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He flailed and turned his head away from her. Isa pouted.
“He’s a little shy,” Sierra explained.
“Well, well.” Her father finally came forward, breaking the trance that had fallen over everyone. The reserved smile he presented reassured Sierra not in the least. “Why don’t you introduce us to this young man.”
“Dad,” Sierra said shakily, “this is Jamie. My…my son.” Her hand instinctively cradled the side of the baby’s head as if to shield him.
Her father’s reserved smile dissolved into one that warmed her through and through. “I have a grandson. Oh, Sierra.” He opened his arms.
She went to him, let him hug her and Jamie and, temporarily, set right a world that had been completely out of control for almost two years.
“I’m so sorry,” she murmured into his shirtfront.
“Don’t be. Everything’s going to be fine. You’ll see.”
She wanted to believe him, and dared to let herself.
Jamie squirmed and started to cry.
Sierra drew back, reluctant to leave the comfort of her father’s embrace. “He’s hungry. I’d better fix him something to eat.”
“Can I hold him while you do?” her father asked.
“He doesn’t like—” She’d started to say strangers. Not wanting to hurt her father’s feelings, she changed it to “New people.”
He held open his arms. Jamie stared at them, a dubious frown knitting his otherwise perfectly smooth brow. When his grandfather clapped his hands and held them open again, Jamie twisted and reached for Sierra.
Her father’s smile fell.
“He’ll get used to you in a day or two,” she reassured him, though, in truth, she didn’t know what to expect. She and Jamie were still getting to know each other.
Her brothers came over next. Ethan’s hug was enthusiastic. Gavin’s less so. He loved her, but he was also angry at her for the pain she’d caused them and slower to let go of hard feelings.
“I’m so happy for you both,” she said. “I can’t wait for the wedding.”
That seemed to ease the tension. More introductions were made. Sierra greeted Caitlin warmly, having known Ethan’s fiancée since grade school. Sage, Gavin’s fiancée, impressed Sierra with her genuineness.
“Your son is beautiful.” Sage patted Jamie’s leg.
He jerked his leg out of her reach.
Sierra smiled apologetically. “He’s hungry and a little cranky.”
While she warmed a jar of baby vegetable stew in the microwave, Jamie, still sitting on her hip, polished off a bottle of apple juice. Everyone began talking again, thank goodness.
After a while, Gavin’s daughter, Cassie, came over. “I’m a good babysitter if you ever need one.”
“Thanks.” Sierra patted the girl’s shoulder. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She hadn’t met Cassie before. The twelve-year-old had only come to live at the ranch last summer. Sierra noticed the affectionate glances Gavin sent his daughter from across the room. Maybe one day she’d have the same loving relationship with Jamie.
“It’s so nice to have another baby in the family,” Caitlin said, joining Sierra at the table where she fed Jamie.
“Another baby?”
“Sage is four months along, and I’m two.”
“You’re both pregnant!”
Sage dropped into the remaining empty chair. “Yes, so I guess it’s a good thing the wedding’s soon! I wouldn’t fit into my dress otherwise.”
“Congratulations.” Sierra observed the joy in their faces and felt a pang of regret. Her face had been a mask of sorrow all during her pregnancy.
“Is Jamie’s father in San Francisco?” Caitlin asked.
Sierra tensed. She’d prepared herself for this question on the long drive. “He’s not part of mine or Jamie’s lives. I’m raising him alone.”
She couldn’t tell her family the truth. If they ever found out Jamie’s father was the son of the man who’d stolen their land and sold it to an investor, they’d disown Sierra and toss her and Jamie out on their rear ends.
Near the end of the meal, Sierra excused herself and went to the hall bathroom to clean up Jamie and change him.
On her way back, she was stopped outside the kitchen by a chorus of hearty welcomes and the sound of a voice that instantly ignited wave after wave of panic.
Clay Duvall.
Impossible! This couldn’t be happening.
He was in Texas. And even if he wasn’t, her family hated him. He wouldn’t be allowed on the property, much less to set foot in the house.
“Sissy, come see who’s here,” her brother Ethan called to her.
She trembled so violently, she nearly dropped Jamie. He made it worse by wriggling.
“Hey.” Ethan came around the corner. “Is something wrong?”
“What’s he doing here?” she hissed.
“Clay? He came to see you.”
“Why?”
“He’s a friend.”
“No, he isn’t. His dad cheated us. You hate him. We all do.”
“Not anymore.”
“Since when?” she squeaked.
“Since we captured the wild mustang last fall. It’s a long story, I’ll tell you after the party.” Ethan hooked her by the elbow and gave a tug.
