The Rancher's Heir

People still didn’t realize this was Noah’s baby. While guilt plagued her because Noah had a right to know the truth, she knew he would want to take charge of the situation. He would want control over her baby. Maybe her own life in some ways would be out of her hands.

At some point she had to let him know about Ethan, but she dreaded it more than anything in her life. She was not going to let him know yet. Ethan was the joy of her life now. She didn’t want to lose him. Nor was she ready to share him. Noah was a rancher, but she loved city life and wanted her son in Dallas.

Though she’d spent time on her grandfather’s ranch, she wasn’t fond of them. Being on a ranch made her think of Winston, her little brother who had fallen through the ice at their grandfather’s ranch when Winston was four. Thane had pulled him out of the icy pond. Later Winston had developed pneumonia and died. It always saddened her to think of that time.

The entire year they’d dated, Noah had never declared his love, but he’d made it clear that if he ever wanted to marry, his wife would have to live on his ranch.

Yes, suffice it to say, she and Noah had hugely different lifestyles. Noah wasn’t going to change and she didn’t want to change, either.

She brushed her fingers so lightly over Ethan’s soft curls, feeling them tickle the palm of her hand. Wanting to lean down and kiss him, she resisted because she was afraid she would wake him. The minute Noah knew about their son, she was certain he would want to take charge of Ethan’s life and maybe hers, too. She would see Noah when Mike Moretti and Thane’s widow, Vivian, married. Their wedding was coming up this next weekend, and both she and Noah would be in it. Ethan was too little to go to this wedding, so she didn’t have to worry about having Noah and Ethan in the same place.

Aside from Mike and Vivian, she moved in a circle of friends now who did not know Noah, so she hoped she’d be able to drag out the deception a little longer.

Over the last almost two years there’d been times she’d considered telling Noah about his son, but she’d always backed off. Now, as she looked at her baby and fought the urge to hold him in her arms, she knew despite her guilty conscience, she had to continue to keep Noah away from him. It was too terrifying to tell him the truth.

Noah

Tuesday afternoon, Noah sat across from Mike as they ate burgers together on the patio of a popular lunch place in Dallas. “I’m glad about you and Thane’s widow,” Noah told his friend. “I guess it was good you told Thane you’d go to work for him when you got out of the military. I think it gave him peace of mind to hire you and know if something happened to him, you’d go home to run the ranch. He may have hoped all along that you would marry Vivian.”

“I’m sure he was taking care of Vivian and taking care of his beloved ranch. He had everything all lined up if anything happened to him.” Mike put down his burger and wiped his mouth on a napkin. “Now you have an errand for him.”

“Right,” Noah said, looking into his friend’s alert brown eyes. Mike’s black hair had a slight wave and was longer than when he was in the service, but still cut short. “I had to promise Thane I would put his package into Camilla’s hands myself. The baby, too. Her baby isn’t going to know or care what’s going on and probably won’t even know he has a present.”

Mike laughed. “Thane probably hoped you’d get back with his sister.”

“That won’t happen. She told me a definite goodbye and she married after I left. She divorced him a few months into the marriage and now has his baby. Camilla and I are history. I’m too much the alpha male for her.”

“We’re all alpha males, and her brother definitely was, too.”

“She has said the same thing about her brother.” Noah shrugged. “I can’t change something as basic as that. It’s who I am. I don’t know how we got together in the first place. We’re opposites. She likes opera, art galleries and big cities. I like my country-western music, rodeos and the ranch. In short, we were never meant to be. It’s over.”

“Sorry. Life can get complicated. Thane probably wanted you to get back together so that her child would have a good dad around.”

“She’s from a very wealthy family. In addition, she does well with her art, some pieces bringing big bucks before I left for the service. She does watercolor landscapes, murals, also portraits and has done some portraits for celebs for impressive amounts of money, so she doesn’t need one bit of financial help. Also, she has two more brothers, Mason and Logan. As far as I know, they’ll be around some for her baby. When I left for the service Mason had a financial consulting firm in Austin and Logan is head of his Dallas oil company. Maybe being in a war made Thane sentimental. I don’t know. All I have to do is take the present to her and give the baby his present and say goodbye.”

Mike paused as he went to take another bite of his burger, and his eyes met Noah’s. “Sorry, buddy. She’ll be in our wedding because she’s family and a friend of Vivian’s.”

“It won’t matter. While it’s over between us, we can be civil to each other. I’ll see her at your wedding and then it’s goodbye and we probably won’t cross paths again.”

“She’s a good artist and highly successful, which made her instant friends with Vivian. Vivian shows Camilla’s art in her galleries. Camilla is good at what she does. Her art is bringing in higher returns and it’s selling better than ever.”

Noah was glad for her. She’d always been talented. But enough talk about Camilla. He changed the subject quickly, before Mike could go on about the woman. “Speaking of a wedding, too bad Jake won’t be out of the military and back for your wedding.”

“We waited for you. I’m not waiting another month for Jake to get back, even though I count him as a close friend,” Mike said.

“I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“He won’t care if he isn’t in a wedding except that he’ll miss a party. Jake loves a party.”

After reminiscing a bit about their good friend and Ranger buddy Jake Ralston, Mike asked after Noah’s plans now that he was home.

