The Outsider's Redemption

He listened while Sarah placed her order and then gave the waitress his, surprised to find that he was actually hungry. Rosa had accused him more than once of eating anything that didn’t eat him first, but since he’d left the Smoking Barrel, he’d lost his taste for food. At least working again gave him an appetite even if he didn’t take to the job. It had one pregnant woman too many for his liking.

As soon as the waitress walked away, Sarah dived into the chips, dipping one into the salsa before slipping it between her lips. “I absolutely love Mexican food. Don’t you?”

“I like it well enough.”

Sarah nibbled on another chip. “Actually I love anything hot and spicy. The first three months I was pregnant I got sick every time I ate a bite of food with a little zip to it. It drove me nuts. But now I can eat anything without getting sick. Well, most of the time anyway.”

A few minutes, and a couple of thousand words later, the waitress returned with their food and drinks. He ate and half listened to Sarah’s chatter. If she kept this up all the way to Mexico, he’d have to seriously consider gagging her or at least stuffing cotton in his ears. If they actually went to Mexico. He needed more reason to believe this whole operation was on the up-and-up before he sealed this deal.

“Have you ever been afraid, Cody?”

He looked up and met her gaze, wondering where the question had come from and when her tone had changed from light to deadly serious. “Not lately.”

“But you have been at some time in your life?” Old memories surfaced. He pushed them aside, back into the dead file where he’d buried them long ago. “I imagine everybody’s been scared of something at one time or another.”

“I’m scared now. Excited, but still scared, especially when I stop to think about what would happen if something went wrong.”

Her voice caught, and a protectiveness he didn’t want to acknowledge rattled inside him. “No one’s making you go through with this, Sarah.”

“You have a short memory, Cody. You said you wouldn’t let me out of your sight until you’d delivered me and the disk to Daniel Austin.”

He swallowed hard. He’d made a lot of mistakes in his life, but that’s all they’d been. Mistakes in judgment. He’d never jumped sides, never played on the team that wore the black hats. Yet here he was, aching to give comfort and solace to the enemy.

And all because the bad guy was a woman. A scared, young pregnant woman. “I’m just doing my job, Sarah.”

“I know. I guess we’re all just doing what we have to do. I don’t want to change anything. But, all the same, I’m a little scared.”

Silence grew thick and suffocating between them. He pushed his plate away, his appetite lost to an unexplained regret that had crept into his gut.

A few minutes later, he paid the bill and they left the restaurant, the silence still holding between them. And strange as it seemed, he missed her chatter.

SARAH WINCED, trying to bite back the groan that hung in her throat. She’d bragged about being able to eat anything, but Carmelita’s enchilada platter had proven her wrong. Her chest burned as if she’d swallowed fire, and her stomach was turning itself inside out.

She closed her eyes as a new wave of nausea washed over her. Cody turned his gaze from the road to her. “Is something wrong?”

“Just a little upset stomach. I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t look fine.” Cody reached up and flicked on the inside light, knocking the edge off the grayness of dusk. “You look like you saw a ghost.”

“It’s nothing. I just get pale when I feel queasy.”

“You’re not about to do anything drastic are you? We’re a long way from a hospital.”

“Drastic?”

“You know, like have a baby.”

“No, cowboy. But maybe you better pull over for a minute. I might do something drastic like lose my dinner.”

He pulled over, only now he looked a little pale himself. Obviously he wasn’t used to tending a sick woman. He stopped the truck and jumped out, rushing around the truck to open her door.

“Try to breathe a little fresh air. Maybe that will help.”

She cradled her head in her hands. “Do we have much farther to go?”

“Half the night.”

She groaned.

Cody hunched down beside her. “Look, we don’t have to rush. Daniel’s the one who had us waste time driving in the opposite direction. He can just bide his time until you feel like traveling.”

“Thanks.” His concern surprised her. Todd had hated it when she first started waking up with morning sickness, always finding a reason why he couldn’t stay around, until the morning he’d just walked off for good.

“We can sit here as long as you need to. There’s no rush.”

“It’s all right, Cody. I can make it,” she assured him. “I just needed to stop for a minute. I feel better now.”

“Like hell you do.” He took her hand. “I don’t know much about having a baby, but I know when a woman’s hurting. You need to see a doctor, and I plan to find you one.”

“No. I have something to take.” She unzipped her purse and located the small bottle of antacid tablets. “A couple of these and I’ll be good as new.”

“You had a blow to the head earlier today. Now you’re nauseous. We’re seeing a doctor.”

“Dan won’t like that.”

“That’s just too bad.”

“I have a better idea.”

“We’re not calling your mother in Africa.”

“That wasn’t my idea. I was going to suggest calling my gynecologist in Washington. Dr. Marino knows my history and he knows how my stomach reacts to spicy food. If he thinks I should see a doctor, I’ll follow his advice.”

“Okay, but even if he says you don’t need to see a doctor, I’m finding a place for us to stay tonight. Tomorrow we’ll get up early and drive into Mexico. That makes more sense anyway.”

“Then you’ll have to get two rooms.”

“Why?”

“I can’t sleep with you.”

He dropped her hand. “Nice try, Miss Rand, but you and I are going to be real close tonight. I don’t buy your innocent gambit.”

She shuddered. “What does that mean?”

“That I have no intention of giving you the chance to run out on me like you did at the airport. I’ll be right beside you all night long, but you don’t need to worry about your virtue with me. I’m choosy about who I take to bed.”

She swung her legs back into the truck and folded her hands over her bulging stomach, suddenly aware of how her misshapen body must look to him. She’d have laughed out loud if she didn’t feel so bad.