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  “Beginner’s luck. I haven’t spent much time with little kids.” He handed Sophie over to her mother and they started back toward the front of the house.

  “No one would ever know it.”

  “Maybe it’s because I click with Sophie.”

  “Nah, I don’t think that’s it. I’ll bet you’d be fine no matter whose kid it was.” She climbed the porch steps. “Damon’s fixing lunch so I hope you’re okay with turkey sandwiches.”

  “Love ’em.” He opened the door for her. So she thought he had a talent for taking care of little kids. Interesting.

  But playing with Sophie once in a while was a long way from assuming total care for a child. Tess didn’t think he was temperamentally suited for it, and she could be right. He couldn’t argue with her logic that he was untested and that his lifestyle hadn’t prepared him to be a dad. But prepared or not, he was a dad, or would be in another six months.

  Phil cut up some melon and a banana for Sophie to eat with her fingers. That and the cereal kept her content while the adults ate their sandwiches and chips.

  Zeke grabbed a kitchen stool out of a closet and Damon and Phil each took a folding chair. Damon adjusted the old straw hat he liked to wear while he was working and looked across the card table at Zeke. “So, what’s up?”

  “I got somebody pregnant.”

  “Get outta town!” Damon’s eyes widened. “Didn’t we teach you better than that?”

  Zeke lowered his voice even though Sophie was too little to understand. “I used condoms, okay? And turns out she had a five percent chance of getting pregnant, so this baby never should have happened, but he did.”

  Phil put down her sandwich. “Did you say he? You already know it’s a boy?”

  “They have this blood test. Didn’t you guys use it?”

  Damon shook his head. “No way, no how. There are so few cool surprises anymore that we both decided to wait and see. Anticipation is half the fun.” He winced, and Zeke suspected Phil had kicked him under the table. “Not that there’s a thing wrong with finding out in advance, if that’s what you two decided. It makes the naming thing way easier and you don’t get a bunch of yellow baby clothes.”

  “I wasn’t part of the decision.” Now Zeke wished he had been because he liked the idea of waiting. “She didn’t notify me of this until yesterday and she’s already three months along.”

  “Three months?” Phil eyed him warily. “Um, okay. I’m not sure where to start with the questions. Maybe you’d better just explain in your own words, as they say.”

  He did his best, but no matter how he prettied up the details, it was still a two-night stand with someone he’d never expected to see again. Now she was the mother of his child.

  “So you guys have no history,” Damon said. “I mean, apart from the obvious.”

  “That’s right.” Zeke took a deep breath and let it out. “I proposed to her this morning and she rejected me.”

  “What a shocker.” Phil shook her head. “Sweetie, no woman worth her salt is going to accept an offer of marriage when it’s clear she only got it because of her delicate condition.”

  Zeke bristled. “There’s more to it than that. I like her. A lot.”

  “Oh, brother of mine, you have so much to learn. Liking her a lot is the equivalent of a friendly handshake. Women don’t swoon into your arms because you admit to liking them a lot.”

  Phil nodded. “He’s right, Zeke. I hope you didn’t tell her that.”

  “No, because she never gave me the chance. She said I was crazy and there was no way she was marrying someone she barely knew.”

  “Ha.” Phil smiled. “I like her already. What’s her name? I have a feeling we could become friends.”

  “Tess. Tess Irwin. She teaches first grade over in Casper.”

  “Sounds like an intelligent woman,” Phil said. “Plus she has experience with small children. If you had to get someone pregnant, Tess seems an excellent choice.”

  “Oh, she’s intelligent, all right. She has everything figured out so that I don’t have to be involved at all. She’s ready to take on the entire responsibility and cut me out of the picture.” His voice shook a little. He needed to calm the heck down.

  Damon gazed at him for long enough that Zeke squirmed in his chair. Finally, Damon spoke. “The guy I spent all those years with at Thunder Mountain would have been thrilled with that scenario.”

