Daddy Wore Spurs (Mills & Boon Cherish) (Men of the West, Book 32) Read Online Free PDF Page B

him, her gaze frozen on his face. While Finn waited for her to say anything, silence stretched between them like a taut highline.
    After several more moments passed without a response, he finally asked, “Is something wrong?”
    She jumped to her feet and cleared her throat. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice choked. “Please excuse me.”
    Before Finn could react, she was rushing toward the arched doorway and as he watched her retreating back, he knew there were already tears on her face.
    Damn it! Now what?
    With a heavy sigh, he rose to his feet and carried the sleeping baby out of the kitchen and back to the nursery.
    As soon as he walked into the room, he spotted Mariah standing by a window near the crib, gazing out at the rugged landscape in the distance. Was she thinking about leaving this ranch? No doubt everything about the place reminded her of her father and sister. Or was it the fear of losing Harry that had caused her to break down in tears?
    Finn placed the baby in the crib and covered him with a light blanket. It wasn’t until he straightened from the task that he noticed Mariah was looking over her shoulder at him. Thankfully, there were no tears on her face, but Finn didn’t miss the redness of her eyes. The sight hit him far harder than it should have.
    “I’m sorry for rushing away like that, Finn,” she said huskily. “Everything suddenly piled up on me.”
    He moved from the side of the crib and went to stand next to her. “I hardly need an apology,” he told her. “But it would be nice to see a smile on your face.”
    Turning slightly, she cast him a sidelong glance. “I’m not in a smiling mood,” she admitted. “Harry is on my mind. I’m thinking this ranch should eventually be handed down to him. It should remain his home. But sooner rather than later it’s going to belong to someone else. And if it turns out you’re his father, then none of that will matter anyway. You’ll be wanting him to live with you.”
    “That’s my plan. If Harry is my son, then he’s going home with me. The child belongs with his father.”
    Her mouth fell open, snapped shut, and opened again. “I can’t let that happen, Finn.”
    A cool chill rushed through him. “Excuse me, but if DNA proves Harry is mine, then I have every right to take him.”
    Her expression bleak, she turned her back to him. “Okay, I’ll admit that as his father you’d have the right. But that’s not all there is to it,” she said in a low tone. “I mean, Harry is used to me. I’ve been his mother since...well, practically since he was born. To pull him away from me would be traumatic for both of us. Besides, I don’t know anything about you. I wouldn’t be much of an aunt if I simply turned him over to you without learning who you are.”
    Finn’s first instinct was to remind Mariah that he’d already been robbed of the first few months of his son’s life because her sister had deliberately left him in the dark. But now was not the time to get into a bitter battle with her, he decided. It wouldn’t help his cause to have her thinking he was a hothead who had no business dealing with a baby. She’d learn soon enough that he was Harry’s father and that he wasn’t about to allow her, or anyone, to come between him and his son.
    Drawing in a deep breath, he tried to remain cool and collected. “I have all kinds of identification with me. And if you’d like to call and speak with someone about me or my family, I can give you plenty of character references.”
    * * *
    Biting down on her lip, Mariah closed her eyes and tried to calm the churning fear inside her. What could she say? How could she make this man understand that Harry was all she had left in the world? He was her little boy. If Finn Calhoun took him away from her, she didn’t think she could bear the pain.
    If the test revealed he was Harry’s daddy, there’d be no way she could prevent him from taking custody of her baby—unless he was unfit to