His Pregnant Texas Sweetheart. Amy Woods

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СКАЧАТЬ a gentle hand over her abdomen. “I thought I’d have things all set and ready by the time I became a mom, and...I don’t. I mean, I did—” She stared out the passenger-side window as Ryan pulled his Jeep onto Main Street, unsure of what direction to head in “—but I don’t anymore.”

      Katie looked ahead at the road, knitting her eyebrows. “Um, Ryan, where are we going?”

      “To dinner,” he answered, surprised at her question. Old habits died hard; he’d just assumed it was okay to bring her along to a meal with him.

      “No,” she said, and he glanced over at her quickly before returning his full attention to the road. It was late evening and most of the shops were closing, their owners heading home for the night, so Main Street was fairly deserted, except for a few people bustling down the sidewalk, carrying shopping bags and food containers.

      Katie laughed at him. The sound filled Ryan with memories from their shared childhood—giggling together at the cinema, over-apologizing each time their hands inadvertently brushed inside the popcorn cup, him tickling her feet when he’d gotten tired of a long homework session, just to hear the infectious melody of her laughter.

      “What’s so funny?” he asked, and Katie rolled her eyes.

      “Where do you think you’re going to get dinner at this hour?” Her eyes sparkled as she teased him.

      Ryan glanced at the clock on his dash. “It’s only eight.”

      Kate’s expression told him he was being an idiot. “It’s Peach Leaf, Ryan. Surely you haven’t been gone so long you’ve forgotten the limited nightlife of a small town.”

      Dammit, she was right. His stomach let out a groan of protest.

      “It’s okay,” Katie said, chuckling, “you can eat at my place.” She lifted her chin to indicate the road. “Just keep going and turn left up here. June and I started sharing a little house after—” she hesitated “—after I left my old apartment. You remember June Leavy from high school.”

      Ryan nodded.

      Katie pointed up ahead. “It’s this street here. Left at the stop sign.”

      Ryan switched on his signal and steered his truck as instructed down a narrow street lined with peach trees on the verge of shedding their leaves. The houses were familiar and soothing, and he could name just about every family who’d occupied each one before his departure—teachers, librarians, old friends from school. Some of the yards held evidence of new ownership; tricycles and shiny swing sets spoke of young families with children.

      He’d found he’d really rather go back to the hotel and grab an unsatisfying snack from the vending machine than endure the generous kindness he knew to expect from Katie and her old friend, but it would be rude to turn down the invitation. He might’ve moved across the country all those years ago and rarely looked back, but, as Katie pointed out, Peach Leaf was a small town, immune to the rapid changes of the rest of the world, and Ryan hadn’t forgotten his Southern manners.

      As he followed Katie’s directions and pulled into the gravel driveway of an aging but cozy-looking small blue cottage, he reminded himself that he’d agreed to spend an entire weekend with this woman—a woman he’d once loved so hard that leaving her had nearly ripped him apart—so what difference would an hour over dinner make?

      The pain of loss was nothing new to Ryan, and he would just have to steady himself until the time with her passed. Then he’d do the same as he worked on the hospital plans with his father, and sat through the dreaded town meeting to inform the residents of his hometown of the timeline for razing and replacing their beloved museum.

      He would endure, as he always had, and then it was back to his normal life in Seattle, the life he’d never adore but had come to tolerate for its predictable lack of complication.

      A life that didn’t include the inevitable hazards of love, babies...or, especially, Katie Bloom.

      * * *

      “I still can’t believe Ryan Ford is sitting out on our deck,” June whispered like a little girl at a slumber party.

      Katie just rolled her eyes. No matter the subject, June was always easily excited—it was one of the countless things she loved about her friend and housemate. The woman was a card-carrying, unapologetic romantic, and over the years she’d mused more than once about how sweet it would be if Katie’s childhood best friend, possibly divorced and pining over his long-lost sweetheart, swept back into town and earned Katie’s love again.

      In your dreams, Katie thought.

      Once, long ago, she might have indulged June’s silly fantasy, but she wasn’t a little girl anymore, and Ryan himself had taught her plenty about broken hearts. June could have her daydreams, but Katie preferred to stick with reality. She owed it to her soon-to-arrive little one to keep her head out of the clouds and to make decisions based on fact, rather than those tiny shivers of memory and desire that raced up her back every time she saw his face.

      June reached out to grab the empty pitcher from Katie’s hands as they stepped into their shared little kitchen with its buttercup-colored walls and French-blue accents. Though Katie loved it in there, it was really June’s domain. Her friend had been employed at Peach Leaf Pizza since high school and was now the manager. While June enjoyed her work, deep down she hoped to open her own bakery someday. Katie often wished her friend could have her dream job sooner, rather than having to work so long to save up enough to buy a venue. Then they would both have careers they really loved...

      Katie stopped what she was doing for a second as the awful recollection of her conversation with her boss pummeled into her with fresh intensity. She would have to tell June; in fact, there were a lot of unpleasant arrangements that would soon require attention. She wasn’t even certain she’d be able to continue living there in the shared home that had become her sanctuary after Bradley left.

      So much for the stability she wanted desperately to give her unborn baby.

      Katie pulled in a steadying breath and managed to pick her heart up from the floor before June’s cheery voice cut through. “I just cannot believe it. I always told you this day would come.”

      “Well,” Katie said, her voice sounding thinner than she’d intended, “you’d better believe it because there he is. And it’s not what you think—” she aimed what she hoped was a cautionary look at June “—so don’t get any ideas in that wild imagination of yours.”

      June ignored her and pulled a large container of lemonade out of the refrigerator. She refilled the pitcher while Katie pulled her friend’s fresh cobbler from the oven, the scent of warm vanilla and peaches, purchased from local farm stands and stored up for the winter months, filling the room—the perfect end to a lovely meal of rosemary-lemon chicken and potato salad. “And you expect me to believe you don’t feel anything for him anymore, after the history you two share? Time can’t erase everything, Katie.”

      How right she was.

      June studied her friend’s face and Katie shrugged, setting the warm dish of cobbler on a blue ceramic trivet, focusing her attention on the deepening twilight outside the kitchen window.

      Katie’s heart gave a little kick at the mention of her and Ryan’s past. She’d come to anticipate the feeling by now. A few long-term relationships, the most recent failed but resulting in a welcome new life, СКАЧАТЬ