“I’ll wait to hear that from her, if you don’t mind, Callahan.”
“See, though, I do mind.” He put down the money to pay for the beer. Sidney grunted, not about to utter any gratitude, and Judah couldn’t blame him. “Darla says she’s expecting my children. So that means she’ll be taking the Callahan name. My name.”
Sidney turned. “I happen to know that Darla thinks you’re an ass she wishes she’d never met. And she’s never mentioned you being the father of her children, so as far as I’m concerned, you’re not even in the picture.” He raised his bottle in a sardonic wave. “Thanks for the brew, but buzz off and let me drink it in peace.”
Judah elected to ignore the insult. “What do you mean, you don’t know about her being pregnant by me?”
The doctor shrugged. “We never talked about it. I don’t need to know everything in her past. And until I know better, you are her past.”
Judah slumped on his bar stool for a moment. He couldn’t be mad at Tunstall—the man clearly wasn’t in possession of all the facts. Just like a woman to leave out important details. Judah stood, tossed some tip money on the bar. “Look, Tunstall, you’re an innocent party here, so I’m going to cut you some slack. But don’t get in my way. I’ll be standing at the altar with Darla, I’ll be raising my own sons, and that’s just the way it is.”
“Maybe,” Sidney said, “and maybe not.”
The man had no idea how thin Judah’s temper was at the moment. It was all he could do not to pound good sense into him. But Darla was the person he needed to be setting straight, so he took a deep breath and sauntered off to collect his wits before his rides tomorrow.
It wasn’t going to be easy. His concentration had never been so scattered.
He couldn’t decide if it was suddenly finding himself altar-bound or becoming a father that had him the most bent.
“HOW DARE YOU?” Darla demanded when Judah made it to his motel room an hour later, where she was waiting outside the door. He cast an appreciative eye over the snapping fire in her blue eyes, and her long blond hair. She looked like an angel, but she was going to bless him out like a she-devil.
Which meant that Tunstall had given her the bad news. And that suited Judah just fine.
“I dare,” he said, unlocking his door and stepping inside his room with her on his heels, “because that’s what I do. I dare.”
Her lips compressed for a moment. “You have no right to interfere.”
He tossed his hat into the chair. “Just one man chatting with another. Don’t get your panties in a twist over it, sugar.” Grinning, he pulled a beer from the six-pack his brothers had thoughtfully left in his room, satisfied that matters should be straight as an arrow between him and his buttercup.
“I’m not going to marry you, Judah.” Darla’s chin rose, and her tiny nose nearly pointed at his chin. He so badly wanted to run his finger down her face and tell her everything was going to be just fine, if she’d only settle down and let him take care of her.
“We’ll talk about it tomorrow after I ride. There’s a lot of things we’ll have to plan, like naming my sons. You’ll need to enroll in a prenatal yoga class, too. I hear it’s very beneficial for the mother and the babies.”
Darla’s cheeks went pink. “I’m leaving now,” she told him, “and I am marrying Sidney. Quit trying to take over my life.”
“Whew,” Judah said, pulling her close against his chest. “You’ll know when I’m trying to take over your life, babe. I’ll say, ‘Get in my bed,’ and you’ll go happily because you’ll know I’m going to make you feel like a princess.”
Irate as Darla was, she leaned into him, and for a moment, completely relaxed.
But she suddenly pulled herself away and marched to the door. “Not a chance, Judah. Goodbye.”
THE NEXT DAY Darla carried the magic wedding dress to the back of the store where she couldn’t see it. Lately, it had begun to call to her with a siren song of such temptation that she could barely resist it.
“Just try on the gown,” Jackie urged. But Darla didn’t want to fashion hopes and dreams through simple fabric.
“I don’t need fairy tales and magic in my life. I’m making a solid, practical decision to marry a man who’s as even-keeled as I am. Judah is a winter wind blowing through a canyon. I could never rely on him.”
“But he’s the father of your children,” Jackie said. “You don’t want to do something in the heat of passion, Darla.”
“I already did that,” she replied, “which is why I’m choosing to be quite selective with my children’s futures now. Sidney will be a good father. He comes from a very small family, and has always wanted a large one. We’re good friends. I’ll be an organized, supportive doctor’s wife.” Darla stowed the magic wedding gown in the very back of the stock closet, behind back-stock dresses. It did lure her. Sometimes in the night, she could hear a faint rustle of musical chimes, like an antique jewelry box opening to play a lilting melody. The dress was beautiful.
And she wanted it so badly. But she wouldn’t admit that to Jackie. Darla wanted to believe in romance and dreams and fairy tales, just like any other bride. Yet she couldn’t afford any mistakes. Her whole makeup was geared toward thoughtful, careful decision making. There really wasn’t any room for loving a bonehead like Judah.
Unfortunately for her, that bonehead made her body shiver and ache every time she thought of him. It was like that wild winter wind blew over her skin, reminding her of how much she loved him.
But that was the problem. She did love Judah—and she was just another responsibility for him, much like the ranch, and his family, and rodeo. Nothing special or different. Something he had to rule over, boss, command. Before their night together, he’d never spoken to her, nothing more than a passing hello and chitchat about the weather. And he hadn’t so much as sought her out at the store since that night, either.
A woman knew when she was the object of a man’s passions, and she wasn’t that to Judah. He was too wild for her, too unsettled for a woman who liked calm rational choices in her life. Judah was her one moment of reckless abandon—and it didn’t take a psychic gift to know they were not meant to be.
“Speaking of psychic,” Darla said, and Jackie glanced up.
“Were we?” she asked.
“No, but is Sabrina really going to work for Fiona?”
“I think so. Why?”
“Because I was thinking about asking her if she wanted to work in the shop while I’m out after the babies are born. You can’t do it all by yourself,” Darla said, staying in practical mode.
“I’ll be fine,” Jackie assured her.
“You have three little ones. We need backup.”
The door swung open, sending the bells over the shop door tinkling. Judah strolled in, the man of her dreams obviously on a mission, judging by the hot gleam in his eyes. Darla’s
