Sunset Seduction

Eight



The punch surprised Luke, and he staggered back. He rebounded quickly and came at Casey with his fists clenched and ready, but at the last minute, he backed off.

“Come on,” Casey said, waving both hands, egging him on and inviting a fight. “Take a punch so I can knock you to Carson City.”

Luke glared at Casey and rubbed his face where he’d been hit. His cheek was swollen. There would be a nasty bruise. “Back off, Casey. I’m not going to fight you.”

Casey bellowed, “The hell you’re not.”

Audrey’s tears stopped flowing. She’d made a big mess of everything and she didn’t know how to fix it, but she certainly didn’t want the two men she loved most in the world to have a barroom brawl in the middle of the parlor. “Stop it. Casey, you’re still recovering from a broken back.”

He granted her a sideways glance. “Hell, Audrey, I’m fine. Now be quiet.”

“I won’t be quiet. You’re not fine, and you’re not going to beat Luke up.”

“Like he could,” Luke said, puffing his chest out.

The two men sized each other up. Both of them were acting like juveniles.

Casey got in Luke’s face. “You’re a bastard, Luke.”

“No, he’s not.” Audrey was angry about Luke’s stubborn and far-reaching code of honor, but she wouldn’t stand here and allow Casey to make assumptions about Luke that weren’t true. “None of this is Luke’s fault. It was all my doing.”

Casey snorted as if she’d handed him a load of manure. “It’s always the guy’s fault, Audrey Faith. No matter what you did, he did worse. I doubt you forced him into it.”

Oh, but she had. Almost. She’d seduced him. “He didn’t even know it was—”

“I don’t want to hear details, for pity’s sake.” Casey cut her off, his face pinched tight.

Luke stepped in between her and Casey and spoke directly to her brother. “You’re right. I’m a bastard. You trusted me and I blew that trust to hell.”

“Luke!” Audrey couldn’t believe her ears. Luke was being Luke and manning up for her sake. Luke wouldn’t let her lose face with her brother. But the truth was, he wasn’t at fault, and his friendship with Casey hung in the balance. “Let me explain it to him. Let me tell him how it all happened the first time. You see, Casey, I was coming—”

Luke turned to her and put up a hand, a warning in his voice. “Don’t, Audrey. He doesn’t want the details.”

“I surely don’t.”

Luke’s cheek was turning a shade of purple. He kept his voice calm, trying to diffuse the situation. His eyes softened on her. “Are you carrying my baby?”

She nodded. “I haven’t seen a doctor yet, but the pregnancy test is positive. I have all the symptoms.”

Luke swallowed.

Casey muttered a curse under his breath.

A beat ticked by and then the two men spoke in unison.

“You’re marrying me,” Luke said.

“You’re marrying him,” Casey said.

The two of them looked at each other, none too friendly, but nodded in agreement.

“Damn right you’re marrying her,” Casey muttered.

“You just heard me ask her, didn’t you?”

“Then it’s settled,” Casey said.

Both of them turned to her. She faced two stubborn-set jaws on men who had no clue how much they’d just hurt her. She didn’t think it possible, but her heart broke even more. Casey loved her and cared about her, but he’d been dictating the terms of her life for too long. She didn’t want or need his approval on her decisions. Though if she had his blessing, she’d be grateful and happy about it. But she certainly wasn’t going to allow him to make the biggest decision of her life for her.

Luke, on the other hand, didn’t love her. That said it all, didn’t it? In Audrey’s fantasy world, Luke loved her and wanted to marry her and live out his life with her. But that wasn’t the case. She couldn’t let him demand that she enter into a marriage based on his noble sense of morality. She loved him too much for that. A lopsided marriage for the baby’s sake wouldn’t make anyone happy. The last thing Luke wanted was a loveless marriage. And the last thing she wanted was to live her life without his love.

Finally, it dawned on her. She deserved better. No more halves in her life. She’d had half a family, living without the love of a mother and father all these years. She’d had half a school life, too—tagging behind Casey on the rodeo circuit while her high school friends were having fun, getting into trouble and learning how to deal with impending adulthood. She’d had half an education, her studies being cut short by Casey’s back injury.

She’d sacrificed for him and wanted to help him recover, in much the same the way he’d sacrificed his life to raise her. Neither of them had had a choice.

