Isabella (The Mitchell/Healy Family #2)(41)
Author: Jennifer Foor

He didn’t let me get the words out. His lips found mine and I was a puddle of angst in his hands. I didn’t know whether to push him away, slap him, or throw my arms around him and beg him to take me back to bed.

I pulled away and put my hands up to keep him from coming forward. That pain in his eyes from before was back, and I knew it was because I’d hurt him. “You’re shirt’s on wrong. At least fix it before we go to my house.”

There was no use in arguing. If Rusty wanted to go along with this charade for my parents it would at least give me time to figure out how I was going to tell Tate about the baby. Even a little time with Rusty was better than knowing he was on the same ranch as me and I couldn’t be with him. How this all played out was still in the air. All I knew was that for the moment I was going to have to be content with Rusty at my side.

My parents insisted on driving their SUV to the restaurant. I sat in the back with my hands folded, waiting for them to start asking us questions from the front seat. I expected my father to be all over Rusty’s business, but he said nothing to him, well not until we made it the establishment.

It was pretty obvious that he was collecting questions to ask while we traveled. At least he let us order breakfast before he started with third degree.

“How old are you, Rusty?”

“Thirty three,” he answered and sipped his coffee, adding another sugar without taking his eyes off of my dad.

“Where are you from?”

He tasted his coffee again and seemed to be content with the amount of flavor it had. “Indiana. I lived in Maryland as a child.”

“Are your parents living?” My mother asked.

“Yep.”

“What do they do?” My dad was wiggling his leg under the table. I could see the water in my glass shaking and recognized it right away.

“My father is a veterinarian, or was. He’s retired now.” Rusty was being so calm, and I knew it was to prove to me that he could be the man I needed him to be.

“Have you ever been married.”

He clenched his jaw, and looked away. I knew he didn’t want to talk about his wife.

“Dad, seriously?”

“What? I just want to know if he’s got another life out there somewhere. He could be a bigamist trying to look for his seventh sister-wife.”

I put my hands over my face, completely embarrassed. “He’s not a bigamist.”

“Fine. When was your last relationship?”

The jaw was steady moving, but this time he placed his hands flat on the table and answered. “Two years ago.”

“Who ended it?”

“Dad, please.” I was begging.

“God did.” Everyone at the table stopped moving. My parents looked at each other, and while they were considering what to say next, I put my hand under the table and placed it on his thigh. I already knew his story, and he needed to know that he could get through this. “Can you excuse me for a minute. I’m just going to go wash my hands.”

Rusty got up and walked toward the bathroom. I leaned across the table so I didn’t have to say it too loud. “I told you to stop.”

“How were we supposed to know? What happened?”

“Mom, I can’t talk to you about it. He keeps that part of his life locked up. I’m real surprised he told you what he did. Uncle Colt and Noah have no idea. He’s not a drifter, he’s just a broken man with a lost soul. You can choose to believe me or not.”

My mom put her hands up to her face. I could tell she was worried. My dad shook his head and looked at me. “How are we supposed to trust this guy when he has secrets?”

I nodded, and smiled when I saw Rusty coming back to the table. He scooted in beside me and I tucked my arm inside of his immediately. “Are you okay?”

He looked up at my parents when he answered me. “Yeah, I’m great.”

Our food came shortly after that, giving my parents a reason to take a break. I ate quietly with my right hand, while keeping my left on his leg again. I think rusty surprised everyone when he insisted on paying for the meal. The ride home was quiet, and I was grateful. When we arrived back at the ranch he shook my dad’s hand and thanked my mom before telling me that he had to go. I knew it was because he wanted to be alone, and a part of me hurt for him knowing why. I hated that he couldn’t talk about them without losing it, and what made it worse was that now my parents were sure he had secrets.

At least they waited until he left to start talking about him. “I don’t know, honey. He seems like he’s got problems.”

“Dad, please. I’m an adult. I think I can make my own decisions. Besides, we’ve got a party tonight, and I know you didn’t come all the way here to meddle in my love life.”

He pulled me into a hug. “Sorry. It’s my job to worry. You can always come home with us if you need to. Just remember that.”

I think that once Rusty was gone they loosened up. My mom made plans to come back to Kentucky when I went in for my first sonogram to see the sex of the baby, and we talked about what we could do to the spare room to get it ready for the little one. By the end of the day I think they were finally able to look at me and act normal. It was a step in the right direction. Now all I had to do was convince the rest of the family, and then break the news that the one person they all hated in the world was really the father of my child.

Piece of cake!

Chapter 25

Rusty

I had to get away from them. In all of the times that I’d played it out in my head on the way there I’d never once thought about breaking down in front of them. They had every right to question me about my past, and yet I couldn’t even open up for her. I wanted to be that guy that she could depend on, but I’d pretty much screwed it all up with my own insecurities.

Isabella didn’t stop by for the rest of the afternoon, and with what happened the night before, I never even got a call from Noah telling me to come help out. I could accept that they all wanted to keep their distance from me, well all except Isabella. She had me so confused, and I had no idea what I was going to do about it.

It seemed like every day she had a reason that we shouldn’t be together. She kept trying to convince me that there was nothing between us, but then she’d turn around and spend the night, or hold onto me when we were around her parents.

That night, when I knew their whole family was celebrating, I stayed locked away in my trailer, unable to be around any of them, most of all Isabella. I’d gone to breakfast with her, but the day had given me a ton of time to think about recent events. The truth was that if she wanted me she would tell me. I couldn’t keep forcing myself on her if I expected her to figure out what she wanted on her own.