Chapter Four
T he next week Val talked to Liam a number of times, including in person when he came to the ranch. She talked to Letty daily, but she tried her best not to talk to Riley. Of course, that didn’t work. On Wednesday he asked her to take a ride with him and though she knew he planned to talk to her about marrying Liam, and was worried about what he’d say, she couldn’t turn him down. Riley had always been there for her, and she felt she owed it to him to listen to what he had to say. Besides, she couldn’t avoid him forever.
They’d gone some distance before Riley said anything about the wedding. “Val, you need to be sure you want to marry Liam. If you’re just doing it because you’re pregnant and afraid to tell Dad, that’s not really a good reason to get married. Especially when Liam isn’t even the father.”
“I know that.” They stopped and dismounted, leading the horses behind them as they walked.
“I can help you with Dad. He’ll be upset but he’ll get over it.”
“Are we talking about the same father? You know he won’t.”
Riley didn’t disagree. “I’ll be there for you. So will Mom.”
“Please. You know Mom does whatever he wants her to do.”
“She wouldn’t let him kick you out.”
“Maybe not, but she couldn’t stop him from making my life a misery.”
“I still don’t think you should be forced into a marriage you don’t want.”
“I’m not being forced into anything. I want to marry Liam.”
He gave her an assessing look. “You sound like you have feelings for him.”
“I do.”
“So that part was true? You’ve had feelings for each other for a while now?”
“Riley, you know I love you, but this is really none of your business. I’m a grown woman and marrying Liam is what I’ve—we’ve—decided to do.”
“I think there’s a lot more to this than you’re letting on,” her brother said shrewdly. “But I’ll back off. If you need me, though, you know I’ll be here.”
“I know, and I appreciate it. Liam’s coming over later to talk to me about our plans.”
Of course there was more to it, Val thought after they returned and took care of the horses. Regardless of what she’d told Riley she knew she might be making the biggest mistake of her life. But aside from having to deal with her father, if she didn’t marry Liam, she might never get the chance to convince him that she was the woman for him, no matter how their marriage started out.
She just hoped she wasn’t cursing them to begin with by having another man’s child.
*
As it always did, Val’s heart beat faster when she saw Liam. He’d called her earlier and asked if they could meet. She’d known him since she was a tiny girl. She’d seen him in all sorts of situations. She’d seen him happy; she’d seen him sad. She’d seen him angry; she’d seen him calm. In fact, Liam was laidback the majority of the time. But not always.
She’d seen him with his animals and knew he had a deep love for all the animals in his care. But of course, his horses were special to him.
While her family raised paints, Liam raised quarter horses. Ranch horses as well as rodeo horses, his quarter horses were becoming well-known and sought after. But his family had run more cattle than horses until Liam started his breeding operation. It wasn’t new but it wasn’t long established either. She knew he was working his butt off to make it successful.
And she could help. She knew horses. She had been around them from birth. She was three years old when her father put her up on her first horse. According to Riley their mother had been furious. He said it was the only time he’d ever seen her stand up to their father. Somehow, though, their father had sweet-talked their mom into allowing Val to ride with him and it wasn’t long until she was riding on her own. With him close by, of course.
Val had waited for Liam in the barn, not wanting to announce his presence to her parents. He smiled when he saw her. “Hey. Can we go somewhere to talk?”
“Sure.” She led him outside and down the path to the closest pasture. It was twilight but she had her phone, so they’d be able to see on the way back.
“Are you calling it off?” she asked him once they halted. They both leaned on the wood fence, facing the pasture.
He looked surprised. “No. Unless you’ve changed your mind.”
“I haven’t but I thought you might have.”
He moved to face her. “I know it seemed totally out there when I asked you to marry me, but if you hadn’t been Riley’s little sister, I’d have asked you out a long time ago.”
That shocked her. “You’ve never acted like you had any interest in me.” And she didn’t believe he really had. “Besides, there’s a huge difference between dating someone and marrying them.”
“You’re eight years younger than me. Almost nine. I figured Riley would kill me if I hit on you. Hell, you saw how he reacted when he thought the baby was mine.”
