The Bachelor's Baby Dilemma (Family Renewal)

by Sheri WhiteFeather

She stirred her tea and watched the liquid swirl. Eventually he would give up the fight and take another woman to his bed. Wouldn’t he?

  Of course he would. But it was none of her business what Tanner did or who he hooked up with.

  Then why did it leave her with an uneasy feeling in the pit of her divorced heart? At some point, Candy was going to meet the man of her dreams.

  She was going to get married again and have children and be blissfully happy. Or so she kept telling herself. At the moment, all she felt was lonely.

  She frowned at her oatmeal. She’d only taken a few bites. The butterflies in her stomach were interfering with her appetite.

  She gave up on breakfast and sat on the front porch. Soon, it would be time to leave, but for now she gazed out at her freshly mowed lawn. The gardeners had just left, leaving the scent of cut grass in the air. It should have been comforting, but it wasn’t. That supposedly refreshing smell was caused by chemicals in the grass trying to heal itself from the injury that had just been inflicted.

  Of all things for Candy to think about today.

  Finally, she quit stressing and climbed into her car. Her lawn would survive the trauma. It would continue to grow, lush and green, as it always did.

  Twenty minutes later, after a minor bout with surface-street traffic, she arrived at her destination.

  It was a beautifully maintained facility, offering a big breezeway barn, indoor and outdoor arenas, round pens, cross-tie areas, wash racks and everything else a horse enthusiast could want.

  Even on a weekday morning, there was plenty of activity, with people grooming, exercising and riding the animals they boarded. The stable that housed the rental horses was on the other side of the property, near the trails that led to the park, and she suspected it was just as nice.

  She headed to Tanner’s office, where they’d agreed to meet. It wasn’t the main office, where the rest of the managerial staff worked. It was a separate two-story building, surrounded by a redwood fence and located near a copse of trees.

  She went inside and found him sitting behind an L-shaped desk, talking on the phone. He looked up and smiled, but she hung back, letting him finish his conversation. It sounded as if he was booking rentals for one of the studios. He’d told her that his company provided horses for the movie industry. He’d come a long way from the stable hand he’d once been.

  He completed the call and rose to greet her. “Wow. Look at you.” He scanned her from head to toe, running his gaze, those powerful eyes, up and down. “And check out the boots.”

  “I got them from a thrift store.”

  “Pink roses.” His smile was rife with approval. “What do they mean?”

  “I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it.” She’d been too nervous about seeing him to consult the Victorian dictionary about her feet. “I bought these before I started reading up on floriography.”

  “Then let’s find out, shall we?” He sat on the edge of his desk and spun his laptop around.

  While he got online, she checked him out. He looked damned fine in his Western gear. His clothes consisted of various hues of timeworn denim. He had a penchant for black, she noticed. His boots were black, like the English ones, only these were scuffed instead of shiny. He even had a black hat sitting on a stack of paperwork. His belt was a moonlit shade of midnight, too, with little silver skulls on it. It made him seem wild, like a cowboy biker who knew just how to straddle a horse. Or ride a woman, she thought.

  “Thankfulness, admiration and happiness,” he said.

  She blinked. “I’m sorry. What?”

  “That’s what pink roses mean.”

  She cleared the heat from her mind. “I gave them to myself, so that’s a good sign.”

  “I like your top, too. I wondered if you still wore that color, and you do. I used to call you cotton candy when you wore pink.”

  She hoped that he didn’t call her that today. She didn’t want to be compared to something that would melt in his mouth.

  “So, where should we start?” he asked. “Do you want to see my apartment first?”

  Now she wished that she’d never expressed an interest in wanting to see where he lived. But she wasn’t going to wuss out. “Sure. Let’s start there.”

  He escorted her to an indoor stairwell, located at the end of a short hallway. At the top of the landing was a door that led to his apartment.

  They went inside, and he said, “This is it.”

  Candy glanced around. The open plan showcased polished oak floors, a strongly furnished living room, a barely used kitchen and a rustic dining area with a solid-wood table and a scrolled-iron chandelier. He didn’t have a lot of knickknacks, but the artwork on the walls was Western, with some Native artifacts scattered in between.

  She shifted her attention to the portable bar in the corner. Was that where the unopened bottle of tequila was being stored? The get-drunk-and-have-sex invitation?

  “Your place is really nice,” she said, turning away from the bar. It was definitely a bachelor pad, with a masculine vibe.

  “I cleaned up since I knew you were coming.” He shot her a slightly crooked smile. “I even made my bed.”

  As curious as she was to see where he slept, she didn’t want to think about his bed or get anywhere near it.

  A heartbeat later, they were still standing in the same safe spot. Thankfully, he didn’t give her a tour of his room. Making his bed, she assumed, was just a formality.

  But that didn’t stop her from wondering how long it would take for him to resume his sex life and return to the wild-and-free women he was used to dating.

