Chapter Four #2
“I don’t need time. I won’t change my mind. You might want to stop looking at me like that because we both know where it’ll lead.”
“Like what?” her voice came out in a squeak.
“Like you want me to kiss you.”
Would he kiss her? Did she want him to kiss her? “Wyler…”
“Liberty,” he said her name as if he was sucking on a lemon wedge. “You can always move into the camper with me, but something tells me that sweet ass wouldn’t make it two days.”
“You chose to move there.” She wouldn’t cower under his heated glare.
“Was that before or after you asked for a divorce?” His lip curled.
“You keep saying those words as if we have a normal marriage.”
“Don’t worry. I might have misunderstood a lot regarding you and me, but not once have I thought anything about this marriage is normal.”
She cringed at the scorching pain of his words. “It’s possible I misunderstood a few things myself.”
“Like what? That you could walk all over me and I’d bow down because you’re a Rose?”
“That you understood the perimeters of a marriage of convenience.”
“And where is it written on that list of yours that you were going to get pregnant?” She opened her mouth but the only thing that came out was a hiss. “I’ve rendered you silent. Chalk that up as a new one.” He leaned in even closer.
“No one says you have to be involved.”
“Oh, but I will be. In fact, I’m thinking we should announce it to the family that we’ve decided to give this marriage another try.
That I’ve had a change of heart and, how did you put it?
Oh yeah, that you’re going to be a better wife.
Let them get the taste of that and then we’ll publicize the news of the baby.
” His eyes tunneled into her. “Since you’ve told everyone that I was the one ramrodding the divorce. ”
She slumped her shoulders, losing her grit. “A baby isn’t enough to make a marriage last.”
“I didn’t say it would, did I? I’m going to be a part of this pregnancy. After the baby’s born, say a few months, you can decide what you want. I’ll sign divorce papers as long as I have rights to my child.”
“Is this revenge?”
“For what?” His eyes turned cold.
“Because I ended things.”
“Despite how you Roses operate, I’m not operating on that same wavelength.
I wouldn’t use my child as some kind of leverage.
This is me accepting my responsibility. I want to be a father, pull my weight.
You should understand that considering Sam has always been there for you and your sisters and you show little to no gratitude to the man. ”
“Don’t go there. You have no right to judge.” A cold breeze swept over her. She’d never been a crier, but she felt the sting of tears at the backs of her eyes.
“I do have a right, sweetheart. I’m part of the family.
Not like…what was his name? Reggie? Is that the hand that you had a field day with then discarded him like a broken fence post?
” She drew back her hand but before it connected with his cheek, he caught her arm, his fingers circling her wrist in a satin hold.
“Did you think I didn’t know? That I didn’t hear the rumors about my wife? ”
“I don’t give a damn if you knew, or what you heard. That’s another story that has been embellished by a few people. You have no idea how things unfolded between Reggie and I.” She wouldn’t dare cry in front of him.
“And you know what? I don’t care about the past. I’m not another Reggie, Liberty.
” his voice was an octave softer. “Looks like you and I are going to be attached for a while longer so we should get used to it. We can be together and hate it, or we can put our differences aside for the baby. Your choice. But let me be clear, I’m not some backroad cowboy you can drive all over and not pave. Got it?”
“What if I choose to not agree with this?”
He shrugged and leaned back. “Don’t then, but what will Sam say?”
“What do you mean?”
“Think he’d agree on you and I getting a divorce when we’re having a baby?”
She took a deep breath and released it with a sigh. She knew the answer but didn’t want to say it aloud. “Just because you two have become buddies doesn’t mean he’ll choose you over me, Wyler.”
“Then contact your attorney and I’ll contact mine. You need to be aware that I won’t give up my child.”
She knew him well enough to know that any words he spoke were the truth. “So explain to me exactly what you want then? What does this look like?”
He looked down the sidewalk, watching as a car slowly passed as if the driver was watching him and Liberty.
He squinted to get a better look at both the car and driver.
The streetlight flashed inside the car, but he couldn’t ascertain more than a glimpse of long hair.