  “I thought I would be, too, but I’m not. I hate the idea of her taking off with our kid and raising him however she sees fit.”

  “At least she’s spent time with kids,” Damon said. “Like Phil said, a teacher seems like a good bet.”

  “Yeah, on paper she looks great. But what if she screws it up? She knows kids but she’s never had one of her own, somebody she has to worry about twenty-four-seven.” His stomach churned. “What if...what if she gets tired of being a mother and takes off?”

  Silence descended over the table except for some little gurgling and cooing noises from Sophie.

  Damon glanced at Phil. “Would you please go check Sophie’s diaper? She hasn’t been changed in a while.”

  “Sure.” Phil unlatched the tray holding Sophie in place and picked her up. “We’ll be in the far bedroom if you need us for anything.”

  “Thanks, hon.”

  “You bet.” She and Sophie left the kitchen.

  Damon leaned forward. “Look, I know your mom took off when you were just a little guy, but you know that’s not likely to happen.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Zeke had regretted the words the minute they’d left his mouth. But when it came to his unborn son, it was his deepest fear.

  “Thunder Mountain guys have a twisted view of what’s normal because we didn’t get normal. But putting aside your understandable paranoia, do you think this woman is capable of abandoning her child?”

  “Probably not.” Zeke heaved a sigh. “I’d say the chances are slim to none.”

  “Then it might be really good if you can trust her to be a good mom. Even better, you could let her know that you have confidence that she’ll be a good mom. Wrestling her for control of this baby won’t end well.”

  “You’re right, damn it. But I want to be part of my son’s life and she sees me as a detriment.”

  “Then it’s up to you to change her mind.”

  “I know, but how?”

  “For starters, have her talk to Phil. When it comes to handling little kids, Phil thinks you’re the bomb.”

  “You know, that’s not a bad idea. She’s supposed to text me this afternoon so we can talk some more. If you and Phil don’t mind sticking around, I could have her come over. Rosie’s claimed this baby as her grandson, so that makes him Sophie’s cousin.”

  “And Phil and I are the aunt and uncle.” Damon grinned. “Hey, Auntie Phil, are you about done in there?”

  “Why, yes, we are,” she called as she came from the far end of the house. “But what’s this ‘Auntie Phil’ stuff?”

  “Since Rosie assumes every kid fathered by her boys is her grandchild, that makes us officially Aunt Phil and Uncle Damon.”

  “So it does!” She rubbed noses with Sophie. “What do you think of that, Soph? You’ll have a little boy cousin to boss around.”

  “She’ll be the boss of him, all right.” Damon chuckled. “Sophie will always be the reigning princess of the cousins. She’ll definitely rule over...whatever his name will be. Does he have one yet?”

  “I don’t think so. But that’s another thing I want a say in. What if she decides to name him something dorky? No kid of mine is gonna be saddled with Elmer or Hubert.”

  “I kind of like Hubert,” Damon said. “I was thinking if we had a boy next time, that would be a good...um...” He busted out laughing at Phil’s expression of horro
r. “What? You don’t like the name or you’re not ready for another kid?”

  “Both! In fact, Zeke’s sad tale of condom failure is making me nervous. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have another one but, dear God, not for two or three years.”

  “I promise to buy only top-of-the-line condoms from now on.”

  Phil gasped. “From now on? You don’t already?”

  “Well...”

  “That does it. I’m tossing all the ones we have and you need to go shopping before I have anything to do with you, buddy.”

  Zeke decided not to mention he’d bought top-of-the-line and made sure the expiration date was a long way off. When his son was old enough to hear the facts about of life, Zeke would explain that having sex with a woman implied that a guy was ready to accept the consequences. But if Tess continued on her current path, that little talk between father and son would never take place.

  He picked up his lunch dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher. “I need to run out to the truck and get my phone. I’ll invite Tess over here, if that’s all right with you guys? I think it would be good for her to meet you.”

  “Excellent.” Phil nodded. “I want to meet her, too.”

