The Texan's Surprise Son

by Cathy McDavid

  It was well past dark when he arrived. That wouldn’t be a problem. Floodlights were scattered throughout the barn and arena. He could ride for an hour and still be home by eight.

  He maneuvered his truck into the long driveway, noting the darkened farm store as he passed it. His adoptive sisters Savannah and Carly ran the store, which offered fresh produce and homemade pies. The two had recently embarked on a search for their biological mother, Delia Baron, with only dead ends and cold trails to show for their efforts.

  Jacob didn’t need to search for his biological father. He knew right where Oscar Burke resided: the Federal Correctional Institute in Beaumont. Minimum security, as if that counted for anything. This February, he’d be up for parole. The third time. Had he not been involved in an attack against a guard—an innocent bystander, he claimed; the perpetrator, witnesses had testified—he’d be out by now.

  Jacob pulled in next to the barn and parked. The main lights were on. Since he was the only one who ever rode at night, that meant Luke Nobel, the Roughneck’s ranch manager and Carly’s fiancé, was dealing with a problem.

  Jacob found Luke in the barn, his forearms propped on a stall door and staring worriedly at the horse inside.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Colic.”

  The smile Jacob would normally expect to see on Luke’s face was absent.

  “Not good.”

  For a few minutes they discussed the mare’s symptoms and what steps Luke had taken.

  “If she isn’t better in an hour, I’m calling the vet.”

  The large chestnut stood with her head hanging low between her front legs and her eyes filled with misery.

  “You sure you want to wait that long? This horse is one of Brock’s favorites.”

  Luke shrugged. “I’ll keep a close watch on her.” If necessary, he’d climb into the stall with the mare. “You going for a ride?” He glanced pointedly at the change of clothes and pair of boots in Jacob’s hands.

  “Thinking of taking Zeus out for a spin.”

  The gelding was the horse Jacob had used for calf roping and steer wrestling, two rodeo events he enjoyed but had mostly stopped competing in. His four twelve-hour shifts at the drill site left him with just enough time on the weekends to get to whatever rodeo he was competing in. Trailering a horse would be too time-consuming. As a result, Jacob focused solely on bucking events, with the occasional steer wrestling thrown in.

  “I’d join you if I could,” Luke said.

  “You have your priorities.”

  The two were good friends and had been for years. They’d competed against each other on the circuit until Luke retired from rodeoing to care for his daughter who, Jacob just that moment realized, was about the same age as Cody. Now, Luke was marrying Jacob’s sister Carly.

  Fatherhood and family life suited his friend. Would it suit Jacob? What kind of father would he be? Lord knows, Oscar Burke was a poor excuse and no role model. And Brock, while better, treated Jacob and Daniel differently from his own children.

  Not once had he ever told Jacob that he loved him. Might be because he didn’t.

  For a lot of years, that hurt. No more. Not that he’d admit.

  “What’s on your mind?” Luke asked, giving Jacob the once-over.

  Was he that transparent? “Just because I’m going for a ride doesn’t mean I’m wrestling with a problem.”

  Luke shrugged. “Except you are.”

  Okay, he was that transparent. “Do you miss rodeoing?”

  “Sure I do. Once in a while.”

  “Would you go back if you could?”

  “Probably getting a little too long in the tooth.”

  Jacob understood. At twenty-eight, the majority of men he competed against were younger than him.

  “You’re not thinking of quitting?” Luke asked.

  Jacob shook his head. “Not this year. Now, if I win a title or two...”

  “You’ll be too busy pushing papers at Baron Energies to ride bulls.”

  “I hope to do a lot more than push papers.” Like take the company into the next decade.

  “Brock softening any?”

  “He’s hinted that he might be willing to look at a new proposal after the first of the year.” Which translated into after the National Finals Rodeo. “I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground. Rumors are circulating that Starr Solar Systems is coming up for sale.”

  Luke chuckled. “The accident must have had more of an effect on the old man than we thought.”

