The Cowboy's Little Surprise (4 page)

“Stop,” she whispered.

Jed was approaching from the direction of his den.

Cole shot a look over his shoulder, then turned back to her. “We’re not finished,” he said harshly.

“You still here?” Jed asked. “Thought you’d be long gone by now.”

Cole pushed himself away from the desk. “On our way. Tina was just planning to walk us out to my truck so we could finish our conversation.”

“Fine,” Jed said, smiling.

“No,” she blurted. “I mean...I told Cole, I’ve got to go help Abuela in the kitchen.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Jed said. “Maria’s in there. They’ve got everything covered. But I’ll head on back and tell them you’ll be there in a bit. Robbie, you come along with me.”

She wanted to protest, but one look at Cole’s narrowed eyes and set jaw told her he wouldn’t leave the hotel without her—and if she refused to go, he would blurt out the truth right here.

* * *

O
UTSIDE
, C
OLE
SQUINTED
against the blinding sun hovering at eye level. The strong rays showed up every faded patch of paint on his road-worn truck.

“I’m over there.” He gestured to the lone vehicle.

“Come on, Scott,” she said. “Let’s get you into your seat so you can go and have your dinner.”

As they walked ahead of him, the sun highlighted the silky length of dark braid hanging almost to Tina’s waist. He’d always wanted to unravel that braid and run his fingers through her hair. She hadn’t allowed him that pleasure the one time they’d been together...

He ran his hand over his face, wanting to wipe away the memory. She wasn’t the only one to blame for what had happened that night. Or the only one responsible for what had come of it.

Why hadn’t she said something years ago?

At the truck, while Tina strapped his nephew into place, he turned away to plant his butt against the side of the pickup. He tugged his battered hat down, blocking the sun from his eyes.

He didn’t want that glare to keep him from getting a good look at Tina’s face while they talked. Didn’t want her finding a way to hide anything from him.

Anything else
from him.

Irritation and resentment roiled inside, tightening his chest.

He looked over his shoulder. Tina must have caught the movement through the cab window. She looked up and stared right at him, her mouth closed in a firm, straight line, as if telling him she didn’t plan to say a word.

No problem. He had enough words for them both.

He turned his back on her again and crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn’t going anywhere until he’d said what he had to say. Yet he couldn’t deny he had some pressing questions for her. For himself, too.

Most important, how was he going to handle this news that had finally sunk in, leaving him ready to keel over from the shock?

He had a son.

Memories slammed into him, bombarding him with parts of his past he’d thought long forgotten. Scenes from the rare occasions his dad bothered to notice he was alive. Times his dad would hurl nothing but scathing words his way...

You’re a disgrace as a son.

You’re no good
.

You’re worthless.

He’d never bothered to dispute anything his father said. Fighting back would only make things worse for him. Or make his dad turn his anger on Layne.

For most of his life, he had struggled not to believe anything his old man had thrown at him. But one thing was true.

With a role model like that, he didn’t have a chance in hell of being a good dad.

Yet, he now had a son.

Chapter Four

Tina paused near the hood of Cole’s truck and took a deep breath, trying to prepare herself for a conversation she didn’t want to have.

She walked around the truck and had barely come to a stop in front of Cole before he exploded.

“Does everyone in Cowboy Creek know what you never took the trouble to tell me?”

She forced herself not to recoil from the venom in his tone. “
No.
Nobody—” Thinking of the confidences she had always shared with her best friend, she choked off her automatic response.

“And what have you told your boy?
My
boy?”

“Don’t call him that.” Her heart thudded at his easy assumption. “Robbie’s
my
son.”

“And mine. But we covered that already. Let’s move on to something new. Why didn’t you contact me? You must have known you were pregnant before I left town. Hell, you probably knew before graduation.”

“What if I did? Why would I think you’d want to hear the result of our one-night stand?”

Her breath caught in her throat at what she had just inadvertently called her son.

She couldn’t let Cole reduce her to this.

All her life, she’d been the straitlaced, logical, rational Tina that Ally always teasingly encouraged to loosen up. All her life, except one time with Cole. A time she could never regret, since it had given her the greatest gift she had ever received.

But she needed to rely on the logical, rational Tina now. She couldn’t let her emotions get in the way. She had to protect her son.

The reminder allowed her to breathe deeply and evenly again. It helped her to stay calm. “After our weekend together, you made it clear you weren’t interested in me. Why would you care that I was going to have a baby?”

“Because it wasn’t just yours.” The muscles in his neck tightened as he swallowed hard. “Did you ever plan to tell me?”

His question vibrated with restrained emotion. The lines around his eyes deepened as if it had hurt him to ask the question. As if he were bracing himself for her reply.

An unwanted burst of compassion filled her.

She forced herself to look away and harden her heart. Where was his compassion when she’d needed it?

She glanced into the truck’s rear seat. Scott sat flipping the pages of a coloring book. “If you had stayed in town,” she murmured, measuring her words, “there might have been a chance you’d have found out then.”

