The Cowboy's Triple Surprise. Barbara Daille White

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СКАЧАТЬ area near where she was working.

      He had just come within yards of her when she pulled a cell phone from the bag she had hooked over the back of her chair. After checking the display, she turned to Tina. “I need another break. And I missed a call from my grandmother.”

      “Give Mo our regards,” Tina said.

      Shay nodded. This time she appeared to have less trouble getting up. She also seemed to be in a hurry, as if she wanted to get out of her seat before he could lend his help.

      He watched her walk off.

      A few minutes later, Tina left the ballroom, too.

      Time ticked away, and neither of the women returned.

      Eventually, Jed and Paz stopped in the doorway and surveyed the setup. Tyler tucked the final two chairs beneath a table, then sauntered in their direction.

      “Looking good,” Jed said.

      Tyler eyed the room and tried to see it from the older man’s perspective. All the tables had been covered with long white cloths and shorter pale blue ones, but only half the sets of silverware wrapped in white napkins had been put in place. And there were no decorations around the room yet.

      He gestured to the folding table at which Shay and Tina had been sitting. “Looks like two of your helpers have deserted you.”

      “Tina had to go back to work in her office,” Paz said.

      “And Shay left,” Jed put in, answering Tyler’s unspoken question.

      “Left?” he asked, startled. Then he backpedaled, trying to downplay his interest. “I mean, I thought she was in charge of table decorations.”

      “She is. But she got a call from her grandma and said she had to go home.”

      Jed made the statement so calmly, Tyler couldn’t jump to the conclusion that anything was wrong. He also couldn’t keep from wondering whether Shay had wanted to avoid him. At that thought, the hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention. She had no reason to stay away from him now. He’d assured her he wouldn’t bring up their past.

      He thought back to Cole and Tina’s wedding and what had happened a couple of days after, and couldn’t help rechecking his math. But even if the dates tallied, that didn’t have to mean a thing. They’d seen each other less than a handful of times. They’d slept together once. What were the chances she’d gotten pregnant from what amounted to a one-night stand? A heck of a lot slimmer than her waist right now, that was sure.

      He focused on his surroundings again and found Paz looking his way. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear he saw sympathy in her gaze.

      “Shay told me to tell Jed she was sorry,” she explained. “Her grandmother is fine. I think it was Shay who wasn’t feeling well. Tina will call her in a little while to make sure she arrived home.”

      “Good idea.” Jed nodded.

      “If she felt that sick,” Tyler said, “you’d think she’d have called her husband to pick her up.”

      “Doesn’t have a husband,” Jed returned.

      “No novio—boyfriend—either,” Paz added.

      Exactly the question Tyler’s mental mathematics had caused him to consider all afternoon. But asking Jed or Paz about Shay’s pregnancy would only bring more unwanted attention to his interest in a woman he should only barely know.

      * * *

      SHAY STRETCHED OUT on her friend’s couch, putting her tired feet up in hopes of easing the swelling. She pulled the afghan from the back of the couch and spread it over her, but even the weight of the knitted wool couldn’t banish the chill she felt.

      Layne came from the apartment’s small kitchen carrying a tray with a couple of mugs and a plate of cookies. When she held out one of the steaming mugs, Shay took it gratefully.

      Though she hadn’t eaten much of her lunch at the Hitching Post, she couldn’t even look at the cookies. When she got home, she would have to have something. Not now. The way her stomach felt at the moment, she almost didn’t want to risk a sip of tea, either. But she needed the warmth. Needed the mug to hold on to.

      She sighed again and glanced at Layne, the only person who knew the truth about her pregnancy. “Tyler’s going to figure out the timing, if he hasn’t already. Even if he’s not the type to keep track of dates—” or to keep track of his conquests “—he’ll remember the month of the wedding. So many brides get married in June.”

      As if to challenge that tradition, Layne and her ex-husband had remarried at the Hitching Post just this past weekend.

      Shortly before that, Jed’s widowed granddaughter, Andi, had gotten married, too. Those newlyweds were still away on their honeymoon.

      Like Tina, Shay had always dreamed of a June wedding and lots of children. Her dreams never included having those children first or raising a family on her own.

      But she wouldn’t be alone. She had Grandma and Layne and the Garlands, and the rest of her friends. They were all she needed. All her babies needed, too.

      “He’ll figure it out,” she said again. “Or maybe someone at the Hitching Post already told him my due date.”

      “Is that so bad?” Layne asked quietly. “You’re going to tell him, anyway, aren’t you?”

      “No, I’m not.” A flash of anger left her breathless. But it was fury at her own actions that caused tears to rise beneath her hurt. What a fool she had been to fall for Tyler’s dark good looks, his great pickup lines and his pretense of genuine interest. Well, he had truly been interested in something, anyhow. In getting her into bed. And she had made it all too easy for him. She tightened her fingers around the mug. “He slept with me—once—and never looked back. Why would I chase after him to tell him the news?”

      “Because he’s the father.”

      “No, he’s not.”

      Layne’s eyes opened so wide, Shay couldn’t help but laugh. Then, sobering, she slumped against the couch cushion. “Of course he’s the father. I don’t...”

      I don’t sleep around. But she had. One single time.

      She glanced across the living room to where Layne’s little girl lay sleeping in her playpen. Layne’s new husband had left a few minutes ago, taking their son into the kids’ room to read him a story.

      “Don’t worry,” Layne said, “they’ll be good for an hour or more.”

      Shay nodded. Still, she lowered her voice, as much out of reluctance to confess the truth as from the worry she would be overheard. “I only meant that Tyler wouldn’t be a real father. How could he be? And why would I want him to be, when he didn’t care enough about me to come back again, or even to call or send me a text?”

      “You don’t know what happened after he left.”

      “I don’t want to know,” she said flatly. “I don’t want to know anything СКАЧАТЬ