A Cowboy's Secret Baby

by Savannah McCarthy

  At first, Wyatt had convinced himself that he understood what she was going through. Her life was obviously filled with so much stress right now, but as the day wore on, he could tell there was something different about whatever was on her mind.

  She’ll tell me, he told himself, I just have to be patient. Eventually, instead of worrying about Liz, he took the opportunity of her distance to get closer to Bindi. He already felt a special connection to the little girl, but by the time they got back to his place, late in the afternoon, it was on a whole different level.

  “... And remember when I stomped on the glass floor at the very top!?” she asked, reminding him of how brave she had been when they were all standing on the see-through floor at the top of the CN tower.

  “Of course. I was so scared!” Wyatt played along.

  Liz brushed by him. “Excuse me. I’m just going to go to the bathroom.”

  “Are you feeling alright?” he asked, concerned. But the bathroom door was already closed behind her before he could get a response.

  Wyatt was worried that she was starting to pull away. Was she mad at him for taking away her independence? Surely, she could see that it was beyond his control...

  He needed to take his mind off the bad.

  “What was your favourite fish?” he asked Bindi, who was settling into his beanbag chair on the far side of the living room.

  Bindi’s finger reached her lip. “Hmm,” she thought long and hard. “I think, the stingrays. They were very friendly.”

  “Are stingrays’ fish?” Wyatt asked.

  “Duh!” Bindi started, before stopping herself. “Wait, are they fish?”

  Wyatt shrugged. “Let’s find out.” He sat down next to Bindi and the beanbag chair and took out his phone. Are stingrays’ fish? he typed into the search engine.

  “Ah!” he exclaimed. “They are fish! Closely related to sharks.”

  “I liked the sharks too,” Bindi assured him. “They were cute, but you couldn’t pet them. Maybe because they’re not friendly?”

  The aquarium had had a kind of ‘petting zoo’ of its own, where kids could pet stingrays and other docile sea creatures. It was clearly Bindi’s favourite part of the day— there had been no sharks in the petting zoo’s pool.

  Liz came out of the bathroom. She looked pale. Wyatt’s heart ached for her. She was obviously overwhelmed; he just wanted to take all the weight off of her and carry it for himself.

  He was worried, but he also didn’t want to prod. Liz was too furiously prideful to accept such momentous help. He knew she wouldn’t be here if their situation was any less serious.

  “Hungry?” Wyatt asked his two girls.

  “Yeah,” Liz answered, after a second of distracted thought. “What do you want to do for dinner?”

  “We could go out somewhere nice,” he offered, subtly trying to give her some relief, “or we could stay here and order in. There’s every type of food you could ever imagine in Toronto. It’s up to you.” Wyatt immediately regretted giving Liz that choice. She was already stressed out; she didn’t need any extra responsibilities, even if it was just something as small as choosing what to do for dinner.

  “On second thought,” Wyatt started up again, before Liz could answer. “Let’s stay in tonight. I can take you out for a fancy dinner sometime later this week. For now, we can order some southern BBQ. I know just the place—it’s delicious.”

  Liz collapsed on the living room couch and gave a thumbs up. Bindi played on her tablet and Wyatt got to ordering dinner.

  The rest of the night was quiet and uneventful. Liz seemed to relax a little bit after eating. Afterwards—at Bindi’s insistence—they watched a nature documentary about deep-sea creatures. Wyatt was tasked with carrying the little girl to bed after she fell asleep on the couch between him and Liz.

  When Bindi was tucked in, he returned to the couch and cuddled with Liz until he began to doze off himself. Before he was completely asleep, he felt her get up and leave.

  Wyatt tried his best to slow down the pace of Liz and Bindi’s ‘visit’.

  Their first full day with him had been filled with tourist attractions and excitement—people had wanted pictures and autographs—but the second day was spent mostly hanging around at his condo. They ordered in again for dinner and went to their separate beds at night. Liz was friendly to him, but their conversations never went any deeper than a puddle. A heavy stone was filling up Wyatt’s gut; he knew something big was wrong but he had no idea what to do about it. He didn’t want to lose Liz again.

