Undercover Christmas. B.J. Daniels

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ they weren’t eavesdropping.

      Jabe studied her with a look of mild surprise. “I think you’re wrong about that, Ms. McCumber, I believe you and I might have a great deal to talk about.” He motioned toward an open doorway down the opposite hall. “Please?”

      Marni had a feeling the word didn’t come easy to him. And although she suspected he planned to read her the riot act once they were behind closed doors, she also saw it as an opportunity to share a few choice words she had for him about his son.

      “You might be right,” she said to Jabe.

      The group at the top of the stairs descended in a scurry of curiosity before Jabe and Marni could escape. The oldest of the women broke free of the others and approached them.

      “Is there a problem?” she inquired, pretending to ignore Marni. She had a diamond the size of Rhode Island on her ring finger and wore her marital status like a badge of honor. This had to be Mrs. Jabe Calloway.

      “Nothing to concern yourself with, Vanessa,” Jabe assured her. “Go on in to dinner. I’ll be along shortly.”

      Vanessa looked as if she’d been dragged into her late fifties kicking and screaming. From the bleached blond hair of the perfect pageboy to her tightly stretched facial features, she looked like a woman at war with the aging process.

      She gave Marni a disdainful look, hesitating on the protruding belly for one wrathful moment before she turned and swept away. Over her shoulder she said, “Don’t be late, dear. You know how Hilda hates it when you’re late.”

      Her words sounded hollow, lacking authority. It was obvious who ran this household, just as Elise had told her.

      Marni took a calming breath as she followed Jabe Calloway down the hall. She reminded herself why she’d come here. To talk to Chase. To give him a chance to explain, if not rectify, the situation. To give Chase a chance, period. Because Elise loved the man. Although at this moment, good looks aside, Marni could not fathom why.

      * * *

      THE LIBRARY WAS as large and masculine as Jabe himself. He motioned to a chestnut-colored leather couch that spanned one wall. Built-in bookshelves bordered the room. A huge rock fireplace stretched across the only open wall. An oversize brown leather recliner hunkered in front of it. Several other chairs were scattered around. Everything in the room seemed to have been sized to one man—Jabe Calloway.

      Marni scanned the bookshelves as she headed for the couch, curious if the books were for looks only or if someone in this family actually read them.

      “Do you like to read?” Jabe asked from behind her.

      She nodded as she spotted one of her favorites and pulled it from the shelf, surprised to find the cover worn.

      “You’re a Jane Austen fan, too?” Jabe asked.

      Marni turned, the copy of Pride and Prejudice still in her hand. Jabe Calloway didn’t seem to be someone who would enjoy Austen.

      “She’s one of Chase’s favorites.”

      “Really?” Marni said, her surprised gaze momentarily connecting with his before she put the book back and went to the couch. “I didn’t know that.” She was beginning to realize how little she knew about Chase Calloway; she wondered how much Elise really knew.

      “The subject of books probably never came up,” Jabe said as he took a seat across from her.

      She started to sit on the couch, forgot how awkward sitting was “pregnant” and basically fell into the soft, deep, low sofa.

      “Did Chase tell you about this house?” Jabe asked, obviously making small talk, probably thinking he could mollify her once he had her alone. “It was built by a wealthy horse thief turned politician a hundred years ago.”

      She didn’t comment, not half as impressed with the horse thief as he was. Nor was she interested in this house.

      He must have realized that. He quit smiling and leaned back in his chair, studying her openly. “Tell me about my son.”

      Was he serious? “Has he always tried to avoid responsibility?” she asked instead, attempting to get comfortable in the deep couch in her present condition. She ended up resting her arms on Sam.

      Jabe seemed to consider her question. “No, as a matter of fact. Chase has always taken his responsibilities very seriously. That’s why I’m surprised by his attitude toward you.”

      “Me, too,” Marni said. Although, in truth, she wasn’t all that surprised. Furious, yes. Surprised, no.

      “I have to be honest with you, Ms. McCumber, you aren’t what I expected,” Jabe said. “When I heard that a woman was calling here, claiming to be pregnant with Chase’s child, well—” He waved a big hand through the air as if it went without saying what he thought. He settled his gaze on her, his look almost kind, but Marni feared he could spot her for the fraud she was.

      “Tell me, if you wouldn’t mind, how did the two of you meet,” Jabe said.

      Marni licked her dry lips and related to Jabe the story Elise had told her. But unlike El, Marni began at the beginning. “It started with a little fender bender in Bozeman last June.”

      “Really?” Jabe said. “In one of the ranch trucks or one of Chase’s cars?”

      Marni met his eyes. So this was a test. “The ranch’s white truck, the three-quarter ton with the stock rack and the words Calloway Ranches printed in dark blue on the doors.”

      He nodded with an apologetic smile. “Please continue.”

      Marni told him everything El had told her. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how much time and patience a person had, Elise had a way of recounting the smallest, most insignificant details, often overlooking the big picture. It was the thespian in her.

      “I felt so awful about running into him that he asked me to dinner. At dinner, something just clicked between us,” Marni said, condensing Elise’s account. “The rest is history, as they say.”

      “How long did you date?” Jabe asked.

      Date? “We spent four days together.”

      He lifted an eyebrow at that. Marni couldn’t say she blamed him. Only Elise could fall in love over dinner and think four days constituted a lifetime commitment.

      “In August I realized I was pregnant.”

      “I’m surprised Chase wouldn’t use protection,” Jabe said.

      Marni was surprised this conversation had taken such a personal turn, and had it been her who was pregnant she would have told him it was none of his business. But if there was a chance of getting Jabe on Elise’s side—“We always did, except for one night in a hot-springs pool near Yellowstone,” she said, lowering her gaze, wondering why she felt embarrassed when she hadn’t even been there.

      When he said nothing, she continued. “Chase called me in August to say he couldn’t see me anymore. He said it had to do with his family and was very complicated.”

      Jabe СКАЧАТЬ