Cowgirls Don't Cry(16)

No, his devastation came from being trapped in a shotgun marriage.

The doctor’s suggestion that she remain at home to heal gave Luke an excuse to go out. While he’d been carousing in honkytonks in four counties, she’d been the dutiful wife.

He’d been so sweet and loving to her at times she wondered if she’d exaggerated his surliness when he wasn’t around. She’d wanted to try for another baby right away, but the doctor suggested she wait a year and put her on birth control pills. Which had re-ignited their sex life for a while. But she hadn’t been enough for him. He’d gone elsewhere to satisfy his sexual needs.

She’d stumbled upon evidence of the first affair by accident. She hadn’t confronted him about it. She just tried harder to satisfy him—in bed and out—hoping it’d keep him home.

It hadn’t. As the months wore on, it was almost as if Luke wanted to get caught. He wanted Jessie to know he’d been with other women. He hadn’t tried to hide it from anyone, including his family. Casper McKay had been snide about it. Joan looked at her with pity. Dalton and Tell skirted the subject. But Brandt had seethed.

One afternoon Brandt had yelled at Luke for screwing around on her. Luke told Brandt to mind his own goddamn business and he could screw whoever he wanted. When Brandt insisted Jessie deserved better, Luke had laughed, warning Brandt that he wasn’t the better man, and if Brandt ever touched Jessie, Luke would kill him. Neither man knew Jessie watched in misery from the shadows of the barn.

She’d never understood why Brandt had stood up for her. It wasn’t like they’d known each other before she’d married Luke. She’d never understood why Luke had threatened Brandt over her, because she wasn’t the type to turn heads or inspire fierce loyalty. Or fidelity.

So the question on her mind now: Would he have left her for this Samantha girl once he’d found out she carried his child?

No. Luke would’ve bucked up to his responsibility for the kid, but he wouldn’t put himself in a repeat situation of being stuck in a relationship because of a child.

What a mess.

Imagining her husband in bed with another woman was bad enough. But seeing the proof of his passion? Of seeing the physical embodiment of what he’d denied her but he’d given to someone else?

She felt hollow. Totally eviscerated.

How could she look at the child with anything but loathing?

Brandt’s words, He’s little more than a baby, Jess, none of this is his fault, rang in her head and slashed at her heartstrings.

She would not feel guilty. She owed this Samantha girl nothing. She owed Luke nothing.

But she owed Brandt McKay everything.

Didn’t she?

She’d just gotten her life back on track on her own terms. She owed it to herself not to suffer through the heartbreak of wishing the little boy was hers. Of getting pissed off because he should’ve been hers. Of resenting Luke because he should’ve left her pregnant, not some strange teenager.

So when Brandt called tomorrow, she’d tell him no.

She’d scream no if she had to.

But she would say no.

Chapter Three


When Brandt pulled up to Jessie’s place late the next morning, she didn’t immediately exit the house.

He waited in his truck, listening to Landon’s soft snuffles drifting from the rear cab. The boy had screamed from the time he’d left his aunt’s house until ten minutes ago when he’d conked out.

Thank God.

He hoped the kid would be on his best behavior, all cute smiles and big blue eyes, because Brandt didn’t want to give Jessie a reason to say no.