Page 29 of The Honorable Texan
“Good night, angel,” he said softly.
He watched her walk away with feelings of utter self-contempt.He’d taken advantage of what she felt for him, lost control and put her at risk.Now he had to stand by and wait to find out if she became pregnant, knowing that if she did, he’d be forced to marry her to save her reputation.It wasn’t the best night of his life, despite the lingering pleasure that reminded him of the afternoon.
CHAPTER SIX
Violet managed toslip into her house without being seen by her mother.She was disheveled and her hair was a mess.Her mother wasn’t blind or stupid, she’d know that something torrid had been going on.To prevent any uncomfortable questions, Violet had called to her and then went straight to her room without letting herself be seen.
From there, she went to the kitchen, trying not to let her mind wander to the afternoon.Then she remembered that she’d promised to bring her mother some trout.She groaned inwardly.She heated her mother a bowl of soup and crackers for supper.
“I’m sorry about the trout,” she began.But she was beaming and she couldn’t help it.
Mrs.Hardy grinned.“Never mind that.Soup is fine.You’ve got feathers on your lips, my darling cat,” she chided.“So what’s going on with you and that dishy man?”
So much for deterring her mother’s suspicions.Violet blushed, grinning back.“The boss man is talking about rings.”
Her mother gasped.“Darling!”
Violet laughed.“Can you believe it?And we were fighting and giving each other fits just last week!”
“He didn’t really know you before, though,” the olderwoman pointed out as she sipped soup from a spoon.“You were too shy to be yourself with him.”
“I was,” Violet agreed, vaguely ashamed of what had happened, just the same.
“Did he mention a date?”
Violet shook her head.“We’re going to take it one day at a time,” she replied.
Mrs.Hardy only smiled.She knew that when couples got to the ring stage, weddings very often came quickly.“I’ve only ever wanted to live long enough to see you married and secure,” she said absently.
“You’d better be around longer than that,” Violet chided.“I can’t do without you!”
“Bosh,” the other woman murmured.“You’ve got your own life to live.I’m just about done with mine.”
“Don’t you talk like that,” her daughter chided.“You’re not nearly done.You have so much to look forward to!”
“Such as?”Mrs.Hardy asked, her eyes lackluster.
“Grandchildren!”she replied, and blushed again, because she could already be pregnant.
The older woman sat very still.“Grandchildren.Why… I hadn’t thought…” She glanced at Violet.“Does he want children, then?”
“Of course,” Violet said, smiling.
“He must have changed his mind,” Mrs.Hardy mused to herself.
Violet felt a sinking sensation.“What do you mean?”
“Oh, it’s just something he mentioned that day he came over to talk to me, dear,” she said, sipping more soup.“He said that he’d never have a child.”
Violet felt sick.“Did he?”
Her mother hadn’t noticed Violet’s sudden lack ofcolor and enthusiasm.She was thinking.“Men often think like that, until they have a child.But he was rather emphatic about it, just the same.”
“I wonder why,” Violet murmured aloud, uncomfortable.
Her mother glanced at her worriedly.“You mustn’t let on that I told you,” she said.
“Told me what, Mother?”
