Texas-Sized Trouble

“You sure about that?” she asked in her one-last-chance tone.

“Have never been more certain of anything in my life.” If she wanted his help, making him angry was the wrong way to go about it. He didn’t like the idea of her putting herself in danger if that was the case, and he’d tried reasoning with her by telling her to bring in the law. If she didn’t have enough sense to stay out of harm’s way there wasn’t much he could do about it. “Why ask me to help in the first place? You had to know that I would refuse. You’re not exactly high on my list of people I want to see again.”

“You won’t turn me down. I know you and there’s something I’ve been keeping from you...” She paused long enough to put her hands on her belly. “Anything happens to me and your child goes with me. You’re going to be a father, Ryder. And that’s why I left you. If anyone found out this was your child, then my life, heck, your life, would be over.”

“Good one, Faith.” She wasn’t afraid to pull out all the stops on...

Hold on a damn minute. The look on her face slapped him with a new reality. Was she serious?

“That’s right, Ryder. I’m carrying your child.” Her lip quivered even though her words rolled off her tongue steady as steel.

She wasn’t lying?

He stood there for a long moment and stared at her, daring her to break the glaring contest and tell him she was joking. There was no way...

Was there?

A memory came back to him in a rush. He remembered one time when they’d been so lost and so into each other during their lovemaking neither had noticed that the condom he wore broke.

Okay, so it was possible. But that didn’t mean...

Ryder took a step toward Faith to really look into her eyes.

“You’re pregnant?” he asked, knowing full well that he’d be able to tell if she faltered. She’d never been able to look him in the eyes and flat-out lie. Or at least that’s what he’d believed. How much did he get to know the real her in the few months they’d spent time together? She’d already shocked him once by walking out. And now she’d thrown him the last news he’d expected to hear from her.

“Yes,” she said plain as day.

“And the child is mine?”

“Yes,” she said with that same certainty.

She wasn’t lying.

“If that’s true—and I need a little time to come to terms with that fact—why are you telling me now?” he asked, trying to absorb that news. He couldn’t begin to process the idea of becoming a father, and he wasn’t immediately sure how he felt about it. All he knew was that his life was about to change forever. He’d seen firsthand the effects of the baby boom on the ranch with a few of his brothers.

“Like I said, I need your help and I’ll do whatever it takes to get it,” she said, her gaze a study in determination.

“Including lie about me fathering your child?” He’d thrown that question out to see if he could knock her off balance.

She stood her ground. “We both know I’m not.”

“Then I expect you to take care of yourself. Running straight into a fire doesn’t exactly fit that bill,” he said, and he meant every word. Until they sorted this mess out and knew for sure that she was, in fact, pregnant and he was the father of her child, he expected her to treat herself like a princess.

A thought struck. Was there any chance she could be so desperate for help that she’d bluff to get him to agree to help her?

Ryder studied her expression. If she was lying, she was a pro. Then again, he hadn’t seen their breakup coming, either. He’d need time to digest the possibility of being a father, especially considering all that he’d been through in the past few months. He forced his thoughts away from the fact that she’d been his sole comfort during the most difficult time of his life and their relationship had been about more than just the sex. It was saying a lot that they could be so into each other that a condom had broken and neither one realized until it was too late. Sex with Faith had been right up there with the best of his life. If he was being honest, it topped the list. Not something he cared to admit right now or dwell on too much. Even though the sex was great, there’d been so much more. He wasn’t normally one for a lot of words but holding her in their afterglow and doing just that—talking—had been even better than the sex. And that was saying a helluva lot.

“You know this qualifies as blackmail,” he said, his brain refusing to fully comprehend the news. He’d want a DNA test to be sure. And if the results proved his paternity, then he’d do what a man should—take care of his own.

“Does that mean you’ll help me?”

* * *

“GET IN. YOU’RE DAMN right we need to talk. Not here where everyone can see us,” Ryder said, opening the passenger door of his pickup and then walking around to the driver’s side without waiting for her to climb inside.