  Damon’s eyes shone with approval. “That’s a power move, bro. Congratulations.”

  “How long do you expect to be here?”

  “If Sophie takes a nice long nap, we could be around until four,” Phil said. “And I think she will. She’s been pretty active all morning.”

  “Good. That should work out perfectly.” But when he got to the truck and grabbed his phone from the console, he realized he’d given Tess his number but he didn’t have hers. He’d have to call Rosie.

  Then he noticed the old brochure peeking out from under the pad of paper Tess had used. He picked the pad up and, sure enough, she would have seen the picture of him with his dad. She hadn’t asked him about it, though.

  Maybe she didn’t want to pry. He hoped that was it because the other possibility was depressing as hell. Maybe she hadn’t asked because she didn’t want to know more about him. The less she knew, the easier it would be to shut him out of their child’s life.

  Chapter Six

  After lunch, Tess took a notebook out on the front porch so she could jot down some items for her next meeting with Zeke. She didn’t know whether he was a reader or not, but if he wanted to be part of this baby’s life, he had some homework to do. She started a list of child-care books she had, either physically on her shelf or that she’d downloaded to her phone.

  She’d present him with the list and see what happened. Either he’d ignore it, proving to her that he didn’t want to bother increasing his knowledge, or he’d read them. Reading them might be enough to discourage him from diving into fatherhood. If it didn’t...she’d burn that bridge when she came to it.

  She’d come up with nine titles and was trying to remember a tenth when Rosie joined her on the porch. “Zeke’s on the phone.” She held up her cell. “He said he would have called you but he didn’t get your number.”

  “I guess that’s right. Do you mind if I talk to him on your phone?”

  “Be my guest. Bring it to me whenever you’re finished.”

  “I won’t be long if you want to wait.”

  “You don’t mind my eavesdropping?”

  Tess smiled. “Nope.” She put the phone to her ear. “Hi, Zeke.”

  “Hi. I had an idea. Damon and Phil are over here working on the house. They’re Sophie’s mom and dad.”

  “I remember.”

  “We were talking about this cousin thing, and they’d love to meet you. They plan to work until around four, but if you came over about three thirty, they’ll knock off early so they have a chance to meet you. Oh, Phil says you’ll have to excuse her because she’ll be a mess.”

  “That’s okay.”

  “You could meet little Sophie, too. After they leave, we could go get a bite to eat in town, keep talking.”

  “I hadn’t thought about the fact that the baby already has a cousin.”

  “He does, and she’s a trip.”

  Although Tess wasn’t sure Zeke was the right father figure for her son, she loved the idea that his foster family was eager to welcome the baby into the fold. Her traditional parents might very well disown her, so Thunder Mountain Ranch might be her only port in a storm. “I’ll be over at three thirty.” With her list.

  “Great. Rosie can give you directions. See you then.”

  “‘Bye.” She ended the call and handed the phone back to Rosie, who’d taken the Adirondack chair next to hers. “I’m driving over so I can meet Sophie and her folks.”

  “That’s marvelous. You’ll love them. They’re both construction geniuses and they’re doing so well with their company these days. Always in demand, especially for renovations. Matt’s place is a labor of love, though. I’m sure they’re not charging him what they should.”

  “And where is he? Why is Zeke watching the place? I was never clear on that.”

  “He’s on location filming another Western, this time in Calgary.”

  “He’s a filmmaker?”

  “No, he’s the star. Maybe I never mentioned it—he’s Matt Forrest.”

  Tess blinked. “Matt Forrest, the actor? The one who was on the cover of all the tabloids last month?”

  “One and the same. Fortunately the video he made publicizing the academy caused people to forget about that bogus scandal. I thought everybody in the world had seen it by now and knew that he was a member of the Thunder Mountain Brotherhood.”

  “You know, that must have come out at the same time I found out I was pregnant. I spent a couple of weeks holed up in my house trying to figure out what the heck to do. I didn’t watch the news or go online.”

