“This is wonderful!” Maria Bay grabbed Catie in a hug. “Oh, but why didn’t you tell us? We could have given you a proper wedding.”

Catie started to speak, but her mother interrupted her. “If only Laurie were alive. She and I so wanted to marry our two families together. It didn’t work out with Zach and Angie, but this is so…so…” Maria clamped her hand to her lips and tear welled up in her eyes.

“Mama,” Catie said.

“Wayne! Harper!” Maria called through the house. “Shoot. They’re out at the barns of course. Or riding with the cattle. You two sit right down, and we’ll plan your reception. How about this Saturday? Do you think that’s enough time to get it ready and give people enough notice to be here?”

“Mama, please.”

“Yes, Catie, what is it?”

Catie inhaled sharply. “Chad and I, that is, this wasn’t exactly planned.”

“Of course it wasn’t planned. You got married in a courthouse without your family. Sometimes young love makes you do strange things. It’s still wonderful news. In fact, I’ll talk to the attorneys. Maybe there’s a way we can combine the properties now. You know, like we tried to do with Zach and Angie. I know Harper’s set to inherit Cha Cha, but we could fiddle with the wills and all—”

“Mama!” Catie interrupted. “Please stop this. It’s not going to work that way.”

“Why not? Laurie and I always dreamed—”

”Maria,” Chad said, “Catie and I really need to talk to you. Would you please sit down?”

“Why, yes, of course, Chad. What is it?”

“Chad, let me,” Catie said. She took her mother’s hand. “Mama, I’m pregnant.”

Maria’s lips formed a perfect oval.

“It’s true. It wasn’t planned.”

“Oh my, what’s your father going to say?”

“He can’t say anything, Mama. I know darn well that you were pregnant with Angie when the two of you got married. You weren’t in love.”

“Caitlyn Anne, that is absolutely not true. I love your father very much.”

Catie rolled her eyes. “If you say so. I’ve never seen much affection pass between the two of you, but it’s not for me to say.” She cleared her throat. “Chad and I are not in love.”

Her face warmed. It wasn’t a lie. She might be in love with Chad, but he certainly wasn’t in love with her. So “they” were not in love. She glanced at Chad, but he was looking at the floor.

“You see, Mama, Chad insisted that we marry, so his child could have his name.”

“Where will you live?”

“With me, of course, Maria,” Chad interjected. “Where do you think she’d live?”

“That isn’t a marriage.”

“It’s the marriage we got,” Chad said. “Due to circumstances. I’ll take good care of Catie.”

“Well, of course, I know you will, Chad,” Maria said. “But Catie deserves love and affection.”

“Mama, please,” Catie said. “You’re not making any of this easier. Under the circumstances, I think it’d be better if you don’t go off all bonkers and plan a reception. We’ll tell the people in town.”

“I don’t know, Catie. The reception might be a good idea,” Chad said.

“What?”

“Well, it’d look pretty strange if we just showed up married with no explanation.”

“Uh, we have an explanation, Chad. I’m pregnant.”

“Yeah, and people’ll find that out soon enough. But it’d be less of a gossip mill if we acted like we were happy about this.”

Catie shook her head. “You’re kidding me, right? You’re worried about gossip?” She scoffed. “This is a farce of a marriage, Chad McCray, and it’s no cause for celebration. I don’t want a reception. I don’t want a party. I don’t even want a goddamn wedding announcement.”

“Catie, we’re married now, and we need to—”

“We don’t need to do anything. To hell with Bakersville and its stupid small-town gossip and innuendo. They’ll all find out when I go into town tomorrow, to the chamber of commerce.”

“Chamber of commerce? What the hell are you talking about, Catie?”

“Yes, Chad, the chamber of commerce. I need to resign as rodeo queen.”

“What?”

“You were a judge. Didn’t you read the rules? I agreed not to get married during the year of my reign. I broke the rules. Not that it matters. Once they found out I was pregnant, it would have all been over anyway. Not exactly the public image for the sainted rodeo queen.”

