Page 54 of His First Baby Rodeo

“Well, it doesn’t have to be,” Marilyn said. “Don’t take the responsibility for that on yourself. Men are stubborn, but if they decide to look past their gut instincts, there’s no reason they can’t go on being friends — at least, not as long as Mac treats you well when he finds out about this baby.” She frowned. “If he doesn’t, I’ll have words for him myself.”

“Don’t,” El pleaded. “I can’t stand it if it turns into a case of my whole family against him. If he doesn’t respond well… that will be my problem.”

“If you say so,” Marilyn said. “It’s your choice to make, and I’ll respect how you want to handle it.”

El nodded. “Thank you.”

“Should we go to Oklahoma City tomorrow morning, then?”

El’s heart filled with an anxious dread, but she steeled herself against it. This had to be done. “Yes,” she said. “If you’re free.”

“I’ll clear my schedule for this,” Marilyn vowed. “Don’t worry, El. Everything’s going to be all right, one way or another.”

El heard what her sister-in-law wasn’t saying explicitly — that even if Mac rejected her, rejected their baby, El would have her family to support her. And that mattered more than anything else could have tonight. Though she still worried about Jeff’s reaction, she knew that in the end her brother would be there for her, just as he always had.

With or without Mac’s involvement, she was going to have this baby, and everything was going to be just fine.

CHAPTER24

MAC

The roar of the crowd swept over Mac as he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, preparing to go out into the arena. He was ready. He had pushed all his doubts and reservations aside. After all, he had done this dozens of times, and he was sure that as soon as he got out there, the old habits would return. He would feel right at home. All he needed was to seize the moment — to just do it.

He waited for the announcer to call his name, but the noise that caught his attention came from a different direction. There was an entrance to the concourse just behind him, and someone was clamoring to get in.

It wasn’t rare for that kind of thing to happen, and Mac almost didn’t bother turning around. Fans were always trying to break into the concourse, to steal a moment with their favorite rodeo stars. It was important for him to keep his focus on what he was about to do. Security would deal with the fans.

But for whatever reason, today, something made him turn — and when he did, his breath caught in his throat.

It was El.

He was stunned all over again by how beautiful she was. Even though it had only been a couple weeks since they’d last seen one another, it was as if he had forgotten the power she had over him. Today she was dressed in a white sundress with straps that tied at the shoulders, exposing her collarbones, and he remembered how it had felt to have his mouth and his fingers there. Instantly, he was picturing untying those straps and letting that dress fall to the floor…

“Mac!” she called, waving to him.

He hurried over. “It’s all right,” he told the security guard who had been restraining her. “She’s with me.”

The guard frowned. “You really aren’t supposed to do this, Mr. Palmer. You’re about to go on, and we can’t have laypeople running around on the concourse.”

“I know,” Mac said. “We’ll only be a moment, I promise.” He would get El box seats. He would do whatever it took. And then he would meet up with her after the show and they would talk about whatever had brought her here — it must be important if she had come all this way.

Before the security guard could protest any further, Mac took El by the arm and led her over to a corner near the entrance to the ring.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“You won’t. But we do have to make this quick,” he said, glancing toward the tunnel that would lead him into the ring. “They’re about to call my name.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said again. “I should have done this differently.”

“El, I’m just glad you’re here.”

She looked up at him. “You are?”

“I hate the way you and I left things,” he told her. “I hate the things I said to you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I’ve been letting myself believe that you didn’t have any confidence in me, but I know that’s not true. You’ve always been on my side, far more than anyone else has. That’s why it hurt me when I thought you didn’t think I could handle getting back in the ring. The truth is that I came to value your opinion so much that when I thought I’d lost your support, I couldn’t handle it.”

“You could never lose my support,” El said. “I’ll always believe in you, Mac. It isn’t that at all. It’s…” She bit her lip, then covered her face with her hands.

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