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“That’s not what I meant when we talked before, and you damn well know it. You and Hope—back then you were as constant as the sun rising and setting each day. Seeing you looking at each other like you used to is good. My issue is if you’re going through with this out of some twisted form of penance for the car crash. That would be fucked beyond belief.”
“I love her. Always have.” He didn’t tell Adam that he saw this as a way to balance out some of his karmic debt, because that would just confirm his friend’s worst fear. That wasn’t what things with him and Hope were about—not totally. But he’d be lying if he said the thought hadn’t occurred to him. A baby did not equal a brother, but at least he’d be doing something other than bringing pain and loss into her life.
“Then I’m happy for you.” Adam barely waited a beat. “What are you going to do about her parents?”
That was the question, wasn’t it?
It probably wasn’t realistic to expect to get their blessing, but a part of him wanted it all the same. He rubbed his chin. “I guess I’m going to have to take a trip down to San Antonio at some point.”
Adam’s face was unreadable. “If you think that’s wise.” It couldn’t be clearer that his friend thought the exact opposite.
“They’re her parents. I’m not going to put her in a position where she feels like she has to choose one of us over the other.” There was more to it than that, but he didn’t think Adam would appreciate the truth. Adam’s mother had always loved the hell out of him, and the entire Rodriguez family had been thrilled beyond belief when he’d married Daniel’s cousin. He’d never had to deal with that push and pull that came when the parents of the woman he loved hated him.
Daniel guided Rita to the north. “It’ll work out. You’ll see.” He sent Rita into a canter, and Adam’s reply was lost in the wind of his passing. Out here, with the unending sky overhead and his horse’s hooves pounding the dirt, nothing seemed impossible. All he had to do was talk to the Moores and they’d see reason. They might have every right to hate him, but no one could deny he loved Hope more than life itself.
You did thirteen years ago, and you had a hell of a way showing it back then.
He shoved the thought to the back of his mind and tipped his head back. “It’ll work out.”
Maybe if he said it enough times, he’d actually start to believe it.
…
Hope pushed ignore on her phone and set it aside. Since the disastrous dinner yesterday, her parents had called several times. She’d ignored every single one. She wasn’t ready to talk to them, especially since she highly doubted they were calling to apologize for how they’d handled the news. No, they were calling to demand an explanation.
An explanation that, frankly, she didn’t have.
She pressed her hand to her stomach. Two months along and she didn’t feel that much different when all was said and done. She’d noticed this morning that her breasts were growing at a truly alarming rate—and were seriously sore—but there was none of the nausea or sickness that she’d always heard about. Rationally, she knew that at some point her stomach would start rounding and, even further down the road, she’d have to actually go into labor, but it seemed like a distant dream. Things going so well with her and Daniel had only added to the dreamlike quality of the situation. Half the time she was convinced that she’d never actually left Dallas and that this was all a hallucination as a result of a bad taco truck meal.
But it wasn’t a dream, and she did have to come up with a real plan at some point.
Today.
“Hope?”
She turned as Daniel walked into the kitchen. He looked… Her heart picked up at the sight of him in worn jeans, a long-sleeved plaid shirt, and his cowboy hat pulled down low. He was dirty from working outside all day, but that only added to the allure. She bit her lip and leaned back against the counter. “Hey.”
“If you could see the way you’re looking at me.”
She didn’t have to. She knew. Hope crooked her finger at him, and he immediately crossed the kitchen to pull her into his arms. Daniel took off his hat and dropped it onto the counter next to her, his dark eyes searching her face. “How was your day?”
“Good.” And it was the truth. Her pain was manageable, and she’d gotten quite a bit of work done on a new account despite working remotely. The only downside was the regular calls from her parents that she wasn’t ready to deal with. She’d call them back eventually, but she wanted a few more days to figure out how to approach the conversation. She needed to have an actual plan in place before she spoke with them.
