The Cowboy's Secret Baby (The Mommy Club Book 3)

by Karen Rose Smith

  “I got him these,” Ty said, taking two trucks from one of the bags. He’d obviously extracted them from their boxes. One was a dump truck and the other was a four-by-four.

  He set them on the floor and sat on the hassock beside them, running them across the braided rugs. “What do you think, Jordan?”

  Ty had gotten his son’s attention, and Jordan toddled over to the trucks and plopped down beside them.

  Next Ty opened the box of plastic balls and dumped them into the truck. “There you go,” he said. “Have a go at it.”

  Jordan clapped his little hands and looked up at Ty with the brightest smile.

  Marissa’s heart twisted. Could they be a family? Is that what Ty wanted? Or maybe he just wanted an affair without the strings of being tied down. He hadn’t whispered words of love to her during or after they’d made love. He hadn’t made any promises. He hadn’t talked about commitment.

  And what exactly did she want? A life here at the Cozy C? What kind of life would it be on a vacation ranch with strangers coming and going? What life could it be if she was afraid Ty would leave again?

  Eli chose an ornament from the box. It was a small wooden train hanging from a piece of red yarn.

  “This was one of the first ornaments I bought when Ty came to live with me,” Eli said. “We were in the General Store in town. That was when we had a General Store. The owner made these to sell. When Ty saw it, he said he was going to take a train to faraway places, like all the places his dad had told him about.”

  “I was a kid. I didn’t know much then,” Ty objected.

  “You knew enough to want to chase after your dad’s dreams.”

  “Maybe so,” Ty admitted.

  Seeing that Jordan was occupied, he crossed over to the old carton and he lifted out another ornament. It was a cowboy on a horse, plastic and bright and eye-catching even all these years later.

  He held it up. “Maybe I should have stuck to riding bucking broncos.”

  “Show me others,” she said to Ty, wanting to know more about his childhood, the years he rarely talked about.

  Ty shuffled through the box a bit until he found an ornament of a church that was white and sparkly. “This came in a set with other houses, a store and a stable. Unc got these the first Christmas after...” He paused. “After my dad left. He said the small town was just like this one. People went to church, hoping to find Christmas there. But it was really in that stable. I didn’t know what he meant until he read me the Christmas story. Then I understood better.”

  “Can we find all of the village ornaments and hang them on the tree?” she asked, feeling that this would be important, not only for Ty and his uncle, but for Jordan, too.

  “They should all be in there,” Eli said. “Why don’t you two look while I hang some of the other ones?”

  Jordan was rolling the balls along the floor now, laughing as they ran into the sofa or the coffee table leg.

  She and Ty sifted through the ornaments carefully. When her fingers brushed his, she felt fire and she pulled her hand away.

  In a low voice he murmured, “You could come to my room tonight.”

  She kept her voice just as low. “Give me time to think about what happened and where we’re headed.”

  He didn’t argue with her. He simply remarked, “Time isn’t going to change what happens when we touch.”

  She glanced over at Eli but he was busy hooking a frosted ball onto one of the high branches. She knew Ty was right, but she couldn’t just crawl into his bed as if they were a couple, as if she knew they were going to have a life together. Because she wasn’t sure of that at all.

  After they’d found the set of ornaments, Ty moved away from the box. “Go ahead and hang them on the tree. I’m going to go upstairs and get my camera. I want to take a picture of Jordan when we light it up.”

  Less than an hour later, as Jordan ate his bedtime snack, then rubbed his eyes with sleepy anticipation, all of the old ornaments and some of the new ones sparkled along the tree branches.

  “We’re ready,” Ty announced.

  Marissa picked up Jordan, holding him high and facing the tree.

  “Watch the tree,” Ty said to Jordan. “A big surprise is coming.”

  Then he plugged in the lights.

  He’d bought a glowing star for on top, and Jordan’s eyes were drawn to that first as it shimmered and blinked on the very tip of the tree. But then Jordan saw all the other lights twinkling, flickering on and off, and he giggled with glee holding his hands out, wanting to touch them.

  “You can’t touch,” Marissa said. “It’s just to look at. Isn’t it so pretty? It’s our very first Christmas tree.”

  Jordan chortled and leaned toward it. She took him closer. When he reached out to grab a little wooden sled, she said, “Look, don’t touch,” and she held on to his hand.

  He might have made a fuss but Ty set down his camera and took him from Marissa’s arms. “Come on, cowboy, I think it’s time you got your pj’s on.”

  Marissa watched Ty carry their son up the stairs.

  Eli said, “I think he’s going to be a right good dad.”

  In her heart, Marissa knew that Eli was right.

  She was sure of this an hour later when there was a knock on her bedroom door. She opened it to Ty, who had a few papers in his hand.

  “I wanted to show you these. I downloaded the photos from tonight and printed them out. I sent the pictures to an online processor and we’ll get prints, too. But I thought you might want to see these.”

  Marissa had changed for bed. She hadn’t grabbed a robe but her nightgown was cotton, not see-through. Still she felt a bit self-conscious because she saw Ty’s gaze sweep from her neck to her knees, taking in the pink cotton, and maybe visualizing what was underneath it.

