“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.”
A ripple of apprehension scuttled through Sadie and still she asked, “What’s that?”
“We’re getting married.”
“You are completely out of your mind.” She took a halting step back, forgetting the couch was right behind her. She toppled onto the cushions, but it took her but a second to scramble back up.
Maybe he was. Rick could admit that getting married wasn’t something he had even considered until just a moment ago. Not that he was against marriage—for other people. But as a marine, he had never wanted to go off and leave a wife and kids behind for months at a time. Not to mention the hazards of his job. Why risk making a wife a widow? Sure, it worked for a lot of guys, but he’d seen enough marriages either dissolve or end in grief to not want to take the chance.
Now, though, things were different.
“It’s the only honorable thing to do,” Rick said, gaze following her as she pushed past him to hurry over to the front window.
“Honorable? You think marrying someone you don’t love is honorable?” She laughed, shook her head and pointed one finger at him when he started for her. “You just stay away from me, Rick Pruitt.”
“Not a chance,” he snapped. He’d been put through an emotional wringer in the last hour or so and damned if he was even seeing straight yet.
He was a father.
He had twin girls who had his eyes and their mama’s mouth and he hadn’t even known they existed a few hours ago. How was that even possible? A man should know when he’s created a life. When he’s got family in the world.
Until today, he had thought himself alone. With both of his parents gone now, he’d had no real reason to leave the Marines. The Corps was his family now, he had told himself. Hell, he hadn’t even wanted to come back to Royal on leave. Being in the empty ranch house was … lonely. Too many memories. Too much silence. Still, he had done his duty, come home to check on things, make sure the ranch was still operating as it should.
If he hadn’t come home … would he ever have learned of his daughters? Sadie claimed she would have told him, but how did he know that for sure?
“I think we both need a little space right now, Rick,” she said stiffly. “Maybe you should go.” At her side in a couple of long strides, Rick pulled her in close again and this time wrapped his arms around her to hold her in place.
“You just dropped a bomb on me, Sadie,” he ground out. “And if you think I’m gonna walk away from that, you’re the one who’s crazy.”
“I’m not asking you to walk away,” she argued, squirming in his grasp, trying to break free of him. “I’m just saying we should take a break. Get our thoughts straight before talking again.”
“I don’t need time to think,” he told her. “I know everything I need to know. You’re trying to keep my girls from me. Again.”
Her jaw dropped. “Didn’t I bring you here? Introduce you to the girls? I want you to be a part of their lives.”
“On your terms though,” he said, reading the truth in her eyes. “Come and go when you say? Show up for appointed visitation? Damn it, Sadie, I’m their father. I want more than weekends.”
“It doesn’t have to be like that,” she said softly.
“No, it doesn’t.” The very thought of being cut off from his children was like a knife in the gut to him. He’d already missed too much. He hadn’t seen Sadie pregnant. Hadn’t heard the first cries of his babies being born. Hadn’t seen that first smile or heard that first laugh.
A man alone treasured the thought of family. He wasn’t about to lose his chance at having one.
“We can be together.” Nodding, he took a breath. “We’re their parents. It’s only right we be married.”
“This isn’t a Victorian novel,”