The Texan's Surprise Baby (5 page)

“Not only that, he was shot down by her,” Nathan added with relish.

Three keys dangling from her hand, Hannah turned to see Skinny Romeo—Bill—flushed with embarrassment, his eyes sparking with irritation. “You could have said something,” he muttered to Hannah, who resisted pointing out that her condition was none of his business. And then he pasted on a forced, self-deprecating grin for the sake of his companions and shrugged. “Just practicing for all the bikini babes we’ll be seeing on the beach the next three days.”

Stu gave him a rough shove toward the door. “Like you’ve got a shot with any of them. Not to mention your fiancée would serve your innards to the dog if she found out. Now go on so we can get unpacked in time to do some fishing before dinner.”

“Steffie’s not my fiancée,” Bill grumbled on the way out.

“Yeah, well, she sure seems to think she is,” one of the men retorted. Hannah didn’t notice or care which because she’d already turned her attention to the next customer, an unaccompanied woman with faded red hair, heavy-lidded green eyes and frown lines carved around her unpainted mouth.

The woman was probably in her early thirties, pear-shaped, dressed in a too-tight T-shirt and denim capris with flip-flops. Her only attempt at makeup seemed to be the mascara that had smudged beneath her eyes. Hannah’s instant impression was that of a woman who’d given up on her appearance for some reason. It was almost as if a gray cloud accompanied her into the building, a fanciful impression Hannah shook off impatiently.

“May I help you?” she asked with a welcoming smile.

“Jerks, huh?” the newcomer asked with a vague gesture toward the door through which the men had just departed. “I couldn’t help overhearing some of what they were saying to you. You were pretty nice considering how pushy they were being.”

Hannah didn’t gossip about guests with other guests. “What can I do for you?” she asked without directly responding.

Accepting the hint, the woman nodded and tightened her grip on the red handbag she carried beneath one arm. “I’m looking for a motel room for a couple of nights. Someone in town told me this is a nice place to stay. I don’t have a reservation.”

“We have a few vacancies. Single or double?”

“Single. It’s just me—I needed to get away from everything for a little while.”

Hannah nodded and handed the woman a check-in form. “And how long will you be staying with us?”

“A few nights, I guess. Three, maybe four. Do I have to tell you now?”

Assuring the woman, whose name turned out to be Patricia Gibson, that she could stay as long as she wanted, Hannah completed the check-in and assigned her a lower-floor room in the motel. “We provide daily maid service unless you hang the do-not-disturb sign on your door. Linens, a mini-fridge and a flat-screen TV are also provided. Feel free to use the pool or lake swim beach, and there are grills and picnic tables in the day-use area by the beach.”

She added the usual spiel for the diner and convenience store located on opposite sides of the reception desk. “Do you have any more questions?”

“It sounds real nice,” Patricia murmured, picking up the key on a big plastic tag marked with her room number. “What was your name again?”

She had neglected to introduce herself, Hannah realized. She smiled apologetically. “I’m Hannah Bell.”

The key clattered noisily on the tile floor when Patricia dropped it. Making a face, she laughed softly and bent to scoop it up. “That’s why I needed a break. I’m so tired from working that my hands have gone clumsy. I’m sorry, I missed your name. Did you say Anna?”

“Hannah. Hannah Bell.”

“Bell. So you own this resort?”

“It’s a family business.”

“I see.” Tucking the key into an outside pocket of her purse, Patricia turned toward the door, but said over her shoulder, “This summer heat is a killer when you’re pregnant, isn’t it?”

“It can be,” Hannah agreed lightly.

“I was pregnant this time last year. I had a miscarriage, though.”

“Oh.” Hannah struggled to think of something to say in response to the unexpected confidence. “I’m sorry.”

Patricia shrugged. “It was for the best, I guess. I wasn’t married. Hard to do it on your own.”

Fortunately, she left before Hannah had to respond. It seemed to be her day for disconcerting encounters, a thought reinforced when Andrew wandered in.

He greeted her with one of his faint smiles that did not lighten his dark eyes, which were focused intensely on her face. “How’s your day going?” he asked.

“It’s been pretty weird so far,” she replied candidly. “Yours?”

“I’ve been talking with your dad and your uncle about some new security measures for the resort. They’ve asked me to do a full analysis and make some suggestions.”

