Page 58 of Her Cowboy Baby Daddy
Spence regarded his drink. “I need some time, and I don’t think Hayley wants to see me for a while.” But she did need his help. He’d have to think on that.
“Let’s go fishing.”
Spence looked up.
“Yeah. We can go to Minnow Lake. Spend a night like we used to. Fry up our catch.” Reed grinned. “Maybe Cade can sneak up there and make scary sounds at night like he and Em used to do.”
Spence laughed. The twins had scared the crap out of them during one such trip, to which they had not been invited. They’d gotten their revenge and then some, since Spence had broken his favorite fishing pole scrambling out of the tent.
“Sounds tempting.”
“The alfalfa won’t bloom for another week. Carter Hunt hasn’t tried any shit. The cattle are on new pasture. We could do an overnighter while Cade is here to help the folks.”
“We don’t want Cade to feel left out,” Spence said wryly. “He doesn’t take it well.”
“Let him do his best,” Reed said with a grin. “What do you say?”
“Fishing doesn’t solve everything.” Spence smiled a little. “But it doesn’t hurt either.”
“Great.”
“But we aren’t talking about anything. Got it? We just fish and maybe discuss old times. Or your life. We can discuss that.”
“We’ll stay away from what you don’t want to discuss.”
Spence gave a solemn nod. “Deal. When do we leave?”
*
Hayley had reachedfor her phone half a dozen times the previous evening to call Bella and discuss what had transpired between her and Spence, but she never made the call and that worried her because, until now, she could tell Bella anything and everything.
Technically, she could still tell Bella everything. She could call her right now, but... she didn’t want to.
Why?
She couldn’t say and, more than that, she didn’t want to think about it. Didn’t want to analyze or characterize or theorize. She wanted to bury herself in hard work. Alone.
That wasn’t going to happen because Ash and Connor would be there shortly, and Spence had been adamant about finishing the pipe corrals.
Things were fine after your baby daddy request; they’ll be fine now. You’re even.
But being even didn’t keep her from being jumpy as hell as she waited for the man to show up. And he would. Spence was that kind of guy, so when a truck she didn’t recognize appeared at the end of her driveway, Hayley was a touch mystified. Had Spence’s truck broken down? It had seemed fine the night before when he drove away after turning her world upside down.
This truck was older. A sturdy-looking Ford from the mid-aughts and, as it got closer, Hayley saw that the man driving was definitely not Spence.
Had he sent a pinch hitter?
When Henry Still Smoking parked next to her truck, she had her answer. Yes. He had.
“Hi,” the old man said softly after getting out of his truck. Remy nosed along behind Hayley as she left the yard and crossed to where Henry was getting out of his truck.
He was showing his age in some ways—his face was lined, and his once black hair was now more salt than pepper—but he carried himself like a much younger man. Hayley didn’t know him well, but he seemed to exude honesty. What you saw was what you got, and Hayley was certain that if Henry promised something, it would be done—except when it came to retirement. Or course, that was why Spence had had the time to help her.
Was that a good thing or bad?
Well, she could say that her life was now more complicated than it had once been, and she’d spent the night assuring herself that she’d chosen the right path when she’d made it clear she was focusing on baby and ranch.
“What a fine-looking sow,” Henry said as Remy sniffed at his pant leg. He scratched the pig’s head, unaware that she was falling in love with him due to the attention, then said, “Spence couldn’t come today, so he asked me to.”