  The next day was similarly quiet, but instead of staying inside, Wyatt took his two girls to his hockey team’s downtown arena. He thought Liz and Bindi might enjoy seeing the massive stadium from the ground floor up; he also had an ulterior motive—he wanted to show them the daycare center. It was just as nice as the one he had built at Gold River and it had the added benefit of being tucked away in an ultra-secure wing of the arena. It’s where his teammates left their kids when they had their workouts and he was confident it would be safe for Bindi.

  Wyatt loved spending time with Bindi, but he also knew just how badly Liz needed a little release of her own. His plan was to take her out to a super fancy dinner at one point. He wanted to show her all he had to offer; a glimpse of their future together after they had survived this ‘little’ scare. He figured she was more likely to relax in the soft lighting of a high-end restaurant; maybe she’d get a little wine in her and loosen up. He wanted her to have fun with him; show her that their relationship could be more than just surviving bad patches.

  He showed them the daycare and then they had lunch at the arena. Their table overlooked the ice and Bindi could not take her eyes off the players skating down below.

  “How do they do that?” she asked, her voice filled with wonder.

  “Do what?” Liz responded.

  “What’s it called? When you walk on ice...” Bindi’s little finger went up to her lip.

  “Skat—” Wyatt started, before being shushed by Liz.

  “Let her figure it out herself,” she said.

  It didn’t take long for Bindi to remember the word after Wyatt’s little hint. “Skating, right?”

  Wyatt and Liz nodded.

  “How do they skate so fast?” she asked, her breath condensing on the inside of the window pane.

  Wyatt tented his brow and looked at Liz. “Has she never watched a hockey game before?”

  Liz hesitated. She bit on her lip and then softly shook her head.

  Wyatt couldn’t help but gasp. “What!? Why not!? Hasn’t she ever caught you watching a game on TV and asked to join you?”

  Liz looked down to the table. “I don’t really watch hockey anymore.”

  Wyatt could hardly believe it. “You, Elizabeth Turk, don’t watch hockey anymore!?”

  Liz looked up and Wyatt could see that he was getting into sensitive territory. Still, he couldn’t help it. Liz had always loved to watch him play. She’d cheer him on from the bleachers like a madwoman and cuddle next to him while he watched game tape.

  Before he could ask a follow up question though, it suddenly hit him. Maybe she had only liked watching hockey because of him. The thought made him sad. Had he ruined such a beautiful sport for her?

  “Is that my fault?” he asked gently.

  Liz chewed her lip. “Maybe,” she finally whispered.

  Wyatt’s heart dropped. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

  Liz turned and watched the players skate below. “I do miss watching it though,” she sighed. Her breath condensed beside Bindi’s on the window pane. “It’s been so long.”

  “Does Bindi know how to skate?” he asked, before turning his attention to the little girl. “Bindi, do you want to learn how to do what those guys down there are doing?”

  Bindi didn’t take her eyes off the action on the ice; she just nodded.

  “Can I teach her?” Wyatt asked Liz.

  Liz hesitated. He could tell that it was a heavi
er question than he had anticipated. Hockey had once meant so much to them. There were so many valuable life lessons to be learned on the ice, and he didn’t want Bindi to miss out on any of them just because her mother and him had had their troubles in the past.

  “If Bindi wants,” Liz finally conceded.

  “There’s a pro shop downstairs...” Wyatt pushed his luck. He wanted so badly to share the game he loved with Bindi; maybe Liz would even join them.

  “Right now!?” she asked, the corner of her lips turning up ever so slightly. It might have been the first genuine smile Wyatt had seen from her since she arrived in Toronto.

  “Care to join us?” Wyatt could tell Liz wanted so badly to say yes, but something was holding her back. Wyatt figured she was just trying to keep him at arm’s length. The shock of being forced away from the little life she had built up for herself in Watford must be overwhelming, he thought. Hockey had meant so much to them and now it was threatening to melt the last bits of her icy resistance.

  “We’ll see,” she finally said.

