Jason couldn’t help but smile. “Sounds like you’ve gotten to be a real expert on the subject of marriage.”

Derringer chuckled. “I have to be. I plan on being a married man for life so I need to know what it takes to keep my woman happy and to understand that when wifey isn’t happy, hubby’s life can be a living hell.”

Derringer then tapped his foot on the barn’s wooden floor as if he was trying to make up his mind about something. “I really shouldn’t be telling you this because it’s something I overheard Chloe and Lucia discussing yesterday and if Lucia found out I was eavesdropping she—”

“What?”

“Maybe you already know but just hadn’t mentioned anything.”

“Dammit, Derringer, what the hell are you talking about?”

A sly smile eased across Derringer’s lips. “The ladies in the family suspect Bella might be pregnant.”

Bella walked out of the children’s hospital with a smile on her face. She loved kids and being around them always made her forget her troubles, which was why she would come here a couple of days a week to spend time with them. She glanced at her watch. It was still early yet and she wasn’t ready to go home.

Home.

She couldn’t help but think of Jason’s Place as her home. Although she’d made a stink with Jason about construction on her ranch, she didn’t relish the thought of going back there to live. She had gotten accustomed to her home with Jason.

She was more confused than ever and the phone call from her mother hadn’t helped. Now her parents were trying to work out a bargain with her—another proposal of a sort. They would have their attorney draw up a legal document that stated if she returned home they would give her the space she needed. Of course they wanted her to move back onto their estate, although she would be given the entire east wing as her own. They claimed they no longer wanted to control her life, but just wanted to make sure she was living the kind of life she was entitled to live.

Their proposal sounded good but she had gotten into enough trouble accepting proposals already. Besides, even if things didn’t work out between her and Jason, he deserved to be around his child. When they divorced, at least his son or daughter would be a stone’s throw away.

She was crossing the parking lot to her car when she heard someone call her name. She turned and cringed when she saw it was her uncle Kenneth’s daughter, who was the mother of the twins. Although Uncle Kenneth had had an outburst at the trial, Elyse Bostwick Thomas had not. She’d been too busy crying.

Drawing in a deep breath Bella waited for the woman to catch up with her. “Elyse.”