Faith almost backed out after seeing the hurt in his eyes after dropping the pregnancy bomb. She thought better of it. Yes, he was angry at her, but she’d realized that it was the only way to secure his help, and he was the only person she could trust right now.

All plans to find the perfect time to tell him about the pregnancy and have a civil conversation had flown out the window with her desperation. What she’d said was true, though. Her life would be over if her father found out she was carrying an O’Brien child.

“Don’t take me home or into town,” Faith said as she positioned herself in the seat of his dual-cab pickup and then buckled in. She hadn’t expected to play the pregnancy card with Ryder, but she was frantic. His shocked reaction braided her stomach lining.

Seeing him again had hurt like hell and she was still trying to regain her balance. He looked even better than she remembered with those sharp jet-black eyes and dark hair. He was six feet three inches of masculine muscle. And even angry, he was gorgeous. Walking away from him after finding out she was pregnant had nearly killed her, but she’d been his temporary shelter in a storm—a storm that was about to become a hurricane. Once the storm blew over and he regained his bearings he would’ve realized the same thing she had—a McCabe and an O’Brien didn’t stand a chance.

“What? Afraid to be seen with me?” he bit out. His voice poured over her, netting a physical reaction she couldn’t afford.

“Of course not.” She did her best to shake off his bitter tone. It was a temporary reaction to having his world rocked. He needed a minute to cool off so he could start thinking rationally again. It was a good sign that he wanted to talk. Deep down, he was a good man.

Besides, Faith could relate to the emotions that had to be zipping through him right now. The pregnancy wasn’t supposed to happen. The decisions she’d made after weren’t supposed to be part of her plans. And all that was predicated on the fact that she wasn’t supposed to fall for an O’Brien, let alone the renegade twin brother. And that was probably it. Her attraction was so strong because he was exciting and a breath of fresh air. Ryder had always been so alive, when she’d felt restricted for so many years living under her parents’ roof with three older brothers watching her every move. The family’s double standard that the boys could run buck wild and she had to practically be a nun had been suffocating.

Ryder represented danger and excitement, and her foolish heart had fallen hard for him when she’d seen him wandering around the lake, looking lost after news of his parents had made headlines. Everything about the O’Briens was news. Murder had been beyond scandal.

The next few months of their relationship had been insane and incredible. Secret rendezvous at his fishing cabin. Both of them escaping reality and getting lost in each other. Talking for hours into the night. She’d almost forgotten that he was an O’Brien and she was a McCabe until she’d overheard him on his cell phone with his brother, cursing her father, questioning whether he’d had anything to do with his parents’ murders.

She could understand his distrust of her father. The man was a shrewd businessman and even she could admit that he pushed the legal boundaries beyond their limits. Worse to her, the man was a philanderer, and she’d watched her mother fade over the years as she accepted his behavior even though he could be quite charming when he wanted to be. But murder?

Her father might have loose morals and no conscience when it came to business, but he wasn’t capable of killing anyone.

And then another blow had come when Ryder’s brother asked where Ryder was and what he was doing all those times he’d been with her. He’d responded that he hadn’t been doing anything special. He’d just been getting away for fresh air and spending time alone to sort out his thoughts.

Reality had been a hard slap. Spending time with her hadn’t been as special to him as it had been to her. They’d been sneaking around like teenagers and she started to wonder if the reason was because he’d been embarrassed to be seen with her. He would always be an O’Brien and she would always be a McCabe. And he, like everyone in Bluff, would always see her in a different light because of it.

When she’d learned that she was pregnant, she panicked. A real life with Ryder was out of the question. Dating Trouble and the others had been her way of throwing everyone off the trail, including Ryder. He wouldn’t want a McCabe baby any more than her parents would ever accept an O’Brien. It would be bad enough in her parents’ eyes that she was pregnant without being married, but having an O’Brien in the family would be all-out war. Not only would her parents make her life miserable but they’d make her unborn child miserable, too.

