A Baby of Her Own

Author:Brenda Novak [Novak, Brenda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9781426836664
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2002-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

TWO WEEKS LATER, Delaney was on her way to the ranch. Encompassing most of two mountains and a good portion of the valley between, it looked beautiful with the green of spring. Yellow wildflowers waved on the hillsides and the trees were just regaining their leaves. But she hadn’t come to enjoy the scenery.

Slowing at the gate that led to the house, she wiped away the moisture on her lip, wondering how she could be sweating in forty-degree weather. She tossed a nervous glance at the suitcases she’d piled in the back seat. She had enough clothes in those bags to spend all of spring away from home, and probably summer, too, but she didn’t intend to stay with Conner any longer than it took to gain his confidence and cooperation. It was just that packing had been therapeutic—all those neat folds and familiar steps to and from her closet—so she’d gotten carried away.

As she turned into the rutted drive, she recognized the white pickup that had been parked in front of Aunt Millie’s house when she’d come to dinner on Easter Sunday, and wished she had the nerve to ram it. She’d always weighed her actions carefully, stifled the dramatic, avoided anything that would make her look bad, anything that would make others look bad, anything that would be hurtful or foolish or require an apology. Anything, in short, with even the slightest negative consequences. But she was tired of all that. For some reason, she wanted to throw the biggest tantrum anyone had ever seen. All she’d ever wanted was a baby of her own. She’d lived a good life, followed the Golden Rule, gone to church, sacrificed for the good of the community. Was one baby too much to ask?

Evidently it was. Since that night in Boise, everything had started rolling downhill and was only gathering speed. Now she was a hostage to her baby’s father. Judging by the cryptic message he’d left on her answering machine last night, saying she’d better report for work by eight o’clock sharp, Conner planned to make the most of whatever power he imagined he possessed.

If he thought he’d take her baby, however, he had another think coming! She put a hand to her belly. No one, no one, was going to stand between her and this child.

Delaney parked to the side so the other vehicles in the drive—an old Chevy Suburban and a brown pickup truck with the tailgate down—could still get past her. Shoving the gearshift into park, she got out and collected her luggage. She dragged all three pieces to the front step, then punched the doorbell about ten times without pause, feeling vaguely satisfied when Conner answered, looking harried and still in the process of buttoning his flannel shirt.

“Give me a damn minute, will you?” he snapped, scowling at her.

“Eight o’clock sharp,” she said with a smile. Then she pushed one piece of luggage closer to the entrance. “What do you want me to do with

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