Her Secret, His Baby
Her Secret, His Baby
Tanya Michaels
Life’s been full of surprises lately for rancher Garrett Frost – and not in a good way. His mother has just dropped a bombshell about his past, so Garrett takes some time away to come to terms with family secrets.And who should he run into? Arden Cade, the beautiful photographer who shared a single night of passion with Garrett six months ago. He is even more shocked when he discovers she's pregnant–and he's the daddy. To make matters worse, Arden hadn’t even planned on telling Garrett about the baby. Despite her lies, Garrett is determined to be a good father. He’s not the type to cut and run, and he can’t deny that he’s falling for Arden all over again. But he’ll have to find a way to forgive her betrayal … and make peace with that skeleton in the family closet.
Surprise! You’re A Daddy!
Life’s been full of surprises lately for rancher Garrett Frost—and not in a good way. His mother has just dropped a bombshell about his past, so Garrett takes some time away to come to terms with family secrets. And who should he run into but Arden Cade, the beautiful photographer who shared a single night of passion with Garrett six months ago. He is even more shocked when he discovers she’s pregnant—and he’s the daddy.
To make matters worse, Arden hadn’t even planned on telling Garrett about the baby. Despite her lies, Garrett is determined to be a good father. He’s not the type to cut and run, and he can’t deny that he’s falling for Arden all over again. But he’ll have to find a way to forgive her betrayal...and make peace with that skeleton in the family closet.
Arden swallowed, knowing that his real question had nothing to do with addresses or phone books.
Garrett was asking if his suspicions were accurate, and she couldn’t bring herself to answer. There was a huge difference between not tracking down a man to deliver life-altering news he probably didn’t want to hear and actually lying to his face.
He took a step closer. “You seemed so startled to see me the other day. Terrified, as a matter of fact.”
Feeling cornered, she took deep breaths, trying to lower her elevated blood pressure.
“Maybe I’m completely off base,” he continued, “but extenuating circumstances have made me more distrustful than I used to be. If I’m wrong, you can laugh at me or indignantly cuss me out. But tell me the truth, Arden. Are you carrying my child?”
Dear Reader,
I first visited Colorado when I was a teenager and have made numerous trips since then. It’s a beautiful state full of wonderful communities, the perfect setting for my new trilogy, The Colorado Cades.
The Cade siblings, two brothers and the younger sister they raised after their parents’ deaths, really tugged at my heart. It’s not easy to find happiness when you’ve experienced great loss—but with hope and faith, it is possible.
On an evening when she needed to escape grief and nostalgia, Arden Cade had an uncharacteristic one-night stand with cowboy Garrett Frost, an out-of-towner visiting Cielo Peak. She never expected to see him again…and she certainly didn’t expect to become pregnant from their night together!
Six months later, after receiving some shocking news of his own, Garrett returns to Cielo Peak to stay with a friend while making difficult decisions. When Garrett sees Arden, two things are quickly evident—the chemistry between them is as potent as ever. And she’s been keeping an unforgivable secret.
I’m hard at work on the next two books in the trilogy. For behind-the-scenes looks at my process and anecdotes about the writing life, follow me on Twitter or like me on Facebook. I love interacting with readers!
Happy reading,
Tanya
Her Secret,
His Baby
Tanya Michaels
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Three-time RITA® Award nominee Tanya Michaels writes about what she knows—community, family and lasting love! Her books, praised for their poignancy and humor, have received honors such as a Booksellers’ Best Bet Award, a Maggie Award of Excellence and multiple readers’ choice awards. She was also a 2010 RT Book Reviews nominee for Career Achievement in Category Romance. Tanya is an active member of Romance Writers of America and a frequent public speaker, presenting workshops to educate and encourage aspiring writers. She lives outside Atlanta with her very supportive husband, two highly imaginative children and a household of quirky pets, including a cat who thinks she’s a dog and a bichon frise who thinks she’s the center of the universe.
Dedicated with gratitude to Barbara Dunlop—wonderful author, friend and dinner companion.
Contents
Chapter One (#u06604035-f024-589a-954b-e8552c5028ac)
Chapter Two (#u9c44b99c-4a87-536a-9393-ba359dde2df0)
Chapter Three (#u5ffb168a-b79b-509c-bfcb-cb82aaebb4e8)
Chapter Four (#u5d38d883-19cd-516b-979e-5837bba6e2ca)
Chapter Five (#u5f3931dc-2728-534f-8ea9-10bdf3ca1512)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Excerpt (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One
Never in her twenty-five years had Arden Cade done anything so rash. What was I thinking? Although she usually woke in gradual, disoriented stages, this morning she was instantly alert, hoping to discover the previous night had been a dream—a vivid, thoroughly sensual dream.
But there was no disputing the muscular arm across her midsection or the lingering satisfaction in her body.
Physically, she was more relaxed than she’d been in nearly a year, her loose limbs at odds with her racing thoughts. Her first impulse was to bolt from the bed, putting distance between herself and the still-sleeping cowboy. She hesitated, not wanting to wake Garrett before she’d had a chance to gather her composure. Besides, his body heat and the steady rumble of his breathing were soothing. Beckoning. It was so tempting to snuggle closer beneath the sheets and—
Don’t you learn?
Cuddling into his heat was what had landed her in this situation. But she’d been cold for so long. She’d needed to feel something other than suffocating grief. If only yesterday hadn’t been the ninth of March.... What the hell had made her think scheduling a photography job would keep her too busy to mourn?
Memories of the night before flooded her—the despair that had gaped like a chasm, the encounter with a charming stranger, the reckless bliss she’d found in his arms.
“If you don’t mind my saying so, ma’am, people usually look happier at wedding receptions.” The man’s teasing tone was deep and rich, unexpectedly warming her.
She had to tilt her head to meet his clear gray eyes. Knowing her clients deserved better than a photographer who depressed the guests, she struggled for a light tone as she gestured toward the crowded dance floor. “I was feeling sorry for myself because I’m not out there,” she lied. “I love to dance.”
A slow grin stole over his face, making him even more attractive. As the younger sister of two ridiculously good-looking brothers, Arden didn’t impress easily, but this man made her pulse quicken.
“I’d be happy to oblige,” he offered. “I realize you’re working, but I have some pull with the groom. Hugh was my best friend in high school.”
His casual words pierced her. Arden had kept the same best friend from preschool into adulthood, rejoicing three and a half years ago when the sister of her heart married Arden’s oldest brother and became her sister-in-law. This was the first March 9—Natalie’s birthday—since the car accident that had killed Natalie and her toddler son, the first March 9 in over two decades Arden hadn’t spent with her friend.
“Rain check,” she’d managed to respond, abandoning the stranger to snap shots of the twirling flower girl.
After the reception ended, Arden should have gone home, but facing her dark, empty apartment seemed unbearable. She packed her equipment, then sat in the hotel bar while ice melted in her untouched whiskey. Time passed with excruciating slowness.
Then Garrett Frost walked in, his earlier suit replaced with a casual button-down shirt and a pair of dark jeans that somehow made him even more devastatingly handsome.
“I’d offer to buy you a drink, but...” He raised one jet-black eyebrow at the liquor she was clearly ignoring.
“Guess I wasn’t thirsty, after all.”
Their gazes locked, and she wished she had a camera in hand to capture his mesmerizing eyes. He’s beautiful. Sculpted cheekbones, full mouth—
“If you’re gonna look at me like that,” he’d drawled softly, “it’s only fair you tell me your name.”
“Arden. Arden Cade.”
He extended his hand. “You still want that dance, Arden Cade?”
She’d accepted. Sometimes what a woman needed most in the world was to be held....
“Mornin’.” Tinged with sleep, Garrett’s voice now was every bit as compelling as it had been last night—when he’d breathed her name as he slid into her.
Arden! Focus! Last night’s impulsiveness was one thing. She’d been emotionally raw, had needed to feel alive in some primal way. But she couldn’t rationalize a repeat performance. She’d had only two sexual partners before, and they’d both been serious boyfriends.
She scrambled for the edge of the bed, trying to secure the sheet around her as she moved. “Yes, it is. Morning, I mean. Time for me to go.”
“Don’t hurry on my account.” He lay back on his pillow, grinning at her in utter contentment. His appeal was more than physical good looks. She was drawn to his easy confidence, how comfortable he seemed in his own skin.
“Checkout’s not ’til noon,” he continued. “Thought I might order us an obscenely large breakfast from room service. I’m starvin’.”
So was she, Arden realized. After months of being numb, of having no appetite whatsoever, the hunger felt both foreign and exhilarating. “I could eat,” she blurted.
“Good. I’m gonna hop in the shower, then we can look at the menu. I’ll only be a minute. Unless you want to join me?” He gave her another of those lazy smiles that left her dizzy. Garrett made love the way he smiled. Completely and thoroughly, in seemingly no rush.
“N-no.” She ducked her head so that her long dark hair curtained her face. It was probably bad manners to look appalled at the thought of being naked with a man who had rocked your world mere hours ago. “I’ll, uh, wait.”
He sauntered across the room nude, and Arden resisted the urge to sneak a final glance. Not that her resistance held for long. He was male perfection.
And he’d been exactly what she’d needed last night. As unplanned and perhaps unwise as her actions had been, she had to admit she felt...lighter. She could almost hear Natalie’s mischievous voice in her head. Damn, girl, you really know how to celebrate a birthday.
Arden squeezed her eyes shut. I miss you, Nat. That ache might never go away, but it was time Arden stopped letting it drag her down like a malevolent anchor. Natalie would have hated how listless she’d become.
The sound of the shower in the adjoining bathroom pulled Arden from her reverie. Garrett had claimed he’d be back in a minute. What was she going to say to him? All she really knew about him was that his family owned a cattle ranch several hours south of Cielo Peak and that he’d come to town for the Connors’ wedding. She didn’t know how to be glib about what they’d shared, and she didn’t want to burden him with a heavy emotional explanation about the losses she and her brothers had endured. Wouldn’t the simplest solution be to leave now, without an awkward goodbye?
She zipped her wrinkled dress, trying not to think about how she’d look to anyone she passed in the lobby. Cielo Peak attracted plenty of tourists, especially during the Colorado ski season, but there were fewer than fifteen hundred year-round citizens. The Cades were well known in the community; gossip about Arden hooking up with a guest at an event she covered would not enhance her professional reputation.
Her hand was already on the door when she stopped abruptly, recalling how Garrett had touched her the night before, his maddening tenderness. He’d made her nearly mindless with desire, and it had been the first time in months the pain had receded. Among her many conflicted feelings this morning was gratitude. He would never truly understand how much he’d given her, but she didn’t want him to think she regretted being with him.
She grabbed the pen and notepad that bore the hotel logo and scribbled a quick note. It wasn’t much, but it helped ease her conscience.
Garrett, thank you for last night. It was...
A barrage of words filled her mind, none of them adequate. Suddenly, the water stopped in the bathroom. Adrenaline coursed through her. She crossed out the last two words and wrote simply I’ll never forget you.
Chapter Two
Six months later
Justin Cade shuddered at the brochures on the kitchen table. “I will paint nursery walls, I will assemble the crib, I might be wheedled into a few hours of babysitting once the peanut is born, but no way in hell am I attending birth classes with you.” Then he flashed his trademark grin, a mischievous gleam in his blue-green eyes. “Unless you think there will be a lot of single women attending?”
Arden ignored the question. He’d already proven he wasn’t comfortable dating a single mom. Justin, the middle Cade sibling, had raised casual dating to an art form and steered clear of women with complicated lives. The ski patrolman didn’t like being stuck in a relationship any more than he liked being stuck indoors.
Thank God he’s a more dependable brother than he is a boyfriend. “I didn’t pull out the brochures to show you, dummy. I’m going to ask Layla to be my labor coach. She’s coming over for dinner in a couple of hours.”
Back in June, when the “first trimester” nausea Arden had thought would disappear actually intensified, she’d hired a temporary assistant to keep up with the administrative side of the studio. High school Spanish teacher Layla Green had been happy to make some extra money over the summer. The women’s friendship continued to grow even though Layla had quit to prepare for the new school year.
“Layla, huh?” Justin crossed the small kitchen to pour another glass of iced tea. He frequently joked that the desert theme of her red-and-yellow kitchen made him extra thirsty. “She’s good people. Cute, too.”
“Hey! We’ve talked about this. You are not allowed to date my friends. Your one-hit-wonder approach to relationships would make things awkward for everyone. I was even a bit nervous when Natalie...” She trailed off, the memories bittersweet.
The sharp sting of missing her best friend had lessened over time. As Arden progressed through the trimesters, she found herself thinking of Natalie as a kind of guardian angel for her and the unborn baby. After losing so many loved ones in her life, it seemed cosmically fitting that Arden had conceived on Nat’s birthday.
“You wondered if it would hurt your friendship when Natalie and Colin first started dating?” Justin asked. “To be honest, I thought the age difference would be a problem, that they wouldn’t have enough in common for it to be long-lasting. But she made him damn happy.”
While Arden was finally healing after the deaths of her sister-in-law and young nephew, Colin had withdrawn further. Not only had he taken a sabbatical from his job as a large-animal vet, but he’d also recently announced that he was putting his house up for sale.
She leaned an elbow on the table, propping her chin on her fist. “I’m really worried about him.”
“Colin will be okay.” But the way Justin avoided her gaze proved he was equally concerned. “He’s always okay. He’s the one who holds us together.”
Their mother had died the winter Arden was in kindergarten, their father a few years later. Although a maiden aunt had come to live with them, it had been Colin who had essentially raised his younger brother and sister. He’d been so strong. But this most recent shattering loss—burying his wife and child? It seemed as if something inside him had broken beyond repair.
Justin dropped down next to Arden’s chair, squeezing her shoulder. “He will be okay. Maybe selling the house will help him let go, give him a chance to move forward with his life.”
Arden placed her hands over her distended abdomen. “Do you think this makes it harder, my having a baby? I’m sure it reminds him of Danny.” Her voice caught on her nephew’s name. He’d been a wide-eyed, soft-spoken toddler with an unexpectedly raucous belly laugh. His deep laugh had caused double takes in public, usually eliciting chuckles in response.
“If you’re happy about Peanut, then we are happy for you,” Justin said firmly. “But if you want to offer Colin some kind of distraction, I’m sure he’d be eager to track down the jerk who knocked you—”
“Justin!”
“The jerk responsible for your being in a blessed family way.”
“He wasn’t a jerk. He was...” A gift. Even after six months, she vividly recalled Garrett’s ability to make her temporarily forget everything else in the world, the power of his touch.
Justin recoiled with a grimace. “Seeing that look on my little sister’s face is disturbing as hell. You sure you won’t tell us who he is so we can punch his lights out?”
“He doesn’t live anywhere near here.” Thank God. Most of the locals hadn’t been brazen enough to ask outright who the father was, but the mystery had caused whispers behind her back. Some of the teachers in the district had begged Layla for information, but Arden—who’d shared only the vaguest details—had sworn her to secrecy. The first time Arden had encountered Hugh Connor in town after her pregnancy began to show, she’d held her breath, wondering if Garrett had ever mentioned their night together to his friend. But Hugh had merely asked for a business card because he planned to recommend her to a business colleague looking for a good photographer.
Meanwhile, Garrett lived in a different region of the state, on a ranch he’d told her had been in his family for generations. He had deep roots there. Maybe even a girlfriend by now. Arden didn’t plan to repay the kindness he’d done her by upending his existence. They’d used birth control during their night together, and the news that it had failed would most likely be an unwelcome shock.
It had taken her weeks to process the news that she was expecting, but she knew firsthand that life was precious. She chose to see conceiving this baby as a miracle. Her miracle.
* * *
GARRETT FROST HELD his parents in the highest regard. An only child, he worked alongside his father running the Double F Ranch and was impressed with the man’s drive and integrity. Garrett’s mother, the one who’d spent many afternoons giving him advice in their kitchen while she baked, had always been wise and articulate. So why, today, had Caroline Frost lost the ability to string together a coherent sentence? Ever since the restaurant hostess had seated Garrett and Caroline at a small booth, she’d been spluttering disjointed, half-finished thoughts.
“Breathe, Momma.” He took the breadbasket out of her hand. As jittery as she was, she was about to send the rolls flying to the floor. He gave her a cajoling smile. “You wanna tell me why you’re as nervous as a kitten in a dog pound?”
Her gray eyes clouded with worry. “You’ve always hated surprises,” she muttered. “Not that it’s your fault if you take this badly! Anyone would.... I don’t— Lord, I’ve messed this up before I even started. But I don’t know how to make it better. Easier to hear.”
Okay. Now he was nervous. Garrett waved away the approaching waitress. Something was very wrong. He doubted his mom wanted an audience for whatever she needed to explain. Although, if she had something personal and difficult to tell him, why had she suggested going to a restaurant?
They could have easily had a conversation in his parents’ main house or in the luxurious cabin Garrett had built on the back forty. The most logical explanation for her dragging him this far from home was so they could speak freely without any risk of his father overhearing. Was something wrong with him? Long, arduous days of ranch work could take a toll, and Brandon wasn’t getting any younger. But his father was direct to a fault. If there was bad news to be delivered, he would have told Garrett himself, not delegated the job to someone else.
“Momma, is everything all right with you?” he asked slowly. “Is there some irregular test result or something I should know about?”
“With me? I’m fit as a fiddle.” But she’d gone completely pale.
“Oh, God. Then it is Dad?”