Once the brake lights disappeared down the street, he turned back to Liberty. “You’re not going to like it.”
“You have to say it before I have a chance to not like it.” Her chin tilted in challenge.
“Like I said, we stay married until after the baby is born. I want the baby to have my last name and I want to be there through the delivery, through the sleepless nights, and I want to be there for you. We need to do this together.”
“Babies need things,” she said in a hushed tone.
“Like I don’t know that,” he scoffed.
“You move in with me until the baby is born and then what? You don’t have a home.
Do you plan to put a crib in the corner of a camper?
” She knew it was a low blow, but she considered it pretty low that he was cornering her.
She pulled in a deep breath, hoping to relieve some of the friction in her body.
Doc had told her she needed to take care of herself because she was low in iron and working too hard.
She’d never been one to slow down, until lately, as well as taking a daily supplement.
“Real funny,” he said in a relaxed drawl. He swiveled on his boots and strode down the sidewalk.
She had to jog to catch up to him. “I’m not joking. How will you help raise this child?”
He stopped and turned his narrowed gaze at her. “What game are you up to now?”
“No game.” She felt a little woozy. “All your life you’ve flitted from one job to another. What do you know about being a daddy? Before you start demanding rights, think about what a child requires. A twenty-four-seven presence. Nurturing. Stability.”
“And you think you’re ready? What do you think Willow Wild is? A homestead, Liberty.”
“You don’t have the love for that place like I do.” She immediately wanted to kick herself. Why was she being so rude?
“I didn’t ask for the property. You offered it freely if I accepted the terms of the arrangement you cooked up.” Creases appeared around his eyes.
“I don’t regret offering the land, but this…a baby…is different.”
He snorted and his face softened some. “This is not a competition to see who can be a better parent. We need to work together on parenting. This isn’t about you, or me.
It’s about a baby. Our baby. We had sex, we knew the risk, and here we are.
” He shook his head as if releasing a thread of emotion.
“You want the land back? Then take it, but it won’t change things.
I’m here. I’ll be here. I’ll find a spot.
I’ll build a home with my bare hands if I must. Like it or not, I’m your husband. We’re connected.”
“Do you think I’ve forgotten?” She rubbed her temples. “Daddy should have never demanded that us girls get married.”
Wyler’s laughter echoed off the brick buildings lining Main Street.
“Sweetheart, Sam knew exactly what he was doing. Stop pretending you didn’t read between the lines.
You thought you were teaching him a lesson by marrying me, but it blew up in your face.
When he accepted me as his son-in-law you lost the leverage.
When that happened, you lost interest too.
I’m assuming it was because it was no longer fun sneaking around. ”
His words stung, but they did hold some truth. “You don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
His frown deepened. “That’s one thing we can certainly agree upon.”
“I don’t want the land back. It’s yours.
It was part of the agreement that I made.
” Bile rose in her throat. She’d had dreams for the property, but it was only a drop in the well when it came to what she had to lose if she wasn’t in her father’s will.
Everything she’d worked for. All the prized horses.
She enjoyed training horses, and teaching young girls barrel racing, seeing their faces light up when they accomplished their goals.
As a kid, she’d strived to make her father happy.
The quickest way to do that had been to learn to win at something.
That’s when she developed a love for barrel racing, and she’d been damn good at it too.
One of the best in the country. It had been something that separated her from Honor, even though she also competed.
Being twins, they’d always been in competition with each other.
Honor had been the sweet, smart, and “good” sister and Liberty had been known as the wild, untamed one who was a magnet for trouble.
But when she was on the back of a horse with the wind in her hair, she was just Liberty.
Not the labeled woman who people enjoyed spreading rumors about.
Not the feral version in a ladylike world.
Just herself and she made her father proud.
He stared a long few seconds before he said, “A child is forever.”
“Yes, it’s forever. I want you to be at Willow Wild and make something wonderful of it. There’s potential there for a cowboy like yourself. You can build a home there. Buy some horses, livestock, and be independent.”
He looked a bit confused. “I told you what I want.”