He laughed harshly. “You’re in the wrong profession, Tina. You should’ve become a politician—except you’d have to practice maintaining eye contact. All right. Forget the double-talk. Forget I even asked. The point is, I know now. And you can just keep the news to yourself.”

“I need to tell my grandparents.”

“But nobody else.” He shifted his Stetson and ran his hand through his hair, then stared off into the distance. “I’ll need some time before we start telling other folks.”

“I didn’t plan to tell anyone else.”

“Yeah, that’s obvious,” he said, his tone cold. “But I sure do.” When she gasped, he narrowed his eyes. “What? Did you think I’d just walk away from this?”

This.

Forget watching what she said. Forget compassion. Now his words, tossed out so offhandedly, struck at her deepest fear.

“This
what
?” she demanded. “This confrontation? This situation? This child that’s my life—not yours? I’ll tell you the truth, flat-out straight, as Jed would say. Yes, I thought you would walk away. That’s always been your style, hasn’t it? And I want you to go. There’s no reason for you to come back.”

“Except that I’ve got a job here. And,” he added, his voice dangerously soft, “now I’ve got other obligations.”

A chill ran through her. She wrapped her arms around her middle. “You have no obligations. Not as far as I’m concerned.”

“And the boy?” he said. “What about where he’s concerned?”

“I’ll take care of Robbie.”

Yet, how could she do that completely on her own?

She had spent so much of her life with unanswered questions about her own parents...why they didn’t want her, why they didn’t love her, why they had left her behind for Abuela to raise.

Eventually, Robbie would have questions about his daddy, too. Questions only Cole could answer.

As if he sensed her uncertainty, as if he wanted to take advantage of her—again—he said flatly, “I couldn’t have fulfilled my obligations in the past, since I never knew about the child. But now I do, I’ve got a lot of time to make up for.”

“I won’t let you—”

“‘Let?’” He shoved his hat back on his head and leaned so close she could almost count each and every dark lash rimming his eyes. “You’re not letting me do anything. And I’m not waiting for you to give your permission. Considering your track record, who knows how long that might take.” His voice was low, deepened by emotion again. “I’m going to get to know my son.”

* * *

O
N
HIS
FIRST
day of work, Cole parked outside the corral and walked toward Jed’s barn. He couldn’t keep from looking over toward the hotel. Not that he expected to see...anyone. At this early hour, the sun had barely begun to rise.

What he did see was a lighted window in the kitchen, where Paz was mostly likely getting things in order for her day. Jed and everyone else in the place ought to be sleeping.

He found the barn almost empty. Of humans, anyhow. The stalls were filled to capacity, as they always had been. Jed kept enough stock on hand to accommodate all his men and a hotel full of guests.

Half-inside one of the stalls, with his back to him, stood a man holding a shovel.

Cole paused in the doorway. Five years earlier, when he’d left the ranch without giving notice to Jed, he had walked away from Pete Brannigan and the other wranglers, too. No telling how any of them would take the news of his return to work here.

But when the man turned, Cole saw only a smile. He nodded at Pete. “Don’t tell me Jed makes his ranch manager muck out stalls.”

“Hey, Cole.” Pete set the shovel aside and crossed the space between them to offer his hand. “He told me you were back in town and starting work today.”

“That must’ve come as a surprise.”

“What? Jed hiring someone on and telling me after the fact? No surprise there. He might call himself retired, but he’s still got a strong hand on the reins.”

“Always did have.”

“True. Hang on a minute.” Pete went into the small room partitioned off as an office and returned with a hammer and an old tin can filled with nails. “There’s a pair of gloves on the workbench in the tack room. Go grab ’em.” As they made their way outside, he added, “We’ve got some rails out by the corral that need patching. It’ll get you limbered up for this afternoon. I’ll be sending you out to the south border to check on the stock. You’ll need to take a look at the fencing there, too.”

“Trouble?”

Pete shook his head. “Just maintenance and some overly adventurous cattle. You know the drill.”

At the corral, Cole wrestled a split and warped rail into submission while Pete hammered it into place.

“As for Jed and his tight rein,” Pete said, “I wouldn’t have it any other way. He might be past seventy, but he’s still sharper than a tack. In case you were wondering.”

“Should I be?”

Pete shrugged. “No idea. Just throwing that out there for old time’s sake.” They moved on to the next rail. “Now, your return to town, that did come as a surprise. I always figured you for having itchy feet. But maybe you scratched them enough.”

“Maybe.” Just the thought of tying himself down permanently in Cowboy Creek made him want to head out of town.

On feet that weren’t itchy, only damned cold.

Pete swung the hammer a final time, sending the nail into place. “Let’s head in, and I’ll take you through the barn. Jed wants you working the corral, giving lessons to the guests as needed.”

“Then I’ll have to get familiar with everything you’ve got.”

Pete nodded. “You can pick out a mount for today’s ride, and another for tomorrow. You’ll see a few familiar faces. But even with the new stock, we don’t have anything you can’t handle.”

