Merry Christmas, Baby Maverick!. Brenda Harlen

had to tell him about their baby.

      She pulled a handful of toilet paper from the roll and wiped at the wet streaks on her cheeks. The tiny life inside her stirred again. She laid a hand on the slight curve of her tummy.

      I’ve always tried to do what I think is best for you, even when I don’t know what that is. And I’m scared, because I don’t know how your daddy’s going to react to the news that he’s going to be a daddy. I will tell him. I promise, I will. But I’m not going to walk into the high school gym in the middle of movie night and make a public announcement, so you’re going to have to be patient a little longer.

      Of course, there was no way the baby could hear the words of reassurance that were audible only inside of her head, but the flutters inside her belly settled.

      “Everything okay?” Natalie whispered, when Kayla had returned to her seat inside the darkened gym.

      She nodded. “My phone was vibrating, so I went outside to take the call.”

      Lying didn’t come easily to her, but it was easier with her gaze riveted on the movie screen. Thankfully, Natalie accepted her explanation without any further questions.

      When the credits finally rolled, people began to stand up and stack their chairs. Trey solicitously took both Kayla’s and Natalie’s along with his own.

      “I’m sorry,” Kayla said to her friend, taking advantage of his absence to apologize—although she wasn’t really sorry.

      “For what?”

      “Because I know you wanted to sit next to him.”

      Natalie waved away the apology. “I should be sorry,” she said. “When I invited him to join us, I completely forgot that you two were together at the wedding—”

      “We weren’t together,” Kayla was quick to interject.

      “Even the Rust Creek Rambler saw the two of you on the dance floor.”

      “One dance doesn’t equal together.”

      “Well, even if that’s true—” and her friend’s tone warned Kayla that she wasn’t convinced it was “—I’m getting the impression that Trey is hoping for something more.”

      She shook her head. “You’re imagining things.”

      “I am not imagining the way he’s looking at you,” Natalie said, her gaze shifting beyond her friend.

      Kayla didn’t know what to say to that. She didn’t know how—or even if—Trey was looking at her because she was deliberately avoiding looking at him, afraid that any kind of eye contact would somehow give away all of her secrets to him.

      “Which means I have to find myself a different cowboy,” Natalie decided.

      “Do you have anyone specific in mind?” Kayla asked, happy to shift the conversation away from Trey—and especially talk of the two of them being together at the wedding.

      “I’m willing to consider all possibilities,” Natalie said. “And since it’s still pretty early, why don’t we go to the Ace in the Hole to grab a drink?”

      She shuddered at the thought. “Because that place on a Friday night is a bad idea.”

      The local bar and grill was more than a little rough around the edges at the best of times—and a Friday night was never the best of times as the cowboys who worked so hard during the week on the local ranches believed in partying just as hard on the weekends. As a result, it wasn’t unusual for tempers to flare and fists to fly, and Kayla had no interest in that kind of drama tonight.

      Natalie sighed. “You’re right—how about a hot chocolate instead?”

      That offer was definitely more tempting. Though Kayla hadn’t experienced many cravings, and thankfully nothing too unusual, the baby had definitely shown signs in recent weeks of having a sweet tooth, and she knew that hot chocolate would satisfy that craving. But, “I thought you had to open up the store in the morning.”

      Natalie waved a hand dismissively. “Morning is a long time away.”

      “Hot chocolate sounds good,” she admitted.

      “It tastes even better,” Trey said from behind her.

      Kayla thought he’d left the gym after helping to stack the chairs, but apparently that had been wishful thinking on her part.

      “But where can you get hot chocolate in town at this time of night?” he asked.

      “Daisy’s,” Natalie told him. “It’s open late now, with an expanded beverage menu and pastries to encourage people to stay in town rather than heading to the city.”

      “I always did like their hot chocolate,” Trey said. “Do you mind if I join you?”

      “Of course not,” Natalie said, buttoning up her coat as they exited the gym.

      They said “hello” to various townspeople as they passed them in the halls, stopping on the way to chat with some other friends from high school. A few guys invited Trey to go for a beer at the Ace in the Hole, but he told them that he already had plans. When they finally made their escape, Natalie pulled her phone out of her pocket and frowned at the time displayed on the screen. “I didn’t realize it was getting to be so late.”

      Kayla narrowed her gaze on her friend, wondering how it had gone from “still pretty early” to “so late” in the space of ten minutes.

      “I think I should skip the hot chocolate tonight,” Natalie decided. “I have to be up early to open the store in the morning.”

      “You were the one who suggested it,” Kayla pointed out.

      “I know,” her friend agreed. “And I hate to bail, but there’s no reason that you and Trey can’t go without me.”

      Kayla glanced at Trey. “Wouldn’t you rather go to the Ace in the Hole with your friends than to Daisy’s with me?”

      “Let me see—reminiscing about high school football with a bunch of washed-up jocks or making conversation with a pretty girl?” He winked at her. “It seems like a no-brainer to me.”

      “Great,” Natalie said, a little too enthusiastically.

      Then she leaned in to give Kayla a quick hug and whisper in her ear. “I’ll call you tomorrow to hear all of the juicy details, so make sure there are some juicy details.”

       Chapter Four

      “She’s not very subtle, is she?” Trey asked Kayla, after her friend had gone.

      “Not at all,” she agreed. “And if you want to skip the hot chocolate—”

      “I don’t want to skip the hot chocolate,” he told her.

      “Okay.”

      It was one little word—barely two syllables—which made it hard for him to read her tone to know what she was thinking. But her spine was stiff and her hands stuffed deep in the pockets of her jacket, clear indications that she was neither behind her friend’s machinations nor pleased by them.

      “Do you want to skip the hot chocolate?” he asked her.

      Her hesitation was so brief it was barely noticeable before she replied, “I never say no to hot chocolate.”

      Despite her words, he suspected that she wanted to but couldn’t think of a way to graciously extricate herself from the situation that had been set up by her friend.

      Was she avoiding him? Was she uneasy because of what had happened between them in the summer? He couldn’t blame her if she was, especially since they hadn’t ever talked about that night. Not since that first day, anyway,