  “What are you going to do with the extra beds in your house?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “In the guestrooms? Are you going to keep both of them in storage? Because I was thinking, if you want to sell the entire outfit that’s in the first guestroom, I’ll buy it. I’ll need to furnish a room for the nanny, and everything you already have in there would work out nicely if you’re not going to keep it.”

  “Sure. I can sell it to you. I was going to put a number of things on Craigslist and that bedroom set was one of them.”

  “Before you place the ad, let me know, and I’ll take as much stuff off your hands as I can. Since I’ll be holding on to this apartment, I’m going to have to get furniture for the new house, too.”

  “No problem. We can work that out.”

  “Have you started packing already?”

  “Yes, but I still have a ways to go.” To keep herself busy, she moved to the other side of the living room and glanced out a big picture window that overlooked his property. “You have a great view of your operation.” She could even see a glimpse of the hills in the background.

  “It’s been my home for a long time.” He joined her where she stood. “I bought it eight years ago.”

  “I had no idea that you’d been here that long.”

  He turned to face her. “I couldn’t have done it without the money my mom loaned me.”

  “I couldn’t have bought my house without the inheritance I got from my grandparents. They would be mortified if they knew that I couldn’t afford to keep it.”

  “I nearly lost this place,” he reminded her.

  “But you saved it.” He obviously had a better business head than she did. She was impressed with what he’d accomplished. “Your mom must have been proud.”

  “She was. My brother and I got our love of horses from her. She inspired both of us to pursue careers in this industry.” Tanner glanced out the window again. “The money she loaned me was part of what she’d gotten in the divorce settlement. At least my dad didn’t try to screw her out of what he owed her. But I guess it was easier for him to just pay it and get on with his life.”

  “Rather than let it drag
out in court?”

  He nodded. “The financial part was easy. It was the emotional stuff that was a mess.”

  The financial aspect of Candy’s divorce had been easy, too. But there weren’t any money ties between her and Vince. They hadn’t even lived together before they’d gotten married.

  She thought about the situation she was in now. “I can’t believe I’m in transition again.”

  “Don’t worry. You’re going to be okay.”

  “And so are you. With Ivy, I mean.”

  He smiled, a bit too softly. “We’re always telling each other that everything will be all right.”

  “So it seems.” She wanted to wrap her arms around him and indulge herself in a body-warming hug. But they’d yet to embrace, and this wasn’t the time to start, not after the friends-only agreement they’d made.

  In most cases, hugging didn’t lead to sex, but she knew better than to risk it, especially when the mystery of his bedroom was just around the bend.

  “I chose a magical horse for you to ride,” he said, drawing her into a new conversation.

  “Magical?”

  “A white horse. All she needs is a sparkly gold horn in the center of her head to look like a unicorn.”

  She sighed in remembrance, sweeping herself back in time. “Unicorns were my girlish obsession.”

  “I know. You used to say that you wanted to ride one, like in those fantasy movies we used to watch.”

  She thought about the stress associated with her youth, the perfection that had been expected of her. “Sometimes I used to imagine disappearing into a world of make-believe and never coming back.”

  “Now’s your chance. For a few hours, anyway.”

  “What’s the mare’s name?”

  “Enchanted.”

  “That’s beautiful, Tanner.” A white horse, a faux unicorn, called Enchanted. That was as close to magic as a grown-up girl like Candy could get.

  * * *

  Tanner rode beside Candy on the trail, thinking how magnificent she looked paired up with Enchanted. Technically, the horse was a few-spot leopard Appaloosa that didn’t actually have any spots. Although she had some pale gold hairs around her knees, elbows and hocks, her overall appearance was white. Tanner thought she was a stunning creature, with an equally wonderful temperament, a prized lesson horse with the ability to adapt to the skill of any rider.

  And then there was the other female, in her pink top and rose-embroidered boots. Spun sugar in the form of a woman, he thought. She kept glancing over and smiling, as if this really was a magical adventure.

  But maybe that was exactly what it was. Maybe at any given moment, Enchanted would sprout a gilded horn and lead them into a realm where nothing was real.

  And everything was idyllic.

  Tanner’s mount, a no-nonsense gelding, snorted, bringing Tanner back to reality. Until Enchanted tossed her pretty head again.

  He said, “Did you know that according to medieval legends, unicorns can’t be tamed, except by the innocence of a maiden?”

  Candy adjusted herself in the saddle, shifting her gorgeously shaped rump. “I don’t know anything about the habits of unicorns. I just liked the idea that they could exist.” She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “How do you know about those old legends?”

  “I got curious and did an internet search on it this morning before you came over. It’s funny how the innocent thing keeps presenting itself.”

  “Only because you’ve become aware of it. It’s like when someone mentions a certain type of car, and then you see one everywhere you go.”

  He reined his horse to a stop. “So I should expect to see maidens everywhere I go?” He looked both ways. “Honestly, I don’t see any. Do you?”

  She stopped, too, playing along. “Do they even exist anymore? I think they might be extinct.”

  “Actually, come to think of it, I do see one.” He slid his gaze over her. “Yes, I definitely do.”

  She continued the banter. “Is that so?”

