Tanya Michaels - Her Secret, His Baby

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.

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