brides for brothers 15 - a randall hero (8 page)

Strange that he was struck by love on a dark night more than an hour out of town by a pregnant married woman.

It wasn’t a good situation. But somehow it didn’t matter. Lucy had needed him then. He still remembered those hours in the truck holding her in his arms. Arms that ached to hold her again…and again.

But he couldn’t. Not yet.

Instead he held Emma, so her mommy could sleep. He hoped Lucy knew he did that for her, because as much as he loved Emma, he loved her mother more.

T
HE NEXT MORNING,
after Lucy had fed her baby and played with her, Lucy put her in her crib and went to the kitchen.

“May I have a cup of coffee?” Lucy asked.

“Of course, dear. The pot’s always on.”

“I wanted to apologize for bringing up the story about how you and Griff met. I didn’t realize John wouldn’t know.”

“I had forgotten he and Melissa didn’t know. We didn’t think we should tell them because of their grandfather. He was greatly embarrassed by his past.”

“I can imagine. I’m glad John took it as well as he did.”

“Yes. He’s a good boy. I shouldn’t say that. He’s a man now, not a boy.”

“Yes, he is. He got up with Emma at midnight. I tried to get him to go back to bed, but he threatened to wake you up.”

Camille laughed. “He’s a little hardheaded.”

“I realized that. I finally went to sleep, but I felt badly, knowing he’d be up at six.”

“He was worried about you getting too tired from our luncheon yesterday. He’s such a worrywart.”

“That was thoughtful of him.” More than thoughtful. It was so caring of John. He was willing to suffer himself if it would help her.

“Yes, it was.”

“Well, I’d better go put some clothes into the wash. I’m afraid I’m going to wear out your washer and dryer with all the washing for Emma.”

“Babies are like that. And it will be that way for at least two years.”

“I’ll have to find a place to lease with a good washer and dryer.”

Camille stared at Lucy. Then she picked up Lucy’s coffee cup and moved into the kitchen. “Yes, of course.”

Camille warned herself she couldn’t hold Lucy against her will. She could leave if that was her choice. But Camille realized how much she wanted Lucy and Emma to stay. She’d just have to work on Harry and Melissa when they came back.

W
HEN
J
OHN CAME IN
just before dark, Lucy was in the kitchen, helping his mother get dinner ready.

“Did you take a nap today?” he asked without saying hello.

Camille looked at her son. “Why no, dear, I didn’t. But then, I wasn’t tired.”

“Mom, you know I’m talking to Lucy.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that. Did you, Lucy?”

“No, I didn’t.” Lucy kept her head down, filling a bowl with black-eyed peas.

“Excuse me. Lucy, did you take a nap today?”

She set the pan in the sink and filled it with water before she looked at him. “No, I didn’t. I wasn’t tired.”

“You can’t expect to get up all night with Emma if you don’t get enough sleep.”

“I don’t think I did get up with Emma every time last night…did I?” Lucy arched an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” Griff eyed the two of them.

John turned bright red and looked at his parents. “I—I got up with Emma at midnight.”

“But, dear, if you’re getting up at six in the morning, how can you possibly get up at midnight with Emma?” Camille asked.

“One time didn’t hurt, Mom. After you went to that luncheon, you knew Lucy would be tired. She needed more rest than she was going to get from a nap.”

Griff put a hand on both Camille’s and John’s shoulders. “We can discuss this later. Right now I think dinner is ready.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Camille said.

John turned to stare at his father. “I don’t think this is something we need to discuss. I was just trying to help Lucy.”

“I know, son. But your mother has a point. You need sleep. Accidents have happened before, you know.”

His father pulled him to his place. “Sit down, son. You don’t want to have this argument now.”

“What argument? I’m just trying to—”

“We’re ready to eat now.” Camille sat down at the table and looked at John and her husband. “Aren’t you going to join us, you two?”

“Yeah,” John growled, shifting to dislodge his father’s hold.

Lucy stared at first John and then Griff. Quietly, she said, “If I’m causing problems in your family, I can leave.”

Griff grinned at her. “No, you’re not causing problems. Besides, we always have problems. You should’ve lived here with my daughter before she went to France.”

