Maverick Christmas Surprise. Brenda Harlen

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      Just after the New Year, she’d abruptly called things off. He’d been a little disappointed at first, but there were plenty of other women in the world. And truthfully, he hadn’t thought of her again—until now.

      Was Leighton the baby’s mother?

      Was it possible that he was the father of this baby who’d been abandoned on the doorstep?

      But if she believed that to be true, why hadn’t she ever told him that she was pregnant?

      Well, he could probably guess the answer to that one. Either Leighton wasn’t sure about the baby’s paternity, or she didn’t trust him to step up.

      He would have, of course. He would have undoubtedly felt panicked and trapped, but he would have done the right thing. Not that she could have known that, because they hadn’t had the type of relationship where they talked about their future hopes and dreams. Their conversations had been more along the lines of “your place or mine?” And after that question had been answered, there had been even less talking.

      But if she hadn’t trusted him to step up, why would she dump the baby on him now?

      And how did she even know where to find him?

      He’d had no communication with her in almost a year. And the last time they were together, he didn’t know that he’d be moving to Rust Creek Falls, so it was unlikely she could have tracked him down here.

      Reassured by his own reasoning that it couldn’t have been Leighton who dropped the baby off—and conveniently ignoring the fact that his name was on the note—Wilder breathed a sigh of relief, confident that he was off the hook. But his father would require additional proof, so as the rest of the family went back into the dining room, he scrolled through the contacts in his phone to see if he still had her number.

      Amazingly, he did, and tapped it to initiate the call.

      “Hello?”

      The female voice that immediately answered sounded frantic.

      “Um...hi,” he said. “I’m trying to reach Leighton Ames.”

      “You and me both,” she replied, sounding as if she was fighting tears.

      He frowned at that. “Is this still her number?”

      “Yes, but she forgot her phone when she left.” The woman on the other end of the line sighed. “Or maybe she didn’t forget it.”

      Which didn’t make any sense to him, but all he said was: “Well, if you hear from her, can you ask her to call Wilder Crawford?”

      “Why?” She sounded both curious and wary. “What business do you have with my sister?”

      Sister?

      He couldn’t recall Leighton mentioning a sister, but surely a sister would know if Leighton had had a baby. And if this was Leighton’s baby, that meant the woman on the phone was the baby’s aunt.

      Before he could ask, she spoke again. “Wait a minute—did you say Wilder Crawford?”

      “I did,” he confirmed.

      “I found your name and a Montana address scrawled on a Post-it note in Leighton’s apartment,” she said. “I think she might be on her way to see you.”

      The knots in his stomach tightened. “She might have been here already...and left something.”

      He heard a sharp intake of breath. “What kind of something?”

      “A baby,” he admitted. “Did she—”

      “Cody!” she immediately interjected, not giving him a chance to finish. “You have Cody?”

      “That’s the name in the note,” he confirmed.

      “Note?” she echoed.

      “The baby was left on my doorstep with a note.”

      “I don’t understand. Why would she leave her baby?”

      “I wish I knew,” he told her.

      “Are you Cody’s father?” she guessed.

      “Obviously your sister thinks so.”

      “You haven’t seen her or talked to her?”

      “Not in the past year.”

      “But Cody’s with you? At the Ambling A Ranch in Montana?”

      “That’s right,” he confirmed.

      “Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” she promised.

      “Wait—”

      But she’d already disconnected the call.

      “What did you find out?” Max asked, when Wilder returned to the table where Lily had resumed serving dessert and Avery rocked the now quiet baby.

      “The kid’s mom is Leighton Ames,” he said. “I spoke to her sister, but she doesn’t know where she is or why she left the baby here.”

      “Because she wanted him to be with his dad,” Max suggested as an answer to the latter question.

      Wilder hoped like hell his father was wrong.

      “Do you want ice cream with your pie?” Merry asked him.

      Because for the rest of the family gathered together, today was still a celebration—and it was time for dessert.

      “Sure,” he said.

      Though he wasn’t even sure he wanted the pie now, he didn’t want his family to know how freaked out he was about the arrival of the baby they were all happy enough to assume was his and turning down dessert would be a definite red flag.

      “I want ice cream,” Wren piped up, pushing her bowl toward her soon-to-be-stepmother who was scooping it.

      “You already had ice cream,” her dad reminded her, pulling the bowl back again before Merry could indulge the little girl’s request.

      Wren pouted and dragged her spoon around the inside of the empty vessel.

      Wilder took the plate Merry passed to him and murmured his thanks. Then he halved the scoop of ice cream with the side of his fork and slid half into his niece’s bowl.

      Wren beamed at him; Hunter scowled.

      “There’s a reason I’m the favorite uncle,” he said, and winked at the little girl.

      “I’m finished with my dessert,” Finn said to his wife then, “if you want me to take the baby.”

      “I can manage the baby,” Avery assured him. “If you want to be helpful, you can start clearing the table.”

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