“Oh, Catie.” Maria stood and embraced her daughter.

“Not now, Mama. Please.” Catie held her off. “None of this was planned. Just so you know, Chad and I took precautions. This was just an unfortunate accident.”

“Catie,” Chad began.

“Chad, there is nothing you can say.”

“But I need your mother to know… That is, Mrs. Bay, Maria, I… When Catie and I—”

“Chad, please. This is nothing more than an embarrassment,” Catie said. “My mother knows full well there are no feelings between us, don’t you, Mother?”

“Caitlyn, I think you must be wrong about that,” Maria said, “if the two of you made love.”

“Had sex, mother. We had sex. That’s it. The condom broke.”

Chad turned scarlet. Ha. Made him blush. She wouldn’t have thought it possible.

“That’s all. An accident, pure and simple. Chad and I took precautions. They didn’t work.”

“Are you sure you don’t want the party, honey?”

“Yes, Mama, I’m very sure. Chad, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to do some quick packing, and then I’ll drive into town and visit with the chamber of commerce.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“I’d much rather go alone, if you don’t mind.”

“I’m your husband, Catie. We should both go.”

“That’s ridiculous. Go on.” She shooed him off. “You have a ranch to run. Get on out of here now. My car’s here. I’ll be fine.”

“Uh…all right. Nice to see you, Maria. I’m sorry for how this…you know, about…aw hell. I’m sorry.” He put his Stetson on his head and left the Bay house.

“Catie, you weren’t very nice to Chad just now,” Maria said. “And what do you mean you two aren’t in love? You’ve been mooning after him for years.”

“Mama, I was as nice to him as he deserved. He damn near accused me of ripping the condom on purpose yesterday when I told him.”

“He didn’t!”

“Yes. He did. And I assure you, I had nothing to do with that.”

“Oh, of course you didn’t. These things just sometimes happen.”

“Is that what happened to you and Daddy? With Angie?”

“Oh.” She reddened. “I’m embarrassed to say this, Catie, but your father and I… That time, well, we didn’t use a condom. We didn’t use anything.”

“Oh.”

“But we had Angie. And then Harper and then you. It hasn’t been a failure of a marriage.”

“Are you in love?”

“Are you in love with Chad?”

“You know the answer to that question, Mother. And I asked you first.”

“No, baby. Your father and I are not in love. We never have been.”

“Well, then, Chad and I can make it if you two did. My baby deserves to have a mother and a father in his life. So I’ll just live in a loveless marriage.”

“But it’s not loveless, dear. You love Chad.”

“Yes. Yes, I do. But he doesn’t love me. And I doubt he ever will.” She turned toward the stairway. “I’ve got packing to do.”

---

Why the hell wasn’t Catie happy? She’d wanted him. She’d made no bones about it. He got into his pickup, headed to Zach’s, and then remembered he and Dusty were out of town and Sean was staying with Dallas and Annie. He changed directions and headed toward his oldest brother’s house.

Surprisingly, both Dallas and Annie were at home. He figured Dallas might be out with the stock and Annie might be in town at her vet’s office.

“Are you kidding?” Annie said. “With three kids this week, I canceled all my appointments, though I’m still on call.”

“Me? I just came in for lunch,” Dallas said. “You want to join us?”

“Not hungry.”

Dallas guffawed. “That’s gotta be a first. Come sit down with us anyway. Bea’s already got the kids taken care of.”

“Okay. I need to talk to you.”

“What’s up?” Annie asked.

Chad sat, and Annie put a sandwich in front of him.

“Well, I guess I’ll just come right out and say it. I married Catie Bay yesterday.”

Dallas jumped from his chair. “You what?”

“You heard me.”

“Chad, that’s wonderful news,” Annie said.

“It’s not exactly as wonderful as you might think.”

“Why on earth not? And why’d you do it yesterday?” She swatted him. “Dallas and I could have stood up for you.”

“She’s pregnant, Annie.”

