Page 31 of The Cowboy's Surprise Return

“You’re missing the point.”

“And you’re missing the big picture. What kind of man has a whole town wondering if a four-year-old boy is his son?”

“Everyone knows Kurt isn’t yours.”

“He looks enough like a Wylder that people think he could be mine. And the way I left, folks think I ran out on April.”

“Not everyone.”

“And those people think I’ve come home to reclaim her.” She’d eloped with Brant to prove to the world it wasn’t going to happen. How crazy was that? Cole knew there were other reasons for the elopement, but he was certain that one had been pretty high on the list.

Jackie’s eyes were dark, her expression serious as she asked, “And did you?”

“No,” he said sharply. “You were there. You know Clint called me because my mom wanted me home.”

“She does.” Jackie’s eyes softened. “We all do.”

“My brothers sure have a weird way of showing it.”

“They’re afraid you’re going to leave again.”

“Well, if they keep shutting me out of the decisions about the ranch, I just might.”

“So prove you plan to stay.”

“How am I going to do that?”

“Buy a house? Marry a gal, or get serious with someone long enough that they’ll think you’re staying? Get them to relax, and voilà! It’ll happen.”

“Manipulate them?”

“Earn their trust.”

He tore another strip of tape off the bumper, crushing it into a tight ball and tossing it at the tractor across the building. He stood and drew a deep breath. Winning back his brothers would be easier than rebuilding his relationship with his father.

Cole hadn’t gone to his dad and Sophia’s place the day after Christmas with his brothers, instead remaining home with their mom. His father hadn’t reached out to him, and so far, Cole hadn’t either. Roy had said some unforgivable things to him the night before he’d left. It had been a rough night. He’d then gotten in a fight with April, then with Levi. Then Brant.

There was a lot of trust to rebuild, a lot of forgiveness to spread around, and he was realizing time hadn’t been his helpful friend in the ways he’d hoped.

“I think you’re being too hard on yourself,” Jackie said. “We all love you for who you’ve always been.”

“Do you?” He turned to her, his anger with himself flaring. “Because maybe you should love someone better. What kind of son leaves his family and doesn’t contact them for almost five years?”

He stalked over to the tractor, picked up the ball of tape and dropped it into a nearby trash barrel. He kept his back to Jackie, trying to move past his self-loathing.

“A man who believes he’s doing the right thing,” Jackie said, placing a hand on his arm. He hadn’t heard her approach, with the dirt floor dampening the sound. “I know April asked you for some time and space to figure things out. Only a big man would’ve had the courage to step away from everything he’d ever known—his family, his legacy, his community and friends—to do that for someone he was no longer involved with. A man with a lot of love in his heart.”

Cole felt the tension in his shoulders unravel before cranking up again. “She wasn’t the only one who asked me to leave.”

“Heath did?”

Cole shook his head. It hadn’t been April’s boyfriend, the father of her unborn son who’d asked him to leave.

“My family.”

He closed his eyes, bracing himself. He hadn’t admitted that to anyone. It was something he hadn’t wanted to say out loud. It hurt too much. His father had said some truly awful things about his character, and that had hurt more than anything his brothers or April could ever say to him, or had. And it sure didn’t help that his dad was acting as though Cole hadn’t returned to town, to the ranch.

Jackie’s jaw slackened. “I thought April…”

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