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The thing was, Tanner’s dad wasn’t far off the truth. Tanner had spent every day this past year torn between helping Daniel by living the lie and convincing him to fess up. And that was before Tanner learned he was a father. Only his loyalty to Daniel had kept him quiet.

  “Would that be so bad?” Ethan asked. “The truth coming out?”

  “Daniel thinks so. He’s lost so much already.”

  “You, too. The whole reason you took the blame in the first place was because Daniel wanted one last chance to compete and possibly win a championship in case he didn’t survive the surgery. Well, he did survive. Your reason doesn’t apply anymore.”

  “Yeah, he survived. But he’s physically and mentally impaired and entirely dependent on his wife. While I hold down a job and lead a normal life.” Guilt ate at Tanner. “He’s improving with therapy, it’s true. But he won’t ever fully recover.”

  “That’s not your fault, buddy.”

  “It isn’t. But I can guarantee he’s remembered as a world champion bull rider and not as someone who attempted to bribe his way to that championship.”

  The irony that Daniel had won the championship without having to buy the judge’s cooperation wasn’t lost on Tanner. It ate at him day and night.

  “At what cost to you?” Ethan asked. “Much as I like having you work here, I know you’re miserable. You should be competing at the NFR or sitting in a corner office at Bridwell and Associates, earning a boatload of money and using your championship status as a way to lure new customers.”

  Tanner swallowed. Admitting his boss was right was more than he could deal with at the moment. “Mom’s promised to talk to Dad again. See if he’ll change his stand. I’m not expecting much.”

  “He has a new granddaughter to consider.”

  “I doubt that’ll make a difference.”

  Not that Tanner needed his dad’s consent to come out of hiding and reenter the world. Except if he, and worse, his dad’s company, did wind up being sued, it could potentially rip his family apart and destroy what was left of Daniel’s marriage. Rosalyn wouldn’t appreciate having been kept in the dark. If she took the kids away, Daniel would be devastated. So would their mother—she adored her grandchildren.

  “I bet your mom’s happy about the baby,” Ethan said.

  “She’d be here right now if I’d let her. I convinced her to wait a couple of days.”

  “Jewel won’t deny your mom the chance to visit, will she?”

  “I doubt it. We just need to talk before my family descends on us. Mom’s already making plans for spending Ava’s first Christmas together. Not sure about Dad.” Tanner had thought his father would call him after hearing about Ava and congratulate Tanner. He’d thought wrong, obviously.

  “Do you think the arena owners really care that you breached your contract?” Ethan asked. “I can’t see where it’d be worth their while to come after you or even his company.”

  Tanner shrugged. “According to Dad’s attorney, they say the scandal negatively impacted the arena’s future rodeo sales and their reputation and could claim damages. Apparently, there’s the precedent to set. If they let me get away with cheating, who’s to say others won’t try?”

  Ethan made a sound of disgust. “That’s a reach.”

  “Dad insists I wait another year.”

  “I suppose if you’re okay with that...”

  “I was more okay with it before finding out I have a daughter.” What Tanner was and wasn’t willing to do had changed.

  “Much as I hate admitting it,” Ethan said, “your dad has a point. His company could lose a lot if the arena owners sued and prevailed.”

  “They were just my sponsor. They didn’t know a thing about the cheating or have any part of it.”

  “Neither did you,” Ethan reminded Tanner.

  “They’re the ones with the deep pockets.”

  “Does the company have insurance?”

  “The attorney isn’t sure it would pay out under these circumstances. And even if it did, the company might never recover from the loss of its reputation. Another reason he wants me out of sight and out of mind and not on the company payroll.”

  Ethan placed a hand on Tanner’s shoulder. “You need anything, anything at all, you let me know.”

  His friend and former mentor had already been a tremendous help. Tanner hated asking for more.

  “Just the time off tomorrow morning. Jewel and I are getting together after her lesson. Hopefully, we’ll iron out a few details.”

