Her Secret Cowboy. Marin Thomas

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      “What do you mean by that?” Will’s intestines twisted into a giant knot.

      “Marsha didn’t tell me you were Ryan’s father until I saw her in March.”

      “This past March?”

      “A year ago March,” Buck muttered.

      Will lunged for Buck, but Johnny held him tight. “You knew I had a son for over a year!”

      “She made me promise not to spill the beans until she had a chance to tell you,” Buck said.

      “To heck with promising Marsha, I’m your brother.” Will’s chest physically ached at the thought of his own flesh and blood keeping the truth from him.

      “Marsha never planned to tell me at first, but I confronted her when I noticed Ryan looked like you.”

      Will wasn’t buying his brother’s story. “It took you thirteen years to make the connection between me and Ryan?”

      “I only looked up Marsha a few times since she’d moved to Los Angeles and Ryan was never there when I stopped by until...March.”

      “How good of friends are you with Marsha? Have you slept with her?”

      “It’s not like that between us, Will.”

      Will had known the answer before he’d asked the question, but he was desperate to find a way out of this mess. “Is there a chance Ryan isn’t my kid?”

      “Marsha’s not a slut.” Buck jabbed his finger in the air.

      “If she had sex with me on the first date there’s no telling who she slept with before she went off to college.”

      Buck jumped forward, his fist clipping Will across the jaw. Will stumbled, then regained his balance and threw a punch that connected with Buck’s cheek. His brothers attempted to intervene, but Will was too angry to care who he hit. He shoved Mack out of the way then took aim again, but Buck ducked and Will’s fist smashed into Porter’s face.

      “Shit, Will! I think you broke my nose!” Porter held his face in his hands and moaned.

      Johnny stepped forward and punched Will in the stomach. Will dropped to his knees and wheezed. “Are you going to behave or do I need to tie you down?”

      His brother would carry through with his threat. When they were kids, they’d gotten into an argument and Johnny had tied Will’s hands to the porch post with a piece of rope then took off. Will had waited three hours for Grandma Ada and Dixie to come home and free him.

      “Everyone get in the bunkhouse.” Johnny scowled at the brothers until they obeyed.

      After the yard emptied out, Johnny said, “Let’s go.”

      Will followed his brother, because he didn’t know what else to do. He’d never felt so lost, helpless or angry.

      They hiked in silence until the family graveyard came into view. Johnny sat beneath the ancient pecan tree, which shaded the tombstones. Unable to articulate his thoughts and feelings Will paced in front of the ornate gate surrounding the plots.

      “You’re about to explode. Let it out.”

      “Look at me.” Will spread his arms wide. “I’ve got no business being a father.”

      “Whether you do or don’t doesn’t matter. The deed is done.”

      “I’ve got nothing to show my son. I’m a grown man who lives in a bunkhouse with his brothers. I drive a thirteen-year-old vehicle and the most expensive thing I own is my rodeo gear and my truck.”

      “Don’t sell yourself short. You’ve got plenty to offer.”

      “Yeah? Like what?”

      “Like being a father to your son. That’s more than you grew up with.”

      Johnny’s words sent a cold chill through Will.

      “Did Marsha give a reason why she waited until now to contact you about Ryan?”

      “No. I don’t have a clue why she suddenly wants to come clean with me.”

      “Then she owes you some answers,” Johnny said.

      “How am I supposed to look my son in the eye after I insisted his mother get rid of him?”

      “Maybe Marsha hasn’t told Ryan the circumstances of his birth,” Johnny said.

      “And if she did? Then what?”

      Johnny shrugged. “You cross that bridge when you come to it.”

      “Damn.” Will punched the air with his fist. “Ben signed a contract to work on the Mission Community Church.” And the church’s pastor was Jim Bugler—Marsha’s father. Ryan’s grandfather. “I can’t face the pastor after I abandoned his grandson.”

      “You can’t abandon a person you didn’t know existed.”

      “You’re wrong, Johnny. I deserted Ryan when I told Marsha I didn’t want to be a father.” There was no getting past that fact.

      “Give yourself time to get used to the idea.”

      “No chance of that happening. Marsha and Ryan are spending the summer in Stagecoach.”

      “When does she plan to arrive?”

      “Tomorrow.”

      In less than twenty-four hours Will would head down a path he’d never planned to travel.

      * * *

      “HOW COME WE’RE staying the whole summer at Grandpa and Grandma’s?”

      Marsha took her eyes off the road for a second and glanced at her son. “Because they’re getting older and they won’t be here forever.” The forever part might come sooner rather than later for her father.

      Right after Christmas her mother had phoned with the news that her father’s prostate cancer had taken a turn for the worse. The most worrisome news had been learning he’d refused all further treatment except hormone therapy. At seventy-nine, she understood his reluctance to endure a second round of radiation and more surgery. Marsha hadn’t told Ryan the seriousness of his grandfather’s health, because her parents had asked her not to.

      The day she’d first learned of her father’s cancer diagnosis she’d been in a state of panic and then Buck had shown up on her doorstep. He’d been in town for a rodeo and hadn’t called ahead to tell her he was stopping by. That morning Ryan had been home. Buck had taken one look at her thirteen-year-old son and recognized the resemblance to his brother.

      Marsha’s secret was out.

      After Ryan left the apartment to go to a friend’s house, Buck asked if Will was Ryan’s father and Marsha had told him the truth. Buck had been stunned and angry that she’d СКАЧАТЬ