Hannah nodded. “That sounds like a good plan. I hope you’re charging them your standard consultation rates.”

He merely gave her a look.

She sighed. “Andrew, you don’t owe my family any favors. It’s the other way around actually.”

“We’re not talking about money right now, though you and I need to make some arrangements soon.”

She looked around quickly to make sure no one had overheard, but while she heard voices from the diner and the store, the reception area was deserted for now. “Andrew—”

“Well, hello, there.” Mimi bustled up with a bright smile at finding Andrew talking with Hannah. “What are you two chatting about?”

Andrew turned easily to greet Hannah’s grandmother. “I was just about to have lunch in the grill. Thought I’d stop in to say hello to Hannah first.”

“Hannah can join you for lunch,” Mimi said, beaming. “I just came to relieve her at the desk for a while. I’ve already eaten. I think I saw some of the other family in the diner, so you two run along and join them.”

“I was going to have lunch a little later, Mimi,” Hannah protested weakly.

“You need a break, sweetheart. No need to rush back, I’ll be fine here if you young folks want to take a walk through the resort after lunch. There’s a nice breeze down by the water today.”

So either her mom hadn’t yet spoken to Mimi about her matchmaking scheme for Hannah, or the talk hadn’t been successful. Hannah sighed, but knew there was no use arguing with Mimi now, especially in front of Andrew. She stood and smoothed the loose pink summer top she wore with thin khaki slacks. “Okay, fine. I’ll take my lunch break now.”

Nodding in satisfaction, Mimi took her place behind the desk, pulling a thick paperback out of her bag to occupy her until she was needed. Hannah knew her grandmother would be quite content to spend the rest of the day sitting in that comfortable chair with her book, especially if she believed her granddaughter was being courted by a respectable man in the meantime. She didn’t even want to think of the pressure Mimi—and probably the rest of the family—would put on them once they learned Andrew was her baby’s father.

“Listen, maybe we could cut out of here and eat lunch somewhere else?” Andrew asked in a low voice as soon as they were out of her grandmother’s sight and hearing. “We really need to—”

“Oh, hi, guys.” Shelby slid in between them, looping her hands beneath their arms. “Heading in for lunch? So am I. I’ve been working on the books all morning without a break and now I’m starving. Aaron’s supposed to meet me in the grill. Why don’t you two join us?”

Andrew gave Hannah a look over her cousin’s curly blond head, and she might have been amused under any other circumstances. It was rare to see Andrew looking totally flummoxed, but she thought that word was a good description for the expression in his narrowed eyes. He was probably beginning to wonder if they would ever have a chance to talk in private. She supposed she should be working harder to make arrangements for that discussion, rather than putting it off. But to be fair, he’d shown up only the day before. There hadn’t been a lot of time for her to come to terms with all of this yet.

“Sure,” Andrew said to Shelby, his tone completely bland. “We’d love to join you, wouldn’t we, Hannah?”

She gave him a weak smile. “Why not?”

* * *

Andrew had not been this frustrated in a long time. He sat in his room Wednesday night at almost ten, uninterested in watching television. His computer screen displayed work-related data he should be looking over but wasn’t. More than twenty-four hours after Shelby dragged Hannah and him into the diner for Hannah’s lunch break, Andrew had yet to speak with Hannah alone again. Every time they’d been even close to a private conversation, one of her family members or a resort guest had interrupted them. Had he not been close to tearing his hair out with exasperation, the comedy of errors might have been wryly amusing. Or was Hannah deliberately using those seemingly random interruptions as an excuse to continue delaying their talk?

Too restless to stay put any longer, he let himself out of the room and headed out into the still-warm night air. He liked walking through the resort at this hour as campers and guests settled in for the night, making it possible to hear the crickets and frogs coming from the lakeside. He passed an older couple walking hand in hand along the road and swapped greetings with them. They, too, seemed to be enjoying the cooler temperature of evening. They looked comfortable together, he thought, glancing over his shoulder at them. Content to be spending their twilight years together.

Would he have anything like that when he reached their age?

He glanced toward the family compound and thought about slipping over to see if Hannah was awake. But, no. She needed her rest, and she wouldn’t appreciate it if anyone in her family saw him making a late-night call on her. She was going to have to face telling her family the truth eventually—soon—but that wasn’t the way she’d want to break the news to them.

