Read His Heartbroken Bride (The Brides of Paradise Ranch - Spicy Version Book 4) for Free Online Page B

double with weariness under the load.
    “I’m pregnant,” she blurted before she could change her mind and stay hidden.
    Mason let out a long breath. His arm tightened, drawing her closer against him. It still felt right, even after her confession. He glanced up and down the street, and since there were a few people out on errands, he escorted Libby over to a field on the far end of what looked like a boarding house. The dried grass crackled under their feet as they walked far enough off the road that no one passing could overhear them. Few people would be able to see them either, unless they were spying out the boardinghouse windows.
    “Did Teddy know before he died?” Mason asked, taking both her hands in his.
    Libby swallowed, feeling sick. How could he know? It’d happened a month after he’d been buried.
    She shook her head, lowering her eyes.
    Mason let out a long, sorrowful breath. “Libby.” Her name was like a prayer on her lips. “I’m so sorry. You must be so frightened.”
    Hearing someone else state the truth without knowing just how true it was tipped her already fragile emotions over the edge. A tear dropped onto her cheek. She turned her face away from Mason’s in shame. If he knew how it had happened…
    “Hey, it’s going to be all right,” he murmured and rested a warm hand on the side of her face, wiping her tear with his thumb. “You’re strong and brave, and you’ve got your whole family around you for support.”
    If only that were true.
    “Do they know yet? Did you tell them?”
    She shook her head, keeping her eyes lowered. She could have told the boys, but she wasn’t sure if they were old enough to understand…or if she wanted them to understand. When Mason was silent, she dragged her eyes up to check why. Confusion pinched his features.
    “You should probably tell them,” he said. “They’re going to figure out soon enough anyhow. Don’t women start to show after four or five months?”
    She winced. He had a point. Teddy died three months ago. Any woman with half a brain would know the truth when “his baby” was born eleven months later. They would ask questions. Questions would lead to answers, to confessions. Confessions would lead to ruin. No good person would want to give the time of day to a woman who became pregnant with another man’s child before her husband’s body was cold in his grave.
    “Hey.” Mason’s whisper jerked her attention back to the present. His expression was as puzzled as ever. “There’s still something wrong. You’ve gone all small and hard.”
    Her brow flew up at the description. “I’m not small and hard.”
    Mason broke into a gentle smile. “I know. That’s why I’m concerned.” He shifted his weight, and her position in relation to him with it. Bold as brass, he took her hands and slipped them under his coat, against his shirt, where they could warm up. It left her standing close enough to him to be considered trapped in his embrace. No, not trapped. Something about Mason drew her in, had always drawn her in. But now, now that Teddy was gone and she was a free woman…
    “I was talking to Luke this morning,” he began, stopping her wild thoughts in their tracks.
    Libby dropped her head, cheeks heating, but he brushed his hand under her chin and made her look up at him.
    “Your brother’s worried about you. He said that you used to close up when you all were kids and you were really scared.”
    Libby blinked. “I didn’t think he noticed.”
    Mason arched a brow. “Well, your brother noticed a lot more than you might think. He says that if you’re scared, you’ll break down when no one is looking.” He paused, staring intently at her. “Libby, are you scared?”
    Every fiber of her being wanted to deny it, to go on pretending nothing was wrong, that she and her children were fine. But she’d just confessed her secret to him. At least, part of it.
    She nodded.
    Mason sighed, wrapping his arms around her. “I