Redheaded Stranger: A Cowboy Love Story (Bluebonnet, Texas) Read Free Page B

didn't blame her for being impatient, he really didn’t, but now...now it was about timing. There was no way he could go to his family now and say he was married and had a bouncing baby boy. An announcement like that would be tantamount to a slap in Ty and Betti’s faces. He turned into the daycare and parked, his mind reeling as he tried to think of a way to change Kei's mind.
    "Well that’s not how it feels. You have until the twenty-third to call or write them, Alexander. I want to meet your family. I want our son to meet his family. That's what I want for our anniversary." She slid out of the SUV before he could stop her, slamming the door with a solid thud.
    Great, just great. What a mess. How the hell could he call his family? How the hell could he go home for Christmas? Worse, how the hell could he tell Kei no?
    He watched Keilana exit the daycare a few minutes later, Darrach on her hip, her lips pursed. She was mad, and it wasn’t often she was angry with him. She barely glanced at him as she strapped the baby in the car seat and slammed the back door.
    "Don't slam the door on him like that," Alex snapped as she climbed in the passenger side.
    She glared at him, her eyebrows puckered together. "Don’t talk to me like that."
    "Kei, you know—"
    "No, Alexander!" She rounded on him, her dark eyes blazing. "No more excuses! This is the perfect way to make up for you losing your temper at Thanksgiving!"
    Swallowing hard, he turned to a wide-eyed Darrach in the back seat who was listening to his parents argue. His lower lip was puckered into a pout. "Hey, buddy," Alex said softly. He got a quivering smile in return. "Did you have a good day?"
    "Can we please go home?" The snap of her seatbelt echoed like a gunshot through the truck.
    Darrach mewled and his father was in complete empathy.
    * * *
    F or the first time in their marriage, he and Keilana were having A Major Fight . Not their usual kiss and make-up spats that barely lasted a day. Far from it. And nothing he did or said seemed to get through to her.
    December twenty-third finally arrived. Alex got up, dressed to go for a run and left her present—a diamond pendant and a gift certificate to her favorite spa—on the coffee table. When he returned at seven, the presents were gone and she sat curled up on the couch nursing Darrach. He stood at the foot of the couch, loose-limbed and sweaty from his run, hoping his peace offering was enough. "Happy Anniversary."
    She looked up at him expectantly. Waiting for more. Zander closed the space between them and sat beside her, not caring, for once, that he’d leave sweat stains on the material. Her brown eyes were so hopeful as she thanked him for her presents.
    He swallowed hard.  "You're welcome."
    "That’s it?" The hope in her eyes turned to sadness, then anger as a tiny frown puckered her brows. Her lips thinned and her grip on Darrach tightened. "You’re not going to do it, are you? You're not going to call them. Nothing?"
    He'd thought it over. He really had. Besides the Ty and Betti issue, no way was he spending Christmas with his folks. Not even for Kei could he do that. He slowly shook his head. "No, Kei—"
    "Fine." With a nod, she shifted, turning her back to him.
    Alex sat watching Darrach, who eyed him over her arm. "Kei." He reached for her, wondering just how he could explain the why of it to her in a way that she would finally understand.
    She jerked her shoulder away. "It’s going to be a long week."
    Their vacation week together officially started today.
    "I’m going to take a shower." He leaned over and kissed Darrach’s head, then headed for the stairs, where the sound of his name brought him up short.
    He turned to face her, swallowing his disappointment and sadness at her anger. An anger he rightly deserved.
    "I love you."
    "I love you too, Angel."
    ––––––––
    H e stripped off his sweaty clothes once he reached the second floor, dumped them in the laundry hamper right inside