  Brock had suffered a terrible fall earlier in the year while competing in a senior pro rodeo. The injury to his leg had confined him to a wheelchair for months, and he’d been forced to relinquish the day-to-day running of Baron Energies to Lizzie, his oldest daughter.

  Savannah and Carly supervised his care at home, an arrangement that had driven everyone crazy. Brock had always possessed a bigger-than-life personality and the physical stamina to match. Luckily, he was well on the path to recovery and had very recently returned to Baron’s boardroom on a part-time basis.

  “That,” Jacob mused aloud, “and his kids are all getting married.”

  What were the odds the Baron siblings had each recently found their match?

  “Don’t forget Lizzie,” Luke said. “Grandchildren can change a person. It did my parents.”

  Grandchildren! Lizzie had just delivered Brock’s first, and he crowed his delight to anyone who’d listen.

  Except if Jacob was Cody’s father, then, technically, the boy would be Brock’s first and oldest.

  Adoptive grandchild. Not the same. Jacob had no reason to believe Brock would treat Cody any differently than he’d treated Jacob and Daniel their whole lives. The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.

  “I wouldn’t trade my life for anything.” Luke flashed his previously missing smile. “Nothing is more satisfying than coming home to Rosie and Carly. Not work, not rodeoing, not anything.”

  “I’ve never given much thought to getting married and having kids.” Tired of holding his boots, Jacob set them on the ground and laid his clothes on top.

  “You need to make your mark in the world first.”

  Less making his mark and more proving he was as good as any Baron, regardless of his start in life and his father’s criminal history, though Jacob didn’t say it out loud.

  “You must still miss your mom.” Compassion filled Luke’s voice.

  “Every day.”

  Seven years ago. Peggy Burke Baron had gone into the hospital for a routine appendectomy and come through the surgery with flying colors. She’d died a week later from a staph infection, leaving her two sons without a mother and her second husband a widower.

  Jacob still felt the loss keenly. Brock not so much. Less than two years later, he remarried. Julieta was thirty years his junior and the mother of a little boy. Jacob’s adoptive siblings all adored Julieta and her son. She was nice enough, and the kid was okay, Jacob supposed. But that was the extent of his feelings.

  He wasn’t jealous exactly. He might have been only nine when Brock and his mother wed, but he’d figured out soon after that their marriage was based on convenience and affection. Not love. But marrying so quickly after his mother’s death and to a significantly younger and beautiful woman felt like an insult.

  Luke squeezed Jacob’s shoulder. “She was a fine lady with a heart of gold. She’d be proud of you.”

  Jacob had a sobering thought. If Leah’s son was his, the boy would never meet either of Jacob’s parents. Only Brock.

  “Do you remember Leah Snow?” he asked.

  Luke scratched behind an ear. “Vaguely. A barrel racer, right?”

  “She died a few months ago. From breast cancer.”

  “Oh, man. That’s a shame.”

  “She and I dated a few years ago.”

  “You never said anything.”

  “It was brief. A weekend.” Jacob gathered his courage. He’d decided not to tell anyone about Cody until
the DNA test results were in and only if they were positive. Suddenly, he wanted someone to know. “Her sister, Mariana Snow, approached me at the Louisiana State Fair Rodeo. It seems Leah has a son.”

  “Really.”

  “She told Mariana before she died that I was the father.”

  “Wow.” Luke looked as stunned as Jacob had felt upon hearing the news.

  “Yeah.”

  “Are you?”

  “I’ll know for sure soon.” Jacob exhaled a long breath. There was both relief in the telling and increased anxiety. “But it’s pretty likely.”

  “What are you going to do?” Luke asked.

  “Mariana wants me to be a part of the boy’s life.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Not sure, she didn’t say. Visitation. Custody maybe.”

  “And you’re not sure how you feel about that,” Luke stated.

  “I can barely handle work and rodeoing. How am I supposed to take care of a two-year-old? Even part-time. I don’t know the first thing.”

  “No parent does in the beginning. But we learn.”

  “You’re a natural father.”

  “And you’re worried about the sacrifices you’ll have to make.”

