Cowboy's Secret Child

“I suppose not, since I can take him from you.”

“I don’t think you can,” she said coolly, and he realized she was pulling herself together more and more as they talked. “Cherie has gotten mixed up with people in the past that I didn’t want to know. Her choice in men would never be mine. Sorry, that doesn’t sound complimentary, but Cherie and I are very different.”

“So I’m noticing,” he remarked dryly. He wondered if she realized exactly how guilty she looked. But she was different from Cherie. Cherie was a charmer when she wanted something, flirting and using her feminine wiles to sweet-talk someone into doing what she wanted. He had been charmed completely, but marriage had brought reality and another side to Cherie that was far from charming. Cherie would never have been as forthright as Amanda.

Amanda caught another string on her cutoffs and twisted it back and forth between her thumb and forefinger. Otherwise, she looked quiet and composed. He watched her hand, noticing that her fingers were delicate and slender. She did not wear any rings and wore a simple watch with a leather strap circling her wrist.

“I suppose we’re going to have to work something out to share him,” she said stiffly, and each word sounded wrung from her in agony. “Unless you’re still intent on going to court and trying to take him from me completely. If you do that, I’m going to fight you and we’ll just end up hurting him.”

“I agree.”

She let out a long breath and closed her eyes. “Thank you!” she said. “We agree on that much. Kevin should come first.”

“If he came first completely one of us would give him up.”

She opened her eyes to look at him and he could see the speculation in them. “Maybe not. Maybe he needs a father as well as a mother. But I have to know how you’ll be with him. There are things I don’t approve of.”

Jeb’s temper flared and he leaned closer. “Lady, I’m his father. Whether you approve or not, I’ll do what I think is best for my son. I won’t abuse him, but I suspect I’ll let him do things that you and that nanny and the other women in his life would be afraid to let him do. He acts scared of his shadow now.”

“He’s just shy,” she said defensively. She studied him as if trying to figure him out. “Would you strike a child?”

“Never. It shouldn’t ever be necessary.” Green eyes searched his, and he gazed back steadfastly.

“I hope you’re telling me the truth,” she said. “Is there any way that you can prove to me that you knew nothing about Cherie’s pregnancy? How do I know that you didn’t abandon him and now that Cherie has a successful career, you’ve decided you want your son after all?”

“I can find the person who told me, and you can talk to her. It was Polly McQuarters. She knows I wasn’t putting on an act. And what difference would it make to me whether Cherie’s career is soaring? You’ve legally adopted her child.”

“She’s set money up in a trust for him.”

“I don’t need or want Cherie’s money. I’ll bring you records of my income and my net worth.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Amanda said, rubbing her temples.

“I told you about my brothers. There’s another family member I haven’t mentioned—my mother.”

“Kevin’s grandmother,” Amanda whispered, closing her eyes and experiencing a blow to her middle. A father and now another grandmother. She could feel her child slipping away from her, yet she knew she couldn’t fight to shut those two important people out of his life. She opened her eyes to discover Jeb watching her intently.

“I haven’t told Mom about her grandson yet. I want you and Kevin to meet her.”

“Of course, Kevin should meet her.” Amanda laced her fingers together. “It’s a shock—to open the door and find Kevin’s father and learn he has three uncles and a grandmother. Is there anyone else you haven’t told me about?”

“Nope. My father’s no longer living. My mother is Lila Stuart and she’s raised four boys and she was a damned good mother. She lives in Elvira, a small town near my ranch and Cameron’s. She’s Elvira’s mayor.”

“How will I break this to Kevin? He’s shy around men. Could you just start coming over and getting to know him and then I tell him?”

“I think it would be better to tell him from the start and then I get to know him. Either way it’s a shock, but he’s only three. Little kids accept life as it comes.”

She caught her lower lip in her small white, teeth. As she gazed into space beyond him, Jeb studied her, thinking she must have been engaged to a real jerk. He thought of Cherie and he could see little resemblance between the cousins. Cherie was a blue-eyed blonde, drop-dead gorgeous, with a lush figure. Her cousin had a more earthy look with her riot of red hair and a smattering of freckles, but, in her own way, she was a beautiful woman. He pulled his train of thoughts away from her and focused on Kevin.

