Page 38 of Her Cowboy Baby Daddy
“Double birthday. Nice.”
“My daughter is no one’s fool.” Reed split another two rounds, then looked up to repeat innocently, “So what’s eating you?”
Spence gave his brother a dark look. “None of your business.”
“Fine.”
Reed turned his attention back to the wood splitter. He probably wasn’t done prying, and it occurred to Spence that his brother was a decent resource for the questions that were, yes, eating at him. Reed shared custody of his daughter with his ex-wife and her husband. It was a surprisingly friction-free relationship, with the three of them seemingly on the same page most of the time. That, he knew from the experiences of some of the divorced fathers he worked with, was something of an anomaly.
How would co-parenting work between two people who’d never been romantically involved? Like a business arrangement?
Not that he was thinking of going along with Hayley’s plan. It was just that he couldn’t get it out of his head, and he was kind of annoyed that this matter was on the radar at all.
No. He was annoyed that it kept... well... eating at him.
“Someone asked me to father a child.”
Reed dropped the fir round he’d been carrying. It barely missed his boot before rolling a few feet.
“Someone?”
“An acquaintance.”
“Ah.” Reed cocked his head, waiting for the rest.
Spence hoped that his brother would assume that it was an acquaintance he’d just worked with in Nevada. It wasn’t his place to out Hayley.
“It would be like a medical thing. You know... hand over a sample and the doctors do the rest.”
Reed merely nodded. Spence didn’t know if it was because he had nothing to say, or if it was because he did, but words failed him.
“I’m not wild about the idea of having a child in the world that I’m not helping to raise.”
“I agree. You don’t want that.”
The quiet conviction in Reed’s voice resonated.
“I didn’t understand what parenthood would be like before Lex. I thought that it was something that you just did. I didn’t understand parental instinct. I didn’t realize that once you have a kid, this crazy bond occurs. It’s... well, I can’t explain it, because it’s something you’ve got to feel. It’s the reason the cows get so freaking protective of their calves.”
If his wild man brother was waxing philosophic about a bond, then Spence had no choice but to believe (a) that it existed; and (b) that it was powerful, because it had certainly changed Reed. And yes, he’d seen a sweet cow go nuts when her baby was threatened.
“Don’t do it if you have no say in raising the kid. Trust me on this.”
“That’s what I’m thinking.” He carefully set the chunk of wood he’d been holding in one hand on the stack. “I guess part of me is kind of worried about who she is going to get to father her child.”
“Is this a close friend?”
Spence considered. Technically, no. But he felt a connection with Hayley that was probably based in her helping him all those years ago.
“If she wants to go it alone,” Reed said when Spence didn’t answer, “then I’d guess her best bet is one of those places where you read profiles and pick the characteristics you want.”
“I hear some of those guys lie on the application. You know, about health history and stuff.” Not that he’d studied the matter late into the night or anything.
Reed gave Spence a long look. “You’re concerned about her.”
“She is a friend.”
“Do I know this friend?”
