of them would be fine.
Riddled with fresh pain, Catherine searched for the diaper bag among their suitcases. The sound brought Cole’s dark head around.
“I’m pretty sure Bonnie needs changing,” she explained, uncomfortably aware he could sense she was feeling guilty about something.
She spread the changing pad on the first piece of furniture she came to, which happened to be a brown leather couch. Cole crossed the expanse and laid the baby down without saying anything. Her nervousness in creased so much she had trouble unfastening Bonnie’s pink stretchy suit.
“H-how did I do?” she blurted.
“A propos to what?” came his deceptively mild query.
“Wh-what I told John.”
“Since I wasn’t out on the porch with the two of you, you must mean while we were in the car?”
She moaned. “Yes.”
“I believed your account to the point I decided we’d lived your version in a parallel universe.”
“If John is the litmus test, do you think we passed?” She slid a fresh diaper beneath the baby.
“What do your instincts tell you?” He answered with another question. Cole was angry. She didn’t blame him. They’d had no secrets until now.
He stood by with the baby wipes and ointment, unaware of his physical impact on her senses. They were crying for the assuagement only he could give. But when he learned the truth, she might never know rapture with him.
She kissed Bonnie’s tummy. “They don’t. John’s wonderful, just like you, but he’s not my brother.”
“He was snagged when you threw out the line about you asking me to marry you. John’s aware it would take something that dramatic for me to get off my high horse and come crawling back to you. It was the part of your story that turned the corner for him.”
Her pulse accelerated. “I’ll remember that,” she quipped, to cover her hectic emotions. “Won’t we, sweet heart?”
When she’d finished snapping the material around the baby’s tiny feet and legs, he picked her up. “Come on, Bonnibelle. It’s time to give you and your mommy a tour of our home. This is where we’re all going to live forever.”
There was that word again.
She started to shake and couldn’t stop. Cole was saying that now, but when he learned what she had to tell him…
The bachelor pad turned out to be a modern two-bedroom rambler, with two bathrooms, a den, and a great room with a wood-burning fireplace. Everything was done in a light tan color, with high ceilings and lots of bare windows giving their own close up views of the pine-tree-lined lake and the fabulous Ruby Mountains.
A sweep of open area from front room to kitchen made it seem larger. No curtains or frills. No knickknacks. Just good, basic functional living, with the beauty of the architectural design of truss work and cutouts providing the interest.
He’d made a concession to window coverings in both bedrooms, but he’d left the blinds open. Cole was a man who worked out in the open and obviously wanted to create that same feeling indoors.