“I’ll stay in Dallas for the next month to get business taken care of, see my family some, and I have Thane’s gift to Camilla to deliver. Eventually, I’ll go back to my West Texas Bar G Ranch.”

“That’s the best possible plan,” Mike said, smiling. “If you want to buy a really fine horse, come by our place.”

“I’ll do that. When is a good time?”

Mike shrugged. “With our wedding coming up this weekend, either come out today or tomorrow or wait a couple of weeks until we return from our honeymoon.”

“Thanks, Mike. I’ll give you a call or text when I’m ready.”

“Great. You know where the ranch is. Stay for dinner and get to know Vivian if you can.”

“Thanks,” he said and Mike nodded.

As the hour passed, they finished lunch and finally said goodbye. Noah left, thinking again about delivering the gifts from Thane. When he sat in his car, he called a phone number he still could remember easily and drew a deep breath as he waited to hear Thane’s sister, Camilla Warren, answer.

Camilla

Camilla’s heart skipped a beat when she looked at the name on the caller ID. Noah. She hadn’t talked to him since the two weeks he’d been home on a furlough. Since they’d made a baby together. Sex with Noah had always been fabulous. In bed, they were compatible, in sync. Not so much out of the bedroom. A relationship between them never would have lasted. And now he would never forgive her deception.

She stared at the caller ID while the music on her phone continued to play, indicating an incoming call. She didn’t want to answer. She and Noah had nothing to talk about and he should know that she would not go out with him. She couldn’t imagine he would want to ask her out after the harsh words they’d had when they last parted. She didn’t want to see him and she didn’t want to talk to him.

His call kicked over to voice mail and minutes later her heart skipped another beat when she listened to Noah’s familiar voice.

“Camilla, your brother has a gift for you. It’s important because he went through hell—” Noah paused and tears stung her eyes because she loved her older brother and she knew Noah and Thane had been close friends since they had been in middle school.

She could hear Noah take a deep breath. “Thane went through hell to make sure I knew what he wanted. I promised him I would give a package to you. He was insistent I put it in your hand myself. Sorry Mike could have given it to you, but that wasn’t what your brother wanted. This was a final request of a dying buddy, a man whose memory I will always honor, and I’m going to keep my promise to him and put his gift into your hand as he asked. Also, he gave me a present for your baby, his first nephew. I’m to give that present to him. I’ll call again for a time.” There was a brief pause, and then he added, “It’s Noah, by the way.”

She heard the click and dropped her phone to cover her face with her hands and sob for the big brother who had been killed, a brother who had been a friend and a second dad. He wasn’t coming home. And she knew she was also crying over Noah, the man she had once loved with all her heart. The man she had to keep out of her life at all costs. Yet now there was a reason she had to see him, because she could not refuse her brother’s dying request, either.

Thane had known she couldn’t refuse to see Noah. Too easily, she could imagine her brother’s motive in getting Noah to deliver the present to her. Even from the grave, he was taking charge of someone else’s life. This time, hers. Thane was determined that Noah learn about Ethan. After the baby was born, Thane had written her and asked if Ethan was Noah’s. He was the only person who had come up with the truth. She couldn’t write back and admit it, though. Just the fact that she’d stalled had given him an answer. And then he’d gotten a call through to her and they had argued about it.

Thane tried almost as much as her dad to take charge of everything in his life. But he couldn’t convince Camilla to tell Noah the truth.

She sighed as she wiped her eyes and tried to regain her composure. She would have to see Noah and accept her brother’s present. To do so, they should make arrangements to meet as soon as possible and get it over and done. But she was not going to let him see Ethan. Noah could give her Ethan’s present. Her son wouldn’t know what was going on, anyway.

She picked up the phone to send a text to invite Noah to come by. She had no intention of telling Noah ahead of time that Ethan would not be home. Noah would simply come another time. In minutes she received an answer and a time, which she accepted. She sighed as she wondered how she would get through seeing Noah tomorrow. Not only then, but at Vivian’s wedding.

Vivian would marry Mike Moretti, another Ranger buddy and rancher who had been in Thane’s outfit. Thane had hired Mike to replace their retiring foreman. Vivian knew about Camilla’s breakup with Noah, so she had been sympathetic when she’d asked Camilla to be in her wedding, telling Camilla if she was uncomfortable accepting, she would understand. Camilla wanted to say no and stay far away, but she couldn’t. For Thane’s sake—and she truly liked Vivian—she would be in the wedding, which Vivian had originally said would be small with just family members and very close friends. That had changed because there were so many family members. Mike and Vivian both had brothers and close friends. One of Vivian’s brothers would be best man. Noah would be a groomsman. Noah’s sister, Stefanie, would be a bridesmaid.

Camilla hoped she could get through seeing Noah, talking to him, being in the wedding with him, without any tears. She was the one who had broken up the relationship and she thought by now she was over him, but hearing his voice not only made her cry, it made her weak in the knees and swamped her with longing to have his arms around her and to kiss him again—something she didn’t want to feel. She had no future with Noah. Her feelings hadn’t changed one tiny degree regarding his alpha-male ways. She just had to get through tomorrow’s meeting and get through the wedding, and then Noah would be out of her life.

After the wedding, she didn’t ever have to see Noah again. She would cling to that thought like a lifeline.

But first she had to make it through tomorrow.

* * *