Caroline did something he hadn’t witnessed since the day of his high school graduation. She burst into tears. “No. And y-yes. Your father’s quite ill. B-but it’s not wh-wh-what you think.” Taking deep gulping breaths, she clutched the edge of the table in a visible effort to regain her composure. “I’m so sorry. Brandon isn’t your father.”
* * *
GARRETT PUNCHED UP the volume on the music in his truck, but it was pointless. Not even the loudest rock and roll could drown out his tumultuous thoughts. He pounded his fist on the steering wheel, rage rising in him like a dark tide. Tangible enough to drown him.
For the first day after his mother’s avalanche of revelations, he’d been too numb to feel anything. Once emotion rushed in, he’d realized he had to get away from the ranch. Away from her. She’d had thirty years to tell the truth but had never said a word—not to him and not to the man he’d always believed was his father. Now she’d made Garrett an unwilling accomplice in keeping her adulterous secret. “I swear it was only the one time,” she’d sobbed. “A lifetime ago. Confessing my sins to Brandon might ease my conscience, but why wound him like that?”
Her single indiscretion had been with a longtime family friend, recently hospitalized Will Harlow. Complications from Will’s diabetes had irreparably damaged his kidneys. Though his condition was currently stable, renal failure was inevitable. Without a kidney transplant, his prognosis was grim. Caroline insisted they couldn’t tell Brandon now. “If Will died with animosity between them, your father would never forgive himself!”
How had Brandon remained oblivious to the truth for all these years? He was an intuitive man. Certainly perceptive enough that he would notice the awful tension between his wife and son. So Garrett impulsively announced that he was spending Labor Day weekend with Hugh Connor.
“I don’t know exactly when I’ll be back,” Garrett had warned his dad. “With calving season behind us and time before we need to make winter preparations, can you spare me?”
Brandon had readily agreed that he and their hired hands could cover everything, adding that Garrett didn’t seem himself and maybe a week of R & R was just what the doctor ordered. Garrett’s sole motivation had been escape; he hadn’t consciously chosen Cielo Peak as his destination. Had he named the town because he knew it wouldn’t sound suspicious, his visiting an old friend?
Or was he lured by the heated memories of a glorious night spent with Arden Cade?
Their encounter had left such an impression it was haunting. She appeared in his dreams at random intervals. He’d developed a fondness for brunettes and had caught himself unintentionally comparing a date to her. Over the summer, while packing for an annual weekend with some cousins, he’d discovered Arden’s note stuck to the lining of his suitcase. I’ll never forget you. Was that sentiment invitation enough to look her up while he was in town?
She was a beautiful woman, and over six months had passed. Even if she still resided in Cielo Peak, there was likely a man in her life. Unless, like Garrett, she was between relationships? Maybe he could casually broach the subject with Hugh.
When Garrett had phoned his friend, it had been to ask for suggestions of a not-too-touristy rental cabin that wouldn’t already be booked for the holiday weekend. He hadn’t actually planned to stay with Hugh and Darcy, who were practically newlyweds. Learning of his mom’s infidelity had soured Garrett’s opinion of wedded bliss, and he doubted he’d be great company. But Hugh was stubborn. Besides, Garrett secretly questioned whether too much time alone with his thoughts was healthy. After all, he was having trouble surviving just the drive, battered by emotional debris from Caroline’s bombshell.
He fiddled with the radio dials again, trading his MP3 playlist for a radio station. A twangy singer with a guitar droned on about his misfortunes. You think you have problems, pal?
Garrett faced not only bitter disillusionment about the woman who raised him and unwilling participation in her long-term deception, but also a monumental medical decision.
Despite Caroline’s emphatic vows that her fling with Will was an isolated event, that they didn’t harbor any romantic feelings for each other, the man had never fallen in love with anyone else. He’d remained a bachelor with no children. Garrett was his best hope for a close match and voluntary organ donation, which would drastically shorten the wait.
“I know you need to think about this,” his mother had told him. “No one wants you to rush a decision.” But they both knew Will didn’t have forever.
If Garrett agreed, would he feel as if he were betraying his father? If he said no, was it the same as sentencing a man to die?
He was mired in anger and pain and confusion. Little wonder, then, that his mind kept turning to that night he’d shared with Arden, the perfect satisfaction he’d experienced. Right now, it was difficult to imagine he’d ever feel that purely happy again.
Chapter Three
Arden sighed wistfully at the seafood counter. “I miss shrimp.”
“Throw some in.” Justin indicated the grocery cart he was pushing for her. “How about this? I’ll pay if you’ll cook.” Even with the holiday sales price, it was a generous offer. Since ski season hadn’t started, he was scraping by on a reduced off-season salary working for a local ambulance service.
After a moment of letting herself be tempted, she shook her head. “Nah, I’ve read warnings that pregnant women should avoid shellfish. Skipping them completely might be overreacting, but I really want to do this right, you know?”
She rarely missed her mom, having been so young when Rebecca Cade died, but she sure could use a woman who’d experienced the wonder and worry of impending motherhood. Her only living aunt who’d had children was well over sixty, her memories of pregnancy and childbirth hazy and outdated. Arden hesitated to take advice from a woman who’d chain-smoked and enjoyed cocktail hour through all three trimesters. Cousin Rick never had seemed quite right in the head.
Arden changed the subject, eyeing her brother curiously. “You know, you’ve been hanging around an awful lot lately. Does this sudden fascination with helping me have anything to do with missing Elisabeth?” Though Justin’s relationships never lasted long, Arden thought she’d sensed genuine regret after his most recent breakup—and not only because he missed the job as hiking guide and first-aid administrator at the lodge Elisabeth’s family owned.
“What? No. I barely think about her. You’re the one who keeps bringing her up!”
I am? Arden wracked her brain, trying to recall the last time she’d mentioned Elisabeth Donnelly.
“I’m giving up my Sunday afternoon because you shouldn’t be lifting things,” he added virtuously. “What would you have done if I hadn’t been here to grab the pallet of bottled water?”
“Um, asked any one of the numerous stock boys for assistance?”
He shoved a hand through his dark brown hair. “Humor me, okay? I have two siblings I care the world about, and one of them, I don’t have a clue how to help.”
So he was overcompensating by lending a hand with her menial errands? That she could believe.
“Besides,” Justin drawled, “being such a good brother makes me look all sensitive and whatever to any single ladies we encounter. Major attraction points.”
On behalf of women everywhere, she socked him in the shoulder. “You go to the freezer section and get us an enormous tub of vanilla ice cream. I’ll grab caramel and chocolate syrup.”
“And some straw—”
“Of course strawberry syrup for you,” she added. There was no accounting for taste. “Then we’ll need bananas. Meet me in produce, okay? I’ll make chef salads for dinner and sundaes for dessert.”
He turned to go, then hesitated. “Should we invite Colin to join us? Granted, he’s not exactly Mr. Fun these days, but...”
“I’ll call him,” Arden promised. “But you know he’ll probably decline. Again.”
“If the situation were reversed, he wouldn’t give up on either of us. Maybe it would help if you pick up some of those minimarshmallows for the sundaes. He’s a sucker for those.”
“Minimarshmallows?” she echoed skeptically. “That’s our plan?”
Justin shrugged. “Hey, we all have our weaknesses.”
* * *
GARRETT WHEELED THE shopping cart into the produce section, absently navigating as he consulted Darcy’s grocery list. He’d asked her to let him do the supermarket run as a way to pay the Connors back for room and board. It was more diplomatic than saying he needed a break from the doting couple.
Conversation between Garrett and Hugh had been uncharacteristically stilted. Garrett wanted to confide in his friend but hadn’t quite worked up the courage. It felt disloyal to tell anyone what Caroline had done, and it rocked Garrett’s sense of identity to admit Brandon wasn’t his father. He’d never said the words aloud, and they were harder than he’d expected.
The other potential topic of discussion Garrett wrestled with was Arden Cade. He’d started to ask about her half a dozen times, but stopped himself. After their intimate night together, she’d left without saying goodbye. That seemed like a strong indicator that she wasn’t expecting to see him again.
Blinking, Garrett whipped his head around in a double take. A dark-haired woman in his peripheral vision had triggered his notice. You’re pitiful. Just because he’d been thinking of Arden, now random shoppers looked like her?
Or, maybe... Could it actually be Arden? The long fall of shiny brown hair was familiar. He could recall its silky texture between his fingers. Given the crappy week he was having, had fate decided it owed him a favor? He hadn’t figured out a casual way to look her up, but he couldn’t be blamed for a chance encounter.
Steering toward her, he asked hopefully, “Arden?”
“Yes?” She smiled over her shoulder but froze in recognition, his name on her lips so soft he saw it rather than heard it. “Garrett.”
He couldn’t believe she was here—and even more beautiful than he remembered. Her cheeks were rosy, her aquamarine eyes bright and lively. He couldn’t recall noticing a woman’s skin before, but Arden’s creamy complexion beckoned him to touch her.
Garrett realized two things at once: he was staring, and she didn’t look happy to see him. Then he came up alongside her, getting his first real look at her profile, and had a startling third revelation. Arden Cade was pregnant.
It wasn’t immediately obvious until one saw her stomach. She seemed to be carrying the baby completely in front. From behind, other than the curve of her hips, there hadn’t been— Good Lord. He was ogling a pregnant woman.
He swallowed. “So. How’ve you been?” He punctuated his question with a wry glance at her abdomen. He knew nothing about pregnancy. His understanding was that women didn’t show for a few weeks, although Arden was slim enough that perhaps it was more obvious on her than it would have been on someone else. He had no real sense of whether she was four months along or eight.
That was a sobering thought. Was there a chance she’d already been carrying when they’d made love? The possibility upset him beyond any rational justification.
“I, uh...” Her eyes cut to the side, as if she were seeking help. Or scoping exit routes. “It’s good to see you.”
Wow, are you a bad liar, sweetheart. “You’re obviously busy.” He gestured to the bananas she’d been perusing. “I won’t keep you. I’m staying in town with the Connors for a few days, and when I saw you there, I thought I’d say hi.”
The tension in her shoulders eased fractionally. “Hi.” She managed a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Arden? Is there a problem here?” A broad-shouldered man approached, his tone possessive as he practically rammed his cart between Arden and Garrett. He was a tall son of a gun, even had an inch or two of height on Garrett.
“No problem, Justin. Except that I’m...feeling sick.” Her progressively ashen color backed up her claim. She dropped the produce bag she’d been holding into the cart. “Get me home. I can come back later for anything we missed.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll come back.” When he glanced at her, Justin’s features softened. But the glare he aimed at Garrett was flinty with suspicion.
Garrett’s stomach dropped. He’d known there was a good chance Arden would be involved with someone. So why was his disappointment at being right so keenly bitter?
Wait a minute. His eyes narrowed, and he met Justin’s unblinking stare. Those blue-green eyes were a lot like Arden’s. And the thick brown hair they both shared? Arden’s was streaked with honey and gold, while the man’s was more like coffee grounds, but the resemblance was unmistakable.
A broad grin stretched across Garrett’s face. “Is this your brother?”
“Damn right.” The man took a step forward. “And you are...?”
“Justin, please.” Arden’s voice trembled. “I have to get out of here.”
“Right. Sorry. Let’s go.”
With a hasty, departing wave from Arden, they were gone. Garrett stood there, bemused.
Had she truly been unhappy to see him, or did her not feeling well explain her behavior and the grimace she’d tried to cover? At first, he’d thought her skittish demeanor was due to the awkwardness of running into a fling while her significant other was nearby, but that wasn’t the case. Maybe he’d misread the situation entirely.
But as he began piling groceries into the buggy, he conjured her face again. He could have sworn the emotion he’d seen in her eyes was...fear. Why on earth would Arden be scared of him?
* * *
“GREAT DINNER,” GARRETT complimented his hostess. Personally, he’d been too preoccupied to taste a bite of the meal, but Hugh had wolfed down his roast beef with gusto, so Garrett felt reasonably sure of his statement.
Darcy Connor, Hugh’s pretty blonde wife, beamed from across the kitchen table. Her gregarious nature seemed at odds with the cliché image of a part-time librarian. “Lavish praise, doing the shopping for me—when word gets out about you, my single girlfriends are going to be lining up at the front door.”
“Since you cooked, we can do the dishes,” Hugh volunteered.
“Another time.” She shooed them out of the kitchen. “Garrett just got here yesterday. You still have lots of catching up to do.”
“Isn’t she terrific?” Hugh asked adoringly as they relocated to the living room. He grabbed a television remote from the side pocket in his recliner, flipping through channels until he found a college football game. “If you’d told me when I was a freckled, fifteen-year-old comic book collector that I could get a woman like that to marry me...”
Garrett snorted. “You were also six feet tall and the team quarterback.” His auburn-haired friend might well have freckles and an interest in superheroes, but he hadn’t spent his teenage years lonely. “As I recall, you went to senior proms at three separate high schools.”
Hugh grinned. “Did I? Before Darcy, it’s all a blur. What about you, man? You had a pretty active social life, too. I was surprised you didn’t bring anyone to the wedding.”
Boy, would that night have ended differently. A month prior to the wedding, he’d been dating a woman he’d planned to take to the ceremony, but they’d ended things when she got a job offer that took her to the east coast.
“Speaking of your wedding,” Garrett said with studied nonchalance, “I never got to see how the photos turned out. Isn’t there an album or something?”
“Darcy,” he called to his wife, “you have a willing victim here. Garrett asked to see wedding pictures.” Turning back to Garrett, he added, “Narrating our photos is one of her favorite hobbies, up there with bird-watching and snowboarding. I warn you, the collection is massive. There’s the professional album our photographer put together, then the one Darcy crammed full of everything from wedding shower pics to the honeymoon.”
“I remember the photographer,” Garrett said. Understatement of the year—she was seared into his memory like a brand. “Arden, right?”
Hugh smirked. “Why, you looking for a photographer? Maybe planning to have some of those glamorized portraits done? You’d look pretty spiffy in a sequined cowboy hat.”
“I think I ran into her at the grocery store earlier. The woman I saw was pregnant?”
“That’s her, Arden Cade.” Hugh clucked his tongue. “Poor kid. Being a single mom can’t be easy under the best of circumstances, much less with gossips buzzing about the dad.”
Garrett leaned forward on the couch. “Why? Who’s the dad?”
“It’s a big mystery. Far as anyone knew, she wasn’t seeing anyone. Maybe it was a long-distance relationship with an out-of-town guy. People were shocked when she turned up pregnant and even more shocked those two brothers of hers didn’t march the dude responsible into a shotgun wedding.”
The fear he’d seen on Arden’s face today flashed through his mind, and a completely insane thought struck him. He was an out-of-town guy. They’d used condoms, but those weren’t effective one hundred percent of the time, were they? He’d heard stories.
“Out of...” His throat was so dry he had to try again. “Out of curiosity, do you know how far along she is?”
Hugh regarded him suspiciously but didn’t challenge the bizarre question. “Hey, Darce? You have any idea how far along Arden is in her pregnancy?”
Darcy appeared in the doorway between rooms, drying her hands on a green-and-yellow-checkered towel. “Around six months, maybe? She said she’s due the week of Thanksgiving.”
Garrett’s blood froze. Six months.
No, he was crazy to contemplate it. It was unfathomable that the woman who had been so open and expressive beneath him would keep a secret of this magnitude, cruelly excluding him. She knew he was friends with the Connors and could have found him easily. She could have called, emailed, sent a telegram—something! This was just his imagination running wild.
The unpleasant combination of newfound cynicism and sleepless nights had colored his judgment. The odds that Arden was pregnant by him... They’d used condoms, and they’d only been together one night.
Then again, Garrett himself was living proof that once was all it took.
* * *
“LAYLA, I AM IN trouble.” Arden leaned back in the leather office chair, resenting the way it creaked. She hadn’t gained that much weight. “Deep, deep trouble.”
“Don’t panic,” her friend counseled over the phone. The words of wisdom were somewhat muffled around a bite of sandwich. In response to Arden’s frantic text that morning, Layla was taking her lunch break in her car, away from the curious ears of students or fellow teachers.
“But he’s here! Why is he here?”
“Um, didn’t you say you met him because he was in town for a good friend’s wedding? Makes sense that he’d occasionally visit said friend. The part I can’t believe is that you saw him Sunday, yet waited until Tuesday to let me know.”
“Because I spent yesterday in denial,” Arden mumbled. She’d never been comfortable discussing her night with Garrett. It had felt so private, something meant only to be between them. Maybe if she’d known Layla back then, or if Natalie had still been alive... “Am I being punished for having a one-night stand? Am I a bad person?”
“Don’t start pinning those scarlet A’s on your maternity clothes just yet. The fact that you’d only been with two men up until then is pretty solid evidence you’re not a tramp.”
“No, the fact that there had only been two previous lovers in my life is evidence that I have very large, very overprotective brothers,” Arden said without rancor. Her brothers’ local influence had probably helped prevent some impulsive mistakes in her teens. She nervously twisted the cord on the phone. “I think Justin suspects Garrett is the father. What if Garrett suspects as much?” So many emotions had rampaged through her when she’d seen him. She hadn’t exactly maintained a poker face.
“Did he give you any reason to think that?”
“Not really. He was making small talk. I was busy freaking out.”
“Then let’s not borrow trouble,” Layla advised. “Are you going to—”
“Oops, work beckons,” Arden interrupted as the door to her studio swung open. “Maybe we can meet for dinner?”
