by Lori Wilde
The sun shone on her face, accentuating the sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her lips, a lovely shade of peachy rose, lay perilously close to kissing distance. Her complexion was flawless. She didn’t look a day older than she had seven years ago. Kael’s breath hung in his lungs.
“I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered.
“Have you?” Her pulse thumped at the hollow of her throat.
“So much.”
Panic flared in her eyes, and she gulped. “Oh, Kael.”
Did she want him as much as he wanted her? Her body language seemed to say so. Her mouth softened, and she was leaning toward him.
Impulse seized him before he had time to consider his actions. Kael took her by the shoulders and tenderly planted his mouth on hers.
The brushing of their lips was pure heaven, sweeter than the most succulent honey. Old feelings roused in him just as powerful as ever. He wanted her. Desperately. And not just physically. Kael wanted something far more meaningful.
Daisy’s breath came hot and ragged. Her body tensed beneath his fingers.
“What are you doing?” She jerked away.
“I... I just wanted to comfort you.”
“Yeah, because kissing helps me so much,” she said sarcastically. “Keep your hands off me, Carmody.”
Dang! He’d made another terrible miscalculation.
“I’m allowing you to assist me on the farm because I have no choice. But this relationship is strictly business. Got that?”
“Daisy, please. Let me explain.” The hardness in her eyes cut him to the quick. “I’m not the same guy you knew seven years ago.”
She snorted. “Who are you trying to convince? Me or yourself?”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since the accident and...”
“There’s no atheist in a foxhole.”
“What?”
“A bull trampled your leg, and that changed your whole life. Yeah, right. You’re just feeling a little mortal right now, Carmody. You’re still the same devil-may-care womanizer you always were.”
“I was never a womanizer.” Heat burned the tops of his ears. “You’ve been listening to too much gossip, Daisy Anne. I might have had a reputation for having fun, but that didn’t mean I made a habit of one-night stands.”
“Right. And that explains why you slept with Rose.”
Kael froze. He’d known that eventually they would have to deal with this issue; he just didn’t think it would be now.
“I tried to explain to you what happened that night, but you wouldn’t listen to me.”
Daisy raised her chin. “You expected me to believe you over my sister.”
“It was the truth.”
Pain zinged through him as the memory slammed into his brain. Over the years, he’d tried to put the image from his mind, but he’d never been able to fully erase it.
Even now acid burned his throat, and his stomach tightened as he recalled the night his life had completely unraveled.
It had been a warm Saturday evening, and he’d just won a PRC rodeo in San Antonio. They held the next event in Oklahoma, and Kael could talk of nothing else.
He remembered the drive back with Daisy in the pickup beside him. He’d been full of glory and excitement, chattering nonstop about his career until he’d realized Daisy was strangely silent.
“What’s the matter, honey?” He’d reached across his pickup’s seat to take her hand. “You’re awfully quiet.”
“You’ll leave me, won’t you?” she’d blurted.
Kael had tried his best to skirt the topic, two-stepping around the truth, but Daisy was no fool.
“Bull riding means more to you than I do.”
“No, it doesn’t,” he’d denied.
“How can we get married if you’re off chasing the rodeo circuit?” She had folded her arms over her chest, shutting him out. It rankled.
“Whoa there. I love you, Daisy Hightower, but we’re way too young to get married.”
“I didn’t mean right now.”
“Then there’s no rush. Plenty of time for me to have a career.”
“Are you sure you just don’t prefer the parties and the girls that hang around?”
“Is that it?” Her jealousy flattered him. “You’re afraid someone will steal me away? Honey, I love you and nobody else but you. Why don’t you come with me? We can follow the circuit together.” He’d squeezed her hand, but it hadn’t calmed her.
“Kael, I’ve got a bee farm to run; I can’t just walk off. Rose and Aunt Peavy depend on me.”
“Well, then, if they’re more important to you than I am...” He’d let the sentence dangle.
After that they’d had a big blowout, ending with Daisy issuing an ultimatum, and Kael refusing to give up rodeoing.
Deep in his heart he’d known she hadn’t meant it when she’d told him they were through. His plan had been to let her cool off and try to talk sense into her the next day. He’d make her understand that one day, after his rodeo career was over, they would get married.
Despite their fight, he’d still been in the mood to celebrate his victory. He’d dropped her off at home, then made his way to Kelly’s Bar.
He wasn’t proud of the fact he’d downed too many beers. But he’d been angry at Daisy for spoiling his night.
What happened next was inexcusable—his only defense was that he’d wanted to make love to Daisy so badly he couldn’t think straight.
He was drunk. Kael admitted it. When the bar door swung open and Rose walked in wearing one of Daisy’s dresses, her hair pulled back in Daisy’s signature ponytail, her lips adorned with Daisy’s pink lipstick, he’d assumed Rose was Daisy.
Rose, playing her role to the hilt, had apologized for arguing with him. She’d kissed him passionately, caressed him, and urged him to take her somewhere private. His good fortune had excited Kael. For months, he’d dreamed of making love to Daisy, but she’d been holding out for marriage. He’d respected her wishes, but here she offered that most precious gift—her virginity—and begging his forgiveness. Blinded by love and suckered by his hormones.