  She might as well have said yes. Wyatt was overjoyed as he paid the bill and showed his two special ladies to the pro shop downstairs.

  He watched with pride as Bindi got fitted into her first pair of skates. It didn’t take long for Liz to give in. He bought them both all they’d need and then they went to the dressing room to get ready.

  The four players who had been practicing on the ice earlier were coming in just as Wyatt, Bindi and Liz were heading out.

  “Hey! Space Cowboy!” shouted one of the players when he spotted Wyatt.

  “Hey Oshie, baby,” Wyatt greeted him back.

  These were Wyatt’s teammates. All were world class athletes and good guys in their own rights.

  “Who’s this?” asked Matty Mitchell, one of the team’s newest defencemen. He got down on a knee and waved at Bindi.

  The little girl was a little shocked by the strange man in the bulky hockey equipment, but when he took off his helmet and flashed her a big, toothless grin, she couldn’t help but giggle. “What happened to your teeth?” Bindi asked.

  “What hasn’t happened to his teeth,” another one of Wyatt’s teammates, Tyler Hayden, joked.

  “Lots of slapshots and body checks,” Matty laughed.

  “What are slapshots and body checks?” Bindi asked.

  “Oh, boy,” Matty smiled, rising up to his feet. He looked over at Wyatt with a grin. “You’ve got a lot of teaching to do, big fella.”

  “Don’t I know it,” Wyatt chuckled back.

  Matty tapped Wyatt on the shins with his stick and brushed past them. “Good luck, little lady,” he made sure to say, before disappearing into the dressing room.

  Tyler, Oshie and Matty followed close behind, but Wyatt’s fourth teammate, Sid Bucky, stuck around. He and Wyatt had been on the same team ever since they came into the league together, a decade ago. Besides Chase Ember—who had been doing charity work overseas for most of the offseason—Sid might have been Wyatt’s favourite teammate. He felt a little bad for ignoring him so much during this offseason, but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Liz was more important to him than any teammate could ever be, and, right now, she needed his full attention.

  “Lizzy?” Sid asked, squinting his eyes at the bashful woman who stood off to the side.

  “Hey, Sidney,” she blushed.

  Wyatt smiled. This encounter reminded him of old times. When Liz and him had gotten together for the second time, they had often hung out with Sid and his girlfriend, Mara. Sid and Mara had gotten married a couple of years ago. They were expecting their first child in a few months.

  Liz and Sid shared a sweaty hug.

  “Looking as good as ever, girl,” Sid winked.

  Liz waved him off. “Oh you.”

  “It’s good to see you again. I knew Wyatt wasn’t so stupid as to keep you away forever,” he joked.

  “He’s been trying his best,” Liz giggled.

  “She’s hard work!” Wyatt added.

  “But worth it!” Sid shouted back.

  “You bet,” Wyatt smiled.

  “How’s Mara?” asked Liz.

  “As good as ever. About 6 months along.”

  Liz gasped at the news. She reached in for another hug. “Congratulations! You two are going to be amazing parents.”

  “We’re just going to try our best,” Sid winked. “Maybe you can give us a few tips?” he pointed his stick towards Bindi, who was spinning in a circle while staring up at the ceiling.

  “You just call and I’ll answer,” Liz assured him.

  “I’m going to hold you to that,” Sid smiled back. “Good seeing you guys!” He tapped his stick on the wall and then followed his teammates into the dressing room.

  Wyatt watched Liz bask in the moment. He could tell she was relishing in the good memories from their past together. Her defences were melting. It was time to take things to the next level.

  Chapter 21

  Elizabeth

  Liz had forgotten how much fun it was to just skate.

  The self-made breeze blowing back your hair, the controlled speed and the sound of your blades cutting into the ice. She struggled at first, but skating was sort of like riding a bicycle—once you’ve learned, the skill never really leaves you. All it takes to get back into the swing of things is to just start doing it again.

  Bindi was a different story. The little girl had never been on the ice before. She was trying so hard to keep up with her mother that it made Liz fall in love with her all over again. That’s my girl, she thought, as she skated beside her. She looked over at Wyatt, who was holding her under the arms and directing her over the ice. Her heart was melting all over again for him too. That’s my man.