“I don’t know. I’ve got a stack of practice tests I have to grade so I can figure out how much my students forgot over the summer and plan accordingly. But give me a few hours to talk myself into it, and I’ll text you later.”
Arden disconnected, calling out, “Be with you in a second.”
Over the summer, Layla had acted briefly as receptionist, but for the most part, Arden had always run a one-woman shop. She didn’t get many random drop-ins. Customers usually called or emailed to schedule an appointment or, in the case of big events, to ask preliminary questions and do price comparisons.
Coming around the edge of her desk, she steadied herself with her hand. She was constantly readjusting to her ever-changing center of gravity.
“Hope I’m not interrupting your work.” That smooth deep voice was exactly the same as it had been the first time he’d spoken to her, sending tremors through her body. Garrett Frost stood in the center of her reception area, cowboy hat in hand, an unreadable expression on his face.
Adrenaline surged, making her head swim. “Garrett.” Her hands moved reflexively to cover the baby bump. That happened a lot lately when she was apprehensive.
He misinterpreted the protective gesture. “If you’re trying to hide that you’re expecting, it’s a little late.”
“I...I...” Say something. Preferably something intelligent. “Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
It wasn’t until he shook his head that she realized she hadn’t brewed any. She’d given it up during the pregnancy and hadn’t been expecting clients for another few hours. Thank goodness he hadn’t taken her up on the offer—her pride balked at the idea of making herself seem more ridiculous. She hadn’t exactly been articulate at the grocery store.
“I’m sorry I was rude the other day,” she said. “You took me by surprise. It was a shock, running in to you there.”
“You weren’t the only one stunned,” he said pointedly. His gaze dropped before returning to her face.
“So, uh, how’d you find my office? Did your friend Hugh mention I was in this shopping center? I hope he and his wife are doing well.” Her pulse was racing, and she heard her babbled words as though from a distance.
“Actually, I looked you up myself. Knowing your name and that you owned a photography studio was enough. It’s not difficult to find someone, if you bother to look.” His gray eyes were like thunderclouds. “If, for instance, a woman needed to locate a man, even one in a different town. I don’t think there are many Garrett Frosts who are part owners of Colorado cattle ranches, but maybe I’m wrong. What do you think, Arden?”
She swallowed, knowing that his real question had nothing to do with addresses or phone books. He was asking if his suspicions were accurate, and she couldn’t bring herself to answer. There was a huge difference between not tracking down a man to deliver life-altering news he probably didn’t want to hear and actually lying to his face.
He took a step closer. “You seemed so startled to see me the other day. Terrified, as a matter of fact.”
Feeling cornered, she took deep breaths, trying to lower her elevated blood pressure.
“Maybe I’m completely off base,” he continued, “but extenuating circumstances have made me more distrustful than I used to be. If I’m wrong, you can laugh at me or indignantly cuss me out. But tell me the truth, Arden. Are you carrying my child?”
Chapter Four
Garrett had mentally rehearsed different ways this confrontation could play out—from her scoffing at his ludicrous accusation to her tearfully confessing all and begging his forgiveness. But he hadn’t imagined her collapsing.
Her eyes rolled upward and she crumpled in on herself.
“Arden!”
He bolted toward her with just enough time to get his arms around her before she fell. What was he thinking, intimidating a pregnant woman? What if he’d caused harm to her or the baby? He lowered himself to the floor awkwardly, supporting her weight as he cradled her against his chest.
She blinked up at him, and it was such a relief to see those blue-green eyes open. At least she was conscious, although her chest rose and fell with alarmingly rapid exhalations. “G-Gar—”
“Shhh. Catch your breath first.” He stroked her hair back from her pale face, feeling like an ogre. If he was right about the baby, then Arden owed him a major apology, but no matter how angry he was, he never would have deliberately hurt her.
She raised one shaky hand to press against her heart, her expression pained. “Water?”
He shrugged out of the lightweight denim jacket he’d been wearing, rolling it up as a makeshift pillow beneath her head. There was a water dispenser in the corner of the room, and he half filled a paper cup. “You have a history of fainting?” he asked. Maybe if this was something that happened routinely, he wouldn’t feel like such a bastard.
“Only twice.” She sipped her water, her words halting. “Overheated camping. Blacked out another time. When...I got bad news.”
He wasn’t sure whether this technically counted as fainting—had she lost consciousness completely? Was there a chance it would happen again when she was alone? “Should we get you to a doctor?”
She bit her lip, still struggling to breathe normally. “Probab— Probably overkill, but... The baby.” Her eyes filled with tears, the palpable fear in her gaze knifing through him.
“Better safe than sorry.” He helped her to her feet, noting her rocky balance.
“We have to lock up,” she said. “Keys in my purse. Second desk drawer.”
He got everything she asked for, then helped her out to the truck. She leaned against the seat, eyes closed. There was a lot they needed to say to each other, but it was challenge enough for her to give him rudimentary directions to the hospital.
The emergency room was fairly empty on a Tuesday afternoon. A mother sat in the far corner trying to coax a little girl to stop crying, and a burly man watched a daytime talk show with one eye while holding some kind of compress over the other. The blonde nurse working the admissions counter gasped softly when she spotted Garrett and Arden.
“Arden! You okay, hon?”
“Probably. I feel silly being here, but I think I fainted. Heart beating too fast, got dizzy...”
“Then you did the right thing by coming in.” The blonde eyed Garrett with blatant curiosity but didn’t ask who he was. “You two have a seat and fill out the forms on this clipboard. Oh, and this one for Obstetrics.” She passed over a pale green sheet of paper.
Garrett caught sight of a long list of questions. None seemed as crucial as the one looming in his mind. Who the hell is the father?
“Need any help with those?” he offered.
“No!” Arden clutched the paperwork to her chest, not meeting his eyes. “I got it.”
They sat down and she fumbled through her purse, retrieving her license and insurance card. Her hands were shaky as she muttered, “Damn, I hate hospitals.”
He’d never thought much about them one way or the other. It occurred to him that Will Harlow could be in a hospital bed at this very moment, praying that his biological son agreed to give up a kidney.
Fury filled him, resentment at the secrets that had been kept. He struggled to keep his voice soft, nonthreatening. “Arden, you owe me an answer.” At least here, if she became overwrought by his questioning, there were medical professionals twenty feet away.
“I know.” She turned to him, the tears shimmering in her apologetic gaze an unmistakable reply. Still, he couldn’t quite force himself to accept the truth until she added out loud, “It’s you. You’re the baby’s father.”
Garrett hadn’t thought he could ever be more shocked than when he’d learned about his mother and Will. He’d been wrong. I’m a dad? If he hadn’t retreated to Cielo Peak to cope with the last bombshell a lying woman had dropped on him, he never would have known.
He clenched his fists against his thighs. “What were you planning to tell the kid? Children should know who their fathers are!”
The clipboard trembled in her grasp. “To be honest, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I was already a couple of months pregnant by the time I realized what had happened, and the discovery was mind-blowing. I needed time to adjust.”
He knew the feeling. But he was too angry to sympathize.
“Garrett, I—”
“Someone from Obstetrics is on the way down with a wheelchair.” The blonde admissions nurse walked toward them. “They’ll get you in a real room instead of one of these E.R. cubicles, probably put you on a fetal monitor for an hour or so to make sure the baby’s not in distress. Ask you some questions, maybe take some blood, check for anemia. You want me to contact either of your brothers, hon?”
“No! The last thing Colin needs is another phone call from a hospital E.R.,” Arden said adamantly. “And I figure calling Justin would be awkward for you.”
“You mean because he dumped me?” the woman asked with a wry smile. She seemed more amused than heartbroken. “Don’t worry, I knew what I was getting into with that one. It was fun while it lasted. Talking to him won’t upset me, I promise. Would you like him to be here?”
“Not unless I’m going to need the ride.” Arden slid a questioning glance in Garrett’s direction. “Are you planning to stick around?”
He folded his arms over his chest, smiling for the nurse’s benefit. “You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried, sweetheart.”
* * *
ARDEN STUDIED THE ceiling intently, as if the answers to her problems might magically be found in the speckled tiles overhead. She’d gained a momentary reprieve when Garrett stepped out of the room so she could change, but he’d be knocking on the door any second. She hadn’t missed his smirk when she’d asked for the privacy—after all, he’d already seen her naked. That was how they’d landed in this mess.
“Not that I think you’re making a mess of my life,” she whispered guiltily, as if the baby had heard her tormented thoughts. Arden was plenty grateful for her child. She was just second-guessing her decision to raise the child alone, Garrett none the wiser. But I am alone. She and Garrett had no real history or future. How was she going to share the most precious thing in her life with a man she barely knew?
Instead of knocking, Garrett cracked the door open a quarter of an inch, calling out before entering. “You decent in there?”
In a thin piece of fabric that tied behind her and left most of her back exposed? Hardly. “Close enough, I guess.”
He strolled into the room, filling it with his size. Having grown up with brothers, she normally found the presence of a strong man comfortingly familiar. But now trepidation rippled through her. Her brothers had never been as furious with her as Garrett seemed.
She expected him to interrogate her about the baby, but he surprised her. “That nurse downstairs—” he began.
“Sonja.”
“She asked about your brothers. Not your parents?”
Arden kneaded the hospital blanket that covered her lap. “They’re both dead. My brothers are pretty much all I have.”
“Two of them, right? Colin and Justin?” At her nod, he continued. “Is this why Justin looked like he wanted to put his fist through my face at the grocery store—because I got you pregnant?”
“I think...” She averted her gaze. “I’m not sure what he picked up on between us, but I think he suspects you’re the dad. He couldn’t know for sure, though. I never told anyone who the father was.”
“No kidding.” Despite his soft tone, the biting sarcasm in his voice made her flinch.
“Garrett, I’m sorry. I—”
“Don’t!” This time, he wasn’t soft-spoken at all. Even he looked taken aback by the vehement outburst. He cleared his throat. “I’ve heard that particular phrase far more than any man should in one week. Enough already.”
She frowned. Someone besides her had reason to apologize to him? Whoever it was should feel grateful to Arden—it was doubtful anyone else’s transgression topped hers.
Garrett paced the room. Although he might have regained verbal control, forcing himself to sound calm, he couldn’t mask the tension radiating from his body. “So is there a specific reason you hate hospitals? You mentioned Colin and emergency rooms. Did—”
“Knock, knock!” The cheerful voice preceded a gray-haired doctor poking his head inside the room. “I’m Dr. Wallace. I hear we’re having some dizziness and tachycardia today?”
Why did doctors speak in plural like that, Arden wondered, as if using the royal we? “Does tachycardia mean my heart tried to pound through my chest?” she asked wearily.
“It’s when your heart beats abnormally fast, yes. There are several reasons it can happen during pregnancy.” Dr. Wallace went over the possibilities while looking at the vitals the nurse had collected. Then he checked the baby’s heartbeat. “Just a precaution, of course. We have no reason to think anything’s wrong with the little guy. Or gal.”
Arden had grown accustomed to the use of fetal dopplers in her OB appointments and the reassuring whoosh-whoosh sound, but she’d forgotten this was Garrett’s first time. He went completely still, the restless anger that had been palpable a few minutes ago fading into wonderment. His eyes widened.
“That’s the heartbeat?” he asked reverently. “It’s fast.”
“Well within the standard range,” Dr. Wallace assured them. But as Nurse Sonja had predicted, the doctor wanted to monitor Arden and the baby for some readings before letting them leave the hospital. He pushed Arden’s gown up farther, the preliminary gel a cool tickle against her skin.
Although the sheet on the hospital bed kept her lower half covered, embarrassment heated her face. The last time Garrett had seen her unclothed, she’d looked a lot different than she did now.
When she was younger, Arden had stayed in shape by trying to keep up with her two athletic brothers. She’d been trim most of her life, and grief after Natalie’s and Danny’s deaths had robbed her of her appetite. Since her pregnancy had begun to show, she’d often felt awkward, but never fat—a growing baby was a healthy one. At the moment, however, vanity reared its head. Would Garrett be repulsed by her swollen body?
Why should you care if he is? Their night together had been amazing, but it had also been a one-time occurrence. It wasn’t as if she wanted him to find her attractive. Even if she did, she suspected not contacting him about the baby had forever tarnished her in Garrett’s eyes.
Within moments, the doctor had the sensors in place. “You try to relax, young lady, and I’ll be back to check on you later. Meanwhile, I’ll have the nurse bring you some water. It’s important to stay hydrated.”
All too soon, he was gone, leaving her and Garrett alone once more.
“You want to have a seat?” she offered. It was a small room, and the only chair would put him in uncomfortably close proximity to her. Yet almost anything seemed preferable to his earlier pacing. His taut strides made her think of caged predators.
He sat, but kept shifting position, obviously ill-at-ease. “Have you, um, had other problems during the pregnancy? Everything okay with you and the baby?”
“The doctors say everything’s normal, even my being sick as a dog well into the second trimester.” But she worried sometimes. It was frustrating to wake up with a sharp pain at three in the morning and have no one she could talk to about her fears. Early on, she’d posted a question to an online forum for soon-to-be-mothers. Despite a couple of helpful responses, the possibility of misinformation and the discovery that some people were far too willing to share horror stories had kept her from doing so again. “Apparently nausea can be a good sign that the baby’s nice and strong. Plus, my being too sick to run the office alone led to hiring Layla, and she became a good friend. I...needed a friend.”
Did Garrett hear the ache in her voice, the echo of solitude that had plagued her for so many months? What he’d said down in the emergency room was true. She did owe him answers. Starting with the night they’d met.
“My brother Colin married my best friend several years ago,” she said haltingly. “Natalie and I had been best friends since kindergarten, the year my mom died. Colin’s a great guy, but he’s always had too much responsibility. He rarely laughed. Natalie changed that. She changed him. He doted on her and their baby boy. But then Nat and Danny were killed in a car accident.”
Garrett watched her silently, obviously unsure what to do with this information but not interrupting.
“It destroyed Colin and devastated me. The day your friend Hugh got married? That was Natalie’s birthday, the first one I didn’t get to spend with her as far back as I could remember. I was in a lot of pain that day. Meeting you was about the best thing that could happen to me. You were...” She broke off, assailed by memories that seemed excruciatingly intimate with him sitting only inches from her side. He’d been by turns tender and passionate, driving her need to such a sharp peak that there’d been no room in her for any other emotion.
On sheer impulse, she reached over and squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”
He looked taken aback. “Uh, my pleasure.”
“Having a baby was the furthest thing from my mind,” she added. “At first I was too shocked to be scared or happy. But I’ve been around death, too much of it, and the idea of bringing a new life into the world... This may sound insane to you, but it almost felt like a goodbye present from Natalie. Some sort of cosmic full circle.”
“And there wasn’t room in that circle for anyone else?” He abandoned his chair in favor of resumed pacing.
Six months ago, he’d helped heal her hurting. The last thing in the world she wanted was to wound him. Another apology hovered on the tip of her tongue, but she recalled his hostile reaction to her previous attempt.
“I hardly knew anything about you,” she reminded him. “I tried to imagine how my brother Justin would react if he discovered, completely out of the blue, that a near stranger was carrying his child. It was daunting. By the time the nausea and confusion subsided, months had passed. You could have had a serious girlfriend, plans for the future I would be ruining! Telling you seemed like too big a risk. After a lot of sleepless nights, I decided it would be best for my child to have no father than one who might resent it.”
He stopped his pacing and stared her down. “So you were protecting both me and the baby by keeping the news to yourself?” His chuckle was like broken glass. “I wonder if all mothers have this gift for rationalizing dishonesty.”
All mothers?
The slight knock at the door made them both jump, and a nurse entered with a pitcher of ice water and some plastic-wrapped cups. She drew up short, her smile fading as she registered the tension in the room.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” she said hesitantly. “Dr. Wallace asked me to bring some water.”
Garrett nodded his head at her, making a visible effort not to appear intimidating. “Much appreciated, ma’am.”
The nurse smiled at him before asking Arden, “Is there anything else you need?”
Yeah, a do-over button. Or, barring that, the words that would make Garrett understand what she’d been feeling, her belief that she was making the right decision for all three of them. What were the odds that the hospital stocked second chances and forgiveness alongside the antibiotics and lime Jell-O?
* * *
AFTER HER RELEASE from the hospital, Arden had tried to talk Garrett into driving her back to her car. “You can follow me home if you’re worried about me,” she’d proposed. But he’d categorically refused. Now, as she struggled to keep her eyes open, she found herself grateful for his inflexibility. If anyone had asked her a few hours ago, she would have sworn the day’s events had left her too shaken to sleep for a week. But one of the periodic side effects of pregnancy was a full-body fatigue so encompassing it bordered on paralysis.
By the time Garrett pulled his truck into her driveway, the September sun was dipping below the horizon.
“This is it.” She smothered a yawn. “Home sweet home.” In terms of square footage, the cozy two-bedroom house was actually smaller than her former apartment. But once she’d learned she was pregnant, she’d wanted to own something, a place that was all hers. Mine and the baby’s.
Besides, while walking up three flights of stairs every day might have been one of the lifestyle choices that helped keep her in shape, it would be more difficult to navigate while carrying boxes of diapers and an infant car seat. She’d traded all those steps for a neatly fenced-in postage stamp of a yard. Did it look sad and despondent to a rancher who was used to the open range, hundreds of acres of pastureland where cattle grazed beneath the Colorado sky? Based on Garrett’s grudgingly solicitous manner, from not leaving her side at the hospital to not letting her get behind the wheel, she wouldn’t be surprised if he insisted on walking her inside. Would he judge the meager surroundings inadequate for his child?
