“Exactly.” He straightened, locking his jaw. The fragile, pregnant woman standing here wasn’t the feisty, optimistic girl he’d bonded with as a kid. Life had beaten her down. It had beaten him down enough, too, but he hated that it hadn’t spared her.
“Come inside.” He held the door open, then he led the way to the great room, a large open space with plenty of windows, hardwood floors, leather furniture and area rugs to keep the chill out. Visible signs of the wealth he’d accumulated and, in his greed, put in jeopardy.
“You really did it, didn’t you?” She looked around, lowering her body onto one of the couches. “You always said you were going to own the biggest ranch in Wyoming someday. Your house alone is massive.”
A surge of shame filled him. If he hadn’t bought Dudley Farms, he’d have been financially set for a lifetime. All attempts at trying to salvage his mistake hadn’t worked. Last year the farm’s old irrigation equipment had failed, and the drought had polished off any hopes of growing enough crops to be profitable. On both properties—here on JPX Ranch and on Dudley Farms—he’d downsized all his employees to the bare minimum. Sold as many calves, heifers and horses as he could, except for his favorite stud horse, Del Poncho. He’d sell Del Poncho only if absolutely necessary. But the way the bills were coming in, he’d have to sooner rather than later.
“I didn’t realize you were...having a baby.” He waved in her general direction as he sat in a chair opposite her. “I mean, it was hard enough Cam died.” Heat licked up his neck, and he averted his gaze. What was wrong with him? He wasn’t shy. Didn’t get squeamish. And here he was acting like a pimply kid instead of a grown man.
She tucked her hair behind her ear and averted her own eyes. It brought him back to their younger days. She’d been eight and he’d been ten when they’d met at a foster home. They’d been best buds the three years they’d lived there. He could still see the freckles on her nose as she swung her legs high in the air, brown hair flying in the wind. Her eyes had danced with delight as she begged him to push her higher, higher. When her swing would finally come to a stop, he’d sit on the one next to hers, and, with their legs dangling, they’d talk about the future.
He’d been set on owning the biggest ranch in Wyoming. He’d have so much money no one could ever again tell him what to do. She was going to be a teacher and get married to the best husband in the world and have two boys, one girl, a dog, a cat and a nice house. They both had been on their way to achieving those dreams. And though they still shared a childhood bond, Kit’s marriage to Cam had strained their friendship. Wade understood. Marriage changed things.
“I guess the perfect family you always wanted isn’t turning out the way you’d hoped,” he said, as gently as possible.
“Yeah, well, it was a stupid dream, anyhow.” She gazed out the wall of windows. Sadness and something else was etched into her face. Bitterness?
Not Kit. Sunny, kind, spitfire Kit never let anything get her down.
He didn’t like to think of her spirit broken, but maybe he was overanalyzing things.
“When are you due?”
“October second.” Her shrug gave him the impression she was nervous. “Depending.”
Depending on what? He scuffed his foot against the floor.
“Thanks for letting me stay here. It will only be for a week. The extended-stay hotel should have a room for me by then.”
She hadn’t given him much information when she called last night. Just said she needed a place to stay for a week and did he have a spare room for her? He’d offered her one of several renovated cabins on his property. They’d been remodeled a few years ago for his friends to use for getaways, hunting, fishing...whatever. She was welcome to hunker down in any of them.
But last night she hadn’t mentioned an extended-stay hotel.
She also hadn’t mentioned she was having a baby.
“Why are you going to some roadhouse?” He needed more information from her. Nothing was adding up, and he didn’t exactly consider himself slow.
One of her shoulders lifted. “I’m moving to Casper.”
“Did you get a new job or something?” He couldn’t picture her accepting a different position. She loved teaching second grade in Fort Laramie. But maybe the memories with Cam made it too hard for her to continue working there.
“No.” Her hands covered her tummy.
Her short answers, air of gloom and lack of animation kicked up his stomach acid.
“Kit, this is me. You don’t have to hide anything.” He leaned forward, immediately recognizing the hypocrisy of his words. He was hiding his problems from her and everyone else he was close to. “What is going on?”
“I need a new start.”
Normally, he’d buy what she was saying. She’d lost the love of her life. She was alone. Pregnant. But...she was keeping secrets. He narrowed his eyes. “You’re not telling me everything.”
“Look, I need a place to crash for a few days, and then I’ll be on my way. Don’t ask me to tell you my life story in the meantime.”
“I already know your life story.” He knew most of it. The important stuff, anyhow.
“That was the old me.”
“I liked the old you.”
“Well, she’s gone, so don’t bother looking for her. Why don’t you show me the cabin where I can put my stuff? Then you can go back to work.” She braced both hands against the couch cushions in an attempt to get up. He sprang to his feet, offering her his hand.
“Why the hotel? Why Casper?” He kept her hand in his and searched her face for clues about whatever she wrestled with. Had Cam’s death destroyed the best part of her?
Her eyes welled with tears.
Great, he’d made her cry. Why had he badgered her? Of course she wanted to move. She was alone and pregnant and grieving the sudden death of her husband. No wonder she was shattered and prickly. He’d always tried to fix anything bothering her, but this was beyond him.
Maybe he should do as she asked. Take her to the cabin and leave her alone to work things out.
“It’s the baby,” she whispered.
“What do you mean?” He gently clasped her forearms and bent to look into her eyes.
“He has a large hole in his heart.”
“What?”
“A few weeks ago, I had a routine ultrasound. I figured I’d be finding out if it was a boy or girl, and everything would be fine. Unfortunately, they suspected there was a hole in his heart, but they told me not to worry and to come back in a few weeks for a fetal echocardiogram. Well, I did, and the hole was confirmed, which led to another ultrasound with a specialist last Wednesday. Since the heart defect may be caused by chromosome abnormalities, I had an amniocentesis done on Friday. They’re using the cells to do a chromosomal microarray test to check for Down syndrome, DiGeorge syndrome and a few other things. The results won’t be in for about three weeks.”
He let go of her arms. Friday. And today was Tuesday. Chromosomes, tests, a hole in the baby’s heart...his heart, she’d said.
The baby was a boy.
An image came to mind of a little tyke with Kit’s freckles holding Wade’s hand as the child stared up at him with excitement at the thought of riding around the ranch.
“This amnio-cent-whats-is and chromosome thing—what does all of it mean?”
“Amniocentesis is a test to determine the likelihood of genetic