Deep in a Texan's Heart

“You have to meet Rory. Right now he’s back in Austin. My foreman is ill and I’m needed here, so I’m at the ranch.”

“You’re newlyweds, very happily married. What else? Bring me up to date on your life,” Lila said.

Shannon shrugged. “While I’m here, it’s just the same old, same old. I run the family ranch,” she replied, raking her blond hair from her face with her fingers.

“I don’t know how you do it,” Lila said, shaking her head. “I’ve never figured out how you manage the Bar None all on your own.”

“Just one of the boys,” Shannon replied dryly, and Lila laughed. “I’m not alone anymore, not since getting married. It’s just that Rory is busy in Austin.”

“Too bad you have to be apart.”

Shannon shrugged. “When my foreman is back on his feet, I can go to Austin. Right now, this is a rare moment, this party, and I’m enjoying it. I’ve told you about me. Let’s talk about you, unless you don’t want to. We’re good friends or I wouldn’t ask—what’s wrong?”

“Wrong?” Lila said while her heart missed a beat.

Shannon shrugged. “If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand. I thought you might need a friend right now.”

Shocked that Shannon could so easily tell that something was wrong in her life, Lila ran her fingers in a circle over her knee and debated confiding in her friend. So far her mother was the only Texan she had talked to.

“All right. It’s confidential for now. Since I’ll be here anyway in a couple of weeks, I came home early to rest and talk to Mom. Not my dad. Never Hack. I’m pregnant, Shannon.”

“Great grief.” Shannon’s eyes widened. “Someone in the movie business? An actor? A star? A producer who’s married?”

“Hey, wait,” Lila said, laughing and feeling a lift to the worries that weighed on her only moments earlier. “Stop jumping to conclusions. A married producer? I wouldn’t go out with one of those. I shouldn’t have gone out with the man I did,” she said, becoming somber again. “Shannon, he’s local. He’s here at the party.”

“You don’t have to say who it is. Are you going to tell him?”

“Not until I make some decisions. When he finds out, he’s so old-fashioned he’ll want to marry me.”

“Oh, great grief. If it had to be a local, why didn’t you pick someone who’s open and liberal and not still thinking a woman’s place is in the kitchen and bedroom?”

“Hindsight is always better.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not helping. I can understand why you don’t want to marry him, but if he’s old-fashioned, he’s going to want to marry you. Oh, boy, is he going to want to marry.”

“I’m not marrying one of the locals to move back here and give up my career and my independence.”

Shannon tilted her head to study her friend. “When are you breaking the news?”

“I wish it could be after I’m back in California and there’s half the U.S. between us, but I’ll probably tell him before I go back. Okay—absolutely between the two of us. It’s—”

“Don’t tell me,” Shannon said, covering her ears. “I don’t want to know.”

Lila laughed. “You do make me feel better. I can tell you and you’ll probably guess anyway.”

“No. I don’t need to know. I don’t even want to know, because it will be easier later if someone gets to quizzing me. You know, you can keep that quiet only so long,” she said, glancing over Lila. “I guess that’s why you’re wearing a dress that covers your middle.”

“That’s right. I’m three months along.”

“Oh, my. How long will you stay in Texas on this movie-production business?”

“Probably till the end of the month. Sometimes it’s shorter, sometimes longer, but once I start really working, I don’t think I’ll see the significant person often.”

“Does your mom understand? Your dad isn’t going to.”

“She’s supportive. I don’t even understand what got into me.”

“I think it’s called hormones,” Shannon remarked dryly. “And he’s probably adorable because we have some goodlooking, fun, great guys here.”

“Oh, yes,” Lila replied, thinking that was a fitting description of Sam. “As for Mom, we’re close. Mom has two sides to her. The one my dad sees and others think she is, and then there’s a side that’s not that way at all. Mom manages to get her way with my dad. He just doesn’t realize it. She’ll help me.”

“Good. Sorry, Lila. You’ve complicated your life.”