“This is a really good school district,” she blurted.
He quirked an eyebrow at the spontaneous announcement.
Her face warmed. “Just thinking ahead.” By five years, plus or minus. Even though she might not be living here when it came time for the baby to go to kindergarten, she was doing her best to make all the right decisions.
She slanted a glance at Garrett’s stony profile. Ironically, she may have already botched her biggest parenting decision thus far.
As he helped her down from the truck, she couldn’t help noting that his hand was warm and callused. How did a man with labor-roughened skin caress a woman with such silky gentleness? The way he’d touched her— Whoa. Where had that memory come from? She shook her head as if she could physically dislodge the mental image.
He frowned. “Everything okay? You look flushed.”
“Pregnancy comes with a lot of weird side effects.” Like hormones in hyperdrive. Mostly, those hormones had manifested themselves in very vivid, very detailed dreams that made her blush the next morning. One of the more anecdotal pregnancy books had mentioned the phenomenon, and the author advised women to enjoy the perk. But it was disquieting to experience that surge of lust in front of Garrett.
She yanked her hand out of his. When his expression grew even stormier, she tried to mitigate her action with a lame explanation. “I, ah, need to get my keys.” As she unlocked the front door, her stomach emitted an embarrassing rumble. Hunger ran a close second to exhaustion.
“I’m starving,” he commented. “Didn’t get around to eating lunch today.”
“Me neither.”
“Let’s get you situated and decide on a plan for food. Maybe I can whip up something for dinner.”
“I don’t know about that.” She stepped inside, flashing a sheepish glance over her shoulder. “My grocery shopping got cut short the other day. The kitchen’s not fully stocked.”
Should she mention the nearby pizza place that delivered? Would she be able to sit through a meal in Garrett’s presence, or would nerves keep her from eating? She appreciated how civil he was being, but the friction between them was as pointed as it had been when he strode into her office today. She was too drained to withstand much more.
Needing to get off her feet before she fell off them, she made a beeline for the ratty armchair she’d found at a rummage sale years ago. She’d had it steam-cleaned with the distant plan of someday reupholstering. Since she’d never gotten around to that part, the chair looked like blue-plaid hell, but it was inexplicably comfortable.
Garrett was slow to follow. After a moment, she realized he was examining the framed pictures on her wall.
“Did you take all of these?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Portraits of Justin and Colin were scattered among a jumble of other subjects, from a black-and-white shot of a stone well to a close-up of a light purple dahlia bud in midbloom. There was a landscape photo taking up too much space; she’d squeezed it in to replace the family picture of Colin with his wife and son that had been exiled to temporary storage in her closet.
“You’re very talented,” Garrett said. “Darcy and Hugh showed me their wedding album. They were thrilled with your work.”
She swallowed, briefly closing her eyes. “Do they know about the baby?” Had Garrett told them about how she’d jumped into bed with him, shared his suspicions that this baby was his? Lord, what they must think of her. “I mean, of course they know I’m pregnant, I’ve seen them in town. But do they know...?”
“That I’m a daddy? How the hell could I have told them when I didn’t even know?” he exploded. He began pacing, not that there was much more space here than he’d had in the hospital room. In a slightly calmer voice, he asked, “Does the idea of anyone knowing we were together bother you so much? I’ve never felt like a woman’s dirty secret before.”
“It’s not like that,” she said miserably. “It has nothing to do with you.” She recalled the pitying looks her teachers had given her after her father died, the local news stories after Natalie’s crash. She hated for anyone to have reason to talk about her and her family. But Garrett shouldn’t be penalized for her hang-ups.
He rubbed his temple absently. “It’s not as if your neighbors are gonna buy that the stork brought the baby. So who cares if they know it was me?”
“I’m handling this badly.” She sighed. “I’ve never...I’m pretty inexperienced.”
“You mean because you’re a first-time mom?”
“Inexperienced with men. And, um, sex in general.” At his startled look, she added, “I’d had sex before—just, infrequently. And only with long-term boyfriends I knew really, really well. I’m not ashamed of what happened between us. I’m just at a loss for... If I say ‘I’m sorry’ again, are you going to yell?”
His sudden grin was so unexpected and striking that it made her knees weak. Thank God I’m already sitting.
“No yelling,” he promised.
“Thank you. I am sorry. I don’t know what I’m doing.” There were manuals and chat rooms, even documentary-style television shows that revolved around pregnancy and birth. But none of them had outlined the protocol for how to weather whispered rumors, or break the news to appalled, overprotective brothers or how to cope with the gorgeous one-night stand you’d never expected to see again.
His smile faded. “If you’d told me the truth, maybe we could have figured it out together. For the record, since you broached the subject today, there’s no girlfriend, serious or otherwise.”
The declaration warmed her far more than it should have. Not because I’m interested in him romantically, but because I’d hate to complicate a third person’s life with all of this.
“Based on what Hugh said, can I safely assume there’s no guy in the picture?” he asked.
She almost laughed at the suggestion that she was dating anyone. How many men fantasized about meeting a gal who barfed for months on end, then began steadily swelling to the size of a beluga? The hint of vulnerability that flickered in Garrett’s gaze sobered her. Did he worry that someone else was poised to play the role of father to his child?
“No guy,” she said softly. Except you.
His tense shoulders lowered the merest fraction of an inch. There was relief and something less definable in his eyes. Possessiveness? Awareness sizzled through Arden, replacing her earlier lethargy with something more energetic. And far more complicated. Her voice caught in her throat.
Changing the subject, he clapped his palms together. “Point me in the direction of the kitchen. I’ll check out the dinner options.”
“I wasn’t kidding about rations being low.” She used the arms of the chair to hoist herself upward. “But I think we can manage salad and some grilled cheese sandwiches.”
As someone who lived alone, she wasn’t used to anyone else puttering around in her kitchen. Letting him wait on her would just be too weird. “Can I offer you something to drink? I don’t have any sodas or beer, but there’s lemonade or filtered water. I could brew some tea.”
“Lemonade sounds great.” He trailed her into the kitchen.
“I’ll get glasses. Lemonade’s in the fridge,” she directed. “And there should be some fruit salad left.”
He turned to the refrigerator but stopped when he caught sight of the sonogram photos secured with promotional magnets from the Donnelly ski lodge. The first picture was from so early in the pregnancy that the baby was a mere peanut-shaped blip; a circle the doctor had drawn in ink showed where the heart was. But the other pictures were from a recent appointment. It was easy to make out the baby’s head and profile.
“So, um, that’s the little guy. Figuratively speaking,” she clarified. “I have no idea what the gender is. I’ve decided to be surprised.” She’d had trouble explaining her decision to friends and family, but there had been enough ugly surprises in Arden’s life. Why not revel in one that was wonderful? “I’ve been calling the baby Peanut since I’m not sure what pronoun to use.”
Garrett traced his thumb lightly over the edge of a photo. “These are amazing. To have such a clear look at someone who’s not even... I’ve looked at bovine sonograms, but this—”
“Did you just compare pictures of our unborn child to those of cows?” she interrupted with mock indignation. Reaching around him, she pulled butter and cheese from the refrigerator.
He shrugged. “Hey, it’s the life I know. Sleep with a cowboy, you gotta expect the occasional livestock mention.”
“Good to know. I’ll keep that...” In mind for next time. The thoughtless words evaporated from her lips. Next time? With whom? Certainly not him.
For starters, her major lie of omission probably guaranteed there would never be anything tender between her and Garrett. That aside, romance of any kind had dropped completely off her list of priorities for the time being. She hoped that, eventually, she and Garrett could overcome the strain between them for their child’s sake, and develop a smooth, cordial relationship. Romantic entanglement was a risk that didn’t make sense. Long-distance dating was difficult under the best of circumstances, and if they braved a relationship, only to have it end badly... I’ll take ‘Ways to Make an Awkward Situation Even Worse’ for a thousand, Alex.
No, definitely not worth the gamble.
Casting about for a neutral topic, she placed buttered bread in the skillet. Since he’d made the joke about livestock, she decided that maybe his ranch was the safest subject.
“When you first told me what you do for a living,” she began, “you sounded like you really love it. Do you think you would have eventually found your way into ranching even if you hadn’t grown up surrounded by cattle and horses?”
He leaned against the kitchen counter, considering the question. “I honestly can’t say. It’s so much a part of who I am that I never gave any thought to another line of work. If I had to be cooped up inside an office like Hugh every day, I’d go stark raving mad. Running the Double F alongside my father... He’s a hell of a man. I always wanted to be—” He broke off, his jaw clenched. Tension lined his rugged face.
Was there conflict between Garrett and his dad? Arden flipped the cheese sandwiches, backtracking quickly. “What about your mom?” Her voice was too shrill with forced cheer, and she struggled to sound natural. “Are the two of you close?”
“Not currently.” He set the bowls of fruit salad on the table with a muted crash.
Strike two. “Any, uh, brothers? Sisters?”
“Only child.”
She chuckled bleakly. “You with no siblings, me with no parents. It’s like, between the two of us, we have enough puzzle pieces to make a whole family.”
“A family.” His expression darkened. “Maybe under different circumstances, we could have been. Maybe I would’ve known what it was like to teach my own son how to ride a horse, how to drive a tractor.” He stared her down, so much pain in his steely gaze that it stopped her breath. “You know what? I’m not hungry, after all. Guess I’ll head back into town.”
Garrett, wait. At least eat something before you leave. She followed him, but her protests never made it any farther than her mind. She’d made a sufficiently disastrous mess of things for one night. Given his charged mood and her own emotional unpredictability, it was probably best to let him go.
He hesitated at the door, his look almost menacing. “I’ll be in touch soon. Like it or not, we have a lot to discuss. I won’t be a stranger in my child’s life, Arden.” With that, he left.
Possibly to do online research on Colorado family law and paternity rights. He’d looked furious. Was he enraged enough to challenge her for custody?
She pushed the horrible thought away. Garrett was a good man. Yes, she’d screwed up by not telling him of her own volition that he would be a father, but the baby wouldn’t be here for another few months. She prayed that was enough time to somehow make this right.
Chapter Five
Garrett pulled over at the end of Arden’s street and texted Hugh, asking if his friend could meet him in town. Fifteen minutes later, both men were parking their vehicles outside Hugh’s favorite bar. The place didn’t look like much—the lot was gravel rather than pavement and a couple of the light poles had burned-out bulbs—but Garrett had been here before and knew that the food was good and the drinks were reasonably priced.
“Thanks for joining me,” Garrett said, his words brusque but sincere. “Feels like I’ve been asking you for a lot of favors lately. Hope I didn’t interrupt you and Darcy’s dinner.”
“Nah, she’s got book club at a friend’s and isn’t even home. For tonight, it’s just us guys.” Hugh squinted at him in the dim lighting. “So this might be a good time to finally tell me what brings you to town. Besides my obvious awesomeness.”
Garrett had no idea where to begin. The astonishment over his mother’s confession was still fresh, but now there was the tangle of Arden’s deception, too. He felt battered by lies and weighty decisions he needed to make. “What would you do if Darcy ever lied to you?”
“What, you mean like about how expensive a pair of boots were?” Hugh asked.
“No. About something major.”
Shaking his head, Hugh reached for the door to the bar. “She wouldn’t do that.”
Isn’t that what Garrett had told himself twenty-four hours ago? That Arden Cade wasn’t the kind of person who would hide her pregnancy from the baby’s father? Lord, had he been wrong. But maybe he shouldn’t be surprised. Apparently the closeness he’d felt between them during their night together had been merely superficial. An illusion. What did he really know about her?
That she’s a talented photographer and a young woman who’s lost too many people in her life, that she’s scared but already loves this baby fiercely. He didn’t want to empathize with her, but he couldn’t help admiring how she’d dealt with the deaths of her best friend, her nephew and her parents. Even though he was avoiding his own mother right now, the thought of either of his folks dying one day turned his stomach and made his flesh clammy.
The men stepped inside and waited for the hostess to find them an available booth.
Amid the bar’s many neon lights, the concern on Hugh’s face was unmistakable. “I don’t want to push, but, buddy, you look like you’re gonna snap if you don’t talk to someone.”
It was a fair assessment. “Okay, but this conversation will require some time. And definitely some beer.”
* * *
“CANNOT BELIEVE YOU’RE gonna be a daddy,” Hugh slurred. It wasn’t the first time he’d made the declaration. “I assumed it would be me before you. Since I’m, you know, actually married.”
“Hey, I figured it would be you and Darcy first, too.” Accepting reality was a cyclical process, one he’d been stuck repeating all day. It was like trying to unknot gnarled fishing line—each time he thought he was making progress, he’d have to start all over again.
“Have another glass,” Hugh suggested sympathetically. He’d gone through more than half the pitcher while Garrett, now the designated driver, was busy spilling the story. Or at least an abbreviated version of it. He got through the upsetting news of his mom’s affair, which had spawned this trip, to the secret of Arden’s pregnancy. But he left aside the issue of Will needing a kidney transplant for now. It was too much for one night.
Garrett shook his head. “I don’t think a second beer is really a long-term solution.” Considering how Justin Cade had glowered at him the other day, maybe Arden’s brothers would ultimately drop him off a steep cliff and eliminate the need for long-term plans. “Look, about Arden...I don’t think she’s really eager for people to know who the father is. The details—”
“Are her business. And yours,” Hugh said firmly. “I won’t keep secrets from my wife, but don’t worry. Darcy and I won’t spread any gossip.”
“Y’all are the best,” Garrett said, genuinely grateful. For the first time in days, he felt as if he could count on someone. Life had thrown him nothing but curveballs lately, and it was nice to be reminded that he had people in his corner. Hugh was as good a friend now as he’d always been in the past.
Garrett found himself nostalgic for the much simpler past. The present was full of perplexing psychological land mines. And he had no idea what to do about the future.
* * *
WHILE ARDEN UNLOCKED her studio early Wednesday morning, Justin impatiently shifted his weight behind her.
“Your secrecy is freaking me out,” he complained. “First you were cagey about why you needed me to drive you to work this morning, now you won’t tell me why you’ve called a family meeting.”
The three siblings had long ago agreed that Cade family meetings were never to be called lightly and that attendance was mandatory.
Arden shot him a quelling look. “Of course I’ll tell you—when the other part of the family gets here.”
Justin went straight for the coffee supplies in the corner and began filling the pot with water. “You had a ‘dizzy spell’ yesterday and a friend drove you home,” he commented. “Which friend? If it was Layla, you would’ve said so. I know there’s something you’re leaving out. You were a lousy liar as a kid, and you haven’t improved with age.”
She stood next to the coatrack, shrugging out of her jacket. “I got dizzy enough that I went to the hospital, okay? But I don’t want Colin to know, so you’d better not mention it. He does not need any extra reason to worry that something will happen to me or the baby.”
Justin was quick to agree. “My lips are sealed. Look, I’m as concerned about him going round the bend as you are. But you can tell me this stuff, okay? I’m too shallow to stay up nights obsessing over other people’s safety.”
The big faker. “No, you’re not.” The women he jilted might think of him as a heartless beast, but Arden knew there was more to him than that. Why was he so reluctant to let people see his caring side? “You’ve been a fantastic brother these past few months, and I don’t know how I would have coped without you.”
“Ah, is that what the family meeting’s about?” he asked, spinning around a low-backed chair and straddling it. “Am I getting a medal for outstanding brothership? Is there a cash award involved? Because there’s this new girl who works at the deli across from the ambulance station, and I would love to take her out for a night on the town.”
Ignoring him, she booted up her computer for the day. Given Justin’s flippant personality, he might be kidding about the girl at the deli. But if he was serious, she’d rather not know. His hit-and-run dating habits were too exasperating. She’d never seen him happier than he’d been with Elisabeth Donnelly. She understood that Elisabeth’s life had changed drastically after being named guardian of a little girl, but she believed Justin had made a grave mistake walking away from the woman he loved. A gust of wind swept through the studio when the front door opened again, and her heart jumped to her throat. Colin. While she’d decided that this conversation with her brothers was necessary, she dreaded having to go through with it. Silly, really. Wasn’t the hardest part telling them she was pregnant in the first place? Relatively speaking, explaining who the father was should be a piece of cake.
She watched her brothers exchange greetings. Colin’s hello was terse, his voice a low rasp. He had his motorcycle helmet tucked under one arm, and his rich brown hair had grown shaggy, falling across his forehead. It almost covered his turquoise eyes, which resembled hard stone in more than just color. All in all, not someone you’d want to encounter in a dark alley.
It tugged at her heart that he tried, for her benefit, to smile. Even if it was a dismal failure. “Morning, Colin.”
“You...look good. Glowing and all that.”
“Thank you.” She hugged him, trying not to be offended by how he stiffened at her embrace. The man who’d once cuddled her after nightmares and skinned knees could no longer bear to be touched.
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Tanya Michaels
Life’s been full of surprises lately for rancher Garrett Frost – and not in a good way. His mother has just dropped a bombshell about his past, so Garrett takes some time away to come to terms with family secrets.And who should he run into? Arden Cade, the beautiful photographer who shared a single night of passion with Garrett six months ago. He is even more shocked when he discovers she's pregnant–and he's the daddy. To make matters worse, Arden hadn’t even planned on telling Garrett about the baby. Despite her lies, Garrett is determined to be a good father. He’s not the type to cut and run, and he can’t deny that he’s falling for Arden all over again. But he’ll have to find a way to forgive her betrayal … and make peace with that skeleton in the family closet.
