Chapter Twenty-Six
T hey stopped at the back door to her family’s house. “What if—” Val began.
Before she could continue Liam took her in his arms and kissed her. As usual, once he kissed her, she lost all desire to do anything else. Except continue. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him back. They were both lost in the kiss when she heard Riley say, “Get a room.”
They broke apart. Her brother stood at the door—her strong, dependable, loving brother who would do nearly anything for her. When she’d asked him to be present for the confession he hadn’t hesitated to say yes. Even though she was sure he wanted to be there even less than she did. He was going to catch hell for his part in it, too.
They stepped inside and she gave Riley a hug. “Thank you.”
He shook his head and held out his hand to shake Liam’s.
“Are you ready?” Riley asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” Liam said, a touch grimly.
Her parents were waiting for them in the great room. Their father’s health wasn’t good, although he’d been taking better care of himself recently, thanks to their mother putting her foot down. Still, Riley had taken over ninety-five percent of the running of the ranch and she didn’t think that was going to change anytime soon.
After Val hugged both her parents her father asked, “What’s this about, Valerie?”
Her dad was the only person who ever called her Valerie. Not even her mom called her by her full name.
Might as well dive right in. “Liam and I have something to tell you.” She put out her hand and Liam took it. Both her parents looked a little confused. “I’m pregnant.”
Confusion cleared and they were both wreathed in smiles. “Oh, honey, that’s wonderful,” her mother said, hugging her.
“Happy to hear it,” her father said.
Yeah, he wasn’t going to be in a minute. “There’s more.”
“More? You mean you’re having twins?” Her mom again.
“No.” She drew in a breath and let it out. “Liam isn’t the biological father.”
A stunned silence. “What are you talking about, Valerie? Are you saying you cheated on your husband?” her father asked.
“No, of course not.”
“Val was pregnant when I asked her to marry me. It’s one of the reasons we married so quickly.”
“Did you know about this?” Jasper Fletcher turned to Riley with a thunderous look.
“Not initially. I found out after Liam asked her to marry him.”
“And no one thought to tell us?” Lorraine asked.
“I didn’t want you to know. I knew if I told you I was pregnant and unmarried you’d be—” apoplectic “—angry and upset. Liam and I hoped you’d never have to know.”
“You married her knowing she was pregnant with another man’s child?” Jasper asked. “Why would you do that?”
“That doesn’t matter now,” Liam said, taking control of the conversation.
Val was thankful he had. She sat down, her legs having decided to turn to jelly.
“What matters is we’re married,” Liam continued. “I love Val and the baby and I want to be a father to it. I’m going to be a father to it.”
“Why tell us now?” her mom asked. Her father was silent, clearly struggling with his temper.
Liam looked at her, silently asking if she wanted him to continue. At least, she hoped that was what he was asking. “Please.”
“The biological father originally wanted nothing to do with Val or the baby. But now he’s changed his mind and rumors have started, thanks to him. We didn’t want you to hear the gossip before you knew the truth.”
“Who is the father?” her mom asked.
She didn’t want to tell them, but the gossip was already out there. “Trent Harvey.”
“Trent Harvey?” her mom repeated. “I didn’t realize you knew him. He doesn’t have the best reputation.”
Val shrugged, not about to confess it was a one-night stand. “I didn’t know that when we met.”
“You’ve always been a good daughter,” her dad said. “I’ve never been ashamed of you before now. But now—damn, Valerie, I can’t even look at you knowing you—”
“That’s enough,” Liam said.
Her father stared at him, shocked. No one ever interrupted Jasper Fletcher.
“You’re her father but I’m her husband, and I’d advise you not to say something more that you’ll regret. I know this has been a shock. But the bottom line is we’re married, and we want you to be involved in our lives and the baby’s life. It’s up to you whether you will be or not.”
“Come on, Val.” He took her hand and pulled her up.
“What will you do about the father?” her mom asked. “If Trent wants partial custody? And what if the whole story comes out and the whole town is talking about it?”
“We’ll handle whatever comes.” Liam squeezed her hand reassuringly.
Her mom stood and put her arms around Val. “No matter what happens, we love you.”
Val hugged her back, then glanced at her father, sitting in his chair, a completely unforgiving expression on his face.
“Now we need to go talk to my mother.” Liam put his arm around her and guided her to the back door.
Riley walked to the door with them. He pulled Val into a hug. “He’ll come around.” He let go of Val and shook Liam’s hand. “Take care of her.”