Lucy looked at Griff, a question in her eyes. “She went to France? For a trip, you mean?”

“Oh, no. Her mother insisted I let her go to France for a semester. And it took her six years to come home.”

“My, that’s a long trip.”

“Melissa designs jewelry and she started working for a well-known designer in France,” Camille explained. “She didn’t come back until I needed surgery.”

“And that’s when Harry met her?”

“Yeah,” John said. “And he never had a chance. One look at her and it was all over.” Just as it was with him, he thought, after one look at Lucy. Strange that both he and Harry fell for the other’s sister.

“She must be really beautiful.”

“Yes, she is,” Camille said with a big smile. “She looks like her father.”

“No, sweetheart, she takes after you,” Griff said with a smile. “The only difference is that her hair is dark, like mine.”

“That’s nice, but can someone pass the meat, please,” John said, interrupting.

Lucy picked up the platter of chicken-fried steak and passed it across the table to John. “Are you hungry, John?”

“I’m starved.”

“He’s always hungry when he gets in in the evening,” Camille told her.

“Does he get grumpy if he doesn’t get food right away, like Emma?” Lucy asked with a smile.

“Exactly,” Camille agreed.

“So have some peas, John,” Lucy said, passing the bowl. “And mashed potatoes.”

John filled his plate high, then grunted as he shoveled in food.

Several minutes later, John realized Lucy was staring at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Where do you put all of that?”

“All of what?”

“The food.”

John shrugged. “I get hungry when I ride all day. A cowboy has a voracious appetite.”

He had a voracious appetite, all right. For her.

Swallowing the thought, he averted his eyes from her beautiful face. Just before Lucy got up and ran from the room.

L
UCY BURIED HER FACE
in her arms and let the tears escape.

She knew she was hormonal after just having had her baby, but even she was surprised by how many tears she shed. And all because she was in lo—No, she refused to say the word. She tried again. All because she had feelings for John. Feelings she had no right to at this point in her life.

“Lucy?”

Hearing his voice at her closed door, she covered her head even more. “Go away!” she choked out.

“I can’t do that. I want to know why you’re crying.”

“No!”

He didn’t say anything and Lucy wasn’t going to look to see if he’d gone.

“Come back and eat your dinner.”

“No, I’m not hungry.”

“Lucy, you’ve scarcely eaten. Come finish your dinner.”

“No, I—I can’t.”

She heard him open the door, felt him sit down on the edge of her bed. Then his hand settled on her shoulder and pulled her back so he could look at her face. “What’s going on?”

“N-nothing,” she said, trying to avoid looking him in the eye.

“Why are you crying?’

“It—it just happens when you have a baby.”

“If that’s true, why are you hiding? Why not come back to dinner?”

She let her head drop. Then she nodded. “Yes, of course, I’m coming back to the table.” She was a mature adult, after all, capable of being courteous and cordial despite her breaking heart.

“Good. You need to eat a good meal.”

“I need to wash my face. Then I’ll come back to the table.”

John paused and Lucy held her breath. “Okay, I’ll go on ahead. But you’ll come?”

“Yes, I’ll come.” And she’d stare her feelings right in the eye, dare them to overcome her.

She didn’t go to the bathroom until after he’d left her room. Then she went in and washed her face. She was horribly embarrassed. Now she had to go to the table and face the Randalls.

And hope she could avoid a detailed questioning.

J
OHN WENT BACK
to the table. “Lucy will be here in a minute. I think we shouldn’t ask too many questions.”

“But why was she crying?”

“I’m not sure, Mom. We need to give her some space.”

“You think so?” Griff asked. “She won’t maybe think about leaving?”

John frowned. “I don’t think so.”

About that time they heard Lucy coming down the hall. She slipped into her chair and muttered an apology. With her head down, she ate a decent meal. John knew because he kept an eye on her.

Just as they finished, she asked, “Is my car parked at Larry’s garage?”

“Why, yes, it’s there,” John said. “Did you need it?”

“I just wondered.”

John looked at his father. Could his dad be right? Was Lucy planning on leaving? But he wasn’t sure why she was upset. She’d put him off by saying it was because she’d just given birth. But there was no way he was letting her leave.

