His Promise (Married in Montana Book 1) by Lorhainne Eckhart Page A

he stared at her, taking a slow, measured look around as if he couldn’t understand what she was talking about.
    “Your mom is talking about baby proofing, Neil.” Candy, his wife, had perfect curves and gorgeous long dark hair. She, too, was barefoot, wearing black shorts and a floral tank top as she carried their six-month-old baby boy, Michael, who would be crawling soon—and then pulling himself up on the coffee table and falling against one of those sharp corners... No, those tables had to go.
    “Baby proofing, why do we need to worry about that now?” Neil leaned down and kissed Candy as she passed him Michael, who was kicking his legs and giggling. Neil raised him above his head and gave him a noisy kiss on his cheek before cuddling him. Becky could see how Neil’s son was kicking his legs, bouncing on his hip. Michel would probably be walking before he was a year old.
    “How are you feeling, Becky? Can I get you anything?” Candy leaned down and rubbed her arm. Her soft brown eyes were filled with blooming confidence. It seemed, as the days passed, that the terrified young woman who didn’t know how to fit in to their world or be Neil’s wife was coming into herself.
    “You don’t need to wait on me, either, Candy. Where is everyone?” She could hear voices coming from the kitchen and others maybe from outside. It seemed quiet in here with just Neil and Candy. She noticed the exchanged glance between husband and wife. Obviously, something was going on.
    “Everyone is out back, and I don’t mind waiting on you,” Candy said. “This is your first time home since the stroke. We just don’t want you to overdo it or to be overwhelmed.” She glanced at Neil again.
    Becky knew something had been discussed, and someone needed to fill her in. “Overwhelmed? Good grief. How could I be overwhelmed being home and with my family? I’m certainly not going to overdo it. I worked hard to get back here, to do for myself, and I won’t be treated like an invalid, either. I know my limits. Now where is the rest of my family? They flew all this way and then scattered as soon as I made it down the stairs. They barely said hi.”
    But that wasn’t entirely true. She hadn’t missed how Brad, Neil, and Jed hovered on the steps, waiting to catch her if she fell. All eyes had been on her as she walked with her cane, one hand on Rodney’s arm as he led her through the foyer and down the two steps into the sunken living room.
    “Dad said he didn’t want you getting overwhelmed, that you’d just gotten home and asked for everyone to go outside and give you some space,” Neil said. He looked to Candy again. “I think Jed and Brad are in the pool with the kids.”
    The pool had been used less and less since the storm. Maybe she’d get back into swimming, too. That would certainly help along with her physical therapy.
    She noticed how different Candy and Neil were with each other now. It seemed as if there was something solid where there hadn’t been before. What was it about them that appeared stronger, closer? Before her stroke, she’d worried about whether Candy and Neil would make it. They had been so unsuited at one time. The deception, what Neil had done with that surrogate, lying to Candy when Michael was really his…Becky had wanted to say something to the two of them, take them aside, but her better sense had kicked in. This was their fight, and only they could work it out, just like she and Rodney had.
    “Well, you tell your dad that I don’t need anyone keeping my family away from me. Or maybe I need to go outside and tell him myself.” She reached for her cane and started to get up, determined to put an end to this nonsense. The last thing she wanted was anyone, especially her husband, treating her as an invalid.
    “No, Mom, stay there.” Neil sounded almost frantic, and she could see that pushing him wasn’t going to get him to stop worrying about her. “I’ll go talk to Dad.” He gave Candy a