Surprise! You’re A Daddy!
Life’s been full of surprises lately for rancher Garrett Frost—and not in a good way. His mother has just dropped a bombshell about his past, so Garrett takes some time away to come to terms with family secrets. And who should he run into but Arden Cade, the beautiful photographer who shared a single night of passion with Garrett six months ago. He is even more shocked when he discovers she’s pregnant—and he’s the daddy.
To make matters worse, Arden hadn’t even planned on telling Garrett about the baby. Despite her lies, Garrett is determined to be a good father. He’s not the type to cut and run, and he can’t deny that he’s falling for Arden all over again. But he’ll have to find a way to forgive her betrayal...and make peace with that skeleton in the family closet.
Arden swallowed, knowing that his real question had nothing to do with addresses or phone books.
Garrett was asking if his suspicions were accurate, and she couldn’t bring herself to answer. There was a huge difference between not tracking down a man to deliver life-altering news he probably didn’t want to hear and actually lying to his face.
He took a step closer. “You seemed so startled to see me the other day. Terrified, as a matter of fact.”
Feeling cornered, she took deep breaths, trying to lower her elevated blood pressure.
“Maybe I’m completely off base,” he continued, “but extenuating circumstances have made me more distrustful than I used to be. If I’m wrong, you can laugh at me or indignantly cuss me out. But tell me the truth, Arden. Are you carrying my child?”
Dear Reader,
I first visited Colorado when I was a teenager and have made numerous trips since then. It’s a beautiful state full of wonderful communities, the perfect setting for my new trilogy, The Colorado Cades.
The Cade siblings, two brothers and the younger sister they raised after their parents’ deaths, really tugged at my heart. It’s not easy to find happiness when you’ve experienced great loss—but with hope and faith, it is possible.
On an evening when she needed to escape grief and nostalgia, Arden Cade had an uncharacteristic one-night stand with cowboy Garrett Frost, an out-of-towner visiting Cielo Peak. She never expected to see him again…and she certainly didn’t expect to become pregnant from their night together!
Six months later, after receiving some shocking news of his own, Garrett returns to Cielo Peak to stay with a friend while making difficult decisions. When Garrett sees Arden, two things are quickly evident—the chemistry between them is as potent as ever. And she’s been keeping an unforgivable secret.
I’m hard at work on the next two books in the trilogy. For behind-the-scenes looks at my process and anecdotes about the writing life, follow me on Twitter or like me on Facebook. I love interacting with readers!
Happy reading,
Tanya
Her Secret,
His Baby
Tanya Michaels
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Three-time RITA® Award nominee Tanya Michaels writes about what she knows—community, family and lasting love! Her books, praised for their poignancy and humor, have received honors such as a Booksellers’ Best Bet Award, a Maggie Award of Excellence and multiple readers’ choice awards. She was also a 2010 RT Book Reviews nominee for Career Achievement in Category Romance. Tanya is an active member of Romance Writers of America and a frequent public speaker, presenting workshops to educate and encourage aspiring writers. She lives outside Atlanta with her very supportive husband, two highly imaginative children and a household of quirky pets, including a cat who thinks she’s a dog and a bichon frise who thinks she’s the center of the universe.
Dedicated with gratitude to Barbara Dunlop—wonderful author, friend and dinner companion.
Contents
Chapter One (#u06604035-f024-589a-954b-e8552c5028ac)
Chapter Two (#u9c44b99c-4a87-536a-9393-ba359dde2df0)
Chapter Three (#u5ffb168a-b79b-509c-bfcb-cb82aaebb4e8)
Chapter Four (#u5d38d883-19cd-516b-979e-5837bba6e2ca)
Chapter Five (#u5f3931dc-2728-534f-8ea9-10bdf3ca1512)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Excerpt (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One
Never in her twenty-five years had Arden Cade done anything so rash. What was I thinking? Although she usually woke in gradual, disoriented stages, this morning she was instantly alert, hoping to discover the previous night had been a dream—a vivid, thoroughly sensual dream.
But there was no disputing the muscular arm across her midsection or the lingering satisfaction in her body.
Physically, she was more relaxed than she’d been in nearly a year, her loose limbs at odds with her racing thoughts. Her first impulse was to bolt from the bed, putting distance between herself and the still-sleeping cowboy. She hesitated, not wanting to wake Garrett before she’d had a chance to gather her composure. Besides, his body heat and the steady rumble of his breathing were soothing. Beckoning. It was so tempting to snuggle closer beneath the sheets and—
Don’t you learn?
Cuddling into his heat was what had landed her in this situation. But she’d been cold for so long. She’d needed to feel something other than suffocating grief. If only yesterday hadn’t been the ninth of March.... What the hell had made her think scheduling a photography job would keep her too busy to mourn?
Memories of the night before flooded her—the despair that had gaped like a chasm, the encounter with a charming stranger, the reckless bliss she’d found in his arms.
“If you don’t mind my saying so, ma’am, people usually look happier at wedding receptions.” The man’s teasing tone was deep and rich, unexpectedly warming her.
She had to tilt her head to meet his clear gray eyes. Knowing her clients deserved better than a photographer who depressed the guests, she struggled for a light tone as she gestured toward the crowded dance floor. “I was feeling sorry for myself because I’m not out there,” she lied. “I love to dance.”
A slow grin stole over his face, making him even more attractive. As the younger sister of two ridiculously good-looking brothers, Arden didn’t impress easily, but this man made her pulse quicken.
“I’d be happy to oblige,” he offered. “I realize you’re working, but I have some pull with the groom. Hugh was my best friend in high school.”
His casual words pierced her. Arden had kept the same best friend from preschool into adulthood, rejoicing three and a half years ago when the sister of her heart married Arden’s oldest brother and became her sister-in-law. This was the first March 9—Natalie’s birthday—since the car accident that had killed Natalie and her toddler son, the first March 9 in over two decades Arden hadn’t spent with her friend.
“Rain check,” she’d managed to respond, abandoning the stranger to snap shots of the twirling flower girl.
After the reception ended, Arden should have gone home, but facing her dark, empty apartment seemed unbearable. She packed her equipment, then sat in the hotel bar while ice melted in her untouched whiskey. Time passed with excruciating slowness.
Then Garrett Frost walked in, his earlier suit replaced with a casual button-down shirt and a pair of dark jeans that somehow made him even more devastatingly handsome.
“I’d offer to buy you a drink, but...” He raised one jet-black eyebrow at the liquor she was clearly ignoring.
“Guess I wasn’t thirsty, after all.”
Their gazes locked, and she wished she had a camera in hand to capture his mesmerizing eyes. He’s beautiful. Sculpted cheekbones, full mouth—
“If you’re gonna look at me like that,” he’d drawled softly, “it’s only fair you tell me your name.”
“Arden. Arden Cade.”
He extended his hand. “You still want that dance, Arden Cade?”
She’d accepted. Sometimes what a woman needed most in the world was to be held....
“Mornin’.” Tinged with sleep, Garrett’s voice now was every bit as compelling as it had been last night—when he’d breathed her name as he slid into her.
Arden! Focus! Last night’s impulsiveness was one thing. She’d been emotionally raw, had needed to feel alive in some primal way. But she couldn’t rationalize a repeat performance. She’d had only two sexual partners before, and they’d both been serious boyfriends.
She scrambled for the edge of the bed, trying to secure the sheet around her as she moved. “Yes, it is. Morning, I mean. Time for me to go.”
“Don’t hurry on my account.” He lay back on his pillow, grinning at her in utter contentment. His appeal was more than physical good looks. She was drawn to his easy confidence, how comfortable he seemed in his own skin.
“Checkout’s not ’til noon,” he continued. “Thought I might order us an obscenely large breakfast from room service. I’m starvin’.”
So was she, Arden realized. After months of being numb, of having no appetite whatsoever, the hunger felt both foreign and exhilarating. “I could eat,” she blurted.
“Good. I’m gonna hop in the shower, then we can look at the menu. I’ll only be a minute. Unless you want to join me?” He gave her another of those lazy smiles that left her dizzy. Garrett made love the way he smiled. Completely and thoroughly, in seemingly no rush.
“N-no.” She ducked her head so that her long dark hair curtained her face. It was probably bad manners to look appalled at the thought of being naked with a man who had rocked your world mere hours ago. “I’ll, uh, wait.”
He sauntered across the room nude, and Arden resisted the urge to sneak a final glance. Not that her resistance held for long. He was male perfection.
And he’d been exactly what she’d needed last night. As unplanned and perhaps unwise as her actions had been, she had to admit she felt...lighter. She could almost hear Natalie’s mischievous voice in her head. Damn, girl, you really know how to celebrate a birthday.
Arden squeezed her eyes shut. I miss you, Nat. That ache might never go away, but it was time Arden stopped letting it drag her down like a malevolent anchor. Natalie would have hated how listless she’d become.
The sound of the shower in the adjoining bathroom pulled Arden from her reverie. Garrett had claimed he’d be back in a minute. What was she going to say to him? All she really knew about him was that his family owned a cattle ranch several hours south of Cielo Peak and that he’d come to town for the Connors’ wedding. She didn’t know how to be glib about what they’d shared, and she didn’t want to burden him with a heavy emotional explanation about the losses she and her brothers had endured. Wouldn’t the simplest solution be to leave now, without an awkward goodbye?
She zipped her wrinkled dress, trying not to think about how she’d look to anyone she passed in the lobby. Cielo Peak attracted plenty of tourists, especially during the Colorado ski season, but there were fewer than fifteen hundred year-round citizens. The Cades were well known in the community; gossip about Arden hooking up with a guest at an event she covered would not enhance her professional reputation.
Her hand was already on the door when she stopped abruptly, recalling how Garrett had touched her the night before, his maddening tenderness. He’d made her nearly mindless with desire, and it had been the first time in months the pain had receded. Among her many conflicted feelings this morning was gratitude. He would never truly understand how much he’d given her, but she didn’t want him to think she regretted being with him.
She grabbed the pen and notepad that bore the hotel logo and scribbled a quick note. It wasn’t much, but it helped ease her conscience.
Garrett, thank you for last night. It was...
A barrage of words filled her mind, none of them adequate. Suddenly, the water stopped in the bathroom. Adrenaline coursed through her. She crossed out the last two words and wrote simply I’ll never forget you.
Chapter Two
Six months later
Justin Cade shuddered at the brochures on the kitchen table. “I will paint nursery walls, I will assemble the crib, I might be wheedled into a few hours of babysitting once the peanut is born, but no way in hell am I attending birth classes with you.” Then he flashed his trademark grin, a mischievous gleam in his blue-green eyes. “Unless you think there will be a lot of single women attending?”
Arden ignored the question. He’d already proven he wasn’t comfortable dating a single mom. Justin, the middle Cade sibling, had raised casual dating to an art form and steered clear of women with complicated lives. The ski patrolman didn’t like being stuck in a relationship any more than he liked being stuck indoors.
Thank God he’s a more dependable brother than he is a boyfriend. “I didn’t pull out the brochures to show you, dummy. I’m going to ask Layla to be my labor coach. She’s coming over for dinner in a couple of hours.”
Back in June, when the “first trimester” nausea Arden had thought would disappear actually intensified, she’d hired a temporary assistant to keep up with the administrative side of the studio. High school Spanish teacher Layla Green had been happy to make some extra money over the summer. The women’s friendship continued to grow even though Layla had quit to prepare for the new school year.
“Layla, huh?” Justin crossed the small kitchen to pour another glass of iced tea. He frequently joked that the desert theme of her red-and-yellow kitchen made him extra thirsty. “She’s good people. Cute, too.”
“Hey! We’ve talked about this. You are not allowed to date my friends. Your one-hit-wonder approach to relationships would make things awkward for everyone. I was even a bit nervous when Natalie...” She trailed off, the memories bittersweet.
The sharp sting of missing her best friend had lessened over time. As Arden progressed through the trimesters, she found herself thinking of Natalie as a kind of guardian angel for her and the unborn baby. After losing so many loved ones in her life, it seemed cosmically fitting that Arden had conceived on Nat’s birthday.
“You wondered if it would hurt your friendship when Natalie and Colin first started dating?” Justin asked. “To be honest, I thought the age difference would be a problem, that they wouldn’t have enough in common for it to be long-lasting. But she made him damn happy.”
While Arden was finally healing after the deaths of her sister-in-law and young nephew, Colin had withdrawn further. Not only had he taken a sabbatical from his job as a large-animal vet, but he’d also recently announced that he was putting his house up for sale.
She leaned an elbow on the table, propping her chin on her fist. “I’m really worried about him.”
“Colin will be okay.” But the way Justin avoided her gaze proved he was equally concerned. “He’s always okay. He’s the one who holds us together.”
Their mother had died the winter Arden was in kindergarten, their father a few years later. Although a maiden aunt had come to live with them, it had been Colin who had essentially raised his younger brother and sister. He’d been so strong. But this most recent shattering loss—burying his wife and child? It seemed as if something inside him had broken beyond repair.
Justin dropped down next to Arden’s chair, squeezing her shoulder. “He will be okay. Maybe selling the house will help him let go, give him a chance to move forward with his life.”
Arden placed her hands over her distended abdomen. “Do you think this makes it harder, my having a baby? I’m sure it reminds him of Danny.” Her voice caught on her nephew’s name. He’d been a wide-eyed, soft-spoken toddler with an unexpectedly raucous belly laugh. His deep laugh had caused double takes in public, usually eliciting chuckles in response.
“If you’re happy about Peanut, then we are happy for you,” Justin said firmly. “But if you want to offer Colin some kind of distraction, I’m sure he’d be eager to track down the jerk who knocked you—”
“Justin!”
“The jerk responsible for your being in a blessed family way.”
“He wasn’t a jerk. He was...” A gift. Even after six months, she vividly recalled Garrett’s ability to make her temporarily forget everything else in the world, the power of his touch.
Justin recoiled with a grimace. “Seeing that look on my little sister’s face is disturbing as hell. You sure you won’t tell us who he is so we can punch his lights out?”
“He doesn’t live anywhere near here.” Thank God. Most of the locals hadn’t been brazen enough to ask outright who the father was, but the mystery had caused whispers behind her back. Some of the teachers in the district had begged Layla for information, but Arden—who’d shared only the vaguest details—had sworn her to secrecy. The first time Arden had encountered Hugh Connor in town after her pregnancy began to show, she’d held her breath, wondering if Garrett had ever mentioned their night together to his friend. But Hugh had merely asked for a business card because he planned to recommend her to a business colleague looking for a good photographer.
Meanwhile, Garrett lived in a different region of the state, on a ranch he’d told her had been in his family for generations. He had deep roots there. Maybe even a girlfriend by now. Arden didn’t plan to repay the kindness he’d done her by upending his existence. They’d used birth control during their night together, and the news that it had failed would most likely be an unwelcome shock.
It had taken her weeks to process the news that she was expecting, but she knew firsthand that life was precious. She chose to see conceiving this baby as a miracle. Her miracle.
* * *
GARRETT FROST HELD his parents in the highest regard. An only child, he worked alongside his father running the Double F Ranch and was impressed with the man’s drive and integrity. Garrett’s mother, the one who’d spent many afternoons giving him advice in their kitchen while she baked, had always been wise and articulate. So why, today, had Caroline Frost lost the ability to string together a coherent sentence? Ever since the restaurant hostess had seated Garrett and Caroline at a small booth, she’d been spluttering disjointed, half-finished thoughts.
“Breathe, Momma.” He took the breadbasket out of her hand. As jittery as she was, she was about to send the rolls flying to the floor. He gave her a cajoling smile. “You wanna tell me why you’re as nervous as a kitten in a dog pound?”
Her gray eyes clouded with worry. “You’ve always hated surprises,” she muttered. “Not that it’s your fault if you take this badly! Anyone would.... I don’t— Lord, I’ve messed this up before I even started. But I don’t know how to make it better. Easier to hear.”
Okay. Now he was nervous. Garrett waved away the approaching waitress. Something was very wrong. He doubted his mom wanted an audience for whatever she needed to explain. Although, if she had something personal and difficult to tell him, why had she suggested going to a restaurant?
They could have easily had a conversation in his parents’ main house or in the luxurious cabin Garrett had built on the back forty. The most logical explanation for her dragging him this far from home was so they could speak freely without any risk of his father overhearing. Was something wrong with him? Long, arduous days of ranch work could take a toll, and Brandon wasn’t getting any younger. But his father was direct to a fault. If there was bad news to be delivered, he would have told Garrett himself, not delegated the job to someone else.
“Momma, is everything all right with you?” he asked slowly. “Is there some irregular test result or something I should know about?”
“With me? I’m fit as a fiddle.” But she’d gone completely pale.
“Oh, God. Then it is Dad?”
Caroline did something he hadn’t witnessed since the day of his high school graduation. She burst into tears. “No. And y-yes. Your father’s quite ill. B-but it’s not wh-wh-what you think.” Taking deep gulping breaths, she clutched the edge of the table in a visible effort to regain her composure. “I’m so sorry. Brandon isn’t your father.”
