The Texan's Surprise Baby Read Free Page B

knowing his patience would last only so long. “We’ll talk.”
    She turned toward her car, only to be stopped by his hand on her arm. “Hannah.”
    Looking up at him, she whispered, “What?”
    “It’s going to be okay.”
    She moistened her lips. “I know.”
    He smoothed a strand of hair away from her cheek. “I’ll see you at the resort.”
    Nodding, she hurried toward her car, resisting an impulse to lay a hand on her cheek where his fingers had touched.
    She drove straight to the grocery store. She had forgotten to bring a list and she was still so rattled from her brief meeting with Andrew that she could hardly think about what she needed. She drifted down the aisles of the store fifteen minutes after parting from him, staring blankly at the shelves and trying to focus on the task at hand rather than the challenges that lay ahead. With yogurt, fresh fruit and a bag of cookies in her cart, she turned a corner only to have her day take yet another downturn as she came face-to-face with her former in-laws, Justine and Chuck Cavender. It was the first time she had seen them since their son had been arrested for embezzlement and attempted extortion against Hannah’s family.
    “Hannah!” Justine’s first startled reaction was pleasure. She and Hannah had gotten along well enough before the acrimonious divorce. But then her gaze lowered and her smile was replaced with a stricken expression. “Oh. You’re—”
    Chuck had never been particularly fond of Hannah to start with—primarily, Hannah suspected, because he’d believed every lie Wade had told about what a terrible wife she’d been. Chuck had enabled, apologized for and deflected blame for his son for all of Wade’s life, which Hannah believed was part of the reason Wade sat in jail now. Wade could be charming, convincing and manipulative—her marriage to him was proof enough of that—but the streak of meanness that lay beneath his amiable mask came straight from his father.
    Chuck snarled at Hannah, “Get out of our way.”
    She scooted her cart as far to one side as she could. She almost apologized for being in his path, but she bit her tongue. She’d apologized too many times to both Wade and his father for things that had not been her fault. She was not sliding back into that pattern now. Chuck shoved his cart forward, almost slamming into hers despite the room she had left him.
    Falling into step behind her husband, Justine gave Hannah a mournful look. “I’d always hoped you and Wade would give us grandchildren,” she murmured.
    “Instead, she sent our boy to prison,” Chuck snapped over his shoulder, discounting Wade’s part in his fate. “And then went slutting around and got herself knocked up when she’s not even married. Personally, I’m glad she isn’t a mother to any grandchildren of ours.”
    Miserably aware of a few gawkers within hearing range, Hannah held her chin high with an effort, moved toward the front of the store with her few purchases, paid as quickly as possible and left with as much dignity as she could scrape together. Her day had gone from bad to worse, but maybe she had needed that awful encounter. It would serve as a painful reminder that her track record with men was not good.
    In the past, she’d seen what she wanted to see, trusted when she shouldn’t have, believed when she should have delved more deeply. She wasn’t that naive, sheltered, starry-eyed girl now. Nor was she the lonely, vulnerable woman who’d been swept into a reckless night of passion by a sexy smile and a gleaming pair of dark eyes. She knew now who she was, where she belonged and what she wanted—and she would do well to keep those things in mind during the coming days.
    * * *
    At half past six, the day was still sunny and warm, the sprawling blue lake still busy with boaters, skiers and swimmers. This time of year, the resort would bustle every day of the week with families taking vacations from jobs and school, and the Bell