Page 78 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

“You don’t have to decide right thissecond.”

“I have totellBen.”

He pulled her closer, wrapping her in his strength. As he held her, she sobbed against his chest. In his arms, she could unleash the torrent of tears she’d been holding back. Several minutes passed before her tears finallydriedup.

Her horse voice took on a haunted quality. “I have to tell him,don’tI?”

“I can’t tell you what to do withyourlife.”

“But it’s the right thing to do. I can’t hide his baby from him. Regardless of what happened between us, it would be wrong to keep itfromhim.”

He stroked her hair. “My brother just went through something like that. It hurt him more than youcouldknow.”

“That’s why I need totellhim.”

He relaxed his embrace. “I’ll give you some time alone. I’ll go get lunchstarted.”

“I’m supposed to bedoingthat.”

“I’m happytohelp.”

“You’re so goodtome.”

“My mom raised me to be a gentleman. It’s in myblood.”

She gave him a soft kiss on his cheek. “She did agoodjob.”

As Mack left the room, he closed the door. She reached for her cell phone and took a deep breath before dialing. Ben picked up on thesecondring.

“Where have you been?” he asked in anangrytone.

“Away.”

“You need to come home so wecantalk.”

“I can’t. I’mworking.”

“Working?” he asked as if he couldn’t wrap his mind around theconcept.

“Yes,working.”

“Where?”

“I’m on a ranch inMontana.”

“Jesus Christ, Madison. You should be here in Seattle with me. What the hell are you doing on aranch?”

She sighed. There was no point in trying to cushion the blow, so she blurted it out. “I’mpregnant.”

The silence on the other end of the line lasted so long that she glanced at the screen to make sure he hadn’t hung up on her. The numbers depicting the length of the call continued toclickup.

“Ben?”

“You need tocomehome.”

“I can’t. Not right now. I’ll come back after Christmas and then we can discuss a custodyarrangement.”

“The hell we will! You’d better get on the next plane and come home or I’ll huntyoudown.”

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