  Jacob squeezed his eyes shut, feeling completely out of control and at the mercy of the fates.

  “I’ve worked so hard for years to get ahead. Finally, I have a chance at a championship title and a promotion. Now this.” He stopped abruptly. “I sound like a selfish bastard.”

  “There isn’t a parent alive who doesn’t wonder about the impact children will have on their future.”

  “What if I’m not cut out to be a dad? It’s not like I’ve had the best examples.”

  “The better question might be what if you are?”

  Though Jacob admired his friend greatly, he couldn’t conceive of sacrificing everything he’d worked so hard for.

  “What if I just offered financial support? At least until after Finals? That’s only six weeks away.”

  Luke didn’t hide his disappointment. “Now you sound just like Brock.”

  Nothing his friend said or did could have made a bigger impact on Jacob. He did sound like Brock and his biological father.

  Disgust filled him. “I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

  “It does.” Luke leaned an elbow on the stall door, his gaze direct. “You aren’t like either Brock or your father. At least, you don’t have to be.”

  Cody’s photo, tucked in his wallet, burned a hole in Jacob’s back pocket. The boy deserved a better father than he’d had. The best Jacob could be.

  “I always swore if I ever had children, I’d do right by them.”

  Luke grinned. “Here’s your chance.”

  “I’m still waiting for the DNA results.”

  “That’s wise.”

  The hour ride on Zeus helped to further clear Jacob’s head and give him purpose. After returning the gelding to its stall, he started for his truck. At the door, he paused and took out his cell phone. Mariana had given him her number yesterday. He dialed it now.

  “This is Jacob,” he said when she answered. “I want to meet Cody. Tomorrow.”

  *

  “WE’RE HERE,” Mariana announced in a singsong voice as they neared Jacob’s house.

  She’d been driving down the street at ten miles an hour, peering at address numbers posted above garage doors or on wrought iron gates. It was a nice, middle-class neighborhood. Most of the attractive homes were on large lots with drought-resistant natural landscaping.

  “Daddy, Daddy!” Cody expressed his delight by tossing his stuffed pony in the air. It hit the back of Mariana’s seat and bounced off. “Wanna see Daddy.”

  “We will.” She maneuvered the SUV into the driveway and parked. The vehicle belonged to her mother. Much more appropriate for transporting a toddler than her Infiniti. “Cool your jets.”

  “Jets!” Cody kicked his sneakered feet wildly, and they banged into the console dividing the front seats.

  “Okay, Cody. That’s enough.” She kept her voice level but firm.

  Her nephew stopped. For an entire three seconds. “Wanna see Daddy,” he repeated and resumed kicking.

  She’d thought it best to wait for the test results to come in before telling Cody he had a father. Somehow, he’d gleaned enough while listening to Mariana and her mother talking about Jacob to realize he had one of those magical, mystical beings: a father.

  Served her right for having a supersmart nephew. Or, possibly, daddies were spoken of frequently at day care. He’d surely seen them picking up his playmates. That would explain his fascination. Wanting his and Jacob’s initial meeting to go well, Mariana had infused brightness into her voice when she talked about Jacob. As a result, Cody’s excitement soared.

  Jacob had phoned her yesterday and insisted on meeting Cody, to Mariana’s surprise. She’d tried to convince him to wait, without success. He’d been adamant, and she didn’t want to give him a reason to bring in his attorneys or, worse, flee.

  Errant fathers weren’t her specialty at the law firm where she worked. She did, however, have some experience with them. Her mother had spent years chasing down Mariana and Leah’s father, who never stayed in one place longer than a few months. When her mother did find him, there was a guaranteed battle over past due child support.

  Mariana was twenty-nine years old, and her mother had yet to receive all the money owed her. The SOB didn’t even have the decency to show up at Leah’s memorial service.

  She could understand her sister’s not wanting a man like that to be a part of her son’s life. But Jacob Baron wasn’t cut from the same cloth. Mariana knew; she’d done her homework on him and his family. He could, and hopefully would, do right by Cody.

