“Now I can picture you in your house,” he said. “At least in part of it.”
He turned to find her staring at him intently with a slight frown. Her expression jolted him. Just as he’d feared, something was very wrong and he didn’t have a clue what it was.
“Lindsay, what’s the problem?” he asked, unfastening the one button on his jacket and slipping out of it. He placed it on a chair. “Looks as if we need to talk.”
As she wound her fingers together, her knuckles whitened. He took her hands in his.
“The weight of the world might as well be on your shoulders. Whatever is bothering you can’t be that bad.” He bent his knees so he could look directly into her eyes. Silently, he studied her.
“Before we talk, I think it would be wise to cancel our dinner reservation. I debated just telling you to come over for dinner, but I thought I might not have the courage to talk to you tonight—”
“Damn, Lindsay, what the hell? Is it—”
“Don’t start guessing. Cancel the dinner reservation. My cook was here today and I had her leave us a casserole if either of us feels like eating later.”
Watching her, he pulled out his phone, looked down and sent a short text. He put away his phone.
“I think you might like a drink. I’ll get you a beer,” she said.
Mystified, he stared after her. Whatever this was, the problem disturbed her a hell of a lot more than any other she’d encountered while he’d known her. From the way she was acting, it seemed even catastrophic.
Was it the ranch? Did she have to sell it? If she did, she wouldn’t have any trouble telling him. Nor could it involveanyone in her family; he didn’t think she would hesitate letting him know that.
He knew she had gone to Dallas recently. He also realized she had another life away from her ranch. Was it someone else? Did she have a lover in Dallas? No, she wouldn’t have stayed with Tony if there’d been anyone else.
So why did she go to Dallas? Did she have some illness and need a big-city doctor?
She looked as healthy as anyone could hope to be, even though that was no indication of how she might feel or why she would have to see a doctor. The thought that Lindsay was sick was like a punch to his middle. What was wrong and how serious was it? Was it incurable? That question almost buckled his knees.
He watched her behind the bar fixing their drinks and went to join her. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that she had gone to Dallas because of a medical problem. She knew when she told him he’d need a drink.
What the hell could be so wrong that she knew ahead of time and it involved him enough for her to expect him to be upset?
His knees did almost cave on that one. He sat on the nearest bar stool while he stared without seeing anything and his head spun.
One possibility occurred to him and he knew in every inch of his being that he guessed correctly. Taking deep breaths, he looked up to see her coming around the bar with a glass of ice water for herself and a whiskey on the rocks for him.
“I thought you might prefer this,” she said, handing him his drink. She frowned. “Tony, you look white as a sheet.”
“You’re pregnant, aren’t you? You’re carrying my baby.”
Nine
“How did you find out?”
He closed his eyes. “Wow,” he whispered. “I just figured it out. I tried to think of reasons for you to go to Dallas. And reasons for the big change in you since the way you were with me before you went to Dallas. And when you offered to get a drink for me, I realized it had to involve me, too. There was only one thing I could think of.” He reached for the drink she held out. “I think I need that whiskey now.”
He downed it in one swallow and set down an empty glass. “I’m in shock. You’re going to have to give me a minute to digest this bit of news,” he said. “You’ve had time to think about it a little.”
He sat there staring at the floor but not seeing anything, just thinking about the changes coming in his life—changes that would be monumental.
He would be a father. Lindsay would have his child.
He was so dazed he knew he couldn’t even fathom the changes that would downright transform his life. He couldn’t even try.
There would be no financial worries for either one of them, so he could cross that concern off his list. But there was one giant problem—and only one solution.
He pulled himself together as best he could and stood up to take her hand.