girlfriend. Somehow I thought everything would work out….”
Mimi lowered her head. And that was when she realized what she’d really thought would work out, her deepest secret: she’d been waiting for Mason.
She was his for the taking, and she always had been.
MASON LOOKED DOWN at his daughter as she lay sleeping in the guest room, which would now need to be converted into Nanette’s bedroom. He felt a sense of excitement at the thought and an overwhelming need to catch up in her life. How did he tell this child that he was her father and not her beloved uncle? When should he tell her?
When I have completely absorbed it myself. And that was going to take some time. But he missed the moments when she might have called him Dad or Father. Daddy. Many of his brothers had children, or had them on the way. He’d never known when or with whom he’d have children.
Maybe because he’d always been waiting on…something. He didn’t know what. Impatiently, he brushed away those wistful thoughts and focused solely on the child sleeping soundly in front of him.
My daughter. My child. My very own.
It was a heady thought, even more wildly satisfying than staying on the meanest bull, or being elected sheriff, or anything in his life, for that matter. He’d done a lot of good things, and some not so admirable, but this…this child was as near to an angel as he figured anyone could be.
He had to tell his brothers, when the time was right. He went to sink into a rocking chair so he could sit and watch Nanette sleep, and as he sat, the terrible thought hit him that maybe his brothers already knew.
Last, for example, had looked at him strangely once when Mason had told Nanette that one day he wanted a little girl just like her. In fact, Bandera had asked him if he wanted to take Mimi and Nanette up in one of their hot air balloons at their honeymoon resort. Be a real family, Bandera had said, but Mason had waved him off, as he waved off all his brothers about everything.
“Damnation,” Mason said under his breath, wondering just how much his brothers had figured out. And if he found out that they did know—or that Mimi had told any of them—he was going to put a firm boot up any brother’s ass that hadn’t shared the news. If he found out that any brother of his had sided with Mimi by keeping such a secret from him…
His neck felt tight, and his skin turned hot. Mason told himself to calm down. He wouldn’t be so angry if Mimi had told him in the first place, and for that he would never forgive her. Anger brewed deep inside him. How could she?
Because life was a game with Mimi Cannady. She was fun and high-spirited, and he’d always loved that side of her the best. Funny how he hadn’t expected the very side that lured him to be his downfall.
His chest became even tighter as he wondered who else had known he was a father. Brian, of course. Widow Fancy knew because he’d made her look up the birth certificate Mimi had filed in the county records. There, plain as could be, was Mason Jefferson typed on the line for Father. No doubt the sheriff knew, as well.
Embarrassment burned inside him.
“Bro.”
“Shh.” Mason turned to look at Last, who had poked his head around the door. “What are you doing here?”
“Valentine and I left a cake on the table for Helga. Tomorrow is her birthday. We want you to hide—What’s wrong?”
Mason shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Something’s wrong. You look like you’ve got a stomachache.”
“No.”
Last frowned at him. “Okay. I still say you look like you ate something that didn’t agree, and you’re always pretty sour looking, Mason, so if I think—”
“Last, get the hell out,” Mason said, his voice low.
Last disappeared from the doorway. Nanette turned over in her sleep, her eyes closed tightly like a china doll’s. Surely she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on, Mason decided. She’d always been a lovely little sprite moving through his life; he’d always loved her. But now that she was all his, love for her nestled even deeper inside his heart.
He was very angry with Mimi for stealing his time with Nanette from him, but she’d given him a wonderful miracle, too, he slowly admitted. Who could have imagined that something as sweet as a child could come from such a moment of fiery lovemaking?
After that night with Mimi, he’d felt guilt. He’d felt remorse, and he’d felt crazed in the head. But he’d never regretted it. It would be a lie to say he had. Even when she’d walked down the aisle with Brian, Mason had been glad he’d loved her. All practicality told him that she was better off with Brian, and he’d let her go. It had never been his intention to steal her away from her intended.
Only he supposed he had. Mimi couldn’t have conceived a child with Brian while she was pregnant with Mason’s child, and he supposed Brian hadn’t wanted to raise another man’s baby. It would have been too much for a new marriage to handle. He felt momentary guilt that perhaps she’d never had a chance to make her marriage work because of him.
The fact was, he couldn’t keep his thoughts away from her, and that night he couldn’t keep his hands off her. She’d been upset over her father’s condition, and he’d comforted her. Without planning it, he had allowed that comfort to spiral into acting on his feelings and he had made love to her with every fiber of his being.
No, he didn’t regret that. And her marriage…well, that was one more seed of guilt he’d end up reaping one day.
He sat up, astonishment hitting him. “Nanette Jefferson,” he said out loud. Not Cannady. Jefferson!
“Mason,” Last said, peering around the door more cautiously this time, “I hate like hell to bother you, but—”
“That’s my child,” Mason said, pointing to Nanette gleefully.
“Yes, yes, she’s our child, all of us adore her. But, Mason—”
Mason got up, barely able to keep the grin off his face. “That’s my daughter. Not Brian’s. Mine.”
Last stared at him. “Are you insane? Mason, I really think you need to come downstairs and let Calhoun and Fannin and me spell you for a bit. You’ve been working too hard.”
“Nanette Jefferson,” Mason said, stubborn in his joy.
“Are you…getting married?” Last asked.
“Hell, no,” Mason said. “I’m getting proper papers filed, is what I’m going to do.”
“Proper papers?” Last frowned. “To do what?”
“To declare Nanette as mine. To change her name. All that stuff that fathers do when they become fathers.”
“Did you fall down the stairs and hit your head?”
“No,” Mason said, “and when you figure it out, you’ll realize you’re Uncle Last.”
Last blinked. “You’re going
