Christmas Baby: A Baby Under the Tree / A Baby For Christmas / Her Christmas Hero. Judy Duarte
the sun stretched high in the East Texas sky, Shane and Jillian drove nearly ten miles outside downtown Brighton Valley to the Walkers’ ranch. He was looking forward to showing her the place where he worked, but he also wanted her to meet the couple who had become his close friends.
While traveling along the county road, they passed the Sam Houston Elementary School, Roy’s Feed and Grain, and the Flying K Auto Parts Store before reaching open land again.
“How much farther is it?” Jillian asked.
“Just another couple of minutes.”
She nodded, then glanced out the passenger window at the passing scenery.
“Like I told you before,” Shane said, “Dan and Eva are great people. You’ll really like them. Of course, Eva might ask about our plans for the future, but if she does, she’ll do it gracefully.” He chuckled. “In fact, she’ll be so nice about it that you might not even know that you’re being quizzed.”
Jillian placed a hand on her distended womb and turned to him, her brow furrowed. “It’s hard enough talking about the future with you. I’m not sure I want to discuss it with anyone else at this point.”
“I can understand that. But keep in mind that if Eva asks, it’s only because she wants everyone to be as happy as she and Dan are.”
Of course, Shane had reason to be skeptical of the whole white-picket-fence dream and to be leery about making the same mistakes all over again. And Jillian certainly did, too.
“Are you sure they’re going to be okay with…things?” she asked.
“You mean about us staying together in a one-bedroom apartment? Or about you expecting my baby when we’re not married?”
She nodded. “And maybe for us having a one-night stand.”
“First of all, that night in Houston was incredible. And it fulfilled a need in both of us that went beyond sex. So it wasn’t a one-night stand, especially with a baby on the way. And even if it was, it’s no one’s business but our own.” He stole a glance across the seat, saw her nod in agreement. Yet her expression remained pensive.
For a woman who’d once hobnobbed with Houston’s high society, she appeared to be more self-conscious than Shane had expected her to be. But then again, maybe it was her experience with that particular social circle that had her so apprehensive now.
“What did those people do to you?” he asked.
Her eyes widened in surprise. “What people?”
“Your ex-husband, his family and friends.”
“What makes you think they did something?”
“Because I don’t see you as normally self-conscious, but I figure your self-esteem probably took a hard blow when that jerk cheated on you.”
She arched a brow. “What makes you think that?”
“I have good instincts when it comes to reading people.”
He reached across the seat, took her hand in his, then gave it a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry about what other people think. You’re ten times the person most of them are.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Jillian shrugged. “But I’m more to blame than anyone. I got caught up in a fairy tale. And while my life might have appeared to be picture-book-perfect on the outside, it was actually sad and lonely most of the time.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, thinking that he’d actually felt a little better after telling her about Joey.
She seemed to ponder his question for a moment, then eased back into her seat. “Our wedding was really over-the-top—almost fit for royalty. We took a three-week honeymoon in Europe, and Thomas and I moved into a spacious family-owned estate in Houston. I was given carte blanche to decorate the house any way I wanted to, but after that was done, I had very little to do, other than getting dressed up and going to various charity events.”
“Were your in-laws good to you?”
“Outwardly, yes. They were very generous. But they were also very controlling and pushy. They interfered more times than not.”
Marcia had said the same thing about Shane’s family, and for a moment, he wondered how Jillian would feel about the outspoken Hollisters, but he didn’t dwell on it.
“So your in-laws created problems in your marriage?”
“I guess you could say that—although indirectly.”
“What do you mean?”
“I wanted more out of life than attending social functions, and Thomas couldn’t understand that. Instead, he insisted I get involved with his mother’s philanthropic projects. And he implied that we’d both be miserable if I didn’t yield to her wishes.”
“So you gave up your dream for his world.”
“More or less.” Jillian was quiet for a moment. “I’d always been a good girl who’d never given my grandparents a bit of trouble, so rebellion never came easy for me. And as a wife, I fell into the role Thomas—and his mother—expected of me. And it was a lonely, unfulfilling life. I’d hoped having a baby would be the answer, but after a couple of years trying, I wasn’t able to get pregnant.”
Shane glanced at her swollen belly, then smiled. “I guess it’s safe to say you weren’t the one with the fertility problem.”
“Apparently not. I’d begged Thomas to go with me to a specialist for testing, but he refused.”
“Didn’t he want kids?”
“He said he did. But maybe he was afraid to find out that he was infertile. I don’t know. Either way, things were always tense when he was around. And when he began to travel on business, I was actually relieved to have him gone.”
“Is that when he started messing around?”
“I think so. He was gone more often than not. And then one of his girlfriends called him at home, instead of the office. And…well, his secret was out.”
“He was a fool,” Shane said.
“Thanks.” As she glanced out at the passing scenery, a smile chased away her pensive expression.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“When I confronted him, I was so angry that I did something completely out of character for me.” Her eyes glimmered, and a pair of the cutest dimples formed on her cheeks. “I called him everything but his given name, then threw an expensive vase against the wall, shattering it into a zillion pieces.”
“I can’t blame you for that.” Shane chuckled. “It seems to me that he had that and a whole lot more coming.”
Shane understood only too well how emotion could come into play and make someone want to break something—or hit someone. And he wasn’t just talking about all of the domestic violence calls he’d gone on, when a cop never knew what to expect.
Shane had lost it once, too. But he wasn’t going to tell Jillian that he’d been enraged to the point of striking a perp several times.
Instead, he reached out and took her hand. “You won’t meet nicer or more down-to-earth people than the Walkers. So don’t worry about impressing them. They’re going to like you and accept you—just the way you are.”
She gave his hand a squeeze, letting him know she trusted him and making him feel almost heroic. But unwilling to let it go completely to his head, he focused on the road.
As they neared the entrance to the ranch, he pointed to the right and then to the left. “See those cattle grazing in the pastures along both sides of the road?”
“Yes.”
“They’re part of Dan’s