A Father In The Making Read Online Free PDF Page B

the twins, both of whom were fussing.
    And as Mia looked at her children she felt a clutch of despair.
    What was she supposed to do now? How was she supposed to take care of her children?
    A sob clawed up her throat and she swallowed and swallowed, trying to fight it down. She couldn’t break down. She had to stay strong. There was no one else for her children but her.
    She dropped her face into her free hand, her fingertips pressing against her cheeks as if to restrain the fear and sorrow.
    To her surprise she felt a large, warm hand rest lightly on her shoulder. Give it a gentle squeeze. “It’s okay,” Nate muttered. “It will be okay.”
    She wanted desperately to believe him but right now life overwhelmed her. A whimper crept past her tightly clenched lips.
    No. Not now. Not in front of this man.
    She stopped herself, took in a long, slow breath.
    But no sooner had she released it then the overwhelming feelings of grief scraped away at her again.
    A sob trembled through her, then another. Then Nate’s arms were around her.
    She fought his embrace but he held firm, his arms strong and unyielding. Another sob broke free, then another. Then, all she could do was lean into him, let her tears flow and cling to him as the storm of sorrow and fear washed over her.
    * * *
    â€œSorry I’m late,” Nate said to Tango as he forked hay into the pen. “Can’t believe I slept in that long.”
    He thought Denny would have woken him up when he headed out to drive his gravel truck this morning, but his brother seemed to think Nate needed the rest.
    The roan stud stood in one corner, barely looking up when Nate approached.
    â€œHey, guy, how are you doing?” Nate asked as he opened the gate of the pen and stepped inside. He walked over to his horse, wincing at the sight of the cuts on the horse’s face. “How’s the leg?” he asked, gently running his hands down Tango’s foreleg. Still warm, and still swollen. It would be a few days before Tango could put any weight on that leg. And probably even longer before he would be competing.
    Nate stifled a sigh of dismay at the thought that all the work he had done with Tango, all the time he had spent training would disappear if he couldn’t compete in the upcoming cutting horse competition in Livingston, Montana.
    He gave Tango another pat on his withers then looked over the gate of the pen. His mare, Nola, stared back at him. Her large brown eyes seemed to accuse him. As it was all his fault they were in this dilemma.
    â€œYou’ll be okay, girl,” he said, his voice low and assuring. She had to be. The foal she was carrying was worth thousands. He beat down his nervousness, stacked his hands and rested his chin on top of them, watching Nola nose the hay he had forked to her earlier. He heard Bella nicker from the pen outside the barn and Jake’s low, snorting reply. It was as if his horses outside were reassuring the ones inside, that all would be well. Trouble was, Nate wasn’t so sure about that.
    Nola turned around in her pen and he fought down a cough. Then another one. Socks, who had followed him into the barn, nudged his hand.
    â€œSorry, buddy,” he said, coughing again, dropping to the straw-covered floor beside the dog, stroking his dark head. “That’s what I get for trying to be a hero.”
    He rubbed his eyes, still sore from the smoke and fought down another cough as his thoughts circled back to Mia.
    Last night, after coming back from the hospital, Nate had turned down Denny and Evangeline’s offer of coffee and instead, had gone directly to the trailer he would be staying at. He needed some time alone.
    It was disturbingly easy to resurrect the feeling of Mia’s delicate body in his arms that moment in the hospital. How she had leaned into him and how easily his arms went around her. It had frightened him, but what bothered him more was how good it felt.
    The