Oh, how she wished the baby was Liam’s. But it wasn’t and she had to deal with reality. “You don’t need to tell me that to make me feel better.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing?”
“Well, yeah.”
He shook his head, stepped forward and took her face in his hands. “It isn’t,” he said, and kissed her.
Her mind blanked for a moment. This was no peck on the lips. This was a real, honest-to-God kiss. She opened her mouth, inviting him inside and he took full advantage. His tongue thrust slowly inside her mouth, seeking out all its secrets. His hands on her face and his mouth on hers were the only things touching. She’d probably faint if she were held against him, chest to chest.
By the time Liam ended the kiss and drew back, her brain was mush and she wasn’t positive her legs would hold her up. If she tried to speak she’d stutter, so she didn’t. She simply stared at him.
He began to talk as if he hadn’t just rocked her world.
“I have a friend who has a cabin in the Absaroka mountains. I thought we could go there for a few days after the ceremony. He said we could have it as long as we want.”
Though still a bit stupefied, she managed to speak. “You mean like a honeymoon? I thought we’d just go to your place.”
“It’s traditional to have a honeymoon.”
“But we’re hardly traditional.”
“Would you rather we just go for a night? We should at least do that.”
“No. A few days is fine.”
“Can you explain being away for a few days? We can tell all our folks we’re married when we get back.”
She wasn’t sure how, but she’d come up with something. Maybe visiting an old friend from somewhere else. “I can but how can you?”
“I have help now. I’ve got to see if I can trust them to take care of things sometime. Connor’s going to be around too, and my mom, of course.”
“All right.” His business, she supposed. “There’s something I’ve been worrying about but you might have it figured out already. I know we can get the marriage license here, although maybe we should go to Livingston to be safe. But who’s going to perform the ceremony? I can’t ask my family’s minister. He won’t understand why I don’t want to tell my parents. Or what the rush is, either.”
Liam looked—if she hadn’t known better she’d have said he looked guilty. “What is it? Why do you look so guilty?”
“I had to tell Connor the truth. Part of it anyway.”
“You told him?”
“He kept asking questions and wouldn’t shut up, so when he asked I told him you were pregnant. But he thinks I’m the father.”
“Thank goodness for small favors.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s all right. As long as he doesn’t talk about it to anyone else.” She’d told Letty. He should be able to take his brother into his confidence. But she was glad Liam hadn’t told him all the truth.
“He won’t. He knows I’ll kill him if he does.”
“All right. But I still don’t know what to do about a preacher.”
“I thought about that actually. There’s a little church near Livingston and I talked to the minister there. He can marry us Friday at four. I told him I needed to check with you, but I was fairly sure you’d agree.”
“My father won’t be happy but at least it will be at a church. That was sweet of you to think of a church.”
He took her hand. “So, everything’s ready. You like to hike, don’t you? There are a lot of hikes near the cabin. I don’t think there’s a lot of snow yet. Unless you shouldn’t hike.”
“Why couldn’t I hike?”
“Well, you know. You’re pregnant.”
She laughed. “I’ve been riding so I don’t see why hiking would hurt the baby. We ride horses when they’re pregnant.”
“True, but you’re not a horse.”
She laughed again. “Thank you, Liam. Good to know you don’t think of me as a horse.”
“Very funny. You know that’s not what I meant.”
“I know but I couldn’t resist.”
They smiled at each other. “I guess we should get back,” she said.
They parted ways at the barn. “We can get the marriage license in Livingston, like you suggested. We’ll just go early and stop there before the wedding,” Liam said.
“I think that’s best. There’s less of a chance someone we know will see us and wonder what we’re doing.”
“Not to mention, I know the county clerk here and she will definitely tell everyone she sees that we got a marriage license.”
“It just occurred to me, do we need to get the license before the day of the wedding?”
“No. I checked and we can get it that day and the county clerk’s office is open until late afternoon. I thought about going earlier but I figured the less time there is for someone to see us and talk about it the better.”
“You have a point.”
“So we’re good for Friday in Livingston around three?” Liam asked. “That should give us time to get the license and then get to the church.”
“I’ll be there.” She wondered if he was going to kiss her again, but instead he simply smiled at her and left.
She told herself she wasn’t disappointed. Yet.