Free The Cowboy's Baby Bond by Linda Ford Page B

for any number of reasons.”
    Johnny tried to think of any that he would consider acceptable. “Like being in the family way?” Bitterness edged his words as he thought of Trudy’s deceit.
    Willow’s eyes widened, and her mouth gaped. She closed it and swallowed loudly. “What if those boys aren’t his? Maybe she only married him because she needed a home for them.” Willow shuddered.
    â€œDoesn’t excuse his behavior. My pa would never speak to us like that or strike us in anger even if he wasn’t our father.”
    She relaxed marginally at the mention of Big Sam. “It’s a good thing you can trust him not to be cruel. A man his size could inflict a lot of pain.”
    â€œIt was his gentleness that won my ma’s love. Maisie’s, too, I expect.”
    â€œTell me about your ma. Seena is such a beautiful name.”
    He had nothing but pleasant memories of his mother and gladly told Willow about her. “She was injured in the Battle of the Little Bighorn and running for her life. She hid in the daytime and traveled at night, following a river. She knew if the soldiers found her she would be killed. She drank from the stream and ate roots and berries. But her wound wouldn’t heal with her always on the run. My pa found her. She tried to hide from him, afraid of all white men. He assured her he meant her no harm and gently tended her. Of course, she fell in love with him. They married and he started the Sundown Ranch so they would have a place to live in peace.”
    â€œThat’s a sweet story.” Willow sighed. “Too bad things don’t work out so nicely for everyone.”
    Something he’d said beckoned in the back of Johnny’s mind. “Ma couldn’t heal so long as she kept running. Maybe that’s what Thad is learning. His kind of hurt won’t relent unless he stops running.” Dare Johnny say Willow couldn’t run from her pain, either, if she wanted it to heal?
    She gave him a long, considering look. He let her take her time, wondering if she would make the connection to her own situation. “Johnny Harding, I do believe you’ve spoken a sermon to yourself.”
    His expression must have revealed his confusion.
    She patted his hand gently. “Your kind of pain won’t lessen if you run from it.”
    â€œMe? I’m not running from anything. How can you say such a thing?”
    â€œHmm. Let me see.” She tapped a finger to her chin as if needing to give the topic a great deal of thought. Then her eyes snapped and she trapped him in her direct gaze. “Could it be because you were hurt by a woman, this Trudy person, and now you run from any future possibilities?”
    â€œI’m not running. I’m...I’m... Well, I’m trying to help my friend Thad, and I’m helping you. That’s not running.”
    She quirked her eyebrows.
    â€œIt’s not.” At her continued disbelief, he relented. “Okay, I’m a little leery, but if the right woman came along, one with no secrets, one I could trust completely, I might change my mind.” He snorted. “Is there such a woman?”
    â€œThere’s Maisie. And your ma. You can probably think of others.”
    â€œYou’re right.” Willow had not mentioned herself. Did she mean to warn him she did not fit into that category? Was what she’d told him nothing but falsehoods? In any case, she said little about her husband. He knew the woman had secrets. Reason enough to be guarded around her.
    * * *
    Willow tried not to let Johnny’s words poke holes in her thoughts. She could never be the sort of woman who had no secrets. For Adam’s sake she must carry on the pretense that Bertie was his father. But that didn’t mean she was stuck in the past. She was trying to overcome it. She wasn’t in need of healing. She needed security and she’d learned she’d find it only if she