She refused to budge.
“Come on. You haven’t seen Clay since before Mom died.”
Not true.
Ethan all but dragged her and Jamie into the kitchen where she stumbled into her chair, praying for invisibility. Her family and Clay were friends again? How could that be? In every scenario she’d devised, he’d been a thousand miles away.
He strode farther into the kitchen.
Please, please, don’t come over here, she silently prayed.
Of course, he did, and she steeled herself.
“Hi, Sierra.” His smile was friendly, his voice deep and honeyed like she remembered.
She looked up at him—how could she not?—and stared into the face of her baby’s father. Her heart, open with love for her son and the recent reconciliation with her family, promptly closed tight.
* * *
SHE HAD A BABY.
Clay’s stomach clenched as if someone had sucker-punched him with the business end of a baseball bat.
From the moment he’d learned Sierra was returning to Mustang Valley, he’d imagined them picking up where they’d left off. She’d generously overlook his incredible lack of judgment and brief, disastrous marriage, and they’d fall into each other’s arms.
Only her arms were full of a bouncing baby boy. There went the happy-you’re-home kiss he’d been counting on.
Instead, he squeezed her upper arm. “Good to see you again.”
She muttered something about how nice it was to see him, too.
The boy’s head tipped back, and his inquisitive gaze fixed on Clay’s face. There was something about his eyes that struck a familiar chord, though Clay couldn’t quite identify why.
Maybe he was wrong, and the kid wasn’t hers. She could be a nanny or something.
“Who’s this?” he asked.
“My, um, my…” She glanced down at the baby, held him closer. “My son.”
Clay swallowed. So much for his nanny theory.
Which meant she’d been with a man. A man besides him. Jealousy sliced through him. Not that he had any claim on her. He’d forfeited it the second he’d stupidly left Sierra in order to reunite with Jessica, his then ex-fiancée and later wife.
In hindsight, hurting Sierra had been inevitable.
If Gavin and Ethan knew what he’d done to their little sister, he’d lose a lot more than their friendship. An arm. The use of his legs. And that was just for starters.
“What’s his name?” Clay asked.
The baby babbled as if answering. He really was an appealing tyke. Clay felt an unfamiliar, but not unpleasant, tug inside his chest. He’d always liked kids despite having little experience with them and would be a father today if things had gone differently.
His loss still pained him.
Probably the reason he felt drawn to Sierra’s boy.
She said nothing, acting as though she hadn’t heard him. Loading a spoon with some vile-looking mush out of a jar, she tried to feed it to the baby. Wisely, the kid shook his head and grimaced. The stuff did look awful.
“No name, buddy?”
“It’s Jamie,” Isa piped up. She and Cassie had been standing behind Sierra and trying to distract the baby with funny faces. “Isn’t that a cool name?”
“Yeah,” Clay agreed, receiving yet another invisible punch to the stomach. “Cool.”
His grandfather’s name had been Jamie, short for Jamieson. Did Sierra know?
Yes, he’d told her all about his summers spent in Montana and about returning for his grandfather’s funeral.
Coincidence?
It had to be.
“Nice to meet you, Jamie,” Clay said and leaned down, extending his index finger.
The baby broke into a wide, rather comical grin and grabbed Clay’s finger, holding it as he were shaking hands.
“He likes you,” Cassie blurted.
“The feeling’s mutual.” The tug inside Clay’s chest grew stronger, and he grinned back at the baby. Turning his head, he discovered Sierra’s face mere inches from him. “Cute baby.”
She stared back at him, her brown eyes wide with terror.
His grin dissolved, and he involuntarily straightened. The moment he did, she practically leapt out of her chair.
“I’d better clean this up.” Grabbing the jar of baby food and empty bottle with her free hand, she cut past Isa and made a hasty beeline for the sink, Jamie riding on her hip.
What exactly had happened?
He would have understood anger. He’d treated her badly after all. But fear? No. Something else was definitely amiss.
Clay’s glance cut to Sage and Caitlin still sitting at the table. Their expressions reflected a confusion similar to the one he was experiencing.
The celebration continued with cake and punch. Wayne Powell, Sierra’s father, acted as host. The group of men, which included a few family friends and two of the Powells’ longtime ranch hands, wandered to the living room. The women, girls and Wayne remained in the kitchen, hovering around Sierra and Jamie.
Clay stayed, too, using a conversation with Wayne as his excuse. While the older man talked, Clay kept one ear tuned to the discussion going on between the women.
Sierra had set Jamie on the floor, and he was toddling about by her feet. Isa knelt in front of him, making a toy pony that looked as if it had been mauled gallop in the air.