But this time, finally, Audrey did have a choice. This time she was old enough to make a stand for what she wanted out of life. This time, she had something to say about it.

She didn’t want Luke if he didn’t love her. She’d never deny him his child. They would work something out later on. But for now, Audrey’s decision was seared in her mind as the way it had to be.

“Casey,” she said firmly, her sobs from five minutes ago well forgotten, “nothing is settled. I’m almost twenty-five years old. I love you, but you’re not my keeper. I make my own decisions.”

She turned away from Casey to look straight into Luke’s eyes. “Luke, that was hardly a proposal. You didn’t ask. But my answer would’ve been the same. No, I will not marry you.”

Never in her life would she have dreamed of turning down Lucas Slade’s offer of marriage.

Both men’s mouths moved. They started flapping their gums, jawing at her, but this time, Audrey didn’t listen. Her decision was final and nothing either of them could say at this point would change her mind. “I’m exhausted. I’m going to bed. I don’t want to be disturbed.” She held her head high, regally—a lesson learned from Jewel—and pointed a finger at both of them. “Don’t argue after I’m gone. For heaven’s sake, you two are friends. Promise me you’ll get along.”

Casey grumbled.

Luke muttered something.

The two of them wouldn’t look at each other.

“Okay, I have your promise,” she said, darting each one a purposeful glance before she walked out of the room.

* * *

Luke and Casey sat on the front steps of the porch, a half-empty bottle of Scotch whiskey between them. A pinkish blaze of light lowered on the horizon. Dusk’s long fingers touched the earth and settled around the ranch.

Branches fluttered from a bird’s flight. Horses whinnied, and off in the distance an owl hooted. Ranch sounds carried to Luke’s ears as the land whispered good-night, but Luke wasn’t ready to turn in. Hell, he had the other half of the bottle to polish off.

Casey refused to budge. He sat still as a stone, mumbling as he imbibed the good stuff.

“I’m never gonna forgive you for this.” Casey poured an inch of whiskey down his throat and then reached for the bottle to fill up his glass again.

“I know.”

“She’s a good kid.” Casey’s gravelly voice rose an octave. “Damn you, Luke,” he said for the tenth time.

Luke should be burning in hell from all the damning Casey was doing.

“You were the good one,” he said. “I’d be breaking all the rules and you’d be right there, Mr. Clean, always picking up the pieces. Always doing the right thing. Why the hell didn’t you do the right thing with my sister? Why the hell did you knock her up?”

Luke sipped his whiskey, looking down at the amber liquor in his glass. “Wasn’t intentional.”

Hell, no, it wasn’t. He hadn’t set out to touch Audrey much less get her pregnant. The concept of fatherhood was still foreign to him. He struggled with it. He was going to have a baby. With Audrey. Everything inside him said he had to do the right thing, so he’d demanded marriage of her. But a loveless marriage was the last thing he’d wanted. All of his life he’d planned on something more than his father had with his mother. He’d waited for that zing, for that missing piece of the puzzle, for that extra bounce in his step when he thought about a woman. When it didn’t happen, he just figured he needed to wait some more. But now, the baby changed everything.

“I should’ve knocked you out.”

Luke drew breath into his lungs and spoke quietly. “You couldn’t if you tried.”

“Landed a pretty dang mean right hook, though.”

“You sucker punched me.”

“I’m not sorry.”

“I got that the first three times you told me.”

“First thing tomorrow, I’m gonna pack up and go. And I’m taking my kid sister with me.”

That was not going to happen. Luke wasn’t going to let Casey badger Audrey into leaving. She was pregnant with his child. They had things to work out. Luke’s fist balled up. He spoke with menace in his voice. “You can go anytime you want. But Audrey’s not leaving until I talk to her.”

“She told you she’s not marrying you.”

“And you think you’re gonna bully Audrey into leaving with you?”

“I don’t bully her.”

“You’ve been bullying her since the day I met you. She was too young and dependent on you to fight back. But, man, you were clueless when it came to her. Audrey’s not a kid. She’s all grown-up. Somehow your radar missed that, Case. She’s old enough to make up her own mind about things. She’s old enough to decide about her life and her future. I slept with her, yes. It was a mistake on my part, but believe me when I say this—she made her decision to be with me. She wasn’t forced or bullied. So you may think I’m a bastard, and I may very well be, but don’t think for a minute I’m going to let you ramrod her into going home with you.”

