The Texas Billionaire's Baby Read Free Page B

she had errands to run first. She’ll be here in a little while. She was glad we invited her for dinner since Troy had a meeting. I’m not sure how she’ll handle it when he’s deployed to the Middle East.”
    This summer Lily’s husband, Troy, a member of the Texas Army National Guard, would be deployed for pre-mission training. Lily couldn’t even think about later in the summer when he’d be gone.
    “The support group for military families will help her and so will we.”
    Raina went to the cupboard and began removing dishes she could use to set the table. “Speaking of support, I really enjoyed dinner with your family on Sunday.”
    Gina removed the lid from the soup once more and stirred. “My mom said you’re invited again this week. Everyone liked you. Especially my nephew Evan. I think he has a crush on you.”
    Raina laughed. “Since he’s twelve, give him a week and he’ll have a crush on someone else.”
    Shortly after Raina had moved in with Gina, she’d admitted she didn’t date. She’d also confided she intended never to marry again. She understood loving and losing better than most.
    Maybe that was what prompted Gina to ask, “Do you know Logan Barnes?”
    After closing the cupboard, Raina glanced at Gina. “ The Logan Barnes? The CEO of Barnes Denim? The mover and shaker who dines with the governor and owns real estate from San Diego to Sydney…the man who set up a charitable foundation to fund cancer research?” She’d listed some of his accomplishments as if to say that everyone, especially in the state of Texas, had heard of him.
    “That would be the one,” Gina confirmed.
    “We don’t exactly move in the same circles,” Raina said, flashing Gina a grin. “Why?”
    “I met Logan the month I graduated from high school. His father hired me to work in the stables on the estate. Logan and I…well, we connected that summer.”
    Raina took the dishes to the table. “How seriously?”
    Gina remembered Logan’s mother’s antique locket that he’d given her after they’d made love for the first time. She’d returned it when she’d said goodbye. “He wanted me to stay and marry him, but I left and went to college,” Gina explained as simply as she could. “I ran into him this week and…it’s obvious he’s still angry with me.”
    Now Raina studied Gina. “Does it matter to you? That he’s angry?”
    If that wasn’t a perceptive question. “Yes, I guess it does. After all these years, I thought maybe he’d think of me less harshly.”
    “Was college the only reason you broke up with him?”
    One of the qualities Gina admired most about Raina was her ability to see deeply into any situation.
    “Lots of reasons.” She thought about Logan’s father, his warning that he’d disinherit Logan if she got tooserious about him. She recalled her parents’ advice and her older sister Josie’s practical admonition not to marry too young—because she’d had to. “I had a full scholarship,” Gina explained to Raina. “No one in our family had graduated from college. But mainly Logan’s father had his own ideas about who Logan should marry. I was too insecure to stay and fight for our love. I didn’t think I had a chance. I thought about coming back and marrying him after I got to college, but then something happened that changed my life and I was on a different track.”
    “Changed your life?”
    Even though Gina and Raina had only known each other a few months, Raina was fast becoming a trusted friend. Gina considered telling her about the date rape that had occurred two months into her first college semester.
    The doorbell rang.
    “That must be Lily,” Raina said, halting their conversation with a concerned look.
    “It’s okay,” Gina assured her. “We can talk about it another time.”
    Raina nodded. “Any time you want to.”
    When the doorbell rang again, Raina crossed the kitchen to the living room, unaware of what Gina had been about to disclose.
    Moments