AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Okay. Here it is. Marrying me will be the difference between you being seen the way Bobby described you out there and the way that tabloid rag did. It is the difference between you being the most notorious member of your family or the envy of every woman in town. It’s the difference between those babies you’re carrying being legitimate or illegitimate. Between them being snubbed or respected as…practically as princes. And it will be the difference between our story being a dirty little scandal or a classic American fairy tale.”
She pursed her lips. “And it will make the difference between you winning or losing the senate race.”
He gaped at her. “My God, I don’t even know if I’m going to run! Maya, that is the last thing on my mind, I swear to you.”
She narrowed her eyes on him, not sure she believed that. But she did know he cared for the babies. Deeply.
“I…I don’t know, Caleb. This is…this is very sudden and I…well, I don’t—”
“Is there someone else?”
He asked the question so suddenly she almost hurt her neck snapping her head up. “Someone else?’’ she asked. “Are you out of your mind? Have you looked at me lately?”
He muttered something that sounded like, “In my sleep,” but she couldn’t be sure. “You’re beautiful, smart, sexy as hell.”
“I’m a heffalump.”
He smiled then, broadly, widely, and came back to her. He ran a hand over her hair, cupped her cheek. “You’re beautiful. Tell me there’s no one else.”
She rolled her eyes. “There’s no one else.”
“Then why not me? Maya, I can give you everything.”
“I don’t want everything.” She bit her lip, sighed heavily. “I want to live here, not in Tulsa or D.C. or wherever you’ll end up if you win this thing.”
“You’ll be able to do that. I promise.”
“Yes, I imagine I will.” But where wouldhebe? She didn’t voice the question. “I don’t want my kids getting their hearts broken, Caleb. I don’t want them giving their whole hearts to a father who’s going to walk out on them and leave them bleeding. I can’t do that to my babies.”
His eyes widened, and they seemed wounded, way down deep. “That’s what your father did to you, didn’t he, Maya?”
She closed her eyes, nodded. “I really did love him. And Mom…God, she still feels some kind of misplaced loyalty to the man. But he was cheating on her, cheating on all of us, and it hurt me, Caleb. It tore my mother apart, and it broke my heart. He was never around when we needed him, and we never knew why until he was dead and gone.” She lifted her eyes to his, knowing they were tearing up again. “I know it almost killed my mother. But she was a strong woman. I was just a little girl, and I can’t even begin to tell you how the truth ravaged my whole world. Everything I knew, believed, had been a lie. Now I’m the mother. And I’m strong, and I can take anything this world can dish out. But I won’t subject my kids to that kind of heartache, Caleb. I won’t let you hurt my children the way my father hurt me.”
He stood there for a moment. Then he sank to the floor again, just sitting down in front of her chair. He drew a deep breath and sighed heavily. “I’ve been meaning to explain some things to you. So much has happened that it just keeps getting pushed aside, but I can see now that it’s important.”
He looked up at her. “When I came out here that night last spring, I was running away from who and what I was. I told you that but I didn’t explain it to you. Not really. I was running from what was expected of me. When I saw you in the bar that night all I could think was whether a woman like you would give a guy like me a second look—without the name, without the legacy. And then…you didn’t recognize me. You didn’t know who I was. And you…you liked me anyway.”
She tilted her head to one side, studying him, seeing sincerity in his eyes. “Yeah, well…what’s not to like?”
“I’d never had that before, Maya. Everyone in my life wanted something from me. No one just wanted me…for me. And I needed that so badly that night. So I didn’t tell you my real name. It was stupid, and I’ve regretted it ever since.”
She lowered her head. “And yet…you left that night. You said you’d stay…and then you left.”
“Just like your father did,” he said softly. He lifted a hand to her cheek, and she closed her eyes at his touch. “I got a call that night. My father had a stroke.”
Her eyes flew open, met his, saw the truth there.
“You can check it out. Hospital records—hell there was even a piece in the paper about it. I rushed home…and I decided to stop running from my destiny and live it. I didn’t contact you again…because I was afraid of what you’d think of me. Running out on you, lying about who I was. I figured I’d already blown any chance I might have had with you. I figured you were better off without me, anyway.”
She sighed, shook her head. “You’re such an idiot, you know that?” But she said it softly. “If only you’d called.”
“I know. I know. I screwed it up…badly. But there was something between us that night. I know there was.” He put a hand gently on her belly. “I think…there’s something between us now. Something more than just the babies. And I think we owe it to them, and to each other, to find out what.”
“Finding out what is a far cry from getting married, Caleb.”
He nodded. “I know. But…marriage is just the legal part of this. The paperwork part of it. It’s got nothing to do with what’s really happening here.”
She averted her eyes, felt her cheeks heat all the same as she asked, “Then… you’re talking about a… a marriage in name only. Just for the sake of the babies.”
