Things he’d really rather Ellie not hear.
He’d convinced her to lie down. He’d lain down with her, held her sleeping body spooned up against him for almost an hour before he’d slipped out of the bed. He liked how her body fit against his, how holding her in his arms felt so right.
His brain had been racing from the moment he’d realized she might be pregnant. There were so many things to consider that he didn’t want to rush what he said to her, didn’t want to possibly say the wrong thing and inadvertently create problems.
A baby.
He’d dedicated his life to caring for babies, for nurturing and providing care for innocent new lives. Now he was going to be responsible for a new life.
A baby.
His and Ellie’s baby.
Really, before he faced his family’s various reactions, he’d like a little time to figure out his own emotions and to clear his head. Black Magic called to him. Big-time.
Somehow he made it out of the house without bumping into anyone, but the moment he stepped into the barn, his brother slapped him on the shoulder.
“Wanna go for a ride?” Harry asked, probably knowing that was exactly where Ty was headed.
“Absolutely.” He went into a tack room, grabbed his saddle. When he’d gotten his gear, he wasn’t surprised to see his brother had already mounted his stallion. Black Magic waited impatiently.
He spent a great deal of time getting the horse ready for the ride, taking time to talk gently to the stallion, to allow him to bond again with his too-long-gone master.
When he sat on the horse, old memories and emotions hit him. He’d loved this horse, but first medical school then moving to New York had kept him away.
But really what had kept him away had been much more than physical location and distance.
His father’s disapproval had been what had driven him away.
In silence, he and his brother rode out across the fields, riding toward nowhere in particular, yet neither was surprised when they stopped at a pond where they’d often ridden out to, fished and played at as kids.
Although the air was brisk, the sun was shining and light glimmered across the water’s surface.
“You wanna talk about it?” Harry asked when they’d both dismounted and stood next to the pond just as they’d done hundreds of times in the past. They’d swum in this pond, played in this pond, camped at this pond.
Removing his gloves, Ty picked up a rock, skipped it over the water. One. Two. Three. Sink. He found another flat stone, tossed it toward the water. “Ellie’s pregnant.”
“Yeah, I heard.” Harry bent and studied the ground until he found a rock that suited him. “My wife isn’t known for her discretion, God love her.”
Ty shrugged. “Mom already knew.”
“Mom has this way of already knowing everything.” Harry gave his stone a fling and it skipped farther out than Ty’s had gone. “So, what are you going to do? You going to marry her?”
“I’m not sure.” He wasn’t even sure that if he wanted to get married whether Ellie would marry him. She didn’t need some man complicating her life. Not that he hadn’t already complicated her life enough by getting her pregnant. “Her father will likely get out his shotgun when he finds out.”
“His proverbial one, maybe,” Harry agreed. “I may not know Senator Aston, but I do know of him. Shooting you would cost him too many votes, so I think you’re safe.”
Despite his brother’s teasing tone, Ty didn’t smile. “She deserves better than me. A lot better.”
Harry stopped in midsearch for another stone, looked up at him and frowned. “Because she’s an Aston?”
“Because she’s Ellie.” Which summed up everything. He couldn’t care less that she was an Aston. What he cared about was the woman herself. He cared about Ellie.
Straightening, Harry seemed to consider his answer. “She could do worse.”
“Yeah.” Ty gave the stone he’d been holding a hard fling. “She could have ended up with you.”
Harry grinned. “Nah, Nita wouldn’t have been happy ’bout that. I’m a taken man.” His brother hit his shoulder. “It’s not so bad, you know. Having a kid, being married. You might like it.”
“This coming from the man who still lives with his parents.” Ty could have bitten his tongue off the moment the words had left his mouth.
Harry’s face paled, then his cheeks splotched red, and not from the cold.
“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
“Sure you did,” his brother countered, cramming his hands into his jacket pockets. “In some ways, you’re right. I do live in that big house with Mom and Dad, because you know what? I love it there. I love having my wife and child grow up on this ranch, because I love it here. I love Swallow Creek, the Triple D, and there’s no place on earth I’d rather be than right here with my family.”
Ty didn’t say anything. He figured he’d already said too much.
“But that life isn’t for you,” his brother surprised him by saying. “The ranch has never been in your blood the way it has in Dad’s and mine. William’s, too, actually. But living on this ranch isn’t what I was referring to. I was talking about having a family, a place where you belong.”
That Ty understood. “I belong at the Angel Mendez Children’s Hospital.”
“Really?” Harry’s brows formed a V and he sank down on a fallen log, picked at a piece of loose moss before glancing up and meeting Ty’s gaze. “That’s enough? Your career?”
“It always has been.”
“Before Ellie.”
Before Ellie. The words seemed to echo across the plains, strumming louder and louder in Ty’s head.
“She’s a part of Angel’s,” he said slowly, wondering why the words wouldn’t quit sounding through his mind. Before Ellie.
“Ellie is your family, Ty. She’s carrying your baby.”
Ty sank onto the log next to his brother. “Tell me about it.”
“So, I ask you again,” Harry said with that calm big-brother voice of reason of his. “What are you going to do? You need a game plan, bro. Because we both know that when Dad finds out you’ve gotten a Northern girl pregnant out of wedlock, he’s going to hit the roof.”
* * *
“Of all the stupid, irresponsible stunts that boy has pulled, this one tops them all!”
Ty winced. Yep, Harry had been right. His father was hitting the roof. Ty had barely stepped back into the house from his ride with his brother and didn’t really have his game plan formed. He’d wanted to talk to Ellie prior to doing that. To tell her his thoughts and how he felt about her, to ask what her thoughts were, what she was feeling.
Unfortunately, he doubted he was going to get the opportunity. At least, not before a confrontation with his father.
His mother replied in her usual steady voice, encouraging her husband to calm down, that having another grandchild was a good thing.
Good ole mom, always coming to his defense.
“The boy is living in New York City. What kind of place is that to even consider raising a family? Too many people, too much pollution, no grass to grow beneath one’s feet.”
Ty