“What have you told Kevin about being adopted?”

“I’ve told him the truth, but he’s only three and I don’t think he cares or understands. I always tell him how much I wanted him and how much I love him.”

“Can you be more specific about ‘the truth’—what did you tell him about me?”

“I told him his mother had to give him up because she moved far away and that she’s my cousin. He hasn’t seemed to realize that he’s never even seen her since the day he was born. I told him that his father was in the army and far away. And I told Kevin I wanted him badly and loved him with all my heart. It’s pretty simplified, but he accepts that, and when he gets older and wants to know more, I figured I would explain more. At this point in his life, he doesn’t seem to care.”

“Sounds good enough,” Jeb said, thinking over her answer. “What about Maude—Cherie’s mother?”

“Kevin knows Aunt Maude is his grandmother, and she’s seen him five or six times, but since she remarried and moved to California, she’s out of touch and she doesn’t seem deeply interested in him. She’s more interested than Cherie is though, because she sends him birthday and Christmas presents and calls him once a year. At the time I adopted him, she went to court with me. Aunt Maude said I’d make a better mother than Cherie.”

“I’m sure you do.” He thought about the rest of the week. “Would you like to come out to my ranch tomorrow night and bring Kevin? I’ll pick you up, take you out there for dinner and bring you home early so he can get to bed.”

“Are you that close to the city?”

“It’s a long drive—about an hour and a half—but I don’t mind. I think we’d better start getting acquainted.”

Nodding, she gave him another searching stare. “Are you dating anyone?”

“No, and I don’t intend to marry again.”

Her eyes widened in surprise and she shook her head. “You look like a man who likes women and vice versa.”

“I do like women, but I don’t want to get married. Or at least not for a long, long time. Maybe someday, because I’d like more children. I was a fool about Cherie and I don’t ever want to go through all that pain again,” he said, being completely honest with her because they were going to have to work something out. “Our marriage was wonderful for a time, but then it went really bad.” Jeb stood. “I’ll leave now and pick you up tomorrow evening. Is half past five too early?” he asked, knowing she got home before that time each day.

“That’s fine,” she said, standing and walking to the door with him. The top of her head came to his shoulder, and as he looked down at her, conflicting emotions warred in him. He didn’t want to find her desirable. He wasn’t happy that he wanted to touch her and soothe her and stop hurting her.

“We’ll work it out. Kevin is the main consideration, and we’ll just have to share him.”

“I can do that,” she said, but she sounded worried. “I want to know that you’ll be good to him. I don’t know anything about you except that you married Cherie and fathered Kevin.”

“You and I will get to know each other.” He hesitated. “Do you have a picture of Kevin I can have?”

“Yes,” She left to return in minutes with a picture in a small frame. “I have a lot of pictures. Here’s one you can take. I’ll look for some more and give them to you tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”

They both looked at the picture of the smiling child. “He was two when that was taken,” she said softly. Jeb noticed that when she talked about Kevin or to him, her tone filled with a special warmth. “He looks very much like you.”

“Even I can see a resemblance,” Jeb said. “There’s no mistaking he’s mine,” he added grimly, knowing that Cherie hadn’t been faithful to him. He glanced at Amanda. “Thanks for the picture.”

“I have another copy of it in a scrapbook.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”

She opened the door and he left, striding down the walk to his car. Jeb drove away, his emotions still churning. Nothing had gone the way he had imagined it would. Why hadn’t he stopped to think how attached his son would be to his mother? He supposed hurt and anger got in the way of reason. He was going to have to share Kevin. It could be worse, and Amanda Crockett might be a very nice person. How much was she like her cousin? So far, damn little, or she wouldn’t have taken Kevin in the first place.

The boy was too shy. Jeb hoped Kevin would get over his shyness. From the looks of it, he needed a man in his life. Jeb’s thoughts shifted to Amanda Crockett and her broken engagement. He could hear the hurt in her voice and he knew why she had taken Kevin. She would fight to keep him because he would be the only child in her life. The ex-fiancе was a real jerk, Jeb thought again.