One Night, Two Heirs

“Here we are,” Hannah announced as she pushed a rolling cart carrying a pitcher of tea, two glasses filled with ice and a blue-and-white plate full of cookies.

She settled the cart in front of one of the matching sofas, then smiled at the two of them. “You just help yourselves, and don’t mind the cart when you’re finished, Miss Sadie. I’ll come back to collect it later.”

“Thank you, Hannah.” Desperate for something to do, Sadie hurried to the cart and poured tea into both glasses. “Sure you don’t want any?”

“No, thanks. And stop being so damn polite.” He walked closer and waited for her to take a sip of her tea. “Why did you go see my mother?”

Sadie set the glass down, sorry now she’d had any. The cold she felt was deeper now, thanks to the icy tea sliding through her system. Looking into Rick’s eyes didn’t warm her any, either.

Sighing a little, she slumped onto the sofa and leaned back into the cushions. “Because I thought she had the right to know that I was pregnant with her grandchildren.”

“She knew?” Those two words sounded as if they had been strangled from his throat. Rick shook his head and she knew he was even more shocked than he had been before. “My mother knew you were pregnant and even she didn’t tell me?”

“We talked about it,” Sadie said, turning toward him as he dropped onto the sofa beside her. “We both decided that it wouldn’t be right to give you something else to worry about while you were on the battlefield.”

He laughed and the short, sharp sound was brittle. “You decided. Between the two of you, you decided to keep this from me.” Rick shook his head. “I don’t believe any of this.”

Sadie reached out and laid one hand on his arm. When he glared at her, she pulled back. “Don’t you get it? Your mother was terrified for your safety. She’d already lost your father and the thought of losing you to war was killing her.”

His jaw worked as though he was actually biting back words that were struggling to get out.

“She didn’t want you distracted. Neither did I,” Sadie said. “If you had known, you might have been less focused on what you needed to do.”

“I had the right to know.”

“We were trying to protect you.”

He laughed again and this time Sadie actually winced at the sound.

“That’s great. You and my mom protect me by hiding my kids from me. Thanks.”

His features were hard and tight, his eyes still flashing with the anger she knew must be pumping thick and rich inside him.

“I know you’re mad,” she said.

“There’s an understatement.”

“But I still think we did the right thing,” she told him.

“Yeah?” He turned on the sofa to glare at her. “Well, you didn’t. You should have told me. She should have told me.”

“We were going to tell you,” Sadie argued, “when you came home on leave. But—”

“—Mom died in that car wreck and instead of coming home for her funeral, I took R&R in Hawaii. I couldn’t face coming back here with her gone.”

“Yes.”

He scrubbed one hand across his face, then rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t even know what the hell to say about all of this, Sadie.” He glanced at her. “There’s one more thing I need to know.”

“What?”

“If we hadn’t run into each other this morning were you ever going to tell me about my children?”

Now it was her turn to be angry. “Of course I would have. You’ll notice the girls weren’t afraid of you, right? It was almost like they knew you already?”

He frowned, but nodded. “Yeah, I noticed that.”

“That’s because I showed them your picture. Every day. I told them who you were. That you were their daddy. They knew about you from the first, Rick.”

He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “I don’t even know if that makes it better or worse.”

Pushing up from the sofa, he stalked across the room, then turned to stare at her. “You showed them pictures of me, but I was never there. Did they wonder why? Do kids realize more than we think they do?”

Sadie stood up, too. Absently, she noted the overloud ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner. It hit the quarter hour and a bell chimed and still the silence between Rick and her continued. When she couldn’t stand it any longer, she spoke up. “You’re here now. You can get to know each other. I’m not trying to keep your girls from you, Rick. I never was. I just—”

“You moved to Houston because of them, didn’t you? Because you were pregnant.”

“Yes.” She lifted her chin to meet his eyes. She wouldn’t apologize for how she’d handled the biggest upset of her life. She had done the best she could and had never once regretted getting pregnant. “I couldn’t stay here. Not with the town gossips. I didn’t want the girls to suffer because of decisions you and I made.”

His frown deepened.

“I wanted a fresh start.”

“But you’re back in Royal. Why now?”

“It was time. I was … lonely. I missed my home. My family. I wanted the girls to know their grandfather and their uncle.”

“And their father?”

“Yes.”

“Not so worried about the gossips now? What changed?”

“Me,” she said simply. “I love my daughters and I don’t care what any gossip has to say. Anyone tries to hurt my girls and they’ll have me to deal with.”

“And me,” he assured her.

She could tell he was having a hard time believing anything she said and she really couldn’t blame him for his doubts. But the truth was she had had every intention of telling him. “Honestly, Rick. I was going to be right here in Royal, waiting for you—whenever you came home. I was going to tell you about the girls. I want them to know their daddy.”

Shaking his head, he walked toward her, gaze never leaving hers. He moved quietly for such a big man and she sensed the tension still holding him in its grip. When he was near enough, he reached out and grabbed her upper arms, pulling her close.

Sadie felt heat radiating off his body and reaching into hers. Just the touch of his hands on her skin was enough to start small brush fires in her blood. Her heartbeat was thudding in her chest and her mouth was so dry she could hardly swallow.

His gaze moved over her features like a slow caress. And his eyes were still churning with too many emotions to count. “I want to believe you, Sadie.”

She tipped her head back to meet his eyes. “You can trust me, Rick.”

“That’s to be seen. But first things first.” He released her, braced his legs in a wide-apart stance and folded his arms over his chest. “There’s only one thing to be done now.”