If he’d been sober, he would never have mistaken Rose for Daisy. Public displays of affection were not Daisy’s style. But he’d been so desperate to make up with her, so hungry for her approval, so eager to mend fences he’d followed Rose like an eager puppy.
Even now, Kael’s face flamed with shame at the memory.
He and Rose had gone to the ranch. They’d slipped out to the barn. He didn’t remember much else. Except that he had called out Daisy’s name.
Then suddenly Daisy had been standing in the doorway, looking shocked and hurt as her twin sister made love to her boyfriend.
Kael winced. The ensuing scene had been ugly and full of recrimination. Rose had told Daisy that Kael seduced her. Kael had tried to make Daisy understand that he had confused Rose for her.
But Daisy was having none of it, and how could he blame her? He’d wounded her in the most profound way imaginable.
“I’m really sorry about what happened,” Kael said hoarsely, shaking the memory from his head. “It changed the course of my life.”
“Mine, too.” Daisy’s gaze skewered him like beef on a barbecue spit.
“You don’t know how many times I agonized over what I did.”
“Ah, poor baby.” Her words were cold.
“Danged hard living without you. That’s why I haven’t come back home. It hurt too much.”
“You think it was easy for me?” Anger snapped in her green eyes. “Assuming responsibility for Rose’s mistake, raising Travis alone, knowing there’s a strong possibility he’s your son!”
“Wh... what?” Kael stared as the words sunk in. “What do you mean? Travis can’t be my son.”
“Rose discovered she was pregnant only weeks after you slept with her. Did you bother with protection, Kael, or were you too drunk?”
Kael’s mouth dropped open, and he stared at Daisy. Shoc
k, more violent than any earthquake, jolted through his body. If someone had shot him in the gut, he wouldn’t have been more astonished. Was it true? Could that regrettable union with Rose have produced a child?
“I... I... I,” he stuttered.
“Yes?”
“Why didn’t you tell me before now?” he whispered, clenching his fists. He felt oddly cold yet hot all at once, as if he were coming down with a serious virus.
Daisy looked down at her hands. “I wasn’t sure you were the father. Rose had lots of boyfriends. I still don’t know.”
“It doesn’t matter. You could have contacted me and told me what you suspected. I would have come back.”
“Would you have, Kael? Honestly? What would you have done? Would you have married Rose?”
Kael squirmed in misery. His mind whirled with Daisy’s questions. Could Travis really be his son?
“Probably not,” Kael replied grimly. “When I, when we... well, you know. I swear to you, Daisy, that night I thought Rose was you.”
“I really don’t care.”
“I know I hurt you deeply—”
Daisy raised both palms. “It doesn’t matter. There’s no point rehashing the past. What’s done is done.”
Kael ran his hand over his jaw. “You’re right. The question is, where do we go from here?”
“Excuse me?” Daisy raised an eyebrow. Was that fear he saw flit across her face? “What do you mean ‘we’?”
“I have to know if Travis is my son.”
“Look, it’s better to leave well enough alone. I’ve raised him for over six years by myself. I can do it for the next twelve. There’s no point troubling yourself at this late date.”
“Yes, you’ve done an excellent job of raising Travis, but every child deserves to know his father.”
“Not a father who’ll just abandon him again,” Daisy muttered.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Anger coursed through Kael. Daisy had done wrong by not telling him he might be a father. He’d never really thought about having children before, but now everything was different.
“Come on, Kael. You were right to leave Rascal. We both know you’re not the Father Knows Best type. You’ve got too much wanderlust in your veins, and you’re too irresponsible to be a good dad.”
“Dammit, Daisy, you’re writing me off without giving me the chance to show you I’ve changed.”
“There’s a scorched alfalfa field and a hundred thousand dead bees that say you haven’t changed one whit.” Her eyes were liquid fire, but Kael was just as angry. He felt used, betrayed, and disrespected by the woman he’d once loved.
“Fine. Think what you will. But know this, I will find out if Travis is my son. First thing
Monday morning, we’re going to Rascal for a blood test and don’t you dare try to stand in my way!”
Chapter Five
STUNNED, DAISY STARED at Kael.
Gone was the easy smile, the casual countenance, the teasing light in his hazel eyes. In his stead stood a scowling, rigid-shouldered stranger with a harsh, narrow gaze and a determined set to his jaw.
His light-brown hair was in disarray from where he’d stripped off the bee hat, one errant lock sticking straight up in back. He still wore the zippered coveralls, and a streak of soot smudged one cheek.
He looked like a warrior. Stalwart, unwavering, tense, and ready for combat.
Meeting Kael’s challenging glare, Daisy felt the color drain from her face. She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. “Wh-what are you suggesting?”
“I’m not suggesting anything. I’m putting you on notice. I will discover the truth about Travis.”
Panic, unlike anything she had ever experienced, scrambled through her in an adrenaline surge.
She raised her chin defiantly. “What if I refuse?”
“Then I’ll retain a lawyer. You don’t have the resources to fight me on this, Daisy.”
