Authors: Paige Cameron
“Let’s start with the food and see after that.”
They started out the door when the phone rang. Lily ran back and grabbed the receiver. “Hello, this is Lily Yannell.”
“Ms. Yannell, this is Mr. Rahn, your father’s attorney.”
“What do you want, Mr. Rahn?”
“My call regards your father. He has agreed to share with the FBI information on other groups and individuals in exchange for a plea bargain.”
“Why would he do that? From what he said to me yesterday, I didn’t think he’d made a decision.”
“He decided after seeing you. I suspect he loves you too much to put you through the trial and all the ensuing ugliness in the news.”
“What sentence is he going to get?” Lily was aware Ty had moved to stand behind her. Now he put his arms around her waist. She leaned into his strength.
“Life in prison, no parole.”
“But how is that a plea agreement? That was the max he’d get anyway.”
“No. There was a chance he’d be found guilty of murder and get the death penalty. But the evidence wasn’t as strong as the rest.”
The words shook her. She’d tried to deny in her mind that her father was capable of murder, and yet she knew he’d tried to strangle her sister. She’d been kidding herself all along. He was as bad as all those reporters had said.
Feeling weak in the knees, Lily said good-bye. Ty put the phone down and carried her to a chair, where he sat and held her.
The phone rang again. Ty sat her on the chair and answered it. “Hello.”
Lily watched his expression. Her protector was frowning. She liked having him take charge, for now. Not always. She wasn’t a weakling, or at least not usually. Just today, she’d let him be in control.
“I’ll talk with her and get back with you.” He wrote down something on a pad and hung up. Tearing off a sheet of paper, he came back, picked her up, and sat back down with her.
“That was Rahn again. As part of the plea agreement your father has requested one more visit with you before he’s transferred. They want to make the transfer soon. Do you want to see him?”
She’d had her head lying against his chest. Straightening up, she faced him. “I’ll feel bad if I don’t. It’s so confusing. He has two such different sides to him. My father, the one I knew, was not the man they’ll sentence to life in prison. The side I saw must have been an incredible act.”
“An act of love. I believe in his own way he loved you. You’re probably the only person he ever did love.”
She kissed his mouth. “Thank you for saying that and for being here with me during all of this. I’m usually not such a baby. I’m very independent.”
He ran his fingers across her lips. “I know. You got up and left me. You set your limits on what you’d agree to, and I respect that. This isn’t the time or the way I’d planned to have this talk, but we’d better.
“After you left, I was devastated. Full of bluster and anger, I’d not admitted to myself how important you’d become in my life.” He smiled. “Dirk called me an ass. He was right.”
“He didn’t?”
“Yes, he did. Anyway, I had time to think about you and me, and about my behavior these past years. You were right. I was a coward.”
She put her hand over his mouth. “No, you weren’t. I said that in anger. You had a terrible loss. I’ve never experienced anything remotely like what you went through.”
Ty shook his head. “Don’t go soft on me now. There may be times in the future when you’ll have to tell me the hard truth. I hope not, but if it’s needed I want you to do it.”
Sadness swept through her. They didn’t have a future, especially not when she told him she was probably pregnant.
He pulled her close and kissed her mouth. “Please don’t be sad. At least not about us. I finally have my head on straight and it’s going to stay that way. I’ve put my family and you through enough anguish. I’m ready to start living again. If Candice could have talked to me, she’d have said, ‘
Stop being an ass. Enjoy your life
.’ She was always a realist.”
“Candice must have been a wonderful woman.”
“She was. So are you. I want to live and enjoy my life with you in it.” He cupped her face. “I love you, Lily.”
“And I love you, but I want a family, and you don’t. Even if I agreed to marry you, after a while that would ruin our relationship. I’d resent that you didn’t want to have children with me.”
“That was the stupidest thing I ever said. I love kids. You’ve seen me with my niece and nephew. You were right. Our life wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t try to have children. Hopefully we will. You said you wanted a whole house full.”
“Three or four might be plenty.”
Lily loved his smile and the way his blue eyes shone with a brightness they hadn’t had before. His shout of laughter made her grin.
Ty sat her in the chair and knelt before her. “Will you marry me, Lily, and make me very happy?” He held a diamond ring in his hand.
“You’re sure?”
“Positive, and don’t worry about that Ty guy coming back. Jeff will keep him in control.”
Laughing, she pulled him up and threw herself into his arms. “I love Ty and Jeff.”
“Well, you’ll have to marry us both,” he teased.
“I will. Please marry me and take me home.”
He swung her around in joy until he saw her expression. “What is it?”
“Put me down.” He did and she ran for the bathroom. He followed her. There was nothing left in her stomach. She had the dry heaves.
