Chapter Seven
Beth was up early the next morning and feeding Cody his cereal when Wilder came into the kitchen for his first cup of coffee.
“And I thought ranchers were early risers,” he remarked, rubbing a hand over his raspy cheek.
The handsome cowboy was dressed in a similar fashion to what he’d been wearing when she first showed up at the ranch—flannel pajama bottoms and a soft cotton T-shirt over hard muscles.
His jaw was similarly stubbled, his hair equally tousled.
And just like then, her blood hummed in response to his raw masculinity.
“Ranchers have nothing on babies,” she told him, pointedly ignoring her body’s totally inappropriate reaction.
“Yeah, I learned that yesterday. And the day before,” he acknowledged, stifling a yawn. “But I didn’t hear him this morning.”
“I managed to get to him before he made too much noise,” she said.
“I’m pretty sure my father put him in the room next to mine so that I’d have to deal with middle-of-the-night feedings and diaper changes,” Wilder remarked.
“And you did all of that the night before,” she pointed out. “So it only seemed fair that last night was my turn.”
“Do you always try to be fair, Lisbeth?”
“Maybe,” she said, wondering how he managed to make fairness sound like a character flaw.
Or maybe she was being overly sensitive—which was definitely one of her character flaws.
“Do you want me to make you some eggs?” she asked, when Wilder opened the refrigerator door and stood for a long moment staring at its contents.
He took out the carton and slammed the fridge door shut again before turning back to face her. “If I want eggs, I can make my own eggs,” he snapped at her.
“O-kay,” she said, and dipped the plastic spoon into Cody’s cereal again.
Because if she was guilty of being overly sensitive, he was just as guilty of being an arrogant jerk.
And apparently he wasn’t done being an arrogant jerk, because after pulling a frying pan out of the cupboard he said, “I don’t know what you think is happening here, but I have no interest in playing house with you.”
“Playing house?” she echoed, torn between bafflement and outrage. “Is that what you think I’m doing—playing? Do you honestly think any of this has been fun for me?”
Though she kept her voice low so as not to upset her nephew, she made no effort to disguise the fury beneath her words. And when she stood to carry Cody’s now empty bowl and spoon to the sink, she felt a grim sense of satisfaction that Wilder actually took a step back, out of her path.
“Let’s revisit the most fun parts,” she suggested.
“Maybe showing up at my sister’s apartment and discovering she’d left town without telling me?
” She unbuckled the harness that held Cody in his seat, then lifted the baby into her arms. “Or answering her phone and finding out that my infant nephew was in the care of a stranger almost seventeen hundred miles away? And then driving for twenty-eight hours through the darkness of night and all kinds of weather to make sure he was okay—but essentially being held hostage by a man who doesn’t even want to believe he’s his father?
“You know what? You’re right—it’s been so much fun I almost wish I was back in grade school so I could write an essay on how I spent my Christmas holidays.”
And with that parting shot, she turned on her heel and walked out.
He could be a complete ass at times.
Today was apparently one of those times.
Wilder had no defense for his behavior. Sure, he could make excuses—and having a baby dumped on his doorstep would probably be at the top of the list—but his actions and accusations were indefensible.
And if he was truthful, he’d admit that his questions about Cody and his relationship to the kid weren’t all that had kept him awake last night or caused his pissy mood today.
He’d been thinking about Leighton, too, as he’d tossed and turned.
Wondering why she’d never told him that she was pregnant.
Even if she’d had valid reasons then, why had she never reached out after the baby was born?
And, if not then, how about when she decided to undertake the drive from Dallas to Rust Creek Falls with the baby in the back seat of her car?
Because a phone call at any of those times would have been preferable to no phone call at all.
And though he’d been thinking about Leighton and all the reasons he had to be furious with her as he’d finally drifted off the sleep, he’d dreamed about her sister.
And how screwed up was that?
Sure, Beth was an attractive woman, but she wasn’t at all his type.
Not to mention that she was the kid’s aunt, and since there was a possibility that he might be the kid’s father, imagining her naked just seemed wrong. Because yes, he hadn’t just dreamed about her, he’d had a sex dream about her—and woken up with a raging hard-on.
