Not His Brother's Fool

Ethan Scott promised me a Texas-sized wedding, then drove off with a greasy-haired woman he called his "business partner," leaving me pregnant with his brother Caleb's child.

I married Caleb, secured, and settled into our new life on the outskirts of town, far from the Scotts.

A year later, Ethan and his mistress, Tara, rolled back in, broke and bitter, expecting to find me forlorn-instead they found me heavily pregnant on the porch.

Tara, with a sneer, convinced Ethan I was a conniving gold-digger, trying to pass off another man' s child as his.

Fueled by her lies, Ethan, his own brother, lunged at me, pushing our mother aside before dragging me into the dusty yard.

He publicly humiliated me, screaming I was a "cheating whore," then kicked me to my knees, snarling he' d "beat the truth out of me."

The horror escalated when he grabbed a hot fire poker, and Tara hissed for him to "brand" me.

He shoved me into a filthy pigsty, where a sow charged, slamming into my side, tearing agony erupting through me.

I screamed, bleeding heavily, realizing my baby was coming, right there in the mud, as Ethan and Tara laughed.

I thought I was going to die, my baby too, abandoned to the filth.

Just as darkness closed in, Caleb's truck screeched to a halt, and he emerged, a mask of pure, cold fury, his eyes finding me in the pigsty.

He plunged through the mud, scooped me up, and as he carried me away, Tara dared to mock him, "You don' t have to pretend, Caleb! We saved you!"

His reply, chillingly quiet, promised, "If she dies, I will kill you both with my bare hands."

Ethan Scott told me to wait for him. He said he was going to make a fortune driving his rig cross-country, and when he came back, we' d have the biggest wedding our Texas town had ever seen. He said it with his arm around Tara Finch, the greasy-haired girl from the gas station he called his "business partner." I knew what kind of business they were in.

So I smiled, nodded, and watched his beat-up Peterbilt kick up dust as it rumbled down the highway.

The next day, I drove to the county courthouse with his younger brother, Caleb. We signed the papers. No fuss, no party, just the two of us and a bored-looking clerk. Caleb slid a simple gold band onto my finger, his hand steady and warm. I was already two weeks pregnant with his child. Ethan had been gone for months before that, on shorter hauls, chasing skirts and cheap thrills. His big departure with Tara was just the final nail in the coffin.

Caleb insisted I quit my job at the feed store. He wanted me home, safe. He said his money was our money now. He was a successful petroleum engineer, a world away from Ethan' s dusty dreams. So I stayed home, in the house Caleb bought us, a nice new build on the edge of town, far from the prying eyes of his family' s old ranch.

A year passed. Ethan and Tara came back, not with a fortune, but with empty pockets and sour faces. They rolled up to the old Scott family ranch, expecting to find me moping in a corner, waiting for my deadbeat fiancé.

Instead, they found me eight months pregnant, sitting on the porch of Caleb' s mother' s house, sipping lemonade while she fanned herself beside me.

Ethan' s face went from surprise to a dark, ugly red. He slammed the door of his truck, the sound cracking through the quiet afternoon.

"Jocelyn? What the hell is this?"

He pointed a shaking finger at my swollen belly. I didn' t move, just looked at him over the rim of my glass.

Tara slithered out of the passenger side, her eyes narrowing as she took in the scene. She saw my comfortable dress, the peaceful porch, the way Maria, their mother, was looking at me with affection.

"Well, well," Tara sneered, her voice like gravel. "Looks like someone didn' t waste any time."

Ethan stormed towards the porch. "Whose is it? You cheating on me while I' m out breaking my back for us?"

"Breaking your back?" I laughed, a short, sharp sound. "Or breaking in motel beds with her?"

His face twisted. "You shut your mouth. I asked you a question. Who' s the father?"

I stayed silent, letting him stew in his own ignorant rage. Maria placed a protective hand on my arm.

"Ethan, you have no right to ask her anything," Maria said, her voice firm.

But Tara saw an opportunity. Her eyes lit up with a malicious idea. "Oh, Ethan, don' t you see? She' s a clever one."

She pointed a long, dirty nail at me. "She got pregnant after you left, and she' s conned your rich brother into taking care of her. She probably told Caleb it was yours, that you left her pregnant and alone. Caleb' s got a soft spot, he' d fall for it. She' s milking him for his money!"

The idea hit Ethan like a lightning bolt. It made perfect sense to his twisted mind. He wasn' t just cheated on; his own brother was being played for a fool, and he, Ethan, was the one who had to fix it.

"You... you bitch," he growled, his eyes locking onto mine with pure hatred. "You' re using my brother?"