“That’s an understatement. Thank heavens I can leave Royal and go back to California.”

Two men emerged from the front door and turned toward them. Lila recognized both of them as ranchers from a neighboring county.

“Hey, ladies,” Jeff Wainwright said. “I thought I saw you two out here. You’re missing the fun and a really good hoedown in the barn. Right now they’re having line dancing. Want to give it a whirl?”

Impulsively, Lila accepted, thinking it would be good to move around, expend some energy and forget her pregnancy for five or ten minutes.

If only she could forget. The first sight of Sam had taken her breath. She had thought she wouldn’t have any physical response to him, but she had been wrong. Worse, she had been unable to control her response. With a sparkle in his clear blue eyes, he’d stood facing her. His navy plaid Western shirt had the sleeves rolled high, revealing firm biceps. The shirt tucked into his narrow waist and the faded tight jeans showed his muscled lean frame. He looked sexy and filled with vitality—a good-looking, appealing man. She couldn’t deny that part.

Also, it had felt good to tell Shannon about the pregnancy, to have a friend who knew what she was going through. And a level-headed friend, too.

In minutes Shannon was dancing with Buck McDougal while Lila danced with Jeff. Sam was on the dance floor with Piper Kindred, one of Royal’s paramedics. As she turned, Lila noticed the ex-rodeo rider, Ryan Grant, on the sidelines watching Piper intently. Lila looked away, thinking about how she tried to avoid watching Sam or even looking at him, but it was impossible. He was light on his feet, sexy. It didn’t matter how much appeal he had—his personality, his opinions, his most basic beliefs all were opposite from her own. He was old-fashioned and would never understand her career or her attitude.

She thought about that night with him. Her dad had seen Sam in Royal and talked him into dinner with them in town. When Sam had said he would take her home, her dad had gone ahead to the Double H, her family’s ranch. She and Sam had flirted through dinner and afterward, until Sam invited her to his place for a nightcap and she accepted.

The flirting grew more intense until she was in his arms. A night of wild passion, laughter, loving, a night she had known she would always remember. Now there was no doubt. A few weeks later, she had learned she was pregnant.

Lila’s thoughts came back to the present while she danced in the barn. They had gone from line dancing to a square dance and she noticed Shannon had dropped out and was gone.

They square danced, changing partners as the steps were called out to the fiddlers’ music. When they called “Promenade left, promenade right,” and she moved to the next dancer, she faced Sam and the look in his eyes made her heart pound. He wasn’t saying a word, yet sparks flew and she felt at any second he might grab her and kiss her wildly.

She danced away from him and the moment was gone, but her heart still raced and she wondered if they would talk again or if he would ask her to dance. She gave a shake of her head as if to clear her thoughts. She needed to stay away from Sam. She didn’t want him to guess that she was pregnant. She had to be mentally prepared for when he learned the truth.

Finally, she told Jeff she’d had enough dancing. As they left the barn, she glanced back and met Sam’s smoldering gaze. Even with the length of the barn between them, the minute she looked into his eyes, a current spiraled, tickling her insides. Why did she have such a physical response to him? She did not want to know Sam better or go out with him again. Yet now she had not only bound her life with his indefinitely, she would have to struggle with his old-fashioned, narrow view of the world.

The tempting smells of the barbecue were beginning to have the opposite effect on her. To get away from the cooking, she crossed the yard until she saw a friend.

“Sophie,” she called, catching up with her high school friend.

Sophie Beldon turned to wait, her light brown eyes friendly as she smiled. “This is a great party, Lila. Your family really knows how to do this. I think everyone in these parts looks forward to August because of your family barbecue. It’s legendary.”

“Thanks. They’ve been doing it long enough. It’s good to see you. Where are you headed?”

“Some quiet corner—if there is such. I’m getting looks and people ask all sorts of questions. Some act like I have the answers and just won’t say anything about Alex’s disappearance.”