Cole followed him back toward the barn.

Jed had told him the ranch manager had a couple of kids of his own. Lucky for Pete, he’d found out about his kids at the usual time—before they were born.

He wondered how the man would deal with a situation like one he was facing. A situation he’d already managed to mess up. Yeah, he’d stood his ground with Tina. Had argued over his right to spend time with his son. Had talked the talk...

And then when the time had come to walk the walk, he’d gotten those cold feet. He hadn’t come near the ranch since the night of their conversation.

No matter how much he might wish otherwise, this change in his life wasn’t something he knew how to handle. Hell, he understood horses more than he did kids.

What if he couldn’t be the daddy his son deserved?

* * *

I
N
THE
HOTEL
’
S
roomy kitchen on Sunday morning, Tina ironed the load of cloth napkins she had just removed from the dryer. She had kept herself as busy as possible for the past few days...to keep from thinking of Cole.

He had started work on the ranch, as scheduled, and she had spent those long days waiting for him to reappear at the hotel. He hadn’t. Whether that meant she should thank her good fortune or worry about what revenge he was plotting, she didn’t know. Either way, the uncertainty had left her barely able to close her eyes the night before.

It didn’t surprise her a bit that his interest in her son hadn’t lasted very long. Neither had his interest in her, years ago. She was grateful in both cases.

Seeing him again had made her recall the girl she’d once been, the girl who’d forever had the bad luck to have a crush on him. The girl who’d once wanted a family with him.

They’d
had
a child together, though Cole hadn’t known that.

Till now.

Neither had anyone else.

Of course, everyone in Cowboy Creek knew four-year-old Robbie. She could just imagine their well-meaning but frantic conversations when they had found out she was pregnant.

Do you think the daddy’s one of Jed’s full-time ranch hands?

Or a wrangler who worked there only for a season?

Maybe he was a guest who stayed at the Hitching Post and never came back again.

She didn’t know what conclusions they had come to. After telling Ally the truth, she had left everyone else to speculate all they wanted—and hoped they would never stumble upon the truth. Soon, thanks to Cole, they would never have to guess again.

She regretted only that she had never told her grandparents. But now the time was coming for her to let them know the truth about Robbie—and Cole—she wasn’t sure she would ever find the right words.

“I’m glad we had a few people in the dining room this morning,” Abuela said.

Happy for the distraction from her worries, Tina nodded. Luckily, they usually did get a small crowd for their Sunday brunch. Today had been no exception, although the dining room had cleared out now.

Things were looking up for the hotel, as well. A young couple had checked in the night before, and two other parties had booked rooms for the coming week.

They would fill a couple of rooms with family, too. Her cousin Jane had already arrived, and Andi and her children were due in from the airport at any time.

With so many people around, Tina hadn’t found the chance to talk to her grandparents alone.

“Of course, you’re glad to have guests in the dining room, Abuela. You’re always happier when we have more mouths to feed.”

“That’s what I do,” Abuela said simply. “But I’m sorry you had to take Maria’s place.”

The waitress who usually worked the morning shift on the weekend attended classes part-time at the community college. In a panic, Maria had taken the day off to study for an upcoming midterm exam.

“Maria is a good girl,” Abuela said, “but when it comes to her schoolwork, she’s not very organized at all. I’m so happy you were always dependable, never waiting till the last minute to study for your tests.”

Tina stared down at the napkin she was pressing.

Yes, she was dependable and reliable. As Jed often said, she was as steady as they made them—which meant her one slip had always been so much harder to explain.

“Filling in around here is what
I
do,” she said lightly. Waitress, maid, ranch hand for some of the dude ranch activities—she’d done all those jobs and more. Running a family-owned business meant pitching in whenever you were shorthanded. “I’m just glad I never had to fill in for
you
. I’ll never be the cook you are, no matter how many lessons you give me.”

“That’s not a bit true. You are an excellent cook. And someday you will be an excellent wife.”

Tina flinched. Quickly, she covered her reaction by grabbing a few more napkins from the basket.

Abuela couldn’t know how much those words had hurt.

She loved both her grandparents and knew how much they loved her. Unlike her parents, they had always been there for her.

For a while after learning her parents had abandoned her, she had felt lost and alone, except with Abuela and Jed and at her home here at the Hitching Post. The attic room upstairs became her sanctuary. The hotel she loved, with its hundred years of history, became her connection to the past. And her dreams of the future were filled with images of the family she had with Cole.

* * *

A
SHORT
WHILE
LATER
, hearing Jed’s footsteps approaching the kitchen, Tina managed a smile.

He entered the room grinning. “We’ve got a couple more guests in for brunch. Cole and his sister’s boy.”

His words startled her, but she fought to behave naturally.

She unplugged the iron and went to return it to the shelf in the walk-in pantry. Over her shoulder, she said, “The dining room’s closed.”

“Not for old friends, it isn’t. Go see what he wants to eat, will you?”