Page 21 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

A rumble of anger rippled through his gut. “If your son hadn’t gotten sick, you never would have told me about him,right?”

She looked away. “Idon’tknow.”

He sighed. “How do I know he’s my son? He looked like me, sure, but how do I knowhe’smine?”

She turned back with a look of shock on her face as if he’d insulted her. “Are youkiddingme?”

“What? Don’t you think it’s a valid question considering you’d given me absolutely no indication that you were pregnant whenIleft?”

She opened her mouth as if to say something but closed it. A few seconds later she said, “I can have the doctor do a paternity test if that’s what you want. But he’syours.”

Brady kicked a chunk of snow. “I want to talk to the doctor,alone.”

She perked up. A glimmer of hope shimmered in her eyes. Did she really think he’d turn his back on his own son? Although he’d told her that he wanted a paternity test, he didn’t really need one. The second he’d met Jimmy, he’d known the child was his. But dammit. Not now, he wasn’t ready to beadad.

She eyed him warily. “So will you come with me to see Dr.Landry?”

He noddedslowly. “Yes.”

Her shoulders sagged with relief. She sounded close to tears when she said, “We can leave first thing tomorrow. I just need to set up the appointment, but I’m sure she’ll be able toseeus.”

He steeled his heart. Even though he wanted to gather her in his arms and console her, he couldn’t. Emotions warred in his heart. He passed from angry, to happy, to scared in the matter of seconds. He had a son…goodGod.

She’d basically dropped him into a new war, one he wasn’t convinced he could win. He wasn’t sure what would happen in the future. Would he be allowed to spend time with his son? Would they work out a shared custodyarrangement?

He almost laughed out loud when he realized how ridiculous his line of thought was. He’d assumed his son would stay alive long enough that he’d have to fight with Rachel over custody. He hadn’t even asked her the most importantquestionyet.

“You said he’ll die without the transplant. How long has hebeensick?”

“Twoyears.”

He blew a breath of air through his teeth. “You could have called me. You could have called one of mybrothers.”

Sadness moved across her face. “I’m sorry. I thought I could handle it onmyown.”

He clenched his fists at his sides to keep from reaching to comfort her. “You wouldn’t have been on your own if you’dcalledme.”

She looked directly at him. “How can you say that? You were thousands of miles away. How exactly could you havehelpedme?”

“I would have foundaway.”

She shook her head. “We can’t change the past. All we can do is moveforward.”

He pressed his lips together. “That’s easy for you to say. You didn’t just find out that you have a son and that he’sdying.”

In a contrite tone she said, “You’re right. I should have told you. I’m sorryforthat.”

He shook his head. “I’m not letting you offthateasy.”

“How can I make thingsright?”

“You can’t. Let’s get one thing straight. I’m helping my son,notyou.”

She narrowed hereyes. “Fine.”

“Good.”

They glared at each other in silence. The tension stretched into a thin thread, both of them readytosnap.