a stranger’s doorstep? Maybe it was time to get some answers.
Paige’s father walked into the kitchen. “It smells great in here,” he said with a big grin and his dark eyes twinkled. But then she’d never known the big, burly Irishman not to be ready with a smile, a hug and a kiss.
“You say that every time you smell food,” Claire said.
Tim Keenan came up behind his wife of nearly forty years, wrapped his arms around her and murmured in her ear. Claire blushed, and looked up at him with such unbridled love that Paige had to glance away.
The two had always acted like this. Paige had taken their relationship for granted. Now, she realized how special it was. Paige envied them. She’d worked harder on her career as a lawyer than on a personal life. Then she’d met Drew. Life had been perfect for a time, then everything came crashing down around her. When she needed him the most he wanted her gone from his life.
The pain Drew had caused her would never compare to the heartache she’d experienced when Reed left all those years ago.
It was an all-too-familiar story.
Back then she and Reed Larkin were friends and it had developed into a crush by the time they’d reached high school. All the girls had been attracted to the rough around the edges guy. Paige knew his tough act had been a shield.
Since Reed’s mother had worked at the Inn, Paige had developed a friendship with him. That was until graduation day and they’d both had decisions to make. Paige had always been college bound and then on to law school.
Reed had opportunity for college, too. To leave Destiny and the stigma of his father behind him. But he was willing to turn down a full scholarship to go with her. Not that she hadn’t cared for him, just the opposite, but she’d wanted him to have a chance. In the process of convincing him to go away to school, she had to lie, causing her to lose the man she loved…and her best friend.
The familiar ache tightened in her chest as the memories flooded her head. She quickly pushed them away and continued to lay out the flatware. She had to stop reminiscing about the past. The future was what was important now. All her focus should be on her baby.
Men were off-limits.
Reed lived in Destiny, but that didn’t mean they had to keep running into each other. It wasn’t as if they moved in the same social circles. Her only concern was that he keep her secret for now.
The sound of voices caused Paige to turn around. Her sisters, Morgan and Leah, came through the door. Her baby sister’s brown eyes were brimming with happiness, and why not? Leah was engaged to a great guy. She and Holt would be married soon, and they were adopting an eight-year-old boy, Corey. A complete family.
“Sorry, we’re late,” Leah said. “But we were busy trying to finish up some wedding plans.” She took both her sisters’ hands. “I need a maid of honor, and I couldn’t choose between the two of you.”
“It’s okay, Leah…” Paige began to say Morgan could have the honor when her sister’s grip tightened.
“Just hear me out,” she said. “Holt and I talked it over. The only fair thing to do was draw a name. I mean, we’ll all be getting married someday, anyway. So we can all take turns. The name I picked was yours, Paige.”
Tears flooded Paige’s eyes. “Oh, Leah, I wouldn’t have been hurt if you chose Morgan…”
“Stop it, Paige.” Leah smiled through her own tears. “Remember you don’t want to upset the bride-to-be. So just say yes.”
She glanced at Morgan. She smiled and nodded. “I’d be honored to be your maid of honor, Leah.”
A tall, good-looking rancher, Holt Rawlins, walked to his bride-to-be and hugged her. His sandy colored hair had been recently cut, leaving a soft wave over his forehead. He had an easy smile and green eyes that sparkled with mischief.
“Boy, am I glad that’s over,” he said. “I’m also glad that I didn’t have so much trouble choosing my best man.”
“Who’s doing the honors?” Paige asked.
“Holt asked me.”
Everyone turned to see Reed Larkin standing in the doorway. He was dressed in jeans and a pale blue, Western-cut shirt, and looked devilishly handsome.
“Isn’t it great?” Leah gushed. “Reed is going to be escorting you down the aisle, and you two get to toast us at the reception.”
“Yes, that’s great,” Paige agreed as she caught the smile on Reed’s face.
So much for not running into each other.
CHAPTER TWO
AFTER dinner, Paige made her way out to the porch. With all the wedding talk it was getting a little stifling inside the kitchen. She also hated the fact that she was keeping a secret from her family. An important, life-changing secret. Even though she’d come home several times since moving to Denver, tonight seemed different. Soon a lot of things were going to be different.
Leah was getting married in a matter of days. Paige was going to have a baby. The Keenan family was growing. In a few months the clan would have added three new members.
She pressed her hand against her stomach protectively, a habit she’d acquired since learning of her pregnancy. This wasn’t the way her mother and father had expected to welcome their grandchild. It hadn’t been how Paige planned, either. She’d planned to bring her special guy home this summer to meet her parents.
How could she’ve been so wrong about a person? She’d believed him when he said he was divorced—that he hated his wife, Sandy.
The day Paige had learned about her pregnancy, Drew announced that he was going back to his wife. In truth they’d only been separated for the past year, and Drew finally admitted that he wanted a second chance at his marriage. What she hadn’t expected was his anger and his threat not to get in the way of his reconciliation. Then he stormed out of her condo and her life.
Paige wiped a tear from her cheek, refusing to cry over the man, or the past any longer. It was all about the future. The Keenans were going to be her baby’s family. She and her child didn’t need any man, especially a man who didn’t want them.
“Would you mind some company?”
Paige tensed and glanced over her shoulder to see Reed. She shrugged. “It’s a free world.”
“Thanks,” he told her, nodding toward the back door. “There’s way too much talk about Gerber daisies and banana cream or strawberry filling for the wedding cake going on inside.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Can’t take it? And you’re supposed to be the stronger sex.”
He cocked a thumb toward the kitchen. “If you think I’m in bad shape, you should see how blurry-eyed Holt is.”
That made Paige smile. Although she didn’t know the groom well, she liked him. “Losing testosterone, huh?”
“Be careful, I’m feeling the urge to spit and find a belching contest.” Reed walked
