Page 12 of The Rancher's Secret Son

“We really don’t get out a lot, but there’s one place he loves—a restaurant made to look like a rainforest. He thinks it’s very special and a lot of fun.”

“I’ll make reservations.”

“He’ll love it.” She smiled. She’d been so worried, so tearful in the last while that her smile caught him off guard. He took a moment to look at her. She really was a beautiful woman, with her smooth skin and big, dark eyes fringed with thick lashes.

“Does he resemble you at all?”

“Not in looks, as you saw. Actually, probably not much in temperament, either. He has a ready smile the way you used to, and he’s a little charmer and very social. If I take him to the office, he’s all over the place talking to everyone and they talk to him.”

Nick smiled. “I don’t know that I was all that charming as a kid. I remember Wyatt and Madison constantly telling me to be still. I don’t believe I charmed them.” His older brother and sister had avoided him at all costs, just the way he did his younger brother Tony.

She gave him a faint smile. “Siblings are different.”

He glanced at his watch. “You’re not going to have much time to sleep before leaving for the airport.”

“I wouldn’t have slept anyway.”

He nodded, suspecting he wasn’t going to sleep in the hours he had left, either. “Claire, cancel your flight. I have a family plane and a pilot. I’ll get him to fly you to Houston whenever you want. This way you won’t have to wait for the commercial flight and maybe you’ll have a little more time to yourself before going to the office.”

She stared at him a moment and then nodded. “Thanks, Nick. I can’t wait to see Cody.”

“Neither can I, Claire,” he said. She looked startled and drew a deep breath as if he had suggested something dreadful. There was no doubt that she regretted telling him. If his client hadn’t asked him to the closing, would he ever have known about his son? That question persisted and each time stirred his anger because he wondered how old Cody would have been before she told him.

“I’ll make arrangements for you to fly home. What time do you want to leave?”

“As soon as I can get to the airport,” she replied.

He nodded. “I’ll call my pilot while you cancel your flight.”

By the time she returned he had made all the arrangements. “I have a limo picking us up in an hour,” he told her. “If you need to pack, go ahead. In the meantime I’ll look at Cody’s pictures and send copies to myself. I can’t seem to look enough. I just want to sit and stare at some of these pictures. He looks like the most adorable child I have ever seen in my entire life.”

She gave him a fleeting smile. “I know exactly how you feel. He is a very handsome little boy, Nick.”

“What does he like? He’s too little to read.”

“He knows his alphabet. My grandmother plays all kinds of letter games with him. He’s a smart little boy. You’ll be proud of him.”

“I already love him with all my heart and I haven’t even seen him,” Nick said, looking up at her and seeing a wistful expression on her face that startled him. Was she wondering what it might have been like if they had been together? When she met his gaze, her expression changed, a shuttered look coming across her eyes that locked him out.

“Whatever we work out and whatever happens in the future, you’ve made me a very happy man tonight,” he said.

Her dark gaze was unfathomable as she nodded. “I’m glad, Nick. It’ll be good for Cody to know you. He has a very good man for a father.”

“I hope I’m a good dad. I’ve had a good dad, although one who liked to run everything and goes too far sometimes. I’m in politics because of him, yet at the same time, he’s been a big help to me. When the dust settles, they’ll all be happy about Cody.”

“Nick, take a moment to think before you announce that you have a son. You have such high political ambitions, and you have a career as a politician. Judge Milan is not going to be pleased. None of your close circle of supporters will be happy. An out-of-wedlock baby so close to your marriage isn’t going to be good news to any of them. Your political career means everything to you, so you should give some thought to what you’re about to do.”

He nodded. “I’m not shutting my son out of my life because of politics. Right now, I get sympathy because of being a widower. That will help cushion this announcement. I want this senate seat and I think I can win. I told you when we dated that I want to be President someday, Claire. There are people already working on that in the background.”

She stared at him. “A scandal could make that extremely difficult, unless we marry and that’s over between us.”

“If Cody kills my chances, so be it. At this point in my life I’m aeons away from the White House. I have to win the senate seat first.”

“Your dad is going to push you to marry me. The kind of political career he wants you to have takes a lot of background work. He’s already put a lot into your career.”

He put up a hand to stop her argument. “Claire, we’re not going to make any big decisions tonight. And right now I only want to talk about my son. What can I bring Cody that he would really like?”

“He likes his books. I’ll text you a list to choose from. And he likes to build things. He likes electronic gadgets and he knows how to find some of his games on the computer.” He could see how her eyes lit up again as she talked about her son. “I can’t wait to see him. I’ve got to go pack. Look at his pictures and I’ll get ready to go home.”

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