  “Take as long as you need, buddy.”

  Ten minutes later, Tanner parked his truck and trailer in front of the stables at Sweetheart Ranch. He looked over to his right to see Jewel’s truck in front of the carriage house. The bed appeared to be loaded with items waiting to be carried upstairs to the guest quarters.

  Emily O’Malley-Foxworthy came strolling up the winding drive to meet him. She carried what looked like a plastic food container. Normally, Tanner would have been delighted—her daughter Bridget was a great chef. But he wasn’t hungry. His thoughts were completely occupied by Jewel and Ava.

  “Hi, Tanner. I’ve been waiting for you.” Emily walked toward him in her usual unhurried manner, cheeks flushed from the cool breeze. “Don’t suppose you could lend me a hand when you’re done with the horses?”

  “Sure. What do you need?”

  Being preoccupied wouldn’t stop him from helping Emily. He liked her, and she’d been decent to him. Granted, she didn’t know about him and Jewel and the cheating scandal. Unless she did. Jewel might have mentioned him.

  “We hired a photographer. For a month. If things work out, she’ll stay on permanently.” Emily followed him, chatting as he unloaded the horses. “She needs someone strong to carry her belongings upstairs to the efficiency apartment. I’m not sure, at my age and with my bad hip, that I can manage.”

  “Does she know you’ve recruited me?”

  “Yes.” The older woman gave him a puzzled look. “Why?”

  “No reason.” No reason that he would divulge, leastwise. “Let me finish here.”

  “I’ll just put these blueberry turnovers in your truck.” She held up the plastic container. “They’re fresh from the oven.”

  “If you weren’t already married, I’d propose.”

  Emily waved him away with a laugh and then headed for his truck.

  He’d saddled and bridled the horses before leaving Powell Ranch, so they were ready for the ride. Sweetheart Ranch’s three horses were also ready and stood at the hitching post, their eyes half closed and tails swishing. No self-respecting horse missed the opportunity to doze in the sunshine, even on a chilly December day.

  Ryan DeMeres emerged from inside the stables and meandered over to say hello. Like Emily, the wrangler wasn’t involved in the rodeo world and had no idea about Tanner’s past. That had allowed them to become casual acquaintances, though not exactly pals. Tanner kept his distance from Ryan as he did with everyone.

  Not because of his dad or any potential lawsuit. It was just easier that way. Tanner wasn’t convinced he deserved friends, his health, good times or happiness. Not when his brother had lost those very things and might never have them again.

  The people arrived in one big group for their trail ride. An entire wedding party had rented the cabins at the ranch and several of them had signed up for the ride.

  “I’ll fetch Jewel,” Emily told Tanner once the riders had mounted and were trotting off with Ryan in the lead.

  That proved unnecessary. She must have been watching from a window, for she emerged from the carriage house, Ava in her arms, at the same moment the last rider awkardly loped his horse to catch up to Ryan and the others.

  “There you are,” Emily said in a singsong voice. “This is Tanner. The young man I told you about.”

  He watched Jewel, gaging h
er response. Until this moment, he hadn’t realized how much he wanted her to acknowledge their former relationship and him as Ava’s father.

  “Thanks for agreeing to help.”

  Nothing. Her answer was a big fat nothing.

  “What first?” he asked.

  She started off, Ava still in her arms. The wrap thing she’d used earlier had been left behind. At her truck, she struggled to lower the tailgate one-handed.

  “I’ll get that.”

  Tanner took over for her. Once the tailgate was down, they exchanged glances. Their first since she’d come out of the carriage house. He silently asked her how long she intended to carry on the ruse with Emily. She silently answered that she wasn’t ready to disclose their history. Not yet.

  “If you don’t need me,” Emily said, “I’ll mosey along.”

  “We’re fine,” Jewel answered tightly.

