A Baby of Her Own (Dundee, Idaho #1)(64)
Author: Brenda Novak

“I married you because I thought it would be best,” he said.

“Right.” She stroked the smooth white satin of her dress, then gazed out the window. Conner allowed himself a quick glance at her. She’d taken off her high heels. Her feet and ankles, covered in sheer white nylons, peeked out from the hem of the gown. He wondered if she wore a garter belt with those nylons—maybe a lacy number that rode low on her hips. The contradiction of his small-town librarian, who’d never known a man until she offered him her virginity just over four months ago, wearing something so wanton made Conner’s pulse race.

He opened the window to cool down. “Are you tired?” he asked. They’d talked about a honeymoon and decided to use his family’s short stay as an excuse to avoid one, but Conner wasn’t so sure he still agreed with that decision. She was his wife. She was carrying his baby. And he wanted to find out about that garter belt…

“I’m not tired,” she said.

“How’s the morning sickness?”

“It’s gone.”

The arch at the entrance to the Running Y came up on their right. Conner slowed, but then he remembered that garter belt and the gifts she’d received at the bridal shower and thought maybe he could convince her to share them with him, after all.

“Where are we going?” Delaney asked in surprise when he kept driving.

“There’s a string of cabins outside Blackfoot. My mother thought that might be a nice place to take you—”

“Your mother’s a wonderful person. And I appreciate the way she’s looking out for me, but I’m fine,” Delaney said. “There’s no need to change our plans.”

“There’s not?”

“No. I knew what I was getting into,” she said.

“And what exactly is that?”

“An arrangement.”

An arrangement. Conner nodded and tried not to let his disappointment show. “Okay,” he said, and turned the truck around.

DELANEY’S SMILE became more and more difficult to maintain. As soon as they returned to the house, they changed out of their bridal wear. Then Conner disappeared into his office with his grandfather and his uncles, leaving Delaney in the living room with Vivian and the two dogs. Delaney suspected Vivian would have joined the men, but she was too protective of Delaney to leave her alone on her wedding day and seemed determined to make up for Conner’s neglect.

“What do you think you’ll name the baby?” Vivian asked, glancing surreptitiously down the hall.

“I haven’t decided yet. I need to get a book and look at my options,” Delaney said. But she was thinking about using Vivian’s name, if it was a girl. The older woman moved with such grace, such refinement. Delaney already admired her.

“That friend I met—?”

“Rebecca?” Delaney asked, petting Champ when he came to rest his muzzle in her lap.

“That’s the one. She’s colorful, isn’t she. I liked her right away.”

Delaney smiled. Vivian would. Vivian would see the diamond beneath the rough.

“She said she’s getting married,” Vivian went on.

“She’s marrying a computer technician who lives in Nebraska in another month.”

“Is her fiancé moving here?”

“No, they’ll be living in Nebraska.”

“You must hate the thought of her leaving.”

Sundance nudged Champ aside and gave a little whine, obviously hoping for his share of her attention. “I do. We grew up down the street from each other. I can’t remember a time in my life when Rebecca wasn’t there.”

Delaney heard her voice wobble and struggled to hold it steady. She might be pregnant and emotional, but she wouldn’t feel sorry for herself. She would keep her head high and—

Vivian moved closer to her on the couch and placed a hand over hers as both dogs watched with what seemed like curious eyes. “I know how you feel,” she said. “But I don’t think Rebecca will go anywhere. She’s obviously taken with that other man at the reception. What was his name? Josh Something?”

The surprise that jolted Delaney eased the lump in her throat. “You noticed? You’re a complete stranger, and you noticed?”

Vivian raised her eyebrows. “I noticed that he was looking at her, too, and I found the chemistry between them pretty hard to ignore. I thought maybe they had a history.”

“They have a history, all right. That’s part of the problem.”

Conner’s mother turned to check the hallway again, as though she didn’t want anyone to come in on them unawares. “Delaney, I know that Conner’s not an easy man to get along with. I know he’s probably not as sensitive and open as he should be. And I—” she hesitated “—I know that your relationship is none of my business. I won’t intrude other than to say I hope you won’t give up on him too easily.”

“Viv—Mom, maybe there’s something you should know,” Delaney started to say, ready to spill everything, but Vivian squeezed her hand.

“I don’t want to know,” she said. “I can tell you love him. And that’s all that matters to me. The rest will work itself out. Now let’s get the others and open all these lovely wedding gifts.”

QUILTS PULLED TO HER CHIN, Delaney sat propped up in bed, staring miserably at the digital clock on her nightstand. She’d watched the numbers slowly flip from one to the next for more than two hours. Now it was midnight, and the lack of noise in the house told her everyone had finally retired. So where was Conner?

He must have gone to bed in his own room, she decided. He certainly hadn’t come to hers. After they’d opened their wedding gifts, he’d returned to his study. His mother had helped her address thank-you cards until bedtime, and then they’d said good-night. But the book Delaney had been reading now lay discarded on her nightstand next to the blasted clock. Nothing, not even a gripping thriller, had the power to engross her tonight. It was her wedding night, and from the look of things, her new husband wasn’t sufficiently interested in her to come and say good-night.

With a heartfelt sigh, she mashed down her pillows and told herself to quit worrying and get some sleep. But she kept thinking about her old life; she missed Rebecca and their house and her job and her good reputation. So much had changed—nothing would ever be the same again. And she’d brought it on herself.