“She had her reasons for not telling me, or Evan.”
“Grace hasn’t told Evan about you?” Ryan asked.
Nathan met Ryan’s eyes. “No, and we’re keeping it that way for now.”
“You’re okay with that?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You’re going to try to change her mind.” Ryan nodded his approval.
“Try being the operative word. She’s a lot more determined than she used to be.”
“Dust off the old charm,” Simon said.
“That’s what got me into this situation in the first place.”
“I’M GOING TO HAVE to warn the neighbors’ cattle about you,” Nathan said when Evan managed to rope a miniature steer dummy in the middle of the corral.
Evan beamed and looked over to where Grace stood leaning on the outside of the fence. “Did you hear that, Mom? Cows fear me.”
Grace snorted as she laughed. Sometimes the funniest things came out of kids’ mouths. “I heard.” Her gaze shifted to Nathan, who was watching her without even attempting to hide it. She tried not to read too much into it. She’d made that mistake with him once before and didn’t intend to repeat it.
Chances were everything he said and did from now on would be in the pursuit of convincing her to tell Evan the truth. She’d have to watch Nathan closely, making sure he didn’t get tired of waiting and tell Evan himself. Her heart jolted at the thought. She was walking a skinny tightrope here.
“So, you here to watch your little roping prodigy or his teacher?” A good amount of teasing filled Laney’s low voice.
“Evan, of course.”
“Uh-huh.” She didn’t sound at all convinced. At least she wasn’t broadcasting it to the rest of the ranch.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you and Emily were twins.”
Laney looked over at Grace, her eyebrows raised. “She can pick out the obvious, too?”
Grace turned her back on the activities in the corral, on Nathan. “Am I really that obvious?”
“If they plunked the Statue of Liberty in the middle of this ranch, it couldn’t be more obvious that you’re still attracted to him, no matter how nervous he makes you.”
“Damn it.” How could she have let those old feelings surface? Because that’s what they had to be, right? Remnants of unresolved and unrequited longing from the past.
“If it helps any, I’d say it goes both ways.”
“Now that’s where you’re wrong.”
“I’m pretty good at reading people.”
Grace was already shaking her head. “Trust me. I’m not what Nathan is interested in.”
Laney angled herself toward Grace. “And you know this how?”
“Because he told me to my face that he was going to change my mind about telling Evan the truth. Anything he says or does is suspect.”
“You’re smart enough to know the difference between genuine interest and ulterior motive.”
“I’m not so sure about that. I wouldn’t say I have the best track record with judging Nathan’s feelings. Would you?”
Laughter filled the air behind Grace. She looked back to see Tyler had missed the steer but had roped his brother instead.
“You’re not that starry-eyed, naive girl anymore, Grace. If he’s trying to play you for a fool, you’ll know.” Laney propped her forearms on the fence. “And then I’ll be forced to make good on my earlier offer to kick his jeans-clad butt all the way to the Mexican border and back. You might owe me a pair of new shoes by the time I’m done.”
Grace hated how her heart constricted at the memory of the hurt she’d experienced when he’d ignored her after the most important night of her life.
“I know you don’t think he liked you back then, but there are definitely sparks now. Maybe he’s changed as much as you have. Nobody ever said teenage boys weren’t stupid, but they do eventually grow up.”
Grace’s pulse jumped at the very idea that Nathan might be interested in her, really interested. But that was dangerous thinking.
I’m going to change your mind.
Would he really stoop to playing with her past feelings for him? She’d confessed to him that she’d liked him when she’d been his tutor, after all. She didn’t want to think he would use those old feelings to his advantage now, but she hadn’t wanted to admit she’d been nothing more than an alcohol-induced roll in the hay, either.
She’d come a long way in trusting people since he’d ignored her and her parents had tossed her out, but she suspected the tendency toward distrust, to never put her faith fully in anyone but herself, might stay with her throughout her entire life.
“Just be open to the possibility,” Laney said. “That’s all I’m saying.”
Grace nodded but told herself not to bank on it.
“Girls can do anything boys can.” Cheyenne’s voice rose above all the other conversations.
Grace looked toward where Cheyenne was faced off against Evan, Tyler, Jason and another little boy Grace thought was named Andy, her small hands on her hips.
“Uh-oh. Those boys taunted the wrong girl,” Laney said.
“We could win a contest against girls anytime,” Tyler said, eyeing Cheyenne as well as Meaghan and Becca, the only other girls among the campers.
Grace looked around for Barrett, but he’d vacated the spot where he’d been talking to a couple of the ranch hands.
Nathan waded into the fray. “Well, that doesn’t seem fair since there are more of you guys than girls. Unless we can convince one of you ladies to join the girls’ side.” Nathan stared directly at Grace, a glint of challenge and a poorly hidden smile in his expression.
Her breath caught, and she called herself a fool for letting what might be a well-calculated smile get to her so easily.
“Like I said,” Laney said under her breath. “Sparks.”