He wished he understood better why she was so hesitant about revealing that he was the father of her child. He could understand that she’d be embarrassed about the awkwardness of the situation. But was there more to it than that? Was she worried about any claims he would make on their child? Had their one night together been so unsatisfactory for her that she’d bolted the next morning and was now sorry there was any reason for him to remain in her life? How was he to know if she wouldn’t talk to him?

The glow of several campfires flickered through the trees from both the RV and tent campgrounds. A few cars passed, as did a couple on bicycles equipped with headlamps and reflector tape. As he strolled through the resort, Andrew made mental notes of areas that could use a little more security lighting—without overlighting the campgrounds of course—and a few places where he would recommend installing discreet, closed-circuit cameras.

Outside Cabin 5, three men were rather loudly arguing outside on the porch. Andrew knew an alcohol-fueled conversation when he heard one. He hoped this one didn’t get so rowdy that a sleepy guest in a neighboring cabin would feel the need to report it to management, disturbing the Bell family. He knew the Bells were accustomed to those late calls, but he was sure they appreciated the uninterrupted nights.

“I’m telling you that girl on the beach was interested in me until you clowns ran her off by acting like fools. If I meet someone tomorrow, I want y’all to back off, you hear?” one of the men demanded loudly.

Another snorted mockingly. “Come on, Bill, she hardly looked twice at you. You think every woman you pass falls for you and most of the time you’re wrong. Like with that pregnant girl in the office yesterday.”

Andrew’s steps slowed dramatically.

“Hey, you think she wasn’t checking me out?” the first man asked. “If I was in the mood to tap a preggo, you can bet she’d be all over it. You didn’t see a ring on her finger, did you?”

Andrew’s fists clenched slowly at his side, even as the jerk’s companions guffawed.

“Hell, Bill, you really are delusional. Pregnant or not, women who look like that don’t go for guys like us. You better be content with Steffie and stop chasing the hotties or you’re going to end up alone, dude.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Stu. Ever since Camille dumped you, you’ve been—”

“Hey!” Someone from Cabin 4 called out from his own front porch. “Could you guys keep it down? We’ve got kids trying to sleep in here. Don’t make us call management.”

“Yeah, okay, sorry.” One of the men called back. “C’mon, guys, let’s get some sleep. We’re going out early to fish, remember? The three of us. Bros before...well, you know the rest.”

The thought of that man—any man—hitting on Hannah made Andrew scowl as he stalked back to his room. His expression must have been forbidding. The frumpy redhead in the room below his jumped and gave a little gasp when he appeared out of the darkness. She must have just gotten back from a vending-machine run. She nearly dropped the canned soda in her hand when she saw him.

Trying to smooth his expression, he gave her a nod and kept walking. One way or another, he promised himself, he would be talking with Hannah tomorrow.

* * *

Chaos descended with a vengeance Thursday afternoon. A neighboring resort suffered a catastrophic septic-system malfunction, shutting the place down for the weekend at a minimum. Frantically dealing with disappointed vacationers, the owners referred as many as they could to the Bell Resort, sending the rest to other facilities along the lake. Every available RV pad and tent site at Bell Resort was filled, as were the cabins and motel rooms. Even the overflow area behind the boat storage was filled to capacity. The grill, convenience store and marina buzzed with activity. Every member of staff was almost running trying to keep up.

Leaving her cousin Lori to work the front desk, Hannah volunteered to run errands in town that afternoon. She visited the bank and the post office, dropped off some dry cleaning, then stopped by the locally owned pharmacy her family patronized to pick up prenatal vitamins for herself and prescriptions for several family members. She parked in a shady corner of the almost-empty little lot so her car wouldn’t be quite so hot when she climbed back into it.

“Hello, Hannah. How are you today?” the pharmacist behind the counter asked with a welcoming smile after she’d been greeted by his two longtime employees. Short, round and mostly bald, his kind dark chocolate eyes gleaming in a polished ebony face, Luther Duquesne had served this community since Hannah was in grade school. He’d always had a lollipop for Hannah and Maggie when they’d come in with their mom, offered to them from a big glass jar filled with colorful treats. Even if he hadn’t been one of the nicest men she knew, for that reason alone, Hannah would always have a soft spot in her heart for him.