The Cowboy's Secret Son. Trish Milburn

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       Grace shifted her gaze toward the stand of trees opposite where she sat. “But I didn’t when my parents literally dragged me away in the middle of the night in shame.”

       He’d met her parents once, and could all too easily imagine them doing such a thing. But he didn’t want to feel sorry for her. Six years had passed since then, years in which she’d cheated him by keeping the existence of a son from him. If Evan was his. Maybe she was mistaken.

       “How do you know he’s mine?”

       She laughed, but it wasn’t the type of laugh born of amusement. “You’re really asking me that question?”

       He crossed his arms and stared at her, every muscle in his body tense. “Yes. You show up here unannounced and tell me some boy I’ve never seen is my son, and I’m supposed to just believe that?”

       Grace shifted on the bench so that she more fully faced him. “Think about it. Do you remember me having guys lining up to sleep with me back in high school?”

       “I don’t know what you did. You could have met someone after you left here.”

       She shook her head, and something about her expression made him feel as if she thought him the most clueless man in the world. “I pretty much lived under lock and key when I lived here, and it only got worse after we left, after my parents discovered I was pregnant. I had to sneak out a window to come to that party.”

       “Why did you?”

       She didn’t immediately answer. Instead, she seemed to think about it as she let her gaze fall away from him. “Because I liked you. And I thought maybe you liked me.”

       He didn’t know what to say to that. The silence stretched to an uncomfortable length. He plopped the hat back on his head and shoved his hands in his jean’s pockets. “I don’t know how to react or what to say. I feel like I just got hit with a cattle prod and a stampede all at once.”

       “You don’t have to do anything, at least not now.”

       He glanced at her, trying to read this woman he didn’t even know anymore. Had he ever? She was no more the girl who’d helped him raise his algebra grade so he could play football than one of the fence posts around the corral. That girl had barely been able to meet his eyes, even on that night he’d made love to her.

       This woman marched onto his ranch and pronounced him the father of her little cowboy wannabe.

       Man, he felt as if his head was going to explode.

       “What does that mean, not now?”

       “I’m not looking for money, or even your help in raising him. I’m doing fine on my own.”

       “Then, why tell me at all?”

       “Because I’m all he has, and if something ever happens to me, I want him to have somewhere to go.”

       The way she sounded as though he was nothing more than a back-up plan caused his anger to swell. “And you thought of the sperm donor?”

       She gasped, and her eyes went wide. “Nathan, that’s not how I think of you.”

       “It’s not?”

       “No.”

       “Could have fooled me. What if nothing happens to you, Grace? I get nothing? I’m just supposed to forget you dropped this little bombshell on my head?”

       “Of course not.” She appeared flustered, as if she hadn’t anticipated him putting up a fuss. “I just wanted you to know.”

       He looked toward the corral when he heard youthful giggles. Evan and the little pink girl were laughing, at what he couldn’t tell. “Why now? I’m assuming you didn’t just leave your parents’ house.”

       “I…I just finally got up the nerve. I realized it wasn’t responsible to be a single parent and not make plans in case something happened to me.”

       He shook his head and shifted his eyes back to her. “You could have called. Hell, written a letter or something.”

       “I thought about it, picked up the phone I don’t know how many times.”

       “And you decided just dropping by was better?”

       “I didn’t know. I honestly didn’t know if I could go through with it. I almost turned around half a dozen times.”

       “Good to know I could still be in the bloody dark about having a kid.”

       This time, she winced. “Telling you wasn’t as easy as you obviously think it should have been.”

       He shifted from one foot to the other, cursing himself for the fool he’d been that long-ago night. One more idiot kid who couldn’t keep his pants zipped. “Did I really treat you so badly that you’d keep my son from me?”

       “This isn’t about you, Nathan.”

       “Obviously.” He had to get away, find some air to refill his lungs. Calm the hell down. He couldn’t think when he was so close to this woman spouting words that could change his life so dramatically. When he could see the boy who might very well be the beginning of a new generation of Teagues. “I’ve got work to do.”

       He stalked down the hill but didn’t head for the barn. Instead, he made for his truck. Nothing like a drive up to the more remote area of the ranch to help him untangle his thoughts.

       If only he’d taken time to think seven years ago.

      THAT HAD NOT GONE WELL. Grace sat on the bench, bone weary and wishing she could turn back the clock even an hour. One would think, after all the time she’d spent contemplating various ways she could tell Nathan about Evan, she’d end up doing something other than just blurting it out at the first opportunity.

       She didn’t let her doubts get the better of her, tempting her into believing she’d made a mistake in telling Nathan about his son. It was the right thing to do, for many reasons, but she wished he’d stuck around longer so she could explain further. Part of her couldn’t blame him for his reaction. If she were in his spot, she had no idea how she’d react.

       There was no going back now, though. She’d simply have to figure out how to progress from her clumsy start.

       “Didn’t go how you’d hoped, huh?”

       Grace looked up to see Laney Stuart had approached without her noticing. “I don’t know why I bothered running scenarios in my head because my brain and mouth staged a coup and abandoned them all.”

       Laney sat on the bench next to Grace. “Well, at least it’s done.”

       “It’s far from done. I fear it’s just the beginning.”

       “Then at least you can stop imagining how he’ll react. Now you know.”

       “And I feel loads better,” Grace said, her voice full of sarcasm. “I thought you were here for moral support, not stating the obvious.”

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