* * *
GARRETT PUNCHED UP the volume on the music in his truck, but it was pointless. Not even the loudest rock and roll could drown out his tumultuous thoughts. He pounded his fist on the steering wheel, rage rising in him like a dark tide. Tangible enough to drown him.
For the first day after his mother’s avalanche of revelations, he’d been too numb to feel anything. Once emotion rushed in, he’d realized he had to get away from the ranch. Away from her. She’d had thirty years to tell the truth but had never said a word—not to him and not to the man he’d always believed was his father. Now she’d made Garrett an unwilling accomplice in keeping her adulterous secret. “I swear it was only the one time,” she’d sobbed. “A lifetime ago. Confessing my sins to Brandon might ease my conscience, but why wound him like that?”
Her single indiscretion had been with a longtime family friend, recently hospitalized Will Harlow. Complications from Will’s diabetes had irreparably damaged his kidneys. Though his condition was currently stable, renal failure was inevitable. Without a kidney transplant, his prognosis was grim. Caroline insisted they couldn’t tell Brandon now. “If Will died with animosity between them, your father would never forgive himself!”
How had Brandon remained oblivious to the truth for all these years? He was an intuitive man. Certainly perceptive enough that he would notice the awful tension between his wife and son. So Garrett impulsively announced that he was spending Labor Day weekend with Hugh Connor.
“I don’t know exactly when I’ll be back,” Garrett had warned his dad. “With calving season behind us and time before we need to make winter preparations, can you spare me?”
Brandon had readily agreed that he and their hired hands could cover everything, adding that Garrett didn’t seem himself and maybe a week of R & R was just what the doctor ordered. Garrett’s sole motivation had been escape; he hadn’t consciously chosen Cielo Peak as his destination. Had he named the town because he knew it wouldn’t sound suspicious, his visiting an old friend?
Or was he lured by the heated memories of a glorious night spent with Arden Cade?
Their encounter had left such an impression it was haunting. She appeared in his dreams at random intervals. He’d developed a fondness for brunettes and had caught himself unintentionally comparing a date to her. Over the summer, while packing for an annual weekend with some cousins, he’d discovered Arden’s note stuck to the lining of his suitcase. I’ll never forget you. Was that sentiment invitation enough to look her up while he was in town?
She was a beautiful woman, and over six months had passed. Even if she still resided in Cielo Peak, there was likely a man in her life. Unless, like Garrett, she was between relationships? Maybe he could casually broach the subject with Hugh.
When Garrett had phoned his friend, it had been to ask for suggestions of a not-too-touristy rental cabin that wouldn’t already be booked for the holiday weekend. He hadn’t actually planned to stay with Hugh and Darcy, who were practically newlyweds. Learning of his mom’s infidelity had soured Garrett’s opinion of wedded bliss, and he doubted he’d be great company. But Hugh was stubborn. Besides, Garrett secretly questioned whether too much time alone with his thoughts was healthy. After all, he was having trouble surviving just the drive, battered by emotional debris from Caroline’s bombshell.
He fiddled with the radio dials again, trading his MP3 playlist for a radio station. A twangy singer with a guitar droned on about his misfortunes. You think you have problems, pal?
Garrett faced not only bitter disillusionment about the woman who raised him and unwilling participation in her long-term deception, but also a monumental medical decision.
Despite Caroline’s emphatic vows that her fling with Will was an isolated event, that they didn’t harbor any romantic feelings for each other, the man had never fallen in love with anyone else. He’d remained a bachelor with no children. Garrett was his best hope for a close match and voluntary organ donation, which would drastically shorten the wait.
“I know you need to think about this,” his mother had told him. “No one wants you to rush a decision.” But they both knew Will didn’t have forever.
If Garrett agreed, would he feel as if he were betraying his father? If he said no, was it the same as sentencing a man to die?
He was mired in anger and pain and confusion. Little wonder, then, that his mind kept turning to that night he’d shared with Arden, the perfect satisfaction he’d experienced. Right now, it was difficult to imagine he’d ever feel that purely happy again.
Chapter Three
Arden sighed wistfully at the seafood counter. “I miss shrimp.”
“Throw some in.” Justin indicated the grocery cart he was pushing for her. “How about this? I’ll pay if you’ll cook.” Even with the holiday sales price, it was a generous offer. Since ski season hadn’t started, he was scraping by on a reduced off-season salary working for a local ambulance service.
After a moment of letting herself be tempted, she shook her head. “Nah, I’ve read warnings that pregnant women should avoid shellfish. Skipping them completely might be overreacting, but I really want to do this right, you know?”
She rarely missed her mom, having been so young when Rebecca Cade died, but she sure could use a woman who’d experienced the wonder and worry of impending motherhood. Her only living aunt who’d had children was well over sixty, her memories of pregnancy and childbirth hazy and outdated. Arden hesitated to take advice from a woman who’d chain-smoked and enjoyed cocktail hour through all three trimesters. Cousin Rick never had seemed quite right in the head.
Arden changed the subject, eyeing her brother curiously. “You know, you’ve been hanging around an awful lot lately. Does this sudden fascination with helping me have anything to do with missing Elisabeth?” Though Justin’s relationships never lasted long, Arden thought she’d sensed genuine regret after his most recent breakup—and not only because he missed the job as hiking guide and first-aid administrator at the lodge Elisabeth’s family owned.
“What? No. I barely think about her. You’re the one who keeps bringing her up!”
I am? Arden wracked her brain, trying to recall the last time she’d mentioned Elisabeth Donnelly.
“I’m giving up my Sunday afternoon because you shouldn’t be lifting things,” he added virtuously. “What would you have done if I hadn’t been here to grab the pallet of bottled water?”
“Um, asked any one of the numerous stock boys for assistance?”
He shoved a hand through his dark brown hair. “Humor me, okay? I have two siblings I care the world about, and one of them, I don’t have a clue how to help.”
So he was overcompensating by lending a hand with her menial errands? That she could believe.
“Besides,” Justin drawled, “being such a good brother makes me look all sensitive and whatever to any single ladies we encounter. Major attraction points.”
On behalf of women everywhere, she socked him in the shoulder. “You go to the freezer section and get us an enormous tub of vanilla ice cream. I’ll grab caramel and chocolate syrup.”
“And some straw—”
“Of course strawberry syrup for you,” she added. There was no accounting for taste. “Then we’ll need bananas. Meet me in produce, okay? I’ll make chef salads for dinner and sundaes for dessert.”
He turned to go, then hesitated. “Should we invite Colin to join us? Granted, he’s not exactly Mr. Fun these days, but...”
“I’ll call him,” Arden promised. “But you know he’ll probably decline. Again.”
“If the situation were reversed, he wouldn’t give up on either of us. Maybe it would help if you pick up some of those minimarshmallows for the sundaes. He’s a sucker for those.”
“Minimarshmallows?” she echoed skeptically. “That’s our plan?”
Justin shrugged. “Hey, we all have our weaknesses.”
* * *
GARRETT WHEELED THE shopping cart into the produce section, absently navigating as he consulted Darcy’s grocery list. He’d asked her to let him do the supermarket run as a way to pay the Connors back for room and board. It was more diplomatic than saying he needed a break from the doting couple.
Conversation between Garrett and Hugh had been uncharacteristically stilted. Garrett wanted to confide in his friend but hadn’t quite worked up the courage. It felt disloyal to tell anyone what Caroline had done, and it rocked Garrett’s sense of identity to admit Brandon wasn’t his father. He’d never said the words aloud, and they were harder than he’d expected.
The other potential topic of discussion Garrett wrestled with was Arden Cade. He’d started to ask about her half a dozen times, but stopped himself. After their intimate night together, she’d left without saying goodbye. That seemed like a strong indicator that she wasn’t expecting to see him again.
Blinking, Garrett whipped his head around in a double take. A dark-haired woman in his peripheral vision had triggered his notice. You’re pitiful. Just because he’d been thinking of Arden, now random shoppers looked like her?
Or, maybe... Could it actually be Arden? The long fall of shiny brown hair was familiar. He could recall its silky texture between his fingers. Given the crappy week he was having, had fate decided it owed him a favor? He hadn’t figured out a casual way to look her up, but he couldn’t be blamed for a chance encounter.
Steering toward her, he asked hopefully, “Arden?”
“Yes?” She smiled over her shoulder but froze in recognition, his name on her lips so soft he saw it rather than heard it. “Garrett.”
He couldn’t believe she was here—and even more beautiful than he remembered. Her cheeks were rosy, her aquamarine eyes bright and lively. He couldn’t recall noticing a woman’s skin before, but Arden’s creamy complexion beckoned him to touch her.
Garrett realized two things at once: he was staring, and she didn’t look happy to see him. Then he came up alongside her, getting his first real look at her profile, and had a startling third revelation. Arden Cade was pregnant.
It wasn’t immediately obvious until one saw her stomach. She seemed to be carrying the baby completely in front. From behind, other than the curve of her hips, there hadn’t been— Good Lord. He was ogling a pregnant woman.
He swallowed. “So. How’ve you been?” He punctuated his question with a wry glance at her abdomen. He knew nothing about pregnancy. His understanding was that women didn’t show for a few weeks, although Arden was slim enough that perhaps it was more obvious on her than it would have been on someone else. He had no real sense of whether she was four months along or eight.
That was a sobering thought. Was there a chance she’d already been carrying when they’d made love? The possibility upset him beyond any rational justification.
“I, uh...” Her eyes cut to the side, as if she were seeking help. Or scoping exit routes. “It’s good to see you.”
Wow, are you a bad liar, sweetheart. “You’re obviously busy.” He gestured to the bananas she’d been perusing. “I won’t keep you. I’m staying in town with the Connors for a few days, and when I saw you there, I thought I’d say hi.”
The tension in her shoulders eased fractionally. “Hi.” She managed a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Arden? Is there a problem here?” A broad-shouldered man approached, his tone possessive as he practically rammed his cart between Arden and Garrett. He was a tall son of a gun, even had an inch or two of height on Garrett.
“No problem, Justin. Except that I’m...feeling sick.” Her progressively ashen color backed up her claim. She dropped the produce bag she’d been holding into the cart. “Get me home. I can come back later for anything we missed.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll come back.” When he glanced at her, Justin’s features softened. But the glare he aimed at Garrett was flinty with suspicion.
Garrett’s stomach dropped. He’d known there was a good chance Arden would be involved with someone. So why was his disappointment at being right so keenly bitter?
Wait a minute. His eyes narrowed, and he met Justin’s unblinking stare. Those blue-green eyes were a lot like Arden’s. And the thick brown hair they both shared? Arden’s was streaked with honey and gold, while the man’s was more like coffee grounds, but the resemblance was unmistakable.
A broad grin stretched across Garrett’s face. “Is this your brother?”
“Damn right.” The man took a step forward. “And you are...?”
“Justin, please.” Arden’s voice trembled. “I have to get out of here.”
“Right. Sorry. Let’s go.”
With a hasty, departing wave from Arden, they were gone. Garrett stood there, bemused.
Had she truly been unhappy to see him, or did her not feeling well explain her behavior and the grimace she’d tried to cover? At first, he’d thought her skittish demeanor was due to the awkwardness of running into a fling while her significant other was nearby, but that wasn’t the case. Maybe he’d misread the situation entirely.
But as he began piling groceries into the buggy, he conjured her face again. He could have sworn the emotion he’d seen in her eyes was...fear. Why on earth would Arden be scared of him?
* * *
“GREAT DINNER,” GARRETT complimented his hostess. Personally, he’d been too preoccupied to taste a bite of the meal, but Hugh had wolfed down his roast beef with gusto, so Garrett felt reasonably sure of his statement.
Darcy Connor, Hugh’s pretty blonde wife, beamed from across the kitchen table. Her gregarious nature seemed at odds with the cliché image of a part-time librarian. “Lavish praise, doing the shopping for me—when word gets out about you, my single girlfriends are going to be lining up at the front door.”
“Since you cooked, we can do the dishes,” Hugh volunteered.
“Another time.” She shooed them out of the kitchen. “Garrett just got here yesterday. You still have lots of catching up to do.”
“Isn’t she terrific?” Hugh asked adoringly as they relocated to the living room. He grabbed a television remote from the side pocket in his recliner, flipping through channels until he found a college football game. “If you’d told me when I was a freckled, fifteen-year-old comic book collector that I could get a woman like that to marry me...”
Garrett snorted. “You were also six feet tall and the team quarterback.” His auburn-haired friend might well have freckles and an interest in superheroes, but he hadn’t spent his teenage years lonely. “As I recall, you went to senior proms at three separate high schools.”
Hugh grinned. “Did I? Before Darcy, it’s all a blur. What about you, man? You had a pretty active social life, too. I was surprised you didn’t bring anyone to the wedding.”
Boy, would that night have ended differently. A month prior to the wedding, he’d been dating a woman he’d planned to take to the ceremony, but they’d ended things when she got a job offer that took her to the east coast.
“Speaking of your wedding,” Garrett said with studied nonchalance, “I never got to see how the photos turned out. Isn’t there an album or something?”
“Darcy,” he called to his wife, “you have a willing victim here. Garrett asked to see wedding pictures.” Turning back to Garrett, he added, “Narrating our photos is one of her favorite hobbies, up there with bird-watching and snowboarding. I warn you, the collection is massive. There’s the professional album our photographer put together, then the one Darcy crammed full of everything from wedding shower pics to the honeymoon.”
“I remember the photographer,” Garrett said. Understatement of the year—she was seared into his memory like a brand. “Arden, right?”
Hugh smirked. “Why, you looking for a photographer? Maybe planning to have some of those glamorized portraits done? You’d look pretty spiffy in a sequined cowboy hat.”
“I think I ran into her at the grocery store earlier. The woman I saw was pregnant?”
“That’s her, Arden Cade.” Hugh clucked his tongue. “Poor kid. Being a single mom can’t be easy under the best of circumstances, much less with gossips buzzing about the dad.”
Garrett leaned forward on the couch. “Why? Who’s the dad?”
“It’s a big mystery. Far as anyone knew, she wasn’t seeing anyone. Maybe it was a long-distance relationship with an out-of-town guy. People were shocked when she turned up pregnant and even more shocked those two brothers of hers didn’t march the dude responsible into a shotgun wedding.”
The fear he’d seen on Arden’s face today flashed through his mind, and a completely insane thought struck him. He was an out-of-town guy. They’d used condoms, but those weren’t effective one hundred percent of the time, were they? He’d heard stories.
“Out of...” His throat was so dry he had to try again. “Out of curiosity, do you know how far along she is?”
Hugh regarded him suspiciously but didn’t challenge the bizarre question. “Hey, Darce? You have any idea how far along Arden is in her pregnancy?”
Darcy appeared in the doorway between rooms, drying her hands on a green-and-yellow-checkered towel. “Around six months, maybe? She said she’s due the week of Thanksgiving.”
Garrett’s blood froze. Six months.
No, he was crazy to contemplate it. It was unfathomable that the woman who had been so open and expressive beneath him would keep a secret of this magnitude, cruelly excluding him. She knew he was friends with the Connors and could have found him easily. She could have called, emailed, sent a telegram—something! This was just his imagination running wild.
The unpleasant combination of newfound cynicism and sleepless nights had colored his judgment. The odds that Arden was pregnant by him... They’d used condoms, and they’d only been together one night.
Then again, Garrett himself was living proof that once was all it took.
* * *
“LAYLA, I AM IN trouble.” Arden leaned back in the leather office chair, resenting the way it creaked. She hadn’t gained that much weight. “Deep, deep trouble.”
“Don’t panic,” her friend counseled over the phone. The words of wisdom were somewhat muffled around a bite of sandwich. In response to Arden’s frantic text that morning, Layla was taking her lunch break in her car, away from the curious ears of students or fellow teachers.
“But he’s here! Why is he here?”
“Um, didn’t you say you met him because he was in town for a good friend’s wedding? Makes sense that he’d occasionally visit said friend. The part I can’t believe is that you saw him Sunday, yet waited until Tuesday to let me know.”
“Because I spent yesterday in denial,” Arden mumbled. She’d never been comfortable discussing her night with Garrett. It had felt so private, something meant only to be between them. Maybe if she’d known Layla back then, or if Natalie had still been alive... “Am I being punished for having a one-night stand? Am I a bad person?”
“Don’t start pinning those scarlet A’s on your maternity clothes just yet. The fact that you’d only been with two men up until then is pretty solid evidence you’re not a tramp.”
“No, the fact that there had only been two previous lovers in my life is evidence that I have very large, very overprotective brothers,” Arden said without rancor. Her brothers’ local influence had probably helped prevent some impulsive mistakes in her teens. She nervously twisted the cord on the phone. “I think Justin suspects Garrett is the father. What if Garrett suspects as much?” So many emotions had rampaged through her when she’d seen him. She hadn’t exactly maintained a poker face.
“Did he give you any reason to think that?”
“Not really. He was making small talk. I was busy freaking out.”
“Then let’s not borrow trouble,” Layla advised. “Are you going to—”
“Oops, work beckons,” Arden interrupted as the door to her studio swung open. “Maybe we can meet for dinner?”
“I don’t know. I’ve got a stack of practice tests I have to grade so I can figure out how much my students forgot over the summer and plan accordingly. But give me a few hours to talk myself into it, and I’ll text you later.”
Arden disconnected, calling out, “Be with you in a second.”
Over the summer, Layla had acted briefly as receptionist, but for the most part, Arden had always run a one-woman shop. She didn’t get many random drop-ins. Customers usually called or emailed to schedule an appointment or, in the case of big events, to ask preliminary questions and do price comparisons.