“Don’t worry. I will.”
*
Liam knew Val was crying. He didn’t know how to comfort her. Val was very close to her family and her father’s disapproval and anger had to be tearing her up. At least her mother seemed to be a little more understanding. Or if not, she clearly wasn’t willing to lose Val over the issue. Her father he wasn’t so sure of.
Jasper Fletcher was a good man and Liam had always thought he was a good father. He’d known him since he was a little kid. But he had a very strict idea of what was acceptable and what wasn’t. He hoped the man would relent, especially since Val was married now.
He put the truck in park as soon as they turned onto his land. His truck was an older model with bench seats. “C’mere,” he said.
Val unbuckled her seat belt and scooted over. Liam wrapped his arms around her and let her cry. Once the storm subsided, she clutched his shirt beneath his open jacket and mumbled something into his chest. He put his hand beneath her chin and turned her face up to his. He kissed her, kissed the tears away, tasting salt and sorrow. “You’re killing me here.”
She drew in a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. We knew it wouldn’t be easy.”
“Thank you for saying you loved me and the baby.”
Hell, she still didn’t believe him. “What’s it going to take for you to believe I love you and the baby?”
“What if—what if I wasn’t pregnant?”
“Would I still love you if you weren’t pregnant?” She nodded forlornly. “Val, my feelings for you have nothing to do with your pregnancy. I love the baby because it’s yours. I want to be a father to it. But even if no baby existed I’d still want to be married to you.” He kissed her again, long and deeply. “I love you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
“Have you ever had sex in the front seat of a pickup?”
She laughed. “No. Am I about to?”
“Maybe later. Right now we need to talk to my mom. I don’t expect it to be too bad.” He hoped.
They found his mother at the fence to the closest pasture. A few of the horses were turned out and she was apparently watching them. When she saw Liam and Val she smiled. “Hi, you two. You know, whenever I look around, I can’t imagine not being here every day.”
“Why wouldn’t you be here?” Val asked.
“I guess Liam didn’t tell you. Clint and I are getting married. Soon.”
He hadn’t because he still wasn’t sure his mom wouldn’t change her mind.
“I’m so glad for you.”
“It’s not like you can’t ride over whenever you want,” Liam said. “Or there’s this thing called a truck that you could drive over if you didn’t want to ride.”
“I know. But it won’t be the same.” She sighed, then smiled sunnily. “But I am looking forward to marrying Clint. I missed him so much when he was gone. That’s when I knew I was being a fool to lose him.”
“We need to talk to you, Mom.”
“I know. You told me that when you called this morning.” She peered at Val. “Is everything all right?”
Liam didn’t know how to answer that so he didn’t. “Val is pregnant.”
“Wonderful!” She gathered Val into a hug, releasing her when Val didn’t reciprocate. “Isn’t it?”
“It is and it isn’t. I’m not the baby’s biological father. The man who is denied responsibility and told Val he wanted nothing to do with her.”
“So you two got married.” She looked at Val and he couldn’t read her expression. “Did you love him? The father of your baby?”
“No. It was a huge mistake. But I do love the baby.”
“Well, of course you do. So why all the subterfuge? Why marry Liam?” She caught herself. “Oh, of course. Your father.”
His mom knew the Fletchers well, having lived next to them for years. “I’m going to raise the baby as mine. We didn’t think it was anyone’s business who the biological father is. I’m the legal father.”
“And you’re telling me all this because Trent Harvey is the father, and he’s making waves.”
“You’ve heard the gossip.”
“Yes. I discounted it though. Trent has been a pill since he was a child. I just thought he was causing trouble because he hates our family.”
“I think that’s part of it. But we don’t know whether he’s going to claim paternity and want partial custody. I guarantee you he has no clue what that entails.” Even though Liam had tried to tell him.
“What are you two going to do?”
“Now that both our families know, nothing. We’re going to ignore the gossip and wait and see what Trent does. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it.”
“I know you will. You love each other and that’s the most important thing.”
Well, he loved Val, but he wasn’t at all sure she loved him. “I’d better get to work.”
“I’ll go change and help you,” Val said. “And Maureen, thank you for being so understanding.”
“I won’t pretend you don’t have a problem. But I’m sure you can work it out. Liam loves you and so do I.”
He was afraid Val was going to cry again, but she simply smiled and left for the house.
“Liam? Is something wrong? Besides the obvious, I mean.”
“No. Everything’s going to work out.” Somehow. But very possibly not in the way he and Val wanted.