His Woman, His Child by Beverly Barton

Author:Beverly Barton [Barton, Beverly]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, General
ISBN: 9781459258099
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2002-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

That night around eight, when Hank was moved into a private room, the whole family circled his bed as he came to groggily.

"I told this bunch of weeping females that you were too mean and ornery to die," Caleb said.

"How about some water?" Hank asked.

Everyone in the room made a move toward the water pitcher on the bedside table, but one by one, they halted and watched as Susan lifted the plastic jug, poured the water into a matching aqua-green glass and inserted a straw. She held the glass with one hand and put the straw to his lips with the other. He sipped the liquid slowly, all the while watching Susan closely.

"Thanks," he said after he'd drunk all he wanted.

Susan made no move to leave his side and no one tried to usurp her position. "I—we were very worried about you."

"I'm fine, honey." He glanced around the room at the others, each with their eyes diverted from Susan and him, and he realized that sometime between yesterday and today someone had told Tallie and Peyton and Donna Fields the truth about Susan's baby. It was there in all their faces, in the way they couldn't bring themselves to look directly at him. Obviously, everyone was aware of the bond between him and Susan—the bond that went beyond the fact that she was carrying his child. These were their friends and family, the people who knew them best, and they'd all made a unanimous judgment call. They all knew just how much he cared about Lowell's widow. And apparently Susan wasn't able to hide her feelings for him, either.

"No one outside this room ever needs to know the truth," Hank said. "That's the way Susan and I want to handle the situation. As far as anyone else knows or will ever know, the child Susan is carrying belongs to Lowell."

Silence hung heavily in the room, like a thick, anesthetic fog that had rendered everyone speechless. Caleb pulled up a chair alongside Hank's bed, then gave Susan a gentle nudge. She didn't protest in the least.

After she sat, she glanced around at the somber faces and said, "Hank and I don't ask for your approval, but we do ask for your support."

Hank lifted his left hand, the one not connected to a tube, and reached up toward Susan. She clasped his hand in hers.

He tried to squeeze her hand, but he didn't have the strength to do more than weakly grasp it. His head hurt. His side ached. And he was feeling a little sick to his stomach. The last thing he wanted was a confrontation with anyone, least of all his own family. He knew that Tallie probably felt just the way Caleb did—that if he didn't claim his child, he would live to regret it.

"I think it's time we all left and let Hank get some rest," Peyton Rand said. "We shouldn't forget that he was shot less than twelve hours ago."

"Peyt's right," Caleb agreed. "Let's clear out. We can all come back tomorrow.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.