Montana Cowboy Daddy (Wyatt Brothers of Montana #3) - Jane Porter Page 0,8
in a car accident a month ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
Sophie sounded sincere and Erika appreciated it. It had bothered Erika that the world didn’t seem to care that April was gone. Erika knew the world could be a hard and brutal place, but this absence of grief for her cousin wounded her. “April had kept the arrival of the baby to herself. No one in our family knew. I only knew when the police called me, notifying me that she’d been killed and I was her emergency contact.”
“How awful, and how tragic for Beck to lose his mom that way.”
Emotion thickened Erika’s chest, making it hard to swallow, and impossible to speak. She blinked hard, clearing the burning sensation from her eyes. She’d felt together, strong, until now. Sophie’s sympathy was proving to be her undoing. “He hasn’t had the easiest start in life,” she agreed hoarsely.
“You two both need to come inside and relax. We have a big dinner planned for Granddad. Brisket, ribs, and pulled pork. There’s a lot of food, and always room at the Wyatt table.”
Erika looked to the old two-story cabin, thinking of Billy’s expression as he walked away. “I don’t think everyone wants us here.”
“This is Melvin’s house, not Billy’s, and it’s Melvin’s birthday, not Billy’s. And Melvin and Summer want you here. And so do I. Please stay, at least for dinner? There’s no need for you to hustle down the mountain if you have nowhere specific to be.”
Again Erika blinked back the sting of hot salty tears. She was tired, no, make that exhausted, and the idea of being with people, kind people, even just for a bit, was certainly appealing. “If you’re sure no one would mind”—she broke off, made a face—“other than Billy.”
“No one minds, and I bet Billy doesn’t, either. He’s just… surprised. And let’s face it; the news that he could be a daddy to that baby boy is huge. It’s news that could change his life forever.”
*
An hour later, Erika was fast asleep in a big, winged chair in the Wyatt living room, while Ivy, Sophie, and Sam took turns carrying the baby around. Erika had protested that she wasn’t tired, but when she sat down to give Beck a bottle, she fell asleep, and Beck didn’t. Sam eased the baby out of Erika’s arms, Ivy covered her with a blanket, and they all let her be to catch up on some much-needed sleep.
Granddad peeked in at one point and then left, remarking to Billy that, “she reminds me a little of Goldilocks.”
Billy had no reply to that, not at all comfortable with how protective his family was being of Erika and the baby. There was a very good chance that the baby wasn’t his and it worried him that they were all getting a little too attached.
While dinner cooked, Summer pulled Billy aside, speaking to him in the den. “So what are you going to do?” she asked her son, sinking into her recliner.
Billy chose not to sit, and he shrugged, fighting back his irritation. “Take a paternity test, figure it out.”
“I think it’s smart to get a paternity test, but I can tell you right now, that is your baby. That, or one of your brothers.”
Billy’s head swiveled, his narrowed gaze meeting his mom’s. “You’re reaching, Mom.”
Her lips pursed, her gaze sharp. “That’s a Wyatt baby, Bill. I’ve had four of them, and that’s what you all looked like. Round bald heads, peaches and cream skin, big blue eyes, happy smiles. You came out looking like cherubs. Not sure why, because once you grew up, you weren’t angelic creatures.”
“Thanks, Mom.” He paced the room, his shoulders hunching as he approached the window, his gaze going to the view of the barn and stables beyond. “If it’s mine, it will change everything.”
“Babies generally do.” His mom leaned back in her chair, hands folding on her lap. “That baby needs a home. It’s your responsibility now to give him that home. It might be time to retire—”
“Lots of guys compete with families. Sometimes the families go on the road, sometimes they waited home—”
“You have a baby without a mama. Who’s going to take care of your baby while you travel? Certainly not my job, not your granddad’s job, not any of your brothers’ job—”
“We don’t even know if that baby is mine.”
“Then go to Marietta tomorrow and take a test. I’m sure there’s a lab at the hospital that does paternity tests.”