The Cowboy's Secret Son

“Yes, ma’am.” Jeez, could she say nothing else?

Merline waved her hand in a “no need for that” type of gesture. “You’re a grown woman now. Call me Merline.”

“Yes…” Grace caught herself before she three-peated her response.

Merline eyed her reservation book again while Grace marveled at how little Nathan’s mother had changed. She was still trim and fit with a tan that spoke of lots of time spent outdoors. She wasn’t the type of woman to color her hair, but she didn’t need to because she had gorgeous silver hair cut in a bob just below her ears. She was casual and classy at the same time, a woman comfortable in her skin and her surroundings.

“So you’re living in Arkansas now,” Merline said.

Grace could almost imagine the unspoken words. Always wondered where you and your family disappeared to.

“Moved there after college. My best friend was from the area, so we decided to set up shop there.”

“What do you do?” Merline pulled a key from a rack behind her.

“Interior design.”

“Oh, I bet that’s fun. I love watching all those design shows on HGTV. I start watching one, and the next thing you know three hours have passed.”

“Me, too.”

“Even when you do it all day?”

Grace nodded. “Can’t seem to get enough of it, I guess.” She supposed she was still trying to fill her life with beautiful things after so many years of being forbidden them.

Merline handed Grace the key and a sheet of paper. “You’re in cabin twelve. Just take the drive behind the office.”

“I remember.”

Merline smiled, looking as if dozens of questions were swirling unspoken inside her. Could she possibly have put things together that quickly, especially since Grace and Nathan had never really dated? Grace fought the urge to grab the key and run, telling herself that her anxiety was causing her to see things that weren’t there. She tried not to think how Evan might have inherited his keen sense of observation from his paternal grandmother.

“That’s the schedule for the weekend,” Merline said as she pointed to the paper she’d handed Grace. “You’re just in time to get settled before the tour.”

“Will we get to see the horses?” Evan was bouncing on the balls of his feet, unable to keep still.

Merline smiled at him. “Yes, sir. Lots of horses.”

“Awesome!”

Grace laughed right along with Merline.

“Excited, isn’t he?”

Grace pushed down the front of Evan’s hat. “Yes, he’s talked about nothing else since I told him he was going to Cowboy Camp.”

“Our boys were crazy for horses at that age, too. Still are.”

The mention of the Teague brothers ratcheted Grace’s anxiety up another notch. She placed her hand on Evan’s back. “Let’s go, pardner. We need to unpack.”

This time, Evan didn’t express how unpacking was way down his list of things he wanted to do. Instead, he turned and headed for the door.

“Good to see you again, Grace.”

Was there an extra layer of meaning in those words, or was she imagining it?

Grace met the other woman’s gaze only briefly. “You, too, ma— Merline.” She stepped toward the door before she could stumble over something besides Merline’s name.

Just as she and Evan reached the door, it swung open and a much larger version of her son stepped inside.

“Mom, it’s a cowboy,” Evan said in awe.

Yes, it was indeed a cowboy. And Nathan Teague still took her breath away.

NATHAN LOOKED DOWN at the little guy tricked out in full cowboy attire. Whose idea had it been to let the ranch be overrun by munchkins all week? Oh, yeah, his. Temporary insanity, had to be. Already, two campers had cried when the horses got too close. One had screamed so loudly his parents had apologized profusely and headed back to Austin so they could check in to a hotel with a nice, big pool. He looked at their latest arrival and wondered how this one would react. Oh, well, he had to make the best of the situation.

He touched the front of his hat. “Looks to me like there are two cowboys in here.”

The little boy scanned the office before he realized what Nathan meant. He smiled so wide, Nathan couldn’t help but smile back. Maybe there was hope yet.

“Nathan, you remember Grace Cameron?”

He looked at his mom, who nodded at a woman standing to the side of the little boy. It took a few clicks of the cogs in his brain for the truth to slip into place. But beyond the stylish, beautiful blonde in front of him, he could just make out the girl who’d been his algebra tutor. A girl he’d made love to and then pretended like it didn’t happen.

A girl who had disappeared without a trace, without a word. And now she reappeared just as suddenly and without warning.

“Grace.” For some reason, his brain couldn’t force more than her name out of his mouth.

“Nathan, good to see you.”

She only met his eyes for the barest hint of a moment before she turned her attention to the boy.

“Yours?” he asked.

“Yes.” Her voice sounded small, the same as he remembered it. So a part of that teenage girl remained below the surface of the woman she’d grown into.

The little boy looked up at Grace. “Mom, do you know the cowboy?”

“Yes, honey,” she said, her voice stronger. “This is Nathan Teague. We used to go to school together.”

The kid looked as if his mother had just told him she knew his favorite football player or superhero.

Grace placed her hands on the boy’s shoulders in what looked like a protective gesture. Maybe she was nervous that he might get hurt here, a common worry among the parents he’d met so far today. He resisted the odd urge to reassure her.

“Nathan, this little cowboy is Evan,” she said.

Nathan extended his hand, and Evan shook it without hesitation.

“You’ve got a good grip there.”