“Has anyone ever told you that you are an extremely rude man?” Abby snapped angrily, forgetting her manners. “In the first place, I had no intention of marrying your brother or anyone, whether I was pregnant or not. I am perfectly capable of having this child and raising it by myself.”

“I have no doubt of that,” he murmured, not meeting her eye. He examined his sandwich critically, then took another bite.

Abby was so mad she could’ve spit. She wished Jesse would get back. She certainly was beginning to get an idea of what he meant by “difficult.” For two cents she’d just walk out, but she wasn’t going to give Noah Winslow the satisfaction.

“So,” she said, after counting silently to ten, “what do you grow on this ranch?” A change of subject was in order.

“Grow?” He looked at her, astonished. “We raise cattle. Herefords. We also raise hay and some feed grain. We don’t grow anything. This isn’t a farm, you know.”

“No, Jesse did tell me that much.” She managed to mangle and swallow another bite of sandwich. The milk was cold and good, and the sandwich, she had to admit, wasn’t half-bad. “I’m from a farm, you see. We had Jerseys.”

“Uh-huh. What made you change your mind? If you don’t mind me asking,” he said.

“Change my mind? What—about the farm?” She was thoroughly confused.

“No. About raising your baby yourself.”

Abby stared at him and he stared right back. “As a matter of fact, I do mind you asking but I’m going to tell you anyway, as we’re going to be related soon and I see no sense in not doing my best to get along with you, rude man or not.” She paused, collected every ounce of teacher-trained serenity and went on. “Now, what exactly do you mean, ‘changed my mind’?”

“Why’d you decide to marry my brother, after all? Considering you figured you’d raise this kid yourself.” His gaze was level and cold as steel.

“Because your brother asked me to marry him,” she replied calmly, even loftily. “And I said I would. That’s why.” Thank heavens! Thank heavens that was the truth.

“You must have expected. he’d ask—”

“I had no idea he’d ask me to marry him. It never crossed my mind. My only thought was that he had a right to know about the baby. You can believe me or not, I don’t care. Has anyone ever told you how incredibly, detestably rude you are, not to mention nosy?”

“Once or twice. You hardly know him. I don’t mean in the Biblical sense—”

“I know him well enough to know he’s a kind, gentle, generous man!” she cried. “I know him well enough to know he’ll make a good husband and a wonderful father.”

“Ha!” Noah drained his beer. “I’m afraid I know him a lot better than you do, and I can only say I hope you’re right.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Abby was lost. First it seemed he didn’t want her to marry his brother; then it seemed he did.

“Just what I said. I hope you’re right. Woman in your condition doesn’t have a whole lot of time to check things out.”

Abby and Noah finished their meal in silence. Abby poured herself another half glass of milk, just to show that she wasn’t rattled in the slightest, drained it, then stood. “Thank you for lunch. It was very kind of you to offer,” she said, smiling sunnily, hoping the irony wasn’t lost on him. She was sure it wasn’t.

He stood, too. The dog under the table got up and waddled out, woofing softly. Then they heard a pickup drive up and screech to a halt outside. The dog barked twice. Footsteps took the porch steps several at a time.

Jesse!

“Noah? You here? Where’s Abby?” Jesse called through the open screen door. “She’s not in the trailer. You seen her around?”

Abby looked triumphantly at her prospective brother-in-law across the table. See? He’s a kind, generous man who cares. a great deal for me, just as I said....

“Come on in, Jess. She’s right here.” Noah stepped away from the table and walked to the door just as Jesse pushed it open and walked in. His gaze went swiftly from his brother to her. She smiled.

“Noah gave me some lunch,” she said simply. “Wasn’t that neighborly?”

Jesse beamed. “Hey, that’s great! Well, I got everything done in town—” He took a deep breath and turned to his brother. “Got the license and everything. We’re gonna get married on Friday.”

It was Thursday now. “Tomorrow?” she asked softly, unable to stop herself from a quick, indrawn breath. This was all happening so quickly....

“No, next week. Magistrate was all booked up until then. That okay, Ab?” Jesse looked worried for a moment.

“That’s fine.” She moved over to stand close to Jesse. Noah’s expression was skeptical. She took Jesse’s hand in hers, wishing he didn’t look quite so surprised when she did. “That’ll give me time to get ready. Buy a dress. Do some shopping. Write a few letters home.”

“You finished here? You ready to go back to my place?” Jesse asked.

“Uh-huh.” She glanced at Noah and then hated herself for the blush she felt rising to her cheeks. She knew Jesse only meant that she should come to his place to discuss their plans, maybe have coffee or something. She was a little taken aback by how distant he’d been, physically. He’d done no more than hug her when she got off the bus and hadn’t touched her since.

But that wasn’t what Noah was thinking... knowing him in the Biblical sense, as he’d said. He thought they were going to Jesse’s for some leisurely afternoon sex. She felt more acutely aware of everything she said and did around Noah than she did around Jesse, the man she planned to marry. The man who’d made love to her and who’d fathered the child she carried.

Everything was mixed up; everything was wrong.

“You going to the Dexters’ anniversary on Saturday?” Noah asked his brother. “Mona will be expecting you.”

Jesse smiled at her. “Sure am. Gonna introduce Abby to all the folks.”

“The Dexters?” Abby asked. “Who are they?”

“Oh, just some neighbors, Ab,” he replied, glancing at his brother. “Old Man and Old Lady Dexter been married fifty years and some of the family got up a surprise party for ‘em. At the community hall. We’re invited. Noah, too.”

“I see.” Abby smiled in return. “I’m looking forward to it. Shall we go now, Jesse?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.” Holding her fiancé’s hand, Abby left the kitchen, feeling completely silly about everything that had taken place there. She couldn’t help imagining she felt the heat of Noah’s gaze on them all the way to Jesse’s pickup, but she’d be damned if she’d look back to see if she was right.

And she didn’t. She’d finished looking back when she left South Dakota.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE DEXTERS’ ANNIVERSARY celebration began with a tea for the older folks on Saturday afternoon, followed by a buffet dinner and dancing at the Glory and District Community Hall.

Noah had decided they’d show up about five, introduce Abby around and then get the hell out of there before the dancing. Normally, he might have considered staying for the whole event, but now that his brother’s bride-to-be had arrived from out of nowhere, he figured the best plan was to get in and get out. Avoid the overcurious. The tough part was going to be introducing her as Jesse’s surprise ladylove to all their neighbors and friends. No one would be expecting what could only be described as a shotgun wedding from either of the Winslows.

Jesse and Abby were riding with him, as Jesse owned only his pickup, while Noah had both his pickup and a six-year-old four-door Chevrolet sedan, as well. Low-end, nothing fancy, but it served its purpose, which was mainly long highway trips and the occasional date. Taking a woman out to a decent restaurant in a work truck was a teenager’s trick, in his opinion.

By half past four he was ready, wearing dress pants and boots, a crew-necked white knit T-shirt—Noah couldn’t abide ties—and a Western-cut jacket. He wore a wide-brimmed hat, as usual, only this was his going-out model, a fine tan-colored beaver-felt Stetson. He had to adjust the seat on the Chevy, since Carl had driven it last, then put it. into gear and eased slowly down the hill. He was picking up the lovebirds at Jesse’s house.