Luke rose then. The world tipped a little. His head spun, but Luke knew his limits and this wasn’t it. He wasn’t hammered enough not to see the truth. He had to stand his ground now. He pointed his finger right down the nose of his friend. “You let Audrey decide what she wants to do.” He turned and grabbed the door handle. Right before he walked inside, he added, “And don’t you even think about getting behind the wheel of your car tonight.”

Casey poured the last drop of Scotch into his glass and muttered, “Hell, Luke. What do you take me for? I’m not that dang stupid.”

Luke grinned, satisfied, although he didn’t know why he was feeling so darn good. He had a reluctant bride on his hands and a baby on the way.

* * *

In the morning, Audrey walked into the kitchen at the usual time. Luke was at the table, sipping coffee, the food on his plate untouched. He gazed up with bloodshot eyes. The bruise on his face had faded some, but it hadn’t gone away. There was a round blotch of color just under his right eye. She wondered what Ellie had said about it or if she’d asked at all.

Luke looked sorely hungover. He’d taken the news of her pregnancy like a man, demanding marriage and then drinking himself into oblivion when she’d refused his nonproposal.

“Ellie made breakfast,” he said.

A dish of French toast, scrambled eggs and honey-smoked bacon greeted her. Well…thank goodness the sugary and savory scents mingling in the air didn’t make her queasy. She might actually be able to handle a bit of breakfast this morning.

“Would you like some coffee?” the plump, white-haired woman asked, coming toward the table with a steaming pot in her hand.

“No, thanks, Ellie. I’ll have juice today. Everything looks delicious.”

The housekeeper nodded and turned on her heel. A few seconds later, a glass of orange juice appeared in front of her. “There you go. And for you, Luke?”

“I’ll stick with coffee this morning. If you’re through here, I’d like to speak with Audrey privately.”

“Surely,” Ellie said, pouring more coffee into his cup. “I’ll be back later to straighten up the kitchen.”

“I’ve got it, Ellie,” Audrey said. The housekeeper was a one-woman dynamo. Every pot and pan she’d used to cook the meal was already cleaned and put away. Just the tabletop dishes remained. “There’s just a few things here. I’ll load the dishwasher.”

“Well, thank you,” Ellie said, wiping her hands on a dish towel, giving her a smile. “You’re a dear.”

The housekeeper left the room and they sat silently. That was fine with Audrey. She took a few bites of crisp bacon and forked her way through half a piece of one-inch-thick cinnamon-and-pecan French toast. Her stomach didn’t rebel and she considered it a good way to start off the morning.

“Casey leave?”

She nodded. “I said goodbye to him this morning.”

“He try to get you to go with him?”

“We talked,” she said. Her brother hadn’t pressed the issue. They’d actually had a civilized adult conversation this morning. She hadn’t gone into a lot of detail, but she explained to him about what happened at the cabin and owned up to the blame. Casey didn’t fully buy it. Her brother didn’t want to let Luke off the hook, yet he hadn’t argued with her. She’d asked him to leave the ranch and let her finish the job she came here to do. It was clear Casey didn’t want to do that, leaving her in the hands of Evil Luke and all, but he finally nodded in agreement. It surprised the hell out of her when he kissed her cheek, got in his car and drove off without giving her a lecture.

“And you’re still here.”

“Casey doesn’t decide my life, Luke. I think I made myself clear yesterday.” She pushed her plate away. Her stomach couldn’t handle any more. “I’ve got a job to do. I plan on finishing what I started.”

He nodded and sipped coffee. “I’m glad you’re not leaving. I want you to stay.”

Endorphins sprang free and she was struck with impossible hope and joy. She fought the warm feeling for all she was worth. Luke was only saying that because of the baby, she reminded herself. A short time ago, he regretted her being on Sunset Ranch.

“I plan to stay.”

“Well, then, it’s settled.”

Luke could be an ass at times, she decided. “Only because I’m settling it.”

His eyes narrowed on her. They looked patriotic—red, white and blue. “Touchy.”

“Yeah, well…that’s what happens to pregnant women. We get touchy.”