“Aw, man,” Dallas said. “How the hell did that happen?”

“The same way the twins happened, I suspect,” Chad said. “Jesus, Dallas.”

“I mean, didn’t you learn your lesson—”

“Don’t bring that up.” Chad gritted his teeth. “I took every necessary precaution.”

“Then what happened?”

“Catie says the condom broke.”

“What do you mean, ‘Catie says.’”

“Says she saw it by the wastebasket the next morning, after I’d already gone out to work. It had a tear in it.”

“Well, you put it on, didn’t you?”

“Uh, yeah, the first couple of times, anyway.”

“Couple of times?” Annie shrieked. “What the hell’s been going on, Chad?”

“It was… Hell, I don’t know. I can’t talk about this.”

“I understand,” Dallas said. “It’s private. But you took precautions. It sounds like this was just an unfortunate accident. It happens.”

“Not to me. At least not anymore.”

“Clearly it does.”

“Yeah. So I married her.”

“The great and single Chad McCray, brought to the altar by a little rodeo queen.” Annie laughed.

“Ha. I guess she’s no longer our rodeo queen, brother.”

“Yeah, that’s what she said. She’s gonna go by the chamber of commerce today and resign.”

“Too bad. She was a fine choice,” Dallas said.

“Oh, she must be heartbroken,” Annie said.

“Heartbroken?” Chad shook his head, bewildered. “Are you serious? My life has turned upside down, and you’re worried about Catie’s status as rodeo queen?”

“Chad, think of what this is doing to her. She’s only twenty-one, and she’s going to be a mother. And now she’s a wife. A wife to a man who only married her out of obligation.”

“I didn’t marry her out of obligation!”

“So you’re saying you have feelings for her?”

“I’m saying… Hell, I don’t know what I’m saying. This is none of your goddamn business anyway.” He stood and pushed his chair under the table as though it were poison. “I don’t know why I came over here.”

“You may not have feelings for her, Chad,” Annie said, “but you know darn well she has feelings for you. She always has.”

“Schoolgirl crush.”

“Schoolgirl crush? She’s twenty-one years old.”

“She’s worshiped me for years. She doesn’t know any better. It’s habit.”

Annie threw her hands in the air. “Are you hearing yourself?”

“You’re not making any sense, Chad,” Dallas said. “No matter how the events were set in motion, you know Ma’s smiling from her grave. She’s been wanting our two families to marry together since the Zach and Angie debacle six years ago.”

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t planning on it having anything to do with me.”

“Uncle Chad!”

He looked up and Sean came running in. Chad scooped the boy into his arms. “Partner, shouldn’t you be taking your after lunch nap?”

“Naps are for girls.”

“And little boys,” Annie said. “Here, Chad, I’ll take him.”

“Nah, it’s okay. Can I take him outside for a few minutes?”

He looked at his nephew, again amazed at how much he resembled his mother. Hardly any of Zach in him, except for those crazy light blue eyes.

Dusty couldn’t have more children. Cancer therapy when she was younger had all but destroyed her reproductive system. Sean had been a pleasant surprise and a blessing for her and Zach. Though another pregnancy was possible, it was damned improbable.

Yet he, Chad, could have all the children he wanted. Now he had one on the way. One he didn’t want. With a wife he didn’t want.

Gone was his old way of life.

“So when’re we goin’ fishin’?” Sean asked.

“Well, critter, I don’t know. You know how busy your pa and Uncle Dallas and I are with running this ranch. Why don’t we make a date of it once your ma and pa are back in town, okay?”

“Okay!” Sean wrapped his arms around Chad and gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

What a great kid. And he was the apple of his daddy’s eye.

Would Chad feel that way about Catie’s baby? He whipped his head backward, dislodging his nephew.

Catie’s baby.

It wasn’t just Catie’s baby.

It was his baby.

He curved his lips slightly upward and stroked Sean’s baby soft blond hair.

His baby.

He’d be there for this one. In more ways than just his money. He wouldn’t just be a father. He’d be a daddy.