And that wasn’t even the worst of it. She feared that Ryder—who was just spending time with her, not getting serious—would want to man up and do the right thing by his child. His Texas upbringing would influence him, and he’d probably propose marriage. If hormones got the best of her—and they had made her crazy so far—she might actually accept. And then what?

Would they stay together for the sake of the child eighteen unhappy years until said kid went off to college and the two of them could finally separate? That’s exactly what her parents had done. Her own mother had been forced to come back and had never been the same. Faith’s father didn’t curb his appetite for chasing pretty much anything in a skirt. Faith had known since she was old enough to figure out what was happening. And her mother was broken. Still broken. She seemed different lately. Worse, if that was even possible.

Faith’s siblings seemed blind to it all. And they were another reason a relationship between her and Ryder could never work...if her father didn’t kill him, her brothers would. The O’Briens and McCabes were worse than oil and water. They were gasoline and forest fire.

Even so, maybe it was good that her secret was out. Working side by side, she could convince Ryder the best course of action would be to keep the secret. Surely he would come to the same conclusion she had. Besides, she had a plan.

Break the news and each guy she’d gone out with would distance himself from any suspicion of being the father of her child. And then she could tell her parents that she wanted to bring up her baby alone. She didn’t really care who the father was, even though her heart screamed at her that she did. Her father wouldn’t interfere with her plans to leave town. Heck, he’d tell her to get out after embarrassing him. And then she and her baby could live in peace. That was the only real chance her child had of growing up normal.

Righteous or not, telling Ryder complicated her plans. Had she really believed that she could’ve left town without telling him about the baby? She’d initially feared that he’d put two and two together when news of her pregnancy broke. And that’s exactly the reason she’d handled their breakup the way she had. The O’Briens were proud, honest men. And her actions had been the only way to ensure Ryder wouldn’t do anything stupid, like propose marriage for the baby’s sake and ruin both their lives. A fist tightened in her stomach. Breathe.

She’d take things one step at a time. For now, she’d secure Ryder’s help. Finding Nicholas had to be her top priority even if it meant turning her life upside down.

“Getting out anytime soon or do you plan to sit in here all night?” Ryder asked, and he sounded concerned.

Faith hadn’t realized the pickup had stopped.

“Yeah, sure.” She blinked at him.

He sat there, staring at her, making everything harder than she expected. In her heart of hearts she’d known that she couldn’t keep the pregnancy secret from him forever. Her obstetrician had said she could expect to start showing soon. This being the first pregnancy had bought her some extra time and she could easily cover what was going on so far.

Time was supposed to bring wisdom as to how she should handle sharing the news. It hadn’t. She hadn’t breathed a word to anyone. And keeping a secret like this had been more than difficult. It felt good to finally tell someone about the baby, but she needed to stay on track. None of her problems seemed as important or immediate as finding Nicholas.

The sky was pitch-black as she climbed out of the truck. The chilly air nipped at her through her dress. She wished she’d worn a coat as she shivered. Normally, the hot hormones had her wishing she could pack herself in ice. Not today.

A blanket of clouds covered the stars. It was too dark outside to see where he’d taken her, and she’d been in a daze for the ride over, not paying attention. As she gained her footing in the gravel it hit her. Ryder had taken her to the fishing cabin.

A wall of memories crashed around her. This was the place they’d met countless times, made love more than she cared to remember...and she’d lost her heart.

Doubts crept in as to whether or not she was doing the right thing being with Ryder at all with every step toward the cabin. He had the power to crush her with a few words.

“Maybe we should go somewhere else to talk.” Panic squeezed her chest as she approached the basic log cabin. A reasonable voice overrode her emotions. Ryder was the only one she could tell about Nicholas and the only one who understood how much was at stake as she made the decision to locate him.

“No one will find us here. Isn’t that what you want?” His deep voice, warm and soothing, was like pouring whiskey over crackling ice.