  “You look good in pink,” he said casually.

  She felt herself blushing. The blouse she’d had on today had been pink, too. Like a video playing on YouTube, she could see Ty again, unsnapping the placket and slipping his hands underneath. He must have been envisioning the same thing. The heat between them was palpable. All she had to do was take a step back nearer to her bed and give him some kind of signal and he’d join her there in a second.

  But seeing those photos in his hands, she knew that wasn’t why he had come to her room.

  When he handed her the printouts, she tried to forget about the pleasure he could give her. As soon as she saw the pictures, she did. She was holding Jordan. The expression on Jordan’s face was pure awe and delight. And Ty had captured it.

  “This is beautiful. His first look at his first Christmas tree. Last year when he was so small, there didn’t seem to be a point to putting one up. And I guess I was still overwhelmed with taking care of him.”

  “You never told me what it was like.” Ty’s voice was husky and she could see he somehow wanted to capture those memories that she had accumulated.

  “I didn’t have a camera or a phone with a camera then. I had a month at home with him, but then I took him to day care. I hated doing that at first. I didn’t want to be separated from him. But Jase gave me long lunches, so I could go to the day care facility and spend the time with him. The truth is, I was sleep deprived those first six months, so my memories aren’t as clear as they should be.”

  “But then things got better?” Ty asked.

  “Oh, yes. He started sleeping through the night, then I began feeding him solid food. When he was teething, I pulled some all-nighters, but for the most part, we fell into a good rhythm. I think babies like routine as much as adults do. After Kaitlyn and Sara and I became friends, motherhood became even easier. I had their support and they babysat now and then.”

  She looked down at the photos he’d taken, and then she said, “Ty, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you miss
ed his first smile and his first steps. I’m sorry I didn’t try to contact you.”

  “It wouldn’t have been easy,” he said, “with me moving around so much. But I did call in to check on Unc. I would have gotten the message eventually. I guess you really didn’t know me, Marissa. Passing in the halls in high school, and one night in bed don’t really tell you who a person is. Did you really think I’d never come back to Fawn Grove and find out?”

  “I truly didn’t know.”

  When she studied Ty now, she wondered if he’d ever be able to really forgive her for keeping Jordan from him. Would he ever be able to trust her? Did she trust him to be a father for day and night and forever?

  She lifted the photographs. “Thank you for these.”

  “I did it for me as much as you. When the prints arrive, we can frame them.”

  As if their discussion had doused the fire he’d felt this afternoon, as if it had changed the air between them from electric to serious, he turned to leave. “I’ll see you in the morning. Sleep well.”

  But as she closed the door, she knew she wouldn’t sleep well. She knew regrets from the past were going to haunt her for a long time to come.

  * * *

  Ty came to the breakfast table after chores on Monday morning, looking distracted.

  When Marissa set a plate in front of him with pancakes, hash browns, scrambled eggs and bacon and he didn’t immediately pick up his fork, she knew something was wrong.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked him.

  Eli, who had been tearing bits of pancake for Jordan, looked up at his nephew. “Something’s wrong?”

  Ty glanced at his uncle and made eye contact with Marissa. “Nothing’s wrong...exactly.”

  She sat down beside him, knowing something was coming. She just wasn’t sure what.

  He took a piece of paper from his pocket that looked as if he’d carefully folded it into quarters. Now he unfolded it and laid it on the table. “When I checked my email this morning, I had received this letter in my in-box from a man in New York.”

  “New York?” Eli asked with a raised brow. “Is it somebody you know?”

  “No, but he found our website. He did some checking. He knows I used to ride rodeo. He has his own software development business in Yonkers. He wants to bring four of his employees here and go on a pre-Christmas trail riding, camping trip. He saw that our official opening is January first. But these are his senior employees and he wants them to have this experience now. Something about they have a big project coming up in January and they’ll be closeted together for long hours.”

  “Did you tell him no?” Eli asked.

  “No. I’m thinking about it.”

  Eli looked as worried as Marissa felt.

  “Are you physically ready for something like that?” Eli asked.

  “I really thought I’d have longer to recuperate,” Ty admitted. “I didn’t think anybody would book until after the first of the year.”

  “So what are you going to do?” Marissa would be concerned if he did do it, concerned if he didn’t. After all, this was what the new Cozy C was all about.

  “He’s a CEO,” Ty said, almost to himself. “He could spread the word to other CEOs. It would be a new side to the vacation ranch business, bringing in teams of workers to refresh them. It’s a whole other angle we could approach. If I do this, and do it well, we could pull in a lot more business.”

  “You could have Clint take out these tours,” Eli suggested.

  Marissa had been thinking the same thing, but Ty was already shaking his head. “No, I can’t. I’m managing the Cozy C. I’m the one who came up with this enterprise. Sure, maybe Clint can help out later on, but I need him here handling the other work. I have to do this. I have to set the tone.”

  Marissa wanted to shout, But what if you aren’t ready? Yet she couldn’t voice that question, not here with Eli sitting there, too. Maybe later.

  Maybe tonight.

