Love, Lies and High Heels (31 page)
“Look, whoever you are, I don’t know where she is. I did run into her at a charity event last week. And in her condition, I highly doubt she’s on a cruise around the world. Now, good-bye.” Cecelia Davenport slammed the door in his face.
In her condition? What the hell had she meant by that?
Luke thought about going to the police for help. But she wasn’t exactly a missing person, not in their eyes anyway. He even went as far as tracking down Burke Marcell, the race car driver she used to date.
If Marcell knew anything about Rusty’s whereabouts, he wasn’t saying. He’d used a few choice phrases and told Luke where he could stick his head and slammed the door in his face. That was two doors in one day, and he’d had enough.
Next, he hired a private detective. The guy promised he could find anyone for the right price. Luke gave him a sizeable check and promised him the moon if he could find her.
“Where the hell are you, Rusty?” he said to no one in particular as he stepped onto the airplane. From the airport, he hurried home.
Once he reached the farm, he bypassed the driveway and went directly to the stables. He had no idea why.
Rusty was disappointed that Luke hadn’t been home when she got there. Sam and Becky had no clue where he was, only that he’d left early that morning and said he’d be back in a day or two. Probably another buying trip.
She watched as High Five galloped around the pasture. “My how you’ve grown,” she said to the one-year-old. “And you’re so beautiful.”
“Not nearly as beautiful as you,” the familiar voice came from behind her. Then his tone sharpened. “Do you have any idea what kind of hell you’ve put me through the past seven months, not to mention today?” Luke had always had a quick temper. “Turn around, Rusty.”
Slowly, she obeyed his command. He met her eyes only briefly before dropping his gaze to her stomach. She didn’t need to say anything stupid like, “I’m pregnant.” It was obvious. A seven month pregnancy was not an easy thing to hide.
She planned to tell him she was here to stay. She and the baby needed him. And no matter what he said, he needed her, too. She planned to make him love her somehow, someday. She’d be a good mother, and a good wife. She just hoped it was enough.
“Luke, I—”
“I love you,” he said, coming closer.
“I know you’re only saying that—”
“I love you, damnit!”
She stared up at him. “But—”
“Tell me you love me, too.” He pulled her into his arms. Her round tummy bumped between them. “Tell me, or I’m going to take you over my knee and paddle your pretty little butt until it’s raw.”
That was Luke. Such a romantic. “I love you, you big jerk!”
He grinned down at her. “I thought so.” Then he kissed her like there was no tomorrow. Again and again and again.
Her heart sang. He loved her. Somehow she’d known it all along.
“MARGARET ANASTASIA GALLOWAY! You put that frog down this instant!” Rusty shuddered. How could her sweet little girl pick up something so dirty and disgusting?
Margaret sniffed once, then twice. Her big green eyes watered, her bottom lip puffed out, and the tears began to flow.
“Daddy!” she wailed. “Mommy’s mad at me.”
Luke gave Rusty a look over his shoulder as he bent down to pick up their red-haired daughter. He spoiled her rotten. In fact, she only cried when Luke was there to witness it.
“She’s not mad at you, Maggie Ann. Mommy just doesn’t like her little girl to get dirty.” He winked at Rusty. “Mommy doesn’t understand how much fun that is.”
“Will you tell her, Daddy? I want Mommy to have fun, too.”
“Sure, pumpkin. I’ll have a talk with her.” He set their smiling daughter in the grass.
A butterfly caught her interest and she toddled a few feet away from her parents without a backward glance. Rusty kept a close watch on her. “You’re spoiling her,” she said to her husband.
“Yep,” he admitted, coming up to stand beside her. “I’m going to spoil this one, too.” He rubbed a hand over her bursting belly. “And the one after that.”
Rusty smiled. “You’re hopeless. Margaret already has you wrapped around her little finger.”
“So does her mother.” He grinned. “Kiss me, Mrs. Galloway. And tell me again how lucky you are.”
Rusty kissed him, careful not to close her eyes. There was no telling what Margaret might get into. “Don’t forget. You’re lucky, too.”
“That I am. That I am,” Luke sighed with pleasure and hugged his wife to him.
Love, Lies and High Heels
by
First published in digital format by Debby Conrad, 2012
Copyright 2012 © Debby Conrad
Cover created by Kim Van Meter
All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Debby Conrad.
DEBBY CONRAD has been spinning tales since junior high school when she would force her younger sister and a few close friends to listen to her fantasies and dreams. Back then she had no idea her silly tales would end up in print, or that her later dream of becoming a novelist would come true.
Debby lives with her husband in Erie, Pennsylvania, has two grown daughters, a Chihuahua and a miniature Dachshund (who is anything but miniature).