Had it really been twenty-two years? She’d been three when her mother had been killed after her car had crashed into the icy Yellowstone River. Sarah Hamilton hadn’t been wearing her seat belt and had been ejected into the river, her body apparently swept downstream. Like a lot of bodies that went into Montana rivers, hers was never found.
Livie had little memory of her other than a few photographs she’d seen before even those had disappeared once Angelina had shown up.
But even with her senator father gone a lot, she and her sisters had never felt deprived of anything. And no matter what anyone said, they weren’t spoiled. They just knew what they wanted, she thought, realizing Cooper would have argued the point.
Still feeling a little weak, she walked toward a stand of pines at the edge of the party to catch a breath of fresh air. Why hadn’t she called off the party? She knew the answer. The party had been planned weeks ago. Also calling it off would have the whole county talking. She told herself that if she could just get through tonight...
Another wave of nausea hit her. She sat down on one of the benches that circled the outdoor ballroom, this one in the shadow of the pines. Reaching into the small clutch, she dug for the pills the doctor had prescribed for her. Her fingers brushed the letter she’d received just that morning.
She drew it out with trembling fingers. Like the first one, her name had been typed on the blue envelope in bold black. “Olivia Hamilton.” She had stared at it, heart pounding, trying to tell herself she was wrong, until she hadn’t been able to stand it any longer and torn it open.
It was exactly like the first blackmail note, except that note had demanded only ten thousand dollars. This one demanded fifty thousand.
Stuffing it back into her clutch, she felt even more light-headed than she had moments before. She looked out at the crowd who’d come to celebrate her engagement. Another wave of nausea hit her. She stumbled to her feet, but instantly felt woozy and had to grab the back of the bench for support.
“You look as if you’re going to faint,” her sister Ainsley said, appearing from out of the darkness.
“I’m fine,” she protested even though she was far from fine.
Ainsley sat down next to her. “Talk to me, Livie.” Ainsley had been away at law school until this week. Livie had had the entire addition her father had built them away from the main house to herself but she’d missed her sister. She loved having Ainsley back home. Seven years older, Ainsley had been like a mother to her.
Livie fought to keep her stomach down while at the same time trying not to cry. Ainsley had always looked out for her. She had been the person she’d gone to when she had her first period, when she needed her first bra, when she got her heart broken the first time.
But this was something she didn’t want to trouble her big sis with. This was something she had to take care of herself.
“Does Cooper know yet?” Ainsley asked.
Livie looked up with a start. “Know what?”
“Does he know you’re pregnant?” her sister asked, lowering her voice even though the sounds from the party covered her words.
Livie shook her head as her eyes filled with unshed tears. “How...”
“I heard you throwing up the past couple of mornings.”
“Does anyone else...”
Ainsley shook her head. “Don’t cry. You’ll ruin your makeup.” Her sister handed her a tissue. “Why haven’t you told him?” When Livie didn’t answer, she asked, “Are you worried about his reaction?”
More than her sister could know. It wasn’t just that Cooper had their lives planned for the next forty years, a baby under any circumstances would throw a wrench into those plans. This baby... All she could manage in answer was, “It’s complicated.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Ainsley put an arm around her. “This is good news, right?”
“It’s the worst thing that could happen.”
BEFORE AINSLEY LEFT HER, Livie promised she would tell Cooper about the baby. “I just don’t want to do it tonight at the party.”
“He’s going to find out and wonder why you haven’t told him.”
Just as Ainsley wondered why Olivia hadn’t told anyone. As she left to find her other sisters, she couldn’t help worrying. How would Cooper take it? And why did she suspect there was more going on than just the pregnancy?
“The vultures are circling,” Kat Hamilton said as Ainsley joined her sisters.
“Pardon?” Ainsley said, realizing she’d missed something.
Kat motioned with her head to a spot across the dance floor. “Until that wedding band is on Livie’s finger, all’s fair in love and war, right?” She shook her head. “Why can’t our sister see it? That woman is trouble.”
Ainsley spotted Delia Rollins working her way through the crowd toward Cooper. Delia had been Livie’s best friend. She had lived down the road at a small hardscrabble place when they were kids. Buckmaster had seen her one day reaching through the fence to pet one of the horses. He’d insisted that the skinny little thing come down to the ranch so she could learn to ride. She was told she could ride whenever she liked.
She and Livie had hit it off because they both loved horses. They spent most of their childhood on the back of one. They’d made a pact when they were eleven that no matter where their lives took them, they would each be the maid or matron of honor in each other’s weddings.
So come the wedding day, Delia would be Livie’s maid of honor. Livie had been determined to honor the pact even though she and Delia hadn’t been that close since Livie went away to college and Delia stayed to take over her father’s lumberyard when he died.
To make the situation worse, Cooper and Delia had dated for a short time before he’d come to work at the ranch—and fallen for Livie.
“Livie says that Delia and Cooper are just good friends,” Ainsley said.
Kat mugged a face. “Well, if I was Livie I’d be watching that woman like a hawk.”
Bo shook her head. “Livie and Cooper aren’t married yet. I say let Delia give it her best shot.”
“You can’t be serious?” Harper and Cassidy cried almost in unison.
“I’m trying to save our sister any more heartache,” Bo said. “Come on, do any of you really think she should marry Cooper Barnett?”
Ainsley followed Bo’s gaze across the ballroom to the stand of trees where Livie still sat alone. This was Livie’s engagement party and yet she and Cooper hadn’t spent five minutes together. Earlier he’d been talking to one of the ranchers, clearly in a heated discussion about buffalo versus cattle. It was a discussion he and their father had knocked heads over many times.
“Let’s not forget