“Yes,” she conceded, very aware of the masculine presence behind her, guiding her with his hand on the small of her back.

Chapter Two

Faith sat on the edge of the couch in the living room, ignoring the sensual shivers climbing up her arms. She wished she could block out memories as easily. The last time she and Ryder had been at the cabin, their naked bodies had been entwined until morning.

Tall, with the muscles of a well-honed athlete, Ryder had a physical appeal that hadn’t dimmed in the least and her hormones had all of her senses heightened. His dark hair framed a squared jaw, and he had the most piercing jet-black eyes. Everything about the way he looked communicated strength, confidence and a little bit of danger. And after the news she’d broken, fierceness. All of which would be a good thing if she could harness it toward helping find Nicholas.

“Take me back to the beginning. How do you know the baby is mine?” Ryder’s question was a bullet to the heart.

“You were the only option,” she fired back, and her plan of using the other men to throw everyone off the trail seemed to dawn on him.

“Did you plan on telling me eventually?” he asked after another uneasy minute had passed.

“Yes, and we can discuss anything else you want after we find Nicholas.” She needed to direct the conversation back on task.

“Holding a pregnancy over my head is blackmail, Faith.” His normally strong, all-male persona faded with the look of confusion in his dark eyes.

She hated that this was her fault. Well, not the pregnancy. It’d taken two to dance that tango. She took the blame for the way Ryder was finding out. Seeing the hurt in his eyes knifed her. But she needed to stay strong for Nicholas’s sake and not let anything else derail her from her search. She knew in her heart that her brother was in trouble. “I’m sorry for how this has gone down, Ryder. I truly am. But I’m desperate to find Nicholas and you weren’t going to help me any other way.”

He seemed to take a minute to contemplate that thought while he assessed her, his attention on her belly.

“How much longer before the baby comes?” he asked.

“I’m almost five months along,” she said, her hand instinctively coming up to her stomach.

“Boy or girl?” His voice was steel, giving nothing away of his emotions now.

“One of those,” she said. Having her doctor tell her the sex of the baby made it that much more real. For that reason, she’d decided to wait. And then there was the fact that it seemed wrong to know without the father present.

“They don’t know?”

“I asked my doctor not to tell me,” she said.

Another few minutes of silence passed. Her need to press Ryder in order to get his agreement to help find Nicholas warred with her better judgment. She’d played her hand with Ryder and there wasn’t much more she could do to follow the trail without his help, not without the possibility of putting their baby at risk given that the SUV driver was becoming more aggressive.

Three days was a long time to be missing. Anything could be happening to her little brother right now...

Tears burst through just thinking about any harm coming to Nicholas.

“I’m sorry,” she said, trying to pull it together, “it’s just hormones giving me mood swings. They make it hard to think rationally.”

Ryder studied her.

“How do you know your half brother didn’t get fed up with his mother and run away?” he asked as she tried to force her gaze away from his lips—lips that made her body zing with awareness at the thought of how he’d once used the tip of his tongue to trail her curves. Faith admonished herself. That thought couldn’t be more inappropriate under the circumstances. Her hormones didn’t just make her emotional. They made her miss having sex even more.

“We had plans, and besides, he would’ve told me,” she said.

“You sure about that? Even people you think you know can shock the hell out of you.” Ryder’s tense, aggressive posture would strike fear in any reasonable person. She knew him well enough to know that he would never do anything to hurt her.

Faith told herself nothing mattered more than getting his agreement to help find Nicholas. And she was making gains on that front; she could tell by how bunched his face muscles looked and the tic over his left eye—all positive signs she was making headway. He was in conflict with himself and that was a good thing for her. The very fact that he’d agreed to discuss the matter privately was her first real step in the right direction. She could put up with his intense scrutiny if it meant gaining his agreement to find her brother.

“As sure as I can be. We’re close. I’ve been checking on him ever since I found out about him, so around kindergarten, and he doesn’t have any other siblings. Well, none that he knows,” she said. “My brothers would never acknowledge him if they knew, and he’s so much better than they are anyway. I would do anything I could to keep them separate and make sure they had no influence over him.”

