The Paternity Pact (Texas Cattleman's Club: Rags to Riches 3)

Thinking about his son stirred Grant’s concern and frustration that Harley intended to take Daniel back to Thailand. Why couldn’t she see that their son was thriving in Royal where he had immediate access to both his parents?

“You have no worries about raising a child by yourself?” he asked, stepping past the boundaries of his standard professionalism.

“Not at all,” she said eagerly, showing no signs of discomfort at his inquisitiveness. “Especially now that I have the financial resources to give my child everything they could ever possibly want or need.”

Grant cleared his throat. “You don’t think your child needs a father?”

“I think as long as I have a strong male influence in his or her life, it will be just fine.” Obviously, it was something she’d come to terms with already. Perhaps she’d already had this conversation with more than one individual and had her rationale all sorted out. “And someday if I marry, then obviously I would hope that my husband would want to adopt my child.”

“So you’re not opposed to having a man in your life?”

Gracie blinked in surprise, but didn’t appear at all upset by the inappropriateness of his question.

“I can’t control my love life.” She shrugged her shoulders and sighed wistfully. “However, this I can control. Making a family on my timetable. Maybe that’s selfish on my part, but I will give a child all the love and devotion they could ever need.”

Grant considered all the men who hadn’t stepped up when they fathered a child and all the women who had no choice but to raise children on their own. There were pros and cons to both sides of the story. He had no doubt that Gracie’s child would be as well-adjusted as Daniel. Harley was an outstanding mother and Daniel lacked for nothing. The boy knew he was loved. But that didn’t mean that Grant intended to back off and let Harley take his child away.

A bond had formed between father and son. He deserved to have partial custody of his son. But at what cost? He couldn’t help but feel he was in a lose-lose situation. With Grant living in Texas and Harley living in Thailand, Daniel would be the one who truly suffered.

Yet, the boy wouldn’t be the only one. Each time Grant thought about living without Harley, the ache in his chest grew. He’d ignored her unhappiness, believing that she’d eventually be as content with their little family as he was. Realizing just how eager she was to escape Texas left him feeling empty and raw.

Five years earlier, he’d rejected her and she’d vanished from his life, taking his son with her. Since learning about Daniel, Grant told himself if he’d known what he’d risked, he would’ve reasoned with Harley instead of letting his emotions get the better of him. Because now, he recognized that the way he’d rejected her had been born of anger at her deceit and shame that he’d been overwhelmed by desire for someone he realized was not just too young for him but too young to be treated like a casual sexual encounter.

Yet, here he was on the verge of losing his son a second time. Not because he hadn’t used logic to persuade Harley, but because he was still afraid of the emotions she aroused and the discomfort that always seemed to follow when he gave in to them.

* * *

In the wake of telling her family that Grant was Daniel’s father, the only person besides her mother who continued to keep her at arm’s length was Piper. Given how close she’d been to her aunt growing up, Piper acting as a combination of big sister and surrogate mother, their estrangement had hit Harley hard. And because they hadn’t had a chance to talk since her aunt found out that Grant was the secret Harley had been keeping, Piper’s disapproval remained an obstacle between them.

Now, as the situation with Grant had grown even more emotionally fraught, Harley knew she couldn’t go on another week without making peace with Piper. To that end, she called her aunt and invited her to dinner. Since Jaymes and Sean were in Houston for the weekend, celebrating his father’s sixtieth birthday, Harley decided to borrow their kitchen to prepare a few traditional Thai dishes. Daniel was spending the night with Grant so the two women would have the privacy to speak their minds.

Unfortunately, things did not go as smoothly as Harley had hoped. Daniel had been feeling off all day, complaining that his stomach hurt. Although he wasn’t running a fever or showing any symptoms, he demanded her full attention. The food preparations she’d intended to make didn’t happen as she snuggled beside her son and read stories to him. Then Grant called and told her he was running late and wouldn’t be able to pick Daniel up until nearly seven o’clock. Given her son’s possible illness, she’d been half tempted to keep Daniel with her, but Grant was a fully licensed medical professional, capable of dealing with a little boy’s stomachache and she didn’t want Grant to think that she was keeping his son away from him.

By the time Piper arrived at six o’clock, Daniel had rallied enough to watch cartoons in the living room. Harley was mortified that she was in the midst of chopping vegetables and nowhere near ready to serve her guest the delicious meals she’d had planned. But far from being put out, Piper poured herself a glass of wine, rolled up her sleeves and pitched in. Half an hour later, the divine smells emanating from the kitchen filled the entire house.

For the last few weeks, Harley’s emotions had been bubbling dangerously close to the surface. Now, as she and Piper worked in harmony, without any of the charged atmosphere that had highlighted their relationship lately, Harley found herself close to tears.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you that Grant was Daniel’s father,” she blurted out in a shaky voice, grabbing the kitchen counter to steady herself. “I was just so hurt and mad at him and worried that because you were good friends, you’d tell him I was pregnant.”

“I’m sorry you didn’t feel like you could trust me,” Piper said, her expression regretful. “And even sorrier that you were right. I probably would’ve been so angry with him that I would’ve marched right over to his house and berated him for acting so recklessly.” Piper shook her head. “Even now I can’t get over that he...”

“Slept with an eighteen-year-old?” Harley supplied helpfully when her aunt couldn’t bring herself to state the obvious. “And got her pregnant?”

“What the hell was he thinking?”

“To be honest,” she began, her lips twisting into a rueful smirk. “I didn’t give his brain much of a chance to function.”

Piper threw up her hands. “I don’t want to know.” She paused for a second and then asked, “I hear you and Daniel are spending a lot of time with Grant.”

“We were,” Harley said. “But it’s only Daniel now. Grant and I—”

“Stinky beans! Stinky beans!” Daniel bounded into the kitchen, lured away from the television by the familiar scents of where he’d grown up. “I love stinky beans.”

“I know you do,” Harley said. Stink beans, or petai, were strong-flavored beans from a twisted pod that she stir-fried with yellow curry paste and shrimp. “Do you think your tummy is feeling up to trying some when it’s ready?”

“You bet.”

In addition to the stink bean dish Daniel loved, Harley was making pad kra pao, a street food made of chicken stir-fried with lots of chilies, garlic and a big handful of basil all served over rice, as well as a shredded green papaya salad dressed in lime juice, palm sugar and fish sauce.