  * * *

  Marissa thought about Ty and the trail riding trek all day. She took Jordan to day care and worked with Jase filling orders, collating invoices. Over her lunch hour, she finalized details for Donaldson’s party on Saturday night by making a few calls, going over her lists, examining the menu again with the caterer. That afternoon, she worked on the after-Christmas winery tour event. Throughout it all, she tried not to let her mind wander to what could happen on a trail ride if Ty wasn’t really ready for it.

  Back at the ranch that night after supper, she made wreaths with pine boughs and red ribbon and attached jingling bells that made Jordan laugh. Eli helped her hang them on the barn door as well as the front door. Ty had gone out to do some work on the cabins.

  Later, as she was saying good-night to Jordan, she heard Ty come up the stairs. He spotted her when she was exiting Jordan’s room. With a quick glance at him, she saw that he looked tired. His square jaw held a day’s worth of stubble. The shirt he’d changed into for supper showed signs that he’d worked hard during the evening, too.

  When she approached him, he said, “I smell like horses.”

  “I don’t find that altogether unpleasant,” she teased.

  He gave her an askance look. “My bet is you want to have a talk. I don’t. My mind’s made up. Mr. Brannigan and his team are flying in on Sunday. We leave on the trail ride on Monday, come back Wednesday, and they fly home Thursday. The deal’s done.”

  “That’s fast.”

  “It has to be with Christmas less than three weeks away.”

  “You’ve given this a lot of thought?” she asked, worried about him.

  He must have heard her concern more than opposition because he didn’t get defensive. “I’ve thought about it, turned it over and looked at it right side up and upside down. I want this, Marissa. I want to be part of it. Sure I could stay here and manage the ranch while Clint took out tourists, and maybe sometime that will be the way of it. But for now I have to run this program. Do you see that?”

  She could see that. She just didn’t want any harm to come to him. She moved in closer, wrapping her arms around his neck and surprising him. He looked wary, as if he thought she might try something underhanded. There was that trust issue again.

  “Have you thought about talking to your physical therapist about this?” she asked.

  “I called her this morning. She got back to me this afternoon. She thinks I should try it, being prepared for as many possibilities as I can. I assured her I’d take the portable mounting block, some pain pills I haven’t used much up until now and I’ll make sure I do my exercises while we’re on the trail. I’ll see her tomorrow for some last-minute pointers when I go in town for supplies.”

  “If you say you can do this, Ty, I believe you.” She knew she had to support him.

  “Your faith in me means a lot,” he said in a husky voice.

  Marissa could see strength in Ty—strength to start his life over, strength to try something new, strength to be the father Jordan always needed. His physique and his strength were two reasons she’d fallen for him the first time, reasons she ended up in his bed. But now, she was seeing so many different kinds of strength, not just physical but emotional, intellectual, entrepreneurial. His strength was the reason she had fallen in love with him all over again.

  “If you can meet me in town over my lunch hour,” she suggested, “we could go to that thrift store, maybe even the furniture store if we can make quick decisions. We have to remember to pick up dishes and pots and pans for the cupboards, towels for the bathrooms, a few decorations to make the cabins feel homey.”

  “So you have this all planned out. Do you have a budget?” he asked with a smile.

  “I could show you what I came up with. Whatever it is, Ty, we’ll stick to it.”

  “You run budgets for Jase?”
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  “When he introduces a new product, I run the prices on bottles, labeling and advertising. Then I use the budgets he provides. So I’ve gotten good at juggling.”

  Now Ty wrapped his arms around her and let his wrists dangle at her back waist. He brought her close, kissed her deeply, and then set her away.

  “I want to ask you to my room, Marissa, but my mind’s going a mile a minute, and I don’t want to be distracted when I’m with you. I’ve got a lot to figure out and not much time to do it in. I’m not too keen on going to Donaldson’s on Saturday night, but I’m not going to leave Eli alone with him.”

  “I’ll be there,” she said.

  “You’ll be flitting from here to there taking care of the party. I don’t want Donaldson getting Eli alone in his office and making some kind of side deal, not when things are about to take off here.”

  “It doesn’t have to be a late night,” Marissa said.

  “No, it doesn’t. At least not at the party. I’ll probably be up late making sure everything is in tip-top shape and ready for guests.”

  She gave him a full-fledged hug. “It’s all going to work out. You’ll see.”

  She voiced the confidence she wanted to have, not the doubts she really had. If something went wrong on this trail ride, the whole new idea for the Cozy C could be over—and Scott Donaldson’s offer to buy the Cozy C would be waiting.

  * * *

  Saturday evening, Ty looked around at the guests at Scott Donaldson’s cocktail party. Most of the men wore suits and ties—expensive suits and ties. He wore a Western-cut suit he’d bought a few years back for special occasions. With a white oxford shirt and a bolo tie, it worked even for this shindig.

  As he mingled, someone recognized Ty and asked about his plans for the Cozy C. The man had apparently visited the ranch’s social media page.

  That was the exact moment that across the room Donaldson took Eli aside.

  Ty had to make a choice—drum up business or stand guard over Eli. He decided he had confidence in his uncle to stand up for himself. Still, he didn’t like Donaldson’s smile or the long talk he was having with Eli.