The Rancher's Surprise Daughter. Jill Lynn

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       Chapter Two

      Six agonizing days later Luc paced back and forth near the fireplace in the small living room of his cabin. His friend Gage Frasier perched on the arm of the chair flanking the couch, grilling Luc like the lawyer he was with questions that didn’t have satisfying answers.

      “Any news on the paternity test?”

      “Nope.” Luc dropped to the sofa, his body no longer functioning with coherent thought or movement.

      He hadn’t seen Ruby or Cate since last Saturday because he’d decided the most logical course of action was to wait until he knew for sure that she was his daughter. Though Cate hadn’t shown any doubt, she’d agreed to his suggestion that they not say anything to Ruby until they had the paternity test results back.

      But waiting was as easy as living with a broken toe.

      In the short time he’d spent with Ruby on Saturday while she’d ridden Buster, he’d quickly come to the conclusion that his possible daughter was captivating. Entertaining. And bubbled with as much energy as her little body could harness.

      The only other time Luc had been smitten so fast was with one other female, who, when he and Ruby had returned to the corral after twenty minutes instead of ten, had been spitting mad.

      Luc could admit he had fully enjoyed Cate’s disgruntled state. Currently, his guilt meter regarding anything she thought rested solidly at a zero.

      Hers should be shooting through the roof.

      “What’s she like?”

      “Ruby’s...” How to narrow it down? “Sweet. She talks nonstop. The kind of girl who would make friends with a fly.” He’d gathered that because she had, in fact, talked to the fly that had ridden on Buster’s saddle horn for part of the ride. And she’d befriended Luc instantly, jabbering the whole time. He’d learned that she had a best friend at day care and that her mom didn’t let her do more than an hour of “lectonics” in a day even though some kids got to do bunches more.

      That one had made him smile. He’d found himself silently agreeing with Cate.

      Ruby had told him her mom read “lots” of books to her every night, announcing it as though she was the most special girl in the world and their reading time only confirmed it.

      That information had created an uncomfortable surge of sympathy in Luc, flooding him with images of Cate juggling everything on her own. Ruby and her condition. Work. Bills. How had she managed it all? From what he knew of her parents, he couldn’t imagine them stepping in to help when Cate had found out she was pregnant. But he’d quickly stomped out the rush of concern that came with imagining Cate doing everything on her own.

      He was not going to feel bad for her. Not after the decision she’d made to keep Ruby from him.

      Luc had gotten a DNA test done in town first thing Monday morning. They’d sent in his sample, and Cate and Ruby had gone to the testing place in Denver. Now it was ticking toward five on Friday, and he was tormented to think he’d spend the weekend without knowing the results. So much felt undecided. And on top of his questions, Cate had texted him the date of Ruby’s procedure. One week from today.

      “So Cate didn’t explain why she never told you about Ruby?” Gage’s dark hair looked as rumpled as Luc’s. At least he could count on sympathy and understanding from his friend. Gage had been through a horrible ordeal when his wife left. Sometimes Luc wondered if the man would ever recover.

      “Nope. But I really didn’t let her. What does it matter? What’s done is done.” Anger boiled under the surface. Those last two comments were lies. He both wanted to know what Cate had been thinking and felt so wounded and aggravated that he didn’t believe any answer she gave would help.

      “Luc.” Gage’s voice snapped with concern, but Luc wasn’t sure he could handle any more girl talk—problems that didn’t have solutions were his least favorite subject. “Your phone just buzzed.” Gage motioned to the coffee table.

      Luc snagged it and opened the new email, relief tingling through his limbs when he saw it contained the results. Sawdust coated his mouth, saliva running for the hills. He clicked to read the report, the letters swimming before him. Not Excluded was typed across the top of the page in bold print. The testing facility had coached him on what this meant.

      He was Ruby’s father.

      The phone slipped from his grip, bouncing lightly on the sofa cushion.

      “I’m a dad.”

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