Chapter 11
“Clara—”
“You gave me food. A bed. Somewhere safe.”
“And none of that’s changing.”
She shook her head.
“Please don’t promise.”
Mason looked into her frightened eyes.
“Tell me.”
Slowly, her hands moved toward her stomach.
Both palms settled protectively against it.
Mason suddenly remembered everything.
The sickness.
The exhaustion.
Her fear of the doctor.
The way she had been holding her stomach.
“Clara,” he whispered.
She closed her eyes.
“There’s something you didn’t know when you bought my freedom.”
He barely breathed.
Then she opened her eyes.
“I’m pregnant, Mason.”
The barn fell silent.
Clara watched his face.
When he didn’t immediately speak, she began to cry harder.
“I knew you’d regret bringing me here.”
Mason shook his head.
“No—”
“I should’ve told you sooner.”
“Clara, listen.”
“I’ll leave. I won’t bring trouble to your home.”
She tried to stand, but Mason gently steadied her.
“Stop. You’re not going anywhere tonight.”
She searched his face.
“Then what are you thinking?”
Mason looked at her trembling hands.
He had spent three years believing he would never be a husband again.
Never build a family.
Never hear a child’s laughter beneath his roof.
And now a frightened young woman was looking at him as though her unborn child were a terrible offense.
He reached toward her, stopping just short of touching her cheek.
“I’m thinking,” he began, “that whoever made you believe this baby makes you less deserving of kindness was cruel beyond forgiveness.”
Clara stared at him.
Before he could continue, hoofbeats thundered outside.
A voice shouted from the yard.
“Callaghan! Come out!”
Mason recognized Sheriff Harlan.
Another voice followed.
Silas Rusk.
Clara went rigid.
Then a third man spoke.
His voice was low, polished, and terrifyingly calm.
“Clara, sweetheart. I know you’re in there.”
Every trace of color vanished from her face.
“No,” she whispered.
Mason rose.
“Who is that?”
Clara seized his wrist.
“Don’t go outside.”
The barn doors swung open.
A tall man wearing an expensive black coat entered beside the sheriff. His pale blue eyes moved past Mason and settled on Clara.
He smiled.
“There you are.”
Mason stepped between them.
“Who the hell are you?”
The stranger removed his gloves.
“Gideon Voss.”
He looked at Clara’s hands resting over her stomach.
Then his smile widened.
“Step aside, Callaghan. You’ve been hiding my wife. And she’s carrying my child.”
Chapter 2: The Truth Evelyn Left 248
Mason didn’t move.