And then, as if that wasn’t awkward enough, he’d walked into the kitchen and she was there. All soft eyes and warm smiles and “Do you want me to make you some eggs?”
So of course he’d responded by acting like a complete ass.
Her anger had been completely justified.
And ass that he was, he couldn’t help but notice how pretty her eyes were when they flashed with fire, how kissable her lips seemed even while they were berating him.
But now that the caffeine had started to work its way through his system, he at least had the wherewithal to recognize the inappropriateness of his behavior and acknowledge that he owed her an apology.
He looked at the eggs on the counter and wondered if scrambled or fried would taste better with a side of crow.
Then he rummaged through the fridge for bacon. Because everything was better with bacon.
By the time Beth had Cody changed and dressed, ready for his trip to the clinic, she was ready to acknowledge that she may have overreacted.
Not that she wasn’t in the right to be mad at Wilder—because she was—but perhaps she could have expressed her feelings a little less forcefully.
No doubt it was the uncertainty of the situation that had them both on edge.
But they had an appointment at the clinic today, and though she knew they wouldn’t get any immediate answers, it was at least a step in the right direction.
“Just to be clear,” she said, when she ventured back into the kitchen as Wilder was finishing his breakfast, “I don’t want to be here any more than you want me here.”
“I know.” He cleared his empty plate then pulled a chair away from the table. “Sit down. Please.”
She strapped Cody into his car seat first, and then she sat. Her puzzled gaze shifted from the folded napkin and cutlery to the steaming mug of fresh coffee with a splash of cream—and finally the plate of food he set in front of her.
“What’s this?” she asked warily, as if the crisp bacon and scrambled eggs might, in fact, be something else.
“An apology,” he said, proving her suspicion was correct.
She lifted the fork and poked at the eggs, as if she didn’t quite trust that his culinary offering was a sincere effort to make amends.
“We don’t keep any arsenic in the kitchen,” he assured her.
“Why are you apologizing?” she asked, after she’d nipped the end off a slice of bacon.
“Because I was mad at your sister and I took it out on you.”
His honesty was as surprising as his apparent contrition, and equally appreciated. Beth sampled the eggs, then nodded. “Apology accepted.”
“Really?” Now it was his turn to sound skeptical. “Just like that?”
“I’m not too happy with Leighton right now myself,” she acknowledged, still unable to understand why, if her sister was finding parenting such a challenge, she hadn’t reached out to Beth.
But even as the question formed in her mind, she ruefully acknowledged the answer.
Because Leighton had always viewed Beth as the favorite child, a rule follower who did everything right, even following in their mother’s footsteps and becoming a kindergarten teacher.
Leighton, on the other hand, liked to break the rules and had even dropped out of high school when she was sixteen to sing in a band.
They’d traveled across the country, en route to Seattle, playing in bars that paid them in free drinks, not caring that most of the band members were underage. Leighton had made it as far as Twin Falls, Idaho, before deciding that she’d had enough of eating fast food and sleeping in a rusty van.
Of course, she didn’t come home with her tail between her legs. Regret and remorse had never been her style. Instead, she’d regaled Beth with outrageous stories about the things she’d seen and done, taking pleasure in shocking her straitlaced sister.
Their parents had only heard about half of the stories, but that had been enough to shock them, too. Eager to create some distance between their younger daughter and her so-called friends, Alfred and Lucy Ames had encouraged Leighton to spend a few months traveling in Europe.
Such a trip was a luxury beyond the means of their solidly middle-class lifestyle, but they made it work by cashing in Leighton’s college fund. Since she’d given no indication that she was interested in even graduating from high school at the time, it seemed a better use of the money.
As Beth had mentioned to Wilder, Leighton eventually got her GED but she was still happy to work as a bartender, boasting that she could make more money in tips in one night than Beth made in a week working with “snotty-nosed little kids.”
And wasn’t it ironic that Beth, who’d always dreamed of marrying and having a family, was still single and alone, while Leighton, who never wanted to be tied down, had been blessed with a beautiful, perfect baby?
“So we’re good?” Wilder prompted, drawing her attention back to the present.
“We’re good,” she said. “But if we don’t get a move on, we’re going to be late.”