Cowboy Country (44 page)

What had she missed? There had to be some possibility of finding a way out of this hell.

Had anything really changed in her life? No. Was she still upset and angry with Sterling? Not really. She was more hurt than anything. Why?

She gnawed on that question all the way home.

Why was she hurt? What had he done that had been so wrong in the first place?

The military was his dream, always had been. That was no secret.

Not marrying her—yes, even that made sense to a certain degree. If she’d told him about the baby, he wouldn’t have broken up with her. He would have done the right thing.

Oh God. It was all her fault that she was so miserable. Her fault he hadn’t been there for her and Silver. It was even her fault that Sterling had been afraid to face her when he’d come home.

She’d put so much pressure on him to come back to her that he was afraid to see her believing she wouldn’t want him. That she would see him as damaged goods. He wasn’t, but he must have thought so or he’d have come to see her.

Regina had to find a way to make it up to him. She had an idea, but it wasn’t big enough. Not yet. She had to find Gage—and fast.

She did her best to avoid Sterling over the next three weeks. She had to show him she meant business.

She met Darcy for lunch one day, went to El Paso to do some shopping, and even went to the beauty parlor, something she hadn’t done in ages. While it was as decadent as she got, it was nowhere near as enjoyable as spending time with Sterling the way it used to be.

She met Gage for lunch to finalize their deal, and while she was still happy to keep her part of the bargain, she wished things were different.

It didn’t help matters any that while her and Gage ate lunch, Sterling drove by. There was no way he didn’t see them, in fact he looked downright upset. It would serve him right to be upset for thinking she belonged to him.

Only she did, heart and soul.

****

Silver was sad, nothing was going right.

Mommy and Daddy weren’t talking. Uncle Virgil left and didn’t even say goodbye.

She had no idea how to fix any of it.

This was all her fault.

CHAPTER 16

Sterling was out of his mind. He’d passed bored by the end of the first day, becoming downright obnoxious by the end of the week.

Hell, he was miserable as could be. His brothers cursed his very existence.

And God he missed Regina.

If something didn’t change soon, he’d be ready for the funny farm. That or one of the members of his family would go to jail for murder. On second thought, a judge would probably consider it justifiable homicide.

Sterling went to the Stampede for a beer. He had to get away from the house, the angry glances, and his snarling brothers. Luckily it was Regina’s night off so he wouldn’t have to worry about running into her.

Unfortunately, when he got there, so were his brothers. He took one look at Dane, Clayton and Quinton, and turned to leave.

Only they wouldn’t let him and dragged his ass back.

Unless he wanted to cause a scene where Regina worked, especially after he’d already done that once so he went willingly and joined them at the bar.

No sooner did he order a beer than Angie sidled up beside him.

“Wanna dance cowboy?”

He didn’t but he also didn’t want to talk to his brothers. They were up to something and he knew it.

He stepped away from the bar took Angie’s hand and followed her to the dance floor.

She wrapped her arms around his neck.

He pulled himself away and took a much more dignified grasp of her hand and waist. Luke Bryan was singing on the jukebox and the words of the song “
Every time I see you
” punched him right in the gut.

He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to be dancing with Angie. He wanted to be home in the arms of Regina.

He dropped his hands. “This was all wrong. Sorry Angie, I just can’t do this.” He turned and left the bar.

She followed out. “Wanna talk about it? I’m a good listener.”

“No, I don’t and if I was going to talk about it, I’d talk to Regina.”

“So why don’t you?” She yelled, cupping her hands to her mouth.

“Maybe I will.” Sterling jumped into his truck and tore out of the parking lot as if his ass was on fire. He saw his brothers standing next to Angie in the rear view mirror, all pointing and laughing at him.

He couldn’t go to Regina’s and he couldn’t go home.

Instead, he drove to the one place that always brought him comfort—the pond.

He grabbed a blanket and parked his ass under their oak tree. How many times had he been here with her, talking until late in the night, conversations about their future together?

