“I know I will. I have to tell Sam face-to-face. Hind-sight is really great, isn’t it?”
Barbara just smiled and waited.
“I have to tell him while I’m here, but I intend to do it right before I leave for California.”
“That will suffice. Although I don’t think the distance between California and Texas is going to slow Sam Gordon down. Those two boys grew up with a tough rancher father. They built their own successful construction business. Lila, Sam is going to want to marry you. Having raised two children, I want you to think about it before you turn him down.”
“Mom, you know what Sam Gordon wants in a wife. A woman like you. You’re sweet. You humor Dad. I know you get what you want and Dad doesn’t even realize that he’s been manipulated—”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I manipulate your father.”
“Of course you do,” Lila said sweetly, smiling. “He can’t see it so he doesn’t object. But you don’t work outside home and he would have a fit if you did. I love my job. I don’t want to give it up to come home and live in Royal.”
“Just think it over. It’s difficult to raise a child, and a single parent has a hard time.”
Lila thought of Gil Addison and Cade. Sometimes Gil looked harried, while other times he had a fleeting, forlorn expression—was it the lack of a mother for Cade and a wife for him?
“If you turn him down, you better be ready for a battle. Sam Gordon doesn’t strike me as the type to give up. He’s eaten a lot of dinners at our house. He’s a nice man, Lila.”
“I know he is, Mom. That helps.”
“And on the subject of announcing your pregnancy—you have to tell your father.”
“I told you I will before I leave, but I want to make decisions about what I’ll do. Dad will want to take over totally. And there’s no doubt he’ll want Sam to marry me. I can’t bear to think about that one. Also, I don’t want to hear Hack’s smart remarks.”
“I could break the news first to your dad and he will take care of your brother.”
“Let me think about what I’ll do,” Lila said, while she wished she could go right back to California.
Barbara stood and hugged Lila. “Don’t worry. I’m glad you’re home. Of course, if I have to, I’ll go to California when the baby is born.”
“I understand.”
“Whatever you do, you know I’ll back you up.”
Lila squeezed her mother’s hand. “You’re still the best mom in the whole world.”
Barbara laughed. “I love you, Lila, and love having you home. I’ll go see about your dad now. He was asleep when I came in here.”
Lila bent over plans and pictures again. She jotted down ideas as she looked at Shannon’s notes. Finally, she shoved them aside to think about Sam. How was she going to tell him?
Wednesday morning, even though she didn’t want to see Sam, she couldn’t keep from studying how she looked before she left the ranch. She changed twice before finally settling on a plain two-piece dress, a sleeveless green cotton one with a V neckline. Like several newly purchased dresses for the trip to Royal, the top was tailored and came to her hips with a straight skirt below it that once again hid her waist.
She didn’t want to run into Sam and have him studying her figure while she was wearing something that showed her waist. She brushed her hair and clipped it up on the back of her head. After a few critical moments in front of her mirror, she was satisfied.
When she reached the club, she spread her plans on the game table in the future billiard room to study them again while waiting for Shannon.
Her cell phone interrupted her and she answered to hear Shannon’s voice.
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