The heady rush of first love. The crushing blow of betrayal.
* * *
They say time heals all wounds. Evidently, eleven years wasn’t long enough.
Trent recognized the hurt and trepidation in Blakely’s blue eyes. Pain that had nothing to do with her head.
“You’ve got a goose egg the size of Mount Sneffels.”
“Oh, it’s not that bad.” She waved a dismissive hand through the air.
“I’ll be the judge of that.” He pulled a penlight from his breast pocket. “Look straight ahead.”
As much as he’d tried, Trent had never forgotten Blakely or that summer. When they finally said goodbye, they were counting the days until they could be together again.
Unfortunately, that never happened.
Instead, she got a phone call and news that he was marrying his ex-girlfriend.
The memory clamped around his heart.
If only it had been Blakely who carried his child instead of Lauren.
He flicked the tiny beam in and out of her line of vision. “Dan tells me you have The Jeep Company now.”
“You mean Adventures in Pink.”
He chuckled. “That’s...interesting.”
Her gaze remained fixed somewhere over his shoulder. “More than interesting. We’re Ouray’s premier adventure destination. And we’ve got the best maintained vehicles in town. Besides, real men aren’t afraid of pink.”
He pocketed the light again, his gaze drifting toward the ledge. “I don’t expect you’ll be using that one anytime soon.”
Her shoulders slumped, her long golden waves tumbling around them. “Unfortunately.”
He took a step back. “Without turning your head, I want you to follow my finger.” He moved it back and forth, up and down.
“So...you live in Ridgway?”
“Ouray, actually.” The picturesque town was what had enticed him to take the temporary job.
Her eyes widened. “With your family,” she said more as a statement than a question.
He dropped his hand, wishing he could turn back time and erase the pain he’d caused Blakely. “My wife died two years ago.”
She straightened. “What about your children?” She shook her head. “I mean, child?”
“Lauren miscarried shortly after we married.” Then proceeded to inform him she wasn’t interested in having children at all. Robbing him of the only thing he wanted more than becoming a doctor—a family.
“I see.” Blakely’s brow furrowed, her full lips pursed. A reaction he only wished he could interpret.
“Anything besides the dizziness I should be aware of? Any nausea?”
“No.”
“Blurred vision?”
“No.”
“So far, so good. Are your grandparents still at the motel?”
“Gran is. Granddad died last fall.”
The news felt like a physical blow. “Bill was a good man.” Without him, Trent never would have come to know Jesus.
“The best.”
Memories took over, making him smile. “Quite the card, too. I’ll never forget when he drove me up to Black Bear pass. Had me in stitches the entire way.” He held open his palms. “Now squeeze my hands.”
“What?”
“I need to test your strength.”
“You must be out of your mind.” Blakely hopped out of the vehicle, started toward the ledge, then turned, her blue eyes penetrating like a laser. “So how did you know I was here? Internet? Social media?”
“What? No. I had no idea you were in Ouray until Dan mentioned your name on the ride up here.” After all, her dreams had been in Denver, picking up where her father’s left off when his plane crashed. All she’d ever talked about was getting her degree and claiming the helm of BD Industries.
She kicked at a rock, sending it sailing over the ledge. “You must still think I’m the same naive girl you knew all those years ago. But come on, Trent, we both know how much you wanted a family. So why don’t you admit the real reason you’re in Ouray.”
He’d always loved her fiery spirit. A perfect match for that strawberry-blond mane of hers. But apparently he’d lost his touch in their battle of wits.
“Blakely, what are you getting at?”
“Do I really have to spell it out?” She closed the distance between them, her face growing redder with every step. “Austin is my son. You chose not to be a father to him. So if you think I’m just going to let you waltz in here after ten years...”
Her words pummeled him like the boulders that fell from these mountains. Son? Father? Ten years?
His mind raced back to one special night almost eleven years ago.
It wasn’t possible.
Blakely knew all about his childhood. How he’d been passed from one foster home to another, never knowing what it was like to be part of a real family. She was the only person he’d ever confided his longing to someday have that family. She would have told him he had a child.
Feeling as though a horse had kicked him in the stomach, he struggled for his breath.
“I have...a son?”
Chapter Two
Trent stepped outside his room at the San Juan Inn, the cool morning breeze making him shudder. Or maybe it was thoughts of the woman he’d run into on Camp Bird Road yesterday. The scorn in her eyes.
How could he have a child and not know it?
Unfortunately, Dan arrived back on the scene before Trent could get the answer to that question and so many more. But now, finding answers was at the top of his agenda.
He thrust his hands into the pockets of his faded jeans and wandered down Sixth Avenue. Nestled in a bowl of thirteen-thousand-foot peaks, Ouray waited in the shadows for the sun to top the Amphitheater. The unique setting of this tiny town captured his heart that long ago summer. Along with a certain strawberry blonde.
By the time August drew to a close, he had entertained thoughts of forever. Never imagining what awaited him back in Albuquerque.
He let go a sigh, his breath visible in the chilly morning
