Summer Nights (Fool's Gold #8)

CHARLIE HELD HER CLOSE. Annabelle let her friend tell her everything was going to be okay, then sniffed and straightened.

“You know I don’t believe you,” she said, as she grabbed another tissue and wiped her face. “About any of it.”

Charlie looked stricken. “I know. I can’t help saying everything will be fine. What I’m thinking is Shane is a complete jerk and I should run him over with a fire truck.”

“Don’t. You’d go to jail and then I’d really be alone.” Annabelle gave a strangled sob. “How selfish is that?”

“It’s not. I appreciate you missing me.”

Annabelle nodded as more tears fell. “I would. You’re a good friend. I think you should brace yourself. I’m going to be a little needy for the next few months.”

“I’ll be here. I don’t scare that easily.”

“Are you mad about the baby?”

Charlie frowned. “Mad? Why would I be mad?”

“Because you’ve been talking to Dakota and Pia about IVF and maybe adopting and here I go and get pregnant.”

Charlie hugged her again. Strong arms held her tight, then released her. “That’s twisted, even for you. It’s not like there’s a limited number of babies and you took the last one. I can still have one, too. Or an older child. I haven’t decided. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

“Thank you.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “I can’t tell you how much this hurts. All of it. Losing Shane, finding out he doesn’t believe in me, that in his mind, I’m still like his ex. How can that be?”

“You know it’s not about you, right?”

“What? Of course it’s about me.”

“No,” Charlie told her. “This is about Shane and his inability to trust. The pregnancy is a simple and easy way for him to express his deepest fears. It’s kind of good it happened sooner rather than later. Either he’d deal or he wouldn’t. And if he doesn’t…” She pressed her lips together. “Sorry. Sometimes I get too logical.”

Annabelle touched her hand. “You’re being a good friend and I appreciate that. You’re right. I don’t want to hear it, but I know you’re making sense. If Shane can’t get over Rachel, I need to know that.”

“Whatever happens, you’re going to be a mom.”

Annabelle managed a watery smile. “I’m happy about that.” She reached for more tissue. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Would you not tell anyone about this for a while? I know I’ll be smothered in sympathy and right now I can’t deal with that.”

“Of course. Whenever you’re ready. We’ll invite the girls in and—” She scrunched her nose. “I guess we won’t be doing the margarita thing, what with you having a baby.”

“I picked a bad time to figure out the man I desperately love isn’t in love with me, huh?”

“There’s never a good time for that.”

* * *

SHANE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT the hell he was supposed to do now.

He still had plenty of work. Talking to the trainers working with his racehorses, keeping tabs on the mares, working with Khatar and planning the next step in his breeding program. Work he liked. Work that satisfied him. There was the construction on his land and the constant stream of questions. His family. He was a busy guy with a lot of responsibility. None of which kept him from thinking about Annabelle.

He hadn’t seen her in seventy-two hours. Long hours that were empty and made him ache. He hadn’t realized how much he was used to having her around until she was gone. The righteous anger that had taken over at the hospital had faded, leaving only confusion. Because he was a man at war…with himself.

His gut and his head said Annabelle was a woman he could believe. That she would never hurt him, never trick him. But his heart—his heart remembered and was slow to trust again.

He wasn’t dealing with the idea of a baby at all. He couldn’t. Not until he’d figured out what he was going to do about Annabelle. From where he was standing, he either believed her or he didn’t. There was trust or not.

Annabelle loved kids. He’d seen her with them, both at the library and here at the ranch. She inspired them such that they offered her all the money they had to help bring a bookmobile to Fool’s Gold. Because she’d shown them that reading was a gift. A key to worlds beyond their imagination.