The Cowboy's Surprise Baby (Cowboy Country Book 3)

by Deb Kastner

  Tessa had to admit she was surprised at Cole’s unabashed reaction to the performance. He’d been present at all the rehearsals but hadn’t shown much interest in the production. He certainly hadn’t acted remotely like the man who was currently high-fiving every one of the teens and telling them how well they’d nailed their song.

  The kids were eating it up. Clearly Cole’s affirmation meant a lot to them. They looked up to him. Tessa wondered if Cole knew just how successful a mentor he had become.

  Soon the teenagers disbursed, and Cole was back at Tessa’s side. When she turned toward him, he whooped and wrapped his arms around her waist, picking her clean off the ground and twirling her around and around until she was dizzy. Or maybe the light-headedness came simply from being in his arms.

  “That was awe-some,” he said, breaking the word into two distinct syllables.

  Tessa laughed despite herself. “Yes, it kind of was, wasn’t it?”

  “I never would have thought.”

  Tessa suddenly became aware of the way her arms wrapped around his neck and the strength of his shoulders. “Thought what?”

  “How great it would feel to see our kids succeed at something like that.”

  Her heart welled, not only from seeing his pride, but because he had referred to them as our kids. Finally, he was getting it, starting to understand just how incredible it was to be a mentor.

  “Cole?”

  “Hmm?” He bent his head on the pretense of listening to her, and his face was buried in her hair. “You smell just like I remember. Like when the lavender bushes bloom in the springtime.”

  If she could have stopped time at that moment, she would have—there in his arms with him whispering sweetness into her ear. But life went on, and if they weren’t careful they would make a spectacle of themselves.

  “Put me down. My feet aren’t touching the ground.”

  In more ways than one.

  “Oops.” He laughed and then set her down so suddenly that she overcorrected and nearly lost her balance. Fortunately, he saw her waver and swiftly reached for her shoulders, keeping a gentle hold on her until she found her feet again.

  “Okay, then.” She released the breath she’d been unconsciously holding.

  “Sorry,” he said, one corner of his lips kicking up. “I guess I got a little carried away there for a moment.”

  So had she.

  “I didn’t realize it until the teens were up there singing just how much I’d hoped they would succeed. For their sakes, not mine,” he clarified.

  Tessa smiled softly. “That’s because you’ve become invested in them.”

  He angled his hat up. “I have, haven’t I?”

  “They’re blessed to have a man like you in their lives.” She dropped her eyes, unable to meet his shimmering gaze. “I’m glad you came back to Serendipity.”

  “Yeah?” He tipped her chin up with his index finger. Their gazes locked. His eyes were swirling with emotions, so many that Tessa couldn’t pick one from another. His voice lowered, emerging subdued and husky. “Me, too.”

  Cole’s father, Ford, approached, bouncing Grayson in one arm. “My grandson loved the song, especially that young lady Whitley.” He turned his smile to Tessa. “Reminds me of another pretty teenage girl with a remarkable voice.”

  Tessa blushed at Ford’s compliment.

  “I’m proud of you, son,” Ford continued, slapping Cole on the back with his free hand. Then he enveloped Tessa in a quick hug. “Proud of the pair of you.”

  Tessa’s heart welled with emotion, a combination of honor and pain. If only her own father could see the good in what she was doing.

  Marcus approached and complimented them, and then to her surprise, her father stepped into her line of vision. He brushed a hand back through his hair, a nervous gesture.

  “I may have been wrong about this,” he admitted. How he made his apology sound like a grumble was beyond her, but she was over the moon that he’d seen even a glimpse of the promise of the career that consumed her life. “The kids were good.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” It was a start, and for now, it was enough.

  “I think I’d like to hear another musical number,” Cole’s father boomed. “An encore of sorts.”

  Cole shook his head. “Sorry, Dad. That’s all we’ve got. I guess we should have guessed the community might want more than one song from the teenagers, but they learned only one.”

  Ford’s eyebrows rose, and his eyes glittered with mischief. “I wasn’t talking about the kids, as good as they were. Hey, Jo?” He waved Jo Spencer over to join the conversation. “Since the teenagers were so well received, what do you think about having their directors perform a song for us?”

  Jo’s bright orange T-shirt had the word Roasted swirled over the front. The word was well-placed. Tessa imagined she and Cole would be well-done by the time this day was over. When Jo clapped in delight at the idea and Marcus whooped loud enough to turn the whole crowd’s attention to them, Tessa’s stomach sank to the floor. They’d reached the point of no return, now that Ford had enlisted Jo in his idea.

  Her gaze caught Cole’s. He had the same deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression on his face that she imagined she had on hers. Surely Ford didn’t mean—

  “What was the name of that song I liked so much?” Ford tapped his finger against his chin. “The one you guys did in high school from that different version of Phantom.” Ford’s grin widened, and he winked at her.

  “‘You Are Music,’” Cole supplied, sounding downright miserable. “From the Kopit and Yeston version.”

