he placed his arm around her shoulders, tucked her to his side and guided her from the garage across the covered breezeway into the house. “Besides, I’m not running the risk of you passing out and possibly adding a concussion to your other ailments.”
His secure hold caused her heart to thump even harder. “H-how many times do I have to tell you? All I need is something to eat and I’ll be fine.”
He stopped ushering her along when they entered the kitchen. “Mattie?”
“Stop your hollerin’, Zachary. I’m old, but I ain’t deaf.” A gray-haired woman in her late sixties walked out of a pantry and stopped short at the sight of Zach holding her. “Did I forget about you bringin’ company for the weekend?”
He shook his head. “No, but Arielle’s sick and can’t be left alone. Probably coming down with a bad cold or maybe even the flu and requires your expert care.”
Arielle tried to push away from him. “I don’t have the—”
“Hush, darlin’,” he said close to her ear, causing a shiver to course through her. “Mattie Carnahan, this is Arielle Garnier. She’s in need of some dry clothes. See if you can find something of Lana’s for her to put on while I take her to the guest room.”
He led her down a hall and opened the door to a beautifully decorated room. When he reached to help her out of her coat, Arielle shook her head and took a step back. “I don’t need your help.”
“You need to take that coat off,” he insisted, moving toward her. “It’s soaked.”
She took a few steps backward. “The only thing I want from you is to be left alone. But if you feel you have to do something, find me something to eat and then take me back to my apartment. What part of that don’t you understand? And exactly how can I make it any clearer for you?”
As they stood glaring at each other, Mattie walked into the room to place a set of gray sweats and a heavy pair of socks on the bed. “Honey, he can be as stubborn as a jackass when he gets something in his head.” She motioned for Zach to leave. “You go get your things out of the car and I’ll have supper on the table by the time you get unpacked.”
Zach didn’t appear to be all that happy with his housekeeper taking over the situation. “I can do that later. I need to make sure Arielle is—”
“Go,” Arielle and the older woman both said at the same time.
Muttering a curse, he finally turned and walked from the room.
Mattie started to follow him. “If there’s anything else you need, just let me know.”
“Thank you,” Arielle said, meaning it. At least the housekeeper had given her a bit of a reprieve from Zach’s overpowering masculinity. “And for the record, I don’t have the flu.”
Mattie nodded as she stepped back into the room and closed the door. “Zachary means well, but he doesn’t have any idea you’re pregnant, does he?”
A cold sense of dread spread throughout Arielle’s body. “I…Uh, no, he doesn’t.”
“How far along are you, child?” Mattie asked, her voice so kind and understanding it chased away some of Arielle’s apprehension.
There was no use denying what the housekeeper had guessed, although Arielle didn’t have any idea how the woman could have possibly figured it out. “I’m only three and a half months pregnant, but I’m already starting to get a nice little bulge.”
Mattie nodded. “I thought you must be showing some since you were so determined to keep your coat on and kept holding it together. That’s why I brought some of Zachary’s sweatshirts and pants, instead of his sister’s. You’ll have to roll up the legs and push up the sleeves, but I thought you might need the extra room.”
“But how did you know?” Arielle was thoroughly amazed by the woman’s intuitiveness.
“Some women have a look about them when they’re pregnant and if ever a woman had that glow, you do,” Mattie revealed, shrugging. “And if that wasn’t enough, Zachary telling me that you got sick on the drive up here and your insistence that all you needed was something to eat was. I always had to keep something on my stomach when I was carrying both of my boys.” She smiled. “Now, get changed and come to the kitchen. I’ll make sure you get something to eat before you get sick again. Then I’m going home so that you and Zachary can talk things over in private.”
When Mattie closed the door behind her, Arielle at last took off her soggy raincoat and sank down on the bed. There hadn’t been the slightest bit of condemnation in the older woman’s voice, but she had to have strong suspicions that Zach was the baby’s father. Why else would she leave them alone?
As Arielle started taking off her damp clothes to put on the dry fleece, she sighed heavily. It appeared that the time had come to tell Zach about the baby and discuss how they would handle the issues of custody and visitation.
She wasn’t looking forward to it, but it would almost be a relief to finally have her pregnancy out in the open. Other than her new sister-in-law, Haley, and her newfound grandmother, no one—not even her brothers, Jake and Luke—had a clue that she was going to have a baby.
And although she loved her brothers with all of her heart, just the thought of telling them about her pregnancy made her want to take off for parts unknown. She was no longer the ten-year-old girl they’d raised after their mother’s death, but they still insisted on meddling in her life. Although she’d learned to stand up to them, if they knew, they would tell her what they thought was best for her and the baby. No doubt they’d even convince her to move closer to one of them.
But thankfully they wouldn’t have the opportunity to once again play the overly protective older brothers. Now that she’d found Zach, she fully intended to handle things on her own terms. By the time she told Jake and Luke about her pregnancy, she and Zach would have hopefully made all of the important decisions.
She finished pulling the thick, warm socks on her feet then stood to go into the kitchen. In theory, her plan sounded logical and should work out. But something told her that if telling Zach he was going to be a father went like the rest of her day, she’d better brace herself for life to become more complicated instead of simpler.
When Zach walked into the kitchen, Arielle was already seated at the table with a plate in front of her piled high with mashed potatoes, vegetables and a country-fried steak smothered in milk gravy. “Shouldn’t you be eating something a little lighter than that?” He frowned when he watched her take a big bite of the steak. “Chicken soup would be a much better choice for someone with the flu.”
He watched her close her eyes for a moment, obviously savoring the taste of the beef. For someone with an upset stomach, she certainly had a hearty enough appetite.
“We’ll talk about the reason I got sick after we eat,” she replied, reaching for a slice of homemade bread. “But maybe now you’ll believe me when I say I don’t have the flu.”
“Leave her be and have a seat, Zachary.” Mattie had always called him by his given name, and although he preferred the shortened version, he’d long ago stopped trying to get her to change. “That little gal is going to be just fine.”
“If Arielle doesn’t have the flu, what’s wrong
