Page 33 of Cowboy Wolf's Secret Baby

“Mom, are you okay?” Taryn asked.

“Honey, yeah. It’s just been a lot to process in the last few days. I never thought that I would see him again. Now, he’s here and he remembers me. I’ve always wanted him to know about you, but I couldn’t tell him.”

“I’m sorry,” Taryn said, helplessly.

“Don’t be. None of this is on you. You’ve been a trooper. I can only imagine that it’s been a shock to you, too. You’ve always wanted to know about your father and then poof, here he is.”

“I think that he’s going to be a good dad.”

“Me too, Baby Girl. Are you ready to go?”

“Yep, but you should probably change out of your bunny slippers and put on shoes,” Taryn pointed out.

Laughing, Beth grabbed her socks and shoes, and they headed out. Taryn was talking a million miles an hour about her father and all the things they could do together. “You don’t have to worry about me shifting and running alone. He can go with me.”

“Taryn, I need you to slow down. He just found out that he is a father. We don’t know if he’s going to stick around or continue on the circuit. He probably doesn’t know which way is up. My guess is that his mind is in complete shock. Don’t be disappointed if he doesn’t want to stay here.”

“I think that he’s going to want to be a part of our lives and be a dad,” Taryn said. “Even if he travels around, I think he’ll be here a lot.”

“I hope so,” Beth said.

I know that he remembers the love we shared. Does he feel any of that love now? If he did, would it be true love or a memory of what once was? They pulled into the rodeo grounds and Beth rubbed her temples. Take it one day at a time. Give him a chance to breathe and take it from there. Don’t get your hopes up, though. You can’t afford another disappointment.

Beth realized that the voice in her head was giving good advice, but she couldn’t help but hope that now Conner remembered her, he would fall in love with her again, and they could have a life together.

“Are you okay?” Taryn asked.

“I’m fine,” Beth said. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yep. I’ve got apples for Zephyr and for Pegasus.”

Pegasus ran up to Taryn as soon as he saw her and started rubbing his head against her. Then, he wrapped his head around her neck, giving her a hug. The other horses in the corral gravitated toward her, including Zephyr. She tried to pet all of them. Beth could hear Taryn talking to them, telling them what good boys and girls they were and how beautiful they were. Taryn truly had a good, gentle soul. The complete opposite of Matilda.

Conner sat on the top rail of the corral and watched. Taryn saw him and made a beeline for him. She climbed on the fence and sat next to him. Beth just watched them. The look on Conner’s face told her everything that she needed to know.

She joined them when they walked over to the arena to hear the rodeo manager’s speech announcements for the day’s events. He stressed the importance of sportsmanship because apparently a couple of people got into a fight the night before and had to be banned from the rest of the events. He droned on about the rules and then talked about the order of events, which was exactly the same as it had been. Beth was only half listening.

The hair on the back of Beth’s neck stood on end, and she felt as though someone was watching her. She looked around, half expecting to see her mother stalking her. Groaning, she realized that it was Kelly, staring at her, giving her the stink eye.

When the speeches were over, Taryn said, “Do you want to walk around the fairgrounds with us until the rodeo begins?”

“You two go ahead. I need to get to the shop and make sure that Anna is okay and if she needs anything. I’ll be back in time this evening before anything starts.”

Beth started to pull some money out of her wallet, and Conner shook his head and simply said. “No.”

She reminded herself that Conner was Taryn’s father and he would want to pay for whatever Taryn wanted or needed. That was going to take some getting used to.

“Okay. You guys have fun, but don’t go on the rollercoaster too many times. I don’t need to remind you what doing the loopty loops does to your stomach.”

Taryn giggled. Conner looked at his daughter questionably. The little girl looked up at him, stuck her tongue out, and said, “Blech.”

“Everywhere. Projectile.” Beth laughed. “It’s not a pretty sight.”

“Gotcha. No rollercoasters, because that is another thing, besides the sight of blood and needles, that I can’t handle.”

“Yet you go out there and risk broken bones and worse all the time.”

Connor shrugged and said, “What can I say? I’m a masochist.”

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