that way. I never really did, though.”
“I’ll bet you’d impress the heck out of them now.”
“Yeah, I probably would. I might’ve back then, too, if I’d returned to do more clinics, letting them get to know me a little better.”
She searched his gaze. “Then, why didn’t you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it was because you were here and it might’ve started something that I wouldn’t have known how to finish. Maybe in some unconscious way, avoiding you was deliberate on my part.”
“And now you’re back with the prospect of being a father to the son I deliberately didn’t tell you about.”
He reached out as if he meant to tame a strand of her hair that was blowing across her face, but he lowered his hand without making the connection. “We’re quite a pair, you and me.”
A mixed-up pair, she thought, wishing he would have touched her yet glad that he hadn’t. She batted the errant hair away herself. Before things got too awkward, she asked, “Does your family know about Cody?”
“Yes, and my brother is excited that he has a ten-year-old nephew. Shocked, but excited. I think you’d like Tanner. Cody probably would, too. Tanner just settled down with his fiancée and a baby girl he’s helping raise.”
“Whose baby? His fiancée’s?”
“No. It’s Meagan’s kid.”
She started. “Your sister has a baby?”
He nodded. “Meagan discovered that she was pregnant soon after she was incarcerated. Her old boyfriend, the baby’s father, is part of the reason she stole the money to begin with, and now he wants nothing to do with her or their child. So she asked Tanner to be her daughter’s legal guardian.”
“It’s admirable that your brother took responsibility. But it’s sad that your sister is locked up like that.” And the fact that her boyfriend abandoned her and the baby was equally disturbing. “When will she be released?”
“In about two years. I haven’t seen her since she’s been in prison. I haven’t met my niece yet, either. But I plan to. The baby is about five months old now. Tanner sends me pictures to keep me up to date, and he says she’s growing like a weed. Her name is Ivy, so it seems fitting.”
“That’s cute.” Bridget thought about how quickly Cody had grown. “Are you angry at Meagan? Is that why you haven’t visited her?”
“I’m not angry, just disappointed. Meagan and I were close when she was little, but as time went on, we drifted apart. I think it’s because I’ve been gone for so much of her life. With the age difference between us, she was just a kid when I went off to college. And after that, I started traveling the way I do.”
To Bridget, that was just more proof of how his lifestyle might affect Cody in the same way. But she didn’t call him out on it. Instead, she questioned him about his sister. “Are you ever going to try to get close to Meagan again?”
“I don’t know. Now that she’s in prison, I’m not sure how to do that. It’s weird how both of us are on the fringes of our children’s lives. I never thought I’d have that in common with her.”
As they passed the arena and headed to the barn, she thought about her own family ties. “My grandmother thinks I should have told you about Cody from the beginning.”
“Really?” Kade reacted with immediate interest. “And what about your mom? How does she feel about all of this?”
“She’s concerned about your character and whether you’ll be worthy of Cody. But after what she went through with my dad, she’s bound to be cautious.”
Kade turned pensive, stopping just short of the barn. “During the years he was around, did he provide any kind of support?”
“You mean financially? No. Mom never asked for anything from him. She just clung to the quiet dream of marrying him someday.”
“I want to help with Cody. I want to arrange for child support.”
“That isn’t necessary.” She didn’t want this to be about money. “I can give my son what he needs. I’ve been taking care of him since he was born.” And she wasn’t keen on changing the rules.
“If you won’t accept support from me, then I’ll set up a trust for him. At least that way, I can put something aside for his future.”
“If that’s the way you want to handle it, that’s fine. I appreciate that you want to provide a nest egg for him. But I don’t want you making payments to me.” She wished he wasn’t towering over her with that big broad body of his, intensifying her awareness of him. “I’m more comfortable keeping things as they’ve been.”
“I’m just trying to do what a dad is supposed to do. Besides, I have a sound portfolio. I’ve been making investments for years.” He made a grand gesture. “I could buy myself a big ole ranch.” He lowered his hands to his sides. “But being boxed in would probably make me panic.”
“Most people wouldn’t think of owning a large spread as being boxed in.”
“It’s not the size of the place. It’s the act of putting down roots. Even when I was a kid, I felt stifled every time I walked into the house, and I promised myself that I when I grew up, I would go wherever the wind took me.”
And now the wind was blowing him in this direction. But for how long, she couldn’t be sure. She wanted to trust him, to believe that he would be as responsible with Cody as he claimed he would be, but it was too soon to take him at his word.
“We need to lighten things up,” he said.
Bridget blinked. “What?”
“All of this heavy conversation. We didn’t do that last time.”
Did he expect it to be the same? “The circumstances were different.”
“I know, but what’s wrong with being upbeat, like we were before?” He flashed a cheesy smile, showing way too many teeth.
She went ahead and laughed. “You look like Dudley Do-Right.”
He laughed, too. “The dimwitted Mountie with the horse named Horse? I saw that movie. I think it got just about the worst reviews ever.”
“I know, but I thought Dudley was cute.”
He upped his hundred-watt smile. “So you had a thing for him?”
“I was a teenager when I had that crush.” She batted her lashes, being as silly as he was. “But a girl likes what she likes, I guess.”
“Big dumb guys with rockin’ bodies?” he teased her, flexing like a brainless stud.
His Dudley Do-Right smile was pretty near blinding her now. And damn if he didn’t live up to the rockin’-body part. She almost grabbed his arm by the biceps, but thought better of it. Instead, she simply said, “Come on. Let’s go see the horses.”
They