This wasn’t the time to recount all the shortcomings of McCabe men.

“Why do you know about him but your brothers don’t?” he asked. It was a fair question.

“I spent summers working for my dad. I was being groomed for the family business and my job was learning the paperwork. I don’t have to tell you how much running a ranch is about dealing with stacks of documents. Legal papers were on my dad’s desk. I guess they got mixed up with a stack of bills. He was being sued for child support by Nicholas’s mother. You can imagine how that turned out. My dad got himself out of paying. Actually his lawyers did. So I’ve been sneaking money to Nicholas for the past ten years.”

“How do you know he’s your blood relative?” he asked.

She retrieved her cell phone from her purse and then scrolled through pictures, stopping at a recent one of her and Nicholas together. She held out her phone to Ryder so he could see.

“There’s no denying the resemblance,” he said, studying the likeness.

“He looks like a mini, younger version of Jason, only he’s nicer.” Jason was the youngest of her three brothers and her senior by four years. He’d been the toughest, too, having spent his life proving to his two older brothers, Jesse and Jimmy, that he could hold his own.

“I’ve learned not to trust the actions of any McCabe,” Ryder said flatly. He was obviously referring to her walking out and the pregnancy news.

She had that coming.

Glancing down at her stomach, she said, “I didn’t do this alone.”

Ryder made a face like he was about to say something hateful and seemed to think better of it, when he pressed his lips into a thin line instead.

“It’s probably for the best if we stick to the reason we’re here. For now,” Ryder said. Those last two words came out as a warning she knew better than to disregard.

“Fine.” She had no doubt the two of them would be doing a lot of talking about the future of their baby once the dust settled. A very large part of her had been dreading the inevitable conversation with him for months now and yet another side couldn’t deny that she wanted to involve Ryder. The first trimester had been too much about trying to keep food down to worry about what she would say to him. Who knew morning sickness actually meant throwing up all day? Her queasiness had finally let up a couple of weeks ago and she’d been trying to plan out her words ever since. She’d tried to convince herself that it would be a good idea to leave town without ever telling Ryder. She knew in her heart that she could never do that to him. No matter how strong the arguments against it waged inside her head, he had a right to know.

Ryder pulled a chair from the kitchenette, turned it around backward and straddled it opposite the coffee table. “Tell me what really has you so worried.”

“Nicholas might be a McCabe but he’s nothing like the boys in my family, despite having a worthless mother. He’s fifteen and plays on the school soccer team. His grades are good. He’s always talking about a future, getting a scholarship, going to college,” she said, probably more defensively than she’d intended. “He’s a decent kid, Ryder.”

“If that were completely true, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Ryder had a way of looking right through her. She worried he’d see her fear while she was trying to put up a brave front.

“That’s why none of this makes sense. He wouldn’t just disappear like that. He’s not that kind of kid.”

Ryder’s look of disbelief struck a bad chord.

“I know you can’t stand my family and you may never trust me again, but I know Nicholas wouldn’t up and disappear without telling me,” she said, hating the defensiveness in her tone. Ryder’s not believing her hurt more than it should.

“What else do you know about his life besides what I could read on a college application? Have you met any of his friends?” Ryder asked.

“We kept our relationship secret. So, no,” she said honestly.

“Seems you’re full of deceptions,” he shot back. “I’m guessing that’s why I never heard about him before.”

Her first instinct was to fight back. She let that zinger go for the sake of her little brother, even though it scored a direct hit. Common sense said that arguing with Ryder wouldn’t get her what she needed. Besides, a little piece of her knew that Ryder had every right to be upset with her and he was still reacting to the bomb she’d dropped on him. She should’ve gone to him with the news or given him a better reason for the breakup, instead of chickening out while she was waiting for him so they could talk and deciding to scribble her exit on the only thing she had in her purse, a Post-it.