Page 93 of Gideon's Gratitude

Love did.

Gideon’s kids might not be his flesh and blood, but he would do anything for them.

Anything.

Including walking away because everyone told him that was best.

I need to find the time to look into this. I had a crushing caseload, though. And although I’d offered to help my friend, he hadn’t agreed to it. Perhaps he didn’t want me interfering.

“Well, we’ll give her all the love we can while she’s with us.” Justin smiled—if a little wistfully.

“Yeah.”

“I want to say that maybe things could be different, but—”

I shook my head. “Even a divorce won’t magically procure a child. Although…”

Both of my companions tilted their heads in exactly the same way.

I smiled to myself, but didn’t point it out. I took a deep breath. “I was always willing to foster or adopt. My wife…” I winced. “I don’t want to speak ill of her. Just that she had some firm beliefs, and one was that she couldn’t love a child that wasn’t her flesh and blood.”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped and Justin scowled.

“Yeah. So I suppose now I could look at those options. Just that I work all the time and that’s not fair to a child either. If circumstances were different…”They could be. You have enough money to walk away from your life and never look back. You could become a full-time dad—if that was what you really wanted.

Did I? Single father? Would be almost impossible to become a foster parent or to adopt. Not entirely impossible—but damn close.

“Circumstances can change.” Rainbow held my gaze.

“Rainbow.” No missing the warning tone in Justin’s voice. I didn’t know Rainbow’s counseling qualifications. I had a vague recollection of Adam telling me that Stanley’s husband was a PhD student. With two kids, a husband, and a dog.

“She’s right.” I shrugged. “If I really wanted to be a dad, I could’ve done things before now. I coasted because I had a comfortable life. What I thought was a good marriage and a successful, thriving law practice. I lived to work, and not the other way around.” Which left me with high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, and a huge pile of regrets. “I’m thirty-nine years old, and the thought of starting again is daunting.” Involuntarily, I glanced in the direction of the ranch house.

Gideon could be my second chance.But that was too much pressure to put on him. And he had two kids he loved more than life—no reason to think he would want more. Finally, I turned my attention back to Justin and Rainbow.

“I’m here if you need to talk.” Justin shrugged sheepishly. “Peril of the trade. I don’t know how to not offer help.”

Rainbow grinned. “Or you can just hang in the kitchen with me. Either works.”

“Maybe…not tonight. But I know where to find you.” I nodded to Justin. “I would make it official.” No way would I ask a stranger to listen to my problems without shelling out serious cash.

“Yeah, fair enough. Rainbow knows my schedule.” Justin held my gaze. “Divorce can be brutal.”

“Or it can be liberating.” I pressed a hand to my chest. “Divorce attorney.”

Justin chuckled. “You mentioned that to Adam who was quite happy to share. Which is a little unusual for him.”

“He said something about not…” I tried to remember the exact words.

“He probably said that he and Maddox had both been hermits before they met their forever loves. They own it.” He grinned. “And I have dinner to get to. Nice to meet you, Archer.”

“And you.” I waved as he departed. I turned to Rainbow. “That was unexpected.”

“Well, everything around here is. I thought I was going to get you to help me shovel, uh, excrement. Instead, it’s time to go in and do some baking. I made the dough earlier. Now I just have to put the cookies in to bake.”

My salivary glands kicked into high gear, and I offered the woman a wide smile as we made our way back to the ranch house.

Justin’s words—and Rainbow’s—circled in my mind.

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