  Leah had also done her homework before selecting Jacob. Still, despite his many worthy attributes, she’d insisted on raising her son alone, even after the cancer returned and progressed at a terrifying rate.

  Mariana stared at the pickup truck in the driveway, uncertainty gnawing away at her. If only he wasn’t a rodeo man like her father, she’d feel a whole lot better. At least he had a good, steady job and belonged to a family with deep roots in the Dallas area. That compensated for some of his less desirable cowboy traits.

  Her cell phone rang just as she turned off the ignition.

  “Yes, Helena,” she said after her secretary identified herself.

  “Sorry to bother you this late, but I thought you’d want to know now rather than in the morning.”

  Mariana braced herself. “What is it?”

  “Paulo Molinas’s attorney has filed a motion to suppress Medallion Investments’ phone records.”

  “Dammit,” she muttered, then glanced over her shoulder. Had Cody heard her curse? She didn’t think so. “All right. Pull the former case files we talked about and leave them on my desk for the morning.”

  “Will do.”

  They discussed a few more details before ending the call. Mariana tried to focus on Cody and his introduction to Jacob. It took all her effort. Her firm’s joint lawsuits had gained momentum in recent weeks. Ten-hour days made caring for Cody challenging. She was lucky to have gotten off early.

  That wasn’t the reason she wanted Jacob to have shared custody of Cody, she told herself for the hundredth time. Her workload and demanding schedule had nothing to do with it.

  Opening the rear passenger side door, she bent over Cody and unbuckled him from the car seat.

  “Daddy, Daddy! Where Daddy?”

  She winced at the loud voice inches from her ear. “Shhh. We’ll see him in a minute.”

  “I firsty.”

  “We’ll get you a drink inside.”

  This constant speaking in the plural amazed her. She couldn’t recall thinking about it, only doing it. Was that normal? Did every mother, or aunt or guardian, naturally fall into the habit?

  Lifting Cody from the car, she set him on his feet and grabbed the o
verstuffed diaper bag.

  “Wait a minute,” she said when he started squirming. Setting the diaper bag down, she adjusted his little denim jacket, re-fastening the buttons that had mysteriously come loose during the ride.

  She’d have preferred Cody wear something newer and without a hole in the left sleeve. But this particular jacket was his favorite, and he’d pitched a fit when she tried to put him in a hooded sweatshirt. Even his favorite cartoon character on the front hadn’t swayed him.

  He would have run ahead if not for her firm grip on his hand. As it was, he pulled her and the diaper bag along like a heavy anchor through water.

  “Slow down, honey,” Mariana admonished.

  The house, a newer one-story with tan stucco exterior and—this was good—a block fence enclosing the rear yard, sat on a corner lot. Hopefully, Jacob didn’t own a pool. Toddlers and water were a dangerous combination.

  Mariana thought it interesting that he didn’t live at the Roughneck, his family’s ranch. The place was certainly big enough. Then again, this house was closer to the drill site where he worked. Or maybe he simply liked his privacy.

  If he assumed any level of custody, he’d soon lose that luxury. There was no such thing as privacy with a two-year-old in the house. If presented with a closed door or locked cabinet, Cody felt compelled to holler until it opened or his lungs gave out.

  Her high heels wobbled as they walked along the slate rock path leading to the front door. Changing clothes beforehand would have been nice. There’d been no time, however. Mariana was barely able to rush from the office to day care, navigate traffic and still make it here—she glanced at her watch—twelve minutes late.

  Jacob opened the door seconds after she rang the bell. Had he been watching from the window?

  “Hello,” he said in a neutral voice, his gaze meeting hers briefly before traveling to Cody where it remained. “Come in.”

  “Thank you.” She required a moment to collect her wits.

  He looked good. His short dark hair appeared freshly combed, and the scent of soap clung to him as if he’d recently washed up. Like her, he hadn’t changed from work. His pale blue chambray shirt had a Baron Energies logo embroidered on the front pocket and the sleeves were rolled up to reveal strong, muscled forearms.