Little Cowgirl on His Doorstep. DONNA ALWARD

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      Still avoiding any eye or physical contact, then. She didn’t know why they were both so tense. It was just a swab test. No results would be had for at least a week. And she was in no doubt of the results, after all. Crystal might have kept secrets, but she wouldn’t have lied to Avery about that.

      Avery carried the car seat to the waiting vehicle, a crew cab half-ton built for function but without a lot of bells and whistles. Once the belt was fastened securely, she stepped up into the front seat. “This thing is huge.”

      “It does the job,” he replied, starting the engine. Avery felt weird sitting there with him, enclosed in the cab with no escape, with the scent of his aftershave filling the air. It was just her dumb luck that she’d thought him handsome from the beginning. It made her feel awkward, and she hoped he didn’t pick up on it. How embarrassing.

      Thankfully it only took a few minutes to get to the small, neat building that housed the doctor’s office. Callum hopped out and then came around the truck and opened her door before she even got the diaper bag over her shoulder.

      He let her carry the car seat with Nell in it. She bit down on her lip. To her recollection, he’d never called Nell by name, always referring to her as “the baby.”

      And not once had he touched her or bothered to pick her up.

      Today, Avery realized as she stepped through the door he held open, was truly a formality. Because Callum was definitely no father.

      Callum’s heart wouldn’t settle down from the weird pattering that pressed against his chest. This was stupid. It was a simple test. A mouth swab and it was all over. Results in a few days that would prove…

      He clenched his jaw as Avery passed by him, her light floral scent teasing his nostrils. He didn’t seem to remember her being this headstrong. She’d been a bit of a wallflower at the wedding. But the woman with him today was tough and determined. And beautiful. Her skin practically glowed and he noticed a few freckles dotting her nose, making her seem younger than he knew she must be. And when she smiled at the receptionist and announced their arrival, he caught his breath.

      Her hair was back in a ponytail, but a few pale strands had come loose and framed her face. She looked pretty in a natural sort of way. So unlike her sister, who’d been fond of bright colors and painted nails and flawless makeup. There wasn’t a man alive who wouldn’t have had his head turned by Crystal Spencer. She was a knockout.

      Past tense, he reminded himself as he stood beside Avery. And Avery was as different from her sister as night and day. Oh, there was a resemblance he could see now, in the tilt of her nose and the shape of her eyes. But there was something different about her, something easier. Simpler. Crystal had been a bombshell, but Avery was the girl next door.

      In her own very natural way, Avery Spencer was stunning.

      He was still reeling from that realization when they sat to wait in the quiet waiting room. Callum closed his eyes briefly. Confidentiality be damned; before the day was out people would know he’d been here with a woman and a baby. Even if they knew nothing about the paternity test, assumptions would start. Things had a way of spreading through a small town like wildfire.

      He looked over at Nell, who was sitting on Avery’s lap happily shaking a rattle shaped like a giraffe. His throat tightened. Deep down he knew what today’s test was going to say. He had seen it first in the hair, but then he’d dug out an old family picture. His first impressions were correct. The resemblance was there, especially to his little sister, Taylor.

      Nell was a Shepard through and through. His daughter. The very thought was enough to send his stomach plummeting to his feet. What on earth was he going to do with a kid?

      This whole thing opened up too many old wounds. He couldn’t stop thinking about Jane and the baby she’d had. Not to mention the fact that she’d lied so easily to his face for weeks before breaking his heart.

      Dr. Lazowski called them in and the three of them entered the exam room together. No questions asked, just the quick procedure and they were done. “I’ll send this off to the lab immediately,” he said, writing in a chart. “And the results?”

      “To my mailing address,” Callum said tightly.

      “And to mine.” Avery stepped forward and gave him her address in Ontario. Suddenly Callum realized that this meant she was really leaving. And taking Nell with her. Just like that it was done. He wasn’t even used to the idea of them being around and they would be out of his life.

      “Thanks, Dr. Lazowski,” Callum said, and they were back out in the waiting room again. It almost seemed like it had never happened. Nothing felt different, except knowing that now it was over, Avery and Nell would be flying back home in a few hours to wait for the results.

      What was he going to do when they came back positive? Because he was sure they were going to. He’d been trying to come to grips with it over the last few days. He had a daughter. A child—something he’d never thought would happen. Not after everything in his past. Not after Jane and definitely not after what had happened overseas.

      They got back in the truck and Callum paused. “Did you want to grab some lunch?”

      Avery shook her head. “Our flight leaves in a few hours, and I have to take my rental car back. I’ll just get something at the airport.”

      He deserved that; he’d turned down her offer the other day, after all. “That’s fine, then.”

      He refused to look at her, or over his shoulder at Nell. It was probably just as well. Even if Nell was his—which he was now very certain she was—he had no business trying to be a full-time father. She belonged with Avery. And Avery’s life was across the country, in her trendy apartment working in her trendy bakery while his whole savings—and a sizable loan—sat right here on his farm.

      She insisted she didn’t want financial support and he wasn’t making a lot of money, but he would help out. It would be bad enough being an absentee dad, but no one was going to accuse him of being a deadbeat.

      It was the very least his conscience demanded. So why did he feel like he was taking the easy way out?

      Back at the inn he’d barely shut off the ignition when she was out of the truck and opening the side door to get Nell. She’d clearly planned ahead because she went inside and came right back out rolling her suitcase and carrying the packed-up playpen. The umbrella stroller was snapped up and stowed in the trunk of her car in no time flat and there was nothing more to do than say goodbye.

      It was not how he’d envisioned this morning going. Not with her so…cold. He didn’t quite know what he’d done to set her off, but she wouldn’t even look him in the eye.

      She turned to face him and pasted on a smile so fake it looked plastic. “I’ll be in touch after we get the results.”

      “Right. You’ve got everything?”

      “Yes.”

      “You don’t need…” He didn’t know how to finish the question. What was he trying to ask? Why was this so hard? He should be relieved that things were going back to normal, so why was he drawing the moment out rather than just opening the damn door for her?

      “I don’t need anything from you, Callum.”

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