Page 42 of Her Billionaire's Baby Secret

Part of him dreaded going back to New York. It was happier in Maple Creek. And to think, he’d come into town for a funeral. He hadn’t expected to have such a nice time that he wouldn’t want to leave. But New York held the stressful part of his life. The merger and his pregnant ex-wife. He really did want to know if something was wrong with the baby. Sariah was busy getting the food. Maybe now was a good time to send a quick text.

Kane checked to make sure no one was reading over his shoulder. He knew he was taking a risk, typing this out, because Sariah might see his texts with Orchid at some point, but he didn’t want to wait until he had time to call her to find out if the baby was okay.

Kane: Just tell me if there’s anything wrong with the baby.

Her response came right away.Orchid: The baby is fine.

In that case, she probably just wanted money. It was incredibly frustrating that she’d interrupted his evening so many times that night. At least his baby was okay. He realized how much he wanted that kid to be a part of his life when he’d worried that something might happen to the little one. Babies died in vitro all the time, especially the tiny ones.

They got their funnel cakes and headed to a pavilion full of picnic tables. It was starting to get dark, and lights were turning on everywhere. It was nice that the pavilion was well lit.

“This is worth every calorie,” Sariah said as she sunk her teeth into her funnel cake.

Kane laughed and bit into his own. It was still warm and had the right amount of crisp and sweetness.

Aside from Orchid’s phone calls and texts, it had been a perfect evening. He couldn’t have imagined having a better time with anyone else. This woman truly made his heart happy. He hadn’t been looking for it and hadn’t expected it. He wasn’t sure that the best idea was to push her away either. Not when she brought him so much happiness. Maybe there was a way they could work things out between them.

Orchid had repeatedly calledhim over the next few days. He’d hardly responded to her, and he hadn’t called her back. If she couldn’t text him that she wanted money, he wasn’t going to take the time to talk to her on the phone. He was sick of her using him like a piggy bank. It was like she thought he was only good for his money. But that was nothing new. She’d treated him that way their entire marriage. He was through with that nonsense now. He didn’t have to answer her calls now.

He spent the next few days driving his grandmother around to view various apartments in addition to Pineridge Farms, the senior community she was most interested in. She filled out some applications, and they only needed to wait to hear back before she could make any major decisions.

When he wasn’t shopping for a new home for her, he was busy helping her to pack up her house and sort through what she didn’t want anymore.

Sariah came over on Saturday to help clean out the garage. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail with a few tendrils of hair framing her face. She kept pushing them out of her face. He could tell it was annoying her, but he thought it was adorable.

Sariah was a hard worker, and they were making great progress. By three that afternoon, they had the garage divided in two halves. The “keep” side and the “get rid of” side. There was no way his grandmother would be able to keep most of what was left on the “keep” side of the garage. But he’d address that with her on another day. She most likely wouldn’t have a garage at her new place, and the storage would be limited. He wasn’t sure she was taking the move seriously enough.

He thought maybe she’d end up backing out of the move, but so far, she was still insisting she wanted to go through with it.

“Let’s take a break,” Kane suggested.

“Sounds good.” Sariah pushed her hair from her face. Her cheeks glowed from the active day they’d had.

“Want to see what we can scrounge up in the kitchen?”

“Sure.”

They went into the house, and he found a container of cookies his grandmother had made the day before. His grandma was at the grocery store with Mrs. Tate, so they had the house to themselves.

“Snickerdoodles are my favorite.” Sariah took a cookie from the plastic bin.

“My grandma makes the best cookies.” He took a bite, savoring the cinnamon flavor. They were best straight out of the oven, but these were still delicious.

The doorbell rang, and Kane got up to see who was there. They weren’t expecting anyone, and as far as he knew, his grandma hadn’t ordered anything that was supposed to be delivered.

He opened the door, and his mouth fell open. “What are you doing here?” Orchid stood before him in a low-cut dress that clung to her curves. He still couldn’t see any evidence of a growing belly, but he knew it could take a while before she started showing. He hadn’t seen her in weeks. Not since she’d cornered him outside the restaurant when he’d been eating with Benson, and she’d told him she was pregnant.

Sariah came up behind him, and panic flew through Kane. He had to keep Orchid quiet about the baby in front of Sariah.

“Can I come in?” Orchid asked.

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