Coming around the edge of her desk, she steadied herself with her hand. She was constantly readjusting to her ever-changing center of gravity.
“Hope I’m not interrupting your work.” That smooth deep voice was exactly the same as it had been the first time he’d spoken to her, sending tremors through her body. Garrett Frost stood in the center of her reception area, cowboy hat in hand, an unreadable expression on his face.
Adrenaline surged, making her head swim. “Garrett.” Her hands moved reflexively to cover the baby bump. That happened a lot lately when she was apprehensive.
He misinterpreted the protective gesture. “If you’re trying to hide that you’re expecting, it’s a little late.”
“I...I...” Say something. Preferably something intelligent. “Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
It wasn’t until he shook his head that she realized she hadn’t brewed any. She’d given it up during the pregnancy and hadn’t been expecting clients for another few hours. Thank goodness he hadn’t taken her up on the offer—her pride balked at the idea of making herself seem more ridiculous. She hadn’t exactly been articulate at the grocery store.
“I’m sorry I was rude the other day,” she said. “You took me by surprise. It was a shock, running in to you there.”
“You weren’t the only one stunned,” he said pointedly. His gaze dropped before returning to her face.
“So, uh, how’d you find my office? Did your friend Hugh mention I was in this shopping center? I hope he and his wife are doing well.” Her pulse was racing, and she heard her babbled words as though from a distance.
“Actually, I looked you up myself. Knowing your name and that you owned a photography studio was enough. It’s not difficult to find someone, if you bother to look.” His gray eyes were like thunderclouds. “If, for instance, a woman needed to locate a man, even one in a different town. I don’t think there are many Garrett Frosts who are part owners of Colorado cattle ranches, but maybe I’m wrong. What do you think, Arden?”
She swallowed, knowing that his real question had nothing to do with addresses or phone books. He was asking if his suspicions were accurate, and she couldn’t bring herself to answer. There was a huge difference between not tracking down a man to deliver life-altering news he probably didn’t want to hear and actually lying to his face.
He took a step closer. “You seemed so startled to see me the other day. Terrified, as a matter of fact.”
Feeling cornered, she took deep breaths, trying to lower her elevated blood pressure.
“Maybe I’m completely off base,” he continued, “but extenuating circumstances have made me more distrustful than I used to be. If I’m wrong, you can laugh at me or indignantly cuss me out. But tell me the truth, Arden. Are you carrying my child?”
Chapter Four
Garrett had mentally rehearsed different ways this confrontation could play out—from her scoffing at his ludicrous accusation to her tearfully confessing all and begging his forgiveness. But he hadn’t imagined her collapsing.
Her eyes rolled upward and she crumpled in on herself.
“Arden!”
He bolted toward her with just enough time to get his arms around her before she fell. What was he thinking, intimidating a pregnant woman? What if he’d caused harm to her or the baby? He lowered himself to the floor awkwardly, supporting her weight as he cradled her against his chest.
She blinked up at him, and it was such a relief to see those blue-green eyes open. At least she was conscious, although her chest rose and fell with alarmingly rapid exhalations. “G-Gar—”
“Shhh. Catch your breath first.” He stroked her hair back from her pale face, feeling like an ogre. If he was right about the baby, then Arden owed him a major apology, but no matter how angry he was, he never would have deliberately hurt her.
She raised one shaky hand to press against her heart, her expression pained. “Water?”
He shrugged out of the lightweight denim jacket he’d been wearing, rolling it up as a makeshift pillow beneath her head. There was a water dispenser in the corner of the room, and he half filled a paper cup. “You have a history of fainting?” he asked. Maybe if this was something that happened routinely, he wouldn’t feel like such a bastard.
“Only twice.” She sipped her water, her words halting. “Overheated camping. Blacked out another time. When...I got bad news.”
He wasn’t sure whether this technically counted as fainting—had she lost consciousness completely? Was there a chance it would happen again when she was alone? “Should we get you to a doctor?”
She bit her lip, still struggling to breathe normally. “Probab— Probably overkill, but... The baby.” Her eyes filled with tears, the palpable fear in her gaze knifing through him.
“Better safe than sorry.” He helped her to her feet, noting her rocky balance.
“We have to lock up,” she said. “Keys in my purse. Second desk drawer.”
He got everything she asked for, then helped her out to the truck. She leaned against the seat, eyes closed. There was a lot they needed to say to each other, but it was challenge enough for her to give him rudimentary directions to the hospital.
The emergency room was fairly empty on a Tuesday afternoon. A mother sat in the far corner trying to coax a little girl to stop crying, and a burly man watched a daytime talk show with one eye while holding some kind of compress over the other. The blonde nurse working the admissions counter gasped softly when she spotted Garrett and Arden.
“Arden! You okay, hon?”
“Probably. I feel silly being here, but I think I fainted. Heart beating too fast, got dizzy...”
“Then you did the right thing by coming in.” The blonde eyed Garrett with blatant curiosity but didn’t ask who he was. “You two have a seat and fill out the forms on this clipboard. Oh, and this one for Obstetrics.” She passed over a pale green sheet of paper.
Garrett caught sight of a long list of questions. None seemed as crucial as the one looming in his mind. Who the hell is the father?
“Need any help with those?” he offered.
“No!” Arden clutched the paperwork to her chest, not meeting his eyes. “I got it.”
They sat down and she fumbled through her purse, retrieving her license and insurance card. Her hands were shaky as she muttered, “Damn, I hate hospitals.”
He’d never thought much about them one way or the other. It occurred to him that Will Harlow could be in a hospital bed at this very moment, praying that his biological son agreed to give up a kidney.
Fury filled him, resentment at the secrets that had been kept. He struggled to keep his voice soft, nonthreatening. “Arden, you owe me an answer.” At least here, if she became overwrought by his questioning, there were medical professionals twenty feet away.
“I know.” She turned to him, the tears shimmering in her apologetic gaze an unmistakable reply. Still, he couldn’t quite force himself to accept the truth until she added out loud, “It’s you. You’re the baby’s father.”
Garrett hadn’t thought he could ever be more shocked than when he’d learned about his mother and Will. He’d been wrong. I’m a dad? If he hadn’t retreated to Cielo Peak to cope with the last bombshell a lying woman had dropped on him, he never would have known.
He clenched his fists against his thighs. “What were you planning to tell the kid? Children should know who their fathers are!”
The clipboard trembled in her grasp. “To be honest, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I was already a couple of months pregnant by the time I realized what had happened, and the discovery was mind-blowing. I needed time to adjust.”
He knew the feeling. But he was too angry to sympathize.
“Garrett, I—”
“Someone from Obstetrics is on the way down with a wheelchair.” The blonde admissions nurse walked toward them. “They’ll get you in a real room instead of one of these E.R. cubicles, probably put you on a fetal monitor for an hour or so to make sure the baby’s not in distress. Ask you some questions, maybe take some blood, check for anemia. You want me to contact either of your brothers, hon?”
“No! The last thing Colin needs is another phone call from a hospital E.R.,” Arden said adamantly. “And I figure calling Justin would be awkward for you.”
“You mean because he dumped me?” the woman asked with a wry smile. She seemed more amused than heartbroken. “Don’t worry, I knew what I was getting into with that one. It was fun while it lasted. Talking to him won’t upset me, I promise. Would you like him to be here?”
“Not unless I’m going to need the ride.” Arden slid a questioning glance in Garrett’s direction. “Are you planning to stick around?”
He folded his arms over his chest, smiling for the nurse’s benefit. “You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried, sweetheart.”
* * *
ARDEN STUDIED THE ceiling intently, as if the answers to her problems might magically be found in the speckled tiles overhead. She’d gained a momentary reprieve when Garrett stepped out of the room so she could change, but he’d be knocking on the door any second. She hadn’t missed his smirk when she’d asked for the privacy—after all, he’d already seen her naked. That was how they’d landed in this mess.
“Not that I think you’re making a mess of my life,” she whispered guiltily, as if the baby had heard her tormented thoughts. Arden was plenty grateful for her child. She was just second-guessing her decision to raise the child alone, Garrett none the wiser. But I am alone. She and Garrett had no real history or future. How was she going to share the most precious thing in her life with a man she barely knew?
Instead of knocking, Garrett cracked the door open a quarter of an inch, calling out before entering. “You decent in there?”
In a thin piece of fabric that tied behind her and left most of her back exposed? Hardly. “Close enough, I guess.”
He strolled into the room, filling it with his size. Having grown up with brothers, she normally found the presence of a strong man comfortingly familiar. But now trepidation rippled through her. Her brothers had never been as furious with her as Garrett seemed.
She expected him to interrogate her about the baby, but he surprised her. “That nurse downstairs—” he began.
“Sonja.”
“She asked about your brothers. Not your parents?”
Arden kneaded the hospital blanket that covered her lap. “They’re both dead. My brothers are pretty much all I have.”
“Two of them, right? Colin and Justin?” At her nod, he continued. “Is this why Justin looked like he wanted to put his fist through my face at the grocery store—because I got you pregnant?”
“I think...” She averted her gaze. “I’m not sure what he picked up on between us, but I think he suspects you’re the dad. He couldn’t know for sure, though. I never told anyone who the father was.”
“No kidding.” Despite his soft tone, the biting sarcasm in his voice made her flinch.
“Garrett, I’m sorry. I—”
“Don’t!” This time, he wasn’t soft-spoken at all. Even he looked taken aback by the vehement outburst. He cleared his throat. “I’ve heard that particular phrase far more than any man should in one week. Enough already.”
She frowned. Someone besides her had reason to apologize to him? Whoever it was should feel grateful to Arden—it was doubtful anyone else’s transgression topped hers.
Garrett paced the room. Although he might have regained verbal control, forcing himself to sound calm, he couldn’t mask the tension radiating from his body. “So is there a specific reason you hate hospitals? You mentioned Colin and emergency rooms. Did—”
“Knock, knock!” The cheerful voice preceded a gray-haired doctor poking his head inside the room. “I’m Dr. Wallace. I hear we’re having some dizziness and tachycardia today?”
Why did doctors speak in plural like that, Arden wondered, as if using the royal we? “Does tachycardia mean my heart tried to pound through my chest?” she asked wearily.
“It’s when your heart beats abnormally fast, yes. There are several reasons it can happen during pregnancy.” Dr. Wallace went over the possibilities while looking at the vitals the nurse had collected. Then he checked the baby’s heartbeat. “Just a precaution, of course. We have no reason to think anything’s wrong with the little guy. Or gal.”
Arden had grown accustomed to the use of fetal dopplers in her OB appointments and the reassuring whoosh-whoosh sound, but she’d forgotten this was Garrett’s first time. He went completely still, the restless anger that had been palpable a few minutes ago fading into wonderment. His eyes widened.
“That’s the heartbeat?” he asked reverently. “It’s fast.”
“Well within the standard range,” Dr. Wallace assured them. But as Nurse Sonja had predicted, the doctor wanted to monitor Arden and the baby for some readings before letting them leave the hospital. He pushed Arden’s gown up farther, the preliminary gel a cool tickle against her skin.
Although the sheet on the hospital bed kept her lower half covered, embarrassment heated her face. The last time Garrett had seen her unclothed, she’d looked a lot different than she did now.
When she was younger, Arden had stayed in shape by trying to keep up with her two athletic brothers. She’d been trim most of her life, and grief after Natalie’s and Danny’s deaths had robbed her of her appetite. Since her pregnancy had begun to show, she’d often felt awkward, but never fat—a growing baby was a healthy one. At the moment, however, vanity reared its head. Would Garrett be repulsed by her swollen body?
Why should you care if he is? Their night together had been amazing, but it had also been a one-time occurrence. It wasn’t as if she wanted him to find her attractive. Even if she did, she suspected not contacting him about the baby had forever tarnished her in Garrett’s eyes.
Within moments, the doctor had the sensors in place. “You try to relax, young lady, and I’ll be back to check on you later. Meanwhile, I’ll have the nurse bring you some water. It’s important to stay hydrated.”
All too soon, he was gone, leaving her and Garrett alone once more.
“You want to have a seat?” she offered. It was a small room, and the only chair would put him in uncomfortably close proximity to her. Yet almost anything seemed preferable to his earlier pacing. His taut strides made her think of caged predators.
He sat, but kept shifting position, obviously ill-at-ease. “Have you, um, had other problems during the pregnancy? Everything okay with you and the baby?”
“The doctors say everything’s normal, even my being sick as a dog well into the second trimester.” But she worried sometimes. It was frustrating to wake up with a sharp pain at three in the morning and have no one she could talk to about her fears. Early on, she’d posted a question to an online forum for soon-to-be-mothers. Despite a couple of helpful responses, the possibility of misinformation and the discovery that some people were far too willing to share horror stories had kept her from doing so again. “Apparently nausea can be a good sign that the baby’s nice and strong. Plus, my being too sick to run the office alone led to hiring Layla, and she became a good friend. I...needed a friend.”
Did Garrett hear the ache in her voice, the echo of solitude that had plagued her for so many months? What he’d said down in the emergency room was true. She did owe him answers. Starting with the night they’d met.
“My brother Colin married my best friend several years ago,” she said haltingly. “Natalie and I had been best friends since kindergarten, the year my mom died. Colin’s a great guy, but he’s always had too much responsibility. He rarely laughed. Natalie changed that. She changed him. He doted on her and their baby boy. But then Nat and Danny were killed in a car accident.”
Garrett watched her silently, obviously unsure what to do with this information but not interrupting.
“It destroyed Colin and devastated me. The day your friend Hugh got married? That was Natalie’s birthday, the first one I didn’t get to spend with her as far back as I could remember. I was in a lot of pain that day. Meeting you was about the best thing that could happen to me. You were...” She broke off, assailed by memories that seemed excruciatingly intimate with him sitting only inches from her side. He’d been by turns tender and passionate, driving her need to such a sharp peak that there’d been no room in her for any other emotion.
On sheer impulse, she reached over and squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”
He looked taken aback. “Uh, my pleasure.”
“Having a baby was the furthest thing from my mind,” she added. “At first I was too shocked to be scared or happy. But I’ve been around death, too much of it, and the idea of bringing a new life into the world... This may sound insane to you, but it almost felt like a goodbye present from Natalie. Some sort of cosmic full circle.”
“And there wasn’t room in that circle for anyone else?” He abandoned his chair in favor of resumed pacing.
Six months ago, he’d helped heal her hurting. The last thing in the world she wanted was to wound him. Another apology hovered on the tip of her tongue, but she recalled his hostile reaction to her previous attempt.
“I hardly knew anything about you,” she reminded him. “I tried to imagine how my brother Justin would react if he discovered, completely out of the blue, that a near stranger was carrying his child. It was daunting. By the time the nausea and confusion subsided, months had passed. You could have had a serious girlfriend, plans for the future I would be ruining! Telling you seemed like too big a risk. After a lot of sleepless nights, I decided it would be best for my child to have no father than one who might resent it.”
He stopped his pacing and stared her down. “So you were protecting both me and the baby by keeping the news to yourself?” His chuckle was like broken glass. “I wonder if all mothers have this gift for rationalizing dishonesty.”
All mothers?
The slight knock at the door made them both jump, and a nurse entered with a pitcher of ice water and some plastic-wrapped cups. She drew up short, her smile fading as she registered the tension in the room.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” she said hesitantly. “Dr. Wallace asked me to bring some water.”
Garrett nodded his head at her, making a visible effort not to appear intimidating. “Much appreciated, ma’am.”
The nurse smiled at him before asking Arden, “Is there anything else you need?”
Yeah, a do-over button. Or, barring that, the words that would make Garrett understand what she’d been feeling, her belief that she was making the right decision for all three of them. What were the odds that the hospital stocked second chances and forgiveness alongside the antibiotics and lime Jell-O?
* * *
AFTER HER RELEASE from the hospital, Arden had tried to talk Garrett into driving her back to her car. “You can follow me home if you’re worried about me,” she’d proposed. But he’d categorically refused. Now, as she struggled to keep her eyes open, she found herself grateful for his inflexibility. If anyone had asked her a few hours ago, she would have sworn the day’s events had left her too shaken to sleep for a week. But one of the periodic side effects of pregnancy was a full-body fatigue so encompassing it bordered on paralysis.
By the time Garrett pulled his truck into her driveway, the September sun was dipping below the horizon.
“This is it.” She smothered a yawn. “Home sweet home.” In terms of square footage, the cozy two-bedroom house was actually smaller than her former apartment. But once she’d learned she was pregnant, she’d wanted to own something, a place that was all hers. Mine and the baby’s.
Besides, while walking up three flights of stairs every day might have been one of the lifestyle choices that helped keep her in shape, it would be more difficult to navigate while carrying boxes of diapers and an infant car seat. She’d traded all those steps for a neatly fenced-in postage stamp of a yard. Did it look sad and despondent to a rancher who was used to the open range, hundreds of acres of pastureland where cattle grazed beneath the Colorado sky? Based on Garrett’s grudgingly solicitous manner, from not leaving her side at the hospital to not letting her get behind the wheel, she wouldn’t be surprised if he insisted on walking her inside. Would he judge the meager surroundings inadequate for his child?
“This is a really good school district,” she blurted.
He quirked an eyebrow at the spontaneous announcement.