  “Doesn’t matter. But that’s why Zeke’s over there watching the place, at least until he goes back on the rodeo circuit. Sometime before then we’ll figure out a more permanent solution. The bigger Matt gets, the more he’ll need that ranch as a getaway.”

  Tess gazed at Rosie. “Matt Forrest is going to be my baby’s uncle.”

  “Now you’re getting the idea. That little guy will have more awesome aunts, uncles and cousins than you can shake a stick at. Isn’t that great?”

  “Yes, Rosie. It sure is.”

  * * *

  Two hours later Tess parked next to Zeke’s truck in the driveway of a single-story ranch house painted mustard yellow. The paint didn’t look fresh, so she’d bet Damon and Phil would be changing it. It wasn’t hard to recognize their truck with its extension ladders, tarps and large paint buckets in the back, along with a roomy storage locker tucked up against the rear window.

  Knowing she’d be interacting with a seven-month-old, she’d put her hair in a ponytail and changed her hoop earrings to posts. Maybe the little girl wouldn’t want to be held, but if she did, Tess was prepared. She left her purse and her list of books in the car.

  When she walked around to the front of the house, she found Zeke on the porch steps playing peekaboo with Sophie, who was every bit as cute as Rosie had said.

  Zeke looked up and smiled.

  Oh, no. That tug at her heart couldn’t be happening. To lust after this big cowboy was one thing, but the feeling swamping her now was a thousand times more tender and intimate. She didn’t want anything to do with it.

  Sophie took advantage of Zeke’s momentary distraction to pop up for a second and knock his hat off. Then she laughed.

  “Hey, Sophie. We talked about that.” He retrieved the hat and laid it brim-side up on the steps. Carefully balancing the baby in his arms, he stood. “Uncle Zeke’s hat is special. He put it on so he could look good for your aunt Tess.”

  Sophie gazed up at him, her expression innocent. Then she bounced in his arms
and grabbed his nose. More baby laughter.

  Zeke was obviously trying hard not to laugh with her. “The nose is special, too.” He glanced over at Tess. “She was excited about meeting you so I brought her out here to wait.” He turned so the little girl was facing her. “Sophie, this is your aunt Tess, the one I’ve been telling you about. She’s going to have a baby boy who’ll be your cousin. He doesn’t have a name yet—at least, I don’t think he does.”

  “He doesn’t.”

  “Good.” He kept his attention on Sophie.

  “Mmm.” She made eye contact with the baby. “Hello, Sophie. Your uncle Zeke says you’re a trip. Is that right?”

  Sophie gave her the once-over. Apparently, Tess passed muster, because the little girl held out both arms and gave a little wiggle that clearly said she was ready to trade partners.

  “See what a good sales job I did?” Zeke came closer, bringing with him the citrus scent of his aftershave. He handed Sophie to her.

  The aroma reminded her of this morning on Lion’s Rest Rock when he’d proposed. That awkward moment stood in stark contrast to this one, which was filled with warm emotions and a cuddly baby girl. Then she realized he must have reapplied the aftershave because it wouldn’t have lasted this many hours. Now that she was paying better attention, she could tell that he’d shaved again, too.

  No question he was attempting to get on her good side. He was doing an excellent job of it, too. But decisions she made now would affect her baby for a lifetime. She’d be very careful not to make the wrong ones.

  “I hear the Shop-Vac,” Zeke said, “so Damon and Phil must be cleaning up the work area. Sophie has a well-baby checkup at four fifteen but the doctor’s office isn’t that far so they can hang out here for a while.”

  “I admire them for taking her on the job with them.” Tess enjoyed carrying the baby as they climbed the steps and crossed the porch. A few months ago she would have battled feelings of jealousy, but no more.

  “Damon said they might not be able to bring her for much longer.” Zeke opened the door for her. “She doesn’t sleep as much and she’s not as happy in her playpen now that she can crawl. They’re looking at options, at least part-time.”