Welcome to Mills & Boon. Jennifer Rae

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СКАЧАТЬ he replied truthfully. “But with twelve years between us we were never really kids together.”

      She nodded. “You said Doug joined the army at twenty-one and sent you to boarding school?”

      “That’s right.” He named the school that was about two hundred miles west of Bellandale.

      “Were you happy there?”

      It seemed an odd question. “I’ve never really thought about it.”

      She pushed on. “You’d just lost your parents, correct? Why do you think Doug made the decision to send you away when you were so young?”

      “He joined the army,” Tanner said. “I guess he did what he thought was the best thing at the time.”

      Cassie didn’t look completely convinced. “But what did you think?”

      He opened his mouth to speak, then clamped it tightly shut. She stared at him, looking intrigued and a little confused. He drew in a slow breath. “I thought... I suppose I thought I’d been abandoned.”

      “Did you ever tell him that?”

      Silence stretched like elastic for a moment. Finally, he spoke. “I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone that.”

      “Then thank you,” she said. “For not dismissing the question. I suppose I’m trying to understand why Doug would have done such a thing. I mean, you really only had each other.”

      “What twenty-one-year-old wants to be saddled with a kid? Especially someone like...”

      Tanner stopped when he saw her expression shift. He met her gaze and waited for her to speak.

      “You mean, someone like Doug?” she asked, her voice a bare whisper. When he didn’t respond she spoke again. “You know, don’t you?”

      Tanner shrugged a little. “I know what?”

      “You know Doug wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea of having a baby?”

      Wasn’t exactly thrilled? His brother had flat-out said kids weren’t in his plans—ever.

      “I know he had some reservations.”

      She shrugged and maintained her resilient look. “It was a shock, that’s all. We’d never talked about children and when I found out I was pregnant I was surprised at first. When I told Doug, he didn’t...well, he wasn’t happy about it.”

      He knew the story. Doug had no intention of ever being a father to his child and Tanner knew his brother would have told Cassie that very thing had he lived.

      “I’m sure it was the shock, like you said.”

      As he said the words and tasted the lie, Tanner knew he had to keep the truth from her. It would hurt her deeply if the truth ever came out.

      “I suppose we’ll never know,” she said, softer still.

      Tanner shrugged fractionally. “I should get going.”

      “Are you heading into Bellandale?” she asked.

      “No,” he replied. “I’m going to crash at Ruthie’s for a few days. But I’d like to drop by tomorrow afternoon to see Oliver if that’s okay?”

      “Of course.”

      “Good night, Cassie. I’ll see myself out.”

      She nodded and watched him leave. Tanner grabbed his bag from the hall and headed through the front door and realized that leaving was the last thing he wanted to do.

      * * *

      When Cassie sat up in bed at six the next morning she knew the headache and scratchy throat she’d been harboring for days had finally taken hold. But Oliver’s cries made her ignore her pains, push back the covers and roll off the mattress. She changed into jeans and a T-shirt, took a couple of aspirin and worked through her sluggishness. It was well past the half hour by the time she’d fed him and then made herself some soothing peppermint tea.

      But Oliver was unsettled for most of the morning and in between doing two loads of washing and putting a casserole in the slow cooker, she took him for a long walk. When she got home it was after three and she gave him a bath and a bottle before putting him to bed for a nap.

      And even though her head hurt and her throat ached, she kept thinking about what had transpired over the past forty-eight hours. She thought about Doug. And Tanner.

      The brothers clearly had a much more complex relationship than she’d realized and Cassie knew that the undivided faith she’d always held in the man she’d loved—the man who had fathered her child—was unexpectedly under threat. Why would Doug have sent a vulnerable and grieving child to a boarding school so far away from the only home he’d ever known? It seemed incredibly callous and at odds with the man she knew. The man she’d thought she knew.

      A man she clearly hadn’t known.

      He’d charmed her with his smile and humor and she’d never really questioned his honesty or integrity.

      Until now.

      And Tanner? He was very different from the man Doug had described. He wasn’t moody and indifferent. In fact, he was the complete opposite. And she was as confused as ever.

      With her headache worsening and her whole body slowly succumbing to an unusual lethargy, by four o’clock Cassie grabbed the baby monitor, made tea and then curled up on the sofa in front of the television.

      She drifted off to sleep and was plagued by dreams. Of Oliver. Of her parents. Of Doug. And of Tanner. Of his warm brown eyes and sexy smile. When she awoke she discovered a throw had been laid over her bare arms. The monitor was gone from its spot on the coffee table and she sat up quickly. Oliver. The headache hadn’t abated and she pressed a hand to her temple. It was dark outside and the lamp in the corner gave off a soft glow. Someone was in her house. With the monitor missing, the lamp on and throw draped across her, it was the only explanation. Perhaps Lauren had stopped by? Or M.J.? Both her friends knew where she hid the spare key.

      Her legs were heavy as she stood and Cassie rested her knuckles on the side of the sofa for support as she ditched the throw and slipped her shoes back on. She swallowed hard and winced at the stinging pain in her throat. She left the room and headed down the hall toward the nursery. No Oliver. Her heart raced and she rushed down the hallway. And heard voices. Well, one voice. One very familiar, deep and hypnotic voice. She came to a halt in the doorway and listened as Tanner spoke to her son, who he held gently in the crook of one arm while he whisked eggs in a bowl with his free hand.

      “—and it won’t be a truly superb omelet, of course, without peppers...but it will do. Did you know your daddy was allergic to eggs? I suppose we’ll find out if you inherited that from him soon enough. Since you’ve already had your bottle you might even think about shutting those big eyes of yours and getting some sleep.”

      “Tanner?”

      He stopped talking and whisking and looked toward the door. “Hey there.” He turned Oliver СКАЧАТЬ