Lucy went to the kitchen with his mother to help with the cleanup. But she didn’t look anyone in the eye. Which meant she was doing exactly as she’d planned from the time he forced her out of her bedroom.

She was going away.

With Emma.

Not if he could help it. She wouldn’t last long trying to hide from Cecil and provide for her baby.

He couldn’t keep his promise and protect her from Cecil if she lived somewhere else. So why was she running away? What did she have to hide?

Lucy had no choice but to hide her feelings. And run. That had become clear to her as she’d sat across from John at dinner. She’d been so aware of him, so attracted to him, she could barely swallow. Staying here near John was no longer possible.

After she’d run from dinner, she’d spent the rest of the night trying to figure out the fastest way to reach her car. But all she came up with was to walk to Rawhide. It took a fifteen-minute car ride. How long would it take her to walk it, carrying Emma?

She couldn’t take much. Lying in bed in the dark, she carefully thought out what she could take. In the closet was a backpack she’d seen when she’d arrived. She planned only a change of clothes for her, but Emma would need more. If she packed tightly, she thought she could fit enough of the baby’s clothing.

Without a washer and dryer, she’d need a lot. Maybe she could manage to make it until she found a motel with laundry facilities.

And of course she’d need food, too. It made Lucy wish she were nursing her child. But because she’d been afraid she might not survive, she wanted her child to be bottle-fed.

She’d also have to take breakfast for herself. She wouldn’t be able to stop anywhere in Rawhide or nearby. John might come looking for her, so she couldn’t leave clues.

Not even if she wanted to.

Leaving John was something she tried not to think about. He’d said he would keep her safe, but he wouldn’t want to when he discovered she loved him. That was why she had to leave.

She heard Emma starting to wake up. Her child didn’t start crying at once. She would squirm around and make sweet sounds. Lucy had learned to recognize those sounds. She got out of bed and hurried to the crib.

“Hello, sweet angel. I know you’re awake and want your bottle, but we need to get you all dry first. See, here’s a dry diaper. They make you feel good, don’t they?”

After she fastened the diaper, she pulled Emma’s nightgown down. “Now you’re ready for your bottle. Let’s go fix it so you can drink it down. Then we’ll have to go.”

She kept telling herself they were doing the right thing. But she didn’t believe it. She didn’t want to leave. John was wonderful and he’d promised to protect her. But she couldn’t ask that of him. He shouldn’t risk his life for someone who didn’t, couldn’t, give back to him.

But she must not confess that to John.

She fixed Emma’s bottle and sat in the rocker—for the last time—to feed her. Emma gladly sucked on the bottle, not realizing she’d soon be leaving this comfortable home.

After burping Emma, she rose and put the baby back in her crib. Then she went to her own room and got the backpack out of the closet. She packed one change of clothes for herself in the bottom of the pack. Then she went to Emma’s room and hurriedly picked out as many pieces of baby clothing as she could get in the bag with room left at the top for the powdered food that she could mix with water to make bottles.

After that, she went to the kitchen and made up another bottle to have ready when Emma woke up three or four hours later.

Packing it, she shrugged the backpack on one shoulder and headed for Emma’s room. She gently picked up her baby and wrapped her in a blanket, then covered her with another, heavier one.

Taking a deep breath, she said goodbye to the Randalls and tiptoed to the back door.

Till a deep voice, one that she recognized, said, “Going somewhere?”

Chapter Seven

Lucy almost dropped her most precious bundle, she was so startled.

She clutched the baby tightly. “Wh-what are you doing out here?”

“Waiting for you. Where are you going?”

Sighing, she mustered her courage and faced him. “John, I have to go. Will you give me a ride to Rawhide so I can get my car?”

“Why?”

“Because I need it. How else will I get away?”

“Why are you leaving?”

Lucy swallowed hard. “I—I don’t want you to suffer. It’s better if I go away.”

“And does Emma deserve that?”

“I’ll take care of Emma.”

“And if your husband finds you?”

“As long as I keep moving, he won’t find me.” At least she prayed that was true.

John reached out for Emma. “Give her to me before you squeeze all the air out of her.”