  Tanner, in the meantime, had grabbed an old suitcase he remembered from when he’d loaded and unloaded Jewel’s belongings during their rodeo days. He’d no sooner lifted the suitcase out of the truck bed when the zipper split apart and the side fell open, dumping the contents onto the ground.

  At the sight of her underwear, lingerie, socks and pajamas lying in the dirt, Jewel let out a gasp. “What happened?”

  “The zipper broke.” Setting down the suitcase, he started grabbing bras and panties from the pile.

  Emily had returned, her expression worried. “Everything all right?”

  “We’re f-fine,” Jewel stammered.

  She didn’t normally embarrass this easily, thought Tanner. Then again, neither did she normally have to endure her ex-fiancé picking through her unmentionables in front of her new boss—who had no idea he was the father of Jewel’s baby.

  “Nothing a little washing won’t take care of,” Emily noted sympathetically.

  Tanner reached for a pair of skimpy panties.

  “I’ll handle this,” Jewel told Tanner, her voice rising. “You get a different box to take upstairs.”

  This was going overboard, even for her. He ignored her and continued collecting clothes.

  “No!” Jewel bent at the waist but immediately straightened, readjusting Ava.

  “Here.” Emily held out her arms. “I’ll take the baby.”

  Jewel handed Ava over. Almost immediately, the baby began to cry.

  “I’ll take her,” Tanner said and promptly removed Ava from Emily’s arms.

  Jewel reached for him. “Give her to me.”

  “She won’t cry. She didn’t earlier.”

  “Tanner. Please.” She appeared on the verge of tears.

  “I don’t want to keep playing the I’m-her-father card, Jewel, but I am her father.” He lifted Ava onto his shoulder, patting her back as he’d done with his niece and nephew when they were her age.

  “My, my.” Emily’s glance cut between Tanner and Jewel. “Is there something you haven’t told me?”

  CHAPTER THREE

  TANNER DEPOSITED THE last of Jewel’s belongings in the middle of the floor, next to the small mountain of cartons, crates, suitcases, boxes of disposable diapers and photography equipment. The first thing he’d carried upstairs was the travel crib, where she immediately placed Ava for an afternoon nap.

  No amount of noise they made had wakened the baby, from Tanner thumping around to Jewel issuing instructions. He wished he slept that soundly. He couldn’t remember when he’d last dropped off quickly and remained asleep. Nighttime was when his personal demons liked to come out of their caves and taunt him.

  “Don’t suppose I could trouble you for some water,” he said.

  “Emily stocked the fridge.” Jewel scurried over to the kitchen unit where she extracted two bottles of water from the under-the-counter refrigerator and brought one to him.

  “Thanks.” He unscrewed the cap and drained half the bottle’s contents in three long swallows.

  “Thank Emily.”

  He remembered the blueberry turnovers in his truck. “She’s pretty thoughtful.”

  “I’m going to like working for her.”

  This was the most he and Jewel had talked since her suitcase had sprung open and he’d announced he was Ava’s father. The tension erupting between them from the moment they’d seen each other in the horse barn had escalated to a suffocating level.

  Tanner was ready to put an end to it. “How much are you planning on telling Emily about us?”

  “As little as possible.”

  Emily excused herself shortly after Tanner had taken Ava from her, citing a task requiring her attention. More likely, she was being considerate and giving them privacy.

  “I’ll say I had no idea you were working at Powell Ranch,” Jewel continued. “Which is the truth. And I’ll offer to leave if she’s not comfortable with the situation.”

  “Why would she be uncomfortable?”

  “She might feel deceived. That I wasn’t entirely honest when I applied for the job.”

  “I doubt that.”

  Jewel looked unconvinced. Perhaps it wasn’t Emily who had her worried.

  “Are you?” he asked. “Uncomfortable?”

  “I’m not scared away, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  She crossed the room to the dinette set and sank into one of the chairs. Strain had drained the color from her cheeks along with her energy.

  “If she does want you to leave,” Tanner said, “promise me you’ll stay a few days at least so that we can talk.”

  She nodded numbly.