Her face warmed. “Just thinking ahead.” By five years, plus or minus. Even though she might not be living here when it came time for the baby to go to kindergarten, she was doing her best to make all the right decisions.
She slanted a glance at Garrett’s stony profile. Ironically, she may have already botched her biggest parenting decision thus far.
As he helped her down from the truck, she couldn’t help noting that his hand was warm and callused. How did a man with labor-roughened skin caress a woman with such silky gentleness? The way he’d touched her— Whoa. Where had that memory come from? She shook her head as if she could physically dislodge the mental image.
He frowned. “Everything okay? You look flushed.”
“Pregnancy comes with a lot of weird side effects.” Like hormones in hyperdrive. Mostly, those hormones had manifested themselves in very vivid, very detailed dreams that made her blush the next morning. One of the more anecdotal pregnancy books had mentioned the phenomenon, and the author advised women to enjoy the perk. But it was disquieting to experience that surge of lust in front of Garrett.
She yanked her hand out of his. When his expression grew even stormier, she tried to mitigate her action with a lame explanation. “I, ah, need to get my keys.” As she unlocked the front door, her stomach emitted an embarrassing rumble. Hunger ran a close second to exhaustion.
“I’m starving,” he commented. “Didn’t get around to eating lunch today.”
“Me neither.”
“Let’s get you situated and decide on a plan for food. Maybe I can whip up something for dinner.”
“I don’t know about that.” She stepped inside, flashing a sheepish glance over her shoulder. “My grocery shopping got cut short the other day. The kitchen’s not fully stocked.”
Should she mention the nearby pizza place that delivered? Would she be able to sit through a meal in Garrett’s presence, or would nerves keep her from eating? She appreciated how civil he was being, but the friction between them was as pointed as it had been when he strode into her office today. She was too drained to withstand much more.
Needing to get off her feet before she fell off them, she made a beeline for the ratty armchair she’d found at a rummage sale years ago. She’d had it steam-cleaned with the distant plan of someday reupholstering. Since she’d never gotten around to that part, the chair looked like blue-plaid hell, but it was inexplicably comfortable.
Garrett was slow to follow. After a moment, she realized he was examining the framed pictures on her wall.
“Did you take all of these?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Portraits of Justin and Colin were scattered among a jumble of other subjects, from a black-and-white shot of a stone well to a close-up of a light purple dahlia bud in midbloom. There was a landscape photo taking up too much space; she’d squeezed it in to replace the family picture of Colin with his wife and son that had been exiled to temporary storage in her closet.
“You’re very talented,” Garrett said. “Darcy and Hugh showed me their wedding album. They were thrilled with your work.”
She swallowed, briefly closing her eyes. “Do they know about the baby?” Had Garrett told them about how she’d jumped into bed with him, shared his suspicions that this baby was his? Lord, what they must think of her. “I mean, of course they know I’m pregnant, I’ve seen them in town. But do they know...?”
“That I’m a daddy? How the hell could I have told them when I didn’t even know?” he exploded. He began pacing, not that there was much more space here than he’d had in the hospital room. In a slightly calmer voice, he asked, “Does the idea of anyone knowing we were together bother you so much? I’ve never felt like a woman’s dirty secret before.”
“It’s not like that,” she said miserably. “It has nothing to do with you.” She recalled the pitying looks her teachers had given her after her father died, the local news stories after Natalie’s crash. She hated for anyone to have reason to talk about her and her family. But Garrett shouldn’t be penalized for her hang-ups.
He rubbed his temple absently. “It’s not as if your neighbors are gonna buy that the stork brought the baby. So who cares if they know it was me?”
“I’m handling this badly.” She sighed. “I’ve never...I’m pretty inexperienced.”
“You mean because you’re a first-time mom?”
“Inexperienced with men. And, um, sex in general.” At his startled look, she added, “I’d had sex before—just, infrequently. And only with long-term boyfriends I knew really, really well. I’m not ashamed of what happened between us. I’m just at a loss for... If I say ‘I’m sorry’ again, are you going to yell?”
His sudden grin was so unexpected and striking that it made her knees weak. Thank God I’m already sitting.
“No yelling,” he promised.
“Thank you. I am sorry. I don’t know what I’m doing.” There were manuals and chat rooms, even documentary-style television shows that revolved around pregnancy and birth. But none of them had outlined the protocol for how to weather whispered rumors, or break the news to appalled, overprotective brothers or how to cope with the gorgeous one-night stand you’d never expected to see again.
His smile faded. “If you’d told me the truth, maybe we could have figured it out together. For the record, since you broached the subject today, there’s no girlfriend, serious or otherwise.”
The declaration warmed her far more than it should have. Not because I’m interested in him romantically, but because I’d hate to complicate a third person’s life with all of this.
“Based on what Hugh said, can I safely assume there’s no guy in the picture?” he asked.
She almost laughed at the suggestion that she was dating anyone. How many men fantasized about meeting a gal who barfed for months on end, then began steadily swelling to the size of a beluga? The hint of vulnerability that flickered in Garrett’s gaze sobered her. Did he worry that someone else was poised to play the role of father to his child?
“No guy,” she said softly. Except you.
His tense shoulders lowered the merest fraction of an inch. There was relief and something less definable in his eyes. Possessiveness? Awareness sizzled through Arden, replacing her earlier lethargy with something more energetic. And far more complicated. Her voice caught in her throat.
Changing the subject, he clapped his palms together. “Point me in the direction of the kitchen. I’ll check out the dinner options.”
“I wasn’t kidding about rations being low.” She used the arms of the chair to hoist herself upward. “But I think we can manage salad and some grilled cheese sandwiches.”
As someone who lived alone, she wasn’t used to anyone else puttering around in her kitchen. Letting him wait on her would just be too weird. “Can I offer you something to drink? I don’t have any sodas or beer, but there’s lemonade or filtered water. I could brew some tea.”
“Lemonade sounds great.” He trailed her into the kitchen.
“I’ll get glasses. Lemonade’s in the fridge,” she directed. “And there should be some fruit salad left.”
He turned to the refrigerator but stopped when he caught sight of the sonogram photos secured with promotional magnets from the Donnelly ski lodge. The first picture was from so early in the pregnancy that the baby was a mere peanut-shaped blip; a circle the doctor had drawn in ink showed where the heart was. But the other pictures were from a recent appointment. It was easy to make out the baby’s head and profile.
“So, um, that’s the little guy. Figuratively speaking,” she clarified. “I have no idea what the gender is. I’ve decided to be surprised.” She’d had trouble explaining her decision to friends and family, but there had been enough ugly surprises in Arden’s life. Why not revel in one that was wonderful? “I’ve been calling the baby Peanut since I’m not sure what pronoun to use.”
Garrett traced his thumb lightly over the edge of a photo. “These are amazing. To have such a clear look at someone who’s not even... I’ve looked at bovine sonograms, but this—”
“Did you just compare pictures of our unborn child to those of cows?” she interrupted with mock indignation. Reaching around him, she pulled butter and cheese from the refrigerator.
He shrugged. “Hey, it’s the life I know. Sleep with a cowboy, you gotta expect the occasional livestock mention.”
“Good to know. I’ll keep that...” In mind for next time. The thoughtless words evaporated from her lips. Next time? With whom? Certainly not him.
For starters, her major lie of omission probably guaranteed there would never be anything tender between her and Garrett. That aside, romance of any kind had dropped completely off her list of priorities for the time being. She hoped that, eventually, she and Garrett could overcome the strain between them for their child’s sake, and develop a smooth, cordial relationship. Romantic entanglement was a risk that didn’t make sense. Long-distance dating was difficult under the best of circumstances, and if they braved a relationship, only to have it end badly... I’ll take ‘Ways to Make an Awkward Situation Even Worse’ for a thousand, Alex.
No, definitely not worth the gamble.
Casting about for a neutral topic, she placed buttered bread in the skillet. Since he’d made the joke about livestock, she decided that maybe his ranch was the safest subject.
“When you first told me what you do for a living,” she began, “you sounded like you really love it. Do you think you would have eventually found your way into ranching even if you hadn’t grown up surrounded by cattle and horses?”
He leaned against the kitchen counter, considering the question. “I honestly can’t say. It’s so much a part of who I am that I never gave any thought to another line of work. If I had to be cooped up inside an office like Hugh every day, I’d go stark raving mad. Running the Double F alongside my father... He’s a hell of a man. I always wanted to be—” He broke off, his jaw clenched. Tension lined his rugged face.
Was there conflict between Garrett and his dad? Arden flipped the cheese sandwiches, backtracking quickly. “What about your mom?” Her voice was too shrill with forced cheer, and she struggled to sound natural. “Are the two of you close?”
“Not currently.” He set the bowls of fruit salad on the table with a muted crash.
Strike two. “Any, uh, brothers? Sisters?”
“Only child.”
She chuckled bleakly. “You with no siblings, me with no parents. It’s like, between the two of us, we have enough puzzle pieces to make a whole family.”
“A family.” His expression darkened. “Maybe under different circumstances, we could have been. Maybe I would’ve known what it was like to teach my own son how to ride a horse, how to drive a tractor.” He stared her down, so much pain in his steely gaze that it stopped her breath. “You know what? I’m not hungry, after all. Guess I’ll head back into town.”
Garrett, wait. At least eat something before you leave. She followed him, but her protests never made it any farther than her mind. She’d made a sufficiently disastrous mess of things for one night. Given his charged mood and her own emotional unpredictability, it was probably best to let him go.
He hesitated at the door, his look almost menacing. “I’ll be in touch soon. Like it or not, we have a lot to discuss. I won’t be a stranger in my child’s life, Arden.” With that, he left.
Possibly to do online research on Colorado family law and paternity rights. He’d looked furious. Was he enraged enough to challenge her for custody?
She pushed the horrible thought away. Garrett was a good man. Yes, she’d screwed up by not telling him of her own volition that he would be a father, but the baby wouldn’t be here for another few months. She prayed that was enough time to somehow make this right.
Chapter Five
Garrett pulled over at the end of Arden’s street and texted Hugh, asking if his friend could meet him in town. Fifteen minutes later, both men were parking their vehicles outside Hugh’s favorite bar. The place didn’t look like much—the lot was gravel rather than pavement and a couple of the light poles had burned-out bulbs—but Garrett had been here before and knew that the food was good and the drinks were reasonably priced.
“Thanks for joining me,” Garrett said, his words brusque but sincere. “Feels like I’ve been asking you for a lot of favors lately. Hope I didn’t interrupt you and Darcy’s dinner.”
“Nah, she’s got book club at a friend’s and isn’t even home. For tonight, it’s just us guys.” Hugh squinted at him in the dim lighting. “So this might be a good time to finally tell me what brings you to town. Besides my obvious awesomeness.”
Garrett had no idea where to begin. The astonishment over his mother’s confession was still fresh, but now there was the tangle of Arden’s deception, too. He felt battered by lies and weighty decisions he needed to make. “What would you do if Darcy ever lied to you?”
“What, you mean like about how expensive a pair of boots were?” Hugh asked.
“No. About something major.”
Shaking his head, Hugh reached for the door to the bar. “She wouldn’t do that.”
Isn’t that what Garrett had told himself twenty-four hours ago? That Arden Cade wasn’t the kind of person who would hide her pregnancy from the baby’s father? Lord, had he been wrong. But maybe he shouldn’t be surprised. Apparently the closeness he’d felt between them during their night together had been merely superficial. An illusion. What did he really know about her?
That she’s a talented photographer and a young woman who’s lost too many people in her life, that she’s scared but already loves this baby fiercely. He didn’t want to empathize with her, but he couldn’t help admiring how she’d dealt with the deaths of her best friend, her nephew and her parents. Even though he was avoiding his own mother right now, the thought of either of his folks dying one day turned his stomach and made his flesh clammy.
The men stepped inside and waited for the hostess to find them an available booth.
Amid the bar’s many neon lights, the concern on Hugh’s face was unmistakable. “I don’t want to push, but, buddy, you look like you’re gonna snap if you don’t talk to someone.”
It was a fair assessment. “Okay, but this conversation will require some time. And definitely some beer.”
* * *
“CANNOT BELIEVE YOU’RE gonna be a daddy,” Hugh slurred. It wasn’t the first time he’d made the declaration. “I assumed it would be me before you. Since I’m, you know, actually married.”
“Hey, I figured it would be you and Darcy first, too.” Accepting reality was a cyclical process, one he’d been stuck repeating all day. It was like trying to unknot gnarled fishing line—each time he thought he was making progress, he’d have to start all over again.
“Have another glass,” Hugh suggested sympathetically. He’d gone through more than half the pitcher while Garrett, now the designated driver, was busy spilling the story. Or at least an abbreviated version of it. He got through the upsetting news of his mom’s affair, which had spawned this trip, to the secret of Arden’s pregnancy. But he left aside the issue of Will needing a kidney transplant for now. It was too much for one night.
Garrett shook his head. “I don’t think a second beer is really a long-term solution.” Considering how Justin Cade had glowered at him the other day, maybe Arden’s brothers would ultimately drop him off a steep cliff and eliminate the need for long-term plans. “Look, about Arden...I don’t think she’s really eager for people to know who the father is. The details—”
“Are her business. And yours,” Hugh said firmly. “I won’t keep secrets from my wife, but don’t worry. Darcy and I won’t spread any gossip.”
“Y’all are the best,” Garrett said, genuinely grateful. For the first time in days, he felt as if he could count on someone. Life had thrown him nothing but curveballs lately, and it was nice to be reminded that he had people in his corner. Hugh was as good a friend now as he’d always been in the past.
Garrett found himself nostalgic for the much simpler past. The present was full of perplexing psychological land mines. And he had no idea what to do about the future.
* * *
WHILE ARDEN UNLOCKED her studio early Wednesday morning, Justin impatiently shifted his weight behind her.
“Your secrecy is freaking me out,” he complained. “First you were cagey about why you needed me to drive you to work this morning, now you won’t tell me why you’ve called a family meeting.”
The three siblings had long ago agreed that Cade family meetings were never to be called lightly and that attendance was mandatory.
Arden shot him a quelling look. “Of course I’ll tell you—when the other part of the family gets here.”
Justin went straight for the coffee supplies in the corner and began filling the pot with water. “You had a ‘dizzy spell’ yesterday and a friend drove you home,” he commented. “Which friend? If it was Layla, you would’ve said so. I know there’s something you’re leaving out. You were a lousy liar as a kid, and you haven’t improved with age.”
She stood next to the coatrack, shrugging out of her jacket. “I got dizzy enough that I went to the hospital, okay? But I don’t want Colin to know, so you’d better not mention it. He does not need any extra reason to worry that something will happen to me or the baby.”
Justin was quick to agree. “My lips are sealed. Look, I’m as concerned about him going round the bend as you are. But you can tell me this stuff, okay? I’m too shallow to stay up nights obsessing over other people’s safety.”
The big faker. “No, you’re not.” The women he jilted might think of him as a heartless beast, but Arden knew there was more to him than that. Why was he so reluctant to let people see his caring side? “You’ve been a fantastic brother these past few months, and I don’t know how I would have coped without you.”
“Ah, is that what the family meeting’s about?” he asked, spinning around a low-backed chair and straddling it. “Am I getting a medal for outstanding brothership? Is there a cash award involved? Because there’s this new girl who works at the deli across from the ambulance station, and I would love to take her out for a night on the town.”
Ignoring him, she booted up her computer for the day. Given Justin’s flippant personality, he might be kidding about the girl at the deli. But if he was serious, she’d rather not know. His hit-and-run dating habits were too exasperating. She’d never seen him happier than he’d been with Elisabeth Donnelly. She understood that Elisabeth’s life had changed drastically after being named guardian of a little girl, but she believed Justin had made a grave mistake walking away from the woman he loved. A gust of wind swept through the studio when the front door opened again, and her heart jumped to her throat. Colin. While she’d decided that this conversation with her brothers was necessary, she dreaded having to go through with it. Silly, really. Wasn’t the hardest part telling them she was pregnant in the first place? Relatively speaking, explaining who the father was should be a piece of cake.
She watched her brothers exchange greetings. Colin’s hello was terse, his voice a low rasp. He had his motorcycle helmet tucked under one arm, and his rich brown hair had grown shaggy, falling across his forehead. It almost covered his turquoise eyes, which resembled hard stone in more than just color. All in all, not someone you’d want to encounter in a dark alley.
It tugged at her heart that he tried, for her benefit, to smile. Even if it was a dismal failure. “Morning, Colin.”
“You...look good. Glowing and all that.”
“Thank you.” She hugged him, trying not to be offended by how he stiffened at her embrace. The man who’d once cuddled her after nightmares and skinned knees could no longer bear to be touched.
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Tanya Michaels
Тип: электронная книга
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
Язык: на английском языке
Издательство: HarperCollins
Дата публикации: 16.04.2024
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О книге: Life’s been full of surprises lately for rancher Garrett Frost – and not in a good way. His mother has just dropped a bombshell about his past, so Garrett takes some time away to come to terms with family secrets.And who should he run into? Arden Cade, the beautiful photographer who shared a single night of passion with Garrett six months ago. He is even more shocked when he discovers she′s pregnant–and he′s the daddy. To make matters worse, Arden hadn’t even planned on telling Garrett about the baby. Despite her lies, Garrett is determined to be a good father. He’s not the type to cut and run, and he can’t deny that he’s falling for Arden all over again. But he’ll have to find a way to forgive her betrayal … and make peace with that skeleton in the family closet.