“Mindy—”
She finally turned, dread lacing her lovely features. “I feel like Melody has been the puppet master for our relationship, or the lack of, for nineteen years. I know what she said to you. I saw the wicked look in her expression when she left here last night.”
An invisible vice grabbed him around the throat and squeezed. “I need you to tell me. Mindy, tell me the truth.”
She dropped the bucket and there among a herd of goat chomping away on their breakfast, his world turned upside down again. He could only stare. His breath came in heavy pants.
“Creed…”
“Let’s not mince words. I need to know,” he said in a low voice.
“I didn’t know I was pregnant when I left Cooper’s Hawk. I found out and I had every intention of telling you. I came back, but I learned that you and Melody were getting married. I was blindsided, hurt and angry. I went back and forth, unsure what I should do, but I settled on giving you the option. I wrote you the letter, telling you that I was pregnant and I was keeping her. I asked that you meet me at the ice rink if you wanted me, wanted us, but begged that you didn’t come unless you were committed. My heart had already been broken. I swore that if you didn’t show up, I’d walk away and never bother you again.”
“That’s the letter you left in my truck?” He had to force the words through thin lips.
She nodded. “I did wait. For hours. You didn’t come. But Melody did.”
“I didn’t know.” The words came out with a raspy exhale.
“I didn’t know that at the time.” She picked up the bucket and brushed passed him. Halfway across the pen she stopped and turned, tears streaming down her face. “I thought you had made your decision. I was scared, heartbroken, and unsure of raising a child alone.”
“Where does Branch come into this picture?” he asked angrily.
“I met him later.”
“How wonderful for him,” he growled.
“I called you. Three years later. Twice in fact. Left you messages and again you didn’t respond.”
“I was doing a tour in Kosovo. We didn’t have access to phones, no outside communication for months.”
“Did you not get my messages?” She lifted a brow.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I did, but I ignored them.”
“So you decided you didn’t want to return my call?”
“I was angry. Hurt. I didn’t want to be friends. If I’d known about Jane—”
“Would you have reached out? Came to California? What Creed?” The tears had dried and there was a new desperation to her voice.
“I would have been her father. I am her father. Does she know about me?” The breeze swept across them and it felt cold on his skin.
“We never kept it a secret that Branch wasn’t her biological father. I spoke of you. She’s never asked to see you—has no clue you live here in Cooper’s Hawk. I’ve always allowed her to take the lead, Creed. If she wanted to see you I, and Branch, would have allowed that to happen.”
A solid punch came in the center of his gut. He had a daughter. Another daughter. Two children. His heart sank. Time with his oldest daughter had been stolen from him. Anger, sadness, uncertainty boiled up inside him. “But maybe I wanted to see her,” he said quietly. “Apparently you, or Branch, didn’t think of that.”
“I understand—”
“No you don’t.” He jerked off his hat and tore a hand though his hair. “What if the circumstances were switched, Mindy? What if I kept our child a secret? Wouldn’t you have expected me to continue to try to tell you about her? To try all options?”
“Creed, I didn’t deliberately keep her to myself. I did reach out. Looking back it’s easy to say what’s right or wrong, of what should have been done. I was eighteen years old and pregnant. I was scared. Coming home to Sage Ranch wasn’t an option because I couldn’t raise our child here with the chance of running into you and knowing you didn’t want us.”
“I did want you…and I would have wanted my child.”
“Is that right? If you wanted me why didn’t you pick up the phone? Come to see me? Instead, you jumped into the bed of the first woman who looked your way.”
“You can’t throw Mel up in my face. I thought we were through,” he gritted out.
“And I thought we were through too.”
“Not good enough. We’re talking about a child.”
“I do understand that you’re upset—”
“Upset? I don’t know what to feel. No, I know how to feel. Betrayed.”
“Don’t you think I’ve been saddled with guilt all these years? Do you think this was the choice I wanted to make?”
“You knew me, Mindy. Better than anyone. Do you honestly believe in your heart of hearts that I would walk away from my child?” He could barely see straight.
A good ten second hesitation passed until she finally said, “No, I don’t think you would. After seeing you with Livvy and how good you are with her, I can say that now with one hundred percent faith, but nineteen years ago you were a different man—a good man, but different. You know you were too. You had dreams that didn’t include a wife and child.” She took the distance between them and reached out, but he pulled away. “I’m sorry, Creed.”
“If you really are sorry why didn’t you tell me when you first came back weeks ago? How could you let me get close to you again while keeping this secret?” The betrayal grew like a boulder in his chest.
“I did plan on telling