Ignoring the sudden fluttering of her heart, Grace climbed over the fence and made her way across the packed dirt as if she were a gladiator entering the arena. She wouldn’t let Nathan know how drawing closer to him made her senses go haywire. She was simply showing solidarity with the girls.
“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a full team,” Nathan said, sounding so amused she wanted to smack him on the arm.
Oh, how easy it would be to just give in and enjoy her time with him, pretending it might mean more than it actually did, no matter how much it might hurt her later.
But maybe that was the best tactic for handling her situation—to quit fighting it so hard. To go along on the surface while doing her best to guard the part of her heart Nathan was uniquely qualified to break.
“You can just wipe that smirk off your face, Nathan Teague.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He tipped the edge of his hat, and again her heart did that ill-advised flippy thing. “Okay, we’ll take turns, and each person gets three tries. The team with the most successful attempts wins.”
Grace took up her position behind the little girls, noticing her son snickering right along with the other boys. She rolled her eyes at the silliness of boys, no matter their age. Once the snickering faded, Nathan handed the lariat to Tyler with some helpful reminders about what he’d been teaching them.
Tyler nailed his first try, then pumped his fist and said, “Yes!”
Cheyenne didn’t let him get to her and responded with a successful throw of her own.
“Way to go, Chey!” Laney said from her post on the sidelines.
Cheyenne didn’t celebrate as visibly as Tyler, just returned to her team with a smug smile on her face. Grace gave her a high five anyway. All the other kids, including Evan, missed their throws, leaving Grace facing her turn. She stared at the miniature steer dummy and wondered,
how hard could this be?
“Nervous?” Nathan asked as he handed her the coiled rope.
“Nope.”
He smiled, a reaction so at odds with how he’d acted toward her since her revelation that it made her suspicious. Still, she was going to play along.
“You become a cowgirl since I last saw you?” he asked, sounding skeptical.
She had the distinct urge to stick her tongue out at him, and suspected he knew it. As she stepped forward, she replayed every tip she’d heard Nathan tell the kids. She swirled the rope with visions of saving the day for womankind. As she let the rope fly, she held her breath—right until it fell flat in the dirt.
Tyler and his cohorts started guffawing. Despite his budding male chauvinism—something else they’d be discussing—it was good to see Evan so happy. Meaghan responded by saying, “There’s two more tries, you nits.”
“Now, no name calling,” Nathan said. When Tyler started to smile, Nathan pointed at him and the other boys. “And no rubbing it in. This is just friendly competition. If you can’t handle that, we’ll quit. Can you all handle that?”
Chastised, all the kids nodded. Then Nathan looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Grace?”
“Seriously?”
He smiled a little, like he was enjoying teasing her. Could Laney possibly be right? “You are a part of the girls’ team.”
She nodded then watched more carefully as he gave pointers to the boys and girls alike. Something shifted inside her when she realized how good he was with them, how his speech about friendly competition had been so…fatherly. Nathan Teague was beginning to chip away at the image she’d carried of him all the years she’d been away. Was she making a mistake not letting him be a part of Evan’s life?
She shifted her attention to the small gathering that had assembled to watch the contest. Fellow campers, their parents, ranch hands. The grandparents and an uncle Evan didn’t know he had. Was she, through her fear of losing him, cheating Evan? Punishing people who’d done nothing worthy of punishment?
“Are you okay?”
She jerked at the nearness of Nathan’s voice. “Yeah.”
He looked at her as if he was trying to work a tricky puzzle. “You were on another planet.”
“Sorry. Daydreaming, I guess.”
“About anything interesting?” he asked low, where no one else could hear.
The way he said it—private, just for her, in a voice that struck her as sexy—caused her nerves to spark. When she met his eyes, her breath caught in her chest. For one crazy moment, she ached to be alone with him so she could kiss that teasing expression off his too-gorgeous-for-her-peace-of-mind face. She should ignore his question, but a part of her that hadn’t even existed in high school decided to give as good as she got. If he was playing her, he’d be surprised when she fired back.
She offered up a knowing smile as she accepted the rope. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Without waiting for his reaction, she took her turn and found success this time.
Whoever had temporarily inhabited her body vacated the premises as quickly as she’d arrived, leaving Grace’s knees rubbery and her unable to meet Nathan’s eyes as the rest of the contest played out.
Meaghan finally roped the faux steer, resulting in much jumping and squealing between her and her teammates. The girls were one up on the boys, meaning they’d won despite how Grace’s last throw might go. Still, she stepped forward, concentrated, and let the rope fly. It neatly fell over the fake horns, and the girls went wild again while the boys made sounds of disbelief.
Nathan retrieved the rope and began coiling it as he walked toward her with what seemed like deliberate slowness. And she felt as though her sneakers had taken root in the Texas dirt.
“You’re a woman of many talents.” Again, his voice felt like a delicious assault on her senses, and she wished she could trust it. “Dancing among them?”
She stared at him. “What?”
“Dancing. You know, music, feet moving around a dance floor.”
