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“I’m certain.” She smiled and looped her arms arou
nd his neck, letting her weight swing from them. “You’ll know if I’m feeling sick. I’ll turn green and keel over.”
He cupped her bottom and held her against him as he kissed her again, and this time there was nothing brief about it. Madelyn held him tightly, her eyes closing as his familiar nearness sent warmth through her. She loved him so much it sometimes frightened her; she hoped he would remember that.
His lovemaking that night was achingly tender and incredibly prolonged. He couldn’t seem to get enough of her, taking her again and again, staying inside her for a long time afterward. They finally went to sleep like that, with her leg thrown over his hip, and she thought it had never been more perfect than it was then, with Reese in her arms and his child in her womb.
A WEEK LATER Reese walked back to the house from the barn with a defeated expression on his face. Madelyn watched him from the kitchen window and knew she couldn’t put it off any longer. She simply couldn’t let him worry any longer; better to enrage him than watch the lines settle deeper in his face every day. He would sit in his office for hours every night, going over and over the books, pacing and running his hands through his hair, then trying it again, only to come up with the same figures and no hope.
She heard him come in and take off his muddy boots; then he came into the kitchen in his sock feet. “The truck needs a new oil pump,” he said tiredly.
She twisted the hand towel she was holding. “Then buy one.” Tension was tightening her muscles, and she swallowed the faint rise of nausea.
His mouth was bitter. “Why bother? We won’t be here another month anyway.”
Slowly she hung up the towel then turned to face him, leaning back against the cabinet for support. “Yes, we will.”
He thought he knew what she meant. He could call Robert—but Robert would have to be a fool to invest in the ranch now. He had put it off as long as he could, and now he didn’t see anything else he could do. Madelyn was pregnant; she had her first doctor’s appointment the next day, and money would be required up front. Then they were facing bills from the hospital, and he didn’t have medical insurance. That had been one of the first things to go.
“I’ll call Robert,” he said gently. “But don’t hope too much.”
She put her shoulders back and took a deep breath. “Call Robert if you want, after I tell you what I have to tell you. You’ll be in a different situation then and—” She stopped, looking at him helplessly, and began again. “I paid off the mortgage with my trust fund.”
For a moment he didn’t react at all, just watched her silently, and she started to hope. Then his eyes began to chill, and she braced herself.
“What?” he asked very softly.
“I paid off the mortgage. The papers are in my underwear drawer.”
Without a word he turned and went upstairs. Madelyn followed, her heart pounding. She had faced his anger before without turning a hair, but this was different. This was striking at the very basis of his feelings.
He jerked her underwear drawer open just as she entered the bedroom. She hadn’t stuffed the papers in the bottom; they were lying right there in plain sight. He picked them up and flipped through them, noting the amount and date on the documents.
He didn’t look up. “How did you arrange it?”
“I went to Billings last week, the day you told me about the mortgage. Banks don’t care who pays off loans so long as they get their money, and since I’m your wife they didn’t question it.”
“Did you think presenting me with a fait accompli would change my mind?”
She wished that he would stop using that soft voice. When Reese was angry he roared, and she could handle that, but this was something new.
His head came up, and she flinched. His eyes were like green ice. “Answer me.”
She stood very still. “No, I didn’t think anything would change your mind, and that’s why I did it behind your back.”
“You were right. Nothing would change my mind. I’ll see you in hell before you get any part of this ranch.”
“I don’t want to take the ranch away from you. I’ve never wanted that.”
“You’ve played your part well, Maddie, I’ll give you that. You haven’t complained, you’ve acted like a perfect wife. You even carried it so far as to pretend you love me.”
“I do love you.” She took a step toward him, her hands outstretched. “Listen—”
Suddenly the rage in him erupted, and he threw the sheaf of papers at her. They separated and swirled around her, then drifted to the floor. “That’s what I think of your so-called ‘love,’” he said with gritted teeth. “If you think doing something you knew I couldn’t bear is an expression of ‘love,’ then you don’t have any idea what the real thing is.”
“I didn’t want you to lose the ranch—”
“So you just took care of the mortgage. Any divorce court now would consider you a co-owner, wouldn’t they? They’d figure I talked you into investing your inheritance and the prenuptial agreement wouldn’t mean a damn. Hell, why should you get less than April? This isn’t the operation it once was, but the land is worth a hell of a lot.”