“I’ll remember that. Are you an expert now?”

“I’ve been reading up.” On the internet. There was an abundance of knowledge there, but some of it was scary stuff. She made a decision to look up the facts only and not get sucked into the thousands of pregnancy blogs and nightmare stories or else she wouldn’t sleep nights. It was a classic case of TMI. “I made an appointment with a doctor.”

“A local doctor?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “For now.”

Relief registered on his face. “I’d like to go with you.”

At least it wasn’t a demand. “I figured you would. Okay, we’ll go together. The appointment is late tomorrow morning.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m not going to keep you away from the baby, Luke.”

For all her misgivings, Luke was a good man, and he’d be a wonderful father. She hadn’t any doubts about it. “But you won’t marry me?”

The breath whooshed out of her. Tears stung behind her eyes. How many times would she have to refuse the very thing she’d been dreaming about her entire life? How many times would she have to hold her head up high and fight for the one thing she wanted, above all else, for her and her baby…a life filled with true love. “I…can’t.”

“Why not, Audrey? We’re having a baby. That changes everything.”

“Your parents had a loveless marriage, Luke. And you never wanted that for yourself. They married for the child’s sake.”

“They lived a decent life. They raised a family. What they had wasn’t terrible.”

A sigh climbed up from the depth of her heart. “Did you just hear yourself?” The sting behind her eyes burned now and she struggled not to break down in tears. Audrey couldn’t resign herself to being a wife to Luke that way. “Do you want something that only isn’t terrible?”

Luke stared at her. He heaved a heavy sigh. His shoulders rose and fell. “We’ll both love the baby.”

Audrey stood up and leaned over the table. Sophia told her she’d know when the time was right. She’d know when she had to tell Luke the ultimate truth. And the time had come. Audrey couldn’t put it off anymore. She’d lived with this for ten years. It was finally time to come clean. Luke was beginning to soften her resolve. She was beginning to think about how easy it would be to marry him. To live in this big house and see him every day, raise their child together and get along with him the same way they always had, as friends.

She warred with it in her head for long, drawn out moments. It was the hardest decision she ever had to make. And it was breaking her heart a thousand times over. But she couldn’t go through with it. Luke had been her dream, one she would completely sully by going halfway. It had to be all or nothing with Luke. No halves when it came to Lucas Slade.

“You don’t love me, Luke.”

Luke’s breath caught in his throat. Her bluntness surprised him. He rose to face her from across the table.

She was glad he stood. Glad she could look him straight in the eyes and give him the truth. “But you see…I love you. I have for ten years. It wasn’t just a childhood crush. It wasn’t just a fascination with my big brother’s buddy. I have loved you for so long, and so hard, for so many years, it’s killing me to pretend I don’t. You’re the only man I’ve ever wanted. I didn’t set out for any of this to happen. I surely didn’t intend to get pregnant, Luke. But that night at the cabin, when I walked into the room and saw you there, I realized that if I walked away, I might blow the only chance I had with you. I might’ve walked away from something I had dreamed about for years. It was important for me to be with you that night. It was my chance to show you how much I cared for you.

“Did you ever ask yourself why I climbed into bed with you that night? Did you think I’d lay with any man sleeping in that bed? Did you think I was a slut? You never once considered that I might have true feelings for you, Luke. You never once looked at me as anything other than a friend, your buddy’s little sister. I have strong feelings for you. I love you with all my heart. And I’m having your baby.”

Audrey set her hand on the new life growing inside her even as tears wet her cheeks. “We will not go into this halfway. We want one hundred percent of you. We want all-in. We want to be your pot of gold.”

Luke swallowed and blinked his eyes. “Audrey.”

Audrey’s voice began to crack. “I will n-never keep you from your child, Luke. And I wish to heaven that you l-loved me, but you don’t, so I won’t m-marry you. I hope you can understand that. Now, I h-have work to do. I’ll s-see you later.”

She turned to leave, wiping tears with the sleeve of her blouse as she headed out the door.

“Audrey, wait!”

Luke’s plea only stopped her for a second. She squeezed her eyes closed and stood waiting for Luke to say what she needed to hear.

When he offered nothing else, Audrey turned to face his blank stare. “I have waited, Luke. For ten years.”

Then she exited the room.