“It’s all right.” He pulled back and cupped her face. “We’ll handle it.”
“How is it all right? You know what my father will do. What the town will say.”
Brea feared her father having another heart attack because his only daughter had disappointed him so deeply. Without a husband, the town would gossip that she was a “fallen woman.” Not everyone in Sunset was so narrow-minded, but being Preacher Bell’s daughter, she was held to a higher standard. Once the news that she was “in trouble” spread, her living as a hairdresser would likely dry up. Then how would she support her baby?
Even if Pierce found out, she doubted that the man who had suddenly told her they needed to “take a step back” would care.
“Do you want to consider terminating the pregnancy?” Cutter asked softly.
She hadn’t had much time to adjust to the idea that she would be a mother come May, and after her own mother’s fate, giving birth scared her. But instinctively she slid a protective hand over her slightly bulging belly. “Heavens, no. I would never do that. I’m not judging. That choice might be all right for some but you know I wasn’t raised that way.”
Besides, if her being unwed and expecting would devastate Daddy, ending the pregnancy, if he ever found out, would be ten times worse.
“Understood. Let’s grab a bite of lunch and talk.” Cutter dropped a hand to the small of her back and led her toward the exit.
The front door’s electronic chime sounded. Brea looked up to find a man she’d never seen entering the clinic. A stranger, thank goodness. If he’d been anyone from Sunset, her appointment here would have caused the kind of speculation and chin-wagging that kept the town’s gossip mill churning for days.
It was only a matter of time before they knew her secret.
What was she going to do?
Outside, she shivered in the November chill. Brea wrapped her sweater around her shoulders as Cutter opened the passenger door. She hopped in his truck, her mind reeling in the silence.
Once he’d settled in the driver’s seat, he tugged on his seat belt and started the vehicle. “What are you going to tell One-Mile?”
“Nothing.” Thankfully, he didn’t live in Sunset and wasn’t connected to the town grapevine. So if and when he heard, she would be the one to fill him in. “You can’t confront him about this, either.”
“Look, he’s a jackass and he’ll make a lousy father, but—”
“I’m asking you to keep my secret.” If he didn’t want her, she refused to say anything that might guilt him into taking her back. “Please.”
Cutter tossed his hands in the air. “I have to work with him.”
“It’s not as if you two voluntarily speak. All you have to do is not mention me.”
“He’ll ask me about you.”
Maybe he had in the past, but Brea doubted he would anymore. “If my daddy finds out I got pregnant by a man who’s never even taken me on a date, he’ll disown me.”
Cutter slanted her a chiding glance. Okay, maybe she was being dramatic. He wouldn’t disown her…but he also might never forgive her. Daddy had been both her mother and father growing up. Not having him to guide her as she learned how to parent would be a devastating blow.
If she had Pierce’s love and devotion, it would help to cushion the hit. But she didn’t, and dwelling on his abandonment accomplished nothing. Wishing he’d come back was an even bigger waste of time.
Until her son or daughter was born, other than Cutter, she was alone.
“When are you finally going to tell me what happened between you two?”
She shook her head. The last thing she wanted to talk about now was the night she’d gotten pregnant, especially with Cutter. He would never understand. And he would blame himself. “Leave it.”
“Be honest with me. Did Walker even bother to wear a condom?”
No, and that was just as much her fault as his. “Don’t do this.”
“At least tell me if he forced you—”
“No.” She wished he would stop prying. “And I won’t cry rape when it wasn’t.”
Her time with Pierce had been like a fantasy, all fireworks and grand passion. But now the time to pay the bill had come, and she alone was holding the check—with no way to pay except her grit and stubborn determination.
“Move to Lafayette.” Cutter broke into her thoughts. “My apartment building has great security and good neighbors.”
In theory, that sounded ideal. New town, new life—one close to Cutter. But she’d already thought through that possibility. “With Daddy’s heart condition? I can’t leave him.”
“You wouldn’t be far away.”
“Too far for his circumstances. Besides, all my clients are in Sunset.” And they’d likely desert her once the news got out. “I’d have to start my business over.”
“You can move in with me until you get on your feet. I’ve got a spare bedroom.”
She appreciated his sacrifice, but she hated to take over his home office—or any part of his life. He valued his privacy, just like she did. But he wouldn’t care about that, so she had to phrase her refusal in a way he could understand.
“I can’t live ‘in sin’ with you. You know that’s what the town would say. The preacher’s daughter and the town drunk’s son shacking up. What a shame…”
He let out an exasperated sigh as he put the truck into drive. “Damn it, I wish those small-minded idiots would keep their mouths shut.”
“You lived in Sunset most of your life. You know they won’t.”
Gritting his teeth, Cutter pulled away from the clinic. “Can I ask you a question? Was Pierce your first?”
Surely, he didn’t think she slept around. Probably not, but they’d also never asked about one another’s sex life. “Of course.”
Cutter gripped the steering wheel like it was Pierce’s neck. “We should get married.”
Brea sucked in a breath. She’d always hoped someone would propose to her someday. But Cutter was the wrong man, and he wasn’t offering because he was in love with her.
She swiped the tears from her stunned face. “Have you lost your ever-lovin’ mind? I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking. I’m offering.”
“It’s sweet but—”
“You’re out of options, Bre-bee. In order to keep the townsfolk and your father off your back and keep your baby, you need a husband.”
He was right, and his offer meant the world to her, but… “I love you, Cutter. Like a brother. I don’t think of you…that way.”
He scowled. “I don’t think of you that way, either. You’re my sister in every way except blood. But we’ve stuck together through thick and thin. We’ve grown closer over the years because we both know what it’s like to be the latch-key kid of a hardworking single parent. I don’t want that for your baby. I doubt you do, either. So unless you want to find yourself cast out of Sunset altogether for trying to raise your child alone, I’m your best hope.”
“What would you do if you married me?” She hated discussing such an indelicate topic, but he’d brought it up. “I don’t go out of my way to hear gossip, but I can’t always avoid it. I know you’re a red-blooded man. I know you like women and you don’t enjoy spending your nights alone. I can’t give you…”