  Tessa cringed. He didn’t have to go and offer up the song. And anyway, how could Ford possibly think this was a good idea? Sharing his suggestion with Jo was paramount to adding kindling to an already roaring fire—one that was burning her cheeks.

  “It’s been twelve years, Dad,” Cole objected. “I don’t even remember all the lyrics. And besides, we don’t have a soundtrack to back us up. There’s no way we could sing such a demanding song a cappella.”

  Never mind a soundtrack. Tessa was quite certain she didn’t have a voice. She couldn’t utter a single squeak in protest, much less sing an entire song.

  Jo waved the teenagers closer. “You kids all want to hear Cole and Tessa sing a duet, don’t you?”

  The clamoring response from the teens was immediate and crazy loud, drawing the attention and interest of any of the people milling around on the green who weren’t already hovering to find out what was going on in their circle. Soon it appeared that everyone at the barbecue was aware of the request—and were raucously insisting that Cole and Tessa fulfill it.

  Didn’t they realize how vocally challenging the song was? And that was if they had time to warm up their voices and find some background accompaniment.

  That was to say nothing of the emotional complications that would rise to the surface, were they to sing the duet together.

  “Go,” Ford insisted, gently bumping her shoulder with his. Grayson, picking up on the excitement, babbled and flapped his arms. “See what I mean?” Ford asked with a laugh. “Your public awaits, my dear.”

  It wasn’t the public Tessa was worried about.

  Cole’s jaw was tight as he reached for her hand. “You know as well as I do that we’re not going to get out of this.”

  Not unscathed, they weren’t.

  She followed Cole as he ascended the stairs to the stage. She wanted to pull back, draw away. Cole must have sensed her continued reluctance, because he squeezed her hand and tossed back a reassuring smile.

  “We can do this,” he affirmed.

  “Maybe you can, but I’m not so certain,” she hissed back under her breath. “It’s not like I’ve been practicing my scales.”

  “Yeah, me neither. I’ve never bee
n a singer. But folks here don’t expect perfection, Tessa. They just want us to make a good effort.”

  He was right, of course. Even if they fudged a little on the melody or lyrics, it was highly doubtful anyone would notice. The Kopit and Yeston version of Phantom wasn’t a particularly well-known musical. No one would notice if they forgot some of the words.

  It was all about chemistry between the two characters, and she and Cole had that in spades. No problem there.

  He leaned in close to her ear. “Here goes nothing. I’ll try not to start too high or we’ll both be in trouble.”

  He squeezed her hand one more time and then turned and walked to the other side of the stage. He paused for a moment and simply breathed. Then he met her gaze. He offered her an encouraging smile.

  And then he started to sing.

  Funny that he didn’t consider himself a musician. His beautiful baritone sent shivers down her spine. But it was more than that. The moment he stepped toward her, reaching out a pleading hand that matched his voice and the lyrics, he became Erik, the tortured, disfigured man who longed for beauty in his life.

  In high school he’d worn a mask and a cape, but now he needed neither. Even his cowboy hat couldn’t distract her from the character he’d become. She’d expected her thoughts to fly back to the night they’d first met on the stage, but when their gazes locked and she joined her voice to his, there was no past between them. Only the present moment, the music and the almost tangible chemistry between them. She felt as if she could reach out and touch it.

  His Erik, her Christine, somehow swirled into the very real love story between her and Cole.

  The crowd was moved to silence, but it wouldn’t have mattered if they’d been roaring at the tops of their lungs. For Tessa there was only Cole.

  His voice. His gaze. His love.

  The song drew toward its close and Cole drew toward her, reaching for her. He framed her face with his hands, his thumbs lightly brushing across her cheekbones as he gazed down at her.

  The air seemed to leave Tessa’s lungs. She had no idea how she continued to sing, but her voice was strong, matching Cole’s in tone and intensity.

  They reached the last note. Held it. Ended it together as one, even though neither one of them signaled the break.

  It could have been over then—should have been. But ever so slowly, he tilted his head and leaned toward her, his heart glistening in his blue eyes. He gave her plenty of time and opportunity to stop him, to pull away, but she could no more prevent this moment from happening than stop the earth from spinning on its axis.

  She closed her eyes as his mouth hovered over hers. She desperately wanted to close off all of her senses except for one. She wanted to feel the brush of his lips over hers with every part of her being.

  Finally, their lips softly met. Once. Twice. And then again, this time lingering, with more strength and intensity.

  She’d forgotten how sweet and tender Cole’s kiss could be. Without conscious thought, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and returning his emotion, expressing everything she’d been so carefully holding back.

  His kiss was like coming home again after a long absence. Warm and wonderful and totally familiar, and yet paradoxically completely new.

  Together, they were greater than the sum of their individual parts. Like the duet they’d just finished singing, their entire lives came together, rich in tone, sweet in harmony.

  She was so lost in Cole’s kiss that she wasn’t immediately aware that the teenagers had ascended to the stage and surrounded them, hooting and cheering for the public display of affection she and Cole were exhibiting.