Ty held a wet, cool washcloth to her head. “Shall I call the hotel doctor?”
“No. I’m better.”
Helping her to her feet, he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom and sat her on the side of the bed. “I’m sorry. The news about your father had you upset. With this other excitement I should have known better than to twirl you.”
“It wasn’t any of those reasons that made me sick.”
She saw the puzzled look on his face. “I should have said
we
will marry you.” It took him a second before she saw him realize what she’d meant.
“You’re pregnant?”
“Possibly, probably. I’ve been having morning sickness for the last few days. If you want to take back that proposal—”
He kissed her. “I meant what I said. I do want us to have children. This is a little sooner than I’d planned. I’d hoped to have time to spoil you first. But”—he touched her flat stomach—“I can’t wait to see our child growing in you. I’ll admit you’ll probably be smothered with attention by me and my family. But we’ll make it through this time, and however many more times we’re blessed.”
“Oh.” She uttered the word and started crying.
“What did I say to upset you?”
“You were wonderful.” She started crying again.
Ty kicked off his shoes and lay beside her on the bed. He pulled her into his arms. “Let it all out. After you rest we’ll go see you father and then fly to
Texas
. It’s easier for us to go to the family there than for all of them to try and fly into
Montana
in this weather.” He smoothed her hair back from her forehead and wiped the tears off her cheeks.
“What do you think about having our wedding by the lake at Brent and Angie’s home? We don’t want to wait, do we?”
“No, we don’t. If Angie and Brent agree it would be a beautiful setting for our wedding.”
“Good. I’ll handle everything. Mom and Dad can join us there. Do you mind having a small wedding?”
“It will be perfect. Call and see when we can go to the jail, and then I’d like to leave
Philadelphia
.”
She watched his tall, lean figure walk to the phone. He was so handsome and sexy. It was difficult to believe that shortly he’d be all hers. She glanced at the large, square-cut diamond with baguettes on the side.
“Do you like it? If not we, can exchange it.” Ty had come back into the bedroom.
Lily held her hand to her chest. “Don’t you dare touch it. I love the ring. It’s perfect.”
“Good, that’s settled. Do you feel up to going in an hour or so to the jail?”
“Yes, and then can we fly to Angie’s?”
“I’ll call Angie and Brent. I just checked and the jail expects us sometime this afternoon.”
While Ty talked on the phone, Lily changed her wrinkled blouse and put on a little more makeup to hide her paleness. She arranged her hair into a neat bun. She looked presentable.
“We can go anytime you’re ready to see your father. Angie and Brent are excited about us coming for a visit.”
“Did you tell them our surprise?”
“No.” He sauntered across the room, and her heartbeat raced. Bending down he kissed her again, softly. “Ah, sweet thing, I’m so glad you decided to say yes. I left the surprise for you to tell them. Other than letting your father know, we’ll savor it to ourselves for a while longer.”
Standing on her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned against his muscled frame. “I can’t wait until we’re man and wife and back home alone in
Montana
.”
“I thought we might take off and go to Drake’s island for some warm weather. It would be just you and me.”
“Can you take that much time off and leave everything to Dirk?”
“He wouldn’t mind.”
“I’ll think about it. Where will we live on the ranch?”
“Mom and Dad want to take over my cabin. Mom said the house is too big for her to keep up with anymore. They want us to take the house.”
“You’re sure they’re not just being nice?”
“They probably are, but I’m sure they want to do this for us. And they’ll insist when they hear we’re expecting.” He smiled and touched her abdomen again.
“You look like a different man when you’re relaxed and smiling.”
“I’d rather you not remember that angry guy. I knew when I first saw you that I was attracted to you. I fought it, being a stubborn Terrell. Still, you kept getting more and more important to me. After you left, I realized how stupid I’d been to lose you.”
“You felt guilty about caring for another woman.”
“Yes, no one had touched my heart since Candice. My body fought with my head. I couldn’t keep my hands off of you, and every time I weakened I verbally pushed you away.”
He sat beside her on the bed and held her close. “I never had admitted to anyone about how guilty I felt for not staying with her that day. She and her mom and mine encouraged me to go back to work. Stupid me, I did, and then I got back too late. The hospital was over an hour away. She and the baby were gone.
“You might think I’m silly, but we’re moving to a big town, with a large, fully equipped delivery and nursery, for the last three months of your pregnancy. At least for this first one. Then we’ll renegotiate about the next.”
“That’s a long time for you to be away from the ranch.”
“It won’t be in the heart of winter and Dirk can manage. We’ll hire an extra hand or two if needed. Please humor me in this.”
“All right. But if we have more children, we’ll do as you offered and renegotiate. It’s time to go see my father and get on our way to
Texas
.”