  He smiled, winked, kept the joke going. “Yep, and she smells good, too. But that’s part of a maiden’s innocent allure.”

  “Really?”

  He couldn’t resist his answer. He even leaned toward her, pretending to take a whiff. “They’re sweet, just like...candy.”

  “You’re the worst.” But she laughed anyway.

  He liked making her laugh. It was certainly better than making her sad, like he’d done when he’d broken up with her those seventeen-some-odd years ago.

  Clearing the past from his thoughts, he called attention to their surroundings. “How great is this trail? I love it out here.”

  “It’s amazing.”

  Tanner nodded. They were in a wide-open space with an abundance of greenery, as well as a spectacular view of the chaparral-covered terrain, the park’s urban wilderness, in the canyon below. “This land is my home away from home.”

  “I can see why.”

  He glanced at the flowers blanketing the nearby landscape. “What are those?”

  “What are what?”

  “Those bright yellow flowers.”

  “They look like primrose to me.”

  “What do they mean?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t memorized all of the symbolism yet. I’m still at the stage of reading about it.”

  He removed his phone from his pocket. “I’ll check.” He got online and typed in the meaning of primrose as he’d done earlier with the pink roses. “Okay, here we go. It says, ‘I can’t live without you.’”

  She raised her eyebrows. “You can’t?”

  He smiled, glad that she was treating it lightly. “Oh, wait. There’s another meaning, too. Guess what it is?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Innocence.”

  Candy clucked her tongue. “It is not.”

  “It is, too.” He handed her his phone. “See?”

  “Oh, my goodness. That’s just too weird.”

  “Yeah.” He grinned and took his phone back. “But considering how strict the moral codes were back then, they probably gave tons of flowers that meaning.”

  “Obviously.”

  “Are you sure you still want to plant flowerbeds with old-fashioned messages in them?”

  “I’m sure. But I’m going to be careful what combinations I choose.”

  “No innocent plants next to dangerous ones?”

  “It’s better to keep them separated.”

  In spite of her comment, he was tempted to jump off his horse and pick a bouquet for her. But he didn’t. He wasn’t courting her. Nor was he supposed to be luring her into an affair.

  Nonetheless he said, “So if a man gives a woman a primrose, with the intention of combining the meanings, is he saying ‘I can’t live without your innocence’?”

  “That’s as good as any interpretation.”

  “Yeah, I guess it is.” They continued their ride, but they couldn’t escape the primrose. It grew aggressively on the sides of the road. Dangerous in its innocence, Tanner thought.

  Much like his friendship with Candy.

  Chapter Seven

  Candy was up to her eyeballs in boxes, but she didn’t mind. Escrow was scheduled to close in two days, and she appreciated that Dana was helping her with the final packing.

  Unfortunately Candy’s mom, the mighty Jo Sorensen, had bulldozed her way in, insisting on helping, too. The three of them were in the kitchen, wrapping glassware and dishes.

  Her mom was busy doing what she did best—complaining. “It’s such a shame that you have to sell this house. And to think who’s buying it. I never cared for that boy’s family. There was just something about them that didn’t sit well with me. So doesn’t it figure that his s
ister is in prison?”

  Candy had made the mistake of telling her mom about Meagan and the baby. And now she understood why Tanner had been so cautious about sharing that information. Of course, no one could react any worse than her mom.

  Even Dana was being deliberately quiet, trying to avoid being pulled into the conversation. Candy didn’t have that luxury. The discussion was being directed at her.

  “Tanner was handsome, though,” Mom said, actually tossing in something nice. “Tall and dark, with those wild gray eyes. Does he still look good?”

  “Yes, but he has a good heart, too,” Candy replied.

  “Does he?” Mom didn’t sound convinced. “Why? Because he’s going to take care of his sister’s child? If he was smart, he would’ve let social services handle it. That baby would be better off in foster care.”

  “How can you say that? He’s Ivy’s uncle.”

  “What does he know about raising a little girl? You said he’s been a bachelor all this time.”

  “At least he’s going to try. Besides, in his culture, being an uncle is equivalent to being a father.”

  “If his sister hadn’t committed a crime, he wouldn’t be stuck in that situation to begin with. I’ll bet she’s going to be a terrible mother when she gets out.”

  Really? Candy thought. This from the woman who’d made her childhood miserable?

  Mom studied a set of salt and pepper shakers shaped like frogs. “Why are you keeping all of this junk?”

  Candy blew out her breath. “Because they’re cute. And because The Frog Prince was my favorite fairy tale.”

  “Fairy tales are foolish.”

  But forcing her daughter to become a beauty queen wasn’t? When she was a child, wearing those dreaded tiaras, she used to fantasize about meeting a frog who was a cursed prince, certain that he would understand that she’d been cursed, too.

  “So Tanner is back in your life,” Mom said suddenly. “Please tell me that you’re not going to start dating him again.”

  Candy tried not to flinch. She wasn’t about to admit that she was still attracted to him or how tenderly their non-romance was playing out. “We’re just friends.”