She crossed her arms. “I know what dancing is.”
“But do you like it?”
She should say no, kill wherever this line of questioning was going, but she didn’t. The fact was she loved dancing, something she’d never been allowed to do while growing up. “Yeah.”
“Good.” With no more explanation, he turned and walked away. “Congratulations to the girls’ roping team. With that, we’ll call it a day.” He faced the assembly. “If you’re looking for something to do tonight, there will be music and dancing at the Blue Falls Music Hall in town. And it’s family night, which means the bar won’t be serving alcohol. So bring the kids.”
Grace would swear he looked directly at Evan right before his gaze caught hers. A wave of confusion rolled through her, making her wonder what to believe. Had Nathan been flirting with her because he was interested, as Laney claimed? Or was he just counting on potential lingering feelings so he could spend more time with Evan, time in which he might decide to reveal the truth and strip away her choice of how and when to tell Evan about his paternity?
An image of dragging a screaming Evan away from his newfound father shook her. Needing to get away, she headed for the group of people filing through the barn. Before she could make a clean exit, however, Nathan’s long stride caught up with then passed her. He turned and walked backward for a few steps. “Save me a dance.”
Hard to do if she wasn’t there.
“SO, WHAT DO YOU WANT to do tonight, cowboy?” Grace asked Evan as they sat on the front porch of their cabin drinking lemonade. “Movie? Go out for pizza?”
“Go to the dance.”
His answer surprised her, especially considering how he always laughed when he found her dancing while cleaning the house.
“It’ll be crowded and noisy.” And your father will be there.
“Cheyenne said it’d be fun. She said cowboys are good dancers.”
“She did, did she?” Where had she come up with that idea? Grace was pretty sure there was no dancing on PBR coverage.
But she was glad her discussion with her son about respecting girls had sunk in and he’d spent some time talking with Cheyenne before they’d all returned to their cabins. He’d only stopped when the Farnsley boys had started laughing at him.
“Yeah, plus Nathan’s band is playing. I bet he’s good. Don’t you think he’s probably good?”
Yeah, at many things, like winning over her son.
And making her body flush with a longing that was a very bad idea.
I just have to make it through the rest of the week. Then we’ll be home, back to normal, away from the crazy pull Nathan has on me.
Why didn’t that feel as appealing as it had a couple of days ago?
The door to the cabin next door opened, and Laney and Cheyenne stepped out. Cheyenne smiled and waved. “Hi, Evan.”
When Grace glanced at Evan, his cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, but that didn’t stop him from waving back at Cheyenne. Was it possible to have a crush in first grade? From the look on Evan’s face when he thought she wasn’t looking at him, she’d guess yes. Cheyenne did look cute in a white fringed skirt and pink cowgirl shirt embroidered with flowers on the lapels, but Grace wasn’t ready for this. Wouldn’t be ready for many more years, if ever.
“Aren’t you all ready?” Laney asked.
“I’m not sure we’re going. It’s been a long day.” Grace tried to ignore the undisguised look of disappointment on Cheyenne’s face.
“Of course you’re going.”
“Really, I didn’t bring anything to wear to a dance.”
Laney walked over to the edge of the porch and grasped Grace’s hand. “Lucky for you, I am physically incapable of packing light.” She tu
gged until Grace stood and allowed herself to be escorted toward Laney’s cabin. “Be ready in twenty minutes,” Laney said to Evan over her shoulder.
“I need to help him.”
“He’ll be fine. It’s his mom who needs the prodding.”
As they crossed the threshold into the cabin, Grace stopped and met the other woman’s eyes. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I’m an old married lady and have to live vicariously. And I’m not about to let you rob me of my fun.”
Grace must have had a comical look on her face because Laney laughed and pushed her toward the bedroom.
“You don’t even know Nathan or what he might be planning,” Grace said.
“Neither do you, not anymore.”
Grace planted her feet and turned to stare at Laney. “Did you plan this all along?” That idea hurt, that one of her best friends might push her in a direction she wasn’t prepared to go.
“No.”
“Then why the change?”
“Because I see how you look at him, how Evan is already halfway to worshipping the ground Nathan walks on.”
“Nathan wants nothing more than to change my mind, to have a say in a situation I’ve handled on my own for nearly seven years.”
“Do you blame him?”
“Laney!”
“For just a moment, think of the situation from his point of view. He’s been a father all these years and didn’t know it.”
Grace stalked across the room. “I bet Emily wouldn’t be doing this right now.”
Laney crossed to stand opposite Grace. “I’m going to forgive you that because I know this is hard for you.”
“I can’t let him take Evan from me.” Grace swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I couldn’t survive that.”
“Do you really think that will happen?”
“I don’t know, but how can I risk it?”
“How can you live the rest of Evan’s childhood in fear?” Laney took Grace’s hands in hers. “Listen. All I’m asking you to do is take it one step at a time, and tonight that means going to a dance. You deserve to have some fun.”
The Cowboy's Secret Son Page 7