In his mind he replayed every conversation, their dreams and their plans—every tender moment they’d shared.

He woke up in the wee hours of the morning, cold and sad, but with his mind made up. He couldn’t continue to hurt Regina. His best bet was to contact the military and see if there was a way to go back in as an instructor. It wouldn’t be the same, but at least he’d have a future.

He’d heard a number of the guys talk about how they were afraid to go home, that after the brotherhood of the Rangers, they would no longer fit in. That’s exactly how he felt now.

Maybe Regina would find happiness with Gage, even if the thought of another man raising his daughter irritated the hell out of him. Why couldn’t it have been someone else, anyone but Gage, his nemesis back in the day? The guy who felt the need to compete with him for everything: football, baseball, even the rodeo. The guy was a jerk.

But if Gage made her happy, who was he to judge? Her happiness was all he cared about.

He drove home and entered through the back kitchen door and put on a pot of coffee then while it was brewing he went to his room and changed his clothes. He brought the photo albums down to the kitchen. Thumbing through them again, he found an envelope between two stuck pages, he must have missed before.

It was in Virgil’s handwriting.

Dear Sterling,

I was wrong to lash out at you. I know that now. I’m sorry.

I was just so angry at you for ignoring Gigi, for wasting precious time getting to know your daughter. 

I was jealous.

I guess somewhere along the line I fell for Gigi and wished she and Silver were mine, but they weren’t. They were always yours.

I’ll be back some day, maybe by then you’ll forgive me for interfering in your life.

I wish you all the best.

Virgil

Everything made sense now. Virgil fell in love with Regina. Only Regina had moved on to Gage, and didn’t know how to tell him.

He waited until 0600 and called his old CO.

“Coronel Anderson speaking.”

“Hey Andy, its Bronco.”

“Well this is a surprise. Don’t tell me you miss me?”

Sterling chuckled. “Yes and no. I don’t miss your constant nagging, but I was wondering if you could do some checking for me?”

“Name it.”

Would it be as simple as that? “Things aren’t going as I expected.”

“You’re not having more health issues are you?”

“No—any chance there’s a training position I can step into?”

“I thought you had a girl to go home to?”

“So did I. Doesn’t matter now, can you check for me?”

“Sure, I’ll get back to you as soon as I hear. What number should I contact you at?”

Sterling gave the home number, asked how the rest of his team was then hung up. He leaned against the counter in the kitchen and stared out the window as dawn broke.

He heard footsteps behind him as Darcy came shuffling into the room. “What are you doing up so early?”

 “I couldn’t sleep. Smelled the coffee so I figured I’d get up.”

Darcy’s gaze narrowed. She said, “What are you going to do today?”

“Run a few errands, maybe go for a ride.”

“Mind if I go with you? We haven’t been out in a long time.”

“Sure you want to be near the family pariah?”

“What kind of question is that? God, you’re such a dick.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re only deaf in one ear ass hole. You heard me.” Darcy chuckled, poured a cup of coffee then trudged back upstairs.

He was making enemies like crazy, maybe going back in now would be for the best.

After his first cup of coffee, he set about making his breakfast. Once he cleaned up his mess he grabbed his jacket and went to town.

He didn’t see Regina’s car so he stopped at the café to speak to Carl.

Carl was stunned. “That’s more than I quoted Gigi.”

“I understand, but please I don’t want you to say a word to anyone until I have everything arranged. I have a few more things to do.”

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Carl cocked his head and frowned.

“Nope, but it’s how it has to be.”

Carl flipped a couple of slabs of ham. “Fine, but I think you’re making a mistake.”

“It’s not the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”

“Okay, just let me know.”

“I’ll go by the bank and have a cashier’s check drawn up and put it in the mail. I don’t want Regina to see me here.”

“She called in sick.”

“Is she okay? Forget it—not my business anymore.”