  “I told my mom about Ava.” He pulled out the other dinette chair and sat.

  “How’d she react?”

  “She’s thrilled. She can’t wait to meet her.”

  To Tanner’s relief, Jewel was agreeable. “Let me chat with Emily first. Get an idea of my schedule and when I’ll be free. And make sure she still wants to employ me.”

  “She will.”

  “I think so, too. They’ve already booked a dozen photography jobs for me. If I were to leave, they’d be in a jam.” Jewel sighed. “I’m not being intentionally difficult, but my days are full. I have barrel racing lessons every morning starting at seven, and Ronnie insists I enter the practice competitions if I’m not working.”

  “Maybe late morning one day next week,” Tanner suggested. He thought he could stall his mom that long.

  “I’ll let you know by tomorrow.”

  “Which reminds me.” He retrieved his jacket from the doorknob where he’d hung it and fished his phone from the pocket. “I promised Mom a picture of Ava. Mind if I take one while she’s sleeping?”

  “No. Go ahead.”

  He noticed Jewel watching him from her place at the table while he leaned over the travel crib and snapped several pictures with his phone. Ava slept through that, too, her thumb in her mouth and her lips moving noiselessly.

  His chest tightened with emotion. She was so tiny, yet absolutely perfect.

  “Mom’s already talking about Christmas.” He returned to the table. “I realize we haven’t even decided on a first visit, much less the holidays—”

  “My parents are flying in from Oklahoma,” Jewel said, cutting him off. “They don’t want to miss Ava’s first Christmas.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem. Our folks always got along.”

  “They used to.”

  Meaning before everyone believed Tanner had cheated.

  He held back the response he desperately wanted to give in favor of another. “We’re all adults. We can behave for a few hours.”

  “Does Emily know that you cheated?”

  “No.” Tanner shook his head. “We’re not that close, and she isn’t a rodeo fan as far as I can tell. Plus, it’s none of her business.”

  “People are cruel.” Sorrow clouded Jewel’s featur
es. “I’ve endured a lot of insults.”

  “Emily’s not that way. She’s really nice.”

  “But her clients and guests might not be. I’ve had people I’ve never met before confront me on the street and accuse me of helping you cheat or covering for you. I’d hate for Emily to fire me because I’m damaging the reputation of Sweetheart Ranch.”

  Tanner would have felt Jewel was overreacting if not for his dad saying almost the exact same thing about Tanner coming to work for him.

  “Worse,” she continued, “I don’t want anyone treating Ava poorly because she’s your daughter.”

  He felt as if he’d been pushed off a steep cliff. Every muscle in his body clenched in readiness for impact. Yet another reason to resent his circumstances.

  It wasn’t entirely his father’s fault. Daniel bore his share. He’d had his reasons for approaching that judge, which, while skewed, were understandable. He’d been handed a devastating diagnosis and wasn’t thinking clearly. But Jewel was also partially responsible for Tanner’s current state. She sent him packing without first giving him a chance to sort through the mess. Had she waited even a week before breaking up with him, shown the slightest trust in him, it might have made all the difference in the world. Instead, she’d jumped to conclusions. Part of the reason he’d left and not insisted on sticking around was because of the deep hurt her actions inflicted.

  “I get it,” he said. “You’re embarrassed of me.”

  She didn’t deny his accusation. “It’s been hard. You have no idea.”

  “I do, actually. I read the social media posts and online articles. Listened to the PRCA broadcasts.” Until he couldn’t take another second and stopped.

  “Not the same.”

  Her hand lay on the small table between them and, for one completely insane moment, Tanner considered reaching for her. They’d once been there for each other through thick and thin. Then he remembered her refusal to give him a chance and quickly came to his senses.

  “I didn’t imagine for one second the repercussions would be what they were.”

  A slap on the wrist from the PRCA, a couple of months staying under the radar and the cheating scandal would fade away, replaced by something new. That had been his dad’s prediction.