he said quietly, taking out a couple of bills and handing them to the teenager at the window in exchange for the food.
She put her money away. So the man had his pride after all.
He didn’t waste any time getting to the highway, headed toward Dallas and her family. It was strange seeing someone else in the driver’s seat of her car, and surreal to think that he was the father of the baby growing inside her. None of it felt like it was truly possible; rather the situation was like a weird dream and she’d wake up with a great sense of relief. But it wasn’t. She’d made a mistake. And now she had to deal with it, the way she’d always dealt with changing situations in her life. With logic.
The sandwich was delicious, a bit warm with tangy mustard and lettuce and tomato and she ate neatly, self-conscious the whole time. While she drank from her carton of milk, Chris manhandled his sandwich with one hand while driving and when the first half was gone, he reached for his soda and took a long pull. “Feel better?” he asked, looking over at her.
“I do, thank you.” She tried a smile. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she started eating. “You were right. I needed some fuel. Especially since I don’t know when I’ll eat again once I get to the hospital.”
“You’re close with your family?” He glanced over at her and then back at the road again.
“Mostly.” It was a complicated question. “My mom left when we were pretty small—me and Savannah and Carly and Jet. When my dad remarried, he adopted Peggy’s boys, Jacob and Daniel. Then Peggy died.... I think we’re the new ‘typical’ American family.” She smiled. “Blended a couple of times. Dad’s current wife has a five-year-old son from a previous relationship. We get along pretty well—considering. Even though we’ve all grown, things are still centered out at the ranch. We’ve got the farm and Dad built the ring for rodeo training.”
Chris nodded. “I don’t come from a big family like that. Only child.”
“Trouble sharing?” She grinned at him and he laughed a little.
“Not so much. Just a bit of pressure is all. All the expectations on the shoulders of one kid, you know?”
“That’s not necessarily untrue in a big family. I’ve always felt like more was expected of me because I’m oldest. Even though Jacob and Daniel are pretty close to me in age, there was a difference as we grew up.” She didn’t say that it was partly because Brock treated the adopted boys just a little differently. She couldn’t prove it, after all. And yet she was sure the boys sensed it just the same.
She put her head back against the seat rest. “Anyway, you know quite a bit about me now. How about you?”
His fingers gripped the wheel. “Not much to say, really. I grew up outside the city, had a pretty normal childhood. My dad was foreman on a ranch and the owner got me into rodeo.”
“I saw that you were a junior champ a long time ago, but then it’s like you dropped off the earth. Where’ve you been in the meantime? With rodeo being big in our family, I’m sure I would have heard your name before.”
She wasn’t sure why or if she’d touched a nerve, but Chris’s jaw tightened. “I quit for a while.”
“Injury?” Curious, she studied his profile.
“Obligations,” he responded cryptically.
She let that sit for a few minutes, wondering if he’d expand on that terse statement. When he didn’t, she asked. “What sort of obligations?”
“Does it matter?”
She nodded. “If I’m keeping this baby, and you’re determined to do your duty, then we’re going to be tied to each other for a very long time. I’d like to know what sort of guy is going to be my child’s father, that’s all.”
His jaw ticked, but after a few moments he relented. “Look, my parents scrimped and saved to put me through university. No one else in my family had ever gone past high school. I took engineering at A&M and I’ve been working ever since. Until this year, I was an engineer at AB Windpower.”
“Really? That’s cool. I don’t know a lot about them, but I’ve seen some write-ups about some of their energy initiatives. It’s neat stuff. So why’d you leave?”
“This year is just a leave of absence.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why the leave of absence?” She turned in the seat a little, tucking her left foot under her right leg and adjusting the seat belt on her shoulder.
“I missed competing,” he said simply. “I’ve been working long hours for years now, cooped up inside for the most part. I wanted one year. Just one, to do what I wanted to do. To have some fun. So I asked my boss for a leave and I got it.”
“You don’t like being an engineer?”
“It’s not that. Or at least... Hell, it’s complicated.”
Lizzie wasn’t sure what to think about that. She had one brother who seemed allergic to responsibility and there were lots of times she’d had the thought that he needed to grow up. For some reason it had been easier to accept that Chris was a bronc rider when she didn’t know he had a perfectly good, respectable career that he’d abandoned for a “year of fun.” Then there was the fact that she, apparently, was part of that year of irresponsibility.
“It’s always complicated,” she responded, feeling the comment was a bit useless but not knowing what else to say.
The resulting silence was awkward. Lizzie had thought company for the drive would be good, but hadn’t thought about how awkward it could be being shut up in a car for hours with no escape. Thankfully it was only a few minutes and Lizzie’s phone rang again. Rather than put it through the Bluetooth, she took it from her purse and answered it. She’d rather not have family business on speaker.
“Lizzie, it’s Julieta. I wanted to give you an update.”
Lizzie’s stomach tightened nervously. “Is he okay?”
“Your father’s just gone into surgery for his leg. The concussion seems minor, no bleeding or anything so they decided to go ahead.”
“I’m getting there as fast as I can.”
“Just get here safely. He’ll be in surgery for a few hours yet.”
“Thanks.”
“Ask at the desk at Emergency and they should be able to tell you where we are, okay?”
“Sounds good.” Lizzie hesitated and then felt the need to ask. “Does anyone need anything?”
Julieta’s voice was warm over the line. “We’re fine. You don’t need to look after us, Lizzie. Now drive safe and we’ll see you soon.”
Lizzie hung up, knowing she’d had the perfect opportunity to say she wasn’t alone but for some reason hadn’t. She didn’t want Chris to be a dirty little secret, but in her mind he was. She was going to have to get over that. Her family was