Sterling turned and left before Carl could ask any more questions.

As soon as the bank opened he had a cashier’s check drawn and made out to Carl. When he was done with that he opened a saving account for Silver and made a deposit. Then had Regina’s name added to his accounts.

When he was done at the bank he stopped by the architect’s office and paid for the drawings and then contracted him to work with the builder. He said he’d check in once a month and make payments as needed. He also gave the architect Regina’s name stating she’d be the one working with him for now on.

All he had to do was to go home and tell the family he was leaving as soon as the CO called. He had to leave. It was the only way he’d ever be able to move on.

****

Regina was in the bathroom on her knees, throwing up again when she heard someone banging on her front door.

She wiped her mouth and went to the door before whoever it was woke Silver up.

“Darcy, are you nuts, it’s seven o’clock in the morning.” She blotted her face.

“I went by the café and Carl said you were home sick. We have to talk.”

“What’s so important? I don’t have the energy for anymore drama.”

“Sterling is planning to go back into the military because you don’t want him.”

“What?” Regina was dizzy and had to sit down or fall down.

“I heard him on the phone with his old commanding officer. Told him you’d moved on and that he couldn’t stay around and watch you with someone else.”

“That’s insane. There is no one else.”

“He seems to think there is. You have to stop him? You’re the only one who can.”

Regina started to cry. Not just a few tears, but a flood.

Darcy frowned at her.

“What?”

Then Darcy’s eyes went wide, she covered her mouth then said, “Oh shit…have you been fooling around with Sterling?”

“Is that your way of being nosy?”

“Think about it, that last time I saw you cry was when you were pregnant with Silver.”

“You’re nuts.” But the more she thought about it the more it made sense. She rushed to the calendar in the kitchen and looked at the date. With all the chaos of Sterling’s return, she lost track of time. She was late. She was never late.

Darcy’s grin was downright evil.

“Oh God, I think you’re right.”

She and Darcy continued to talk while Regina made them breakfast. Once her stomach settled she called the doctor. She had to verify it before she said anything to Sterling.

By noon she had the results.

She had Darcy babysit while she went to talk to Sterling.

On the ride out to the ranch she planned what she would say.

She stopped by the house and found Lena. “Is Sterling here?”

“No, he’s at the pond.”

“I need to talk to him, I’ll be back later.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

She raced to the pond, her car sliding along the road, kicking up a ton of dust behind her as the pond came into view.

Sterling stood up on the rise where he said he wanted to put the house. He saw her coming and aimed her way. He shoved his hands in his back pocket as he drew close. “Is something wrong?”

“You could say that.”

Sterling turned away. “Well, don’t worry—I’ll be out of your hair in a week.”

“Meaning what?”

He sucked in a deep breath. “I called my old CO and asked for a training position. I won’t stand in your way. You and Gage are free to—carry on.”

Regina went around him and made him face her. “You’re a complete and total idiot.”

“I thought that’s what you wanted.” He wrapped his hands around his head and looked down as if he were afraid of the truth.

“Not hardly.”

“But I heard you and mom taking.”

“And like usual you got it wrong…again.”

“But you said—”

“Are you going to do it to me again?” she said. There was no other way to do this but to guilt the heck out of him. She wasn’t going to lose him again.

“Do what again?”

“Leave me pregnant while you run off and play G.I. Joe?”

He gasped and grasped her by the arms. “What did you say?”

“You heard me.” She forced herself to look and act angry. She jerked away and slapped her hands on her hips, legs a foot apart like she’d seen him do on a number of occasions when he was acting like a hard ass. 

His eyes widened, his mouth dropped open, and he appeared to try to speak but nothing came out.

Before he could go into panic mode she crossed her arms and said, “Sterling Bronco, you’re going to marry me this time. Do you understand? No gallivanting off to play with the boys. You’re going to stay here and take care of me, Silver, and the new baby. That’s an order.”