  Her secret shrunk beneath the warmth growing inside of her. She’d get to that eventually, she told herself, right now, she just wanted to experience this. Her little girl’s first steps on the ice... at least Wyatt would get to be a part of that. It was all so precious it made her want to explode.

  Bindi was stubborn and determined to learn; they were still on the ice after a solid hour of lessons. The little girl had finally managed to hold herself up on her own two feet. She could glide forward but she couldn’t quite stop yet. It was a good thing Wyatt had bought her such bulky knee and elbow pads. At first, Liz had been worried that Bindi might be embarrassed by the cushions in the same way she was embarrassed by her swim floaties, but with her and Wyatt around, it wasn’t even a second thought. She was comfortable around them. She was ready to learn to skate and they were ready to help her.

  It was Wyatt who finally suggested they call it a day. That made Liz laugh. “A little out of shape, huh?” she teased. “Off-season’s been good to you.”

  Wyatt chuckled and trained his steely blue eyes right on her. A warm shiver tingled through Liz’s body.

  “You could say that,” he smiled.

  She blushed.

  Liz was having so much trouble trying to think up excuses anymore. Her icy walls were melting and leaking all the reasons why she couldn’t be completely honest with Wyatt. The two of them could survive her secret, she was slowly convincing herself, they had to. They were in love and Bindi was an extension of that love, together they could get through anything.

  She was going to tell him.

  Liz only had to wait for the right moment now. It didn’t matter that she was so far from home, or even that a madman was after them, all that mattered was healing her broken family and putting all the pieces back into place.

  Bindi finally accepted an end to her lesson when she managed to stop herself against the boards. That was enough control for her, at least, it was for now. Her skates were barely off before she was talking about when they could go skating again.

  Wyatt insisted they could come whenever they wanted to, but that Bindi should rest her feet. He then slyly mentioned that the daycare center had skate times for all the kids who went there.

  “I want to do th
at!” Bindi told him.

  Wyatt nodded and looked over at Liz. “Looks like we’re going to have a free afternoon tomorrow. May I suggest an early dinner?”

  Liz rolled her eyes. “If you insist,” she giggled.

  She was feeling so much better. Ice was good for the soul. She felt refreshed and ready to take on the challenges that were ahead of her. Maybe their dinner tomorrow would finally be the right time to lay her soul bare.

  They packed up their new equipment and went home. A few fans were waiting outside, looking to get autographs and pictures. Wyatt obliged them. The one thing about fans in Toronto, Liz had found, was that they were very polite. They could be completely enamoured and they’d still only approach Wyatt if he didn’t look too preoccupied.

  When they had gone to the CN tower and the aquarium, Liz had felt the eyes on her and Wyatt, but it was only when Bindi was occupied on something else that they ever approached. They knew well enough to leave a family alone. Liz couldn’t even put into words how much she appreciated that.

  Maybe this city wouldn’t be so bad to live it after all, she thought to herself.

  Wyatt had been talking about building a house here.

  She waited with Bindi while Wyatt finished up with the fans, then the three of them made their way to his car. Liz spotted one of the security guys talk into his lapel and she felt safe. Whoever these guys were, they were good. She barely noticed them half the time. It made her feel happy that Bindi wasn’t being affected by all this craziness. She hoped her parents were doing alright.

  On the way back to Wyatt’s condo, they stopped at Bindi’s favourite fast-food chain and picked up meals from the drive-through. Bindi was passed out in the backseat and Liz was starting to feel sore herself when they pulled onto Wyatt’s street. She missed skating, but she didn’t miss the toll it took on her butt.

  At least it’s good for my figure, she joked to herself.

  The rest of the evening was quiet and much like the previous night. They ate and put on a nature documentary and then when Bindi fell asleep, Wyatt and her took the little girl to bed and tucked her in, then they went back to the living room and cuddled. This time though, Liz never got up to leave. She felt right at home in Wyatt’s arms. They fell asleep together and Liz’s dreams were soft and full of hope.