Claustrophobia gripped her chest in a tight squeeze. For six and a half years, she’d lived in terror of this moment. Now her greatest fear had come to pass, and the expression on Kael’s face told her he would not be thwarted.
If he pursued this issue as fiercely as he rode bulls, she was in serious trouble. She had to do something.
“That’s such a selfish attitude,” she said, grasping at straws, anything to throw him off balance and make him think twice.
“Excuse me!” Kael raised his voice. “You’re calling me selfish when you’ve been hoarding my son from me for years.”
“We don’t know that he is your son, do we?”
“And whose fault is that?”
“Yours.” She matched his hostile tone. “You’re the one who ran off without a backward glance for either me or Rose.”
“I would never have left if I’d have known about the baby.”
“Ha!” Tears burned her eyelids and came dangerously close to slipping down her cheeks. As she had during every adversity in her life, Daisy mentally braced herself for impact. “Easy for you to say now.”
“That’s why I want a blood test. To make things right.”
“See. You are selfish.”
“Why is that selfish?”
“Because you’re only thinking of your wants and desires. Of your redemption, not what’s best for Travis.”
“Oh-ho, now wait a minute.” Kael held up a stop sign palm. “My only concern is my son.”
“Then why would you subject him to a blood test?”
“To discover the truth.”
Daisy shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. Did she sound as desperate as she felt? “No. I can’t allow it. He’s too young.”
“Having blood drawn isn’t pleasant, but he’ll get over the pain. Will he get over not knowing his father?”
“It’s not the needle stick that concerns me.”
Kael arched an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“Are you going to explain to him the complexity of his conception? Because I’m certainly not going to tell him the truth about his mother.”
Silence more deafening than the loudest noise crashed about her ears. Kael’s eyes blazed pure fire. He clenched his fists. The veins on his forehead bulged. She’d never seen him so angry. A bizarre thrill coursed through her.
Kael took a deep breath and swept his gaze south toward the charred alfalfa field. “I’m not backing down on this, Daisy. I’ve got to know if Travis is my son, and I can’t wait until he’s eighteen. I’ve already missed out on six years as it is. Do you have any idea how that
makes me feel?”
At this point, she really didn’t care how Kael felt. Had he considered her feelings when he’d left town? Had he even thought of her once in the past seven years? She doubted it. He had a one-track mind—bull riding. She’d always been a pale second.
“Why don’t you stop and think about Travis for one minute. What do you think will go through that little mind when you tell him that you might be his daddy? He’s bound to wonder where you’ve been all this time and why you abandoned him. Have you given that matter any thought?”
Kael ran a palm down his face. “Daisy, you’ve hit me with this out of the blue. I haven’t had time to absorb any of it. I’m operating on gut instinct. I say let’s have the blood test done and don’t tell Travis what it’s for until we know for sure I’m his father.”
“I’m not lying to him.”
“I didn’t ask you to lie.” Kael gave an exasperated sigh. “Just tell him the doctor needs to run some test.”
“He’s a smart kid. He’s going to want to know why.”
“Stall him, Daisy. You’re good at it. Lord knows you stalled me long enough.”
Her face heated at his words. “I suppose that’s why you slept with Rose. Your hormones got the better of you.”
He glared at her. “I’m not going to dignify that with a reply.” He shucked off the coveralls, stepped out of them, and folded them under his arm. “I’ll be here at seven o’clock on M
onday morning. You better hold Travis out of school and have him ready to go or I promise you, there’ll be hell to pay.”
A ROTTEN SENSATION lay in Kael’s belly like a lead casket. All Saturday and Sunday he’d vacillated between anger, resentment, sadness, and melancholy. He would think about how Daisy had deceived him, and he’d grind his teeth, then he would remind himself she’d only been trying to protect herself and her son. Much as he hated to admit it, he probably wouldn’t have been a good father at twenty-one.
But dammit, she’d deprived him of the opportunity to try. And now? What kind of father would he be? He already felt a rush of unexpected love for the red-haired boy who looked so much like Daisy.
Hold up, Carmody, he reminded himself once more. Don’t get too soft on the boy until you
know for sure.
But that sensible note of caution couldn’t stop his heart from doing flip-flops when he sneaked over to the property line dividing the Carmody ranch from Hightower Honey Farm and watched the boy play in his backyard.
“My son.” Kael tried the words out loud. They felt alien...but nice.
Hunkering in the grass, watching Travis while he hung upside down from the branch of an old oak tree, Kael felt overwhelming guilt.
Guilt tightened like a corkscrew. Kael winced. He’d never meant to hurt anyone. Not Rose. Not Daisy and certainly not this innocent little boy. But if Travis was indeed his son, his ugly sins were there to claim.
Dang. He’d made so many mistakes. How could he atone for them all?
Travis whistled tunelessly. The poor kid seemed lonely. He was quiet. Solemn and solitary.
He should be playing baseball, hide-and-go-seek, or tag. Kael ached to reach out to him, to show him the things boys learned from their fathers.
The child needed a male role model. Daisy was doing her best, but nothing could replace a man’s influence, and it was obvious she had more on her plate than she could chew.
Whereas Kael had all the time in the world.