Military Daddy. Patricia Davids

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ seemed that Avery couldn’t take a hint. He followed Shane inside the building and asked, “What are you going to do about your pregnant friend?”

      Tossing his jacket aside, Shane slipped the strap of his leather apron over his head and tied it at his waist. “Annie Delmar wants nothing to do with me. In light of that fact, I’m going to respect her wishes.”

      Moving back to Jasper’s side, Shane bent over and picked up the horse’s hind leg. “This shoe needs to be replaced, too. Hand me the clinch cutter and the pull-offs.”

      Avery walked to the workbench at the back of the room and returned with the requested tools. Handing them to Shane, he said, “You can’t drop your responsibilities like a hot rock.”

      “It’s not my call.”

      “I beg to differ. It certainly is.”

      “Not according to Annie.”

      “You have the same rights that she does.”

      Shane tilted his head to see his friend better. “What do you mean?”

      “The law is plain on this. A father has the same rights that a mother does. Well, almost the same. You do have to prove that the child is yours.”

      Jasper tried to pull his foot away and Shane let him put it down. Ordinarily the big gelding didn’t mind having his hooves worked on, but he seemed to sense Shane’s emotional turmoil. Patting the horse’s side to reassure him, Shane drew a calming breath.

      He knew what it was like to be the child waiting for a father that never showed up. “The law doesn’t matter. I’m not going to fight Annie so I can force her to let me see my kid every other weekend—or less. That’s not what a family is.”

      Avery said, “This doesn’t sound like you. You’ve always been Mr. Responsible.”

      “I guess you don’t know me as well as you think.” Shane picked up Jasper’s hoof again and began straightening the tips of the last few nails holding the worn shoe in place.

      Maybe never knowing this child would be better than loving him and then having to watch some other man step in and take him away. Only…this was his child. How could he pretend it didn’t matter? It might matter, but what choice did he have?

      “When I start a family, I’ll be married and I’ll have a job that lets me come home every night. My kids are going to know who their daddy is.”

      Crossing his arms over his chest, Avery said, “Your plan is good except for one small detail. You’ve already started your family.”

      Struggling to keep his frustration and disappointment from showing, Shane said, “Look, I’m not even sure she’s keeping the baby.”

      “If she plans to give it up for adoption, she’ll need your consent or it won’t be legal now that she’s admitted it’s your kid.”

      “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.” Picking up the long-handled tool that looked like an oversize pair of curved pliers, Shane positioned the tips under the heel of the horseshoe and began carefully rocking it back and forth to pry out the nails without damaging Jasper’s hoof.

      “I think you’re making a mistake, but it’s your life.”

      “Thanks for noticing. Be sure and shut the door on your way out.”

      He didn’t want to talk about it anymore. If he didn’t know how he felt about the situation, he sure couldn’t explain it to someone else. He needed time alone to think about what he should do, if anything. When Avery didn’t move and didn’t reply, Shane tugged the horseshoe loose, let go of the horse’s foot and straightened to face him.

      “Even if I want to take some level of responsibility for this baby, Annie made it very plain that she doesn’t want that. I don’t even know where she lives or how to contact her to discuss it.”

      “I don’t know where she lives, but I can tell you that she works at the Windward Hotel out on the interstate.”

      Shane scowled. “How do you know that?”

      “Her roommate, Miss Crystal Mally, works there with her. If I’d had a few more minutes, I would have had a phone number and a home address to go with that information. Crystal is a talkative girl, even if she isn’t exactly my type.”

      “I didn’t know you had a type.”

      “I don’t, really, but I do shy away from junkies.”

      “Annie said she is in recovery. She mentioned having a counselor.”

      “Annie may be clean, but I don’t think Crystal is there yet. Believe me, I know the signs. I hung out with a fast crowd before the Army got a hold of me.”

      “Knowing where Annie works doesn’t change anything.” Shane walked over to the forge and thrust a metal bar into the coals.

      “Maybe not, but at least you know how to find her when you’ve had a chance to think things over.”

      He didn’t want to think things over. He wanted to rewind the morning and erase the part where a pretty woman with sad eyes had turned his life upside down.

      Two days later, Shane rounded the corner of the snack-food aisle at the local Gas and Go and spied Annie paying for her purchase of a large soda. Confronted with the woman he hadn’t been able to get off his mind, he simply stared.

      She wore a pair of faded jeans with butterflies embroidered in pink-and-white thread at her ankles. An equally faded jean jacket with threadbare cuffs covered a dark pink blouse. Her long braid hung down to the center of her back and swayed softly when she moved. Her silhouette showed only the slightest fullness at her midriff. A casual observer wouldn’t know she was pregnant, but he knew. She was carrying his child.

      What he should do about it—if anything—had kept him awake most of the last couple nights.

      She was searching in the depths of her purse for money to pay for her drink and she hadn’t seen him. Should he stay out of sight until she was gone or walk up to the counter as though it didn’t matter? It wasn’t in him to take the coward’s way out. He closed the distance between them in a few steps.

      “I’ll pay for the lady’s drink,” he said to the teenage boy manning the cash register.

      Annie’s eyes flew open wide as she stared at him in shock. Her surprised look vanished as a frown deepened the furrow between her brows. To Shane she looked tired, as well as mad.

      Before she could speak, he said, “I didn’t think cola was good for pregnant women.”

      “It’s lemon-lime—not that it’s any of your business what I drink. What are you doing here?” she demanded.

      He felt a tug of admiration for the way she stood up to him. “Picking up a quart of oil for my car and getting a burrito. Not that it’s any of your business. How much?” He directed his question to the clerk.

      The boy rattled off the price and Shane pulled a ten from his wallet. Annie seemed to be having trouble finding СКАЧАТЬ