Trish Milburn - The Cowboy's Secret Son

Taking in the view of her hometown was a little like having an out-of-body experience. She wasn’t the same Grace Cameron who’d lived here before, but that didn’t keep a flood of old feelings from washing into every part of her body.

Evan stretched toward the window as far as his seat belt would let him. “I don’t see any cowboys.” The disappointment in his tone made Grace want to laugh and cry at the same time.

“Don’t worry, they’re around. A lot of these people are probably on vacation, like us.” No doubt here for the popular wildflower tours. The appearance of the bluebonnets in March of each year made people crazy for wildflowers.

“Oh.”

Grace looked at the faces they passed, too, searching for someone familiar.

Searching for Nathan.

For what seemed like the millionth time, she imagined all the ways he might respond when he found out he had a son. Shock. Disbelief. Anger. Probably all three. And he’d be entitled to each one.

She shook her head. No sense in torturing herself with possibilities. She’d find out the reality soon enough.

They waited at the last stoplight while a tour bus made the wide turn onto Main Street. The words Wildflower Tours stretched down the side of the bus, and little painted bluebonnets peeked out from around the letters. Grace wondered what it would be like to visit Blue Falls without any previous ties to the town or the people here.

“The light’s green, Mom.”

“Oops.” She reined in her wandering thoughts and proceeded through the intersection.

They began the winding climb out of Blue Falls, and before she was ready—would she ever be ready?—they reached the Vista Hills Guest Ranch. Her palms grew sweaty against the steering wheel as she made the turn and started down the driveway lined with cedar and gnarled live oak trees.

Panic threatened to overwhelm her. What was she doing here?

She was here because Evan had a father.

And Nathan had a son.

Someday that relationship might be the most important one in the world—to her, at least.

When she rounded the last curve that brought her within view of the heart of the ranch, she had to take a deep breath. She didn’t want Evan to sense how nervous she was. He might be only six, but he was observant and not easily fooled. As she pulled into a parking space next to the ranch office, Grace noticed a few other families with small children. They really were here for a vacation, to allow their kids a bit of cowboy fun. How she wished the days ahead would be that simple for her.

She eyed the other guests, but from her vantage point she couldn’t tell if Laney and her daughter, Cheyenne, were among them. Grace didn’t know if she could have come here without Laney for moral support.

“Mom, look! Horses!”

Grace looked toward the barns and surrounding corrals, remembering their locations as if she’d been here only yesterday. Half a dozen horses stood in the fenced enclosure next to the stables, and two families were gathered there as their little ones climbed up the fence for a better view. She noticed a man in jeans and a cowboy hat inside the fence talking to the group, but from this distance she couldn’t tell if it was Nathan, one of his brothers, or an employee.

“Can we go look at the horses?”

“In a few minutes. We have to check in first.”

“But, Mom!”

“Honey, the horses aren’t going anywhere. You want to see our cabin, don’t you?”

“Not as much as the horses.”

The way he said it, all dramatic and pouty-faced, caused a laugh to escape her. Evan met her eyes in the rearview mirror, not at all amused.

Grace shook her head as she got out of the car. If she gave Evan a couple of minutes, he’d forget being put out with her and move on to admiring something else.

Evan’s boots clonked on the wooden front steps of the office, and Grace wondered if Nathan had looked like that when he was young. A full-grown cowboy in his mind but only a little boy in truth.

With another deep breath, Grace opened the door and followed Evan inside.

“Well, hello there, young man,” the older woman at the front desk said when she spotted Evan.

“Hello. I’m here to be a cowboy.”

Merline Teague laughed, totally unaware she was talking to her grandson. Grace’s throat went uncomfortably dry as she realized they’d just stepped beyond the point of no return.

“Well, then, you’ve come to the right place. What’s your name, cowboy?”

“Evan Cameron.”

“Nice to meet you, Evan Cameron.”

Evan flicked up the front of his tan hat the way he’d seen movie-star cowboys do in all those old films. Merline paused as she reached for the appointment book, looking at him a moment longer as if she’d seen something that surprised her. Grace held her breath as her heart did its best to crack her ribs with its frantic beating.

Merline consulted her reservation book then looked at Grace for the first time. “Grace?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Merline glanced at Evan again, but only for a brief moment. “It’s so good to see you. Been a long time.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Jeez, could she say nothing else?

Merline waved her hand in a “no need for that” type of gesture. “You’re a grown woman now. Call me Merline.”

“Yes…” Grace caught herself before she three-peated her response.

Merline eyed her reservation book again while Grace marveled at how little Nathan’s mother had changed. She was still trim and fit with a tan that spoke of lots of time spent outdoors. She wasn’t the type of woman to color her hair, but she didn’t need to because she had gorgeous silver hair cut in a bob just below her ears. She was casual and classy at the same time, a woman comfortable in her skin and her surroundings.

“So you’re living in Arkansas now,” Merline said.

Grace could almost imagine the unspoken words. Always wondered where you and your family disappeared to.

“Moved there after college. My best friend was from the area, so we decided to set up shop there.”

“What do you do?” Merline pulled a key from a rack behind her.

“Interior design.”

“Oh, I bet that’s fun. I love watching all those design shows on HGTV. I start watching one, and the next thing you know three hours have passed.”

“Me, too.”

“Even when you do it all day?”

Grace nodded. “Can’t seem to get enough of it, I guess.” She supposed she was still trying to fill her life with beautiful things after so many years of being forbidden them.

Merline handed Grace the key and a sheet of paper. “You’re in cabin twelve. Just take the drive behind the office.”

“I remember.”

Merline smiled, looking as if dozens of questions were swirling unspoken inside her. Could she possibly have put things together that quickly, especially since Grace and Nathan had never really dated? Grace fought the urge to grab the key and run, telling herself that her anxiety was causing her to see things that weren’t there. She tried not to think how Evan might have inherited his keen sense of observation from his paternal grandmother.

“That’s the schedule for the weekend,” Merline said as she pointed to the paper she’d handed Grace. “You’re just in time to get settled before the tour.”

“Will we get to see the horses?” Evan was bouncing on the balls of his feet, unable to keep still.

Merline smiled at him. “Yes, sir. Lots of horses.”

“Awesome!”

Grace laughed right along with Merline.

“Excited, isn’t he?”

Grace pushed down the front of Evan’s hat. “Yes, he’s talked about nothing else since I told him he was going to Cowboy Camp.”

“Our boys were crazy for horses at that age, too. Still are.”