  Mortification filtered through her in an instant. Not only were the teenagers watching them, but practically every resident of Serendipity was clapping for them. She jumped back out of Cole’s arms, placing both palms over her burning cheeks.

  Cole looked dazed for a moment as he looked around at the teenagers accosting him, but then he threw back his head and laughed.

  Laughed.

  Oh, what had she done? She would never live this down if she lived to be a hundred years old. The town had a long memory—long enough to attach her history with Cole with what had just happened on the stage today.

  And her teenagers?

  She might well have lost all the respect she’d worked so hard to gain with them. Throwing herself at Cole with such blatant abandon was hardly the action of a responsible adult in charge of young people.

  She hadn’t been thinking. Her feelings had overwhelmed her.

  She had ruined everything. The song in her heart had ended.

  She clamped a hand over her mouth to hold back a sob and turned away from Cole and the teenagers. She didn’t run away, but she walked as fast as she could and with as much dignity as she could muster. She had to get somewhere, anywhere, away from the crowd before she completely lost her composure.

  Even as she left the scene, she knew she was doing the one thing she’d promised herself she would never do again.

  She was running away.

  * * *

  One minute Cole was sharing a laugh with the teenagers over his admittedly overenthusiastic theatrical performance, and the next thing he knew, he was looking for Tessa and she was nowhere to be found.

  She’d probably sought a quiet corner to try and pull herself together, and he understood why. To the audience, and much to the delight of the teenagers watching them, he and Tessa had shared a romantic stage kiss, but Cole knew it was much more than that.

  They had shared their hearts.

  Cole had forgotten what a rush it was to be on stage singing, inhabiting another character, someone who was nothing like him. But in this case, life had certainly brought him a long way around. Now, as an adult, he could empathize with the Phantom’s desperate desire to find beauty in his life. Cole had made a mess out of his life. He’d become disfigured in his own way.

  But then, despite his failings, he’d found beauty.

  In Grayson.

  In Tessa.

  He’d known the moment his lips met hers that this was no stage kiss for the benefit of the audience, or even a wild and crazy tender blast from their past. When she’d wrapped her arms around his neck, she’d silently returned every emotion he was communicating to her.

  It was their present. And their future.

  It was love.

  Not the selfish, immature feelings of an eighteen-year-old boy who had no idea what it meant to give of himself, both his heart and his life, to another person.

  This time he was ready to offer Tessa everything in him, to put her needs and desires ahead of his own. There was nothing in the world he wanted more than once again to ask her to be his wife, to welcome her into his heart and his life—and Grayson’s, too. He knew he and Grayson were a package deal, which would probably put off most women, but Tessa wasn’t most women. He’d seen how much she cared for Grayson. His son wouldn’t be a deal breaker. He’d be icing on the cake, making their union even sweeter.

  Yet he was getting ahead of himself here. He felt as if he’d made a commitment, a promise, the moment their lips met. But the words still needed to be said, the question still needed to be asked, and properly this time.

  He had the engagement ring he’d bought for Tessa all those years ago still tucked in the top drawer of his dresser. He’d thought about selling it but could never find the will to do so, not even when he was at his angriest with her. He’d supposed he was being sentimental, but now he wondered if God had different plans for that ring all along.

  One thing was for certain—he wasn’t going to propose to her in a public place. This time he’d choose someplace quiet and romantic, with just the two of them present when he asked her to be his wife.

  The teenagers were joshing around with hi
m and giving him a hard time about kissing Tessa, but he was filled with too much joy to care.

  Until he spotted Tessa outside the green, heading down the sidewalk and away from the celebration in progress. She should have been here by his side, accepting kudos for a job well done. Instead, she was—

  Leaving.

  Playing that old familiar trump card. When something upset Tessa, she simply walked away from it. Sometimes even ran. He could tell from the set of her shoulders that she was tense, and the quiver in her step suggested to him that she might even be crying. He knew her well enough by now to interpret her moods, even when he could see her only from the back at a distance.

  Why wasn’t she as happy as he was? Had she not felt the same connection he had when they’d kissed?

  Yes. He knew she’d felt it. She’d both taken and given when they’d kissed. That kind of chemistry—the kind that went far beyond the physical and burrowed into a man’s, or a woman’s, heart and soul—that was a once-in-a-lifetime feeling.

  It was Tessa whom his heart was seeking. It had always been Tessa.

  He wasn’t going to make the same mistake he’d made as a teenager. He was going to chase after her and have it out with her if need be. He would listen—really listen—to her thoughts, feelings, fears and dreams. And then he would prove his love for her in whatever way she needed him to.

  She was headed toward Redemption Ranch, although the homestead was located several miles out of Serendipity proper. She’d arrived in the van with the teenagers in tow, which was probably why she was out walking now. She couldn’t very well take the kids’ only motorized form of transportation back to the ranch.

  No worries. He had his truck with him. He wasn’t going to let her walk all the way back to the ranch by herself.